Love London

So last week I took a trip to London, always have to around christmas gets me in the christmas spirit! The idea was to go to Hyde Park for the Winterwonderland but before hand we went down Oxford Street, Regents Street and Piccadily Circus to see the lights and of course for some shopping! I took some photos of the amazing window displays and thought I would share them.

 

This was Cordings window display, its a bit of a blurry picture but I had to get it quickly before loads of people walked past! I think it shows of the true English countryside look and im loving the hunter wellies :-)

 

 

Louis Vuitton

 

 

Loui Vuitton always manages to make a statement display wherever in the world I see them, I love how they can show off one thing with such a big display around it to make it really stand out, earlier on in the year i went to California and then took a trip to Las Vegas, and the picture below is the window of the Louis Vuitton there, again with a lovely big statement display.

 

 

Selfridges displays this year were amazing, all disney fairytale themed! Unfortunaely I couldnt take more pictures of each display, just there were so many people walking past it was a bit hard! Its also not very clear but I love the detail and thought thats gone into it, must have taken alot of work, Selfridges has alot of windows!

 

Barbour showing off their english look below, I was loving the fake snow on the hay bails and the sheep!

 

 

Mullberry's Window

 

 

I thought Boots went all out this year with their christmas lights!

 

 

Debenhams christmas lights on Oxford street, tied in nicely with the John Lewis ones just next door.

 

 

As we were walking through Piccadily Circus we came across this street, full of expensive jewellery shops, I was shocked at how much even a little pair of earrings were! Either way the christmas setting was lovely :-)

 

 

As it started to get dark we decided to go to Winterwonderland and grab some hot apple cider and waffles! Love the German markets, and this little feller made me smile :-) shame it rained all day, but hey thats typical english weather I guess!

 

 

 

 

I Love Visual Merchandising

So back in the summer I did work experience with the John Lewis Visual Merchandising department, and absolutely loved it! I helped on all departments, from changing manakins, to changing bed covers, to decorating dining room tables, to taking displays apart and filling the show rooms with accessories! Every day was completely different and I loved the idea of not knowing what surprise you were going to encounter next. It was also great to not be stuck in an office 24/7, and to instead be here there and everywhere all over the shop doing things, it was great fun! I have taken a few pictures of the displays I made and things i did within my work experience to give you an idea, enjoy!

 

 

This was a dining room table layout I designed based on a typical english country house, I always thought it would be quick and easy to do but it actually takes ages to design and think about and I was forever changing the idea! It was placed in the centre of the walkway down the middle of the shop so it had to be eyecatching and have a large centrepiece to really give the table some character!

 

 

 

One of the days I spent on bed linins, and helped to change the display beds, this one was the more simple yet elegant bed design, where I had to use a neutral colour and choose a nice colourful cover to go underneath, simple yet sophisticated with added sparkle :-)

 

This was a display that i helped to take down, it was part of the towel wall where all the colours that John Lewis stock were displayed on wooden boards, and every 6 months when new stock came in these needed to be changed, it involved alot of stapling of the fingers and bruised thumbs!

 

I was given the John Lewis Menswear range manakins to change, and I found this quite challenging as the clothes avaliable in the John Lewis own mens range arent as fun to play around with than the other brands like Levi's, Ralph Lauren and Diesel, yet I was asked to try and create the same look that these brands give. Changing manakins is harder than it looks!

 

 

 

 

These are a few examples of womenswear ranging from John Lewis' own to Mint Velvet evening wear and Warehouse. I had no problem whatsoever choosing from Warehouse as it is a personal favourite if mine, whereas John Lewis' own brand presented more of a challenge and I really had to think out of the box to meet the needs of the target customer.

 

 

 

 

Throughout the shop there are numerous table displays like the one above, one for each department, which is where all the new stock or new collection is displayed neatly on a table to catch the customers attention in a different way. This is a table for Whistles which I layed the new collection on.

 

 

 

 

And last but not least, these pictures were of the show room displays that I helped change. We were given whats called a toolkit for each room, which was a booklet of the ideas and styles of which should be placed in each room, and I had to go round John Lewis and find those things to put in the room, from things like mirrors, pictures for the walls, ornaments, candles and the best bit, the cushions for the sofas! I loved choosing the cushions, the stock room was amazing it's like one big soft cosy play room, so many to choose from with floor to ceiling high of different styles sizes and colours! The rooms above were based on Japanese culture, with the dining room table and the room with the grey and yellow cushions, then the one below was inspired by travel, I love the world map cushion!

 

Visual Merchandising is something I can really see myself wanting to do, and i loved every second of my work experience so thought I would share my experience with you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Definately new to this!

So here i am being asked to create a blog for uni purposes, and having never made one before im not so sure on how its going to turn out! I guess its going to be filled with a mixture of things i like, things ive done and seen, and some of my work and inspirations, so, enjoy!