Amateur dramatics changed my life

‘Performing for theatre groups changed my life, I was in a wheelchair or on crutches untill I was 11’

‘Am Dram’ fanatic Sara Pittham was diagnosed with ‘Perthes disease’ as a child and spent most of her childhood in a wheelchair or on crutches with no confidence. She began to recover from her condition in her final year of primary school where she joined a theatre group her former teacher set up.

‘It’s a massive confidence builder, I was so shy and kept myself to myself and because I’d had problems with walking all my childhood I wasn’t very independent.’

Perthes Disease is a condition where the top of the thigh bone softens and breaks down. It occurs in around 1 in 1000 children and causes a limp and problems walking, the bone gradually heals and reforms as the child grows.

Sara has been a member of many theatre groups, Kaleidoscope Players, Good Companion Stage Society, Belper Stage Production and Foot Light Stage School. She now teaches musical theatre in her spar time.

‘I’ve performed in hundreds of things, I just love it. I first discovered I could sing when I got left to do a solo at secondary school, now you can’t shut me up!’

Sara worked professionally at Alton Towers as a part of their entertainment and theatre teams.

‘I loved working at Alton Towers but when I had a baby I ended up just going back to working a normal 9-5 and doing my theatre and performing in my spare time.’

Sara is a member of theatre groups in Derbyshire, which offers a sustainable programme of high quality performing arts with many opportunities and support for local professionals and the amateur scene. Theatre doesn’t simply have to be a route to follow for a career, it can be an escape, an artistic outlet or just simly a hobby. The 29 year old recommends theatre to anyone,

‘I know it sounds cheesy but it genuinely did change my life.’

Aspiring fashion stylist struggles to enter the industry

As an aspiring Fashion Stylist, 21 year old Lauren Aherne from Derby, is up against one of the toughest industries to achieve her dream.

Lauren left school knowing what she wanted to do, and plunged straight into a Fashion Design college course at West Nottingham College, achieving a HND qualification. Equipped with this, she went on to find work and soon employed as a Shop-floor Assistant at high-street giant, Marks & Spencer. After 4 years with the company, Lauren has earned a promotion to the Visual Merchandising team, a step closer to the dream.

The day-to-day job, as part of a team of 5, involves: outfit styling, window dressing and the general merchandising of the store. Although this isn’t her ideal role she knows she has to do it to get where she wants to.

Example ofM&S mannequins & displays

“The job role I have at the minute does get repetitive, but I understand it’s what I need to do to pursue a career in the industry.”

Working to tight deadlines, is something that is helping her skill set, and a quality she will able to take through the industry with her. Also the dedication to learning new stock quickly and a willingness to work early or late in order to get tasks finished, are all skills that will help her progress in a fashion career.

Unfortunately for Lauren, as a creative, she is unable to show much flair in her current position. She cannot implement much of her own style on the window-dressing, as she has to follow strict company policy.

“What I would personally wear can’t always be used within displays, or on mannequins, but that is because Marks’ have a very obvious customer profile, that is translated through the merchandising.”

Lauren enjoys the ‘department store’ element of the job, and she is able to switch from male to female styling, as well as doing homeware displays. And the variety within the ranges helps enlarge her job role. This includes the Limited collection for the younger generation, the Autograph range for the conservative business woman and the Upper range, which suits the higher budget.

Lauren at work

Recently, Marks & Spencer have taken on a new window policy, in order to keep up with other high street competition. This will see a regional team visiting to do the window displays, removing more of Laurens chance to show her ability. This has prompted her to look for opportunities elsewhere in the industry.

“I understand how ruthless Fashion is but I am going to do what it takes to get to the top, one day I will work in the Styling team at a Head Office, whether it be Marks & Spencer or not!”

One applying every minute

With the current phenomenon of the Television show ‘One born every minute’ and the recent hit BBC drama ‘Call the midwife’ applications for midwifery have increased.

These successful TV series have caused a mini-boom in the industry with applications in 2012 increasing by 20 percent from last year.

