Cultural differences

Whilst living in a foreign country for the first time, i have noticed that it is the smaller things in life that make a big difference...

This post is mainly going to be filled with photography and images i have taken during my Erasmus experience to capture cultural differences.

The Streets
Graffiti is huge in Milan, when i first moved out to Milan i had this image in my mind of a pristine city, high class and full of interesting people. To be honest with you i couldn't have been more wrong! Graffiti is on EVERY wall in the city - i love street art and use the influence in a lot of my work, but i feel there is a big difference between street art and graffiti. Some pieces around the city are wonderful and very inspiring but there is a lot of mess on the streets that bring down the cities class.

What i love most about living in a new country is experiencing their way of live everyday. Here in Milan we don't have much of a skyline but the streets are narrow and cobbled which means the lighting throughout the day is so different to back home in England. I have experienced some beautiful sunsets and weather out here so here is some examples...

Bars
I don't know what it is about Italy, but they seem to just throw food at you constantly! (not literally, of course)
For instance- you fancy going to a bar for a couple of cheeky wines. You arrive at the bar of your choice, you sit down, you order your drinks and they bring out a plate of food! Usually ham and cheeses or bread with some sort of topping. Don't get me wrong i'm not complaining, I love me some food! (especially when it's free) but joking aside this is actually a really cool way of understanding the types of food that they eat in Italy.
My mum and dad came out to visit recently and i took them to a bar where they have this kind of service so we had been nibbling on bready bits for a couple of hours. We spent so long catching up that we were in this bar until they served aperitivo and we were so full from eating steadily throughout the day that we didn't have room for dinner that night!
The best bar I have been to which catered for this kind of service was a bar called MAG. The bar itself is a dark, quirky, jazz bar with a great atmosphere. We sat at a tall table with high bar stools drinking prosecco (mum was paying, obviously) and the waitress brought out a plate of ham and cheese - as soon as the plate looks a bit sparse, they bring out another one!

Expenses

Living and studying in the UK is fairly cheap and cheerful, we have our weird and wonderful ways of getting by on next to no food, we have endless student bars and nightclubs with discounted prices and it's generally all under our noses. Naturally, I came to Milan thinking there must be some sort of student sub-culture. Long story short - I was wrong. The average price for a pint of beer is 5.50 euros, the same for wine and cocktails begin at 7 euros. On top of all the expenses at university (buying fabric and materials etc.) We just cannot afford to have the student life that we are used to. Don't fear - the supermarket sell wine and it is insanely cheap!! I have never paid more than 2.50 euros for a bottle! And it's good wine too! As you can imagine, my friends and i have managed to salvage our Coventry University student lifestyle by wacking on a great film drinking copious amounts of wine! Happy Days!

And just to make sure you have a nice day, here's some adorable dogs i've spotted along my travels...

Brera / Montenapleone

Brera, Milano

It was only the other day I discovered a gorgeous yet tiny area in Milan named Brera!
Brera is home to Milan's botanical gardens, bars, restaurants and (my favourite) plenty of fortune tellers. The fortune tellers set up their booths along side the colouful cobbly streets and call you over for a card reading. I really want to have my cards read by one of the ladies - not for any particular reason - i just think it would be fun! However, the language barrier looks as though it would cause some problems!

Brera seems to be an area very much aimed at the tourists Milan brings in. They cater for the English with English menus outside restaurants and bars and i even saw a bar that advertised a 'full English breakfast' - i'm not sure on that one.

On the way in to Brera is an amazing coffee shop / cafe / restaurant / bakery / bar - they literally sell under every food and drink catagory you can think of! The place is called 'Princis'. They're a chain store so it's likely to stumble across another one in another district. 

The first time i went with my friend i ordered a hot chocolate (I don't normally drink hot chocolate but maybe i was feeling particularly crazy that day) and a custard doughnut! The cute Italian lady that worked behind the counter suggested we tried this other desert which looked like a white slug wrapped in wafer with a slab of orange tucked in there... she was either blatanly lieing about how good it was to get rid of them or they were actually going to be delicious! We took a chance and oohhh myyyy - I swear, the best deserts i have EVER had. This place has added to my addiction list!

Montenapleone

Montenapleone is a district in Milan that is home to all of the designer stores. I think my friends and I actually stumbled across it by chance, but if you walk the streets of Milan long enough then you soon realise that each district connects very easily!

Of course shopping in Montenapleone isn't something us students can afford to do... or most people for that matter! But for window shopping i love it! The window displays in every store are amazing and its great for inspiration. Here's a few of my favourites including Jeremy Scott's fast food collection for Moshcino...

