Shady - I Do What I Want

Hey!

So a few weeks ago I got the opportunity to work with amazing creative and photographer Emma Savage on a special project.

Emma explains the concept of the project:

" My series of images, "I Do What I Want" draws influence from the Ashish SS'16 collection. A runway doused in sequins and adolescent attitude, I found this theme to be the perfect fit to my model, Shady Kleo. She has this "I do what I want" attitude which I find so inspiring. For example, when we were walking back from finishing our shoot, a man commented on how it was too cold for that dress and made a sarcastic comment on her Jigglypuff backpack. "I do what I want". This is all she said to him, and he had no words - how could anyone argue? She was so right, and I felt very much in awe of her confidence. I wanted my images to show the contradiction between her cute style and love of all things pastel and pink, as well as her comfortability in baring skin and wearing sheer materials out in public in a defiance of being immediately sexualised. "

It was raining glitter at day one of our shoot! I felt like such a sparkly princess as MUA Yoiwan Kong did an amazing job giving me the kawaii-est nails in town, not to mention the slickest purple brow-over and sequin adorned eyes. 

There have been numerous times when I've dressed with my bra or something on show and my friends have said "You can't seriously be going out in that?" So I made sure to style myself carefully to capture my playful, child-like nature but also show something else; that it's ok for women to let go of modesty from time to time. You should be able to flaunt the skin you're in and not feel embarrassed or ashamed about it. I always try to look at the body as art to be decorated and appreciated - not as an object, sexual or otherwise.

We continued with this theme in mind on day two of shooting, when I wore a mesh dress from Lazy Oaf, which is one of my all time fave fashion brands. I got quite a few funny looks for this, as though people thought I wasn't aware that I had the biggest granny pants ever on underneath. I don't get dressed in the dark, ya' know. I know exactly what I'm about. 

I was given free rein when it came to my makeup this time, as unfortunately Yoiwan couldn't make it to the shoot. So I donned my Yolandi-esque white eyeliner and accessorised with tiny pink stars on the inner corners of my eyes for some extra sparkle.

Overall I think we managed to capture exactly what we wanted to - a dreamy look into my pastel plagued mind & the idea that you can let your skin be free while still being care-free. Similar philosophy to that of the rebellious and youthful Ashish collection which inspired us to begin with. What do you think?

It was great fun meeting and working together with these two creative gals. We had a blast on this shoot and I look forward to collaborating again in future. 

You can find more of Emma's work here: emmasavage.co.uk

And also don't forget to check out Yoiwan's amazing makeup & hair styling!

Shady wears:

Outfit 1:

Bra - BAZIIC CLOTHING

Top - THE RAGGED PRIEST

Shorts - UNIF

Outfit 2:

Dress - LAZY OAF

Earrings - LIGHT BEFORE DARK

Socks - TOPSHOP

Sliders - ADIDAS