Styling with Leren Connor

Where to even begin, the last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind not to mention stressful and tiring with the work load of my University project. However I am very pleased to announce that finally I will be moving my work load out of my home and into a swanky new studio that I will be sharing with House of Denham, which as you know is a frequent collaborator and colleague to Leren Connor. Currently the studio is having a makeover and it is looking fantastic! I'm super excited to get in there and have all my ideas out in the open but not only that; I'm immensely pleased to be I will be able to separate my work life and my home life. I will be keeping you updated on the progress of the studio with pictures of it when completed to follow

On another note a few weeks back me and House of Denham made our way to Manchester where I styled a photo shoot in Piccadilly, it was such a great fashion filled day and the team we were working with were fantastic people and very professional which always helps. Piccadilly is one of my favorite places especially for scenery and more importantly shopping, so when asked to style this shoot I jumped at the chance. The idea was to portray this uber cool, eccentric and edgy city girl who can pull off any style and still look fabulous, and with it being shot in Piccadilly it proved to be the perfect location. The reason I wanted House of Denham to accompany me on this venture is simple...for her talents! Although she has many skills which has contributed to not only my business but some other small local businesses also, one of the goals for this one man band is directing and film producing so I thought it would be good practice for her to film some behind the scenes footage and put together a short film, naturally she agreed and as always didn't fail to amaze me. Considering the fact it's her first attempt I personally think she did a fantastic job and I'm thoroughly happy with the end result. I am still waiting for the final edits of the shoot to share with you, but In the meantime feast your beady eyes on this, please leave comments we always welcome your thoughts and feedback!

The art which is tailoring

This last week was my first week back university, and come April I will be saying goodbye to my studies as I will be finally finishing my five years of studying what I love. I would be lying if I said I'm not a little bit emotional, for half a decade I've been a student at Derby university where I've studied art and design and fashion including taking a year out to studied for my diploma in professional practice. My final collection for my degree is inspired by two favourite comic villains which are the Joker and Harley Quinn, instead of just recreating their costumes I have embarked on a journey to really draw out their personas to portray through six outfits! With doing that, I have been learning the art of tailoring so I can successfully make three tailored suits all with different concepts to reference the Joker, although I have been pattern cutting for the last four years I have realised that tailoring is a completely a different ball game! This week I have cried, ranted, stamped my feet and for the first time in a long time felt anxious. I know it takes time to perfect a new skill and I'm all for being patient I'm just feeling anxious and stressed with knowing I have to perfect something in three months that professional tailors have worked towards all their life's. On the plus side the university has a fantastic tailor who has been tailoring all his life, he's been a huge help and guided me through the drafting of the pattern, towards the end of the week I successfully manufactured the shell together so I'm feeling a lot more positive.

Through the years of me working and studying within the fashion industry, tailoring has always been something that has interested me. I love the history behind it and how, although fashion has evolved, the classic tailored suits will always be apart of our world! This is why it's a skill I want and have always wanted to learn, I really feel it will benefit my career but not only that, it will give me a new market to branch out to...menswear!

Thrift to Thrive

  To paraphrase Jane Austen, it is a truth universally acknowledged that the more you search the better bargains you'll find. Well, I know she didn't exactly have charity shopping in mind but I think most people would agree that with everyone tightening their belts through the recession Britain's second hand shops and car boot sales are experiencing somewhat of a revival. However, perhaps you're like me and sometimes fall victim to the impulse charity buy. Well, just pause right there a second and have a read of a lessons that could help you avoid cluttering up your space with unused items and increase your chances of bagging a gem you'll really get a lot of use out of. Most importantly too.... You save some pennies!

Stick to your wish list. Do you really need or want a plastic pineapple ice bucket or a seen-a-million-of-them-last-year-in-Primark top? Probably not. Make a list. If it's clothes you'd like, try to look for pieces that your wardrobe can support. Sometimes I've bought say, a really stand-out coat, only to never find anything else that really goes with it. That's why most of the time I just want a few things to help me transition into each new season and I turn I try to get rid of a few things I no longer wear.

 Recently my list has been:

90's Style Boyfriend Jeans

Blue or White Men's Shirt

A Tweed Style Jacket/Blazer

A  Coffee Set

A Serving Tray

Cheap Vinyls (For the covers, I don't actually have a record player.

