...to be foretold the [British] weather?!

“But who wants to be foretold the weather? It is bad enough when it comes, without our having the misery of knowing about it beforehand.” 

― Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men in a Boat

As I was pondering on how to mould my excuses on delaying with this Tweedrun post since April, as we are just tiptoeing at the threshold of the summer;  the sudden spell of "lovely" British weather has spared me the hassle.

My repetitive tweed-blab is the most sensible thing to write about these days.
Welcome the sartorialists:

Swagger!

The only serious vehicle that we had on the ground was from The Chap magazine journalists! 

Here they come the trendy gang.

The Tweedrun took place in April, at a very moderate speed cruising through Marylebone, Regent Street, Picadilly and Trafalgar. Strictly tweed and vintage bikes only.

The convoy of dapperly dressed chaps and ladies arrived to their tea party.
Myself and a couple more volunteers were  in charge of brewing loose Earl Grey tea in hundreds of teapots for the riders. At some point a cake was served but we missed this bit amidst all the heebiejeebies of serving tea.

Hello you two!

mmm, nothing offensive but you seriously look like a Russian man, dude! Levin may be?

He never photographed me back! This is just rude :)

A couple of volunteers that were helping to run the event made a hell of an effort, not only making the party great and filling everyone with litres of aromatic tea, but also turning up in such spruce outfits!

These gloves make me think of Madonna! 

Blatant daylight robbery!

And I still hate yellow socks

Anna Akhmatova's flipping ghost! 

Guten tag herr Furrer!

Teaser, taster, tweed & jaeger

 Just as you are about to maroon my overactive blog, I am going to throw at you this vampish look. Yes, I have more of that to come which will sweep you off your stilettos {or your vintage bike perhaps?}

So grip onto your handlebars and get ready to storm London, as we are heading into what it looks like a traditionally British summer. Thence I suggest you rethink your bikinis and get some serious layers out...and a pump....just in case...

Peculiarme designs, collection launch

Last weekend, a self-taught and aspiring fashion designer -Alaina Thomas-has hit East London showcasing her debut collection in a bid to "bridge the gap between being Christian & a fashionista" .
I caught up with Alaina a couple of days after the show and she kindly agreed to give me an interview. See the showreel for the collection and scroll down for more after-party photos.

Most of the items presented have been tailored by Alaina herself. 

"You can love fashion & God be peculiar, be passionate & love your life!"

"As a Christian designer I surround my collections with a sense of pride where sexy is also classy & modest & daring is bold not exposing.

My collection is focused around the realistic shape. It is far from commercial & it uses culture including daring tribalism with the need to feel feminine & confident whether size 6 or 16" 

"My inspiration always comes again from my faith love of new wacky things. How can I make something so flat like a panel of fabric sculpt itself around the female form - is something I always ask myself emotively."

J: Was there any preliminary research made or you founded your collection entirely on your own intuition?

"I founded it [collection] on my own intuition. Although I love pattern & shape- and the African culture has a lot of both. Being a big fan of Art I became intrigued with African pattern when I discovered Yinka shonibares work; then I watched first hand with my friends parents at Nigerian weddings & was gob-smacked at their creativity with fabrics or colours & needed to be a part of the action"

 J: How Do you identify yourself as a versatile designer?Can you pin down your style?

"I try to keep myself open to new styles, I tend to switch a lot between soft goth with the flatforms dark lipstick & biker jackets, to the vintage working woman with the dolly dresses & smart jackets. It's like dress up I never know what I'm going to get day to day."

J: When did you realise that fashion was your call?

"When I realised I had a talent for it at 16-years old after making my first dress. I went through a stage of trying everything out but God kept bringing me back to fashion. Then the sense of accomplishment & pride that came after was incredible. I would make mistakes & be happy because I was learning, even if I was tired I'd still find energy to sew."

J: How difficult it is for you to come up with several pieces don the same topic, do you seek for assistance/advice from colleagues/relatives?

"Strangely enough I find it quite easy, its not making too much is the problem. May sound cliche but I pray before designing & who better to give me advice or designs than the one who gave me my talent. Its taking the stress away from a beautiful moment taking nothing & making something admirable & attractive from it. The collections fall in to place, I can always tell when I'm off track when I need to think too hard about it."

Yellow Bluezzz

Click on the images to see me featuring the yellow double-breasted coat with epauletes on Sheinside!

Also purchased this lovely jumper. 

I feel in love with the colour. Electric blue? Lapisa Lazuli? You name it.

I found a dealer on ebay which sells gorgeous bags at a reasonable price: of different style, colour and shape. Most probably fake leather and cheapest fabrics but looking very stylish and presentable.

The delivery took  a bit too long but I need to admit that they despatched from Korea and during the Christmas time. The bag, when it arrived , reeked of donkey wee which has evaporated after a couple of days of wear.

Drop me a line (in my new contact me section) if you want to enquire about the ebay shop. I will be ordering some more stuff soon, once  I hit the Spring mood.