I am back :)

So HELLO EVERYBODY!

I am finally back, it's been a long and tiresome couple of weeks but I am happy to say I am back, AND that I have achieved a First Class Honours in Business Management. I so pleased! And I want to thank everyone who has supported me through it all. It means a lot!

So I have been on a couple of shopping trips during this time, and received my first Graze Box, so those things have been pretty exciting. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures before I put everything away, but I did take pictures of the Graze Box, so there will be a post on that soon.

I am also considering starting Youtube. I have a busy week sorting things out this week but I might have a tinker around next week. So if you have any video ideas, please feel free to share.

Another thing to mention is that I am definitely going on holiday now! We have booked Menorca for the day after my graduation, 6th July, so that's not far away at all! I am so excited. And it is likely you will see all my latest purchases on the holiday! I may also do some vlogging, to upload when I get back, if people are interested. 

So there we are, that's pretty much the last couple of weeks caught up. Now it's time for a bit of Wii Fit before dinner, currently working on my bikini body you see! 

 I hope that everyone is doing great in their exams and get to enjoy summer soon!

See you tomorrow :D

It wasn't as scary as I thought...

So I'm three weeks into my new course at York College and so far I am really enjoying it! =D

The content is a lot meatier than it was on my last course, so now I actually feel like I am learning something, and that something is going to help me in the future. I have met some lovely people and the college itself is very modern and has great facilities. So, so far so good :D

Besides college I have a lot of work days with 'The Shop Sitter' lined up this month. So all in all I am being kept very busy, which is good for me, I like to be doing things.

So as and when interesting things crop up, I will be sure to post them. I don't see the need to post all the time, as I really don't have all that much to talk about from day to day, so things would get very boring, very quickly. I like the way things are for now, so will continue like this.

I have the House of Colour event again on Wednesday, so that should be a fun evening! I'll leave it at that for now, have my Pilates session in 25 minutes!

Sort of dreading college on Monday...

...so to take my mind off it I decided to put a lot of my Edinburgh photos on Deviant Art so take a looksie if you have some time. Comments and criticisms welcome :D

Short post for now, need to go and get my curry out of the slow cooker. Date night with the bf tonight, definitely in need for some R&R after my blood test this morning, ugh!

I see light at the end of the tunnel!

3 down and 1 to go!

The reason there has been no posts for a while is because of the amount of work I have been doing for the last 2 weeks, and I am pleased to say I only have one more project to hand in!

After handing in PPD4 I worked for a week finishing up WRL 4 and FMT2 which I handed in yesterday. I am really pleased with how my sketchbooks turned out, not so pleased that they took the best part of a day to print, but at least I got there in the end :)

Here is a photo of the bag charm I created for FMT2, I think the leaves might be a little bit big, but overall I am pleased, let me know what you think...

Anyway, I should really get on with my final sketchbook now, the deadline for VM is May 17th and after that it's time to become self employed and start earning the pennies for Holland, Edinburgh and London. Hopefully going to have an eventful summer, and finally get around some of the tourist attractions in York!

I am starting a tailoring and dressmaking course on Thursday evening, which I am quite excited about, so I will definitely write a post about that :D

Once I have finished all my college work I do intend to keep up with my blog, I enjoy writing it and will hopefully have more time to devote to it and my Deviant Art account, so watch this space!

It's been a little while

So what with having a very busy week and then going home to see the family, it's been a while since my last post, and all I have seemed to do is work work work on all 4 of my projects.

There hasn't been any major events this week, apart from I did start work on the model of my shop, which involved me getting covered in paper maché and white acrylic paint, but it was fun. I am going to try and finish it this weekend while I am home.

At the moment I am really focusing on finishing my PPD4 project, as I have a presentation to give on the 26th April, I don't have that much left to do so I should be done in time. My other projects are coming along as well, but I definitely have the most to do on VM, but I am trying to get the others mostly out of the way so I can focus on that last.

Just a small post really to let you know I am working away, been ill today though so just woke up again after a nap, best get on with my report for PPD4 really!

