Daily Favourite #35

Summer Florals: Now the weather is warming up, it seems like the right time to start looking for some new summer pieces for our wardrobes. Florals are great for Spring/Summer, and we found this floral blazer that we just love at Zara. Its the perfect little blazer for the summer with its slouchy fit and feminine print. The contrasting lapels also add  a nice touch. You can find it here if you would like to have a look at it yourself! What are you looking to add to your wardrobe for spring?

Daily Favourite #34

Fashionable Prosthetics: The Alternative Limb Project is a company founded and run by prosthesis designer Sophie de Oliveira Barata. The concept is to create prosthetic limbs for people with a twist. There are 3 options available to clients; real, surreal or unreal. Real limbs are very finely detailed realistic representations of the missing limb. Surreal limbs are realistic ideas merged with imaginative ideas, for example bionic pieces laid into the limb. Unreal limbs are completely unusual and barely represent a realistic limb at all, for example jewelled, with storage pockets or covered in a painting. The possibilities of what can be created are endless. We love the idea of being able to create something completely imaginative and exciting to match your personality. What do you think of this idea? To find out more visit the website here.

Daily Favourite #33

Smart Scarves: Why should scarfs be ordinary? Diana Eng clearly doesn't think so. Her innovative scarfs are far from ordinary. Our favourites are the 'Retroreflective' and the 'Jack Frost'. The Retroreflective scarf (shown above) has tiny retroreflective lenses on the surface of the scarf, which make stripes appear in different light. These lenses are special because they only reflect the light in the same direction as the light comes from, meaning that people looking from different angles might not see the stripes whilst others will. The other scarf we love is the Jack Frost (shown below). This scarf is plain until temperatures drop below 18 degrees celsius, this is when snowflakes begin to appear. These snowflakes become bigger and more prominent the colder the weather gets. This is such an apt design for a scarf! What do you think of these scarfs? To see more of Diana's work then visit her website here, and scroll down for videos of these amazing scarves in action!

Daily Favourite #32

Robot Mannequins: At the end of last year, robot mannequins were put into a store in South Korea, created by IMD Communications. The mannequins are named after Hindu gods, three "Marians", one "Endrani", and one Dipani, each of them with a different "personality" created through special software programming. The mannequins are much easier to dress than ordinary mannequins as the limbs do not need to be removed as the limbs can be programmed to move into the required shape. These mannequins are different to others that have been seen as they can make much human-like poses and make movements according to audience demand. We love the idea of these moving mannequins, seeing clothes moving in windows would make the shopping experience a lot more interesting! What do you think of technology like this? Would you like to see them brought to the UK?

Daily Favourite #31

3-D Printed Fabrics: Freedom of Creation, an innovative 3D printing company have explored the exciting idea of printing whole pieces of clothing, without the need for a needle and thread. Pairing with designer Jiri Evenhuis, they first tried the idea many years ago. Now the company can produce  seamless, bespoke size clothing that fits to the form of the body. To print the fabrics in 3D they can use many types of plastics, rubbers, metals, glass, paper and even ceramic materials. A lot of their work is done in collaboration with other companies and individuals to create ideas outside sources would like to see produced. If you would like to read more about their work then see an interview with them here. We love the idea of being able to print your own dress or bag from your own home in the near future, what do you think of technology like this? Would you buy a 3D printer for your home if they became available in years to come?

3D Printing Process: 'The FOC Punch Bag' from Freedom Of Creation on Vimeo.

Daily Favourite #30

The Robo-Mannequin: The company, Fits.me, have created a solution to a key problem with online shopping; knowing whether something will fit your body. Their mannequins can change shape to be the same dimensions as your own body to demonstrate how a certain piece of clothing will look on your body. Launched in 2010, they started with a male version, and then developed a female version.  Their clients have grown to include Hawes & Curtis, Adidas and Superdry. Users simply have to input their dimensions and then the clothing is then displayed on a mannequin of their size and shape, taken from a vast database of mannequin shapes and sizes. Shoppers can even see how different size clothing would look on their body, for example if they wanted a looser or a tighter fit before deciding the best for them. New technologies like this are making it even easier to shop online as shoppers are more likely to know if the clothing they are ordering will fit them. We think this idea is amazing and really useful, what do you think of advancements like this? Will it encourage you to shop online more? If you want to find out more about Fits.me and their mannequins then visit their website here. 

