Kalandra Jane Designs Magazine Feature!

A couple of weeks ago I took some of my hats along to collaborate on a fashion photoshoot for Chimp Magazine, Manchester's leading arts, fashion, gigs and culture guide. I got my copies in the post today, and we have made the front cover (and the front page of their website)!

More great news, the photos have been so well received that the editors have decided to spread the shoot over two issues - double the magazine exposure, and two separate seven-page spreads of beautiful Harajuku-inspired fashion deliciousness featuring my hats! I'm so proud to have my work featured in the magazine, alongside some wonderfully talented people who worked on the shoot.

Here are the pictures from this issue! There are loads more to come. All hats by Kalandra Jane Designs, and if you're not a facebook fan yet please follow me here!








Photo shoot for Chimp Magazine www.chimpmagazine.co.uk
Photographer – Shirlaine Forrest www.shirlainephotos.co.uk
Hair and Make Up Artists - Clare Ardern www.harryjon.com
Jennifer Perry www.jenniferperrymakeupartistry.com
Lauren Coombes www.cheshiremakeup.com
Models – Amy Gee, Olivia Stappleton and Tom Walker at Boss Model Management www.bossmodelmanagement.co.uk
Clothing - Tokyo Royale www.harajukustyle.co.uk
Handbags - Helen Rochfort www.helenrochfort.com
Millinery – Kalandra Jane www.kalandrajanedesigns.com
Accessories – Extreme Largeness www.extremelargeness.com
Photographers Assistant – Danny Thornley
Shot on location with thanks to Phil Thornley, Sophie Mullan, Amanda, Fry, Frank and Paul.

Chimp Magazine is available at WH Smith and all good Mancunian newsagents!

New Hat Photos!

WARNING: this post contains gratuitous pictures of my face, over and over. It's one huge vanity fest.

A couple of weeks back my friend Berni and I did a photoshoot with some of my hats, taking new headshots to use as product images on the Kalandra Jane Designs website. I'll have all these hats for sale there as soon as I've finished writing the stock pages for them.

Berni Harris is a fabulous photographer specialising in wedding, portrait and fashion photography, she also has a great gift for working with outdoor subjects. She has a cute blog which you can visit here!

Now for the facefest.

The negligent blogger's Autumn colour picks.

It seems I have missed blogging for most of Summer. This is because aerospace boyfriend has been at mine most of the time while he was on his Summer break, so we have mainly been pottering about doing things at home and haven't really had much to report, though I do have a few interesting bits to catch up on.

I've really noticed Autumn closing in this week. I'm not fond of it... we're led to believe it's all apple pies, crunchy leaves and toasty mittens but for those of us living in cities the usual Autumnal experiences entail slipping over into a slurry of brake dust and decomposed vegetation, sweating because it's not quite cold enough for the coat we've put on, and being buffeted by various degrees of pollution-saturated rain and grit-carrying wind.

To distract myself from this depressing prospect, I've decided to delve into the world of fashion and colour. This week is New York Fashion Week, and every year Pantone consult leading designers to determine the colours of the season from their collections. These were their picks for Autumn/Winter 2011.


I can't profess to be too keen on their chosen palette - the last four on the chart are particularly insipid, reminding me of dreary Autumn skies. I much prefer the first section of bright jewel tones and warm, dark colours to fend off the encroaching chill of Winter. Here are my picks for my own wardrobe this season!



I think it's much more sensible to stick to a narrower palette for dressing on a budget, and I've chosen these colours because I've already started to edge towards them in my wardrobe. Here's a sneak preview!





As you can see I'm also favouring tartans at the moment... the yellow stuff is something I've actually already made, but then stupidly ripped, so I'll show you a proper picture as soon as I've redone the seam.

I promise to resume regular blogging now! The next post will be more interesting and less awkwardly written, obviously breaks are not good for me. Love to you all, my faithful readers. xxx