Every day is Roald Dahl day!

Growing up I loved reading, I would read a book a day easily, & my absolute favourite was Roald Dahl. Everything he done, I was mesmerized by. I couldn't possibly pick a favourite.. Matilda /  The BFG / Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.. they're all genius! It was Roald Dahl's birthday on Friday, so I thought it was worth giving such an inspirational man a mention :) 

Even reading over his stories now, there's so many lovely messages throughout them. They're totally timeless & there's something for everyone to learn from them! He seemed to be a very lovely, positive man, one of my favourite quotes of his is from the book "The Twits"

I think that's such a beautiful message - for both kids & adults! I would love the chance to visit the Roald Dahl Museum to see the writing hut he built specially as a place for him to go & write. It would be incredible to have your own private creative space cut off from the world, definitely a little dream of mine :) I can totally understand the need for a space like this, I love writing, drawing, painting & just all things creative really.. but I kind of struggle to chill out & get in the zone when I'm just sitting on the couch hunched over the coffee table or sitting on the bedroom floor.. I always feel much more inspired sitting out doors but, well, I live in Scotland. So that doesn't happen often!

Peace & Love,

Hippie-de-doo-dah

Now, I know this will all sound a bit cheesy & isn't to everyone's taste, but recently I've found loads of people interested in the meditation group I attend. So I thought I would chat a bit about it & how I ended up discovering it!

Over the past couple of years I have become more interested in 'mindfulness'. It all started when I read The Secret, which focuses on positive thinking & visualising your goals. It totally sparked my interest & led to me reading other similar books. The Alchemist is a great book, it's written like a story about a little Shepard boy, & shows us a lot of how everything happens for a reason, & how to follow signs towards your 'destiny'. Then I went on to read The Celestine Prophecy, which is also written as a story, & explains people's behavioural patterns, & how people tend to drain energy from each other in order to feel better about themselves.

I went through a certain time of being very stressed, having anxiety attacks etc. over the tiniest things, sometimes over nothing. So that pushed me to basically chill out more, & I thought I'd give meditation a go! I started attending a group every Tuesday night called Wake Up Glasgow. It's a great bunch of people, very laid back & welcoming vibe, I would say it's perfect for anybody considering trying it out but a bit nervous or unsure what to expect. I feel a huge change in myself over the past few months since starting, I'm much happier & very rarely get stressed out any more. If it's something you've considered for even a minute, I'd say go for it! We have organised a retreat in October I'll be going along to, so I'll pop up a post about that too.

The book I'm reading at the moment is really interesting too, Add More -ing To Your Life. At first I wasn't really diggin' it, but the more I'm reading I can really relate to the author. There's a lot of issues anyone can identify with, a big thing I've taken from it is how much a person's ego can hold them back. That little voice of niggling doubt that tells you 'you're not good enough' or 'you can't do this'. There's loads of exercises throughout the book, including meditation, that can help you deal with day to day situations. The writer also started this amazing website, aimed at women bringing women together to help & support each other www.herfuture.com.

I hope some of you can relate to this & maybe take something from it to help bring a bit more peace in to your own hectic lives :). I could talk all day about this, so if any of you would like more info don't hesitate to ask. Thanks for reading my jibber, as always it's much appreciated!

Peace & Love, 

Somewhere to_ Threadelic

Well, had a craaazy hectic week moving house & everything else in between, so just getting around to posting now! 

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Somewhereto_re:store [the high street heist] is an amazing project, that helps young people between 16-25 take on empty high street units to promote their own businesses and ideas. On Thursday my school friends Gayle & Tina took over the space just off George Square in Glasgow, & gave the place an awesome retro vibe for the night! 

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I went along early morning & styled Gayle's models hair for the day, & enjoyed getting stuck in to a proper beehive :) We decided to style Heather's hair all up in to a traditional beehive to show off all the detail on the top of her outfit (as well as her amazing cheekbones), & Morgan's hair half up as there was less detail at the top, and also she just had incredible hair to show off! Ramilia at The Hair & Makeup Lounge was doing the girl's makeup for the day, & kindly let me tag along & do the girls' hair there too. She was such a lovely lady, & the salon was stunning! 

