Red, the most vibrant of all the colours takes on a special significance in this Chinese lantern themed shoot on the beauty of such a bold hue.
For anyone who’s a fan of fashion, Pinterest is a life-saver. It allows you access to shoots from international magazines you might not be easily able to get your hands on. With a simple search button you can find so many different shoots from around the world on that site and it’s an absolutely invaluable resource when planning and finding new shoot ideas. It was also through using Pinterest so often that I discovered the Chinese publications and they are amazing! While Elle and Vogue over here have moved away from the dramatic and cinematic shoots of the nineties and noughties, the Chinese publications still believe in grand shoots. Nowadays in the west the vast majority of the shoots are studio-based and while it’s much cheaper to produce, for me it’s quite boring. I grew up on the grand shoots in faraway locations, so China’s Elle, Vogue L’Officiel are the perfect antidote to that.
This idea of doing a shoot with Chinese lanterns came from an Elle China March 2016 shoot, which also featured an abundance of red outfits. I absolutely loved the idea and I wanted to recreate this shoot myself. My shoot is different in that it is shot outdoors and the vibrancy of the green from the trees is a perfect contrast to the red of the lanterns and the dress, but what inspired this shoot is obvious.
All in all, this shoot was incredibly easy to produce and style. It needed only an impressive red dress that had enough details in it to stand out from the colour, and a variety of red Chinese lanterns to help decorate the location and to be used as props. I also added this lovely black Chinese fan that was meant to be used for the Spanish dancer shoot, found here, but it hadn’t arrived in time for that shoot. The Christian Louboutin Pigalle heels was a perfect addition and the iconic red sole of the brand added an extra red oomph. I added my old Hermés Collier de Chien collar because the black leather band matched well with the courts and the fan. Because the dress was a column dress, which isn’t that flattering on me, I used this ancient gold Zara belt that seems to pop up quite often on this blog.
Dress: Warehouse, found here – Patent black heels: Christian Louboutin Pigalles, found here – Leather bracelet: Hermés collier de chien, Gold skinny belt: Zara, similar one found here
