SATURDAY

Will be free from exams in 3 days. 

Then there will be decent postsss!! 

I'm way psyched

Also I picked up a bargain sheepskin from the charity shop the otherday. 

Suchsuchsuch a glorious weekend.

Glastonbury-ers are v. lucky, I'm just left listening to it on the radio!

What festivals are everyone going to??

Contemplating Lovebox

I'm such a lightweight!

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THURSDAY

Don't think I've ever mentioned it on this blog before. But my mum is an incredibly cool lady. She has her own line of denim bears called Barbarabearo (after me - my sister=gutted) which are utterly adorable. And she makes sausage dogs too. Corduroy ones .... hell yeahhzz. She loves all things denim

Got a bit carried away with photographs. But Lorna Ryan is a pretttay special lady.

Loveherbigtime xxxxxxx

THURSDAY

THE GREAT DOUBLE DENIM DEBATE

Summer is coming and the new trends are slowly leeking onto the pavements of LDN and  the big question is will you be wearing doubledenim? Is it too much of a good thing? Or perfect easy dressing? Aurien (of English Rose) and I are weighing up the for and against arguments. (This is a sneak preview of issue//16)

So .... Aurien is against and I am for.

Barbara - FOR

Double chocolate. Double beds. Double glazing. Double decker buses. Stunt doubles. Double cream. All things which are double are brilliant and doubledenim is not an exception. And if you are a bit backwards in terms of fashion you are probably shouting "what is this girl on about? Doubledenim is as bad as Gareth Gate's hair!". But little do you know how wrong you are. FYI, here at BFRmag we define double denim as denim on the bottom half and the top half. Denim shirt and denim visor, does not classify as double denim.

It is a very conscious decision to undertake the doubledenim look, however once you master the art of it you will soon be able to move onto TRIPLE denim, hell yeah! And this look is gonna be all over s/s 2010 like syphillis at a school disco.

Now, it is easy when working this trend to look like you're wearing a denim suit, which is cool … so long as it's from Saville Row, yeah? So in order to avoid the car crash doubledenim look there are several ways to rock it. At D+G they chose to break up the denim by mixing up textures: distressed dark denim cutoffs with fringed faded denim shirts, the perfect I just threw this together look. However if you want a "young" and "rad" spin on DD, take hints from Jeremy Scott and House of Holland who styled their denim 90's style, which is pure denim, no mixing it up with other fabrics - this is h.a.r.d.c.o.r.e. (With a nod to the “Americana” trend) But if you are not ready to plunge in to this look you could try DD, Mulberry style keeping your denim twinsuit well tailored and in one shade. Simple? And if you just want to nod to the trend, try some Chloe denim patchwork, carrot shaped jeans.

And if you are still thinking "WTF! Doubledenim is sooo wrong!!!" you clearly don't appreciate the heritage of denim, which originated in Nimes, France during the Middle Ages. Denim offers durability and comfort; it is the ultimate workers uniform. Surely then, double denim must provide the ultimate in comfort? Yes, it does! And so what if it’s a tad wrong? All good things are just a little bit wrong: watching Jeremy Kyle when you should be studying, eating the odd bit of McDonalds, dancing with 14 year olds at parties - who cares! Man, everyone has a piece of denim in their wardrobe whether it’s from Primark or Levis or Acne, it’s what’s holding us all together globally – our wardrobe staple for Saturday mornings running errands around town. 

Denim is the one garment that you can style out for your whole life (c’mon you can’t rock spandex from cradle to grave effortlessly??), so play tribute to it with double denim! Soooo … I double dare you to give it a try!

Aurien - AGAINST

Three words; Britney and Justin.

Need we be reminded of the horrific display of trailer park trash that was an adolescent Britney Spears (sane-ish, actually making good music, pre K-fed and shaved head days) and Justin (curly blonde hair, still in N*Sync, pre-William Rast designer, heartthrob days), sashaying down the red carpet not only in hideous matching outfits but worse, both clad head-to-toe in denim. It's taken me almost a decade to recover from the sight of Justin in a denim tuxedo and hat and Britney in a denim dress, bag and shoes and if anyone knows the answer to "what the hell were they thinking?" please do let me know because I still can't work it out.

There is a reason for old phrases and ‘double trouble’ is no different; doubling up is just that – trouble. My issue is not with denim itself, far from it, I can’t imagine my life without it; it's the double deed that I can't stand. My Grandma, being the wise woman she is, has taught me many life lessons but the two that immediately spring to mind are “less is more” and “you really can have too much of a good thing”.  Okay, so she was probably talking about other things, but her words of wisdom apply equally as well to denim as to life.