   

Daily Favourite #29

Rhyme & Reason: This collection created by Mary Huang focuses not on creating "clothes with LEDs" but instead "clothes with light", therefore looking at a different angle of the concept of incorporating LEDs into clothing. Dozens of white LEDs are threaded into the garments using a custom developed wiring system to create an invisible look. These garments are more about creating beautiful fashion pieces, than a gimmick piece of clothing. The film below shows the Indelible Dance Company wearing the garments as part of their Illuminate show. We love Mary's work because of how delicate and ethereal the designs are, they look as though they are glowing. What do you think of her work? You can find out more on her website here.

Daily Favourite #28

Wearable Healing: Created by Pedro Nakazato Andrade, the above photo shows the technology in place. Essentially it is a cast for fractured bones. However the technology behind this cast is fascinating. Each time the user 'turns on' the cast (named Bones), the muscle activity around the fracture is captured by electromyographic (EMG) sensors and stored. The information can the be synced wirelessly to the wearer's profile online. This profile documents their history of activities as a simulation of their full mobility recovery time according to their progression and exercising routine. This information is then analysed and specific exercises are suggested to the wearer to keep the muscles active around the fracture. All of these processes help to reduce the overall healing time of the fracture. If you would like to find out more then find the website here. It is amazing what technology can now do in the health field, would you use something like this if it were available to you? What do you think of scientific advancements like this?

Daily Favourite #27

Laser Suit: As we love all things futuristic here at Third Floor, we love this jacket by wei-chieh shih. It has been made using 200 laser diodes, which emit a red laser light when lighting is low. The jacket has also been specially designed, and the lasers follow the curvature of the body. Since this creation, a long sleeve jacket has also been made. Below also shows a wrist strap that was made to demonstrate the lasers in another format. This is such a creative and exciting design idea, as it looks completely different in the light, and in darkness. It would be perfect for stage production! Imagine Lady Gaga in it! What do you think of this jacket? You can find out more about wei-chieh shih here and here.

all images and video by wei-chieh shih

Daily Favourite #26

3D Printed Shoes: Andreia Chaves is the creator behind these amazing shoes. She began with the 'invisible shoe' concept where she created shoes after a study of optical effects applied to design. These shoes (seen below) were made with a reflective surface that created a chameleon effect as the reflective surface almost obscured the shoes from view as they reflected their surroundings. The latest development in her invisible shoe series are those seen above. They have been created with a basic heeled shoe which has then been encased in a 3D printed outer layer. These shoes show how future technologies and ideas can be incorporated into such every day items. You can find out more on her website here.

Daily Favourite #25

Solar Powered Handbag: A bag that can charge your phone, and light up to help you find your keys, whats not to love? This innovative bag created by Diffus has solar cells on the outside that use solar energy to power a battery and to charge a mobile phone. The difference with this bag to others that have been produced is that the solar cells are more like oversized sequins than the traditional solar cells you would imagine. The technology behind it is fascinating, if you would like to find out more then you can find that here on there website. What do you think of new technological fashion like this?

Daily Favourite #24

White Peplum Jacket: We love this peplum jacket from River Island. The white colour is fresh and perfect for spring, its so on trend with the monochrome look too. Its also a favourite of ours because of its futuristic feel, imagine it as a space-travel jacket for the futuristic fashionista ;). Do you like this jacket?

Daily Favourite #23

Fashion and Technology Exhibition: A great exhibition we have come across that shows the progression of fashion and technology over the years is the Fashion and Technology exhibition at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. It began on the 4th December 2012, and closes on the 8th May 2013. So theres not long left for you to see it if you happen to be in New York! This exhibition is not focused on the future of fashion and technology, but instead the developments in fashion and technology over the past 250 years. It documents advancements from the Industrial Revolution, to the years surrounding the Space exploration era, to the 3D printing of recent years. It is a great exhibition that demonstrates how closely linked fashion always has been to technology, and that technology is always influencing and making fashion more exciting. If you want to find out more about the exhibition then click here for the website.

