I was particularly inspired by the "testino" dress which cascaded from the waist falling in ruffles of flowery fabric .There was something so beautiful and graceful about it hanging just above the ground from a chandelier. Looking closer I realized that many of the textured petals that made up the top section of the dress were encrusted with Swarovski crystals. Hussein Chalayan who I researched for my summer project, used these crystals in many of his collections.

The window display in Harvey Nichols really captured my imagination also. The display consisted of two manikins; the first wore a dress constructed completely of plastic fruit and vegetables. A strapless prom dress silhouette was created as a trail of fruit curled around the body and gradually hit the ground. The dress on the second manikin ballooned out at the waist(top far left) and was made from neon cocktail umbrellas and straws. I loved that the whole window created such a bold and eye-catching effect whilst using an alternative material to fabric.

My first week at university has been a blur of new experiences. I wanted to attend a university which was a contrast to where I’ve been living for the past 18 years, but I don’t think I could have completely anticipated how different it would really be. After living on a farm in Herefordshire it’s really strange, yet exciting finding myself in a bustling city. Leeds itself, seems huge, everything is created on such a gigantic scale in comparison to what I’m used to. I’ve found myself looking around in all directions attempting to take in the new sights and pacing atmosphere.
I’ll admit I was quite nervous about my first day at college but it turned out that all my flat mates were going to the art and design college as well, which was a relief. I was excited to hear on the first day that we were going on a trip to Manchester the following Wednesday, assigned to capture what we felt represented the city, the people and the fashion. My favourite part of the trip was the Matthew Williamson exhibition, it was presented in such a visually impressive way with some of his designs hanging from the ceiling by tubes of neon light.