Guest Speaker Report: FHM Editor, Joe Barnes

Tags

FHM, FRONT, Joe Barnes, magazine, media

For someone who now describes themself as, “an expert on underwear and bikinis” Joe Barnes seems a million miles away from studying at the same university as i am now and aspiring to work in politics.

Barnes is now the editor of the ultimate lads mag, FHM. Very impressive.

Barnes was appointed the editor of the magazine in June 2011 after he managed to doubles the sales whilst editing FRONT magazine.

Although Barnes has managed to climb his way through the magazine hierarchy he is more than slightly pessimistic about the future of the industry. He describes the state of the problems on the dying profession as, “everything in short.” Great. Even someone at the top thinks that it is too hard to save. But he does have hope for the rising online media and thinks that it is the way forward.

“Payment will totally become the norm,” he says at ease. You can tell that he truly believes that the internet although the destroyer of the profession will become the saviour as he describes a realistic sounding idea for a type of iTunes style software where people will be able to pick and choose what articles they want to buy to create their own perfect magazine.

‘Saviour of FRONT mag. On a mission to rescue men’s mags from the clutches of irrelevance,’ Barne’s Twitter tagline pretty much sums up his journey so far though the magazine industry.

Cannes Film Festival 2012 Fashion

Tags

cannes film festival, clothes, fashion

Award ceremonies are always glamorous but the Cannes Film Festival is the ultimate event for any fashionista. And this years 65th anniversary of the event didn’t fail to please.

Now, If I’m being completely honest i did forget the event was happening but when i logged onto my Facebook page this morning i was excited to see that ELLE had posted photographs of the dresses worn to the event, and again, if I’m completely honest the fashion is the only part of it that i’m really interested in. One of my favourite dresses, was by Giambattista and worn by Diane Kruger. I love the floaty, effortless Grecian style of the dress. It’s understated and not too fancy but it has all the impact it needs.

Eva Longoria stopped the crowd in this amazing fishtail dress by, Marchesa. She is a woman who in my opinion always gets her fashions choses completely spot on and this outfit wasn’t any different, simply beautiful.

On the other hand though, a dress that i didn’t find quite so inspiring was by Haider Achermann and worn by Tilda Swinton. The faded gold metallic did nothing for her fair skin whilst the sharp edges of the dress left her looking harsh. Not the best choice in my opinion.

Best Dressed of 2012

Tags

best dressed, clothes, DJ Yasmin, fashion, fearne cotton, glamour magazine, kim kardashian, Lana Del Rey, mary kate and ashley

So Glamour magazine unveiled their ‘Best Dressed’ list of 2012 this week, some i agree with, others, not so much. Therefore I am going to create my own best dressed list of this past year….

1) DJ Yasmin tops my list. Although she is a newcomer in the celebrity world her style is immaculate without being too try hard. She is also not afraid to experiment with new trends. Her video Finish Line gives a glimpse at her impeccable good taste….

2) Lana Del Rey- Lana is featuring in my list for her dress she wore to the BRITS, simply amazing. She has also ben the inspiration for many other collections and has even had a Mulberry bag named after her. Surprisingly she didn’t appear in Glamour’s top 50 list.

3)Fearne Cotton- Fearn has always been I style icon of mine. She is effortlessly cool and nearly always gets it right.

4)Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen- if anyone can pull of granny-chick it is these girls. They are not afraid to experiment with their style and high-end catwalk pieces look as if they were made for them.

5) Kim Kardashian- Kim dresses for her body shape, she knows what suits her and knows what works. She also has worn some killer statement dresses this year which is why i have decided to give her number 5 on my list.

Topshop Baxter Jeans Review

Tags

clothes, high street, jeans, topshop, topshop baxter jeans

Recently i was pottering around my local Topshop when i was forced to stop dead in my tracks as i saw that a pair of ‘Berry Red’ ‘Baxter Jeans’ had been reduced down from £40 to £25. Now, everyone who knows me will know that i am a sucker for a bargain. I just cannot resist if i know that i am getting a good deal. This is either looked at as a blessing or a curse. Half of the items i buy thinking that they are bargains end up gathering dust in my wardrobe or falling to pieces after a few wears; luckily these Topshop jeans have turned out to be more of a blessing.

When it comes to clothes the one thing i can’t stand is when they are ill fitted. There is nothing worse than having to be constantly pulling your jeans up all day or worrying they look too small or big for you. Having long legs can also be looked at as a blessing or a curse but when it comes to finding jeans that fit it can become more of a curse. Thankfully Topshop make their jeans in not only a range of waist sizes but also in leg lengths so these jeans really are true to size and unlike a lot of skinny jeans which are so tight that you can barely move your legs these are actually surprisingly comfortable.

The first thing that i thought when i saw these jeans was, ‘OMG, what a bargain!’, my second thought was, ‘I bet they are a killer to wash.’ But surprisingly after a few washes they have managed to keep their colour and look as good as new- I was expecting them to fade into a more pink like colour.

Overall i am really impressed with these jeans and would have happily paid the full price for them, therefore in my eyes they are definitely a good buy.

Topshop Berry Red Jeans

Does Fashion Design Require Talent Anymore?

Tags

Amy Childs, Amy Childs clothing range, fashion, shopping

This week, star of reality show, ‘The Only way is Essex’, Amy Childs, launched her new fashion range. Now don’t get me wrong, i really do love Amy, she had me in fits of giggles throughout the series she appeared in but her launching her range has got me wondering whether you actually need talent to become a fashion designer or a celebrity status?

Celebrities have always had an influence in the fashion worlds. Take for example Mulburry naming one of their bags, ‘Del Ray’ after new talent, Lana Del Ray. Celebrities act as inspiration as well as advertising for brands and their impact is undoubtably massive. And now their impact is even more obvious with celebrities from Kanye West to Victoria Beckham designing fashion lines.

