Attack of the Five Foot Ten Green-Eyed Monster

I’ve been having one of those weeks. I’m drowning in a puddle of water and I do not feel like standing up. Therefore, by extension, every tiny success enjoyed by anyone around me feels like some cosmic betrayal: I am wallowing. When I wallow I get jealous.  

Have you ever had a day when from alarm clock to head-on-pillow you’ve questioned everything you’ve done? Felt convinced you were doing things wrong? Only for all of this to be heightened - almost purposefully - by the plethora of friends who coincidentally landed the job of their dreams that day, or booked that round-the-world ticket or found £10 in the street! What is it about other people that can make us feel so hopeless, lost, failing, flailing? There are lots of words I could use. 

Regardless of my own relative successes (I have a job, I have friends, sometimes I wash my bedding) all it takes is one prolonged lunch with a family member who insists on detailing the adventures of my carefree traveller cousin; an evening spent with my most ambitious friend who won’t ever stop reaching for a seven figure salary; a rainy lunchtime wasted trawling Facebook for forgotten acquaintances with new promotions and new boyfriends, and boom, I’m suddenly a failure. 

In Attack of the Five Foot Ten Woman, an admittedly whiny and annoying and insufferable Carrie Bradshaw ponders why it is that some people appear to exist solely to make others feel bad about themselves. Let’s be brutally honest, Carrie; some people are just better than you. Lots of people are just better than me. 

I always live in pathetic hope when meeting beautiful women that, please God, she might be incredibly stupid or wearing lots of make-up or they have terrible cellulite underneath those slim-fit jeans. Or when I stumble across a remarkably brainy and talented person, I imagine and force myself to eventually accept that they have depressing sex lives or bad breath or maybe they’re cripplingly boring! 

But in reality I must accept that there are people who are effortlessly smart, interesting, elegant and beautiful and kind and always funny. And those people are not me, but I’m trying. The truth is, other people don’t make me feel bad. I make me feel bad. And I’m guessing everyone else probably make themselves feel bad often enough too. Yes, some people are impossibly happy and apparently perfect, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have your happiness too. 

Yoanna House, winner of ANTM Cycle 2, once said "Don't pay attention to what anyone else is doing. Pay attention to what you’re doing." Happiness is relative. It can't be scientifically measured and it isn’t printed at the top of your CV. Someone else’s great job doesn’t mean I can’t get where I want to be, there are enough round-the-world plane tickets available if you’re in the market for one, one more Facebook friend moving to your dream city won’t make them put a No Vacancy sign up at the border. It’s useful to remember this on the bad days. 

Sometimes it can seem like there is a universal quota for happiness, and everyone else is being greedy. But there isn’t. There’s enough to go around. 

Sheffield's Fashion Showcase

On Tuesday the 18th of March, Vodka Revolution’s Sky Bar will hold host to a remarkably charitable fashion event. The brainchild of four ambitious Events Management students from Sheffield Hallam - Rebecca Torrs, Kate Wotherspoon, Zoe Willis and Lauren Skeldon - the independent Fashion Showcase seeks to celebrate that which is often overlooked; primarily Sheffield Mencap and Gateway Charity. The showcase also offers much needed support to fledgling fashion and accessories brands fighting to find a place in Sheffield’s independent fashion scene. I spoke to organiser Rebecca Torrs to learn more about the inspiration behind this intriguing event:

The idea was spawned from our final year project. At the beginning we only knew that we wanted to host a charity event; we had no idea which charity we wanted to support or what kind of event we would be hosting. After exploring some Sheffield charities we finally came across Sheffield Mencap and Gateway Charity.

Sheffield Mencap and Gateway Charity was launched in 1951 by parents of children with learning disabilities, looking to support other parents and their children. The charity simply aims to give children and adults with learning disabilities a better life. Mencap and Gateway offer support to learning disability sufferers and their carers by staging events such as sports days, craft workshops and other events designed to improve confidence, create friendships, and subsequently support happy and meaningful lives. Rebecca explains how herself and the other organisers felt Sheffield Mencap and Gateway had been overlooked before due to a lack of awareness throughout the city: 

We were all really moved by the dedication of the workers and organisers within the organisation, as the charity exists solely on the back of their own fundraising. We wanted to give back something to a charity we felt had been forgotten or unappreciated before.

