Bold Souls

I am happy to announce that my millinery brand Beretk!Ah... will be participating in a creative fashion event Bold Souls in Glasgow on the 12.12.2010 organized by Glasgow's creative community.

It is the first time I will have to think about decorating my stall and I am very thrilled. As I would really want to bring some English feel to it...Maybe I am influenced by my recent trip to York - a former British capital...But I am so keen on having this beautiful English corner:) Also every single piece deserves extra attention, therefore I need to think properly how to display it to its best!

Anyway I would be happy to see you there and spread the word about my Beretk!Ah...!


Thank you

T x

www.esteemmakeover.co.uk

I havent updated this blog for a while as there has been many things happening!
Just to share my news:
I am updating my makeup internet site www.esteemmakeover.co.uk and adding more amazing works done in the UK. Apart from that my new styling internetsite www.esteemstyle.co.uk is coming soon!
My internet site wwwberetkah.co.uk is receiving great feedback and sales are improving! I ve got 2 stockists in Glasgow and looking forard to a couple of more retailers to join this list!

In the next post i will show the recent editorials for I-On Edinburgh:)

xx

changes in my life:)))

Well there are so many many things happened that I ve no idea what to start with!

First of all I have finished my course and have added to the list of my proffessions: a professional in Internation Fashion Marketing. Moreover I am a happy holder of Masters:) Can't wait to see my family on my graduation on the 25 November!

Another nice surprise is that we got a car! Finally:)Good old Vauxhall Astra, with the same green metallic colour as has my Mini back in Moscow.
Big big thanks to Stuart, who was helping us to buy this car. Having it now it doesn't feel like I am donkey anymore, but a stylist!

Soon very soon I will launch an internet site with my millinery and fascinator collection called www.beretkah.co.uk, here you can have a snea peak at my floral collection!
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Also there are coming changes to my make-up site, which will be both html and flash. I am very very happy my clients and colleges give me a good feedback about the site. First of all due to its incredibly gentle and sophisticated design! Robert Haase couldnt do it better for me:)

A new styling site is also just about to be launched. It is a hard work to get all of the images sorted and ready to be uploaded.

All of these marketing activities are so exciting as it will hopefully lead to an improvement!

More images to go:)

work+study=meeting great people

Yesterday I had a very insighful chat with Ana Cruzalegui http://www.anacruzalegui.com/
, amazing and talented make-up artist I wanted to assist straight after I arrived to Glasgow. There are not so many shining stars in Glasgow' fashion scene in terms of international reputation and also nice character, and Ana is one rare example. I contacted her a week ago to ask if I could do an interview with her for my dissertation research and was very surprised to get a reply back very quickly also saying I could join her team to get the models ready for Bruinswick hotel fashion event.
It was such a pleasure to work with her and such a great chance to meet before the actual interview. Here is Heather McDonald I worked with under Ana's patronage:



Not sure who did the hairdress but they looked stunning!!!
Anyway I am happy Ana was the first I did an interview for my dissertation and seems like I am starting to like it:) (i mean my paper:)

I actually took a lot from the chat with her...and there are a couple of things I should rethink in my life regarding my future profession. I am very thankful to her for the advice she gave me and hopefuly one day I can be any help to her too:)

new millinery collection

Finally we got all of collections potograped and opefully I will launch an internet-site soon:)

I am very thankful to my my team:

photography by Elena Nevzorova (www.elenaphotography.co.uk)
styling/make-up/hair and millinery by me
jewellery by Liza Lang
Dresses by Kureaa Besu
model Heather McDonald
and SamanthaDavidson @ Colours

photographers...

HC: What is the most amazing visual or moment you have ever seen that you didn’t photograph?

