A. Online Project Module

2008-12-18T19:56:00.006Z

So the time has come to look back and reflect again...reflect on what I have done and achieved and how I have hopefully grown through this module. I know for sure that I have started to like blogging more than before, and that if I wanted to be a journalist this is what I would love doing every day. But if I am completely honest, I would rather be physically busy doing something else such as going out in the field and reporting or looking for stories; but maybe if I really got into my blog and started to be a citizen journalist this is what I would do exactly.

Nevertheless I have had a really good time being in the class and learning new things. I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that we were able to write about anything we wanted, since all other modules restrict us to specific briefs.

I found it difficult sometimes to post photos because of either their size or placing, but the solution would always be there...I usually chose a different, smaller photo! It was also a lot of fun personalizing my blog page as I got to explore all the little things that Blogger has to offer, and I love the fact that I can put a photo up instead of a title of the blog.

I really enjoyed writing the features as I got to write about fashion-my favorite topic. I thought as I wrote it would be mostly about fashion clothing in general, but my interest turned mainly to designers. I wrote about well known designers but also did an interview with a designer from Iceland that I have known for a while.

I hope that whoever reads my blogs enjoys reading them because I have really worked hard to bring quality but fun posts to the public. I have put in extra time and research into some of my features and believe that even though it was a fun activity, it is hard work.

Thanks to everyone who did the group blogs with me, I enjoyed it very much!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and see you all in 2009! Wooooo :)

Image from Blogging Tips

2nd Image is my own

FEATURE: Kate Moss to design for Topshop for 3 more years

2008-12-18T19:06:00.006Z

The Kate Moss Christmas 2007 Collection for Topshop

After two successful years of designing for Topshop, Kate Moss has little to worry about in the credit crunch: Topshop has announced the extension of the Kate Moss for Topshop collection for another three years–plus the addition of shoes, accessories and lingerie.

This is exciting news for all fashionistas as the latest collection will launch around March 2009 which is just in time for

the opening of the Topshop store in New York City. Expect to see a lot of beads, pearls, French lace and dark colors in the lingerie line with a rock chic jewellery collection.

"The last two years have been an exciting experience, and Topshop has given me the perfect platform to develop my own collecti

on, which is something that I have wanted to do for a long time. I am really looking forward to working with the Topshop team on ou

r new collections and thank everybody who already owns a piece of Kate Moss for Topshop!” Kate said in a statement.

Some of the many celebs wearing Kate's designs

Image from Catwalk Queen

FEATURE: M.I.A. designs a clothing range

2008-12-18T18:25:00.004Z

Maya Arulapragasam's (M.I.A.) clothing range is now on sale

Ever since we laid eyes and ears on the new and young music sensation that is M.I.A., we couldn't wait to see what she would do next. The quirky and sweet Grammy award winning artist has received attention from all over the world with her "over the top" style choices, and it was only a matter of time when she would design her own line.

You can now buy M.I.A.'s designs on KarmaLoop, but most of the collection is limited edition and is expected to sell quick.

WWD reports that the singer's namesake collection includes “bomber jackets, leggings and T-shirts, all done up in the bold hues and graphic prints for which the singer is known.”

So whether you want to make it a head to toe M.I.A. style outfit complete with the Mexico bodysuit or whether the pair of Afrika print leggings will just jazz up some old items in your wardrobe, this is definitely one celebrity fashion line that will sell out.

Photos from MIAUK and KarmaLoop

FEATURE: New model trend: Blogging!

2008-12-18T17:08:00.007Z

Coco Rocha backstage

like Chanel Iman have started a whole new trend in town: model blogging! More and more models have opened their own blogs either about their personal life, promotion of brands they work for, or simply for fun.

Victoria's Secret model Alessandra Embrosio and Coco Rocha have quickly joined in on the action of blogging. Alessandra posts videos of herself on a beach working or exercising at home, showing everyone a glimpse into the life of a supermodel, while Coco posts anything that comes to her mind on her Oh So Coco blog. You can find out about her new red hair, her trip to Australia and even look at videos of her "goofing" around with Agyness Deyn or brushing her teeth.

Video from Coco's blog

Whatever these cheeky models are up to, their blogs are sure to be noticed by magazines, fashionistas and models alike for a bit of much desired behind-the-scenes look at the fashion world.

