Smell the CHOOLIPS...

You guys KNOW I LovE my 'crazy-sexy-cool' clobber...especially when I'm performing (flashback to face covered in glitter lol)! But when it came to choosing costumes for the Roofhop Series I needed a simple look. Something to compliment the raw nature of the acoustic performances...yet retain the kooky character that defines AA!! Thank god I smelt the roses...or should I say Choolips lol?! Of all the clothes/designers I've ever worn I found in Choolips the ultimate solution to looking 'different' with minimal effort!! Just PUT IT ON lol!

Annegret Affoldabach (designer and founder of Choolips) has weathered many a storm as she strives to bring stylish and ETHICAL clothing to the fashion/retail world! All of Annegret's garments are lovingly designed in her London Studio, before being hand made/printed using traditional Batik techniques, on the Gold Coast of Ghana. And did I mention that it's all ethical? Thats right...Choolips works on a genius Fairtrade system which sees entrepreneurial Ghanaian trailblazers, local batikers, tailors and seamstresses earn more than fair wages for their work. *Two fingers Primark!*

By working closely with African communities (and with a network of other collectives on side) CHOOLIPS has introduced new technology and print design to sustain this ancient Batik technique. And looking at the results it's easy to see why retailers such TOPSHOP and online fashion giants ASOS have jumped at the chance to stock Choolips' hand-perfected designs!! Annegret really has 'put the sunshine back into the high street' and as a budding fashionista myself it's impossible not to love her work!

Thanks soo much to Annegret for letting me wear the SS11 collection for my Roofhop Series. There still maybe some bits left in stock?! so if you want a whiff of Choolips check out the website or click HERE - for SS12/AW12 collections...you'll be sitting pretty all summer :D - Scarves and all!!

@sh.x

Shades-a-Coming 251211...

So as the countdown to 251211 continues in the next few posts I figured I'd let you guys in on a few behind the scene secrets from the Shades of Blue journey...including a few taster stills we took while we were on it!

When asked why I chose to take a team to Amsterdam for my 1st video instead of shooting in London (which would have been much easier/cheaper lol), the short answer would be that I couldn't help myself! But the truth lies much deeper than that...and it has nothing to do with my ganja-holic tendancies lol.

First off Amsterdam is such a photogenic city...beautiful canals, interesting architecture, amazing street art...it's a location scouts dream! Secondly, it was the first place I landed when I ventured into Europe solo for the 1st time! This trip turned out to be almost like my passage into adulthood, a time of learning and healing wounds that I'd been ignoring for the longest time!

Shades of Blue was inevitably written on this trip...a song about betrayl, and love-loss...conflict, making peace and moving on! Everyone we love will leave a trace of themselves on our emotions, everyone we love will leave a shade of blue on our heart...some darker than others, but all help to define the way we relate to people around us.

All Photographs by Neil Raja

 Shades of Blue is a song about embracing those shades as part of who you are. It's tough, but only by accepting them can we 'free' ourselves from the people who put them there in the first place!
How many Shades of Blue are you?

#shadesacoming

@sh.x

A Taste of BLUE...

WhOA!! Shades of Blue people...where do I start?? This track was produced by Riffioso last year! My brief to him: 'can I please have a track that...soouuunds like me' lol! Most producers would be like WTF! but Jon embraced it and shortly afterwards I received an instrumental called 'Purple Fruit'! Some time later... It was Xmas 2009 and after a rocky year I decided that I'd had enough of London and the people in it, so I booked a train ticket to Europe and didn't look back! Amsterdam for Xmas (WilD), Berlin for 1night (Reflective), finishing up in Prague/Czech Republic for New Yrs (Messy lol)! Travelling alone, by train gave me ample time to write! And with 'Purple Fruit' pumping in my headphones, and picturesque landscapes gliding past my window seat it was inevitable for Shades of Blue to be born. Later still... I re-visited Amsterdam in March 2011 - but this time it wasn't to party :P! I took a team of 6 with me - to shoot a music video for...you guessed it...Shades of Blue lol! Jon 'Riffioso' Hockley, Prisca Hofer, Jack McLoughlin, Charlie Miller, Neil Raja and Nirja Raam jumped on a coach over there...with all our kit (the funniest thing if u see the size of Charlie and Jack :o). And with a budget as big as my back pocket :/ we did something spectacular!! 