Therefore the news of Amy Child’s launching her collection came as no surprise to me.

 Many celebrities stick whacking great price tags on their products which aren’t even always of the best quality; this is something that Amy has avoided and her clothes are affordable and have similar prices to the main high street clothing brands. Although I’m not a massive fan of her clothes myself, simply because they are not my style and to be frank i would like hideous in one of her glittery dress, i think that her collection is going to be popular with the public, even if it does receive criticism from the media.

London Fashion Week: Burberry Prorsum

Tags

burberry, catwalk, clothes, fashion, london fashion week

(Image taken from the Telegraph. APF)

One of the collections that i have been most impressed with from the New York Fashion Week is Burberry’s A/W2012/2013 collection.

The styles are simple and classic with a girly twist. I have their use of ribboned belts to secure coats, this is a trend that I can really see taking on and adapted easily and affordably into the high street shops.

The colours scream autumn. The subtle greens and browns are far from garish and look sharp and classic without a lot of fuss which give a very English countryside feel to the pieces.

I can’t help but be reminded of Britain in the wartime; the large bags and coats for some reason remind me of that era and for me look really historical.  ”I like taking all these clichés and these very familiar things and playing with them a little bit. Because behind every cliché I think there is usually something a bit more profound.” The designer, Christopher Bailey explains this perfectly.

With Burberry being such a respectable and established brand the show attracted many famous faces such as Kate Bosworth, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and British Prime Minister’s wife Samantha Cameron the event was star-studded to say the very least.

What i like most about this collection is how adaptable it is. I can see all of the styles they show cast working perfectly on both the high street and high end brands.

Check out the video of the show for the full collection…

Blog to do List….

Tags

blog, facebook, social media, twitter

Today I went to a talk held by Sam Lynas about how to use the social media more effectively and it got me thinking about how i personally use the internet.

“Content is King” were the first words i heard him say as i arrived five minutes late after prowling the car park for about 10 minutes in an attempt to find a space on Open Day (not fun). Do i really think about the random status uploads i post or the photos that i add? No i do not. And this is something that could determine whether you get a job over someone else now many companies have taken to snooping through your Facebook profile befire hiring you so they know what you are really like; in my opinion ever so slightly creepy, but at the end of the day if you are posting something publicly you have to be able to accept the criticism. Maybe this is something i really need to think more about: especially now with the ever intrusive ‘timeline’ profile which makes sure that you will never for get those cringey or outrageous things you posted while drunk.

Although i have only had my blog up and running a month in all honesty i do not give an awful amount of thought to what i upload; instead  i just upload whatever is on my mind or pops into my head. Apparently this is not good for the audience. Audience like structure and knowing what to expect. And in all fairness, yes, i probably would get a lot more page views or ‘traffic’ as Lynas described it if my blog did have more of a sense of direction but right now i am experimenting with what i like writing about and hopefully this blog will then take a direction on its own.

I have to admit after hearing him list the benefits of socail media websites such as Twitter i do feel slightly guilty about neglecting my account which has about three tweets and five followers….he made me think about using the platform to benefit myself through self promotion. This is also something that i hadn’t given much thought to. A blog is a bit like an online CV for a budding journalist.

So from this talk my resolution is to shape up my blog and think more about how i can use the internet more usefully (and no more winey Facebook statuses)

If i knew you were Coming I would of Baked a Cake

Tags

Baking, cake, cooking, muffins

Is the Social Media a Blessing or a Curse for the Newspaper Industry?

Tags

ipad, media, new york times, newspapers, page one inside new york times, rupert murdoch, social media

I have just finished watching the documentary, ‘Page one: Inside the New York Times’. Although on the whole i found this documentary quite dry it did address a lot of issues and questions. It was one of those documentaries that left me thinking that although it did not do this in the most engaging manner. What I found distracting about this documentary was the amount of people who were being filmed; it was all a bit busy and a bit too much to take in within 90 minutes.

One of the issues  that was raised in this documentary was, is the social media a blessing or a curse? The film showed footage of people being cut from their jobs as the way people are getting their news has changed completely. Newspaper sales are declining. I can’t think of many people who I know under the age of 25 who regularly purchase a newspaper and that’s coming from someone on a journalism course. It would therefore look like journalism is a dying industry but with the rise of the social media things are changing. ‘The iPad may be the saving of the industry’ claimed Murdoch which in my eyes does reflect the truth. Although smartphones and iPad’s have ultimately taken the audiences from the traditional newspapers if people are still reading news articles on the internet there is still a market for advertising as long as news companies are willing to change where they publish their stories. As well as a tool of publishing news rooms can use the social media to actually find stories. This was something that you saw ‘The New York Times’ do in the documentary so it’s clearly an affective way of using the social media.

The documentary was dry and talked through by dreary voices so I was surprised to hear that it made 1.1 million in the US box office alone, but at the end of the day it did illustrate some interesting points; especially about the impact of the social media. In my opinion there is always going to be a need for the news, even if people have changed the way that they choose to digest it.

Edit

Tags

Editing, Image, Manipulation, Photography

I found this image whilst researching for an essay that I’m writing on how images can be a beneficial tool for a journalist. The argument that I am making at the minute is that can you ever really trust a photograph. Who’s to say that it hasn’t been heavily edited or set up? Not that I’m against any of these things; as you can see from the picture I’ve found editing can quite simply be amazing. But when it comes to photographs in the newspaper it’s not in the readers interest for an image to be so heavily edited- newspapers are about publishing the truth to the world and if an image is extremely edited it is not portraying the truth.

I found this picture on this website:  http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/06/40-examples-of-incredible-photo-manipulation/ It’s really worth checking out for some amazing images and examples of editing.