BBC drama ‘Call the midwife’

‘Call the midwife’ gathered an average viewing audience of around nine million, proving to be very popular. The drama highlights the plight of mums in London during the 1950s and shows a newly qualified midwife who begins her career alongside other nursing nuns. The series shows the harrowing, poverty stricken times and the complications midwifes faced. However, there is a light-hearted aspect to the drama that shows the joyous roles within midwifey.Kathryn Ratcliffe, a community midwife in Long Eaton has been in midwifery for nearly 30 years. Working in hospitals and on the community as well as being a part of many new projects, Kathryn has seen many changes to the job role of a midwife in the past 30 years.

‘There is a lot more paperwork as with many other jobs these days, we are involved in the social aspects of midwifery a great deal and there are much more obstacles we face as a public service. For example the multi cultural communities we work in mean we face language barriers effecting our communication with patients and obviously birth rates have risen since I first began. This means there is a lot more pressure on midwifes and there simply isn’t enough midwifes to meet the targets.’

The NHS are constantly battling with the health issues caused by drinking, smoking, drugs and obesity is a huge problem in this country. Midwifes also face the battle trying to warn their women of the dangers and there job is made harder due to health problems such as obesity.

‘Times have changed and technology has developed so we have better equipment and the standards of the health service are better, but the job is no longer about simply delivering babies and looking after pregnant women. We have to identify deviation from the normal and refer our women to the appropriate consultant. Making sure the right person gets the right care.’

Equally, although times are tough for midwifes in this country Kathryn highlights how there are advantages to the depths and extents of their job expentancies.

‘There are more policies in place to keep staff, mums and babies safe and although we deal with a lot more as midwifes these days it brings a variety to the job. Each day is not the same, and on the community we help families from all cultures, backgrounds and positions.’

‘Call the midwife’ shows through it’s storylines how the art and science of midwifery has progressed over the last 50 years but the basic needs of women and their babies has remained unchanged.

Kathryn shares her views on the show

‘One born every minute’ is a reality show which shows footage from inside the labour ward. Although the programmes very popular to the public and supposed to be a ‘reality’ show, the show isn’t as appreciated by midwifes themselves.

‘I have seen it, but I wouldn’t particularly sit down and watch it, firstly it’s too much like being at work! I just feel shows like that are somewhat unethical. I know the women agree to be filmed and it’s great to show people what the birth process is like, but they chose the women that are most entertaining to watch.’

TV depictions of birth can be annoying for midwifes as the drama of giving birth has to be contained to short episodes with as much excitement, alarm, noise and agitation as possible. The advantage to these shoes is they have definitley increased peoples interest in the job.

‘It’s great that shows like these have influenced people to want to join midwifery, I’m not entirely sure they understand how much of a demanding job it is, from just watching ‘one born every minute’ but it’s great people want to. It is a very rewarding job, meeting the women and families and supporting people is a great feeling.’

To become a midwife there are more requirements than there used to be, you must hold a pre-registration qualification in midwifery at degree level. It’s great that entertainment such as these shows can have a positive effect on our country, an increase in people wanting to do a worthy, respected job is always a success.

 

If your interested in becoming a midwife there are some relevant links below

http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/midwife_entry.shtml – NHS careers

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/midwives/midwifery-training/how-to-train-to-be-a-midwife/ – More info on being a midwife

http://info.britishjournalofmidwifery.com – All the best info

New look staff’s favourite fashion trends

Summers coming, well a British summer can’t exactly guarantee hot pants weather, but we need all the must haves in our wardrobes to makesure we are looking perfect this season. Who better to help us than the New Look staff in the Westfield store! They spill their favourite fashion picks at the moment and their trusty items they can’t live without.

Alexandra Wood, aged 20

What are your favourite fashion items at the moment? 

‘I love bandeaus at the moment, their great for day time casual wear in the summer, but you can wear them on a night out too. High waisted shorts in bright colours and patterns are also a favourite of mine at the moment. Everywhere is selling them and you can dress them up or down and wear them in so many ways with so many different things.’

What is your trusty fashion item?‘It would have to be my Vans, and my leather jacket. I live in them both!’

Kirsty Fox, aged 21

What do you love about the current fashion trends at the moment?

‘I think collared tops and shirts buttoned up look great on men and women. The denim shirt is really popular at the moment and with some chunky jewelry you can’t go wrong. I also like boyfriend blazers, the whole boyish look is really in for women’s fashion and I think it suits all figures and styles.’

