F R A G

Issue 1. December 2011.

Flashing Red And Green

Small Talk with Cameron

Autumn/ WinterMen’s fashion

Autumn/WinterWomen’s fashion

The FRAG Team

Art EditorJack Parsons

Features EditorPreiti Kaur Randhawa

Picture EditorZara Khan

The Contributors:(In order of appearance):

Mitchell Knight

Cameron Epstein

Matthew Johnston

Richard Moore

Demi Whitby

Ashleigh Brown

Amy Cobb

Page Five

Page Eight

Page Twelve

WELCOME! To our first monthly instalment of FRAG, in each issue we will focus on bringing cliques together through fashion, music and events. This

month we are focusing on the Mainstream, Vintage and Hip Hop cliques, don’t think they have something in common? We’ll show you otherwise.Also each edition we’ll have a different themed phrase for our acronym FRAG, this time it’s Flashing Red and Green getting you into the

festive spirit.

So enjoy,The FRAG Team x

Flashing Red And GreenBoy Meets

Girls

Street ArtBusker

Streaming Vintage

Frankfurt Market

PageFourteen

PageSixteen

Page Eighteen

Page Twenty

Two

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© 2011FRAG LTDTD

ISSN 123456789012

Out From The Crowd

Page Twenty

Six

At The Top Since 1920.

Small Talk | 5

Small Talk | 7

8 | A/W Mens

THE CONTRAST TONE BANDEUA DRESSThe contrast tone jewelledbandeaux dress is the perfect party dress for Christmas and new years. Combine with killer heels and a bright snakeskin clutch bag.

Autumn/Winter

There’s never been a better time to get into print. Faux fur, lace and grungy leather were all over the catwalks for Autumn/Winter 2011.

The best pieces have been selected to show you what’s in Fashion right now.

Photographs by Zara Choudhry

THE LACE AND PRINTED BLOUSEFrom printed blouses to lacedetailed tops, the vintage look can be worn for casual daywear with simpleaccessories.

Women’s Fashion

12 | A/W Womens

THE FRENCH BRETON STRIPES AND LEATH-

ER TROUSERFrench Breton stripes have an updated look with playful slo-gans, dress up or down with

wet look leggings.

THE FITTED PARTY CORSET

The fitted corset will contrast with this season’s leather

trouser or fitted miniskirt.

THE STATEMENT SWEATERThe statement sweater is bound to keep you warm this winter and from simple styles to bold slogans, there is a huge choice.

THE SHAGGY FUR COAT AND TUXEDO JACKETThe Shaggy fur coat is the ultimate essential that will go with any outfit from day to night. For that added sophis-tication, the tuxedo jacket can glam up any out fit for a night out on the town.

Androgynous is a term that describes male and female character-istics. This can come under the categories of Fashion, Sexual Identi-ty and Sexual Lifestyle.

The Androgynous fashion trend took over the catwalks in 2011 but it has always played a part in fashion in

some way.

such as Lady Gaga and R&B singer Janelle Mo-nae who have made head-lines by wearing a suit or

tuxedo.

The trend is all about mix-ing masculine pieces with feminine and has so many

elements to it.

The tuxedo/dinner jacket took it’s name from the exclusive Tuxedo Club which opened in 1886.While tuxedo jackets were originally designed for the high society men who visited these clubs, Yves Saint Laurent designed his first dinner jacket for women 80 years later in

1966.

Wingtips and the closely related “Oxford” (which both fall under the catego-ry of Brogues) are two shoe styles that really comple-ment this look well. Wing-tips take their name from the detailed stitching that appears around the toe, making a “W” shape. For a long time the only differ-ence in wingtips for men and women was the physi-

Boy meets Girl

Jean Paul Gautier’s 2011 spring advert featured the model Karolina Kurkova leaning in for a kiss with a beautiful blonde that looks like a girl, but it’s the male model Andrej Pelic.Also Kate Moss was seen on the cover of “Love” smooch-ing Lea T. These models are blurring the lines of sexuality and the fashion

industry loves it.

There are also celebrities

Boy meets Girlcal size of the shoe, but new colours and materials and heels have now distin-

guished the two styles.

Suspenders started being manufactured in their mod-ern form in the 1820s.Orig-inal designs show suspend-er straps made of a tightly woven wool (known as a ‘box cloth’) and attaching as an ‘H-back’, meaning they join together to make what looks like an upper-case H. This style evolved into the “X-back” as well as the “Y-back”, all three of which are available today.