  

Here's a little taster of what we achieved...the full video SOON COME :D
@sh.x

Live-r Than Ever...Finalae

It is with great pleasure and a little trepidation that I present to you the last video from my Live-r Than Ever Trilogy!!

We've caught some acoustic rays on the rooftops of Queen of Hoxton whilst Giving Up; then ducked into it's under belly for a sultry Glory Box performance - claws and all lol! And now its time to turn it up a notch with a rocking rendition of Metal Man complete with behind the scene snippets from the day! Enjoy!!

MASSIVE thanx to all parties involved in making it happen!!
The Band: Joel Ison-Keys, Kieran Dougall-Bass, Gibbi Bettini-Guitar, Steven Raman-Drums. Camera 1: Zee from Braver Darker Productions and Jonathon Hockley on Camera 2! Sound: Jason Robinson! Make up: Prisca Hofer! My mother dear Millicent Ashley for co-designing my Metal Man costume and helping me get dressed on the day lol! Amber Lincoln for taking photos! Special thanks to Tomo Kembery and Dan Spinney @ Queen of Hoxton for making the venue possible - as well as Jack McLoughlin @ Neil Raja Studios and Pat @ Gee Productions for editing these bad boys together! :D

Please comment, share, critisize and generally opinionise...at will :P
On to the NEXT lol!

@sh.x

Styling Miss Annastasia Baker:

You might remember this chica's name from 2010's Xfactor?! Click here to see her audition. Like most REAL talent that graces Simon Cowell's stage Annastasia proved too much for the Xfactor to handle lol...she made it all the way to the round before the live shows before leaving the show! I've got nothing but admiration for this young mums determination...and it was an absolute pleasure to meet her on the off chance at Flavour Live in September 2010!
Scrolling forward a couple months...I'd kicked in the full time job to sing and style for a living...and Miss Annastasia was continuing to gig, and entertain audiences around London! One November night we found ourselves performing in the same arena we had met (details in Ashleigh Ashley Flavoured)...check out Anna's interview from the night:



We got talking...as us girlies do and I told her a bit about the styling malark I do hehe! Good thing too, because a few months later we were planning her 1st proper promo shoot! Annastasia Baker is reborn...AA styleeeee hehe!!
THE PROCESS:
Well as with any styling gig we had loads of little hiccups, but the themes for the three costume I had planned finally came together in the week before the shoot! *PheW*. Here are the three 'looks' and some of my fave pics from the research stages!
ANNA-RELLA:
This look saw Anna dressed as a chained 'goddess'! My vision was a soft white Grecian dress with a full-ish skirt...feirce, dark eye make-up and copious amounts of chains to dress her. Soft angelic white with hard cold iron/steel could only make a dynamic combination!

COLOUR:
This 'look' was to be infused with POP! Bright colours, striking make up and candy sex appeal! Just to add a bit of a twist Metal Man reared his metallic head again in the form of shoulder pads, modelled here by our gorgeous photographer Leah Jude-Porter!

NAUTICAL:
This was just a simple and natural look for Annastasia...(who did an amazing job picking the perfect/versatile hairstyle for this shoot). I must admit I had to back down on this one... Anna had been patient enough with me and my outlandish idea's of African print trousers and lengths of chain. We went simple with a nautical jacket and jean combination. And I think you'll agree that the final shots look absolutely stunning! These are a couple of cool refs:

FINAL SHOTS - Well my faves anyway:

We're so proud of the results...and I think you'll agree Anna looks FEIRCE! Well done girly...Go Team Annastasia!
Photographer: Leah Jude-Porter
Make Up: Amanda Graham
Styling: Ashleigh Ashley

Holla at me on ashanneash@gmail.com for more info...or indeed if you want a shoot of your own!

