Rankin Live shoot

Earlier this year, I found out that the awesome talent that is Rankin would be holding a major retrospective exhibition in London, part of which would be devoted to a new project. I went to his website and discovered that:

Rankin is kicking off 2009 by inviting people across the UK to participate in his most ambitious project to date; Rankin Live! Using the latest in cutting edge technology he will shoot and instantly print the portraits of 1,000 Brits on site at his museum scale exhibition in August.

Now this was something I had to be a part of! In April, I got my act together and emailed a photo with a little description of why I wanted to take part and then sat back and waited. Once the exhibition started, I figured I hadn't been chosen and so simply planned to visit the show at some point over the summer. Then last week I received an email inviting me to pop along to the Old Truman Brewery for a photoshoot with one of the most famous photographers on the planet. I didn't quite believe it was real until I got there.

Just before 6pm yesterday, Beth and I arrived at the exhibition, trying to contain our Rankin fangirl excitement. I wasn't sure if it was OK to bring a friend along, but everyone assured us it was fine and soon we were being escorted through the gallery to the studio area, past images of Madonna, Kate Moss, Ewan McGregor and Tony Blair. After giving some details to a cute girl with a clipboard, we found a spare sofa and I set about adding the finishing touches to my outfit. I'd been wearing my Vivien of Holloway dress all day, but now came the time to add the petticoats, slip on my white shoes and adjust my Sakura headwear. We were then handed an ice cold beer (much appreciated in yesterday's heat!), and then one of Rankin's assistants popped over with a hairdresser to look at how to style my hair. Unfortunately for me hair was usually done after make-up and so, once my side ponytail was in place and I went back to chatting with Beth, they promptly forgot that I hadn't had my make-up done. Time went on and I could sense that I was probably up soon, so I started putting some foundation on to save time. Halfway through pencilling one eyebrow, the assistant was back... it was my turn!

After much apologising, and what was quite possibly the quickest photoshoot make-up in history (can't remember the guy's name but he did a great job under pressure!), I was standing in front of one of Rankin's assistants and trying to relax in front of the camera before the boss man showed up. Thankfully, the slightly extended Dorito-munching break seemed to have helped and, even though it was now after 8pm, Rankin was raring to go. The assistant had been taking some full-length shots and so Rankin asked if that was what I wanted, to get the dress in. "Unless you think my face is so good you have to do head-shots", I joked. Lo and behold, we started with head-shots! Not sure if he was just humouring me, but it certainly felt good. After a few of those, he went to look through them on a computer screen and called me over to take a peek. What I didn't realise at this point was that the shots he was taking were being projected onto a huge screen in the exhibition as they were captured. There was no one around by this point as the exhibition had closed for the evening, but Beth and the crew were busily checking me out, larger than life!

Next we tried some full-body shots and, to get some movement in my dress, two assistants aimed large (and rather cooling) fans up my skirt. One moment I felt like Marilyn Monroe and the next, the realisation hit that Rankin himself was on the floor at my feet while three assistants pointed lights, reflectors and wind machines at me. How many people can say that, eh? After that point, I really couldn't stop smiling! "Chin out and down... lean towards me... shoulders up" - I didn't realise being a model would involve so much concentration. Still, two sets of shots later, we sat to choose a final one. I liked so many that I was pretty happy for him to decide, but we came to an agreement and then the assistants started work with a few tweaks. I am pleased to report that my legs were lengthened ever so slightly, and it was rather cool to watch it on screen too. After a 20 minute look around the exhibition, we then popped back to the studio to collect my two prints and I was done.

I had my photograph taken by a world-famous photographer whose work I admire, will appear in the exhibition and (sometime soon) on the website, plus I have a print of my own to keep, but do you know what the best bit was? Rankin told me he was pleased someone had turned up in a decent outfit as he was sick of doing head-shots. I think that would be classed as an epic win.

UPDATE: I've scanned my print now and have shared it with the friendly folks on Twitter and Facebook.