Like i said - the visual merchandising and shop windows in these stores are incredible. This huge burger rotates! That's right, it rotates.

Prada

Kurt Geiger

The only place I know with a view in Milan.

As part of my travelling experience I love taking photographs at any given opportunity and i don't want to arrive back home after my Erasmus trip is over without some amazing photographs to show off my experience. Anyway - I've been dying to find somewhere in Milan where i can get a beautiful landscape photograph of this gorgeous city that i live in! In many ways i love that Milan is flat, for example - running! Nobody likes a hilly run, NOONE! So in this circumstance, every rare occasion that i put my trainers on, a flat landscape is awesome. However, do not fear, i found a solution to this heartbreaking issue... I WENT UP THE CATHEDRAL! And at a reasonable price of 12euros, who can compain - unless you are the parent of seven eager children.. that guy can complain.

How did i not think of this before?! Here's some pretty cool photographs of my experience!

A panoramic view

Climbing the many stairs...

When my friend and I decided to climb the cathedral it was due to be sunset, I am SO happy that we caught the sunset from up there! The view was so incredible, I'm just disappointed i didn't have a better camera!

In the image just above you can see the huge RayBan sign light up in red. This is actually the RayBan headquarters, at first i thought it was just a well positioned advertisement for the company when i later learned that actually although RayBan is an American brand, the Italians loved it so much that they were leading the sales in the brand. Eventually the company was shipped off to Italy and is now an Italian brand along with many other leading names.

These images were also taken from the top of the cathedral. 

The architecture is absolutely phenomenal - think of the man hours that went into building this masterpiece!

As the sun set, green and pink lights began to glow around the dark crevices of the baroque features. I was in heaven. When you climb the cathedral you storm up a thousand enclosed steps which feels like a never ending upward tunnel. When you come out into the open you are literally walking along the roof tiles and around the edges of the building which allows you to look closely at the pale stone and the amount of detail in every small feature.

When you come to small staircase that takes you to the highest point, this is where the view is! You can even see the snow on top of the mountains way in the distance!

I would recommend this as an experience to anyone! But if you do, do not ruin it with taking the lift! Walking is part of the fun!

Inside The Duomo

As i have mentioned in a previous post - ladies must be well covered to enter the cathedral for reasons .. i do not know.

On this day i covered up good n' proper and finally had a look around!

Naturally the inside is equally as beautiful as the outside! Emerald and royal tones of coloured glass is everywhere in huge mass - The windows are sky high with coloured, biblical stories. Then you walk along the outskirts and maybe to your surprise (certainly to mine) a few important, very dead dudes laid in white robes wearing black shoes are on display -personally, i'm not into looking at dead people so this was a bit of a weird experience for me - each to their own right?!

Emily Land - Fashion and Textile Designer

During the last term I worked so incredibly hard to impress my tutor - we're talking blood sweat and tears! So it see's fit that i show an example of some work from one of my sketchbooks to give a small insight on the changes that i have made personally and as a designer...

Humanoid is the name of my most recent collection. I designed the collection using a heavy influence of textiles and how i can manipulate them to recreate and mimic the human body in an original way. As a designer i really enjoy a concept that can be taken from many angles, i explore all angles and then work specifically to one component of that concept. I like to keep my concept simple yet interesting and let my textile development be the highlight of the designs. 

Inspiration Board 1

Inspiration Board 2

Above are the two inspiration boards i created for my project Humanoid. As part of the brief we were challenged to design two seperate capsuel collections which both stemmed from the same concept. To make life easy for myself - i developed two seperate smaller concepts within my project title and had them as contrasting yet complimenting collections. If you look at the two boards you can see that one is very clean cut and focuses on shape and how i can make my garments cleverly cover the body and the other is very much based on the development of textiles and how i use them in ways such as layering and 3D printing.

Oil Pastel Drawing - Texture Experimentation

Simple Pencil Drawing - Texture Experimentation

Disperse Fabric Dye and Oil Pastel

Wax, Felt and Devore

Because of the amazing textile classes we are offered and the wonderful Australian lady Angharad that runs them, i was able to try lots of new techniques and experiment with skills i already have. I played around with a range of forms of printing and dying and also fabric manipulation. The techniques i found specifically relevant to my project, and the ones i took a shine to are as follows...

Needle Felting

Needle Felting - Underside

 Needle felting is a felting technique used with a needle. The skill is simple at first glance but it takes patience and persistence to see through a finished and beautiful piece. The idea is to blend two fabrics or fibers together by repeatedly pushing a needle through the two layers. The felting needle has two small ridges on either side that allow the fibers to be pulled through. Needle felting can be used with almost any fabrics imaginable - and it's awesome.