A Busy Working Week

So it's been just over a week, and I have actually made a lot of progress in this time. 

Because one of my tutors was not going to be present on Monday, I decided to work from home, and I made some progress on my WRL4 project and decided to work on this for the rest of the week, because I felt if I got one project out of the way it would take some of the pressure off.

In college on Tuesday we did some work on branding in the morning, which helped us to check if our PPD4 promotional material we were creating was actually representing us properly. I finished working on my postcard and artists statement, so that's the last of my promotional material finished, well apart from the poster for the static show.

In the afternoon we had tutorials with an substitute teacher called Dan, who has a very interesting career history, and had a lot of good ideas for both WRL4 and VM so that put my head in a much better place for finishing up some bits and pieces for WRL4.

My WRL 4 project is pretty much finished now, apart from a couple of odd jobs that can't be done until I progress with my other projects, so I am very pleased about that. 

I also had a friend staying for the week so it was nice to have a fresh pair of eyes over my work and she gave me some very constructive criticism.

The weekend was spent with the family, enjoying the beautiful sunshine in Sheffield and in York. I spent a bit too much money but I suppose I could justify is as trend research?? HAH!

So yesterday and today I have been working on the 3000 word mini dissertation for VM. I completed the first draft after 8 hours yesterday, and have proofed it this morning, I have now sent it to a couple of other people to read to make sure I haven't missed any silly mistakes. Overall I am pleased with the content and the presentation (all 22 pages of it!), and I hope that once I have had it checked by the learning mentors I can consider it done.

So now, after having my WRL4 project read over by my boss, I have a couple of bits and pieces to add and change in that, and then I intend to work on FMT2 and get my research completed.

And tonight, after 5, I am going to roam the streets of York and take photos of some window displays for VM, then I can't get shouted at by staff. So that's another job down. 

Going home on Thursday but there is no rest for the wicked, it's likely I will be working from there too, but once its done it's done and I can relax. Saying that, I am considering taking part in a dressmaking a tailoring course straight after college finishes, but it will be very useful and will keep me busy :)

Speaking of busy, best get cracking really...

This Week in a Nutshell

I really don't know where this week has gone! It just feels like I have floated along and I don't have that much to show for it!

In college on Monday I continued to work on both my FMT2 and WRL4 projects. I am quite comfortable with the amount of work I have to do for FMT2, and I do feel that now I have a bit more clarity, that I have more direction for my WRL4 project. 

Tuesday I didn't go to college because there was mentions of me going to help with styling for the fashion show at Fashion City York, the first fashion event in York, which my employer Bill Baber Knitwear, is involved in. It's quite exciting for me because it means I get to be involved too! Unfortunately the organisers decided that they did not want retailers involved in the event to be present at the styling. So instead I got on with my college work from home, and worked more on FMT2 as I am keen to get this project done now.

Wednesday I had House of Colour training at work. The House of Colour help people to understand what colours and styles suit them and offer lots of services to help transform not just your wardrobe, but your lifestyle as well. The training was very informative, but I do feel I should have been making notes, because there was a lot to take in. Also while I was at work, I took advantage of the fact that I work for a small business and asked Jack, my boss, to help me with my 'accounts' for WRL4. He helped me to make realistic estimates and projections for my business. When I got back from work I started another InDesign sketchbook for my WRL4 project and I am very pleased with the overall look of it.

Thursday was pilates day, and I was definitely in need of it, I have let things slide recently. I also went on a bit of a shopping trip and got the bits and pieces that I need to make my bag charm for FMT2. The lady in Craft Basics on Gillygate was very helpful and I managed to get most things in there. However, I did have to venture to Barnitts, another great shop in York which sells everything, to get my clasp. In the evening I got on with more small tasks for a few of my projects.

And then to Friday, cleaning and college work day. And basically I did what it says on the tin, I cleaned, and I worked.