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I was really impressed with what the girls had brought together for the day! Gayle Hanvidge is a newly established fashion designer, & the collection she was showing on the night was stunning. 60s inspired minis in gorgeous pastel tones, with amazingly unique embelishment. Gayle's mum Karen, is a whizz with ceramics, and had actually made individual small ceramic pieces that Gayle had hand sewn on to her clothes. It was so effective and different looking! I really loved the cut of the clothing as well, it looked very flattering and feminine! 

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(Official photo by Mark Kelly)

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Tina is a graphic designer, and I was so impressed with her work that I'm already planning what I can commission her to make for some very special Christmas presents! I'm a sucker for some good lyrics, and just words in general, so these were right up my street.  I love the psychedelic pattern clashing with the black, it's so striking looking! I'll definitely be keeping a wall bare for one of these beauties. 

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There was also a section from Eco-Chic Boutique, where students had made the most amazing dresses out of old recycled cans, bottles - & a really cool bag made from crisp packets! This dress is constructed from soft drinks cans (and the odd beer can of course), all folded over, & individually attached together to make this incredible shapely dress. 

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The students said it took them about 2 months to make, & I can definitely see how!
As this was the last pop up shop of the project, the day flowed smoothly in to the wrap party at night! There was all sorts going on, the DJ played awesome music, & there was randomly loads of deep fried bug treats to eat.. Normally I would be right up for trying out something like that, but I'd had a couple of cocktails & vinos by this point, & felt a little squeamish at the thought of it. So I just took pictures of it instead..

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Oh & fed this little guy a little bit of one of the biscuits. How cute is he?! The tiniest dog. He was so good with everyone, not at all phased by all the noise & crowds. He was called Maximillian & I got to hang about with him for 10 mins while his dad went to get a beer.

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Overall it was a really successful night, everybody really enjoyed themselves & I think the project is such an amazing thing! I love seeing people being encouraged to use their creativity, and this was an amazing platform for the girls. I can see them doing so well in the future, and hope that this project encourages more schemes to help young people do what they love!

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Peace & Love,

Obscure Couture Shoot

Another photo shoot today! This time for Glasgow Uni magazine for a feature they are doing on the amazing brand Obscure Couture! (www.obscure-couture.com) 

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A little sneak preview of the day!

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It was a lovely day with a great team working together, 3 models a blonde, brunette & red head which worked out really well! Milly Douglas was organising the day on behalf of Glasgow Uni Mag, & done a great job bringing everyone together & keeping the day flowing! The Obscure Couture clothes are amazing, really edgy so we were able to have a bit of fun with the pictures. Unfortunately one of the models, Kotryna was having to rush off to another casting so we were a bit tight on time, so for quickness I just styled her hair in to a sleek pony tail. It looked good with the theme of the pictures, but I had loads of other ideas I would have loved to try out! That's just the way shoots tend to go though, there's always obstacles to work round. 

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Kotryna

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For my second model, Kirstin I went for a look I really like at the moment, very sleek through the top until about eye level then a mass of texture. I loved doing this as it's quite an unusual look, & not something I would get to do in the salon day to day! 

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Kirstin

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For my final model Taylor, I styled her hair in to big, loose curls as the girls wanted to go for a slightly softer look. Taylor has an amazing mane as you can see! We all had total hair envy.

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Taylor

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I pinched my brother's camera & was planning on getting my own behind the scenes pictures today, but I had ordered a new memory card for it that never arrived on time. Our lovely & talented make up artist for the day Debbie (www.debbie-bowie.com) is kindly going to send me over a couple she captured :)! Debbie done an amazing job with the makeup, & we're already discussing what else we can get up to together. Thalia Kemp was the photographer today, & just through a sneak peek on the camera the pictures already look amazing!

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The Obscure Couture HQ was just amazing, they had the best decor as you can see from the cool chandelier! It was great getting to see how all these incredible pieces are made, we all left totally inspired. You'll probably be able to spot who was working on this shoot tomorrow walking about in crazy outfits full of attitude ;)!

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Peace & Love,

Photo Shoot day

I've been crazy busy with work recently, but luckily I love my job so it's not so bad! I was organising a photo shoot for the salon I work in (Canvass Hair Design), & it went really well thankfully :). The pictures will be displayed around the salon, clients always love seeing how creative we can be! 