Devore

Devore is another technique i have become obsessed with! Although this isn't a great image to show my experimentation (due to the fact it's stuck in my book) i gained so many samples from using this technique. Basically you screen print whatever your design is with the Devore solution and it burns away the fabric where you print! B-E-A-UUUUTIFUL!

NABA Academy, Milan

NABA

Up until now i haven't given much of an insight into my actual course or the university itself that i attend as part of my Erasmus adventure - Here i shall share with you some images, a video and some personal experiences as an Erasmus student at NABA Academy, Milan.

NABA is the largest private educational academy in Italy made up of a series of 12 small white buildings that look like old army barracks... maybe they were once, who knows! I struggle to call it a campus as at it doesn't feel that way, but the grounds cater for the students just like any ordinary campus with a caffeteria, student lounge room and even ping pong tables!

Here is a video the academy share on their website for students interested in their courses, I have also attached a link to their website:

Welcome To Naba Video

NABA Academy Website

 

Graduation

In the photograph above on the left you can see there is a line of different coloured strips hanging from the roof of the building. These are actually all the names of students graduating. The difference in colour represents the course of the student and once you have officially graduated, you are granted with the pleasure of tearing your name down from the wall as closure on your degree. I saw people doing this on several occasions with their friends and family, chanting 'for he's a jolly good fellow' in Italian, taking endless amounts of pictures with friends, fellow students and staff.

At home in England when students graduate we wear the cloaks and graduate caps (which cost a fortune) Here in Italy, they wear normal day - to - day clothes but wear a simple grass wreath with red ribbon weaved through - And they look amazing! - I wish graduation was less formal in England and I could just wear a pretty dress and fancy wreath!

Tutors

I remember showing up to my first class for Fashion Design - the class was to be run by a British woman named Helen Field. Naturally, being a British student the thought of having a fellow English woman teach you for a whole term sounds rather comforting - How devastatingly wrong i was! I immediately fell into a false sense of security and my expectations of having a friendly relationship with this woman were crushed almost the second i walked into class!
We had a whole eight hours of 'first day' meet and greet influenced activities lined up. But first up she wanted to know where everybody was from and what we were all about. Myself and two friends, Kayleigh and Abby stood up individually and introduced ourselves - she picked up on the fact that we were from a coupling university in Coventry, UK and instantly seemed to take a disliking to us nicknaming us 'The Coventry Girls'. I took an immediate dislike to Helen and decided i was going to hate her from there on out ... Then i got over myself and set myself up to impress her with my work and i did just that.

The reason i came to Milan to study for an extra year before committing to my final collection (the biggest collection of my life so far) in my final year of university, was so i could explore my talents and try new things. I can safely say i have grown as a person and as a designer and i owe it all to Helen Field, i simply couldn't have done my final collection without her input as a tutor!

Aside from Helen, my fashion design tutor, every tutor i have had has been AMAZING. Knitwear, Textiles, Pattern Cutting and  Marketting are just some of the classes i have attended. The most brilliant thing about the tutors at NABA is that they are all currently working in industry aside from teaching at the university - naturally this allows them to be the best they can be as tutors as they have first hand knowledge of the fashion industry and it also allows you as a student to have a realistic insight into what they do.

Milano Antiques Market.

If you're ever in the area of Naviglio Grande on the last Sunday of every month you should 100% give it a visit! My friends and I were told about the market by fellow students at university, basically they put on an Antiques vintage market including everything from furniture, clothing, ornaments and antiques. It is on throughout the whole duration of the day so your're in no risk of missing it!

However, do not be mislead by the word 'market' it is by no means a cheap way of finding some quirky bits and bobs for your house or a vintage bargain! The one-off pieces these stalls are selling are really quite expensive but it's great to look around for inspiration etc.

I personally fell in love with a green swearing gnome and an ostrich feather hat.. I think I look quite fetching... see for yourself.

Walking sticks galore!

I fell in love with this little green guy, unfortunately he was 110 euros...

If you have visitors / are visiting Milan and happen to be around on the last Sunday of the month then this is a great place to show people. I myself recently had my mum and her best friend come to visit, unfortunately they missed it but its a great way to see a bit of Italian culture. The canal itself is surrounded with cafes, restaurants and bars so you can easily spend a few hours there. 

Even though I have been several times i shall continue to go every month, there is always something new and i personally find this kind of occasion hard to become tired of!