@sh.x

L'Oreal...Metal Man Take Over:

So we've seen Metal Man grace the pages of Flavour Magazine so whats came next for this intrepid explorer?
Well, meet the Kennady's...so to speak! A top rate hairdressing salon in picturesque Ingatestone! An hair-stylist friend of mine - Timmi Norman (the guy responsible for my hair in my featured photograph...which helped create the 'Ashleigh Ashley' look)- is a head stylist at Kennady's and he called in the cavalry after they were selected to showcase their talents at the prestigious L'Oreal Fellowship hairshow! Now these guys are the 'parliament' of the hair industry so Timmi called me in to style these girls in Metal Man...adding edge to their innovative hairstyles!

It was definitely an eventful evening! Having settled down to prepare for the show...our team (along with several others) were unexpectedly kicked out of the Fellowship building :o and ushered speedily to the local hotel lobby. We later found out that there were just too many people attending the show...in short...we were a fire hazard lol! Anyway...true professionals that we are lol...the preparations continued...:
Katie & Lizzy (Kennady stylists) get crimping:

Timmi doing his thing...

Once the girls were dressed and ready we were then ushered back to the Fellowship building in a bit of a hurry ready for the Kennadys slot on the runway! Tension was high as there was a lot of stiff competition from 6ft models with 3ft hair lol...but I caught this snap of the girls backstage (JUST before they went on) and I was confident they would stand the test of the fickle L'Oreal crowd!

And this is a snap of the girls doing thier thing on stage! Sticking to the BB camera for this it seems - I never did get the proper shots from the Kennady's camera man...(you know who you are lol)! I tell you the stage lit up like a Christmas tree the second the girls stepped out!


Team Kennadys after the show:

It was a fab February night guys! Metal Man meets the Kennady's meets L'Oreal...what a sexy combination! The Fellowship picked up on the hype too...a sneaky picture made it to print on page.11 of their monthly magazine! :D Click link below for a digital version!!

L'Oreal Fellowship Digi-Mag

Special thanx to Katie and Timmi for thinking of me ;D
@sh.x

Metal Man HAS Landed!

Metal Man has well and truly landed people...and it seems he's here for the long haul! I blogged about the origin of the MM concept a while back (click here to re-install), and I've spent the last couple of months intermittently developing the Metal Man artillery for one project or another! As some of you know, I am mental enough to actually wear these pieces out lol...but even I didnt' think the look would actually catch on!?! In this post (and the next) I'm proud to reveal that Mr Electro has made it from the junk corner in my living room - to print and to the catwalk :D

I happened to meet Denise Brown at Miss Flavour whilst wearing a mini-disc or two as you do! I soon found out that she was a stylist and she expressed interest in perhaps using one of my pieces in a shoot for Flavour Magazine!! A month or two later I got the call! Denise was styling Britain's Next Top Model runner up - Alisha White. Check out the results:

I couldn't make it down to the shoot because I was off working on some ad or other...but my mum had my back and escorted all the pieces (Thanx Mum lol). And I'm soo chuffed with the out-come which was published in the movie-themed Feb '11 issue of Flavour Magazine. You can see the rest of the issue, including interviews with Jessie J, P Diddy and our very own Jay Auburn HERE:

Noice!!
@sh.x

QOH 1: Giving Up Acoustic (on a roof lol)

A couple of posts ago I was telling ya'll about a little project called Ashleigh Ashley Live-r Than Ever! It's been interesting juggling edit sessions with studio and the gigs I've had over the past few months but the times finally arrived to reveal the first (of 3) videos from my Queen of Hoxton Showdown lol! Here are some pictures to remind you:


Hope you enjoy the sentiment for the new year - here's an old Ashleigh Ashley favourite narrative:

GIVING UP - Rooftop Acoustic

Special thanks again to Gibbi for strumming for me! Tomo @ Random for bossing me around lol, Zee and Jon on camera, Jason. Sound, Amber. Photography my Mum for helping get dressed (even though I'm 24 now :D)!
Queen of Hoxton, Braver Darker...and of course Mr Jack for putting up with our edit marathons lol - Just one more to go my dear :D!!

