Margaret Campbell: Textiles and Everything After
Text by Becky Seward

Margaret Campbell is a Print Technician at Chelsea College of Art.  Here, she recalls her time working for great designers such as Ossie Clark and tells us why teaching has been her most rewarding role in fashion:

“My life before teaching was crazy. I was a nanny for 10 years before becoming a student. My mum designs wedding dresses back in Ireland I used to help with that a lot, I suppose that’s why I got interested in fashion. My father’s a market trader – always out selling pots and pans – that must be where I get my loudness from.

I’m loud, I’m noisy and I might swear but at the end of the day I always get the job done to the best of my ability – you always have to be true to yourself, I hope I am and that people see that in my work.

I left home to become a student at CSM and from the moment I came for the interview my new family started. I embraced the whole world from the word go and I’ve been with UAL 21 years now going back to 1991 when I started out as a Fashion Print student.

I’ve been lucky enough to have some great times in my career. Whether that be working with Tristan Webber or my time at Ossie Clark we’ve had some laughs, some really funny times.

Working for Ossie was a monumental time. I went on board three years ago as a color specialist and dyer and it ran for three seasons. One of the only times I remember being worried was when I met Celia Birtwell and thinking, ‘I have to step into her shoes’. For me Ossie is massive and having the opportunity to work there was unbelievable. At times like that you always have to remember and respect what has gone before you.

I still believe that teaching is one of the most rewarding jobs in the world. We’re like a big family and every year it gets harder and harder to say goodbye. I always think: ‘No, I’m not doing this anymore, it’s too upsetting.’ But I don’t think I could ever stop. When you’re lucky enough to find something that you love doing and you have the opportunity to work with such talented young people you can’t just give that up.

Textiles is a great profession, it opens up a lot of doors and it covers a huge range of disciplines. Behind everything that’s ever been designed there’s a textile person.

My advice to anyone starting in the industry would be to bide your time. Learn as much as you can and never stop working. There might be one sentence that you miss which could change your life”.

For more information on textiles at Chelsea visit their course site.

Our education system is constantly being exposed and criticised for the sham that it is, but rarely provoking any government response. Having consistently denounced the government’s inaction and wishy-washy education policies, I’m starting to think that, after Tuesday’s dreaded unveiling of Lord Browne’s investigation and proposal into higher education funding, I preferred the silence.

In the Conservative’s, sorry Coalition’s, desperate attempt to prove themselves, they plan to rush in changes as soon as 2012. Now, I have read the proposal, well, a summarised version, and I am willing to admit that theoretically much of it generally makes sense. Unfortunately for them, and I guess everyone else, in practice it quite obviously will never work.

My main concern is with the report’s claim that it will allow “students [to] choose where they want to study and what they want to study.” Technically, there are no plans to actively prevent students from doing this but by subjectively raising tuition-fees and removing means-tested maintenance loans, there are huge implications on where and what a student can realistically afford to study, regardless of whether or not they pay the costs up front or over 30 years.

Are we going to have to say goodbye, already, to the days of a university degree being about intellectual development and studying something that genuinely interests you? Will thousands of middle class students decide that the value of an arts degree isn’t worth the risk of unpredictable employment prospects? Will degrees in arts and humanities become a luxury that only the wealthy can afford? Will the cost of living in London drive students out and abroad?

For students and young people across the country, their financial and educational future is looking bleak. However, I sincerely hope that university degrees don’t just become another stepping stone of unnecessary testing in England’s mundane and uninspiring education system, alongside GCSEs and A Levels, that lead to an equally mundane and uninspiring job.

P.S. Nick Clegg, you have betrayed us all.

Yes, Nick-I'm a liar-Clegg, this really did happen.

Summarised report:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/interactive/2010/oct/12/browne-review-higher-education

We are still recruiting some final positions for the 2010-11 LCMS team. Details of available position are below.

If you are interested please email e.nelson5@fashion.arts.ac.uk with your name, college, course and what position you are interested in.

Web Designer
• Redesign the LCMS website to make it more efficient and inspiring
• Work directly with the Web Coordinator
• Knowledge of WordPress required
• Knowledge of other web creation software preferred

Marketing Team
•       Come up with exciting fundraising ideas
•       Organise and run a wide variety of ‘LCMS events’
•       Support the Fundraising Coordinator in acquiring sponsorship
•       Promote LCMS to students across the entire university
•       Act on advertising initiatives
•       Ensure the magazine is well distributed

Thanks x

This is a beautiful picture I found on the blogSweetHomeStyle. I instantly recognised where it was. I’m half Venezuelan and I spent most of my childhood in Caracas. This is the view from the motorway when you’re on your way to the airport. The caption on the flikr page said, it was the town of La Guaira, where the International Airport of Caracas is. This picture brought back a lot of memories so I thought I’d reblog it for you guys. Also there is nothing more urban in South America than slums, so I thought it applied in a way to our topic of “sustainable city style”…

xx

I’m currently working on a book about tattoos. While selecting images for the book, I had an epiphany. Nothing is more sustainable and urban than old school tattoos! Old school tattoos have been around for about 100 years, and even though in the last 30 years a new school has made its appearance, old school tattoos are still very popular and very much in fashion. In a city like London, where tattoos are a culture (and even a sub-culture) of its own, I thought they applied perfectly to our topic of “sustainable city style”.