Photo from FashionTelevision

Video from Oh So Coco

FEATURE: Christian Louboutin for Barbie

2008-12-17T00:03:00.005Z

Gold Label Barbie

It has been 50 years since a beautiful, long legged, blonde and "perfect" woman appeared in the world. It was Barbie. Soon she celebrates her birthday with a spectacular present-a pair of shoes especially designed for her by legendary designer Christian Louboutin.

Louboutin will be designing a pair of pumps in the legendary Barbie Pantone 219 Pink. The shoes will be revealed at the special runway show planned during New York Fashion Week in February. This show will also feature clothing designs from fifty other designers.

"Barbie needs to wear great shoes because every girl needs to wear great shoes," Louboutin tells WWD. "I guess I always had a little 'girlie side' who liked Barbie."

Image from My Barbie

FEATURE: Scandinavian Star - Harpa Einarsdottir

2008-12-16T02:01:00.005Z

Harpa Einarsdottir, an Icelandic fashion designer

Harpa Einarsdottir is an Icelandic designer that broke into the fashion scene only a few years ago. After all the commotion, art and design, she finally established her own label STARKILLER, that even featured on the cover of DirrtyGlam magazine amongst others. Now working with Vlad Kromatika, a graphics designer she met on MySpace, she designs beautiful but endearing pieces that unleash every girl’s sexy side.

"My work is still developing quite fast, but I see it as edgy clothing for women that want to create their own unique style and are unafraid to show their inner self as strong, beautiful, happy creatures," said Harpa. I met up with her to find out what is behind this "rock-chic-glamour" label.

Ana: As a teenager were you interested in getting into the fashion or design business?

Harpa: I always dressed in an odd way as a teenager and I tried to put together some outfits for myself, but I had set my mind on studying art. I ended up applying for both art and fashion design at the University of Art and Design and got into the design department that sort of sealed my fate.

A: What inspires you?
H: Inspiration comes from all around, reading a magazine, watching a film, doing nothing! Doing nothing can be very inspiring- then ideas pop up from above without any effort.

A: What is your philosophy?
H: Only love.

A: What is more important: the process or the product?
H: I would say that it holds hand in hand, both equally important.

Some of Harpa's designs

A: Can fashion have a political ambition?
H: Sure, but not as much as it did in the seventies and eighties. Some designers always involve politics in there designs, but I really don’t think it is a good mix.

A: Besides Vlad Kromatika, who else would you like to collaborate with?
H: My darling Vladdy...He’s like my long lost brother that I dug up on MySpace! He is a genius, a tall incredible creature! I haven’t found anyone that has the toes where he has his heels.

A: How is it to be successful in such a small market?
H: Well... I can only speak for myself, and at the moment I’m working full time designing costumes for the online computer game Eve Online. Starkiller is still a side project which I’m slowly but steadily working on. We make all the clothes ourselves but in February I’m going abroad to have the new line manufactured and hopefully start an online store. You can ask me how it is to be successful after a year!

A: Who would you like to see wearing your work?
H: Every woman or girl that has a sharp mind and a cutting edge style!

A: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learnt, or something you would like to share with the fashion design students?
H: Always look inside your soul and see who you are! Because everybody is unique in there own way, and everybody has something that is so special that it can become a big trend! You must avoid being a copycat, just love yourself and stick to your beliefs!

First and second images from Starkiller

Third image taken and copyrighted by Saga Sig

Feature writing

2008-12-16T01:29:00.006Z

Editor of US VOGUE Anna Wintour and Editor at Large Andre Leon Tally

This week I will write a series of short feature articles for the module. My first article, however, will be an interview with a phenomenal Icelandic designer. Later, I will talk more about fashion which is my general topic for the features. I will include anything that comes to my mind such as designers, photographers, artists, models, events, etc. I will include photos or videos as they are crucial to represent what you are talking about in fashion. In my opinion, without the visuals there is no story.

Image from RoidRage

x Celeb Scoop x

2008-12-12T10:44:00.006Z

We had a really good time writing in our group blogs, and I would like to write a little summary of it here before we do our pitch today to the rest of the class.

We had decided it would be a celebrity gossip blog and call it Celeb Scoop, but one that has a bit of everything for everyone to read-fashion, music, gossip, news, films, entertainment, TV, etc. We succeeded in making it a very lively, interesting, witty and up to date blog. We posted several posts every day and it went extremely well.

The target audience for the blog was 15 to 25 year olds who are interested in gossip and style and especially celebrities. They would ideally read it at home, at their friend’s house or even at work during lunchtime.

