Thursday, May 19, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Ballets Russes
I LOVED THE BALLETS RUSSES! I'm sure most of you did too :) it was a highly inspirational and informative experience....
My top 3 exhibition pieces were Costume for Shah Zeman from Scheherazade, Costume for Petrouchka from Petrouchka, and Costume for Queen Thamar from Thamar.
I loved all the costumes from Scheherazade, because I knew the storyline and musical score, so finally seeing the costumes first hand was an amazing experience. The colours and embroidery were exquisite! Scheherazade was set in the harem of the oriental palace of the Persian Shah Shahriar. The costumes and scenes were designed by Leon Bakste. The materials used were silks, cottons and velvets, and the embellishments consisted of metal braid and gold embroidery. The costume I chose was made of: (coat) silk brocade, satin & embroidery, metallic braid, cotton lining, (trousers) silk satin, metallic braid.
I found the Petrouchka storyline and characters quite interesting and funny, and the costume was cute too. It was also easy to sketch :) Petrouchka was set in 1830, just before Lent during the annual Butter Week Festival in Admiralty Square, St Petersburg. The ballet was influenced by street theatre mime, puppet shows, etc. The costumes and scenes were designed by Alexandre Benois. The costume I chose was made of: (tunic) silk satin, cotton, cotton lace, metal fasteners, (trousers) silk satin, rayon patches, plastic buttons, (boots) silk, metal eyelets, cotton, leather.
The Thamar ballet caught my eye because the costumes were very similar to traditional Armenian folk garments (which I have worn on stage myself for Armenian character dancing!), so I chose this costume because I am familiar with the construction and decorative techniques used to make it. Thamar is set in the castle of Queen Thamar of Georgia. The costumes and scenes were designed by Leon Bakst. The costume I chose was made of: (dress) acetate, silk, rayon, cotton, metallic braid, metal medallions, elastic, (overskirt) silk, rayon, cotton, metallic braid, metal buckle, imitation turquoise (cropped vest) silk, metallic braid, metal medallions (crown) acetate, cotton, metallic braid, metal medallions, imitation jewels, wire, (veil) silk, paint, (scarf) silk.
So what were your favourites??
Anaheed (aka Ana) xoxox
My top 3 exhibition pieces were Costume for Shah Zeman from Scheherazade, Costume for Petrouchka from Petrouchka, and Costume for Queen Thamar from Thamar.
I loved all the costumes from Scheherazade, because I knew the storyline and musical score, so finally seeing the costumes first hand was an amazing experience. The colours and embroidery were exquisite! Scheherazade was set in the harem of the oriental palace of the Persian Shah Shahriar. The costumes and scenes were designed by Leon Bakste. The materials used were silks, cottons and velvets, and the embellishments consisted of metal braid and gold embroidery. The costume I chose was made of: (coat) silk brocade, satin & embroidery, metallic braid, cotton lining, (trousers) silk satin, metallic braid.
I found the Petrouchka storyline and characters quite interesting and funny, and the costume was cute too. It was also easy to sketch :) Petrouchka was set in 1830, just before Lent during the annual Butter Week Festival in Admiralty Square, St Petersburg. The ballet was influenced by street theatre mime, puppet shows, etc. The costumes and scenes were designed by Alexandre Benois. The costume I chose was made of: (tunic) silk satin, cotton, cotton lace, metal fasteners, (trousers) silk satin, rayon patches, plastic buttons, (boots) silk, metal eyelets, cotton, leather.
The Thamar ballet caught my eye because the costumes were very similar to traditional Armenian folk garments (which I have worn on stage myself for Armenian character dancing!), so I chose this costume because I am familiar with the construction and decorative techniques used to make it. Thamar is set in the castle of Queen Thamar of Georgia. The costumes and scenes were designed by Leon Bakst. The costume I chose was made of: (dress) acetate, silk, rayon, cotton, metallic braid, metal medallions, elastic, (overskirt) silk, rayon, cotton, metallic braid, metal buckle, imitation turquoise (cropped vest) silk, metallic braid, metal medallions (crown) acetate, cotton, metallic braid, metal medallions, imitation jewels, wire, (veil) silk, paint, (scarf) silk.
So what were your favourites??
Anaheed (aka Ana) xoxox
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Blogspot-light
DFC homework Wk1:
I'm a serial blog addict.