So that's what has been going on this week, and now I am watching Saturday Kitchen (I love food programmes!), and I am about to get ready to go down to the fashion village to help out on the Bill Baber stand. So if you're in York head down to St. Samson's Square, near the Disney Shop. I am also working tomorrow and attending the fashion show tonight, so more blogs tomorrow! I have also being waiting to post about something else, so look out for that too!

The Weekend and The Window Display

Since working on my PPD4 project last week, college work took a slight backseat as my sister came to stay for the weekend, (I did do a bit more work on my sketchbook for FMT2 though).

My sister and I, amongst other things, attended the York Affordable Vintage Fair on Sunday to see what vintage treats were available. This was the second of these events we have attended and have enjoyed both, however they are very busy so patience is required. For a reasonable £1 with a student card, you can enter the Hospitium in York Museum Gardens and rifle through the clothes, jewellery and homeware available from several small stalls. There is everything from denim shorts to fur coats and leather handbags. We picked up shirts each, mine used to be a large Levi's denim shirt but the lady selling them had re-worked them into cute summery tie-up shirts, and I thought it was quite a bargain at £15. I really wanted to take some pictures in there but it was so busy that you sort of just had to move with the flow of traffic, but I will try and attend the next one and go at a quieter time, (it opened at 10:30 and we were there just after, so it was probably peak time). 

We also went to York Designer Outlet and into the city and shopped 'til we literally dropped, then I had to find the energy to make a Sunday Dinner! But all in all a great weekend!

So that was the weekend, and now for the promised Window Display. I have been waiting for an image for it so I haven't been able to blog about it until now. So on January 15th we had to set up Window Displays made predominantly of plastic bags for our VM project. Quite a challenge really, how do you make plastic bags look fashionable and form a creative and high-end window display out of them? Well, a bit like this:

Our under-water window display was inspired originally by this dress from the Vogue trend website:

My group of Avneet, Becky and I were instantly inspired by the colour and style of this dress, and with my interest in all that lives under-the-sea, decided that this would be the ideal theme to work with. Sourcing blue plastic bags was a little tricky but it so happened that we had plenty of those at work, and I got a hand from home with the blue cellophane (and fairy lights). We wanted to create something really simple and effective which would appeal to the high end market. 

It would have been really easy for us to go mad with coral and fish and all things reef-like, but we felt that a few carefully placed props was the right way to go. So with that we decided on a couple of pieces of large coral / seaweed, which we made from cardboard, ripped up plastic bags and gold spray paint, and some bubbles, (which due to the image quality can't be seen that well, but they are glass baubles filled with iridescent shred). We also decided on using lots of white carrier bags to cover the back and floor of the window, and to also blur the light of the fairy lights to give a more sea feel to the whole display.

When making the actual dress we found that plastic bags were very hard to work with and that it would be difficult to create the flowy effect of the inspiration dress. So instead we decided to create a more up-and-down silhouette and added a belt. I think we still made a very fashionable dress that suited the theme of our window display.

Overall I am very pleased with how this part of the project went, I think that my team worked well together and we achieved the image that we originally set out to. If we had more time and more resources I think that we would have tired to get bigger bubbles so they stood out more, and also more fairy lights. Furthermore, we would have covered the sides of the window with white bags as well, so they fit in better with the rest of the window. But all things considered, I think our attempt at a high end window display, (made out of plastic bags!), was a success. 

Opinions and comments are most welcome.

Right, I think I am all up to date now, and I have just finished my essay proposal, and it's been a sunny day, so happy times!

Enjoy the sunshine, long may it last!!

PPD4, almost done :)

Yesterday at college I finally got to designing my business cards to go with the rest of the promotional material I am working on, (I will be putting pictures of these on the new page on my blog, you see that up there, shiny new pages!!) I am really pleased with how they have turned out, and the design came about quite by accident. I was working on a polaroid theme, which is reoccurring throughout my promotional material, and I was trying to create an image of myself with a few of my own images of my interests around me. When importing an image of a rose, (which I took), into the business card, it appeared huge and as though I was stood in the flower. Instantly I liked it and thought it was quite surreal yet effective and eye catching. My original plan for my business cards was to create several different images with polaroid type sleeves / frames, which the card could be pulled out of to reveal my details, however, after some research I found this would be difficult and expensive. So instead I have incorporated the frame into the card itself and used 4 different images of flowers to create different business cards, but all on the same theme and layout. Please let me know what you think once they go on the new page.