Peter Lindbergh: When I was twenty, My mother looked into my eyes for quite a moment, she was dying…

I truely admire P.Lindberghs talent...But sometimes I feel like creative people are to obsessed with their dreams...and also desire to take a snap of everything what surrounds them. I even think that they might miss out something very importnat in their lives if always wanting and hunting after a great shot.Maybe I am mistaken, but this is what made me think abiut the interview with Peter at http://models.com/mdx/?p=857

I don;t know why but at some point the book I read long time ago called the COllector by J.Fauls came into mind as well.We can't keep this natural beauty and I am not sure we are able to photograph the most amazing visual thing in our lives...
99% sure...
prob my fav pics of Kate Moss(taken by PL)

good stuff

After really stressing work at Glam in the City in Glasgow last June I thought I was def an editorial stylist rather than a "commercial" one! was not even sure I should go for it as the pressure and demands to style 12 models only having 1 day for it (less actually giving that I got the sizes of the models very late) was too much! But as everything in life finds its balance - i found mine after being invited for an interview with one of the most successufull modelling agencies the Colours www.coloursagency.com where I was offered to be signed as a make-up artist and sylist! To be honest this bright news like this rare bright scottish sun was very very in time. At the end of the day the comment that I have a very "commercial portfolio" made me feel satisfied:)

To keep it in records I did a print screen of my pages:
http://www.coloursagency.com/details.asp?modelid=499851&subid=2835&sexid=&productid=124&btnx=5






The last but not the least and actually most important thing is to start getting jobs through the agency!
wish me good luck:)

T

mad hatter?....

Do you know what a student who is meant to write her dissertation does?...Right, she makes hats:)
A new obsession occurred when I came to the UK and got totally inspired as the tradition of wearing hats, fascinators, headpieces - call it as you want- is rooted in the nation's fashion so deeply that if fascinates me more than anything! In fact while being a child and teenager I hardly wore any hats since my mum being a hair dresser felt some sort of cheating about them wht afffected me in a way! So you can imagine how hairdresses try to make people not wear hats but more fashionable hair cuts etc.?)Somehow I even though hats don't suit me, however I kept on collecting them...I never really wore them, but used to bring at least one new hat after each holidays:) These British fascinators and millinery seemed to be so beautiful but one would never dare wear it back home, in Moscow (well only if the event would require some sort of dress code).

Anyway in the UK when I got some more free time I started making some head pieces, can't call them hats at all, as it is a nice accessories for me:)
Anyway I hope that some time later I will show you my collection of hats, but for now just a sneak peak what I ve got:)

London Graduates Fashion Week - late report:)

Well summer seems to be too busy for me. It is a bit stressfull though as my dissertation hasn't even been started:(
However there are far nicer things happening.I should probably start from the very beginning of June when I went to London to see the graduates' collections in Earls Court exhibitional centre. I was lucky enough to get the invitations from my superwiser (whom I can really upset next Tuesday as the dissertation is just....well). Anyway it was a very nice gesture:) I was amazed by the dimensions of the event! Sponsored by River Iseland, L’Oreal Professional, Renault, Marie Clair, GQ and many many others the event promised to be a sparkle! Throughout 4 days the tension was there and everyone was waiting till the last Gala Show where all "cream" from the fashion industry was meant to be present. But it was not about them really, it was about all these talented people who are well on their way to a success! This catwalk was their success. I have enjoyed every single collection and am proud of many graduates to be already known out there due to their distinct style and designs. Everything was done on such a professional level that I can understand the hezitations of judges when they were choosing the best collections.
We had our fingers crossed for Anna Lee from DeMontfront University whose collection with a distinct Chinese methology theme was probably one of the most noticable and different. Having had her internship within Alexander McQuenn Anna Lee absorbed the best from that experience. Dying on different textures of fabrics, absolutely unreal beautiful illustrations, striking accessories, even shoes wrapped in the same fabric made the whole collection such a complete masterpiece of hard work and creativity that no wonder Rankin fell into it and GFW ended up with a picture of a model in Anna's outfit straight in front of the main intrance:)
A small detail about Anna - she is Russian! 4 years ago she moved to the UK after doing a course in Saint Petersburg's State University of Textiles and Designs. Another important detail - this year GFW opened its doors to other foreign Universities among which there was this Saint Petersburg's State University of Textiles and Designs with one of Anna's teachers as a head who brough 5 wonderful collections by Russian students to showcase within GFW! And yes, they met :) After quite a long time...Lyubov Rubenyan was very proud of her former student to be the best in the UK. I myself was very touched:)