What is your trusty fashion item?

‘My Vans are what I live in right now, they go with everything and are so comfy.’

David Carr, aged 24

What are your 3 favourite items of men’s fashion this season?

‘Well they aren’t really  very summery, but seen as it’s not exactly very warm right now I guess it doesn’t matter, I love skinny jeans, suit jackets and hightops or converse. Mixing casual pumps or hightops with smart jackets and shirts looks right on trend at the moment.’

What is your trusty fashion item?

My suit jacket, I love wearing suit jackets on nights out.’

Carly Booth, aged 21

What is hot for this summer?

‘Pastel colours are really in this summer, denim pastel coloured shorts, jeans and leggings are all must haves. Maxi dresses are in again this summer they look great for an evening with chunky wedges or great in the day with some converse and a denim jacket. Bandeaus in bright colours and patterns are definitley in for summer night time wear, with shorts, skirts both long and short they are great for a night on the town. Summer light weight blazers are also great for the british summer, as the evenings can get cold and if you don’t want to ruin your outfit a loose blazer in summery colours is perfect.’

What is your trusty fashion item?

‘I love my ballet pumps, I have them in lots of colours there so comfortable and go with anything.’

DJ Double success

‘If your willing to work hard you can be a successful DJ and make a career from it.’

Club DJ, Daniel Dunmore (DJ Double) has been successful in the competitive music industry after sticking with his life long passion of playing music.

24 year old Daniel from Nottingham started ‘Djing’ as a hobbie at the age of 14 when he recieved decks as a birthday gift.  Beginning his career as an unpaid DJ working at under 18 nights, daniel worked his way up and now loves his job.

‘It all started as a bit of fun, me and my friends used to go to the local youth centre to keep out of trouble. I’d be the DJ and the others would rap or sing.’

At the age of 15 DJ Double got his first paid job at at a club called ‘Vibe’.

‘To get anywhere in this business, and be able to work solely as a DJ for a living you have to start at the bottom, work in places you don’t want to for money you don’t want.’

Daniel spent 3 years at college studying sound engineering and music production, developing his technological skills and knowledge.

‘I would like to do some studio work professionally in the future, I do a lot of music production as a hobbie but I suppose it would be nice to get paid to do something else I love.’

Being a DJ is often viewed by people as something you would do part time or as a job on the side, but as Daniel proves if you work at it and be patient it can be a sturdy career.

‘You can’t expect to just walk into the industry and get paid good money and given the best slots. I worked in plenty of low key, rubbish places before now.’

His main DJ residencies are ‘Club Republic’ in Leicester the ‘Pent House’ in Nottingham ‘NoNo8’ in Derby and ‘Rain’ nighclub in loughborough. Daniel works both weekends and student nights during the week and has built up his cliental successfully.

‘One of the big nights I’ve been hired for recently is ‘Jucee Fruit’ a night at NoNo8 in Derby. I’ve done lots of different gigs there for couple years now, but this night has become very popular and I’m the regular DJ for it.’ 

The promotion video for the Jucee Fruit events

When asking Daniel if he’d recommend his job to anyone else he laughed, ‘If you like attention of the ladies, then yeah! They seem to like hanging near the DJ box for a bit of attention.’

If your wondering how well a job like this pays, Daniel assures us that once you’ ve built your way up and get yourself a reputation there is opportunity to earn good money.

‘You’ve got to be willing to travel around and work ridiculous hours, there is a massive difference between someone who just simply likes the idea of being a DJ and does it as a hobbie and somone who does it for a career, like me.’

Do you want to play in your favourite clubs and bars not just go to them? Get on guest lists across your town and many others as a respectable DJ? Play all your favourite tunes to people who have come out to hear you? Then ‘Djing’ maybe a career path for you. Modern technology has enabled jobs like this to become more accessible, more clubs and bars want live DJ’s not just sound systems.

‘I take my job seriously and I’ve earned respect and built up a good reputation with clubs from across the country. I love my job but if anyone is serious about getting into this business, it is’nt all girls, clubs and music, it’s hard work.’

