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Inspiring The Next Generation 
Manchester-based brand ISAWITFIRST have today announced that they are once again the Official Fashion & Sunglasses Partner of Love Island for 2021, following the hugely successful partnerships in 2019 and 2020.
With Instagram influencers all sporting the ‘perfect look’, many of us would try anything to look like our idols, even if it means spending £££ on cosmetic surgery.
After a year of serving the fashion-forward public from its Newark, New Jersey base, ‘Dressed Up’, the Caribbean-owned retail shoppe which specializes strictly in dresses now brings its warmth, personality and unique style to the virtual space with its all new online presence.
A longstanding part of the community, Millarde Fashions of Sutton Coldfield is set to close on Saturday 26th September, and everything must go, including hats from only £10!
Working half-dressed becomes standard among comfort loving Finns as local retailer responds with telco-friendly collection
Two women from the Black Country, in the West Midlands, arranged a catwalk fashion show at the Station Hotel, Dudley raising over £500 for Parkinson’s UK and Dementia UK.
Couples are invited to see Lightwoods House in all its glory at a wedding fair this coming weekend.
Wedding suppliers will be exhibiting their wares and visitors can also look round the house and gardens, which is in Lightwoods Park, Adkins Lane, Bearwood, on Sunday March 3.
To celebrate this year’s Doha Jewelry and Watches Exhibition (DJWE), Qatar Airways hosted a stylish fashion show on board its state-of-the-art G650 private jet. The event showcased the exquisite jewelry and fashions of acclaimed Chinese designers Grace Chen and Beau Han Xu, set against the backdrop of the world’s most luxurious private jet.
In partnership with local artist Tanya “Miscre8” Watler and curator Patrick Duffy, Fashion Show Las Vegas – the area's premier shopping, dining and experience venue – has debuted a one-of-a-kind three-dimensional mural on its plaza staircase.
Known as one of Australia's greatest theatrical costume designers, having worked in film, musical theatre, opera and ballet around the world over the past 36 years, Irwin's designs for this brand new production of West Side Story have been keenly anticipated.
Stars have united to combat fashion peril after it emerged Brits will splash out £3.5 Billion on new clothes for the Christmas party season this year.
But eight million items will only be worn once.
Join Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital Charity on Friday 7 December for its annual Jolly Jumper Day.
The two much-loved charities are calling on local residents to do their bit in a festive knit to help each charity raise the vital funds needed to spread their magic around each hospital – ensuring the best possible experience for every patient.
Moments of magic happen every single day at each hospital – whether it be a ground-breaking piece of medical research or the sound of patients giggling as they’re entertained in their hospital bed.
Serena Daw, Public Fundraising Manager at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital Charity, said: “Getting involved in Jolly Jumper Day is simple and the easiest way to do more for our patients and families this Christmas. Just pull on your brightest, wackiest or most ho-ho-ho-horrendous novelty pullover – either on your own or with family, friends or colleagues – and donate whatever you can afford to our hospital charity of your choice.
“If you’re yet to find a jolly jumper that takes your fancy, check out our charity-branded Christmas jumpers. We have sizes for all the family - from new born to nan and the best bit is, all profits come back to us!”
To find out more about Jolly Jumper Day or the Moments of Magic Christmas campaign at the children’s hospital, visit www.bch.org.uk, call 0121 333 8506 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. To get involved in support of the women’s hospital, visit www.bwh.org.uk, call 0121 335 8050 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Couples are invited to an autumn wedding fair at Lightwoods House in Bearwood.
Wedding suppliers will be exhibiting their wares and visitors can also look round the house and gardens, which is in Lightwoods Park, Adkins Lane, on Sunday 28 October.
Anyone who pre-registers by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. giving the couple-to-be’s names and approximate wedding date will be sent a voucher for a complimentary glass of Prosecco or soft drink on arrival at the fair.
Suppliers will include photography and photobooth suppliers, a venue decorator, wedding car supplier, cake baker, caricaturist, a DJ, singer, a dressmaker and florist.
Admission to the fair, which runs from 11am until 3pm, is free.
The stunning 18th century, Grade II-listed house and park have been restored thanks to a £5.2million project funded by Sandwell Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and BIG Lottery.
Sandwell Council’s cabinet member for leisure Councillor Bill Gavan said: “The house is a fantastic venue for weddings and civil partnership ceremonies and our wedding fairs are always really popular.
“Not only can couples choose to get married in the bandstand, the house has a beautiful ceremony room, space for a reception and catering options. I’d urge anyone who is planning on tying the knot to come along to the wedding fair and find out more about this fantastic venue."
Frida Kahlo was an expert at creating her identity. Nothing spoke of her identity as much as her clothing did, and Frida was masterful at using dress, both Western and traditional fashion, to create a self-portrait through clothing. According to CNN, she was able to use her clothes to construct an ethnic and political identity that sent a political statement dealing with cultural identity, nationalism, and feminism.
For nine nights, from October 12-21st, award-winning, cultural travel tour operator, Tia Stephanie Tours will take participants on an up-close look at Kahlo's Mexican and European roots, highlighting her purposeful use of dress, including for her wardrobe, her self-portraits and still life paintings and for posing in the now iconic photographs of her, taken by celebrated photographers, such as Nickolas Muray and Edward Weston. As a national icon, Kahlo was inspired by her roots, which shined through in her dress, creating a unique identity all her own. Frida Kahlo: Ethnographic Dress & Identity, a new title to Tia Stephanie Tours' lineup, will traverse not only the neighborhoods where Frida lived and frequented, such as Coyoacan and the Historic Center in Mexico City, but the itinerary travels to the regions from where Frida's clothing came, including Puebla, Oaxaca and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, birthplace of her mother. Frida loved the “Tehuana” dress and often appeared wearing this “traje” in many of her self-portraits and photographs.
