Whats The Real Problem With Primark?

Firstly, I shall pose this question to you, my dear readership - how many of you at some point in your lives have shopped at Primark or 'Premarché' as one now calls it? The answer: we all have, and that is just a well-known fact. Now let me re-phrase that same question and ask you if you purchase Primark merchandise whilst being fully aware of the conditions in which the clothing was made? Probably not.

One of the main discussion points within the fashion industry concerns its ethics. Last year’s discovery of the supposedly mysterious hand-sewn labels found on brand new Primark garments pointed to the poor conditions that the workers had been subjected to. For example, they were ‘forced to work exhausting hours’ and in ‘degrading sweat shop conditions’. There was something so loud and poignant about the messages. They exposed a real voice, a voice that is never truly heard within the fashion industry. Unfortunately, a few months later the labels were found to be fakes set up by campaigners; whether this was a hoax or not, it certainly got us all questioning our shopping sensibilities.

Prior to that, we also observed the Rana Plaza disaster in April 2013. When one of the biggest garment- producing factories in Bangladesh collapsed killing 1133 men, women and children and injuring over 2500. This was the worst tragedy to hit the garment-making industry in history. All due to the poor conditions that the factory was built in, the terribly cramped spaces in which the workers were forced to work in and the generally foul maltreatment they faced from their employers.

 

Yes, we all love Primark for its bargain prices. However, this is just another big problem with fast fashion. With the price tags being incredibly low, we are almost encouraged to buy-in-bulk this seemingly ‘great’ quality merchandise. ‘Great’ clothes until a month later when you find out that every crop-top you purchased has fallen apart due to just everyday wear. My point is that these garment factories employ people to work like slaves for hours on end without any breaks in order to produce 20,000 garments every week, including your crop-top. And after discovering that, I presume you would ordinarily throw that crop-top in the bin, again deepening yet another already grave issue – waste and the disposable society. When we throw away a piece of clothing, it does not decompose straight away, instead it gives off a gas 20% more damaging to the environment compared to CO2, solely due to the gas that contaminates the clothing when it is being made in the factories.

I do, however, understand that cheap clothes are a necessity and that high-street clothing is deliberately accessible to us all. I do think it all comes down to the lack of alternatives; don’t get me wrong, we do have an excellent array of charity shops, which offer clothes at the same price as we see in Primark. However, I feel that charity shops are not necessarily able to cater for a low-income family’s entire needs.

After the Rana Plaza collapse, there was rather a revolution in fashion. Britain, alongside the rest of the world, actually began to raise awareness of the matter; however, issues surrounding ethical fashion still remain one of the largest problems within the fashion marketplace. The question we will continue to ask is whether the big retail giants like Primark will take matters into their own hands and fully respond with a strong attitude in order to deal with humanitarian concerns that we – as consumers - need to know are being tackled.  

 

    

 

                Please note: I do not own any of these picture

 

 

Céline Spring/Summer 2016

As expected with a Céline collection, it never fails to let us down. This season was a retrospective of everything we love about Phoebe Philo (creative director for the house). She is able to create clothes that women actually want to wear and could wear (despite the price tag). Asserting the idea that clothes can be easily adaptable to the way women want to live their lives, instead of feeling victimised by fashion.
However today, Philo played more with the ideas of femininity, gently moving away from minimalism with the introduction to prints and a wider array of fabrics.
Femininity through the more accentuated silhouettes and voluminous dimensions- crepe trousers and puffed up shoulders; cinched in waists and severely sartorial structures.

We saw pieces that we would have never of dreamt of seeing at a Céline show. Take the silk slip dresses that have deemed rather popular this season,(seen at Givenchy, Burberry and Calvin Klein)which had lace details that carefully drew attention to the female form. Or perhaps that deconstructed moss green overcoat which Philo re-worked, offering us a confliction between the cinched-in elasticated waist and the boxy, masculinised shoulders.

 

 

Lace silk slip dresses

 



 

Morphed shapes in moss green

 



My favourite looks were the leather tunics that sat over asymmetrical jersey dresses, they just screamed aggression yet downplayed by the fluidity of delicate fabrics. Almost resembling a suit of armour.

 

Leather tunics implied powerful futurism

Also Céline is generally well known for its rather grandiose array of accessories, in particular bags. From the phantom tote to the trapeze, these bags are pure dreams. This season exhibited a brand new selection: pillow bags, the box clutch and those auburn bucket bags.(literally to die for)

 Pillow bag

 

Violet Crocodile box-clutch

Amidst this perfectly conveyed notion of masculine vs feminine, we also had this portrayal of almost quite a pertinent futuristic 'urbanista' as one now calls it. A woman of the utmost class and dignity, who believes only in a non-mainstream and alternative way of dressing. Someone who can easily adapt their style to their surroundings, as it were. Definitely open for interpretation.

For me, Phoebe Philo remains one of my favourite designers. Her visions are simple, raw and dynamic. Season after season she brings us more than just clothing collections, they are art installations.