Now that I got that one out of my system, let's talk about one of my favourite fashion blogs: Garance Dore's http://www.garancedore.fr/en/. So not only is Garance a funky-francaise, she also has the ability to illustrate just about anything, AND she is the girlfriend of the king of all street-style blogs - The Sartorialist (Scott Schuman)....damn Garance!
As mentioned, Garance sketches just about anything, so its great to just sift through her illustrations from time to time, no matter what you're interested in! Her focus is obviously fashion & beauty, so you'll also find runway reviews, street-style and fashionable ramblings galore on her blog.
My favourite thing about Garance? Her way with words (even though her English is not great!), she always sounds like she's loving life and you can really feel her energy through the screeen...if that's possible....
If you are particularly awesome, you can read her blog in French (just click on the FR button near the top right corner).
Happy blogging ;)
Anaheed (aka Ana) xoxox
I'm a serial blog addict.
Now that I got that one out of my system, let's talk about one of my favourite fashion blogs: Garance Dore's http://www.garancedore.fr/en/. So not only is Garance a funky-francaise, she also has the ability to illustrate just about anything, AND she is the girlfriend of the king of all street-style blogs - The Sartorialist (Scott Schuman)....damn Garance!
As mentioned, Garance sketches just about anything, so its great to just sift through her illustrations from time to time, no matter what you're interested in! Her focus is obviously fashion & beauty, so you'll also find runway reviews, street-style and fashionable ramblings galore on her blog.
My favourite thing about Garance? Her way with words (even though her English is not great!), she always sounds like she's loving life and you can really feel her energy through the screeen...if that's possible....
If you are particularly awesome, you can read her blog in French (just click on the FR button near the top right corner).
Happy blogging ;)
Anaheed (aka Ana) xoxox
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
What Makes a Good Blog a 'Great Blog'?!
DFC homework Wk1:
So after a little researching and interpretation, i've made a quick run down of ways to ensure that your blog is 'reader-worthy'!
1. A great blog has a clear voice: if you want people to read your blog, you've got to sound like YOU, not like anyone else. This means that readers are looking for an interesting 'cyber-personality' to learn from. You need to sound different to the other blogs they just read. You might be thinking "but my blog is not about me!?". Well, that doesnt matter, readers still want to get to know you, otherwise why would they be reading your blog in the first place! This is why you should aim to make your blog as unique and diverse as your own self, except, you know, a more edited version.... ;)
2. A great blog is about SOMETHING: that sounds stupid and obvious, but sometimes we need to remember that the blog is for a purpose, it should have a focus. It shouldnt just be a general overview of your life, or random things that you like talking about (yes, there are blogs out there that do this, but for argument's sake, they aren't successful). Your blog should be based around one, two or (maximum) three main topics. For example; a fashion & beauty blog, a sports blog, a music & movies blog. That way you will have a target audience that will always come back to your blog because they know that you write about the things they are interested in. However, if you feel very confident about speaking to the masses, its okay to mix it up a bit from time to time (maybe try this after you've got atleast 10 followers and 100+ views).
3. A great blog has good structure: To be honest, if you want to run a successful blog, you need to have the language down-pat (whether that be english, chinese, armenian!). In particular, you'll need; good sentence structure, good paragraphing skills (topic sentences, one topic per paragraph etc)...and visual effects like picture placement and paragraph allignment are just as important. Your posts have to LOOK appealing for people to even begin reading, and then it's up to you to write in a way that keeps them reading. Personally, I like to sprinkle emoticons and punctuation marks all over my posts (you may have realised!). I also think that if you've found a font and post structure you like, and that your readers like, you should stick to it. Uniformity never goes out of style, and it makes you seem more experienced/professional. As they say, practice makes perfect, and that goes for blogging too. Take some time to just sit and write about whatever comes to mind, and then keep reading over it and fixing it up every couple of days. Better still, get friends and family to read it back to you. Soon, you'll find you have written some great pieces that are ready to be shared with the rest of the world :)
4. A great blog is quirky: so this kind of relates back to point #1, and it just means that you should have fun with your blog! If you are not excited about what you're saying, no one else is going to get excited about it either. Don't think of blogging as a chore, like "I have to write a new post every wednesday", instead, get inspired and write when it comes naturally and feels right. Quirky doesnt necessarily mean out-there or different, it just means you have a niche style that no one else has.
In essence, I think it all comes down to one thing - embracing your inner blogstar!!!
Now I'm keen to read what you all found out about blogging :D
Anaheed (aka Ana) xoxox
Ps: i used http://www.43folders.com/2008/08/19/good-blogs as reference/material for this blog post (and a bit of own knowledge!)