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We had a great team working together, with my friend Jonathan Tollan as photographer, 2 very talented make-up artists & a stunning bunch of models! (All names/credits will be listed under pics, and on my Facebook page). The overall theme was vintage - which covered a wide variety of looks, from rockabilly to more classic looks, & the pictures look amazing :) 

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This is a wee sample of my mood board for the day

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I worked with 3 models on the day, my friends Craig and Lesley, who have both modelled for me before, & 'Debay de Lux' - a very glamorous multi talented Club Noir performer, tattoo apprentice & over all lovely girl! 

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Craig was our only male model for the day, and I went for quite a classic look with him - I straightened out his curly hair which killed me 'cause I love curls.. but it suited the overall look better. 

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Lesley has the most incredible mane, & is the perfect hair model. First of all I set Lesley's hair in rollers, & she posed with a vintage teacup & saucer. Then I styled her hair in to a tousled beehive, adding a lilac ribbon for some of the pictures. We went for a really classic, sophisticated look, with soft, pastel tones. I had recently bought a mint green mini dress from Missguided that we used for the shoot & worked perfectly!

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For Debay we went with an edgier Rockabilly look, to make the most of her own style, she has amazing tattoos that worked really well with what we were doing! I curled all of Debay's hair with a large set of tongs, with two victory rolls through the front - one larger than the other. For some of the pictures I had Debay posing with a milkshake that looked really cute! Then we had a quick costume change (all Debay's lovely clothes) & I got Debay to hop up on to one of our tables & do some proper pin up style posing, which didn't phase her one bit haha :)

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The pics are currently being edited, so I will post them up soon!

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Overall it was a very successful day, with a great bunch of people & made me really excited to get back in to shooting more! I had a minor operation on my hand in May, so that was my first shoot in a few months while I recovered from that, & I definitely have the bug again :) 

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Oh & I got beautiful flowers from my lovely boss as a thank you for organising the day which was a lovely added bonus!

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If you fancy checking out my work, I have a Facebook page with all my hairdressing pics you can view here : www.facebook.com/emma.d.hair

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Peace & Love,

Oor Paisley Pattern

I thought it only fitting, that my first feature should be about the thing most people recognise Paisley for - the good old Paisley pattern! (Shown below). It also seems to be making a come back recently, which I am loving! So, the Paisley pattern wasn't totally ours to begin with.. we kinda pinched it from India. Buuut, the Indian fabrics & shawls at the time were awful expensive, so the good old Paisley weavers copied it so that it was available to everyone! Yay weavers :). 

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So, the teardrop shape originates from India and is thought to be inspired by the Cupressus evergreen tree, which symbolizes life and eternity (isn't that lovely!). It is traditionally know as the "boteh". The pattern first became popular in the 18th century, appearing on luxury shawls. Soldiers returning from colonies brought back these exotic Indian garments, and there was a rush to create the best copies in the UK. Paisley's shawls stood out so much as they could weave up to 15 colours through the pattern, where as some other producers were still only able to weave 2! 

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There was a massive demand for anything featuring the pattern in the infamous "Summer of Love" - '68. The Beatles visited India, & sparked curiosity in Indian culture & spirituality. It was SO popular Fender even made a customized version of their popular Telecaster guitar, how stunning is this beauty!

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There's some great looms & shawls in the Paisley museum, I'm hoping to make it along there soon & will expand a little further on this :) Thanks for reading!

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Peace & Love,

Hello & welcome..

Fashion obsessed, day dreaming hairdresser, living in the much overlooked Paisley.

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This is me.. 

.. on a sunny day picking Raspberries :)

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Paisley is an amazing place, full of funny old stories, amazing buildings & some of the quirkiest and best folk you could ever meet! I hope to capture the famous Paisley spirit with this blog, & hopefully you'll fall in love with our wee town, just like I have :).

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I have noticed that most big style blogs focus on busy city centres, so I thought I'd set myself a bit of a challenge. I know a lot of amazingly talented creatives that stay around Renfrewshire, so I'm going to take it upon myself to introduce them to you! 

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I will be featuring local bars, shops, attractions & also street style section for Paisley & surrounding areas, as well as putting the spotlight on various local creatives! If you are interested in making an appearance, drop me a wee mail at thesestreets@hotmail.co.uk. 

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Peace & love,