Morganna Makes

There's a bit of Instagram regram repetition here on this post for good reason.  The course of my ¬£1 yard sale basically went something like this.  I laid down a cheapie plastic sheet in the carpark of my flat and unpacked all my things flea-market style, attempting to have some semblance of order with themed piles; separated out into neutrals, prints and Liberace-esque shiny things.  I hung up some of my favourite pieces such as a neglected Haider Ackermann dress and a fishtail PushButton gold skirt with a broken zipper.  Steve went out to get batteries for the iPod speakers.  We were ready to chill for a good hour or two and do some selling.  

Little did I know that people had been queueing outside the flat since about 10.15am and that as soon as we opened the door at 11am, they came in and rifled away consciestiously and quietly.  At approximately 11.10am, EVERYTHING had been picked up, save for a leopard print chiffon poncho (don't ask) and Steve's old chinos and I was still doling out change to people paying for their ¬£1 goods.  Those batteries never went into the iPod speakers let alone going upstairs to get my camera to document what was the briefest yard sale I've ever participated in.  It's safe to say, London loves a fashion Poundland.  If I was going to be selfish to prolong the experience a little bit longer, perhaps items going for a fiver or even a tenner wouldn't have gone amiss.  I'm really sorry to everyone who came subsequently.  11.10am was never supposed to be the predicted end time of the sale.  My foldy chair never even had its seat warmed before I had to pack it all up and take them back upstairs. 

Wearing ASOS x Molly Goddard coral dress, MSGM neon lace top, Nike Free Flyknit trainers

Even though the sale was incredibly brief, I still got to see a familiar face or two – remember Sul Gi from my Fan Girled post - she's in London for the first time to visit friends and see our fair city.  I also got a few interesting business cards, one of which was from Morganna Murphy (photographed below) from Dublin.  She's currently studying for her BA in Textile Design, specialising in Applied Arts at The National College of Art and Design and after half an hour of clicking around her online portfolio and blog, I thought there was something quite endearingly unaffected about the prolific nature of her work.  

On Morganna's blog, she spells out a fairy tale..

"One day a lovely girl was born.  She was the colour of fresh snow.  With hair as dark black as ebony.  Her little lips as red as blood.  Her jealous stepmother didn't like her much.  She tried many ways to kill her.  But a passing prince kissed her better."

… not with the written word but with a series of necklaces depicting the words in a plethora of materials – embroidered plastic, moulded pieces of FIMO, upcycled fabric, French knitting and other can-do, make-do know-how that Morganna seems to have a firm and confident grasp of.  

You get to further delve into Morganna's Science of Sleep-esque mind as she showcases another series of accessories on her portfolio, made to bend to her own kind of logic.  She takes inspiration from household mundanity – everything from doing laundry to bathroom mould and the associated feelings of transition from space to space as well as being trapped in a confined space and interprets all of that in her accessories.  Collectively they tell a story but individually, they are like facile little monsters which come alive, either on or off the body.  Bernhard Willhelm and Walter van Beirendonck and other of fashion's cartoonish auteurs, spring to mind.  This is clearly just the beginning for Morganna experimenting with a range of textiles-based craft from embroidery to fabric collaging to knitting and yet even in these early stages, her work feels like the seeds have been planted for a unique point of view in creative textiles design.  Now if a ten minute yard sale can yield someone like Morganna, think what a longer one would generate.  I'll work on the pacing for the next time…

 … which by the by, people have already asked when there will be a nex time.  Not to point out the obvious but errr… you guys have cleared me out so it will a good while yet.