Creative Writing Project Part II

These are from another ongoing creative writing project, similar to the first, but this time we were given more freedom in the subjects of discussion . There were a total of eight pieces for this project, but here are my best three. The first one ‘Thou Shalt Not’ was my own choice about dieting, the second ‘Ode To Stephen Fry’ was a set topic on someone’s voice, and the third ‘Viva Forever’ was another set idea about your favourite pair of shoes. 

Thou Shalt Not

 “Eat me for I shall make you thin.” “What a ridiculous claim. Drink me, for I can make you loose 21 pounds in a mere day tens.” “No, no, no! Drink me twice a day as a meal replacement and I can make all your thin dreams come true!” “Do not eat me. I am carbohydrates and everyone knows that I have no slimming powers whatsoever.” “Instead eat me. I am green and healthy and break none of the rules.” “Don’t listen to them: eat me! I’m sugary and naughty and delicious and I know you love me…” “Don’t tempt her! Stay strong child and stick to proteins like me!” “Are you hungry? Why don’t you just unwrap me? I’m soft and moist and melt in your mouth like butter.” “Throw that in the bin! Cook me with no oil or fat and nothing can go wrong.” “Look at her, she is weak! What will she pick?”    

Ode to Stephen Fry

Well spoken, middle class, quintessentially British. Reserved yet well humoured, warm but authoritative. Soft whilst sounding exuberant and animated, yet somehow appropriate. Reading from J.K. Rowling’s fantasy land, presenting brain challenging quiz shows, or being interviewed on various opinions, the soothing mature tone drifts through the ears as pleasant as a cup of tea on a sunny Sunday afternoon.  As reassuring as coming home to a favourite grandfather, there is something safely secure about such a vocal. Genuine and light hearted, but intelligent and familiar to the entire nations ears. Overly polite, and at times pompous, but always a gentleman. Despite such traditional aspects of character, Tweeting is another way he may be heard. As fond of swearing as of manners, he has the unique power to surprise yet remain trustworthy.  A timeless 53 year old who has been with us since the early Eighties, it’s hard to imagine a replacement. 

Viva Forever

Creative Writing Project

As part of our second year course, we were set an ongoing creative writing project, in which we had to visit places in London and come up with 150 word pieces on each. There were a total of fifteen pieces, but here are my best three. The first one is about Lady GaGa (her and Cheryl Cole were the two celebrities we had to write about), the second is on the ICA (Madonna’s favourite museum) and the third is on The Child Of The Jago (a male clothes shop in Shoreditch owned by Vivienne Westwood’s son).

Dance In The Dark She told me to Just Dance, being papped by the Paparazzi whilst we were in Disco Heaven. I was so Happy I Could Die, some Boys Boys Boys had left us completely Speechless, Alejandro was on the Telephone to Beyonce, crying “Eh, Eh, There’s Nothing Else I Can Say”. This is what we call The Fame, cos we’re rolling in the Money Honey. That Paper Gangsta ain’t gonna read my Poker Face, I shield my Brown Eyes and grit my Teeth; he could be a real Monster.  My Summerboy walks over, he whispers “I Like It Rough” but all I can say is I’m done with this Lovegame. It was a Bad Romance, but I was Born This Way, and I’m Starstruck by some Retro, Dance, Freak called GaGa who’s too Beautiful, Dirty, Rich to know my name.  

Madge’s Big Day Out Lourdes could you hold Mercy’s hand please? I don’t want to lose any of you. Rocco where’s your packed lunch? Keep it in your Vegan, eco friendly backpack please, and stop spilling your soya smoothie everywhere. Right, now David you come with me, we’re going to have a nice day out and see some of Mummy’s favourite things okay? And if you’re all good, I’ll let you have an hour in the reading room. But not in either of the cinemas because you know how Mummy feels about that. No arguing please Rocco or you shan’t be having any carrot sticks and hummus! I might even let you each buy your very own book to take home. You can keep them in whatever house you choose, Rocco. Would any of you like to go and listen to a talk about artists and painting? Mercy, don’t pull that face at me, simply say yes or no. 

You Turn Me On Gold, smooth, shiny, but slightly rusted about the edges. Tucked into a corner, it’s surprising that someone with such an important role is positioned in such an inconspicuous place. But sadly that is often the way. No matter how beautifully crafted one is, they are merely seen as functional and nothing more. Watching the way it glistens, longing to be noticed amongst the clutter and busyness of its surroundings, I start to feel sorry for it. I wonder if anyone else has ever paid this much attention to it, or even spotted it at all. When the owners use it at the start and end of every day, what do they think of it? Do they even think about it at all?  Do they care for it using the same love and pride as they do for everything else in the store? With four rounded, elegant switches, I gaze and think; at least I appreciate how nice that light switch is.

Givenchy Rocks

Tisci revels in his attraction to opposing forces once again, conjuring ideas of a dominatrix woman with an unconventional beauty.

“Sexy, but never vulgar” was Lea T’s verdict on Riccardo Tisci’s creations for Givenchy Spring 2011, and it’s easy to see why. The transgender model, who controversially appeared in the Fall advertising campaign for the French fashion house last Spring, said walking the runway was more like “helping out a friend” than it was work. What initially appeared as an androgynous, new age Goth collection, the sex appeal was all in the detail. High necked ruffled tops with nothing more than a leather harness serving as a back were shown alongside a jacket seamed to a floor grazing tulle cape, exposing the nape to the bottom of the spine in it’s entirety.

