Glam Rock Part 1: It Started With a Hippie

The 60's came with a new found care free attitude towards dressing and music. The hippie culture already existed, but it hadn’t reached the level of awareness it did after artists and young people of the time embraced it. Call them rebellious; they turned their back to the norms of the society, they where advocates for freedom so naturally they went against authority and explored alternative ways of dressing. Hippies were the forerunners of DIY, they created their own accessories using flowers and peace symbols, their outfits consisted of a combination of different pieces like beaded necklaces, head bands, scarf's, floppy hats, bell bottoms ,maxi dresses, flowing skirts, Gladiator sandals and mini skirts.Ironically being a hippie was not about the fashion, it was about the life style. Hippies were not trying to look fashionable instead they made the extra effort to show the irrelevance of fashion through their outfits.*interesting how anti fashion became fashionable*.

 Some hippies also got influenced by the bohemian culture, so their dressing exhibited exposure to both the  bohemian and hippie culture which gave birth to what is now known as boho chic.The term “boho chic” was first of all used to tag the style of John Paul Getty's wife Talitha's which had a hippie/bohemian esque making her the original boho queen. Patrick Lichfield shot on image of her on their rooftop in Marrakech where she embodied the elements that represent the boho chic style.

Decade's later Kate Moss style was also looked at in the same light. She wore, maxi dresses, floppy hats, bell bottoms and clothes with a baggy silhouette. Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Mischa Barton, Elle Macpherson, and many others are popularly known for being connoisseur's of the luxe grunge style.

Greenwich Village

Stella McCartney velvet petal cropped jacket, La Perla castle key underwired bra, Jason Wu silk skirt, Christian Louboutin love flats, Alexander McQueen bag, Michael Kors watch, Chanel rouge noir nail polish.

The Biba Upgrade

Biba was an iconic clothing store founded by Barbara Hulanicki. It started as a small mail order business in the swinging 60’s which later turned into a 7 story building often referred to as ‘Big Biba’, each floor having its own department and logo. Biba wasn’t just about the clothes but about the experience. People from different social rankings selected from the store's racks, even the likes of Briggitte Bardot, Cher, Yoko Ono queued and tried on clothes like every other girl at the store.The clothes where hung on coat stands and where sold at very affordable prices but still had that chic essence often created with a palette of dark colours which Hulanicki described as “looking like a funeral”, it might interest you to know that “the pope of fashion” her self Anna Wintour once worked at the Biba store as a young fashionista. Simply put it was every girls dream store. If we were in the 60’s I certainly would have been a Biba girl.What really interests me about Biba is the fact that Hulanicki embraced the importance of branding and differentiation. Biba was unique it was not an imitation of your regular high street store so it had no limitation or so it appeared.One of the main problems with high street stores and boutiques today is the lack of originality and individuality, that makes shopping boring. I think the high street will be a better place if merchandisers pay more attention to being distinct rather than being trendy alone.In the video Hulanicki talks about the Biba experience and the fabulous artistic things she did after it closed down.

Bain de Mer

Caroline Trentini in Numero February 2010. Photography by Richard Bush. Now this editorial makes me want to spend a nice hot day at beach  in that lovely Lemon green/beige piece I just love it.

Wild Maned

Kasia Smutniak for Vogue Italia February 2010. Photography by Paolo Roversi. Kasia is Strikingly beautiful and her hair looks totally fetch in each shot, sometimes I wish I could walk on the street looking like I just left the set of a high fashion photo shoot sigh. 

When That Shutter Clicks

Edward Steichen believed that the force behind every photograph was the lighting, and I totally agree.The effect of light on a photograph is something that is so remarkable, light makes a photograph what it is, it highlights the beauty of the object being photographed.He was a phenomenal pictorialist in the early stages of his career, his photographs appeared like Portraits that were painted with soft refined colours. He also used the autochrome effect to add colour to photographs.His photographs had life, they were pure and they had soul, its amazing how years and years after the 20^th century these photographs are still breathtaking. It’s easy to see why many photographs today can not be tagged as “classic” because they have been corrupted by technology the same way so many other things have been corrupted but that is another story for another day.

War Gear

Sometime in February last year, I was desperately seeking a strong shoulder blouse, which was extremely hard to find at the time as this was before the high street stores stocked on a variety of them later that summer. So in my search I happen to run into Hannah Marshall's website, I must say it was love at first sight.The Essex based designer has produced 6 collections to date. The last one ENCRYPTION was debuted at London Fashion Week last season-SS 2010. The sharp, sculpted silhouette of this collection reminds me of  an army ensemble or better still war gear. The garments also give this dark heroine vibe. In an interview she once said "architecture is always in the background of what I do", this influence is a motif in the format of the garments from her collections.These are a few pictures from her last collection and a video with an interview of the young designer, which goes on to show footage of the preparation for the show and the show itself. Hannah Marshall would be show casing her Autumn/Winter 2010 collection at London fashion Week on the 19th of this month, I can not wait see how grand her collection would be.