On another note, the tutorial on essay writing we had yesterday was very useful and it has made me think more positively about writing my mini dissertation. And the tutorial on my WRL4 module never happened as my tutor didn't turn up, which is slightly frustrating.

Finally, as soon as I get the images for it, I will be blogging on the team window event we undertook a couple of weeks back, because I think it's definitely worth a mention, and my team of Avneet, Becky and I are very proud of what we achieved, so keep an eye out  for that :) right, best get those business cards uploaded, and then get ready for pilates!

That Monday Feeling

So today I am working on my sketchbook for fashion marketing theory trying to get to the end of the designer trends I am researching. This project requires me to undertake extensive research and so far I have researched designer trends for Spring / Summer 2011, as I feel that this will influence the designs of my handbag charms. From this I am going to focus on designer handbag trends and then turn my attention to high street fashion and handbag trends. Finally I will look at brands that already have handbag charms in their product line and see what trends are influencing these. 

From this I will be able to draw some inspiration for my own designs and then start to think about how I will package my product. One of the constraints of the project is that my product has to be able to hang, but I am also considering including another packaging option such as a small bag for if the product will be given as a gift.

As I previously mentioned I think I am going to focus on knitted handbag charms as I like to knit as a hobby. The theme for my charms will probably be florals, as this trend reoccurs every spring so the charms will be a long lasting accessory, the product line could just be updated every season depending on how the florals trend changes. I also considered focusing on under-the-sea themed charms but I feel this trend will die down quickly and it does not fit my interests in eco-fashion as well as florals do.

I am creating my sketchbook on InDesign, which I am still learning to use, but I am finding it a great programme. I think it is a cross between Photoshop, Illustrator and Publisher, and with a basic knowledge of these three programmes you can start using InDesign quickly and easily and get great results. So far I am very pleased with how my sketchbook is going. I will eventually put pictures of some of my favourite pages onto my Deviant Art account (Click here to see it =]), but I think I will have to wait until it is printed as all the editing boxes within InDesign make the pages look messy and you don't get the overall effect.

So there's an update on how this project is going. Tomorrow I will be working on PPD4 and attending a lecture on how to construct essays which will help me in starting my dissertation. I will also  having a tutorial about my WRL4 project so I will give you and update on how that is going tomorrow. Best go get on really =]

New Start...Prettier Blog

Oh My Gosh!

Yes I have been rubbish, but to be honest, I HATED the theme of this blog, it was awful. But, as I now have to do a blog for college, I got myself in gear and played around with editing it, and I am much much happier with it =]

So, it has been nearly a year since my last post, and I can't be bothered going through everything that happened, but here are the important points:

- I live in York now.

- I have taken up Photography as a hobby.

- I have a job, I work as a sales assistant for Bill Baber York, a family run knitwear company.

- I am still at Harrogate College but I am going to York College in September, to top-up to a Business Management Degree.

That's a brief update! I also now have a Deviant Art account so check out http://lucyslilworld.deviantart.com/ if you have some time. Most of my photo's and my college work will be going on there, but I will post the odd photo on here too.

So college now requires me to keep a blog, so hopefully that will get me into a good habit for the future, because I do actually like blogging, but I just seem to get lazy.

Well I should just give you a quick run through of the projects for this term, my final term, eep! The projects are quite exciting, but there is a LOT of work to be done:

Work Related Learning 4- This term I am required to come up with a business and cost it. I do already have an idea for this, but, as I may plan to do this in the future, I am kind of reluctant to post my full idea online, (not that many people read this, but you never know!), I am pretty excited about the idea, and if it seems like I could run with it in the future, I might just do so!

