Britain's Next Top Model Live and Lived

Best. weekend. ever.

I could try to paint you a vivid word picture to describe just how brilliant the whole Britain's Next Top Model Live event has been this weekend, but instead I will show you my photo highlights!

Y'all ready for this?

My amazing model

I was lucky enough to dress and style the very beautiful, and not to mention lovely, Jessica P from Models1. Jessica is one of their "new faces", and after working with her this weekend I know she is going to be massively successful. But don't just take my word for it - here's the evidence:

Getting made up.

Getting the hair 'did.

Ready to go and born to do it!

This is why Jessica is a model and I am not...

My outfit

Natasha Bailie and I were each challenged to create a vintage outfit that embodies the whole Motorola 'Geek Chic' vibe to go with the super cool FLIPOUT phone. As I said in my post a week or so ago, I wanted my look to be 70s mixed with the relaxed elegance of Chloe. Here's what I did:

• When I was putting the outfit together, I knew for sure I wanted to feature this blouse. It's made from a really luxury satin fabric, and it screams Chloe to me - it's ultra feminine and very sophisticated. I also love the burnt orange colour, as it fits like a dream with an autumnal colour palette.
• To spice things up a bit and give the look a sexy edge, I teamed it with a nice fitted leopard print skirt. Leopard is a classic vintage print, so there are always plenty of gorgeous items to choose from.
  
• I was really happy to include this leather satchel with my outfit, as not only is it stunning, but it's also very unique and original. Let's face it - there's nothing worse than buying an item and seeing other people with the same thing! Vintage is all about feeling special, and this bag is just that.
• For the shoes, I went for comfortable but still very cool brown leather loafers. When the weather starts to turn, it's good to have a reliable pair of shoes that will still look chic around the office.
• To round off the look, I added some specs. They're the ultimate geek accessory.
  

So what do you think? I am personally very pleased with the whole look, especially considering it's my first proper go at styling for the catwalk. I would really appreciate your honest feedback, so please let me know.


Backstage

I'm not going to lie to you - while it was often rather hectic backstage, it was also a lot of fun. Why? Because I was surrounded by so many amazing people! Everyone involved, from my fellow stylist buddies to the wonderful people at Motorola and JCPR, was incredibly supportive and lovely. When we weren't running about find various bits and bobs and dressing our models, we basically spent our time dancing, singing and laughing! What more could anyone want from their job?

Me and my vintage styling buddy, Natasha Bailie

The High Fashion team, Matthew and Alize

High Street vs Vintage! Reena of Fashion Daydreams, Jenny of The Style PA, Natasha Bailie and I

The whole gang

I want to thank everyone who supported us this weekend - whether you were actually sat in the audience or you sent us a good luck tweet, it meant so much to know you were out there rooting for us. I should also have some video footage to show you soon, which should be interesting! Thanks for putting up with my constant blogging/tweeting/facebook status updating too. I promise I'll shh for a while now...

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

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Britain's Next Swell Model

I don't know about you, but I am a total sucker for the whole "Next Top Model" franchise. This years Britain's Next Top Model has definitely been the best season so far - the photoshoots have been more high fashion and, let's be honest, the judges were finally people who we could take seriously!

With my passionate love affair with the Top Model world in mind, I am extremely excited and overjoyed to be involved in Britain's Next Top Model Live, taking place at the London Excel Centre from 22nd-24th October. Not only does the event give you the opportunity to see the model girls up close (who doesn't love staring at models?!), but it also promises fashion, shopping and beauty brilliance.

And for some miraculous reason, the wonderful people at Motorola have invited the lovely Natasha Bailie and I to style the vintage section of what promises to be a pretty incredible catwalk show! We're going to be in great company too, as other stylists include the irresistibly dashing Matthew Zorpas, the beautiful Alize Morand, the stunning Reena Rai of Fashion Daydreams and the gorgeous Jenny of The Style PA. The theme of the show is "geek chic", in tribute to the super cool FLIP OUT phone (remember when I modelled for that? I still can't believe that happened!). The word "fun" doesn't even begin to cover it.

There will be a catwalk show every day of the event, so if you fancy the ultimate fashion weekend, why not come and join us? Not only will you get to see beautiful models in (hopefully) amazing clothes, but you'll also get to see all of us blogger types on the stage! If you're not sure who I am, look for the girl with fear in her eyes as she tries desperately not to cock up or swear...hold on, is "cock" a swear word? This doesn't bode well...

At the moment we're all desperately scrambling about to pull together our looks for the show, but I can exclusively reveal that Natasha will be dressing her model in delightfully quirky 50s chic, and I will be nerding up my model 70s style. If you come back next week, I may even show you a sneaky peak at parts of my outfit...sneakily. For now though, here's a little mood board I pulled together. This shows the kind of style and colour palette I'm going for. The inspiration has definitely been Chloe and the amazing colours that come with autumn.

(Please click the image to see the full size...Blogger is awkward)

So what do you think? Is 70s the way to go? Will you be attending the Britain's Next Top Model event? If you do, PLEASE come and say hello! I will be needing to see as many friendly faces as possible!

Until next time!

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

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Swell chain

Hello again!

First of all, I just wanted to say a quick thank you for all of your feedback on my pouch prototype. I can't get over how supportive and kind everyone has been, and it really means a lot. I'm going to have a go at another pouch design soon, so expect pictures and tales of more sewing machine disasters soon!

UK Vogue says that necklaces should be huge with lots of chain and adorned with gems, so with that in mind I set out to make my biggest necklace yet. I know that it's no where near the high standards of the designs in Vogue, but I'm quite pleased with the results. It took me ages, so it's quite satisfying when the final result resembles pretty closely what you have in your head:

This necklace is made from lots of vintage chain, adorned with a prism and freshwater pearls. It's good and heavy - definitely one for the braver among us. So what do you think? Should I make more big necklaces like this, or is it unrealistic to think that someone would wear this in the real world? Your feedback would be GREATLY appreciated, please!

I also had a play with another style of necklace. The very lovely Jenny of The Style PA very kindly sent me a load of old broken jewellery, so I used a couple of these parts for this necklace:



I've never been one for symmetry, so I enjoy experimenting with different chain lengths and hanging styles. This necklace is made from vintage chain and is adorned with vintage faux pearl, a purple prism and a little swallow. Do you like this style, or do you think that it would be impractical for someone to wear? Please let me know your thoughts, all constructive feedback is useful and welcomed!

In other news, I really need to start packing for my move! Not long now. I have so much to do, but not much time to do it in - eeekk!

Well, I hope you've had a lovely weekend, and that you enjoy the week ahead! Until next time, my lovely loves...

Much love,

Frankie
Swell Vintage

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