@sh.x

FLASH Nov-Dec 2010:

Its been an intense 6 weeks people!
3 gigs, 4 rehearsals and a funeral, 2 new costume designs, (1 week on the poverty line lol), 2 new songs and a freestyle, 1 top secret photoshoot, and a handful of new friendships :)...
On top of that I've somehow blown up my laptop charger and have resorted to typing out this post on my BB lol!
(Thumb cramps to ensue :D)

It was touch and go for a second there I must admit! Being busy is never a bad thing, but working your way through a long-ass to do list makes it hard to remember how much FUN this journey should be! Now that I've had time to sit and reflect I feel confident to say that these last few weeks have been the pinnacle of my year in music!!

With all the pictures and video's still trickling in from various sources the time line is still a little sketchy but all should become clear in my next two blog posts:
Ashleigh Ashley FLAVOUR-ed and Angel Nights :D!!

@.x

A Taste of Ashleigh Ashley Live-r than EVER...

How many of you have seen my YouTube channel: TheAshleighAshley?? Other than my demo-shoot film and one crazy Stereo Addict all the recordings are from gigs I've done around London! For me, these videos are not only personal memento's from each event but also an important way for me to share my journey with you! I'm so grateful for all the positive feedback and encouragement I've recieved...but a lot of you have said how frustrating it is to watch these video's because of bad sound quality! The ineffieciency of in-camera mics mixed with crowd noise mean that you find it hard to get a real taste of Ashleigh Ashley :( This influenced me to get plotting *mwahahaa*...and hopefully my most recent project will put an end to all that ear ache! :D

THE CONCEPT:
Don't be fooled...this is not a music video! Drawing inspiration from operations like The Cordless Show and SBTV I wanted to put together an extra special set...raw...intimate and REAL! With a dash of our trusty Ashleigh Ashley eccentricity lol

LOCATION:
Queen of Hoxton (c/o Tomo @ Random Magazine)
This club in the heart of Shoreditch is one of my favorite London haunts! So you can imagine how amazing it was to have the place to ourselves for a whole day!
The Rooftop Garden


The Basement



STYLING:
I planned the first part of the shoot to take place acoustically on the roof, so I kept it simple to start off with. I had 2 more costume changes in mind so I had plenty of time to get real you know...ExpressivE lol:

(Ignore the look of angst on my face lol...no Ashleigh's were hurt in the making of this video lol)

The second out fit took a little more planning! I wore a little black dress from our favorite urban outfitters FLY 53 and I dressed it up with some home made accessories. See what FLY had to say about this here :
Shoulder Pads

Faux Nails (of sorts):



The final set was dedicated to Metal Man lol! I really let my hair down for this one. But there wasn't a circuit board in sight :o. My make up girl Prisca had her work cut out though because I handed her these pics as references:



The acoustic set will be hitting your screens first. And soon after you'll have some quality Ashleigh Ashley on the netwaves...singing out 2010 in style ;D
Massive thank you to everyone who helped out...I will name and shame you all in due course lol!!

Check out TheAshleighAshley youtube channel for the final VIDS.

@sh.x

REALISM from the depths of the Underground...

I was lucky enough to meet Kasha and team Vivid Imagery at the beginning of 2009! Kasha (who featured on my track Stereo Addict) is a dope rapper/wordsmith from the Southeast. He's been on the scene for years having started out on D'n'B circuit and I was honored when he entrusted me with the task of styling the leading ladies in his new music video!

(The VI crew)

Having listened to the track 'Realism' like a million times (it's kinda addictive like that lol) I was ready to get researching the brief I was given! Kasha wanted a tribal/Mad Max feel for the video...with a hint of glamour! HOW EXCITING!!

The VI boys found the most AMAZING location to set the scene for this music video...




Life being as crazy as it is I was really pushed for time to get all the 'tribe-glam' accessories ready for the shoot...so I enlisted the help of my trusty mum :D. These are a couple of snap-shots of the results:




Obviously the beautiful ladies I had to dress: Carmen and Carmel (you can imagine how confusing that was lol) made these pieces look a damn sight better!! This is just one set of costumes, you'll have to wait to see the other outfits in the video!





Jonathon from VI rocking his mask to the strings of his violin :D


The final cut of the video out NOW...click here! So you should be seeing it on a TV/Laptop near you very soon! Til then though here are a couple pics from behind the scenes! Well done Kasha & crew ... I have no doubt this vid is going to bring a bit of Realism to the masses!!





@sh.x