Our competition outside is quite large, there are many similar or the same blogs out there and on Blogger. The biggest competition would probably be Perez Hilton or Celebrity Gossip Net as they even know some celebrities personally and get invited to events. This was probably reached by great blog marketing, which anyone could achieve.

The posts on our blog ranged from fashion to videos of anything, and we had a lot of fun with the formatting as well. It caused us some problems, though. Sometimes it was hard to see how photos would turn out or how the text color would appear in the final post, and sometimes the videos would not load properly. We constantly checked our links and posted blogs to make sure it looked good when we were done. Something that really worked was putting the catchy words in bold and in pink so they stand out, as well as the captions for the photos. This draws the reader’s attention and makes them read the entire post instead of just the title. We also had small polls to make the audience involved in the blog, and we had photos on the side to make the page more attractive.

I believe that the way to make a blog popular and stand out from the rest is to market it well. One way to do this is to post comments on other relevant or “target” blogs. If one posts comments that link back to your own blog, at least one person ois very likely to click and go to it. This would also lead to word of mouth in the end about how great our blog is. The comments should probably be either controversial or opinionated in order to intrigue people and make them interested in who has written it and why. Another way to market the blog is to post it all over the internet and talk about it on sites such as Facebook, Myspace, Bebo, etc. Maybe even make a group with updates. Also, if we write the right labels for our posts it will attract everyone who searches for those tags!

In general, I found this blog quite easy to do, as it was fun and entertaining even for us as for the readers. There were no major problems or issues with it and we all loved reading each other’s posts!

Image from CelebScoop

I am simply addicted

2008-12-10T21:00:00.006Z

A Simpson character I created of myself online

So I have been writing my Media Consumption essay this week (yes I know it should have been done by now) and it provoked some interesting conversations with my flatmates. The theory is that old media (newspapers, radio, cable television) has converged into new media (internet, DVDs, iPods, podcasts, video conferencing, etc.) quickly in the past decade, but with both negative and positive outcomes. I personally love Facebook and all the blogs I read on fashion and celebrities and entertainment, but it makes me think: Do we really have to be stuck to the computer for so many hours a day?

I mean really...do we? No we don't! So why do we do it then?? Because we are lazy! It's quite sad but true...in fact I am a little bit ashamed of myself because of the amount of time I spend online, especially on Facebook (although I do have friends abroad which I cannot otherwise speak to). Whatever happened to those fun, simple times when we used to go outside and hang out with friends, go to parks, the theatre...oh wait-THE CREDIT CRUNCH...that's what happened.

I personally do not have money to go out, so I stay here in my warm house and browse the internet on my computer and watch TV at the same time. Sure I am a little ashamed...but aren't we all?

On the more positive side, the Internet is a great way to stay in touch with everyone and receive quick information whether it be news or from family and friends. I do have to admit, though, that I would trust print newspapers more than the content posted online.

So...I will continue to hang on Facebook for hours, watch TV at the same time, buy print newspapers and (ridiculously enough) eat less because I am sometimes too lazy to stand up with my laptop!

Image created on Simpsonize Me

Simon dumped by a text!

2008-12-09T16:18:00.006Z

Terri and Simon during their happier times

Since their media-frenzied break up a few weeks ago, X Factor judge Simon Cowell has revealed that ex girlfriend Terri Seymour dumped him via text message.

"Terri decided to dump me. She sent me a text," he tells US show Extra.

The poor Terri Seymour waited 6 long years for Simon to give into her wishes of starting a family. After Simon offered to buy her a terrapin as a pet instead of a baby, Terri had enough.

“We’ve split up. It’s very sad but we decided to go our separate ways. It just wasn’t working out between us” said Terri to her friends.

So who will be the next woman to be turned on by Simon's high waisted trousers and bird-nest-lookalike hair? I'll be excited to see!

Image from People

Group Blogging

2008-12-07T23:52:00.005Z

This week we started our group blogs and it was a fun process as we all had to pitch our ideas to the class. Jamie and I wanted to do either a celebrity gossip blog or some sort of entertainment blog where we could have fun with it. In the end we joined a celebrity blog group of which Alka is Editor and I was appointed as Fashion Editor.

I have to admit it is much more fun to blog there than on my own blog as we need to follow specific assignments each time and write in a more "newsy" style. The celebrity blog is more relaxed and we get to write whatever we want in a witty way.