I love the NHS

While I was 'afk' last week, it seems I missed out on a huge debate on the NHS. From what I can gather now that the discussion is fading from public view, President Obama's proposed healthcare reforms were branded socialist and likened to the UK system which, according to many across the pond, is apparently rather rubbish. Many people quickly rushed to defend the NHS online and, although I'm rather late to the party, I'd quite like to take some time to have my say too.

I am not an especially heavy user of the NHS, but have had a few key experiences of the system over the years that have proved its worth in my eyes. First of all, I was born (obviously) in an apparently lovely little maternity hospital called The Shrubbery. Clearly I have no memories of this particular experience, but my mother tells me that we were very well looked after. My next experience was a trip to the local 'cottage hospital', aged around eight, to have a nasty cut on my chin patched up after tumbling from the swing in our garden. Aged 13, I had four teeth removed and was fitted with a retainer to straighten up my top teeth. Once I hit 18 I started getting the contraceptive pill and then, aged 25, I was called in for regular cervical smear tests. A few years ago some mild pre-cancerous changes were spotted and the offending cells removed with LLETZ treatment, but now regular checks have showed that everything is back to normal. I also had a small mole checked up on after a referral from my GP, which lead me to discover Salford Hope Hospital and their medical imaging department. Fascinating stuff.

However, my most urgent call on the NHS's services was in 2006 when I was standing up on a busy bus and the driver braked unexpectedly, sending me crashing to the floor with little memory of how I ended up with a dislocated hand and fractured wrist. An ambulance was called and I was taken to Trafford General Hospital and looked after by a wonderful paramedic along the way. The junior doctor I encountered in A&E needed to brush up on his bedside manner a tad, but the nurse who looked after me while a surgeon manipulated my hand and wrist bones back into place more than made up for it. That surgeon did an amazing job too, as everyone who has looked at the x-rays since has commented on how well everything's been realigned. I stayed overnight as they wanted to keep an eye on me, and the nurses were very kind when I couldn't sleep due to the amount of old-lady-snoring going on in my ward. Then, after a few weekly visits to the fracture clinic, it was decided that I needed to have k-wires inserted to stop the bones moving while they healed. After a bit of rearranging of my appointment (still, much less hassle than getting our fridge freezer repaired!), the day came and the operation was over quickly. Six more weekly visits to the fracture clinic later, and another lovely nurse was cutting my plaster off ready for physiotherapy. The physiotherapist I was assigned an appointment with was appropriately named Patience and, over a number of weeks, she helped me regain full movement in my wrist. All I have to show for that now is two tiny scars where the wires went in (and a few thousand in compensation from the bus company who is, hopefully, re-training its drivers now).

The best bit about this is that it was all free. Well, mostly. When I had the LLETZ treatment, I had private healthcare paid for by my employers and so opted to go to the BUPA hospital as I thought it'd be quicker. Turns out it wasn't and, for the treatment itself, I was seen at the same hospital by the same doctor that I would have got if I'd gone via the NHS. Worst thing about that was that, not only did I have to pay a £100 excess on the insurance, but they also charged me for use of the room I'd had a lie down in for 10 minutes after the treatment because I felt faint! If they'd told me there would be a charge, I could have just gone into the waiting room. So, my one and only brush with private healthcare has been disappointing, but every single thing the NHS has done for me has been great. Pretty much every doctor, nurse and specialist I have encountered has been friendly and all have been 100% professional. And at no point has anyone asked me if I was able to pay before treating me. I really do love the NHS.

How clean is your house?

I'm back at work after five days of cleaning, scrubbing, wallpapering, painting and general clearing out, in order to make our house in Manchester fit to sell. OK, so now's not really the ideal time for selling property, but the tenants are out and we'd rather not have the hassle of getting some more in. Either way, we'd have to clean the place up to make it habitable so we set off on Tuesday with a car full of cleaning products and all the energy we could muster. My parents lent us some decorating ladders, dust sheets, paint trays, brushes and rollers but there was still a lot of get from B&Q, so we headed there before starting work. I forgot just how many interesting things they sell... and how the Trafford Park store is so big I need my driving glasses in order to read the aisle signs!

