Wedding Inspiration

I've never got married before. Obvious. But who knew how much went into it? And how quickly you had to put everything in when you've got a deadline. Gosh. So I've been doing a whole lot of research, and chucking together a whole pile of mood boards to get us inspired and on track.

And aren't these pictures just so pretty? I love the glass jars, and the little glowing lights, and the umbrellas, and the creative, homemade feel. Bliss in little pretty objects, to make for a little pretty happy day. I hope it all works out, it feels like a whole lot of stuff still to organise, and so little time. Sjoeg.

I'm Getting Married!

Eek, excitement excitement! That would probably explain why I've been so quiet on the blog-waves. It's quite all-consuming, and just a whole lotta happiness!

From permission to proposal, to plans and plans and plans. I got engaged less than a month ago, and I'm getting married in less than a month. Wow, that's quite something to think about.

All smiles during the proposal.

Still smiling the next day at lunch with my cousin, brother and fiance (oooooooooh).

The wedding calendar, on post-it notes, on the glass doors at my parents' house. One month to go!

I Want This Space

I was on a location recce about two weeks ago (it was my longest yet - we only saw three locations, but it took seven and a half hours in the rain on a Friday afternoon - ouch!). But the first place we went to was an old abandoned warehouse by the Soweto Power Station. The whole building had been shelled out, leaving huge big empty spaces. Triple volume, flooded with glorious dappled sunlight, and dripping water from the light afternoon showers the space created was magnificent.

The Official.

This article from the Joburg Website (http://www.joburg.org.za/) gives a really good summary of Joel's design process, and how he got to where he did with his range.

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Joel Janse Van Vuuren, who has recently moved to Joburg from Durban, explains that his designs reflect his explorations of beauty, fashion and the 21st century. His passion for fashion design was sparked while working at a London high-end fashion store.

He explains that his design method is random and non-restrictive so that he can produce garments that are creative from the outset of the design process.

 “In my exploration of this process, I came across Rorschach’s inkblots which sparked the idea of creating fashion illustrations from inkblots. This child-like approach to design led me to create around one hundred paint blot fashion illustrations from which I could select those I could use in my collection,” he says.
“In this process of creating paint blots, I used a variety of mediums, from acrylic paint to gouache and ink. I placed the medium on a page and either flattened another page on top of it or folded the page in half, both of which created interesting silhouettes that could later be transformed into fashion designs.

“Once the paint and ink had dried on all the pages, I placed a figure into the paint blot shape to create a fashion silhouette. I did not want to allow thought or logic to dictate the figure and the design, so I allowed myself a brief 20-second window in which to draw the figure before moving on to the next paint blot page,” he says. 

“I am moving away from any previous understandings of the fashion design process I may have been taught. I believe that with this method, seen through the ‘chaos’ of randomly spilling paint on to a page and allowing the free form to determine my fashion silhouette, I introduce order and create a fashion illustration from a paint blot. In this way I impose structure on the chaos.”

Read more: http://www.joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6475&catid=88&Itemid=266#ixzz1JKR0thpj

Photos from: http://ramp.sdr.co.za/1104SAFW/JJVV

One Day You're In...

Mmmm...fashion week. Oh so chic. In a beautiful new location in Braamfontein, with some of the best views of the city yet. Delightful and delicious, and somewhat expensive (the drinks I mean). But gosh you can't beat those views, the glorious sunset light, and floor-to-ceiling glass.

And you certainly can't beat the designs of Joel Janse van Vuuren marching down the runway. Gosh. Colour. Form. Flow. Wow.

 

 I was lucky enough to grab one of Joel's ready-to-wear items a couple of days before the show. That green. That parachute silk. I felt like a little princess. Or was it a bunny?

And best yet? There's way more to come! First of all - official fashion show pics, and more stories, and then even more magic from Mr Joel. See I know for sure, because he's my cousin, and very very good at creating magic. I saw the whole of Joel's design process, from the making of inkblots, to designing, to a couple of mock-ups, and then had the joy of trying all these delightful items on as they were sewn, and hemmed, and shortened, and ironed, and adapted. It was fun playing dress-up (once again) and being Joel's living, moving (sometimes too much - he had to keep telling me to stop dancing around while he was trying to pin the dresses), breathing fitting model!

Pure genius, I swear.

More on Joel:
http://www.joeljansevanvuuren.com/

All photos in this blogspot by the ever-lovely Cara De Kock. See her creative genius here:
http://sjoethatsnice.blogspot.com/

Oh and PS:

My cousin Camilla and I rocking two of Joel's ready-to-wear items.