photo by www.elenaphotography.co.uk

Actually Anna was nominated for two main awards, which is a recognition of her talent anyway. However she was awarded with a prestigeuos award by Zandra Rhodes.
Before the final I came up to Anya and asked her what she want to do in the future. I remember she replied she needed to find a proper job because her parents who helped her throughout her studying let her know she should be funded herself (that made me feel quite sad as there is no guarantee all of these talented people will be able to find a "proper" job).

Anyway I am sure Anna will be very successful and I wish her all the best in her future carreer!
Can't wait to see her garments in best magazines!
But also I hope that Russian press and fashion community will pay more attention to those Russians who unlike many other "bad guys" bring so much respect to the country!

to be continued...

Graduates Fashion Week

Finally! I am very excited to come and see Graduates Fashion Week as I know the real fashion comes from unbias, not spoilt by money clear souls! And in the UK you will find a lot of them. Young designers will showcase their works till Thursday.

Can't wait to know what 'big stars" will attend the shows:)

backstage...

photo by www.ilonarodina.com
http://ilonika.livejournal.com/507584.html
model Dasha Glushenkova
stylist/mua/hair I am

I do love backstage pictures...where the photographer who takes a bit of rest when a stylist checks the models and fixes some etails, takes her camera and snaps a live moment. I never control myself in terms of how I look or act even knowing the camera can cacth my not the most attractive engle:) Especially I can be then angry if I see my big bum:)

But looking at backstage like that it reminds me how much pleasure and fun photoshoots brig, how much we care about the process and invest into it...

Sometimes for me it is not the result and outcome (to be honest it often happens that I put too much effort and in the end get really poor images) but it is about enjoying the process an communication with creatives.

I have come back to this country where Service has nothing but the big letter!

After being stuck in Moscow coz of this vulcano and experiencing the worst customer service ever with a Russian aircompany Aeroflot I am back in one piece. However I just want to say big thank you to the British Airways which saved me and helped me to escape from Russia!
This is what I have just received from the CEO (well let it be not him, but it is still very nice:)


Dear Miss Ashakova,

The volcano in Iceland resulted in the closure of UK airspace for six days and mass chaos across the country.

In the history of our business, we’ve never had a situation like this. The cancellations meant that in some parts of the world, we had backlogs of thousands of our customers unable to come home.

When faced with such challenges, I know that our customers expect British Airways to respond well.

We did everything in our power to secure the safe re-opening of airspace. Since then our number one priority has been to get our stranded customers home and I would like to thank you personally for your patience and understanding during this unique period.

As well as flying our normal schedule using every available British Airways aircraft, we’ve also flown 14 extra longhaul services from destinations such as Hong Kong, Bangkok and Dubai.

We made sure available seats on all our inbound flights were protected for British Airways customers trying to get home. We appealed to other customers booked to fly, whose travel was not essential, to accept a refund to clear more seats.

Although we will not rest until all of you are home, we will have flown between 70 – 90,000 people per day, including many thousands who were stranded.

While we continue to do as much as we can for you, I appreciate that there will have been occasions where we may not have been able to help as much as we would have liked. If, however, you do still need to contact us, please visit ba.com for information on how to do this.

This was an exceptional event in British Airways’ history and colleagues from across the airline came together to do everything possible to assist. In response, many of our customers have taken the time to write to me or other colleagues at British Airways to express their thanks for what we were able to do. I am very grateful to all our customers for their continuing support.

on the way to Moscow...