Top Tip: Sugar soap is definitely the best thing to use to clean dirty walls - it got the grease off the kitchen ceiling really easily and only a few nasty bits of wall required scrubbing. Took a while to clean everything, although we found some wipes in B&Q that got off most of the marker pen (don't ask!) but, after patching up the missing bits of oh-so-stylish woodchip wallpaper, we started painting on Thursday and had got quite a bit done by the time we went out to meet up with friends for food, drinks and a well-deserved break. If you're ever in Chorlton, check out Croma for delicious pizza and Oddest for a really wonderful place to drink. They also do a really great breakfast too... the hangover burger is a truly tasty bargain.

Ours isn't a small house, as buildings from the late 19th century do generally have much larger rooms than more recent properties, but we managed to give at least two coarts of paint to the downstairs hallway, the living room, the kitchen, the master bedroom, the third bedroom, and part of the second bedroom (just did the worst wall of that as there wasn't time to do it all). Will have to go back one weekend to sort the rest out and get an estate agent round. Won't be too much of a chore now the place is looking better, and we can have lunch at Lily's and takeaway from the awesome place just down the road. Thankfully I've forgotten its name so I can't be tempted from afar. Suffice to say, best onion bhajis ever. Mmm... I'm hungry again now.

Mademoiselle Style

After years of bumbling along, picking up fashion tips here and there from friends and magazines, I finally realised that women over 30 sometimes need more specific tailor-made help in order to look stylish. Having long been an admirer of her blog, Mademoiselle Robot, as soon as Laëtitia Wajnapel announced Mademoiselle Style, I knew she was the style consultant for me. Mixing vintage finds with high street pieces is very much my thing and Laëtitia does that so well herself that I was sure she'd be able to give me inspiration, so I booked a Wardrobe Basics session and set some money aside for what she describes on her website as "moderate shopping".

In order to identify the key pieces I needed to maximise my fashion options, Laëtitia needed to first ask me a few questions about myself and take a look at what already I have in my wardrobe. I sent off some photographs of me in a handful of my favourite outfits, along with some information on measurements and lifestyle, and then realised just how much she could deduce from this one email. My measurements would tell her that I often have great trouble finding clothes that fit as, despite it being quite common in Britain, the pear-shape is not catered for by UK clothing sizes. My (no dress code) office job and non-physical hobbies would tell her that carefully chosen clothing would be suitable for the entire week, and the photos would give an insight into what I like about my current wardrobe. It would have taken me hours and several cups of coffee to obtain the same information from someone, but she managed it with a few carefully worded questions. This is clearly a lady who knows her stuff! A plan was then drawn up which involved some late-night Thursday shopping to fill in the gaps.

We met up after I finished work and headed to Oxford Street, with Laëtitia explaining her plan of action along the way. She had made a list of what she thought I needed and had in mind a few shops that would be the best places to look for them, so we started with the relatively simple task of basic t-shirts. For this we went to American Apparel which is a store that I would never have thought of entering, let alone buying something from. Window displays filled with brightly coloured dancewear for 17-year-old Lady Gaga wannabes do not usually hint at a place where I could happily find something to suit me and so I'd always ignored the place. Happily though, their t-shirts are plain and plentiful. A flattering and comfortable v-neck grey marl tee was found in the men's department (hooray for extra small!), and a black boat neck ¾-sleeved t-shirt from the ladies' section reminded me of one I'd owned and loved years ago and had to bin because it just got too shabby. I tried these on with a couple of black and cerise cap-sleeved tees, made some choices and moved on. They didn't have the stripey tops that Laëtitia had been hoping for, or practical bodies with press-studs for that matter, but we hoped to find those elsewhere.