An excellent finishing piece for an outfit inspired by this trend is a tie. The necktie has roots all the way back to the 17th century, when King Louis XIV of France took a liking to the bow- tie sort of embellishments Croatian soldiers wore. The tie became mainstream around the time of the In-dustrial Revolution, thanks to the ease of production, and by the 1950s it was said that a man was not dressed

if he was without his tie.In modern fashion, each

of these elements has been adapted and altered for a women’s body. Blazers are more tailored at the waist, ties are made in a myriad of sizes and with whimsical patterns, and tuxedo shirts are nipped in and some-times feature ruffles and flowy sleeves to better com-plement the women wear-

ing them.

The “Chindie” trend is real-ly inspired by the American

preppy clothing trends.In terms of this casual fash-ion trend, chinos, vans, checkered shirts and polo tees have become a com-mon trend among young girls and boys who embrace

the trend.

Retailers such as Aber-crombie and Fitch, Hollis-ter and Jack Willis sell these types of clothing that you

are able to purchase.

Boy meets Girl | 15

How would you describe your music?

All of it is improvised. I try and make it as interesting for the people walking past; I’ll try a few things like add tricks in and stuff like that. Most of it is sort of samba based which is more like carnival drum-

ming.

Do you find yourself playing to the situations

happening around you?If there’s lots of people crowd-

ing around me, I‘ll get a bit more nervous and a lot of the time you’ll try and force your-self to impress them. But a lot of the time I try not to do that because that’s when you make a lot of mistakes. I‘ve had a couple of occasions when a guy has come up and started dancing or something, and if that happens I’ll just go with

it.

How long have you played the drums?

It’s been about 5 and a half, 6

years. It’s only recently since I’ve started doing the busking, before that I learnt to play on a drum kit rather than what I use for my busking. Because of the things I used I had to really adapt my playing style, it’s very different playing on the different sorts of surfaces

and just on the street.

Are you happier playing in a band or solo?

I enjoy both. I’ve played in quite a few covers bands over time. When you’re in a good

Walking through Birmingham City centre on one of the only sunny days we actually had this year. You come across so many different people with their own style and traits. So you would think it would be hard to stand out from the crowd in a place like this. Where could you start? What could you do?Across the City centre many creative individuals are showcasing their tal-ents to the public. One of which I came by myself. Richard Moore. A busker from Birmingham. Who uses his unusual collection of scrap as his person-alised drum kit: pan, bell, paint tin, tea tray etc His unique Samba sound is an instant attraction for those passers by.

band, you can sort of feel it and everything just sort of

works.

Now that it’s winter it’s getting cold,

will you stop busking?I’m still going to try and keep up the busking. I might be a bit cold, but hopefully be-cause I’m drumming it will keep me warm. But I’ll see

what happens.

Do you busk for the money?

I started doing it as I hadn’t seen many people do the kind of drumming I do, and I want-ed to try something different because it’s just a new experi-ence for my music. I used to work at Homebase and I quit after about a year. It’s a really nice place to work, everyone was really nice. But with the busking, it’s really nice to get paid by people walking past who appreciate what you’re

doing.

What is best response you’ve had from a

passer-by?A few weeks ago I had two guys who had come over from Germany come up and speak to me. And took me out for lunch and brought me dinner. That was a good day. Yeah, you meet loads of interesting people. Some people may not be so nice but 99% of the time

it’s good.

Street Art | 17

STREAMING VINTAGE

When the new millennium began there was still a niche market that were individual with their Vintage style. As time went on and even-tually a decade later, the same trend has been re-introduced and adopted by fashion designers. Which led to stores in-cluding the style in their

new season lines, tran-sitioning the many Vin-tage trends back into the mainstream since the first time it came about.

The actual brand Vintage refers to new or second-hand items produced be-tween the 1920’s to 1960’s. Where as Reproduction (Repro), is newly made but nearly exact copies of the

older Vintage garments.

How can you tell the difference?

Be aware that most Vin-tage stores don’t just sell Vintage clothing, and wont separate the clothing made before and after the Six-ties. So to double check, smell it, you can tell the difference between old and newly made clothes. The label is another key thing

to look at,

if there is a brand or union name you can always go online and research when the company started and finished manufacturing clothing. And to narrow it down even more, your garment can’t be any older than the 1950’s if there is a laundry label with the fab-ric content and care instruc-

tions, as it was around this era they started listing this in-formation on the labels. Also on the label or tag will be the size. Don’t just as-sume your size will be the same as it is with modern clothing, the general rule is to go 6 sizes up when look-ing for Vintage clothing. So a modern day 8 would be a Vintage 14, but don’t let that frighten you, Mari-lyn Monroe was a Vintage 12-14 back in her time. Always try things on to be on the safe side, you never know a size or two smaller

could still fit you.

