Its been a while

Hello everyone. If there was a award for the worst updated blog, I would be at the top of the leader board for receiving the prize. When I step out of my university bubble and into my little country life I seem to loose all motivation.

Time to forgive and forget though. I can't believe Christmas have been and gone. So much has changed since last year. Some things I expected and others, not so much. Christmas and new year is the time for celebrations but also time to look over the past year remembering the good and the bad times, to then to looking forwards to another, probably very interesting, New Year and what that has to offer.

This Christmas I was a very lucking lady (Like every other year) and received a great camera (Canon EOS 1200D) from my lovely mum. I have so many exiting things coming up in 2016, first of all going to New York City which I am beyond exited for, so expect some great photos and probably to many of them. It might be trial and error with it to start with but i'm exited to document my travels and findings. It shall be glued to my hip at all times. Hopefully you will start to notice the quality of my pictures, in my posts, to be a lot better quality. 

Unfortunately there are some people across the country who haven't had the Christmas they were wishing for due to dramatically flooding. My home time, Carlisle, where I grow up was dramatically effected and one of the first places that was hit by the floods but now it has effected many other big cities like Manchester and Leeds. My thoughts go out to the people that are effected as it is such a terrible thing, especially around this time of year.

Expect many more blog posts to be coming as I am much more organised, she says, now and I have a amazing project coming up with university which I shall be featuring very soon on my blog and also many many blog posts of my travels in New York.

Hope you are all well,

Plain Jayne x

Fast Fashion

The world of fashion is seen by most people as a glamorous industry. Empowered by women and men dressing the world. Behind the scene of the industry it is a very different story. One that is very upsetting and anything but glamorous for the people working within it. 

Every week, we are present with a fashion film, something which gives us a closer look at the industry as fashion communicator and promotion students. A couple of weeks ago we were presentation with the documentary 'The True cost'. I personally had never heard of it before and didn't know what it entailed but as soon as it began it became very clear and I have to say, it wasn't something I would choose to watch again. 

The documentary may not have been very appealing to watch but it was the reality of what some people are going through in the world who work within the fashion industry. It presents the industry from a different angle to how we know it and talks about what we wear, the people who make the clothing and the impact it has on them and the world. 

It may not to be everyones knowledge but the price of clothing has been decreasing dramatically but man and environment costs have been growing. How does that work, right? The documentary shows the truth and horror of what people are living and working in to make our clothes giving us the fast fashion chain.

The film covers the lives which have been lost because of the working conditions. It featured the 2013 Bangladesh disaster of the ran plaza factory collapsing which lead to 1,000 and more workers being killed. Before the horrific disaster the workers of the factory had complained about the conditions they were working in to management, as they could all witness the cracks in the walls. Yet nothing was done about it. 

Not just does the documentary talk about the lives that have been lost from people that work within the industry but also how it has and is effecting peoples lives that are still working within the industry. Some workers have had to send their children away as it could cause them harm. Some work within polluted areas which are full of pesticides and chemicals which has caused a increase in cancer and birth defects like damage to workers skin. 

This documentary has changed the way in which I look at the industry. As the next generation of people stepping into the industry as fashion communicators and promotors. It will be our responsibility to help change this awful thing that is happening to people, to make this chain of production we have created.

Even with the knowledge of the 2013 Bangladesh disaster, most people still aren't aware of the problems and if they are, they choose to ignore them. Which needs to stop. 

Think about the clothes you are wearing now. Where do you think they came from? 

Plain Jayne x

Is fashion having a effect on our health?

When the fashion industry is brought into conversation there is always a discussion about body image and the affect fashion has upon us.

As Australia's, former editor, Kristie Clements says 'it cannot be denied that visually clothes fall better on a slimmer frame - but there is slim and there is scary skinny..' 

Is the fashion industry making us sick and having a dramatic effect on our health? This is the big question. studies have shown that;

 90% of British women feel body image anxiety. 

Eating disorders have doubled over the past 15 years.

50% of girls smoke to suppress their appetite. 

rates of depression in women has doubled between 2000 and 2010.

The fashion industry has been absorbed by thinner models. The 'paris thin' look consumed the nineties super models which lead to designers producing smaller and smaller sample sizers leading to the catwalk only seeing 'size zero' models and clothes. 

There is now starting to become a new move. A new move for more 'plus size' models appearing for marketing and within campaigns. There is now a gap in the market for plus size models as there is a grow and demand for them.

There are many high profile 'plus models' now for example Robyn Lawley, Candice Huffine and Katya Zharkova. Katya Zharkova is the first plus model to appear in cosmopolitan Russia and has worked with labels like forever 21 and silver Jeans.

Although this move for plus models is happening now, it was only a few years ago that it wasn't having such a big affect. In 2012 vogue published a front cover featuring Adele when, until now, she was at the hight of her fame. Vogue editor, Alexander Shulman, later revealed it was one of the worst selling issues of all times and that the popularity of adele did not translate into the fashion industry. 

Now is this new move happening for plus size models? 

Models aren't as skinny now as they were in the nineties and models like Katya Zharkova are displaying there figures with pride, with a healthy lifestyle but without the pressure to obey society's beauty standards and I personal think she looks amazing.

For a person that has personally struggled with weight and body issues, I understand the pressure we under living under the fashion industry and all I can is what are we going to do to change it. 

Do you think the industry is changing or is it changing us?

Plain Jayne x

Outfit: Key Trends

Outfit: Coat-Zara; Skirt-Toshop; Top; Zara; Knee high boots-Daisy street via ASOS 

Outfit posts were something I used to feature a lot when I first started blogging, I seem to have come away from that. What I love to blog about the most is my outfits. Outfits are something that I enjoy writing and reading about the most, so I thought it was time to feature another on my blog.

This little outfit is very winter ready and appropriate. Knee high boots are definitely a key trend for Autumn/Winter 2015. I feel like knee high boots have a bad reputation surrounding them and some people associate them with bad sexual natures. I personally think they are great if styled in the right way and people should have more of a open mind about them. 

Military style is also a key trend for Autumn/Winter, especially this season. This jacket from Zara is perfect. The jacket is slightly different featuring the navy colour, instead of a typical khaki green, but still being very military inspired with the tailored look and buttoned paneling. 

I decided to wear it open to keep it more causal. I wanted my main feature of the outfit to be on the boots and the jacket so I kept it casual with a tennis inspired skirt and a standard striped top with a turtle neck, which is also a big key style this season. 

Hope you enjoyed this old style post,

Plain Jayne x