After a quick stop off in Office to show me a rather cute pair of shoes (sadly not leather though, so am still on the hunt for a breathable alternative), we headed to John Lewis to find a pencil skirt. It was perhaps not really a place either of us would have chosen usually, but I was told there was a nice Hobbs skirt in the sale that had to be tried on, and a department store would give us other options as well. Where better for basics than John Lewis, eh? Sadly the Hobbs skirt wasn't available in my size but we found a handful of other things to try on and, while I was in the fitting room, Laëtitia found a whole load more! I almost fell in love with a gorgeous, well-fitting Ted Baker pencil skirt, but a cheaper and more eye-catching alternative was found in John Lewis' own label range. When deciding between the two, 'saving' £30 by choosing the lesser brand was clearly the sensible choice. Coral isn't usually my colour but, away from my face, it works fine. After trying on some beautiful Whistles high-waisted peg leg trousers, we thought that we might be able to do a bit more money-saving by finding a similar style elsewhere, sadly this was not to be as clearly the only way to find flattering trousers that fit me is to go for a better cut. However, Laëtitia did find them reduced on ASOS later that night, helping me to stay within budget!

After the shopping, we finished our consultation with a chat over a drink, where further tips were given and I made plans to ditch the most unflattering items in my wardrobe. Despite the awful weather, I went home happy with my evening's work and was keen to find the shoes that would make it all work perfectly - no straps, to lengthen my legs. Every little counts, right? The next day, a visit to Topshop to look at shoes inadvertently revealed that they sell a black and white stripey body which, apart from the shoes, was the last item on the list. I tried it on with my new skirt and trousers, digging out an old pair of mid-heeled suede court shoes to complete the look for photos and, you know, I think they might do for now. They might squeak a little but they're still comfy.

If you're at all interested (and if you've read this far I'm guessing you are), I would give Mademoiselle Style top marks, five out of five. Laëtitia listened to me and gave useful advice that suited my style and shape rather than just what's currently in fashion, but didn't stick to safe options that I could have found myself. She also helped me find lots of things that I can wear with everything else I already own, all within my budget. The best thing is that I can wear them all year round! Looks like I won't be splashing out loads more when winter gets here.

In praise of museums

Jenny & Izzy
Originally uploaded by lipsticklori

I've been to quite a few museums in the capital over last couple of weeks and I've realised there's an awful lot of fun (and knowledge) out there that I've been missing. First up was the Natural History Museum with my two youngest nieces, aged 7 and 9. Not my favourite place to spend time but seemed to be a good one for the kids and was, as with many museums in London, free. They certainly loved the guidebooks we got them which were filled with facts, puzzles and quizzes. Thankfully they were bored of dinosaurs and diamonds by lunch time so we headed off to somewhere I really wanted to go... the London Transport Museum. Now, I wouldn't really consider myself to be a transport geek, but that place certainly made me feel like one. I loved the evolution of the London Underground (in particular, the graphics and map), the old trains, buses and trams on show, and the illustrations by Stephen Appleby that were dotted around the exhibits. Well worth the ticket price, plus Jenny and Izzy got in free!

Soon after that I went along to one of the Science Museum's Lates, designed especially for adults to enjoy the museum without kids getting in the way. This, combined with the alcohol on sale meant that the exhibition halls were filled with 20- and 30-somethings acting like children! Quite a sight to behold, I can tell you. We learnt about rockets, listened to music through our teeth and probably pressed more buttons than you've had hot dinners. Highly recommended to anyone with even a passing interest in science.

My most recent excursion was to the Wellcome Collection, described as a free destination for the incurably curious. There is currently a temporary exhibition called Exquisite Bodies, featuring a host of anatomical models, some so realistically carved (from wax) that you couldn't help but compare them to Gunther von Hagens' Bodyworlds. Fascinating though this was, it was the permanent exhibition Medicine Now that really caught my attention. I was especially drawn to some of the art-meets-science exhibits, such as Mosquito Coast by Alastair Mackie (a map of the world created using mosquitoes). This particular gallery was so interesting that I think I shall have to go back and spend more time there.

Much as I love the V&A, I think I've been missing out on a lot of museums and collections in the last three years. London has even more to offer than I first thought.

Things to do

1. Start using Blogger
2. Weed out anything from my old blog archives that's worth keeping
3. Delete old blog and replace with minimal homepage
4. Make new Blogger blog a tad prettier

Well, The plan is nearly complete and I've even found a lovely new template to use. Just need to find a spare hour or so to make the change, as I know my widgets will vanish as soon as I use another template. Will give me a chance to prune the 'sites I like' too, or perhaps add some new ones.

Will be back with new content soon!