Fashion Marketing Theory 2- For this project I am required to undertake extensive research into a specific line of accessories, and then design a product and it's packaging related to the research. I am looking at handbag charms and in particular, knitted ones, which combines one of my hobbies into the project. I am enjoying this project, at the moment I am on with a lot of research, and am creating a sketchbook on Adobe InDesign rather than a paper one, so it's a never ending learning curve at the moment, as I am still getting to grips with the software.

Personal and Professional Development 4- Probably my favourite project at the moment. I am required to design and create a set of promotional materials for myself, including a creative CV, business cards and a digital portfolio, (hence this and the Deviant Art account. Also in this project I have to undertake some careers research. I originally undertook some research into other creative promotional material to gain some inspiration and ideas, I am going to display these ideas in another sketchbook created on InDesign. At the moment I am working on the promotional material, and that is where the new theme for this blog came from. The materials have to represent me, and I think that the theme I have chosen is quite true to myself and my interests.

Visual Merchandising- This is the biggest project we have this term, and we are treating it like a final major project including a mini dissertation. So far we have worked in a group to create a window display made from plastic bags, and have also created presentations about visual merchandising and store image. The presentation will aid us in our dissertations. Also as part of this project we have to create a 3D model of our dream shop and a decoupage of our dream shop window, and support these ideas with A3 boards and sketchbooks, (I am also working on InDesign for this project). I have some initial ideas for my shop and window display, (linked to my WRL4 project), but at the moment I am working on some trend research, and some research into shop interiors and window displays.

I will be using this blog to document my progress in my projects and my thoughts and feelings towards it all. On top of this I may document other events, (such as the Harvey Nichols event that I am attending on 23rd March), and projects that I am undertaking in my spare time, for example my photography, (most of my images go on Deviant Art, but I might post about my outings to take some pretty pictures!)

Anyway, major long post! But hopefully now I am more up to date :) and I WILL keep on top of this, I promise.

Busy busy makes for poor blogging!

Ok, so once again I manage not to post for a long time! But in my defence I have been doing uber millions of work; so it's about time I explained the briefs for this term:

Work Related Learning- For this project I have to design a capsule collection of wedding dresses and accessories for the House of Wu group. If the designs are good my tutor, Andrew, owner of Eternity Bridal, may catwalk some of them. I also have to design all the promotional material for this collection. My collection is themed around the beach wedding, and so far I am pretty pleased with it. I know need to choose my favourite designs and develop them further, then I am going to consider tiara, bag and shoe designs. I am going to the Bridal Show in Harrogate on Monday, so I will try and post about that.

Style, Design and Fashion Production- For this project I have to design a hand bag, and also create a marketing plan, magazine feature and a window display. I am taking part in photography lessons, as I also have to do a photoshoot with my finished bag. I am going to knit an across the body messenger bag, and add details such as cross stitching and screen printing. I struggled with this project at the beginning but now I am really getting into it.

'Future Perfect'- This project requires me to design a trend book for AW'10 and SS'11, which will inspire the buying and production teams of a high street store. At the moment I am spending a lot of time gathering research from magazines and WGSN (fashion forecasting website). We also attended Premier Vision in Paris to aid us, (this trip has aided me in most projects for this term). I really enjoyed Premier Vision, sadly you are not permitted to take photos in there, so no pictures, but I got photos of shop front etc, but I am not sure I can post them without getting into trouble, (got a beautiful picture of a McQueen dress in one window =/ R.I.P). Was a great trip, but it was so cold!

Personal and Professional Development- I have to pick two skills which are relevant to my chosen career, in my case fashion buying, and develop them. I have to then show my development to the class by form of a presentation at the end of the term. I have decided to focus on trend prediction, which I will present as a series of mood boards, and buyer investigation, in which I will undertake research into what it takes to be a buyer. I will do this by interviewing my mum's cousin, as she has extensive buying experience, and by imagining I was the buyer for a high street store, and I will present what I would buy. All this will interlink, as I will summarise what I learn from the interview, then predict the trends, and apply this to the role of a buyer by showing what I would select for my chosen high street store. I am excited about this project as at present I am trying to get some work experience to help me, but my emails keep bouncing back, so I am unsure what to do =s!

