Jurassic

A shoot on the Jurassic Coast this week - an amazing location, and a swim in the sea at the end of the working day... Could get used to that!

BTS/Coming soon...

Some post swim sustenance before driving home

Elizabethan Inspired

This postcard reminded me of an editorial I shot a couple of years ago, showcasing the Elizabethan inspired graduate collection by the very talented Rose Wooderson. I seem to be having a very unintentional Tudor fascination with recent blog posts...

Shot by Will Aldersley

Styled by me

Art Direction by Kate Goode

Rejuvenate Old Clothes

A top tip for breathing life in to old clothes. I recently bought a faded vintage Laura Ashley dress, in a colour I wasn't so keen on but loved the style. Laura Ashley can be pricey second hand so I jumped at the chance to get my hands on this dress and won it for £12.50. It barely got through the letterbox before I started its transformation

From light blue... to black. Actually, it's more like navy. Who knew there are various shades of black to chose from?! I love it and will wear it tons in the months to come, feeling VERY smug that I'm wearing a real one off piece.

You can buy Dylon fabric dye from most hardware shops.

A good tip before dying is to check the fabric content. 100% cotton will dye well, but things made from manmade fibres tend not to take the colour so well. Things like stitches and zips may stay their original colour as a result. Make sure you wash dyed pieces on their own for the first couple of washes too.

Fabric Samples For Quilts

An afternoon spent sorting out fabric samples, after collecting several bags full from a friend who was throwing them out of her studio recently. So excited to get sewing my next quilt!

On Set Details

Love the colour and print combination from a shoot I styled last year 

BTS Skinny Jeans

Looking back through old photos and came across this from a favourite shoot of mine, with beautiful Mari - you can see the final results here. It must have been a while ago as I am squeezed in to some black skinny jeans - it's been years since I've attempted that.

Shirt

I love this Vintage shirt of my Mum's which I've been wearing for years now. Sensing it probably had a good story behind it, I text Mum... 'I bought it in Valencia, Spain in 1978 on the docks'. Well that is quite good isn't it.

 

Outdoors

Social distancing has unexpectedly lead to a new styling opportunity... Camping last week in Cornwall... quilts and cushion made by Mum.

Print

I've always believed it's better to look crazy than boring - clashing print is a great way to lift the spirits and show a little personality. This was actually taken during lockdown on a daily walk - it was Saturday and so to mark the occasion(!) I wore two of my favourites: a charity shop leopard print skirt, and a Molly Goddard knitted t-shirt.

Other People's Birthdays

I'm envious of those with summer birthdays and respectively their outdoor celebrations. I've rediscovered fairy cakes - crucially they are easy... As well as reassuringly nostalgic. I also love wrapping presents (harking back to my online personal styling business and beyond), and hope no one spots me fishing discarded ribbon out of the bin when I think the coast is clear.

10 Years of 'What's She Like?'

It dawned on me this week that I've been writing 'What's She Like?' for 10 years! A surprise, even though I know I've kept this digital diary/scrapbook charting my sartorial (and beyond) journey through my 20s and into my 30s. Some posts make me cringe beyond belief - others make me smile at how confident and enthusiastic I was about the things I love. Here is my first ever post, aged 21 sitting in a cold student house in Withington, Manchester.

10 years later as a Fashion Stylist living and working back in my hometown of London, the young woman in Manchester wouldn't have believed what was to come... As the world seems to be looking at itself afresh and working out what's next - myself very much included - it's important to remember how far we've come, the people and places we have cherished, and of course - the clothes we have loved and worn to bits! Some faves from the early days (click image to read):

Piecing Things Together

I've started (and not finished) quite a few projects during Lockdown. One of them has been a patchwork quilt, which I've really enjoyed piecing together bit by bit. My sewing skills are very basic but I love using my machine. The quilt has been worked on in stages - you have to be in the right frame of mind for sewing otherwise it all seems to go wrong very quickly... I'm looking forward to searching for more fabrics once life gets a bit more back to normal.

Slowly starting the wardrobe swap over (last mentioned here). My favourite t-shirt of all time really comes in to its own during the summer months: a 1991 Neil Young Crazy Horse tour t-shirt. I LOVE everything about it - how it's faded and soft from time and washing, the artwork, Neil Young, and that I've inherited it from my Mum.

Joy

Taken many months ago between shots on set.

Thinking today about upcoming shoots: being creative, working out logistics, socially distancing, travelling... Lots to piece together! It's the little things that bring joy in life sometimes, like this camo bag - a present from my ever stylish Mum - and luminous red and pink stripes from Molly Goddard.

Lockdown Polaroid 5

19/4/2020

Carnations at Home

Bow, London

Bank Holiday Cheers

More embroidery recently finished - perfect for a sunny bank holiday Monday (Lockdown or not).

Lockdown Polaroid 3

21/4/2020

Olympic Park, Stratford

Tie-Dye Mania

There is no shortage of tie-dye clothing available at the moment: both the high street and designers are furiously peddling their take on the trend. I got quite heavily in to tie-dye last summer. My first attempt since childhood took place in Camberwell, see here. Min and I were hooked. Here we are a few months later in Portugal and up to our elbows in buckets of salt and dye.

Pictures by Allegra Pilkington

It's a very fun, inexpensive project. If like me your white t-shirts don't stay that way for long, or your other half is chucking theirs out - save them up for a Dylon sink session. I get dye from eBay (or your local art shop, when it reopens), but the Dylon website is helpful to see the full range of colours.

Lockdown Wardrobe

What have you been wearing during Lockdown? Or rather, what have you missed wearing? I've pretty permanently worn a pair of leopard print leggings originally bought for a shoot: after returning them unworn, I went back to re-buy because I liked them so much. Weird on many levels - mostly because most people don't look great in leggings, myself included. And yet here I am day in, day out wearing my trusty pair of now rather knackered leggings.

Slippers courtesy of Tesco

I do miss getting dressed for work. I'm a fashion stylist so this requires a balance of looking stylish (or at least, not a mess) and practicality. These days at home it's more a balance of comfort and stuff I don't mind spilling my breakfast/lunch/dinner on. I've realised how many clothes I actually have... Most mornings recently I've told myself that today is the day of the wardrobe sort out /season changeover, etc. I know I will find some gems to get excited about wearing again when I do. But it hasn't happened yet... I'll let you know how it goes. 

Cañas with Mum

With so much more time on my hands at the moment, and with so much to think about - I find myself turning to my sewing bag for some relief

I embroidered a photograph for my wonderful Mum for Mother's Day - cañas and calamari sandwiches in Madrid, a treasured lunch repeated many times over the years. Something to look forward to when the world calms down a bit. The food, drink and sun - but mostly my Mum.