I blogged about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes and also about "celebrities' outrageous shoes" which came to my attention today. It was rather difficult and tedious to put the photos in the post just as I wanted them but I figured it out in the end. Being Fashion Editor, it is probably easier as there is not that much writing necessary but one needs to know how to choose the right photos and how to write about them at the same time-sort of connect the text with them.

I can't wait to blog on Celeb Scoop again!

Winter...

2008-12-01T19:10:00.005Z

Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park

The last piece of work we did for class was a bit of a challenge for me. We had to write an opinion piece on anything, but as I am not so opinionated it was rather hard to find my words. I finally decided the fur issue would be very controversial and interesting to write about as I feel that vintage is OK to buy, but I know many people who would disagree with me and have very good opposing arguments. Nevertheless, I think I did pretty well on the writing of my opinion piece, and I look forward to the feature I am going to write. I feel that this class is one of the few fun ones we have had, mainly because of the way it is structured and how it gives us space for creativity and flexible time for writing. All this enables us to fully show how well we can write.

And some random thoughts...It has been so cold lately. I do not remember it being this cold last year at all! In fact, I would prefer to be back in Iceland right now because I know it is warmer! On the positive side, there is the Christmas "joy" that has been in the air for the past...well, 3 months. I have purposely ignored it until now, and have decided to go to Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland with my boyfriend on the weekend. It was quite fun, but where is all the snow? There is lack of that "magic" without the snow. And the venue looked nothing like the photo above...in fact the ice rink was about 10 times smaller than the one pictured. Everything was overpriced but I could not resist the big £3 pretzel and the £4 mulled wine...Oh and some Nutella on a pancake for another £3. I don't know how much I spent that day but I did enjoy it, and will probably go back just for another pretzel.

Image from About

Real, vintage or faux?

2008-11-28T11:31:00.012Z

Paris VOGUE June 2008

Fur is without a doubt the most controversial topic of discussion in the fashion world. With the winter becoming colder and the need for layering becoming greater, fur sales always rise. Real fur is still sold in Harrods for the wealthy customer, cheap vintage fur is sold in many shops and markets and faux fur is all over the high street. But can one wear vintage or faux with a clear conscience?

Celebrities like Madonna, Lindsay Lohan, Carine Roitfeld, Kate Moss and Jade Jagger have all worn fur in public. The controversy is whether it is ethical to wear vintage fur or not to wear any kind of fur at all. There are good points on both sides of the argument, but should we condemn vintage fur in the same way that today's designers attract criticism for using pelts? After all, recycling an old fur coat means that no animals have to die today to satisfy our desire for this luxury look. Alex Barlow, a PR consultant for designer label Handwritten, is one of the British women buying vintage as a guilt-free alternative to contemporary fur. "I am against real fur - in that I don't approve of new garments being made from fur - but I am OK about wearing vintage," she says. "The animal has been dead for decades and that at least means I'm not part of the contemporary supply chain."

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) had received over 15,000 furs in the past 15 years and continues to encourage fur recycling despite their constant arguments that nobody should wear fur. “The only people who can be excused for wearing fur are the homeless-to keep warm during the winter," says PETA rep Michael McGraw. But surely, in this 21st century, we have found other types of coats and ways of keeping warm?

The high street, and especially Miss Selfridge, are full of faux fur coats that are selling well this season. However, buying good imitations could still put across a mixed message. I think everyone should be able to wear what they want without being condemned for it. Buying any sort of fur is a personal choice. In my opinion, it is OK to buy vintage because it has already been worn for decades, and I would never want to be a part of the new cycle of pelt sales.

On a lighter note, take a look at my fellow classmate's blog on Britney Spears' comeback:

Jamie Wicks

"Changeling" - Directed by Clint Eastwood

2008-11-27T16:29:00.006Z

I can't wait to see this film, I think Angelina Jolie will be amazing in it! See the trailer below.

Clip from YouTube

The lectures so far...

2008-11-27T10:47:00.005Z

I've found this module very interesting and fun to do. It is not exactly what I expected, as I thought we were going to create some sort of website and act as "Editor" or some creative role in the publication of it. However, I have still enjoyed making a little blog and writing in it every week. I have had blogs before; a travel blog and a fashion blog where I had 1000 viewers. The fashion blog was also called Tres Chic and is on MySpace. It was very successful due to the fact that I involved the readers into it by picking out their photos every month to be featured as "best style" features. It was a lot of fun to do but eventually I did not have time for it anymore when I went to University. This time it is different, I take care of my grammar and style of writing a lot more in order to make it "newsworthy". I was really happy when we were told that we can choose any story or topic we really want. When I did the news feature on "Fleet Street jobs..." I had a lot of fun with it because I was able to incorporate one of my favorite books, Flat Earth News, into the blog.