Daily Favourite #22

Awakening - Dew Magazine - Sci-Fi Issue: We love this editorial in Dew Magazine by Jacky Suharto. The concept is the awakening of a robot and has been conveyed in such a bright and exciting way. The styling is by Dara Asvia, and the makeup and hair by Dewi Darmawan. The use of lighting in this editorial is really creative with the strip lighting and fairy lights, which add to its other-worldly feel. You can find more photos of this shoot here. It reminds us of shoot we have coming out with issue six of Third Floor with the concept of a woman turning into a robot, find the behind the scenes video of that here. What do you think of this editorial?

Daily Favourite #21

Fashion Futures by Bradley Quinn: If you want a good book to educate you about the latest technologies and developments in fashion then this is the one to look to. Published just last year it features all the most recent exciting new materials, processes and products in fashion. It documents many ground-breaking people that are revolutionising fashion through interviews, photographs, and illustrations. Quinn explores the influence technology advances are having on fashion, how it is changing textiles and the way we view and wear clothing. He interviews visonaires like Iris Van Herpen and performance costume designers Studio XO who designed the LED costumes for Black Eyed Peas 2011 world tour. He looks into extreme styles which play with dimensions and silhouttes, new materials and the future for fashion and retail. We love it because it is a thought-provoking read about how fashion will look, be made, be bought and perform in the future. The cut-out cover is also beautiful and immediately gives it a futuristic feel. Have you read this book? What do you think about the future of fashion?

Daily Favourite #20

Bringing Baby Spice Back: For one of the shoots for issue six of Third Floor we used these trainers/shoes for one of the looks. While browsing the Topshop website we found that they had been featured in their White Hot picks recently. White is such a fresh look for spring, and the Spice Girls edge just add a bit of throwback fun to the style. We wanted to keep them after the shoot we used them for! What do you think of shoes like this? Will you be wearing white this Spring/Summer?

Daily Favourite #19

L.A. 2013: We have come across this really intriguing magazine piece published by the L.A. Times in 1988 as a look to what they envisioned the year 2013 to be like. Looking back at this is fascinating, it gives a completely strange idea of how we could be living now. Some things such as 3-D screens are relatively accurate, however ideas such as robot-pets are quite far from reality. It's so interesting to see what people 25 years ago thought could be complete normality now. If you want to read the whole thing then you can find it here. I wonder what the world will be like in 25 years from now, what are your predictions?

Daily Favourite #18

Nail Polish Effects: In the past couple of years various beauty brands have created some amazing nail polish techniques. From crackle effects to scented to magnetic, there are now so many different ways to spice up your nails. At Third Floor we love these different nail polishes; technology advancements extending into the beauty world, whats not to love? This week our team have been rocking Barry M's textured nail polishes and indulging in a bit of nail art. Have you tried any of these nail polishes? What's your favourite nail polish effect?

Daily Favourite #17

Fujitsu Touchscreen Paper: We love a bit of technological development here at Third Floor and this article at Mashable.com caught our eye this week. Fujitsu have developed a technology which can detect that your finger is touching an object in the real world. This can then be manipulated with finger gestures and can be stored to memory for example. The project is still in the demonstration stages but could be here by 2014. The technological advancements happening at the moment are just fascinating, who knows what could be possible in even 5 years time! What do you think of this technology? Are you excited by technological advancements?

Daily Favourite #16

Coachella 2013 Style: Everyone knows festivals aren't just for the music, they're for the fashion. While in the UK, most of our festivals are usually wet and muddy, over in California, Coachella is the glamorous and hugely popular annual festival currently taking over many fashion blogs around the world. Sunny and filled with famous faces, the style of so many festival-goers is amazing, it makes us yearn for those long summer days so we can get our sunnies and shorts out. Here are a few pictures from Harper's Bazaar taken at the festival. If only we could be there too! Have you been to Coachella or are you wishing you were there like us?

all photos via Harper's Bazaar