The Fragrance Market.

At university at the moment we have been given several tasks to develop a brand and a big idea that is a fragrance. In our lecture a few days ago we learnt about the fragrance market. I found this lecture very interesting as it looked in depth at the points that need to be included when entering your brand into the fragrance market so I thought I would share some of these points with you. I found out that to be successful within the fragrance market your fragrance will need to include a story, insight, opportunity, research and strategy. The types of research we have to do to create a successful brand is academic such as secondary and primary, theoretical and market research. The lecturers also got us all thinking about how much we thing a £100 bottle of fragrance would cost to make and the answer was around £1-10 which left us all speechless due to the fact we were spending so much on this fragrance.
Every fragrance brand is trying to tell us a story whether it is about love, power, loss, fame, desire ect. For example, the Miss Dior perfume advert has always been about seduction and love by having the well known model Natalie Portman, stare sexually into the camera while wearing little clothing and posing seductively.

Opportunities that the brand has to promote and sell their perfume is the packaging, delivery system, consumer, personalisation, ingredients, retail experience, price and innovation at every stage. Throughout this year learning fashion communication and promotion we have always been told that the most important thing is to know your consumer. Without knowing your consumer, you will now know what colour theme to have, what the product should include, the price of the product ect.

A blog post will be up soon about the first task of this project which is to do a presentation of three insights.

Shelby xxx

London Fashion Week.

Yesterday, we were lucky enough to go to London for London fashion week as one of my friends on my uni course managed to get tickets through her mum’s work at Mercedes. When I found out I was beyond excited and I straight away panicked on what I should wear because I wanted to look smart casual yet be warm and stylish.Arriving in London with no hesitation we went straight to where fashion week was held and outside the building were many photographers snapping people’s different and interesting clothing. I thought this was really exciting and I could have just stood there for ages looking at some of the crazy stuff that people were wearing. However, we arrived very early and we could not enter the building until 3:30pm so we decided to have a wonder round the beautiful parts of London. When we were finally let into the building, we were happily greeted with a small bottle or Prosecco and we explored different designers work. The clothing and accessories shown were very different and interesting to look at, it was almost like an art show.

At 4pm we went into the show room to watch the catwalk. To our surprise in front of us was a row of celebrities which we all recognised so we all got a bit over excited however, we knew we weren’t there to see celebrities so we sat back and enjoyed the show. The designer we saw was called Xlioli and I thought her designs were stunning with the use of colour and material. The music she used in the show fit perfectly as it was not too loud and off putting, and it had a good beat which linked to the models walk.

I can definitely say that was one of the best experiences of my life and I think London in general is just an amazing place to be and I am really looking forward to going back and visiting more of the fashion events. 

Shelby xxx

Pinterest.

For my FCP (Fashion Communication and Promotion) course at uni I have created a Pinterest account to create mood boards whenever I have to plan a project or a photo shoot, or I just use it for my own entertainment by creating boards of house decorations I like or clothes that I like ect.

I really recommend creating a Pinterest account as it allows you to merge all of you creative ideas onto one board for example, one of my boards convey colours that are personal to me in the sense of what I wear and what I have around my house. It is also perfect for planning an occasion, as you can place all of your ideas onto one board. I love going on Pinterest and exploring the different trends from the past and present and figuring out why this was the ‘happening’ trend at the time. 

Here is a link to my Pinterest account to see the boards that I have created so far. I hope the interest you!

https://uk.pinterest.com/shelbyphillips7/

Shelby xxx

Joining University. #fcp

I have created this blog in order to express my personal interest in fashion and the world around me. I used to have a blog on Tumblr however now I wanted to create a more professional blog now that I am more comfortable with it.

At the moment I am studying Fashion Communication and Promotion at Nottingham Trent University and I want to portray this beautiful place and all of the interesting places there are to visit in my blog. During my first year of A levels, I was very indecisive about coming to university and I had my head set to not going however, I thought I would at least have a look round, read some books and research what courses some uni’s have to offer. I came across Fashion Communication and Promotion at NTU and as I read the description I couldn’t think of a better course for me as this course is so much more than fashion. It’s events, it’s journalism, it’s promotion, it’s marketing! So I knew straight away that this is what I wanted to do as my interests lie around fashion and events management. After spending two terms on this course I can honestly say that it is the best decision I have every made. I have met some wonderful people and I have really enjoyed going to my lectures and seminars (even the 9am's!) and cannot wait to get further into the course and learn more about something I love. 

Thank you for reading this and I hope that this blog will interest many of you. 

Shelby xxx

Social Media.

Social media is something that is extremely popular to the younger generation and slightly frown upon by the older generation. Since starting Fashion Communication and Promotion at university I have taken a love to social media in a different way than before. 