Today I am going to look for a story to write a comment piece on. I am not sure what I am going to focus on exactly as I'd like to write about fashion, but I will need to research it first. I find it rather difficult to write a very long opinion piece as I am not an extreme opinionated person!

Image from Ian Shadwick

Fleet Street job cuts affecting news quality

2008-11-21T15:52:00.010Z

The future of news might be in trouble as hundreds of Fleet Street journalists lose their jobs every month.

“There have been big staff cuts on Fleet Street and the newspaper sales aren’t doing great, but it is mainly regionals that are in trouble, not the nationals. The Independent, though, has been preparing for a tough year, maybe even a sale” said Neil McIntosh, Editor of the Guardian Online.

Guardian writer Nick Davies, the author of a book investigating Fleet Street – Flat Earth News – claims that journalists are failing at the essential job of telling the truth because of pressure to produce stories every day and because of even greater commercial drives in the industry.

He then claimed that because of cuts in staff and increase of pages, there would be an immense affect on news quality.

“The relentless impact of commercialization has seen our journalism reduced to mere churnalism,” said Davies.

Davies researched and suggested journalists spend an average of eight minutes checking up to 10 stories per shift, with almost no time for ”checking the truth.”

“The influence of PR is really worrying,” said Neil McIntosh to students at a lecture at the University of Westminster.

He said he disagrees with some of Davies’ thesis, claiming that “journalism has changed greatly in the past decade and journalists are working much harder than ever before.”

Image from The Publican

Comparison of The Sun newspaper to The Sun Online

2008-11-14T19:16:00.007Z

The Sun Online is quite similar to The Sun newspaper. It's main color is red and they clearly want to maintain it in the paper itself and especially all over the website. The red gives quite a tabloid feel to it and brings the public's full attention to the paper. Their headlines are also extremely large.

They use the same types of articles in both the paper and online, and also have the same photographs. The headlines, however, are differently written because they are probably written by different journalists for each media.

There are more advertisements in the paper, almost on every page and more. But online there are only a few and they are not usually as visible or "in your face". There are sections such as "My Sun" and around the website where readers can comment, watch videos and interact. This of course, is limited with the paper as it might not ever get published once sent to the journalists.

The news online are more recent as there are sections such as "just published", "most read" and "most discussed", and, for example, the photo of Baby P appeared online today but it will not be in print until tomorrow morning.

The content of the paper is in the same categories as online (e.g. TV, sport, showbiz, travel, page 3, etc.) but it is easier to navigate there than it is in the paper as it is set up right in front of your eyes to click on.

So The Sun is really more of a tabloid type of newspaper than any other kind. The journalists write a lot about celebrities, entertainment and gossip. They occasionally throw in a big story if it is relevant and dramatic enough but does not have to be gossip or celebrity related.

I quite like The Sun and have always read it since I've moved to London. I actually prefer it to the other papers...It is quite funny that so many people don't admit they read it, yet it is the most read newspaper in the UK, with a circulation of 2 million.

Image from West Loife

"Mother of Baby P has another child while in prison"

2008-11-14T11:52:00.006Z

Baby Peter's name and photo were revealed today by The Sun

According to The Telegraph Online, the mother of Baby P gave birth to a little girl in March this year and now wants her baby back. The newborn has been in care the day she was born and now it needs to be decided whether she will be given to her mother or given up for adoption.

Reading the news about Baby P in the past few days has been quite upsetting for me. The 2-year-old baby was constantly tortured by his horrible mother and sadistic step-father, while a pedophile lodger lived with them and watched it all happen. I was absolutely shocked at the claims that so many social workers failed to notice this poor baby's condition, which eventually led to his death. He was only 2 years old and so innocent. I cannot even begin to believe that anyone in the authorities would even think once about giving any of this vile woman's children back! None of them apparently show any remorse for poor Baby P, and she even thinks she will be home by Christmas. She does not deserve to have a Christmas, or any kind of holiday. Ever. She should remain in jail because that is where she belongs.

Baby P had more than 50 injuries including a broken back. The mother looked on as her crazy husband "trained" Baby P to respond to the click of his fingers, like an animal. According to The Sun (12 Nov 2008), he would put the baby on a chair, continuously punch him and spin him until he fell off. How can someone be so sick? I will never understand it.