Go Gaga!

Lady Gaga. The echo of this name has been getting louder, more frequent and with it more intriguing. She is the chosen one, the new style icon, the designers muse and the fashionistas inspiration. Move over Agnes Dene who moved over Kate Moss who, well, we don’t have all day!

The American songwriter is just twenty and has already written lyrics for the Pussycat Dolls and Christina Aguilera. Seems she’s doing more than just sitting pretty. Perhaps, that’s why we like her so much. She seems to have the intelligence to make people trust the reasoning behind her outfit choices. Her look demands recognition, as does her personality.

Cult fashion followers salute her 1980’s style; she mixes classic cuts with daring accessories and sleek, signature hairdos. She’s definitely one to watch. To go slightly Gaga yourself, team wardrobe staples like that perfect LBD with brights, sharp hair and even whack on a pair of shades for good measure. Afterall, it can get bright in the limelight.

Strike a pose…

Just in, news on a not to be missed exclusive fashion exhibition. An accolade to a world famous statement dresser. For decades Madonna has wowed audiences with her on and off stage get-up. Whether she got it right or she got it wrong, she got talked about! Either as Gaultier’s muse or a super fit leotarded performer her outfits got her work as a musician noticed and shot her to stardom as the style chameleon of the modern music world.

The fashion world seems to be keen to continue to use Madonna for inspiration in recent trends. Take the huge luxury sports trend set to make noise this Summer, with cropped t-shirts, shrunken cycling shorts and all-in-ones. We’ll be appropriately dressed to take a bow at the shrine to a style queen.


Date for your Diary:

‘Simply Madonna : Materials Of A Girl’

21st February to 22nd March @ Old Truman Brewery London

If you love to pay homage to all things vintage, make your tribute shimmer….

As has been true for many seasons now, many of us fashionistas continue to look to the past in a bid for stylish inspiration. This season choose vintage looks that glow with metallic glory, to work the metal trend thats set to be much hotter than our weather! Whether it's a true vintage find or a 'could be vintage' newbie make it a sparkler in Spring/Summer 09

The look was recently showcased beautifully by Dries Van Noten, see picture, suggesting that looks from yesterday should still shine strong. Key pieces include glitzy coctail dresses and statement jewellery, style with nude shoes and clutches to truelly showcase pieces.

Put your favourites in a pot and mix them up, is the end result something you would wear?

With any new season in fashion comes many new silhouettes for us to play around with. This season we’ll be wearing harem pants, all-in-ones, slouchy statement tops mixed with shrunken trousers and blazers. But, the item set to challenge our wardrobe most is the latest jean shape to take the fashion world by storm. It’s rumoured since fashion designers such as Balenciaga have plugged the style in their latest collections it’s here to stay, well, for a few seasons at least.

What is it? It’s a clever mix of styles we have become comfortable with over past seasons. These new-fangled strides are a mixture between classic flares and recently favoured ‘skinnies’, tight up to just below the knee and then a generous flare that scrapes the floor. If you want to achieve catwalk chic style with a bodycon top to hit this look on the head! Are they here to stay like our current wardrobe staples? Only time will tell but it’s expected we will slowly, but surely fall for the new shape.

Your wardrobe is a make-up palette...

Many Spring/Summer 09 collections favour bright colours and brash prints that will no doubt make us want to reach for our shades. Compliment this 80’s inspired look with accent notes of pink, blues, oranges and blacks. The key to this trend is subtlety. Have fun, mix pastels with brights.

My advice is to treat your outfits similarly to the way you would your face and the make-up you apply to it, start with a nude or pastel base and add bright highlights to the parts you want to show off. Ossie Clark’s Summer 09 (see image) collection showcases this look perfectly, brash meets subtle.

‘Handmade’ chic has clearly landed...

Surprisingly, latest Ebay.co.uk figures show the most popular purchases on EBay to be ‘make it yourself’ fashion tools. Knitting needles and wool sales increased by 100% last year, sales of pins and pin cushions were up 200%, while mannequin listings more than doubled.