Anyway, there is this terms work, yes I am already a few weeks in and should have done this sooner, but all I seem to do is work, cook, clean, food shop, sleep, travel to and from home, and more work. Thank goodness its the weekend... I am definitely chilling out. Got a hat to knit =] so more on that aswell. Also, I will put pictures up of the project I have made for mothers day, once my mum has it, (she reads this so I can't post it yet!)

So that's all for now, have a great weekend :)

Photoshoot!

Sooo, back at college now, and everything is go go go again!

I've got my new briefs for the term, which I will post about later, (have another post as well, oh aren't you lucky =p), but for now I have to post about yesterdays shenanigans!

For one of the new breifs, PPD, my dear friend Avneet, thought that it would be perfect to do a photoshoot to present as part of a project. I happily obliged to be styled and photographed by Avneet, because, let's face it, I love having my photo taken.

So last Thursday we went into Leeds so Avneet could chose me an outfit. I decided that I needed to be styled for a festival, (although I have never been to one in my life, and the thought of living in a tent with no shower for a few days just isn't my idea of fun, I am sure the music is great though!).

Avneet picked my clothes from H&M, which is a shop I am really loving at the moment, (I may even use it as part of my project, but more on that later). I tried on several outfits and decided on a floaty top and denim shorts, which were in that sale, and so I have decided to keep them instead of taking them back which was my original plan.

Yesterday at college, we took before and after pictures (Avneet styled 3 of us in total), and then we just had a mess around because we booked the studio for 2 hours.

It was great fun, we had a good giggle and got some productive work done. I am going to have a play with some of the photos on Illustrator or Photoshop, so I will let you know the results of that. But for now, here are my before and after pictures, and my favourite photo of me from the shoot...

Me before...

Me after...

Me and my stylist, Avneet...

Me and the other models (Becky, left and Abi centre)...

My favourite picture of me...

The rest of the photos are on Facebook =]!

More posts soon...

The 4 Projects

As I said I would I will now outline the 4 projects I am undertaking and my initial ideas for them.

Project 1- 'Connect with the Customer' In this project I will be designing e-newsletters for Pure Collection Limited. I have to be aware of seasonal trends and have to be able to reinvent them to encourage consumers to keep buying the products on offer. I will, with the aid of my classmates, produce a trend report of Leeds (explained in previous post), and will have to be able to identify my target customer and create a customer profile. During this project I will also be studying advertising and collecting other e-newsletters to build up a file of research. At the end of this project I will have produced four consecutive months of e-newsletters, along with mood boards and other mini projects I have been set.

Project 2- 'Pick and Mix' This project's aim is to collaborate an icon or celebrity and a high street store to create a collection that suits both the icon and the store, and to brand it successfully. The best current example of this is the 'Kate Moss Topshop' collection. During this project I will carry out a lot of research into my icon and my chosen store. The final collection will consist of 10 pieces, and I will be considering forecasting to select the fabrics and colours. The final part of this project will be the designing of the packaging, swing tags and logos. At the end of this project I will be able to present each part of the project individually either on boards or in sketchbooks and files.

My initial ideas for this project are to design a collection for Marks and Spencer's inspired by Joanna Lumley. She is very inspirational to me as she is a keen human and animal rights activist, and she cares for the environment. She also has an interesting upbringing and career, and I hope to bring some of this out in the collection I design. I chose Marks and Spencer's as it is a well established store, which has something for all women, and is environmentally aware. I am very keen on conservation and eco-fashion and I took this into consideration when choosing my icon and store.

Project 3- 'From Vision to Consumer' In this project I will researching and learning about how fashion, retail and marketing have developed since the 1900's to the present day. I will be producing a time line of the major events, and an essay on a particular era on the time line.

I will also be producing a skirt, and will learn the whole design process, from choosing fabrics and pattern cutting, to the finishing touches. I will research different brands and create designs based on my inspiration. I will also be producing a brand for my skirt, which will include designing logos, swing tickets and hangers.

