Freshman!

So I've kicked off my time at Goldsmiths University in South London and, apart from it being terribly daunting [something, I assure you, I was not prepared for being the cocky gob shite that I am...] it was also something of a roller coaster ride. Without divulging too deeply into the emotional stuff [none of you want to hear that], I'm very aware that my time at Goldsmiths will be the making of me and, seeing as I'm based there for the following three years, it will become a home of sorts. My course [Anthropology and Sociology for those that don't know] is already captivating me, as an untried attempt at being less excited about going to my lectures fell flat on it's face proved. My first lecture was entitled 'Knowledge and Power'. Gosh. Really looking forward to it. Really excited.

The image was taken on my first day before I went to enroll - t'was scary stuff!

Crep Collection | Part One

So I thought I'd take you all through a little look of my kick collection, as, with it mounting up and all, I haven't got much time to really appreciate them these days - so I thought I'd may as well let them loose on the web instead. This is Part One - I'm not yet sure of how many parts there will be, but judging by the current size I'm sure there will be a fair few...

I've been away...

Right I'm assuming you've noticed I haven't blogged for, well, ages, and, though I have no real excuse for this poor lapse, I have been extremely [extremely!] busy - in fact last month was possibly the hardest, busiest, most draining month I've probably had to struggle through in recent memory [though I still enjoyed it. I've started uni [more of that to come later], and I've worked, travelled [to fair Paris as well as Sheffield, Liverpool and Glasgow two times each], filled in a whole heap of forms, travelled some more and, basically, been terrible at managing my time. This is something I've had to address but I think taking this last month off from blogging has been a pretty good idea adjudging from the amount of other things that have been going on. I will be prompt in my return however and I'm sure I'll be back on top of Swagger & Swoon as soon as I'm back in to the rhythm of blogging. Stay tuned.

Image stolen from here...

Sydney Awesome Challenge | Task Four | Brief

The next task is up, so get involved - I want active participation on the blog this time too - I want people commenting and bouncing idea's off of one another...

This week we are looking at Sydney Wildlife. We want you to take inspiration from the various animals that can be found in and around Sydney, and create your own Australian creature – whether it be a mash-up of existing animals (platypus, koala, wombat, emu– there’s plenty to choose from!) or a completely new species. As always, the medium in which you deliver your entry is up to you, and you’ll be judged on creativity, community involvement and use of the resources available to you.

Good times...

Sydney Awesome Challenge | Task Three | Completed

I know the brief was to take a photo, but I really wanted to bring drawing into one of the tasks as it is something I haven’t done in a long time, but also something I feel like I had to incorporate sooner rather than later [as it goes the next task would be perfect for that but ah well...]. I had originally wanted to use Photoshop, but instead relied upon graphite pencils and a handy rubber. More to follow after my trip up and down Britain [I’ll be away for a few days ya see]. Take a peek at initial images below...

Sydney Awesome Challenge | Task Three | Brief

The most difficult task yet, this challenge is again focused on active creation, take a peek:

So two challenges down, four to go! The third challenge is themed around Sydney icons. We want to see you recreate a well-known building, monument or geographical feature, and have your photo taken in front of it. How you go about making the icon is entirely up to you - we're thinking about going down the mashed-potato Sydney Opera House avenue (seems perfectly sane to us)!

Difficult and one I'm not entirely sure where I want to go with. I was considering 'photoshopping' the whole thing, but I'm unsure as to how really 'creative that is - its bloody difficult though! With this task, more so than even the last, your help is very very important so please do get in touch with all and any suggestions!

Image taken from here.

Sydney Awesome Challenge | Task Two | Completed

So the second task of the Sydney Awesome Tour is done and dusted and, with huge help from some of my peoples [thanks - you know who you are], I think I've again gone for something a little different in approach. I'm aware that this challenge could have either catered for a huge amount of creativity, or the extreme opposite, with very little - I had the path of either finding clothes online and building something via that, or designing something myself. In the end I went for neither and instead found an existing [extremely eccentric] ensemble through my various contacts. I wanted an outfit that screamed Sydney, and very few outfits, in my opinion, can shout Sydney as loud as having the Opera House itself on your shoulders...

Yup I went for that route [somewhat predictably] - hell Sydney has every right to be a global fashion capital, they can't stick to flip flops and short shorts forever now can they...

Take a peek at my presentation below, hope you like it...

Nice. Spread the word. Send me to Sydney.

Image robbed at gunpoint from here. Safe.

Sydney Awesome Challenge | Task Two | Diary

Second week, and the second task, 1000 Heads and NSW Tourism are keeping us on our toes - here's a little diary of the second task and how it went:

Having got to grips with this task far better than the previous one [I like to think I’ve got myself in to some sort of a routine] my typically late admission [hell I’m busy], was more to do with pulling together pretty documents than having my idea in on time. I refuse to present my idea in an any less grandeur manner than I would any other piece of work, hence the longwinded, if rather pretty, document [again].

I quickly deduced that this task was as much about the research, insights and the mood board leading up to the final product, and quickly set about garnishing support from the several forward fashion thinking individuals that litter my several social applications, with the enormity of the task somewhat relieved by the fantastic help I got from my network, whether it was the guys over at seminal fashion magazine Super Super [cheers Jayga], or my supporters on my Facebook group and Twitter.

There was a quiet expectation bubbling up to this task, with several grandeur ideas being thrown around, several surrounding the creation of an outfit I had come up with. I even had a designer lined up and looking for material, but, alas, time was not on my side, and, without wanting to be obscenely late, I chose a different route to present my ideas – namely pretty pictures, a few choice outfits and perhaps a descriptive line or two. My heads still been a tad mushy I’ve got to say, possibly because I’ve been trying to juggle far too much for an ordinary human being to even attempt to entertain – I’m most definitely ordinary and I’ve found that the juggling balls are dropping to the floor quicker than I had hoped

I’ve got my blogging game back on and I’m now in full flow attempting to reach as many people as possible, whilst bringing people into contribute towards my involvement. I’ve attempted to begin a little Twitter movement, jumping on the back of Elle’s #sendmetosydney tagging, whilst I’ve kicked off a Facebook group that is around 150 strong all supportive and ever eager to help. It’s good to know I’ve got people supporting me, I’m not sure whether I’d get through this without the support and kind words of my associates, friends and assorted member of ‘my community’...

Image taken from here.

Dels

This is Dels who, if you haven't heard of him already, is one hell of a talented young man. Having the pleasure of meeting him myself on one or two occasions [good guy], and amid our colourful Twitter conversations around the sorry state of the Gooners, I managed to divulge that he is, amongst many things, a brilliant musician.

Check out some of his work here, whilst the above image is taken from his up and coming music video. Stay tuned.

Image taken from A Tribe, where Mr Dels also blogs. Nice.

The ugly side of Camden

East London based brand the Ugly Kids Club have set up temporary a home in the hub of creativity known as Camden Stables. Selling limited edition clothing and assorted other bits and pieces, in a heavily spray painted backdrop, the pop up store demonstrates the brands ability to perform well, standing away from the various other competitor UK labels who have yet to engineer such a bold mood [with the exception of Second Son].

Congratulations, and the best of luck to the Ugly team.

Image taken from the site.