You see my friend, fashion trends are like drugs; seen as ‘cool’ by some but really should be avoided at all costs as they are highly addictive, affect different people in different ways, and unfortunately have their casualties and victims. Fashion overdoses and ‘death by fashion’ are growing epidemics that are sweeping the streets of Britain faster than you can say ‘credit crunch’. So what if D&G, Mulberry and Henry Holland are doing it? Not to sound like your mum (I like to think of myself more as your fashionable fairy godmother) but if they jumped off a cliff would you do it to? I really hope the answer is no, but if it is, put down the ‘zine and get some help immediately.

Stay strong! Don’t be a sheep or a slave to fashion; be your own person and don’t give into peer pressure. In the words of the legendary 80’s campaign: just say no. We’ve all seen people down the street taking fashion trends to the wrong extreme; such as those unfortunates who take ‘matching’ way too far and wear a whole outfit, complete with accessories, in the one block colour. We’ve all pitied them for not having someone to tell them they shouldn’t leave the house looking like that. Well as your fashionable fairy godmother, allow me to be that person for you. Double denim is no different to matching or any other fashion trend for that matter; it’s the rule, not the exception.  

Don’t do it. You will be cruelly mocked by your stylish counterparts, shunned to the sidelines of the fashion world (and society for that matter) and may as well wear a (denim) sign around your neck that reads 'unsophisticated and tacky'. 

And if you are still stubborn and absolutely must double up, promise me you’ll at least make the denim match, yeah? It’s only polite, and there is simply nothing worse than indigo on the bottom and stone wash on the top or vice versa. I’m feeling sick just thinking about it. If you're going to be unstylish, you may as well be stylishy unstylish, if you know what I mean? Or better still, just don't do it at all...

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So what's your verdict?

Double YES?

Double NO?

We want to know!

*Previous debates : The Great Clog Debate, The Great Ugg Debate

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TUESDAY

Bro,  I think too much time at the library is causing me to lose my sense of taste.

Oh dear!

http://shop.notjustalabel.com/shoes/1298

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SUNDAY

This is Michelle Claesson Eismann who is a super talented ladyy and design supremo! 

She was one of the first people abroad to give me feedback on the zine and I must say I am a fan of her too.

Also, she makes sends the most awesome packages, from temporary tattoos to the coolest matches!

Check out her blogggggg .... thestoriesiwanttotellyou.blogspot.com

all images below are courtesy of Michelle Eismann

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WEDNESDAY

Get down to Poundland Shepherds Bush, yeah?

Good luck to everyone doing exams, will be over soon then summer times!

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TUESDAY

zinewatch: Tea Journeys

Are you a tea-aholic?

Well "Tea Journeys" by Steph Newell might just be the zine for you.

This cheeky informative magazine provides you with the history of tea, trading, tea races and even recipes for ginger tea and thai iced cocount tea - if that's more you thing!

Tea-riffic!

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FRIDAY

photograffs: cheers to http://www.tinyreddesign.com/

Zineswap is like a dating agency but for zines. You send them two zines in the post, they keep one for their archives and then send you another random zine back. Brilliant! They have an online catalogue. But everyone gets bored of pixels now and then.

So lastnight PK and I bopped down to Bloomsbury to have a rummage through their archives at their latest exhibition at The Orange Dot, which I advise you to have a look at. You can even bring your own zine down and have a swap. (I'll post about my swap later!)

Was sooo terrific to see an overload of zines. I guess BFRmag is quite fashiony and ordered, but looking at all the zines makes me want to have a change of heart and direction.

Here are a few zine categories (there are wayyy more, I'll add to it):

1. Music: playlists, basically plugging themselves or friends

2. Taking photos of your friends genitalia and then photocopying a stapling

3. Picking a theme, (ie: Hawaiian shirts) and writing everything you know about it

4. Drawings drawings lovely drawings

5. Lame poetry

6. .......

Yeah, so totally get down there! 

Working on the new issue between revising and playing.

It's gonna be supersweet

Have a fantastic weekend!

Plus, does anyone have any recommendations of good zines to read???

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ps. I think this blog is going to be more about zines. I need a bit of direction, feel like the blog has been getting lame lately

TUESDAY

HYPE YOUR JAM

COS THIS IS TOO PERFECT FOR WORDS

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