As I promised earlier this post will mainly be dedicated to the questions you've been asking me about my work and my designs. I tried to answer as many as I could and hopefully I wasn't rambling too much and didn't bore you with all the reading. You can find the Q&A at the bottom of this post. As for the photographs, today I'm wearing this yellow knitted hat, which I actually made a while ago and I absolutely love it. Those of you who live in Belgium or in the near proximity have probably already noticed that the Summer is over. It's about 17 C outside, grey, cloudy and rainy and absolutely no prospect of getting back these nice hot summer days. But I still refuse to give up to the black and dark autumn wear, so I decided to brighten up my outfit a little with this yellow hat.
Hat by Elena Vasilieva, Shirt from my boyfriend, Jacket H&M, Jeans Zara, Shoes Chloe
Q&A:
1. Can people buy your clothes on Internet too or only in a special shop?
Well, for the moment I only sell in the Brussels atelier/studio, where I create all my pieces. BUT, I’m currently having my website done, which will feature an online store or at least will provide my dear readers with a link to an existing online sales point. So stay tuned for that. Make sure you don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity, visit elena-vasilieva.com and subscribe to email notifications.
2. How do you start your store?
This is a tricky question, and I’m not sure I’ve figured this out for myself just yet. What we have at the moment is a studio space in the centre of Brussels located above a store with leather goods. I’m sharing this space with another Brussels based designer Aurore Brun. So this is a work place and a sales point combined. You can actually witness the entire work process and be sure it’s all made in Belgium. I have to admit it’s a lot of hard work, but it’s absolutely worth it, especially when you know you are pursuing your dream.
3. Who does the photos made, is he professional photographer?
Most of the photos on my blog are taken by my boyfriend. He is not a professional photographer, but he’s got this great ability to capture a perfect moment. Other times, when I’m on vacation or visiting my family in Russia, my mom does all the photography; these would mainly be the “Graphic silver”, the “Grandma’s Closet” and the “Country Living” posts.
4. Love every piece you made it’s like they come from a fairy tale. Where did you study and what?
I went to an art school when I was about 10 years of age and this taught me a lot in terms of creative thinking and sources of inspiration. After that I attended a few workshops on working with leather and jewellery design. As soon as I graduated from the secondary school, I went on to study Law in London. I know that sounds odd, but that was actually meant to be my specialty, until November 2009 when I finally realised that law is not something I’d like to do my entire life, even though I enjoyed studying it, so I went on to look for a internship with a fashion designer. After having worked with Aurore Brun I began designing my own clothes and accessories.
5. Why did you start making clothes? And do you wish to become a professional designer some day? (not that you aren't now! =D)
Making clothes is my passion and I really hope one day I’ll become a decent designer.
6. Love your green dress!!! But we are obsessed with your hair!!! You should do a D.I.Y and take pics on how to put it up like that. We would love to know! It’s soooo 1940's! Madmen styles!
Ok, I do get asked a lot about my hair and more specifically how do I make it look the way it looks. Unfortunately at the moment I don’t really have the ready pictured on how I did my hair in the “Grandma’s Closet” post, but I promise these are coming soon.
7. How long does it take you to make a necklace like that?
This question is about the necklace featured in the “Graphic Silver” post. I have to admit it is one of my favourite latest creations. If I already have a clear design in my head and all the material ready then it takes about 3 to 4 hours of work to make a piece like that. If I’m not yet sure what I’m doing but I at least have some general ideas, that might last a little longer. In this case I normally take out all of my supplies; lace, beads, crystals and lay them out on a table trying to see which colours and textures go good together.
8. Cute necklace and I looove the shirt!
Did you use a pattern or design it yourself?
For all the pieces of clothing featured on my blog I create my own patterns. I normally have some basic ones ready and then I just alter them, add some details and shapes according to the design.
9. What can inspire you?
This is probably one of the most difficult questions yet, since I probably won’t be able to give you a definitive answer to that. There are a lot of things that inspire me and they everywhere. It’s just a matter of nothing unusual in the ordinary and the ability to translate it into fashion.
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