The tour includes a lecture on the Dress and Identity of Frida, a visit to the Museum of Modern Art, an insider's tour of the “Blue House”, now Frida Kahlo Museum, a fashion show in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to learn about the history and evolution of dress from this singular region of Mexico, and more. Frida featured the dress of Tehuantepec in one of her paintings, “My Dress Hangs There,” seemingly to place herself in an out of “dress”, out-of-body experience, living between two worlds and identities.
“I am honored to share such an immersive package that includes visits to meet the regional artisans who continue the craft of creating ethnographic clothing, a trip to Frida's childhood home, a special “rebozo” expo-venta to learn of the iconic garment of Mexico, which Frida often wore. We have offered other tours on other dimensions of Frida Kahlo, namely her art, but this is the first one and only tour that focuses on her dress and the regions where they came from”, said Stephanie Schneiderman, founder of Tia Stephanie Tours.
This tour coincides with another opportunity to see Kahlo's intimate belongings up close which is through an exhibit at the United Kingdom's V&A Museum, which runs through Nov. 4. The exhibit, which includes artifacts never before seen outside of Mexico, showcases her possessions, including a cotton huipil with machine-embroidered chain stitch and a Guatemalan cotton coat worn with Mazatec huipil and plain floor-length skirt. For visitors to the exhibition, this tour offers a wonderful complement to see Frida's homeland in Mexico and the places that inspired her clothing!
Trousers worn by David Tennant, Ian McKellen’s floor length coat, doublet and hose worn by Judi Dench and Susannah York’s dress – all feature in eBay auction
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) will auction 54 costume items to raise money for the Company’s Stitch In Time campaign, to support the restoration and redevelopment of its Costume Workshop. The online auction will take place over Shakespeare’s Birthday for a 10-day period between Tuesday 17 and Friday 27 April. The auction will go live at 8pm on Tuesday 17 and end at 8pm on Friday 27.
Costumes worn by actors including Simon Callow, Sinead Cusack, Judi Dench, Anita Dobson, Jane Lapotaire, Ian McKellen, Antony Sher, Patrick Stewart, David Tennant and Susannah York, will feature in the auction (see partial listing of auction items at the end of the release). The auction includes items which date back to productions in the 1970s, including:
All costumes will be listed on eBay with costume measurements and a certificate of authenticity.
The RSC, a registered charity, makes thousands of costume items each year in its Stratford-upon-Avon based Costume Workshop. Once a production ends, most costumes are placed into the Company’s Costume Store and are available to hire. Some key items go into in the RSC’s Museum Collection and appear in exhibitions in the RSC’s theatres and around the world.
Stitch In Time is a £3m fundraising campaign and there is £1.8m left to raise towards the cost of restoring and redeveloping the Costume Workshop. Thousands of people from around the world have already supported the project including contributions from major philanthropists, trusts and foundations and businesses. The redevelopment will:
David Tennant, RSC Board member and Associate Artist said,
“I have had the pleasure of wearing many costumes at the RSC, created in their workshop in Stratford-upon-Avon. I always think of the very first costume I had when I went there, which was Touchstone in As You Like It. I had this extraordinary, calf-length coat in the jesters’ motley. It was beautifully put together, and the amount of work that had gone into it took my breath away. The attention to detail, the sheer craftsmanship that is engrained in each costume impressed me then and continues to impress me at the company today.”
All bids for the auction need to be entered by the bidder independently via eBay. The RSC cannot facilitate bids for any individual.
University of Wolverhampton Fashion & Textiles students have been designing clothes and accessories from car interior leather donated by a local business.
Aldridge Trimming, based in Wolverhampton, donated 13 bags of leather cut-offs to the Wolverhampton School of Art’s “New Use” project which tasked students with designing and creating clothes and accessories from the material as part of Career Development Week.
Aldridge Trimming was founded in the 1930s and initially provided a local general trimming service for cars of the 1920s and 1930s era. It now provides quality British-made interior trim fitting services for over 100 classic cars per year.
Jo Bloodworth, Lecturer in Fashion & Textiles in the Wolverhampton School of Art, said: “The Fashion & Textiles Degree course focuses the next generation of creative designers to learn about the impact they will have in the future and students are challenged to think about how they can instigate change by encouraging sustainability to be at the heart of everything they do.
“As part of Career Development Week, we offered students a two day workshop to allow them to study different techniques and to give them the opportunity to explore other ideas. Leather is a recyclable textile, and since it is a sturdy, long-lasting fabric, it can have a second life in a number of ways and students really engaged with the subject matter, being given the freedom to explore new ideas.”
Aldridge Trimming was founded in the 1930s and initially provided a local general trimming service for cars of the 1920s and 1930s era. It now provides quality British-made interior trim fitting services for over 100 classic cars per year.
Lauren Neville, 23 from Penkridge, who graduated with a Fashion & Textiles degree in 2016, now works as a Trimmer for Aldridge Trimming. She said: “We’ve developed a really good relationship with the University and we want to continue to build on this. As a former student I know how difficult it can be sourcing good, quality fabric for use on your course.
“As a business, we would have to pay for leather off-cuts to be picked up and recycled which is why we thought it would be a great idea to make a donation to the University in order to extend its life further. We use the leather to trim centre consoles, door panels and gear gaters and it’s a real contrast to see the off-cuts being used to create handbags, clothes and even jewellery!”
Keith Makombe, 31 from Wolverhampton, is a final year Fashion & Textiles student. He said: “I’ve been learning how to attach things to the leather garments I’ve been making and also learning how to cut it – it’s completely different to cutting fabric so it’s really interesting to be able to use new materials.”