All proceeds from the Fashion Showcase will support Sheffield Mencap and Gateway, while the event itself seeks to provide support to undiscovered and lesser known independent fashion retailers in Sheffield. Rebecca explains:

To mirror the under-supported charity we chose to represent, we also chose to support some lesser known fashion brands in Sheffield. We wanted to give these very deserving, very inspirational people a platform to showcase their work.

After resolving to offer much needed support to Sheffield Mencap and Gateway Charity, Rebecca and her team remained unsure of just how they could offer said support. Following a chance meeting with Maurice Henry of Urban Klothing, this driven team became inspired to support independent clothing labels in Sheffield; many of which are launched by earnest and determined graduates. Rebecca explains why supporting these fledgling entrepreneurs is so important to her and the other organisers:

There is a huge independant fashion community in Sheffield which also exists alongside a huge high-street presence. Of course it’s amazing that there are so many independant fashion outlets around the city, but it also makes things especially difficult for young graduates to find their feet once they bravely decide to launch a fashion line.

While Sheffield shoppers are extremely fortunate to be surrounded by so many successful and unique independent brands, smaller startup brands can often find themselves disheartened by such fierce competition so early on in their careers. Strong competition from both the high street and more established independent brands cause many new designers to start out online. Rebecca and her team reached out to these new names - predominantly set up by ambitious Sheffield University and Sheffield Hallam graduates - to give these fresh young brands a more tangible space to showcase their work. 

Many of the start-up brands we’re hosting exist solely online. While this is obviously a great way for them to get started, it’s also difficult to find the right time or the right environment to showcase work, or to network with other fashion distributors and retailers. We wanted to provide a platform on which these brands could present their work to customers in a tangible means, whilst also allowing them to network with one another.

The showcase will feature eight main stalls including Claytime Designs, Imogen’s Imagination, Urban Klothing and Lucie Victoria; with more yet to be confirmed. However, the showcase has more than just fashion on offer. The evenings festivities will also include competitions, food and original live music from Sheffield Hallam student Zuza Paverly. Rebecca reveals how Zuza came to be involved with the Fashion Showcase:

We want the event to appeal to everyone, not just fashion lovers. That’s why we’ve sourced some amazing talent to entertain. We’ll be having a live music performance from the amazing Zuza Paverley - a fellow student we spotted performing at SHU Fest. She’s an amazing singer looking for some exposure, so of course we were more than happy to involve her in the showcase.

Having garnered much local interest and support for the event, Rebecca and the other organisers were able to amass an impressive array of contributed gifts from local retailers, which will be going home with some lucky raffle winners at the end of the evening. Contributions include vouchers, gifts and cookbooks from big high street names such as Ask Italian, Wagamama’s and Lush. Speaking of the impressive goodies on offer, Rebecca says:

There are so many incredible events coming up in Sheffield, many supporting charities like ours and looking for local support. We were very lucky to receive the contributions we have.

The team have also taken part in many individual fundraising events in an attempt to raise as much money and awareness as possible. Fundraisers have spanned from small raffle competitions to bake sales, and one extremely dedicated team member, Lauren Skeldon, ran 10k in order to raise money for the event. Speaking of the teams enormous fundraising efforts, Rebecca simply says: 

We wanted to do Sheffield Mencap and Gateway proud, so we put a lot into fundraising so we could stage the best event possible.

The Fashion Showcase will open its doors at 7pm on Tuesday the 18th of March in Vodka Revolution’s Sky Bar, located in the West One Plaza. If you’re eager to support a local charity, independent fashion and original music call Rebecca on 07966942805 to purchase a ticket, or purchase one on arrival. Tickets are £2 and include a welcome drink. The Fashion Showcase is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of new and unique fashion brands unavailable in mainstream stores, whilst giving back to the community that created them. 

Kate Moss at 40

There are many celebrities, but few ever achieve the status of icon. Kate Moss is unequivocally the latter. Few stars can revel in the incredible staying power enjoyed by Ms Moss, who today turned 40 having enjoyed an incredible 20 years at the peak of her industry, and with no plans to stop now.  

