Thursday, 28 April 2016

The Best of Men & Tartan


This is the last Men & Tartan article...

As I know, a lot of people really like this section of my blog. So to thank everyone, I share with you the best pictures I have. Enjoy !!!

To begin it's for you, girls, actors wearing tartan:
  
Ed Westwick in his tartan suit for the grand opening of St Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London (2011) 


Eddie Redmayne wears Hardy Amies Fall Winter 2014 blue check suit to UK Premiere of The Theory Of Everything in London. 



Ryan Gosling and Ryan Reynolds wearing tartan in the street... How to resist?


Now for you, guys!

Emma Watson in McQ by Alexander McQueen at the GQ of the year Awards (2011) 
Kate Middleton sets the standard for style on a recent trip to Glasgow, Scotland! 


Beautiful actresses and models were wearing tartan also like Blake Lively, Olivia Palermo and Jessica Alba. What do you think? 



And just some models...





  







Tartan & co



Wednesday, 27 April 2016

Tartan, from the kilt to the catwalk



Hi everyone!

It's already the end of the semester at UWS and also the end of my Erasmus year in Scotland. That's why this is my last article. 

It was a really great experience for me to write my own blog! I would like to thank everyone who reads me and those who have kept faithful to me since the creation of the blog. Thank you very much! 

So, for this last post, I am going to explain how Tartan came in fashion. Nowadays fashion designers use the pattern increasingly in their fashion collection. And this year as I showed you in my previous article, we saw a lot of tartan during the Fashion Week 2016.

Tartan appeared in the runways during the nineteen nineties with two major fashion designers, Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood. 

Alexander McQueen was the first to use his talent to make fashionable tartan and history. His use of this tartan is significant because of the many cultural and historical associations the textile carries. For McQueen, tartan was a reference to his own Scottish heritage as well as to Scotland's turbulent political history.



Suit, Highland Rape, autumn/winter 1995–96 (jacket and skirt not worn together on the runway)

If you would like to learn more about this famous fashion designer, this is a great report about him. 


Vivienne Westwood has a fascination with Scottish traditions. In 1993 she created a collection "Anglomania". Have a look on this blog concerning the tartan clan on the Vivienne Westwood website.



Westwood and McQueen have deliberately subverted the traditional and historical associations of the fabric. 
Few years after, other designers started to use tartan like Comme des Garçons in 2000, Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton in 2004 and Balenciaga for the fall show in 2006. 



Then thanks to the Fashion Weeks and those designers, famous people started to wear Tartan like Sarah Jessica Parker in 2006. For the Metropolitan's gala benefit dinner to celebrate the opening of the 2006 exhibition AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion, McQueen and the actress Sarah Jessica Parker arrived together in matching tartan finery. 

In the end of this article I would like to talk about my talented friend Alizée Loubet who is studying fashion design at La Cambre, one of Belgium's leading schools of art and design. I’m very proud of her and during this year she created a beautiful bust of tartan. I wish one day, we will see her collections on the catwalk! 





Tartan & co

Monday, 25 April 2016

Brora, the cashmere made in Scotland




Good evening, everyone. 

Tonight I would like to share with you an outstanding brand which I found this month. If you want to buy a nice tartan plaid or a cashmere scarf made in Scotland, Brora is the brand for you. 

Brora is a luxury cashmere brand founded in 1993 by Victoria Stapleton. The name of the brand is a village in the east of Sutherland, in the Highland area of Scotland where a 100-year old tweed mill is based. 
The company produces high quality products for women, men, children & babies. They are passionate about the "made in Britain" label and to support the British Industry. All their cashmere clothing is made in Scotland in the mills which have been established over 200 years ago and have been employing local Scottish families for generations. 

What I really find attractive about this brand is their concern about being an ethical company. Moreover they produce clothes in the traditional way. Their concept is buy less and make sure that what you buy is very special. Thus they continue to produce the cashmere in Scotland with the highest quality possible. Their cashmere is ethically sourced from the native goat of the Mongolian plateaux. Every season, the best fibre is carefully selected and brought to Scotland. 

You can have a look at this animation created by art students to see the chain production of the Brora clothes, such a nice video.  



During this year, I went to the Brora’s shop in Edinburgh. The shop is really pleasant and bright. It was a really great experience. Employees were welcoming and I just wanted to try on all of the cashmere scarves.

My favourite is the cashmere Tweed Chartouche with woven Scottish cashmere. I love this revisited tartan with bright colours, perfect for this season in Scotland! 

 
As I just love the turtle-necks, this one is my favourite. It will be perfectly worn with the tartan cashmere scarf for every day. It’s a classic piece of cloth that you will keep for years in your dressing room. It exists in 6 different colours, looks so comfortable and easy to wear! 


I have also found this beautiful Cashmere Baby Blanket, produced with woven Scottish cashmere. 
This luxurious blanket can be used for decorating your home, placed on a bed or a sofa. 



I hope this article inspires you to buy and support clothes made in Scotland!

For the Instagramers, you can follow the brand here. It’s a great Instagram account with such a nice pictures of the products, their inspiration and the different shops in UK. 


Tartan & co