Links to Daniel Dunmore’s (DJ Double) Club residencies websites:

NoNo8 Derby http://www.nono8bar.com/

Club Republic Leicester http://www.club-republic.com/

Rain Night Club Loughborough http://www.rainlufbra.co.uk/

Pent House Nottingham http://www.penthousenottingham.com/gallery.php

DJ Double at NoNo8 Derby

Blood, sweat and threads: the success of a determined young designer

Corin Campbell

“I knew it’s what I wanted to do so I worked ridiculously hard.”

Assistant childrenswear designer, Corin Campbell is ready to take on the world of print design just a few months after graduating university.

22-year-old Corin, studied textile design at Birmingham City University and has burst into the competitive industry, achieving her dream position in design.

A month ago, she was employed as a  designer for the company ‘FG4’ who specialise in childrenswear. She tells us all about her journey, shows us some of her designs and gives us an insight into the process of creating prints.

“I could not believe it when I got the job! I thought there was a mistake, it’s what I’ve always wanted to do from a young age.”

FG4 is a recently established company that is owned by George Davies. Who previously worked as the designer for ‘George’ at Asda, ‘Per una’ at Marks & Spencers and the childrenswear at Next. Last year he decided to break off into his own business and now Corin is a part of the design team.

“I was so excited! I know it sounds so cliché, but it really is what I have always wanted to do. All my friends got cars, holidays, shopping trips for their 18th birthday presents, I got  a new state of the art sewing machine.” She laughs

Corin has always had a creative spark, “Studying embroidery at college and then textile design at university has meant I’ve always been working on some kind of project. I wouldn’t want to do any other job. I’m so lucky, although I have worked pretty hard for it!” She smiles.

We see clothes and other products in shops and unless you’re a designer or work in that industry yourself, you don’t necessarily appreciate the work behind the designs and prints. Corin gives us a brief idea of the development process.

Example of design process

One of the designs Corin used at her interview for 'FG4'

The 22-year-olds drawings are quite unique, “ My way of drawing is freestyle and lose, I think that’s why it suits the look of childrenswear so well. My drawings are never rigid and commercial, they give a more boutique like feel to the design.”

When asked who inspires her Corin sits forward and instantly calls out in an excitable manner “Orla Kiely”. Orla is an Irish fashion designer, now based in London. Her signature designs are patterns, colours and textures with a 60’s twist.

“I love the colours Orla uses, she has a great eye for colours and places such simple patterns to create an amazing look.”

Orla Kiely’s collection is a very simple, yet distinctive look. The 60’s feel and often repeated patterns makes her work recognisable to the eye.

“I’m also inspired by Marimekko designers, I like the bold prints and the unique ideas they create.”

Marimekko, is a Finnish textile and clothing design company that established in the 1950’s. They produce high-quality clothing, interiors, bags and other products and are renowned for original prints and colours in their designs.

Some of Corin's designs printed onto fabric

Corin achieved her dream job just months after graduating, proving hard work can get you where you want to be.

 The determined 22-year-old achieved her new position as assistant childrenswear designer by showcasing a portfolio of designs she created especially for the interview.

“My style is quite different and I was unsure I’d get noticed or anyone would appreciate my work.”

The design industry is a huge and competitive one, Corin was successful in breaking through. Proving hard work and determination gets you very far. She thought of changing her style to fit into a more commercial category, widening her opportunities; But is thrilled she didn’t as her dedication paid off. Corin’s success is an inspiration to all young people with a dream.

” The lady after the interview told me I was really talented, I was so pleased that someone valued my work. If you’ve got a dream follow it. Don’t expect anything to fall into your lap.”

Follow some of Corin’s work at: http://corincampbell.blogspot.com/

     Follow her on twitter: @printed_pattern

Related links:

http://www.orlakiely.com 

http://www.marimekko.com/

All Photography – Jessica Hassall

Welcome

Welcome to our blog! We are four girls aged 20 & 21 with a passion for a mix of things, between us we will provide you with the latest fashion, entertainment and general news, through our eyes. We know what we want to read, listen to and see and we’ll share everything with our Pick&Mix followers! Let us know any stories you want us to follow, or any ideas

Jess, Becky, Jessica & Charlotte xx