Moss's remarkable influence and relevance to the fashion industry remains unwavering. Over the course of her astonishing career, Moss has lead campaigns for the world's premier fashion houses, collaborated with legendary photographers and designers, and more recently, become a designer and fashion editor in her own right.

Artist Russell Marshall is celebrating this momentous birthday with the launch of a  retrospective collection of portraits of Moss. This fascinating exhibition includes some of Moss’s most iconic photographs, including images taken from newspaper archives as well as original reworkings. [40: A Kate Moss Retrospective is open now until February 15th at Imitate Modern in Marylebone.]

Thirty-four covers of British Vogue later and Moss is still an industry leader; her unrelenting beauty, style and charm continue to mesmerise the fashion world. If the proverb "Life Begins at 40" is true,  this next chapter is sure to be a remarkable one for Kate Moss. 

Fourth Wave or Fashion?

Feminism is so hot right now. In today’s online media, you can’t swing a cat gif without knocking over ten ‘click to vote’ campaigns and a handful more #shoutingback Tweets. It seems that in the last few years, something remarkable and widely unforeseen has occurred; feminism is now trendy. 

Fourth Wave is making a splash in the media. Lena Dunham is making award winning television for a younger generation of feminists, Beyonce featured Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TED talk in her latest album, even ELLE magazine are embracing modern feminism with their new ELLE Feminism campaign. And I’m not complaining. Long have we suffered under the ‘angry feminist’ banner, disregarded as man haters or bitter cat ladies - which we may well be but, come on, you’re missing the point. As the age old adage goes, any publicity is good publicity, right? So as long as we're in the papers and we’re tweeting with blind fury, everything's progressing and we should be happy. 

That’s the idea anyway, but in reality, despite the tentative success of innovative, high profile campaigns such as No More Page 3 and Everyday Sexism, we’re still not winning. In 2013 it was reported that women in the UK still earn a staggering £5,000 less than their male parallels, so maybe mainstream pop culture references aren’t doing us all the good we felt they were. 

It may appear that what this new found vogue actually allows for is a plethora of contradictions, generalised sweeping statements and downright confusion of what feminism means. If feminism can be seen as a fashionable trend, it can also be seen as transitory, a flash in the pan. People who are pro-human rights aren't seen as trendy liberals, they're seen as morally sound - so why does it seem that feminism is still falling under a different category?

Instead of being viewed as a default moral position, feminism is being presented as a chic choice with a leaning towards the left, which paints Fourth Wave highly exclusionary. Today’s feminist media is white, middle-class and educated. This cliquey, feminist matriarchy isn’t for everyone - and that’s why it isn’t feminism. Instead of equality and respect becoming popular, we’ve developed an restrictive and often judgemental space in popular media in which a handful of women are encouraged to speak for their entire gender. 

While I’m endlessly grateful of the newfound media interest in Fourth Wave, we can’t allow ourselves to become complacent. The feminist agenda of many doesn’t seem to stretch past making sure to never miss an episode of GIRLS, and it appears that feminism is everywhere except in our politics. So in our new, novel position in mainstream popular culture, instead of having a reductive two or three public figures be our voice, couldn’t we work to expand that? Whoever asked one man to speak for all men? Perhaps then we could indulge in a little more discussion of equal wages, support for working mothers and anti-domestic abuse campaigns, and a little less talk of our bikini lines.

Birds Yard Sheffield: Sheffield Designers All Under One Roof

Deep in the heart of the city, nestled cosily along Chapel Walk, resides an independent fashion emporium named Birds Yard. Originating from Leeds, Birds Yard exists to champion local creativity and design; from clever crafts and home-wares, to contemporary and vintage fashion. 

At first glance Birds Yard may look like your average vintage store, but inside it is so much more. Think of it as a department store specialising in bespoke and handmade items and you’re halfway there. The aesthetics are clean and uncluttered, giving each distinct concession ample room to shine.

Spanning across three floors, Birds Yard collaborates with many brilliant local designers and artists. Birds Yard definitely has something for everyone, with countless concessions ranging from vintage fashion, bespoke homewares, jewellery, art and even deli items, this charming store works hard to reflect a wide variety of Sheffield creatives. Owner Michelle Walton explains Birds Yard’s approach to sourcing collaborators: 

We understand that Sheffield is a melting pot of different styles and tastes, so it’s important for the store to reflect that. If we think something is appealing we’re always enthusiastic, no matter what category it may fall into, be it fashion, homewares or art. I’d like to think that there’s something here for everyone.

