Fashion

Firstly, I would like to thank Liverpool The Magazine for giving me this opportunity to express my views on fashions of the day.

For people that don’t know me I am a Liverpool based designer, I actually design manufacture and retail women’s clothing. I have been in the fashion business for the past 24years and as you can imagine dressed many, many women.

Liverpool is probably one of the most fashion conscious cities on the planet, so I’m proud to be a part of it. When, my clientele have a popular event or important occasion to attend they will come along to us, with a clear interest and keen to look their best. We take them in and working with them, help produce that outfit. Be it for an 18th, 21st, wedding or even the races. Having been in the business for many years I believe we must be doing something right.

My background to my career is quite varied. After leaving school I trained and qualified as a chef, then moved on and became an engineer. All the time I always had a great interest in fashion, eventually I began experimenting and taught myself how to make clothes and it slowly went on from there.

I have learnt with the experience I’ve had over that period of time, what will suit every type of woman, from young to mature from slimmer to fuller figure.

In recent years I feel the way we dress has been hijacked by those self appointed style gurus who in my opinion don’t really have a clue what they are going on about. They do tend to be very text book and that cannot work. Some women are starting to take note to what they are being told to dress like to disastrous consequences. They are losing their personal identities. Have you ever watched one of these make-over programmes and thought they looked better before all that work. I would like to see a revisited make-over show, one or two years on and see the results. A lot of the people seem confused by the end result it’s as if it takes away the person they are instead of ‘’polishing’’ the true person they actually are.

There is a saying which can apply to fashion, don’t take anything as gospel. Choosing our clothes is a matter of taste, personal taste and as we all know this can change. Some days we can feel more confident about ourselves and wear louder and more elaborate outfit’s. Other days we may feel less secure and just want to blend in with comfort.

Here are a couple of tips everyone should benefit from;

1. Don’t be told what you should or shouldn’t be wearing.
2. We were all born will a sense of how we should look so use it, by all means listen to advice but use you own natural instinct.
3. Keep the individuality of the European look, its much more interesting, we ain’t Americans.

I have had many highs in my career but I’m not one to court publicity, so I don’t blow them all out of proportion. If you’re good at what you do the word of the people gets around, they’re not soft. This is all the advertising you need, in its natural form.

Celebrity, celebrity, celebrity where do I start? Is it just me or is everyone and anyone hanging on to someone who is a so called celebrity to sell something. Find your own wave and stop riding on the crest of others. Saying that I find it terribly hard to digest that some of those people are celebrities, by association maybe, couldn’t we give them a new name ‘’asscelebs.’’ Anyway rant over.

In this column, I will try to encourage what I perceive will look good, now. There will be no ‘must haves!’ None of that. They are the sayings of the stylists and they will change them on a weekly basis. You wouldn’t go into a restaurant and have someone choose your meal; no it’s all a matter of taste. A little advice in the right direction or enhancement of what you already know is fine.

My outlook for the spring. At this time of year I try to make my garments as crisp and fresh as possible. I can achieve this with clean colours, black & white, stripes, dots always with a splash of a primary colour thrown in, also navy & white, checks again with a primary colour. I tend to use more natural fabrics, silks, linen blends at this time of year. Looking forward to the smell of daffodils, not that they smell great but they are spring.

I will be introducing big shoulders for the months ahead, all the forecasts are pointing to this strong look.

In the dress side roundness through shoulders and hips are key to a good look. Short minis with jackets of the same length, and yet again trousers and skirts with the high waists are on the menu!

I will be using smooth and simple lines in the dress section with one overpowering detail thrown in for artistic measure. Not my department, but shoes are to be a large platform, elevation a must.

A next big British designer to look out for is a guy called Giles Deacon. He has only had his own label for 2 years but his vision of highly crafted mixes with a wonderful sense of wit, looking good.

At the moment I love to watch Roisin Murphy, ex-lead singer with Moloko, her dress sense is so intriguing she takes shapes and textures to the extreme, her music’s not bad either!

First published in magazine issue - January 08