An interview with Mica Bihal

At long last, two posts in one week. Shocking. Hopefully this will happen more often. 

Today's post is all about my current university unit called interviewing. We were paired up with design students in the third year which, considering I've never thought about interviewing as a career, turned out to be rather enjoyable. 

This proves that work is getting done throughout my first year and I don't think this piece is too bad. However, I'm no professional just yet. 

At a first glance, I’m sure anyone would agree that Mica Bihal’s confidence is what stands out the most, a characteristic much needed being a fashion designer, a career Bihal hopes to be achieve. This first impression is backed up when Bihal begins to describe her current and final collection at Epsom UCA, ‘I’ve dabbled in mainly womenswear but for my final project I decided to bite the bullet and go for menswear, a big challenge for me.’ Her determination shone through when describing the risk she was taking showing she has no intention of wasting time.

When asked to describe her style, Bihal expressed her interest in tailoring and her love for the ‘suited and booted’ look, contrasting her casual floral dress and classic leather jacket that she turned up in. She elaborates though by expressing her love she has for the conflicting style of casual and smart looks much like her muse for this project. ‘Shakah Madoih is my inspiration for this project; he’s very cool, combining garments like tailored jackets and casual jeans’.

Bihal’s main focus on her final collection is tailoring yet, everyone has to start somewhere and she started with crocodiles. She laughs, ‘I just loved the textures! I took it further with the whole crocodile hunting, with the British hunter and combined that with the drapery from an African tribe, it all sounds strange but it makes sense to me!’  The style Bihal describes for her work does not fit in with any recent trend, she admits that she will never create an outfit just because it’s in season but whether she can see her designs on someone.

Later, Bihal tells me that fashion design was not her number one choice. Being creative was a characteristic she was well aware of even when she was younger, architecture was her dream back then. However, if sadly, the fashion world did not exist then she would have pursued a career in cooking, someone sounds like they’d make a perfect domestic goddess but she did not mention any future plans of being a housewife. As well as cooking Bihal ensures she has plenty of breaks for various hobbies in between work. ‘I’m open to do many activities to be honest, keeping sane is the goal’.

As the conversation was coming to a close, a more relaxed side of Bihal crept out as she described her love for travelling and her want to go well, everywhere. This is proved when she started to describe herself more, ‘I’m certainly open-minded and easy-going, my friends would agree I’m pretty laid-back’. She later confesses that laziness is one of her weaknesses, the complete opposite of my first impression. Nevertheless, Mica Bihal is determined to graduate, plans to hopefully intern and find a place where she can finally relax after three years of an ‘up and down’ university experience. 

Google images

Skate

Okay, so maybe I lied about doing three posts before, but I promise to do at least more than one this week. Be sure to keep checking for updates though :)

The last two weeks have been pretty hectic, the complete opposite to what I thought, it being the Easter holidays and everything I expected to relax a lot more, but that's not to say I didn't enjoy it. At the time, I loved the fact that I avoided all university work and concentrated on my social life, what a good student I was. But now I'm back in the pleasant Epsom town and will be motivated to do some work, hopefully.

For now, I'd like to talk about one activity that I participated in which involves falling over once or twice, the option to dress in typical 80's clothes and something that makes you think you're a professional after a couple of drinks. I am indeed talking about roller skating.

 

The boyfriend celebrated his birthday recently and decided to gather everyone at the Vauxhall Roller Disco since a few people recommended it and you know, it's something different.

At first, I was a bit on edge about the whole thing, considering the last time I skated was many years ago. The outside exterior didn't calm me nerves at all, being rather small and under a rail bridge, was almost a bit intimidating. However, this first impression soon disappeared as the inside was the complete opposite. Disco lights flashed everywhere and you couldn't miss those that went all out in their florescent skirts and leg warmers. I went for the safe option myself wearing jeans and a plain top, more effort will be put in next time.

I would suggest to anyone that if they're stuck on what to do for their next birthday or just want to try something different then skate! This particular one is for over 18s only since there's a bar, which certainly adds to the fun.

Google Images

 

POP!

 Trying to keep this blog as updated as possible is proving to be difficult. Forgive me again, I'll attempt to do at least three this week. 
 Moving on, since the days at university can drag on, especially living in a quiet town like Epsom, Rebecca Elizabeth and I have to find ways to occupy ourselves. On this particular day, it was previously decided that we should show off our baking skills, or lack of, by creating little lollipop shaped cakes otherwise known as 'POPS'. 
Being a massive sweet tooth myself, I was looking forward to eating them rather than the making although, the baking's all part of the fun. However, as I flicked through Rebecca's handy POP bakery book, the nerves started to grow since all the images looked like they had been crafted very skilfully, the complete opposite to what I can do! We bit the bullet and started making what hopefully would be yummy...

Once the mix is ready you have to roll them like so. If you're willing to try this, prepare to get messy.

Next step is to push them onto lollipop sticks and dip them in chocolate...and if you're anything like me, eat one during the process. 

Once they've become suitable to decorate, show off your art skills by applying edible sparkling dust. 

Once you've finished making them looking pretty, display them however you wish. 

I must say, not having a clue at the beginning didn't hold us back and it turns out they were pretty tasty, my opinion and many others. May need work on our art skills though. 

Pop Bakery Clare O'connell