Although Birds Yard’s offerings are far from exclusive to clothing, it is fair to say that the delightful abundance of hand picked and reworked vintage fashion is a major draw for a large majority of customers. There are many independent fashion concessions dwelling within Birds Yard, each with their own message and unique twist.  

Velvet Moth 

Velvet Moth is one of many standout fashion concessions within Birds Yard. Although the store offers many fashion concessions, each is wildly unique compared with the next, perpetuating the Birds Yard ideal of ‘something for everyone’. Velvet Moth offer stunning handpicked, high quality vintage garments paired with unique handmade designs, jewellery and much more. This brand is the ideal for any shopper seeking charming one off finds. Although ‘reworked vintage’ is a well-rehearsed tag line for many vintage lines currently on the market, Velvet Moth take this title and truly do it justice. Items are creatively reworked to the utmost extent, entirely recreating pieces until they are barely recognisable in their original form. In this way Velvet Moth are able to offer truly unique fashion. 

Bird Shell 

Bird Shell is another popular vintage line with a home in Birds Yard, although calling it a ‘vintage line’ could be considered misleading. Bird Shell take high quality vintage items and transform them with contemporary twists; 1940’s style dresses are emblazoned with geometric prints reminiscent of the 1980’s creating an entirely new aesthetic. Previously featured in Vogue magazine, Bird Shell have already received positive acclaim for their unique reworking’s of vintage dresses, wedding gowns, jackets and more. Available to either hire or buy, Bird Shell is an up and coming label showcasing unique apparel to suit every taste. 

You Earth Ash 

Amidst the clothes that encompass the majority of floor space in Birds Yard, I imagine it can be difficult for smaller concessions to be noticed, but striking jewellery line You Earth Ash has no such problem. You Earth Ash offer extremely unique and ethical jewellery using responsibly sourced semi-precious stones such as amethyst and quartz. Each piece in the collection differs in size, shape and colour, making each item artistically unique and one of a kind. Large slices of electrically coloured stone are hung from chunky metallic chains, creating an organic yet vibrantly ornate effect. The natural stones used by You Earth Ash are sourced ethically in Southern Brazil, and are often sought after for their supposed healing qualities, all of which are thoughtfully detailed on each product label, adding an especially personal touch to these beautifully unique items.

Kiss Me Deadly 

Kiss Me Deadly is a vintage burlesque inspired lingerie brand specialising in all things femme fatale; from girdles and corsets, to basques, stockings, bras and even retro swimwear. Born out of a search for ‘a good suspender belt set’, Kiss Me Deadly combines retro style with impeccable quality and comfort. Rich satin cerulean and flamingo pink are given a dangerous edge next to soft black lace, creating a glamorous and sensual collection for all shapes and sizes. Kiss Me Deadly is the ideal brand for a woman seeking admirably authentic retro lingerie. 

Concessions within Birds Yard range from vintage to contemporary, classic to refreshingly modern, in an attempt to truly reflect every aspect of creativity within the city. There is little more delightful that clothing that is distinctly rare and equally well made. So if you’re looking for a unique shopping outlet that allows you to support Sheffield independents, you definitely must pay Birds Yard a visit. 

Filibuster & Booth: Antiques, Vintage Jewellery, Art & Collectables

If you often walk through Sheffield’s Devonshire Quarter you may well have come across a curious little store that seems to be perpetually closed, yet enticingly full to bursting with mysterious trinkets and glittering antiques. This charming store is Filibuster & Booth, Sheffield’s one-stop-shop for fine vintage jewellery, art and collectables. 

There is a certain vibe exuding from Filibuster & Booth’s gothic exterior which reflects the atmosphere within; that of your Grandma’s packed attic room, filled to the ceiling with tall piles of crushed velvet and unnamed mystery ornaments. Upon your first steps into this treasure trove you will be met with walls drenched with vintage beads, necklaces and stunning broaches.