My favourite social site/app is Instagram as I am very passionate about Photography and I took it as an A-level so therefore, I love to scroll down Instagram and see pictures of new locations, the latest fashion and different and interesting photo shoots. I also love using this app to catch up with the celebrity lifestyle as they frequently post photos and videos of what they are up to and what they are wearing which I like to know about just to keep up with the latest trends. 

Another social app I use is Pinterest. I have previously written a blog about Pinterest so if you haven’t heard of it or would like to know more about it please read my previous blog. This app really helps me with my uni work, to put all of my ideas into one pinboard and easily view it later on in the week. I don’t only use it for uni though, I love to look at the amazing ideas that people have and how creative they get on their pinboards which inspires me to create my own. I love to search for images that would make up my perfect house or my perfect wardrobe. I really recommend this app/website for anyone that loves planning is creative and loves photography.

I find that Facebook is extremely helpful with keeping up with the latest fashion articles. By following fashion groups and pages on Facebook, different news stories come up on my news feed every day which I find are an interesting read. My uni course has its own group on Facebook for which all of the students can post fashion articles they have found or anything interesting that could relate to the course which I find brilliant as we can all share our ideas with each other easily using a social media which everyone has. 

I really recommend using social media for research and creativity as well as contacting friends and family as it is brilliant for finding out information and keeping up to date with what’s happening in the world whatever the subject.

Shelby xxx

New Years Resolutions.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

So this year I have made many resolutions to improve myself and my work so I thought I would share some of them with you. To me, making resolutions is very important as it helps me make my year better and more meaningful than the last one.

My resolutions and the reasons why:

- Work harder university. This is my first resolution as I really want to get the best grade I possibly can at the end of the year. Before Christmas I felt as though I was slightly slacking with my work however, the reason for this was because I didn’t understand some of the work set. So this year instead of hiding from it I am going to work harder to understand what I have to do so that my work is the best it can be. I am good with turning up to my lectures (even after a late night out) and I always make sure that I am writing notes throughout the lecture to re-read them later on in the day. I have only missed one of two lectures for good reason such as a doctors appointment or a family commitment back home so I am pleased with that and I definitely want to carry on being committed.

- Look for more inspiration.  I feel as though now living in Nottingham I take advantage of the beautiful buildings, restaurants and shops so this year I want to really appreciate the beauty around me by taking more pictures, looking for more inspiration my projects and blog and visit more places as who knows, I might learn a thing or two.

- Read more. Although I have been doing my reading for uni, this year I want to look more into it by writing notes as I read and read outside the reading list by purchasing other fashion books and magazines that I know will be full of fun facts and will help me in my future work.

Resolutions that don’t relate to my uni work:

- Spend more time with my family. Coming home for Christmas I had so many plans with my friends I hardly saw my family and now I have come to regret that. My auntie lives in Paris and only comes home about three times a year for a week or two, and this Christmas I hardly saw her which I will never do again as she has now gone back home and I really miss her. Next time she comes to England I am definitely going to make my plans with my friends before and after she is back so that I can treasure the time that she is home with me.

- To save my money. This resolution needs to happen as right now I find myself spending money on pointless things and then when it comes to needing something important like food, I have no money left. To be honest, I have been a lot better in 2015 than I was in 2014 as before I seemed to never have any money. Having a job really helps with my money problems and it also keeps me busy and keeps me away from spending anymore money. 

I hope that sharing these resolutions with you will help you have a better 2016!

Shelby xxx

Happy New Year.

Happy new year everyone! 

In the past year I have made a lot of changes to my life and I have finally become someone that I am proud of and happy with. 

The best think I did last year was go to university. University has honestly changed my life and changed me as a person in a positive way. I have made new friends that already mean the world to me and I have begun my education on a subject which I will hopefully be doing for the rest of my life. That subject is fashion. 

Fashion throughout 2015 I think has been very interesting especially during the winter period. I feel as though people have been able to be more confident with the way they dress which makes the streets more fascinating. 

My favourite item of clothing that has been worn in 2015 has to be the fur coats, and I know they may seem not that interesting however, the way they are worn, the colours and the patterns of the costs is the reason why I love them. Personally I think a fur coat can tie together a whole outfit and it gives you the perfect warmth and comfort for your winter walks. 

Versace released a fur coat advert which promoted a bright green fur coat. I thought this coat was wonderful as it was a colour that is not usually seen during the winter period as it is the colour of fresh grass in the summer so I loved the way they brought a summer colour into a winter item of clothing to make it so different from everything else. 

This year I am definitely looking forward to looking in detail at the fashion that is promoted and worn and how much it has changed from 2015. 

Shelby xxx