Credit crunch ‘handmade’ chic has clearly landed. To work recession chic without having to risk breaking a nail, buy wisely. Chunky knits and 1940’s style cardigans will make convincing, on trend ‘I made it myself’ examples.

The North East Fashion team making ‘swishing’ their mission…

Simmering under the surface of the Newcastle fashion scene is an exciting new shopping concept that will bring its attendees some much needed faith and inspiration in these times of retail uncertainty and personal financial hardship.

The ‘Swishing’ party is a ‘Swap Shop’ based fashion event where everything you leave with will not have cost you a single penny. It’s the latest trend to sweep the UK, championed by Twiggy on the BBC’s ‘Twiggy’s Frock Exchange’.

‘Swish with Daisy Green’, to be held at Newcastle, invites us to bring along any unwanted, ‘pre-loved’ garments that no longer fit or that we simply don’t wear or have never worn and in return we will be able to swap them for clothes that do fit and that we would love to wear.

The determined team of North East fashionistas behind this event are the founders of online, eco-lifestyle, magazine http://www.daisygreenmagazine.co.uk/ . The event is set to sparkle with different things to take part in, as well as a complimentary glass of wine and nibbles to get the party going, it’s marketed simply as the ‘perfect girls’ night out’.

I talked with Nicola Alexander, from Daisy Green, to find out more about ‘Swishing’, the Daisy Green team and trying to lead a more eco-friendly life.

What do you think the main advantages are of swapping our clothes instead of shopping for them, apart from saving our precious pennies?

‘Swapping clothes is great in so many ways. It’s a really social event, you and your friends can swap clothes between you, or come to an organised event where there is the chance to make more friends and have the choice of more clothes. The more you bring the more you can swap.

The clothes may be pre-loved, but many items will have been worn only a couple of times so they are a real bargain and who doesn’t love a bargain?! Environmentally, it’s great too. The clothes are being given a new lease of life with the new owner, not thrown in the rubbish bin and then sent to landfill. Many of these events donate whatever is left to a charity – everyone benefits.’

The event comes to us from you and the rest of the ‘Daisy Green’ team, what do we need to know about the daisygreenmagazine.co.uk website?

‘It’s a new and fresh way of looking at fashion and lifestyle. We are a normal bunch of girls trying to do our bit for the environment but without preaching or loosing our style.

Our website shows the best in ethical fashion, tips for customising your clothes, great events and competitions too! We are always trying the latest beauty products that are a little kinder to your skin and the environment, and in the living section there are lots of tips and products that we think are pretty cool.

And if you are interested in contributing to the magazine, there is a section for that too.’

Is there anything else we can expect at the ‘swishing’ party other than swapping our ‘pre-loved’ garments?

‘There will be a glass of bubbly for you when you arrive, some great beauty products to sample and buy and you could even have a relaxing hand massage. Our Eco stylist Krista, will be doing a demonstration on how to customise two outfits, and Bowler Hat Vintage will be selling their beautiful vintage outfits. Hand made bags courtesy of Karina Hesketh will be on offer too.

There will be a competitions and raffle throughout the night, and then of course the mighty swap.’

Other than ‘swishing’ what else can we do to lead a more ethical life as a consumer?

‘Have a look in the charity shops because you never know what treasures can be unearthed.

Buy products with the fair trade label on them, this means that the people that have made those products earn a better living and work in acceptable conditions.

When buying clothes remember, if they cost £3 or £4 pounds to make the people who have made them will invariably have been paid very, very little.

Reduce, reuse and recycle as much as you can. Reuse bags and decline plastic carrier bags.

Support local businesses; buy meat from a butcher or vegetables from a local farm. And ask questions about how the animals are cared for or how the vegetables are grown. If you don’t like the answers, buy elsewhere.’

For more details on the event visit: www.daisygreenmagazine.co.uk.

Date for your diary:

To join in the fun turn up at ‘As you like it’ in Jesmond, Newcastle at 7pm on 29th January, tickets cost £5. If you would like to attend Daisy Green’s first dedicated swishing party email nicola@daisygreenmagazine.co.uk to be placed on the guest list.