FAfter a very busy March i am on my way from London to Moscow. With 'a happy heart' after a shoot with Joe Maclay I am now looking forward to collaborate with my russian photographers. I am al excited to see how things are going with the Russian fashion week and catch its last days)))
After Moscow I will come back more determined in terms of getting a job and starting my dissertation, which will b covering the aspect of collaboration within a creative team during the process of creating an imaginary advertising campaign.
I will also bring some nice stuff like russian floral sarves to sell them at my friends' small boutques and hopefully will start selling my unique pieces of millinery.)))
So many plans...
However the best news is that my internet site as been finally launched and I am completing adding my works www.esteemmakeover.co.uk

one week in one go!

For quite a long time I haven't experienced this nice calming tiredness...Sounds weird but it is absolutely true. Having worked the whole week with early wake-ups at 5.30, visiting amazing places in Edinburgh and surrounding area, meeting new creative and absolutely talented people like Ainslie Currie (make-up artist and hair designer), Julie Howden ( photographer from Ed), Mark Mainz (photographer from the Herald), Margarita - the Ukranian model who is just absolutely stunning, made last week probably one of the best since I am in Scotland!
On Friday I finally collaborated with Ruth, Glasgow based photographer, where I was creating styles of late 80-s pop-girl and dramatic new ballerina. Thanks to Del Shields who popped up with this crazy old school tape player:))) and saved the shoot!
I couldn't even complain about the weather in Glasgow!!! We ve been having the Sun for 2 days!!! And Saturday was a nice day to travel to Perth (absolutely amazing landscapes on the way from Glasgow) and meet Nadia (the girl photographer) and her very hospitable family, who lives in Forteviot ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forteviot one of a new destinations to shoot a fashion story). You will never believe there is a truly English village just in the middle of Scotland with only 40 families settled there!
Sunday brought back this freshness and exclusivity from working with talented designers Clair and Bath who have their brand Kureaa Besu who managed to get a very creative team of professional to work on their new look book! (http://www.clairelhamilton.com) I was asked to do the hair and was very happy to meet a lovely make-up artist June Long! An amazing, kind very sociable woman with whom we shared our experiences and from whom I got much advice in terms of many make-up related things!:) I was deeply touched how June and her daughter (who was modelling)got along so well and collaborate on a very professional level (at this point I realy missed my mum....)
I loved personality of Danni Menzies who has put all her efforts in order to create a horse riding club and is just about to leave for work to Japan!
Jade (the photographer) turned put to live just a couple of blocks away from me!:) I hope for future collaboration!
this tiredness is soooo pleasant and relaxing...

first day in the Herald

There had to be a reason to start writing in this blog. A reason related to my fashion experience. And finally it happened: my first day of a work placement in the Herald Scotland.

Well you can't really compare it with Vogue mag and especially I will not say that I felt like Ann Hathaway when entered the building of the Herald. There was some thrilling (far less than I had it when was working in the Kremlin) and excitement...and I was thinking:"yes, this must be the right place" only because there were the right people!!!

I am very pleased to be chosen by Eva Arighi to assist her and Carrie McAdam (I hope it will be on a longer term basis).
There are 4 shoots coming next week with both of them and Eva and I have already collected some stuff for her shoots (it is mostly denim led but with some american recession touch from old times) . However I am more curious about Carrie's shoot which will be "Alice in Wonderworld" theme - there will be so much space for imagination and creativity and I am damn happy I will also contribute to this process! Eva said Carrie tends to pick up more avant-garde pieces and more couture, so I am looking forward to see what it can be:))

I should also mention that ALL people I met today were sososo nice and friendly! I was even present at the editorial meeting, where they were exchanging ideas for the coming issues and it definitely gives you a feeling of an insider.

Anyway I am so overwhelmed with emotions that I nearly forgot about my Saturday shoots! I still need to collect the items for the cover shoot for Re:Union and hopefully I will get some from Boudiche!
Fingers crossed***