Nowadays, some Vintage shops are even selling fake Vintage labels, along with shops such as Urban Out-fitters, Topshop, Banana Republic. They cater to the mainstream consumers, but what about the true Vintage shoppers? Where can they go to find items to add to

their Vintage wardrobe?

Urban VillageGibb StreetSelling only the finest Vintage

clothing, all A graded and ready to

wear. With a 50/50 balance of Male and Female stock.

Vintage One

Oasis Market

Along with its selection of

Vintage clothing, for a limited time

only they are selling Marilyn

memorabillia. From £1.50

Credit CrunchersMoat LaneGreat warehouse shop,

they stock a large collection

of quality scarves in various styles and

sizes, at only a pound each.

Also check out the events in December:

Judy’s Affordable Vintage Fair

Birmingham Christmas Vintage,Crafts & Collectables Extravaganza

The Vintage Fair18th

10th

7th

Streaming Vintage | 19

Finding the real Vintage shops is just step one, step two is knowing how to shop when you get

there:

Look around:Don’t just shop in Vintage boutiques venture else where. Your whole outfit shouldn’t be Vintage, there should be one or two key items that work as your

centre piece(s).

Don’t buy to wear: Sometimes it’s good to buy even though in the back of your mind you know it doesn’t go with anything else in your wardrobe or you can’t picture where you would where it. Hav-ing theses odd bits and pieces in your collection come in handy when you do find somewhere to wear it, change your current style or even when it comes back in fashion again. And it

will!

Mix and match: Don’t just buy clothing from one era, the reason old trends come back into fash-ion is because they were so unique the first time

around. So experiment, find your own style.

Do it all by yourself:

See something you like but it’s the wrong colour, style or size? Try it yourself.

There are plenty of videos and tutorials online to help you with anything

you would like to create.

Photography: Preiti Randhawa.

Model:Demi Whitby.

Clothing and accessories from:

Vintage OneUrban Village

Credit CrunchersPrimarkH & M

Streaming Vintage | 21

Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas Market is the largest outdoor Christmas market in the country. Cel-ebrating it’s tenth year, the market is a focus for Birmingham’s festive cel-ebrations, featuring a wide range of traditional hand-made toys, art and items from throughout the world - and, of course ,plenty of food, including German mulled wine (Gluhwein),

grilled sausages, vegetarian options, pretzels and Ger-

man beer.

With continental sights, sounds and smells in the beau-tiful setting of Birmingham’s Victoria Square and New Street, the Frankfurt market combines with Birmingham’s Craft Fair to offer 180 pictur-esque stalls for you to browse in search of that perfect

Christmas present.

FRANKFURT MARKET

Over the years the pub-lic have grown to love and highly anticipate the Frank-furt Market. But they aren’t the only ones, here’s what the stall owners had to say:

‘I love the culture and the people here, it’s very

different from Germany’

‘British people here love our food especially the

pretzels!’

‘We attract a lot ofpeople to our stall, as

they like the authentic German

sausages’

‘The quality of the knitwear and scarves

is really good for winter

‘Alot of people likebuying toys from us for

their children’

‘People like buying chocolates from us to

give as gifts for

Christmas’

Frankfurt Market | 23

‘We really love

BIRMINgHAM, it’s a great

city’

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rOut from the Crowd

Is there anything you’d hate to happen again next year?

Jump off a 20 foot wall and sprain my ankle.

What is your best New Year’s memory?

Hahaaaa, best and worst is probably going to a party where 2 party crashers attempted to steal 2 pairs of shoes, a carton of eggs, several Choc Dips and a pack of bacon then ended up being chased out of the house by a very an-gry mum with a broom! ...it’s a story to tell to say the least!

xFWhat is your New

Year’s party trick?

Not being sick.

Double jointed thumb.

Can instantly recite any

words backwards.NNew Years Eve is approaching, and we want to know about your past, present and future experiences.

ErOut from the Crowd

Think of three words you’d like to describe your 2011.

Inspirational, interesting, life changing.

One to remember.

tWhat are you doing this New Year’s Eve?

Holding a party at my house, maybe some fireworks and lots of alcohol!

What is your best New Year’s memory?

Hahaaaa, best and worst is probably going to a party where 2 party crashers attempted to steal 2 pairs of shoes, a carton of eggs, several Choc Dips and a pack of bacon then ended up being chased out of the house by a very an-gry mum with a broom! ...it’s a story to tell to say the least!N

New Years Eve is approaching, and we want to know about your past, present and future experiences.

Out from the Crowd | 27

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