There is an endless amount of jewellery inside Filibuster & Booth; every inch of the store is saturated in rhinestones, brass and beads. The sheer quantity of jewellery in store brings to mind imagery of a shrunken Alice inside an enormous jewellery box. Filibuster & Booth is a veritable tardis of beautiful jewellery, but you would be wrong to think that quantity is the main attraction. Each piece is uniquely unusual and fantastically good quality. Filibuster & Booth’s owner, Nick Morgan explained their approach to sourcing items for the store:

Obviously the store is fit to burst, so it’s really important that each piece is something that’s going to grab a customer’s attention or be exactly what they’re looking for. This isn’t quantity over quality. Everything in store is hand picked and it’s all brilliant value.

Brilliant value is right. Admittedly, you don’t have to look too far to find an eye-wateringly expensive antique, however the majority of Filibuster & Booth’s merchandise is fantastically well priced, particularly so when considering the age, rarity and quality of these items. However, great value doesn’t always equate to great sales. According to Morgan, the student frequenters of Division Street rarely have any cash to part with despite the exceptionally low prices offer at Filibuster & Booth. 

We used to be situated on Ecclesall Road and got a lot more business, but increasing rent meant we had to move to Division Street. But this was a time when nothing was up here, there were no students and no one living around here to shop. Even now surrounded by University halls we don’t find a lot of business from students as they don’t have the funds to part with, but international students love to shop here and we love having them. 

Pieces within Filibuster & Booth vary exponentially and it is difficult to pinpoint an overarching style or theme to the collection other than to say it is ‘vintage’. However, vintage encompasses many era’s, as does the jewellery showcased in this treasure trove. From art nouveau to art deco, Filibuster & Booth’s collection spans across one hundred years of fine jewellery.

Our collection varies so much because we take a ‘magpies eye’ approach to sourcing, by which I mean if we see it and we like it we’ll have it. I don’t think there’s a lack of communication between the pieces, it’s all beautiful. It’s just that one piece can vary massively to the next, which personally I think is a great thing. If we exclusively stocked retro pieces we would probably be alienating a lot of our customers. Choice is always a good thing. 

There is most certainly an abundance of choice offered by Filibuster & Booth. Displays are drenched with vintage beads ranging from big and bold retro necklaces, coloured in rose gold set beside pine green for a striking effect, to dainty art nouveau pendants decorated with faint silvers and intricate detailing. Pearl, glass, amber, jade, alexandrite and garnet litter the store in varying shapes and sizes. Aside from jewellery, the store also offers a very particular range of antiques. Morgan expands...

The revenue of the store is split about 50/50 between the jewellery in front of house and the antiques we source and supply to private clients. There’s a huge market for it in Sheffield and we’re very happy to be a part of it. 

After almost eighteen years residing in Sheffield, Filibuster & Booth is truly an independent institution. So, whether you have been searching for striking, chunky beads reminiscent of the 1980’s or delicate, ornate pendants from the turn of the twentieth century, with such a unique taste and approach to sourcing, you’re sure to find whatever it is you’re looking for hidden somewhere inside Filibuster & Booth. 

American Graffiti Drive-In at Sensoria Festival

On the evening at the end of September countless cars, campervans and motorcycles swarmed into Sheffield’s Sylvester Street Car Park, serenaded by a Motown soundtrack and circled by girls on roller-skates offering pretzels and caramel popcorn.

Sensoria Festival, Sheffield’s independent festival of music and film, held its final screening as the last of the daylight faded, leaving an autumnal chill in the air all too fitting for a cinematic tribute to the last night of summer.

For the finale of Sensoria 2013, organisers indulged festival goers with a city centre Drive-In, showcasing George Lucas’ cult classic American Graffiti. Their aim is to fuse music, art and film to create a vivid and immersive experience for viewers, who were surrounded at the Drive-In by memorabilia vibrantly reflecting the action on screen.

American Graffiti is a nostalgic homage to teen life in the early 1960’s, told through a series of quirky vignettes that narrate a single night of unexpected adventure and mayhem for a young group of friends. Classic cars and rock and roll are integral to the plot and the film revolves around the ‘cruising culture’ of the early sixties.