Please Note: I do not own any of these images, courtesy of Vogue.com

Gucci Spring/Summer 2016

From the deconstructed images of dated maps that plastered an iridescent skirt to the kaleidoscope trompe d'oeil ruffles and pussy bows that sat loosely around the neck. Yes, this season's Gucci collection was, without a doubt, the most beautiful art installation I've ever seen.

 

As you probably all know, I was apprehensive about Alessandro Michele taking the Gucci reigns from Frida Giannini. Their difference in styles and aesthetics are huge. Giannini was one to create an illusive, dark yet romantic Gucci woman, however Michele's vision for the house is far more experimental- 70s, androgynous, eclectic and nerdy.

Now, I have to say, I absolutely adored this collection. Talk about going big or going home. 

It was definitely a spectacle, we saw practically every piece seen last season, reimagined and reworked- taking on a new form of Michele's modern techniques. For example the invoking of the trompe l'oeil was certainly one of the main focus points in the collection. Now for any of you wondering, trompe l'oeil literally means 'deceives the eye', with this in mind Michele uses this as a technique, simply by taking a normal cut transparent piece of fabric and putting this special print over the top of it, appearing to us will be an object in three dimensions, however this is just an optical illusion. Quite clever I think.
Take the pink sequined skirt with the trompe l'oeil ruffles imprinted on it, anyone would have thought that was just a chiffon skirt, however we are wrong.

 

The clothes also felt more historical than ever. Perhaps it was those 70s bejeweled glasses, those boxy crocodile handbags which reeked 50s glamour or even the opulence from the graphic images which slathered onto a whimsical column dress.

 

 

As always the styling was unusually executed. You could tell that Michele was more bothered about the pieces individually and the fabrics and textures, more so than anything else. Lace, lurex, silk, chiffon, organza and eel skin, believe it or not- the list was endless.

my favourite pieces included the leather biker jacket with embroidered serpentine and oriental motifs, the python A-line midi-skirt with the red panel which sat on the hem, those garish primary studded strappy sandals that accented the geek-chic idea and lastly those psychedelic 70s wallpaper prints that gave a brand new definition to the word nostalgia.

 

  Please note: I do not own any of these images, courtesy of Vogue.com
 

How To Achieve Charity Shop Chic

I have always been one for a good old charity shop, I adore the concept of rescuing used or abused clothing and knowing that everything you buy will go to a significant cause- my example of guilt-free shopping.

Although being a great lover for charity bargains and vintage garments, I wouldn't go as far in saying that I solely buy all my clothes from charity, unlike some of my friends.

I think the most important thing about charity shop shopping is not to be put off by your preconceptions. Yes, a charity shop will have cheap, tacky and old-fashioned pieces, but don't let that deter you; let it cultivate you.
Also you never know, you may be lucky and unearth some treasures.

In this post I shall give you, my dear readership, an insight into just a few of the charity shop gems I have discovered over the past year.

Firstly I was lucky enough to find perhaps my current favourite piece in the wardrobe- my Levi 501 jeans. Before you assert a facial expression of pure desire, I must tell you that I also purchased them for a bargain price of £10, now if we were in Urban Outfitters I can tell you that the price would, without a doubt, be considerably more (£70 to be exact).

I am aware that we are gone of the days when we wore straight or regular cut jeans, now everyone conforms to what I think is a solely British trend, the skinny jean. A super skinny jean and a t-shirt emblazoned in the word 'Hype' and topped off with one of those black Harrington jackets. My definition of a stereotypically young Brit look. We seek no imagination when it comes to a trouser.

  

Here I have paired the jeans with a Breton top from Jack Wills and a cardigan I got in a charity shop for £1.99, to create an ultimate 90s look, aka the Tash Yeo look.

               

My next item is this denim jacket I got in Oxfam for £8.99, another great bargain. For me, denim bombers and jackets are definitely a wardrobe essential. I mean you can dress them up or down and they inevitably go with any colour, black in particular. The only rule I have is if one commits the crime of double denim, then one should be locked up.

  

             

Here I'm wearing my denim jacket incorporated into a autumn/winter look. My roll-neck is from Zara, jeans from Asos (ripped by moi) and my boots also from Asos.

                  

Lastly I have this vintage blue shirt I got in Urban Renewal in Germany. Forgive me as I know this isn't charity shop but more vintage shop. I love this shirt, despite what many people think of the audacious 80s prints. What I can say in response is that these kinds of shirts are a acquired taste and they will not suit everyone but I encourage you all to be adventurous.

Here, I have gone for the rather feminine summer look. This look oozes the last drops of masculinity that's held within me. I am wearing some short dungarees from Asos and my Céline flatbrow sunglasses (of course channelling my love Kim Kardashian).

                    

           

        

Watch out for Part 2 of my Charity shop guide in the next few weeks, along with show reviews for Couture Week. 

                

                            Until next time