My initial ideas for this project is to design a skirt with a surfy theme, as I really like surf brands such as Roxy and Quicksilver. I have already started some research by talking to sales assistants in stores such as Quicksilver, White Stuff and Fat Face. I have signed up for some catalogues which I will be able to take inspiration from.

Project 4- 'My Book' The main aim of this project is to be able to market myself in the working world. The 'My Book' will contain my CV, information about myself, and will demonstrate all the creative skills I possess which will help me in the fashion field. It is open to interpretation how the 'My Book' should be presented so it is up to me to get creative and present it in the best way I can.

My initial ideas for this project is to present the 'My Book' in an A2 sketch book, as that way I can fit a lot onto one page. I will include my CV, information about me, and my hip problems, (I think this is important as it is quite a big part of my life). I will maybe also include some knitting as I very much enjoy it; and I will try and incorporate some other skills I am developing while taking part in this course.

During all my projects I will be writing short essays of reflection. These are important as they give me the chance to think about what I could have done differently to improve myself, and this is a skill that is vital in business.

As I said in my first post, this blog will be used as part of my reflection, and to document my work. I would also appreciate criticism, good or bad, so I know how I could improve.

The Leeds Trip

OK, so today I can hardly move, (stupid hips), so now is as good a time as any to tell you about our trip around Leeds yesterday.

The aim of the trip was to analyse the trends in all types of clothing and accessories, and we will put this information together to make a 'book' of the current trends of the season; this will be used to aid us in making our e-newsletters, (one of the four projects we are completing this term; I will do a post outlining the four projects next).

My group, of Demi, Ella and I, were set the task of discovering the 4 key trends of the season in general.

We went in many different high street stores, such as H&M, River Island and Topshop, to see what the biggest 'stories' were, and what were the most obvious trends. These were normally found at the front of house.

Overall, we found that sequins and embellishments are the biggest trend of the season, being found anywhere and everywhere, and for all ages, (even M&S had many sequins on ranges aimed at the older generation).

Structure is the second most dominant trend of the season. Stores like Zara emphasised this with dedicated point of sale and with the front of house being packed with large shoulder pads and body con dresses, all of which with a relatively high price point, but beautiful tactile fabrics that were cleverly chosen.

Tribal and folk is a trend which we have seen through summer, but is being carried on into winter with big chunky, tribal patterned knits, and big tribal prints on long t-shirts. Leather is also being spotted in this trend, with worn leather jackets that look quite 'cowboys and Indians'.

Different leather and prints are also being seen in the final trend; punk rock. There is much 80's influence in this trend, but with some modern twists. T-shirts with punky prints and leather trousers were spotted while researching this trend.

Sometimes it was difficult to separate the trends as many overlap; especially sequins and embellishments, which can be found incorporated into all the other trends listed above.

While we were researching the trends, we took note of how different stores emphasise different parts of their marketing strategy.

For example, Topshop has clever and interesting point of sale all over the store, with big displays naming each section of the shop floor, e.g. knitwear. However, the swing tags are relatively plain and are the same on most, if not all garments, (excluding the Kate Moss for Topshop collection).

In comparison, River Island pays more attention to their swing tags, having different, elaborate and intricate designs for each 'story' or type of garment. The store is very clean cut and has a funky edge, but there are not many displays on the walls, as it is clear that the attention to detail of the swing tags is the major tool in their branding campaign.

Marks and Spencer's have another approach. The swing tags for each collection are different, but are still relatively simple, but the biggest emphasis is on the mannequin displays dotted around the shop, and the large pictures and mission statements on the walls.

Maybe this is different because the target customer of Marks and Spencer's is generally of a higher age bracket than the previously mentioned stores, but it is interesting how different clothing retailers tackle marketing and point of sale.

Overall I found this trip very interesting and educational and it has given me many ideas for the projects I am undertaking. I will probably take some more time to carry out further research on my own, as I will need more information about Marks and Spencer's in particular, as they are going to be a key part to one of my projects.