The film encapsulates a wistful and rose-tinted ideal of the early sixties, packed full with stereotypical Americanisms such as Coca-Cola, classic cars, hamburgers and fries, and ‘rock and roll’. To complement the film, Sensoria surrounded viewers with beautiful vintage cars and a retro soundtrack courtesy of DJ Wolfman Jack, American Graffiti’s ever-present DJ.

Cinema wasn’t the only treat at the drive-in. Sensoria certainly succeeded in creating an all-encompassing drive-in atmosphere as the car park teamed with artisan coffee carts, popcorn vendors, a retro ice cream van and a throng of vintage cars. Girls in victory rolls and inline skates delivered salted pretzels as the giant, inflatable screen flashed purple and yellow, ‘Welcome to the Drive-In’.

As the sky grew darker, the colours on screen became more vibrant and spectators huddled closer together. The credits began to roll and the film appeared in glorious Technicolor projected onto a 25-foot-high inflatable screen. Rows of cars were instructed to tune their radios to transmit the soundtrack, while pedestrian ticket-holders were given front row seats just below the big screen.

American Graffiti is poignant yet funny, silly and serious, and partly exists simply to house artefacts of a lost era. This lovely film was an experiment in marketable nostalgia, which members of the audience bought into as they grazed on salted pretzels and sugar-sweet popcorn.

In our previous article on Sensoria Sheffield Unchained editor Marishka talks to the founder, Jo Wingate, about the birth of the festival and its celebration of the crossover between music, film and art. Sensoria, founded in 2008, is renowned for its pioneering spirit, use of unusual venues and innovative installations.

As well as working to recreate the on-screen experience off-screen, Sensoria also endeavour to breathe new life into overlooked Sheffield landmarks. The city centre Drive-In brought excitement and electricity to a typically unremarkable car park. The Sylvester Street Car Park is managed by Bank Park, a charitable parking organisation, and as such the proceeds from the Drive-In will include donations to the Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice, which provides much needed support to terminally ill children and their parents.

Before the credits rolled every member of the audience was surely filled with the kind of nostalgia George Lucas had intended American Graffiti to inflict. Surrounded by vintage cars, full of salty snacks and moved by the sentimental sound of the early sixties.

The city centre Drive-In perfectly illustrated Sensoria’s unique ability to transform improbable locals into stunning venues, although only temporarily, leaving fans feeling the familiar pinch of nostalgia once more.

The Moscow City Ballet presents Swan Lake

Ringing in the New Year at the Sheffield Lyceum the Moscow City Ballet present Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. The world famous ballet tells a tale of tragic romance between the Prince Siegfried and the beautiful but cursed Swan Queen, Odette.  The current tour features additional choreography and accompanying orchestra from renowned artistic director Victor Smirnov–Golovanov.  Smirnov-Golovanov is celebrated for ‘encouraging his dancers to use their own character delineation’. The result is an utterly stunning performance.

The dancers mesmerise and captivate the audience with precision movement and unspeakable elegance. Dances are executed with an accuracy which is sometimes breath-taking. The entire ensemble deliver a truly enchanting performance, the most impressive coming from Lilya Oryekhova who plays both Odette and Odile. With the challenging task of playing two opposites our female lead does a remarkable job and gives a stand out performance. The dancing is flawless and indeed swan-like, while the acting creates an almost sinister multiplicity in Oryekhova’s two parts.

Along with perfectly executed dancing the entire ensemble deliver sterling acting performances which tell the story magnificently, surpassing the need for spoken dialogue. Special mention must go to the Court Jester who played his part fantastically, contributing light comic relief without speaking a word.

Costumes designed by Russian artist Elisaveta Dvorkina mirror the grandeur and beauty of the story. Only the costumes manage to steal any attention from the magnificent grace of the dancers. The cygnets and the swans are truly mesmerising. Disguised in striking white and black plumage they captivate the audience and contribute a final flourish to the performance.

In the beautiful Lyceum theatre the atmosphere is palpable. The orchestra supply a vivid and robust account of the Tchaikovsky score generating a perfect fusion of music and movement.

As a first time ballet-goer I was completely fascinated by a love story which transcends language and time. The dancers tell the story in a way that articulating laughter and delight mixed with intense tragedy and pain. The entire production, from the choreography to the costumes, was an utter triumph. The expression of this tragic love story left the audience spellbound and the final applause justifiably brought the house down.