So after a little researching and interpretation, i've made a quick run down of ways to ensure that your blog is 'reader-worthy'!
1. A great blog has a clear voice: if you want people to read your blog, you've got to sound like YOU, not like anyone else. This means that readers are looking for an interesting 'cyber-personality' to learn from. You need to sound different to the other blogs they just read. You might be thinking "but my blog is not about me!?". Well, that doesnt matter, readers still want to get to know you, otherwise why would they be reading your blog in the first place! This is why you should aim to make your blog as unique and diverse as your own self, except, you know, a more edited version.... ;)
2. A great blog is about SOMETHING: that sounds stupid and obvious, but sometimes we need to remember that the blog is for a purpose, it should have a focus. It shouldnt just be a general overview of your life, or random things that you like talking about (yes, there are blogs out there that do this, but for argument's sake, they aren't successful). Your blog should be based around one, two or (maximum) three main topics. For example; a fashion & beauty blog, a sports blog, a music & movies blog. That way you will have a target audience that will always come back to your blog because they know that you write about the things they are interested in. However, if you feel very confident about speaking to the masses, its okay to mix it up a bit from time to time (maybe try this after you've got atleast 10 followers and 100+ views).
3. A great blog has good structure: To be honest, if you want to run a successful blog, you need to have the language down-pat (whether that be english, chinese, armenian!). In particular, you'll need; good sentence structure, good paragraphing skills (topic sentences, one topic per paragraph etc)...and visual effects like picture placement and paragraph allignment are just as important. Your posts have to LOOK appealing for people to even begin reading, and then it's up to you to write in a way that keeps them reading. Personally, I like to sprinkle emoticons and punctuation marks all over my posts (you may have realised!). I also think that if you've found a font and post structure you like, and that your readers like, you should stick to it. Uniformity never goes out of style, and it makes you seem more experienced/professional. As they say, practice makes perfect, and that goes for blogging too. Take some time to just sit and write about whatever comes to mind, and then keep reading over it and fixing it up every couple of days. Better still, get friends and family to read it back to you. Soon, you'll find you have written some great pieces that are ready to be shared with the rest of the world :)
4. A great blog is quirky: so this kind of relates back to point #1, and it just means that you should have fun with your blog! If you are not excited about what you're saying, no one else is going to get excited about it either. Don't think of blogging as a chore, like "I have to write a new post every wednesday", instead, get inspired and write when it comes naturally and feels right. Quirky doesnt necessarily mean out-there or different, it just means you have a niche style that no one else has.
In essence, I think it all comes down to one thing - embracing your inner blogstar!!!
Now I'm keen to read what you all found out about blogging :D
Anaheed (aka Ana) xoxox
Ps: i used http://www.43folders.com/2008/08/19/good-blogs as reference/material for this blog post (and a bit of own knowledge!)
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Charlotte Smith Lecture 08.03.11
http://www.darnellcollection.com/
So yesterday most/all of us were in the Thinking Fashion lecture and had the pleasure of hearing from Charlotte Smith (author of Dreaming of Dior and Dreaming of Chanel). I thought some of you might be interested in finding out more about her, but also about the designers and historical developments that she mentioned in the lecture, so here are some links and photos just for you! (i would also advise looking these people up on youtube, so you can watch interviews and fashion shows...)
So yesterday most/all of us were in the Thinking Fashion lecture and had the pleasure of hearing from Charlotte Smith (author of Dreaming of Dior and Dreaming of Chanel). I thought some of you might be interested in finding out more about her, but also about the designers and historical developments that she mentioned in the lecture, so here are some links and photos just for you! (i would also advise looking these people up on youtube, so you can watch interviews and fashion shows...)
(this site is all about the history and evolution of fashion, a great resource for thinking fashion)
Madeliene Vionnet, the designer who pioneered the bias cut:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_Vionnet
http://www.vionnet.com/
Theirry Mugler, a highly influencial designer in the 80s/90s:
http://www.thierrymugler.com/int/en/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thierry_Mugler
Elsa Schiaparelli, a designer known for her innovations in swimwear & sportswear:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsa_Schiaparelli
http://www.schiaparelli.com/
That was just a quick overview, so you will have to do your own further research if you really want to know more, especially since I probably missed a few names that Charlotte mentioned (my concentration is not always 100%!), but I just thought I'd share what I found interesting in the lecture...
Have a great wednesday ;-)
Anaheed (aka Ana) xoxox
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