Hanging out with Helen and Heather

These are the results of a fun shoot with Helen Kirkbright and Heather Nelson from Boss models. Helen is starting a Models At Home series, we used my house for the first attempt and I was very happy to be able to just nip upstairs to get the outfits together as opposed to lugging my stuff around like the fashion packhorse I am :) I love the shots and had a great time hanging out with Helen and Heather.

Art Attack

Following my earlier collaboration with my lovely friend and artist Katie Bowker we decided another shoot was in order so that we could display her most excellent capes which featured in her MA degree show and were also part of ' New Designers ' fair this summer. We decided on a tree for a prop which could be changed up for each cape, I sprayed this blue and we worked together on various sets to give the capes the rightful background they deserve! We had a very fun day which involved making lampshade and pompom mobiles and very achy arms. See Katie's blog for more details about her work; http://katiebowker.blogspot.com/

Xanthe took these amazing photos which really capture the colours and mood perfectly, we were lucky to work with the beautiful model Virginjie from Lithuania who is here for the summer and our fab team including Oliver James to construct the hair turrets, Pippa for flawless make up and Sophie Lickiss was a very handy assistant, she took some behind the scenes shots on the day too which can be seen here; blog http://sophielickiss.blogspot.com/2011/08/shoot-time.html

A day at the Museum

Xanthe - (fashion photographer extraordinaire) wanted to do a heritage themed shoot, we both have a slight obsession with taxidermy so I came to the conclusion that we should use a museum as a location. The Grosvenor Museum in Chester very kindly let us loose on their collections and this was the result. I decided on an Eccentric Lady like theme crossed with hints of evolution, I made the shell sunglasses and necklace and got together quite a number of vintage hats along with textured garments.

I asked an extremely talented designer if I could borrow some pieces for the shoot and was very happy when he said yes. John Earnshaw is a recent graduate from MMU who specialises in experimental textile manipulation and printing techniques. He kindly loaned me the silver shirt and two pencil skirts. I was particularly drawn to John's themes and inspirations being the imagery of Northern life in the 1950s/60s and Teddy boy style. John told me that he has gained a place on the MA course at St Martins and I expect a very bright and shiny future for him. Please see the following link for more photos from John's collection http://www.notjustalabel.com/john_earnshaw

Sophie Bailey was our amazing model and has the most beautiful hair and eyebrows I have seen, Temi Aboderin provided the flawless hair and makeup and also turned out to be quite the wind technician, so much so that we nearly set off the censors and got locked in the Museum with all the silverware. Sophie Lickiss was our ever ready assistant who documented behind the scenes on the day, check out her blog Sweet pea for the shots; http://sophielickiss.blogspot.com/2011/08/shoot-time.html

Black Magic

Some shots of Hammasa Kohistani playing the black widow in a dark fashion story by the ever imaginative Xanthe! The day involved setting up the historical looking still life to create a Vermeer style setting and some rubber stockings! Zaiba Khan created the amazing hair and make up which transformed Hammasa into a Gothic Mini Mouse. We were assisted by Sophie Lickiss who is a recent graduate who has already bagged a meeting with the Editor of Vogue Italia! I cannot take credit for the crows appearance in the shoot as this was added by my lovely boyfriend Adam.

A dreaded sunny day

Some shots from a magical day in Manchester using iconic locations made famous by The Smiths, Oasis and New Order. Favourite part was laughing at the old record sleeves in Sifters and the road trip element of the day riding around in Stephanie ( Rebecca's yellow corsa ). My Ralph Lauren oxford brogues make an appearance along with a wedding dress which I butchered to make this Chloe style top!

Photographer - Helen Kirkbright

Model - Isabel Dickens @ Boss

Hair & Makeup Rebecca Anderton