The colour palette was limited to a crisp black, white and nude, paying homage to the late Robert Mapplethorpe and his sexually charged photographs, which Tisci cites as an inspiration behind his designs. Zips were stitched to practically every item from shoulders to shoes. Rows of silver teeth embellished waists, sliced through tops and coiled round hips, adding a tough edge to feminine floor length chiffon, billowing behind the models like smoke. Evoking a Winona Ryder late nineties look, they wore severe cut wigs, whilst others had voluminous crimping with loose plaited ends, all finished with a bare face save a fierce, dark lip.

Tisci’s renowned tailoring skills shone through the cut of jackets and gilets that sat sleek against scuba diving suit style tops remnant of the Fall 2010 collection. As someone who has beyond tripled the amount of couture clients for Givenchy in his short time as creative director, the Italian designer’s technical competence needs no questioning. What looked like a vast amount of layering waistcoats, tuxedo jackets, sleeveless bikers and chiffon over figure hugging skinny pants and skirts created a surprisingly simple silhouette, owed to a trompe l’oeil effect. These pieces were not piled on separately, but flawlessly fused together, repackaging this season’s profile.

The wild cats really were let out to play, with leopard print featuring subtly in black patent and on white lapels, then coming in boldly head to toe on maxi skirts with plunging blouses and ankle strapped platforms. Varying in size, spots were embroided to bodysuits, printed on mesh and featured right down to tiny shoulder bags.  Religion, another of Tisci’s fixations, was manifested in cross emblems spelt out in silver buttons on chests and crotches, a nod to his Como Catholic roots. However, his vision was contemporary, and a front row audience including Justin Timberlake, Leigh Lezark and Alexander Wang suggests that. “I see sales. Sales, sales and sales,” stylist Catherine Baba proclaimed at the vast amount of leopard print that had managed to claw it’s way into the heart of the collection, and judging by the roaring success of all things feline this Fall, she is almost certainly right. With five years at the helm of Givenchy behind him, it seems after initial questioning and criticism, Tisci has finally found himself, and described this as the first collection for the brand that felt “Super Me. Super sexy. Hardcore. Erotic,” And it doesn’t seem this winning formula will be changing, for anyone or anything, anytime soon. 

Harder, better, faster, stronger?

It seems designers are determined to save the rave, sadly.

When somebody says the word ‘neon’ to me, it instantly makes me think of ‘dropping beats not bombs’, Super Super magazine, the Klaxons and Skins. I’m highlighting my youth here, because I lived through the fabulous sub culture of ‘nu-rave’, which was achingly trendy for about two weeks. It required you to wear a slogan t shirt, ridiculously tight brightly coloured jeans with shuttered sunglasses, take numerous photos in said outfit and upload them to your MySpace, which had a flashing multi coloured background and Hadouken! as the profile song. I blame Henry Holland circa 2006 and Kanye West’s  ‘Stronger’ video.

In my eyes, this was a trend which was over before it even started, but in some cases people held on to it for dear life (where I lived anyway). Unfortunately, aspects of this look are still sniffing around. In early June, Style.com posted a neon themed “trend + shopping” article. I remember thinking can we still be “In the mood for: Neon” Style.com, really? But given the catwalk’s latest offerings, it seems it has well and truly come back out to play. Christopher Kane declared at fashion week “Neon gets me going - every other colour is so banal.” Taking his influence from the cult shop Cyber Dog in Camden, renowned for it’s extravagant rave gear, it seems Kane wants everyone to look like they dressed themselves on drugs, in the dark (or should I say for the dark – those ensembles must be visible even in the darkest of club corners).  Obviously fluro tights and tops weren’t enough – now appropriate and sophisticated dressing can be warehouse raving attire too. But if looking like ‘Princess Margaret on acid’ isn’t quite enough of a headache for you, Miucca Prada’s runway consisted of luminous stripes and prints in every possible clashing colour. Maybe it’s my previous experience with neon that has coloured my judgement so, but it’s horrific enough seeing 14 year olds dressed in such a manner, let alone fully grown adults who’ve paid triple the price, to look triple as cheap (Jimmy Choo hot pink leopard heels par example?). The thought of these new collections translating to the high street fills me with sheer terror – I am still scarred from Kane’s collaboration with Topshop, where walking into the Oxford Street flagship store and seeing rails and rails of highlighter yellow lace, body con dresses down to £15 in the sale made me feel slightly nauseous. I could tell they were going to be Saturday night’s outfit for half the British population. So to avoid looking like a too old nu rave flashback meets a U.V. dipped bumblebee, I am going to limit the amount of neon that I’m sure will undoubtedly make it’s way into my wardrobe come Spring. Jil Sander’s show in Milan was the best use of this potentially disastrous trend. White t-shirts stitched to block colour floor length skirts incorporate the trend without screaming it in your face whilst jumping up and down with a fistful of glowsticks. In my opinion, neon was best left in the 80’s, 90’s, or wherever it came from, but like most trends that have the habit of resurfacing, it seems we’re probably doomed for head poundingly bright colours and prints to appear for more seasons to come. Only problem is what do you call something that’s already been labelled ‘nu’?