"The Cockettes" and Tá Na Deptford

A couple of weeks ago I went to see a screening of 'The Cockettes' presented by Test Magazine and the fabulous Fred Butler at the Town Hall Hotel in Bethnal Green. 'The Cockettes' is a documentary about the 1970's psychedelic drag queen troupe who went from an underground cult to a mainstream phenomenon. Their non-narrative revues and creative spontaneity reminded me of another 'theatre' group, Ta Na Deptford, which I had discovered just a few days before by browsing through i-D online. The group say on their website: "Tá Na Deptford is a performance movement happening in Deptford. First hailing from the streets of Rio de Janiero- Tá Na Deptford’s mission is to whip up London’s South East Culture through performance. By combining the methodology of Brazilian street theatre company ‘Tá Na Rua’ with the creative energies of local Londoners we create mind-blowing spectacles for streets of Deptford and alternative club nights across the city."  Tá Na Deptford often organise events during which they train participants in the performance methods of 'Tá na Rua', which - exactly like the appearances by 'The Cockettes'! - is theatre without a script, but created entirely by the impulsive action of the performer as they set themselves free amongst props and costumes.

E17 Art Trail Ms Wanda's Wardrobe pop up shop

At the beginning of the month I went to the launch of Ms Wanda's E17 Art Trail pop-up shop - which is open until the 11th of September, so still some time to pop along! During the launch party Esther Freeman of Ms Wanda's showed her new autumn/winter collection, which includes ethical labels such as Tara Starlet, Round London, Sweet Notions and of course Plastic Seconds! She also showed her 'Sustainable Celebrity Style' collection in which she recreates celebrity looks like that of Kate Moss, Victoria Beckham and Joan Holloway from Mad Men, in an effort to to prove that ethical fashion can be just as stylish and beautiful as anything you see celebrities wearing. You can read more about Ms Wanda's adventures on her blog and you can visit the pop up shop at 151 Forest Road, London E17 6HE until Sunday 11th September - otherwise you can always visit the Ms Wanda's shop online and buy her autumn/winter collection there!

Esther presenting us with 'Victoria Beckham'



All the three celebrity looks!



A funny display by Ms Wanda's of my Plastic Seconds Fork Earrings

This is lovely Alessandra, the designer of Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining wearing one of her new necklaces!

And another  safety pin necklace by Alessandra - kind of reminds me of some Judy Blame pieces a little...

New Gallery Jumble Sale 20th Aug

So on the third Saturday of August I took part for the second time in the New Gallery Jumble sale organised by the lovely Tatiana Woolrych. This time again I met a couple of fantastic designers/makers and people...

Plastic Seconds on show

Plastic Seconds on show

This is a new pair of earrings I made out of in between teeth cleaners!

And this is another favorite little pendant I made out of two random plastic tops

The New Gallery looked beautiful as always...

...there was free screen printing workshops...

...and I met the lovely designer duo that are The Aviary!...

...here is one fabulous anatomy necklace by The Aviary

...this is another sculpture pendant by The Aviary (love the pin in the eye!)

...and these are some new collars The Aviary started creating!

also was good to meet Will Hammond who makes accesories out of recycled, pressed plastic bags

...one of Will's purses made out of a bag with a gorgeous pattern

Lovely to meet Yasmin Hood! -  really looking forward to collaborate with her make up skills and her photographer friend on a photoshoot soon!

These are two pieces by the organiser of the sale Tatiana Woolrych who is very creative!

...and these are some notebooks made out of recycled envelopes and paper and maps by Adrian Murphy

Contact Lesnes Shoot with Ethical Stylist Lucy Harvey

It was a huge pleasure a little while ago to meet Lucy Harvey who is an ethical stylist and who has a contagious positive personality! Lucy saw some of my designs and then gave me a call to say she had been collecting empty cases from disposable contact lenses as she thought it was a shame to throw them away and would I want to make a necklace out of them! Then she also asked the milliner KC Lake to make a headpieces with the foil tops from the lenses cases and she decided to organise a shoot to capture the two pieces together and feature them in Alice Wilby's Futurefrock magazine. The shoot took place in the beautiful Green Lens Studios in north London - which is a sustainable photo studio! - and below are some photos from the acion during the day. Cannot wait to see the feature in Futurefrock!

The beautiful Green Lens Studios!

The pieces modelled on Charlie Divall and Lucy Harvey on the left.

Alice Wilby, Lucy Harvey and Lucy's super lovely assistant Louise Burton discussing outfits

It was real pleasure to meet Alice from Futurefrock in the flesh!

A make up artist for the shoot Bekki Robinson doing some beautiful orange eyes

And here Bekki's result seen with a Michelle Lowe-Holder collar - Lucy was also shooting during the day some other looks for an upcoming exhibition of some of her work