Sailor Jerry (a.k.a. Norman Collins) is said to be the founding father or frontman of the old school tattooing style. His pin-ups and ships are famous worldwide and are the symbols of old school tattoos. Here are some examples. Admire the beauty! xx

I have been away for the last two weeks. This explains why I haven’t written anything in a while.

I travelled to North America with some friends. But instead of going to the usual New York or Los Angeles, we went to Calgary in the Canadian western plains. The first week we rented a car and drove all the way to the American boarder. We got to a small town in Idaho called Coeur d’Alene. There we started living the American dream. It was quite late and we were starving so we went to a an all-night diner: Denny’s. After a somewhat good burger, my friends and I went to a typically American motel by the road.

The next day was magical. We drove through Idaho, and Washington state to get to Seattle. We only stayed there for a couple of hours enjoying the amazing weather and the view of the ocean surrounded by snowy mountains. We were then headed to the beautiful Vancouver. We were getting close, we were on a hill and at the end of the long and steep road Vancouver appeared like a vision in the middle of the desert: its tall buildings shining in the sun. We arrived at English Bay and had dinner in a Japanese restaurant. The same night we walked around downtown Vancouver, embracing the nightlife. People there certainly know how to party! We spent the next day on the beach. It was so relaxing. The Pacific, unlike what I had heard was not that cold. We had an amazing lazy day. The next day we headed back to calgary, driving through the Canadian Rockies and making a stop at the lovely Lake Louise.

The second week we immersed ourselves into the country vibe. The Calgary Stampede had indeed begun. The Stampede is a funny thing. The incredible thing, compared to festivals or events in London, is that the entire city gets involved in the celebration. Everywhere you see paintings of cowboys and saloons, and in the airport you could find stacks of hays. Also every kind of business stops or at least slows down. Everyone is either drunk or hungover at work every morning. Everyone loses themselves in country music, rodeo, and cowboy hats. It was an amazing experience, and it surely gave me the desire to visit another part of the world next summer.

That is all for today. See you soon with something a bit more related to fashion. xx

Bad Manners at lotf © 2010 Nichol Keene. All Rights Reserved.

Rundown

After returning from performing poetry at Lounge on the Farm Festival last weekend I wanted to give you guys a quick rundown of what turned out to be a really great festival! I wasn’t expecting much as it is has only been running 5 years, but it turns out little festivals are really where the fun is.  Some quick personal highlights…

Getting a kiss on the check and a bear hug from Martha Reeves

Dancing in the front row for Bad Manners and Toots and the Maytals

Really good local ciders and food at reasonable prices

Being told that my poetry was the female equivalent of Mike Skinner from the The Streets

On to the best of the bands!

Gaggle at lotf © 2010 Nichol Keene. All Rights Reserved.

Gaggle

This 20 strong all girl choir, head to toe costumes, defiantly demand attention. I’ve never seen anything like it… they gave me chills. I was around when they were doing sound check and people kept trying to get into the tent… they are magnetic.

blk.wht.clr
Really good set, they engaged with the audience and were very chatty but unfortunately there was a mighty long sound check. Other than sound desk difficulties, which they can really be blamed for, everything went really well for them. They had a real effect on the crowd and got people going and up off their feet, which in 30 degree heat was quite an achievement. Considering this was their first ever festival performance they did really well

Two Wounded Birds
Again with a long gap between bands and extensive sound checks…. 15 minutes of sound guy banters… not cool… but not the bands fault. Two Wounded Birds make me think of a cross between the Beach boys and some nameless indie cool band… with amazing guitar riffs, with enough treble to keep the specials happy. They were definitely worth a look.

King Charles
This was an epic set; to be honest i don’t know why King Charles aren’t really really successful yet? Why aren’t they doing sell out shows at the o2? Why aren’t they on the main stage at Lounge on the Farm…? Suffice to say they put on an amazing show; the bass lines gave me chills.

Example
Well Example defiantly got the crowd dancing and screaming in the Cow Shed (LOTF main stage is an actual cow shed…). Everyone was going mental, it was such a great atmosphere. After the set finished, I was taking a short cut through the backstage bit and two girls were standing at the gate… they asked me if I was celebrity spotting… I said no… I felt they might murder me for being able to go backstage…

Martha and the Vandellas
This was a somewhat strange experience, Martha and her Vandellas were on top form hitting the highs and the lows like there was no tomorrow. The crowd was going wild and as i looked at who i was surrounded by…. lots of over 40 men and people under the age of 16… i was a bit confused but it didn’t stop me from singing my heart out to every song. AMAZING.

Bad Manners
What can a say, the man is still shaking his belly and sticking his tongue out like he isn’t 60 odd and its great. I was jumping around in the front row with all the old guys who probably came to Bad Manners First gig.

Toots and the Maytals

Toots was on after Bad Manners and so pretty much the whole crowd stayed… for a hour… waiting for the music to start… people started getting a bit restless but as soon as the band came on all was forgiven because Toots and the Maytals have definitely still got it. He had the crowd doing whatever he wanted whenever he wanted and the music was incredible.

part of a collection of little houses found in the north of germany.

Affectation

noun

Behaviour, speech, or writing that is artificial and designed to impress.

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