Victoria Rowe 2013

Fluorescent yellow has always been a colour which has both transfixed and terrified me. Periodically fashion bloggers will employ it in contrast to their own monochrome wardrobe and in the blink of an eye the shade will fall out of favour and vanish in an instant. Unlike those dime a dozen fashion bloggers, Victoria Rowe has managed to employ this tricky shade in the most clever of ways- paired with the sassiness of a Disney Villain. That's the impression I was struck with and couldn't shake- the smouldering eyeshadow, slick black boots and the sensational leather jacket all screamed evildoer. It seems fitting that while the world eagerly awaits more trailers for the latest DC blockbuster, Suicide Squad (not sure how to feel about the title tbh), I trawl the Westminster archives for a designer who inspires such beauty and darkness. Purposefully threadbare sweaters and skirts shrouded the body in multiple layers and removed the usual sweet and honestly tacky connotations of fluorescent yellow. Instead of resenting what that peculiar shade of yellow represents amongst commercial practice I have something else to consider now.

*Images via Westminster Fashion

Louise Alsop 2013

I've been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be a "cool older girl in high school"- not in a creepy way but to kind of monitor how teenage girls suddenly experiment with how they look and what they wear. There was a moment in Inside Out where Riley transfers to her knew school and mentally takes note of who she should be friends with, singling out the "cool girl" in the room with half black and half blue hair. I always aspired to BE the cool older girl, and when I help out kids in high school I know from work or those who are at the university for work experience I kinda try to give off those vibes but. Yeah it never happened for me. At most I will wear ripped tights underneath a cute skirt or dress but that's as far as I've ever gotten. On the other hand, Louise Alsop totally understands and her designs embody this wild energy with her simple monochromatic and heavily frayed designs. It appears many of the Westminster Graduates were encouraged to reconstruct and subsequently deconstruct their designs for the purpose of *fashion* but none did it quite as well as she did. Plus she created health goth BEFORE IT WAS EVEN A THING!! These clothes are way better than the traditional health goth and minus the Adidas slide sandals.

*Images via Westminster Fashion