Square Photo Frames

Long Hippy Necklaces

It may have taken three odd months but my persistence paid off with these Wranglers for just £3! True, sometimes you do get lucky but I was so happy when I found these, they were exactly what I had been looking for for. I go make the rounds of my favourite shops every two to three weeks, not only does it increase my chances of finding want I want but many of the staff have gotten to know me and if I'm particularly struggling to find what I'm searching for, sometimes all it confident that they know I'll be back.

I used to buy books like I was stocking a library. While I would love to have a room filled floor to ceiling with books, I can currently only home about a third of the books in my possession, the rest are tucked away in my parents' garage. Not to mention I've moved more times than I can count and they're heavy to cart about. The madness had to stop!

I limit myself to a just two collections now: 80's vinyl's to build on the ones my Dad gave me and orange Penguin print George Orwell books which I only need one or two now to complete. That's it.

Leren's weakness you ask? Retro prints.

Just because it doesn't cost as much as the high street doesn't mean you should compromise and spend money on something you would love less.  You wouldn't spend fifty quid on a pair of shoes you only felt so-so about would you? Fifty pounds or five pounds, it's still a waste.

Just because you're looking doesn't mean you have to buy something. Mostly it's the searching I love. Last summer I spent two weeks in Berlin (which is like... Second hand Mecca) and spent a big chunk of my time looking up all the areas to thrift in, it was such a great way to explore the city! In two weeks I bought 2 items, the dress above and some vintage sunglasses. In fact in the shop I bought the glasses from the guy insisted on actually giving me, what looked like a barely worn three-quarter length coat. Not wanting to be rude I eventually accepted just to donate it to the next charity shop I came across. Why keep something you I don't really want that someone else might deem a treasure?

House of Denham

A one man band design studio specializing in professional blogging, photo styling, film making and art direction for creatives and their businesses. 

Welcome...2014

  First of I would like to apologize for this post being a few days late! I would like to wish you all a happy New year and I hope you have all had a great start to the year! It's been a pretty crazy week for me as I've solely been focusing on getting my dissertation for uni finished as its very near the deadline for hand in, as you can all imagine I'm super excited to just get it finished and handed in so I can get back to being creative and finishing my collection I started before Christmas.

  I would like to thank you all for taking time out to read my blog and seeing what Leren Connor is all about, last year was a great year for me, I learned and gained so much about my self and the business. Because of that I have a clearer direction of where I want to be and what else I want to achieve. I have set my self some personal resolutions such as being more healthy and to shop more in charity shops rather than on the high street. Some easy ones considering I do both anyway, I just want to do it more. In terms of the business it's simple, to be better than last year! Easier said than done I know but I do love a challenge, I'm lucky I have a friend who's also a colleague who wants the same things so we have already had a new year cuppa and set our self some projects and goals! One of the main goals for the blog is to make it more effective and efficient, we both want our readers to enjoy what they see and to really get a clear idea of what Leren Connor and House of  Denham is about! This year is also being focused on doing collaborations with more designers, photographers and models, I loved doing them last year and collaborating is a great way to push boundaries and get more people on board with what I do. I have already been busy planning a few with my first one being at the end of January in Manchester. I have so much more material to work with this year from, photo shoots, uni work, jewellery and those all important collaborations.

Late year I was lucky to work with a local model called Gingerface, she's amazing to work with and very versatile with her modeling work so I naturally jumped at the chance to work with her when she came knocking to borrow my clothes. Today's title pic is a sneak peak into what she and another model got up to whilst looking fabulous in some Leren Connor pieces. I will be doing another post solely on this photoshoot once I have the rest of the images.

And Finally until the next post, I wanted to show you all the collection I'm working on this month. The images are sneaky peaks and simply taken upon the mannequins in the studio at university, I actually started using the red/blue check fabric for another collection I started working on but after making the piece I realised that I was seeing two separate collections so had to make that difficult choice of choosing which collection to put down for the time being and which to carry on with. I choose this one! All the fabric is Paul Smith (I know, totally cool) the designs are simple yet effective with a tomboyish style and an edgy touch, the look I'm going for is a relaxed, layerd and casual. I look forward to doing the shoot and showing you guys the images.

Until the next time, stay blessed!