Fashion

mustard

April 26, 2025

My love of mustard dates back to the mid-80s when as an eight year old child I used to sit in the bay window of my school watching children spill out from the school across the road in mustard cable knit jumpers and rust coloured knickerbockers wishing my uniform was anything as cool. You could spot a Hill House kid from a mile away. Other schools dressed girls in grey flannel skirts and navy pinafores; knickerbockers just seemed like the epitome of fun. Who knows if the kids across the road were having as much fun as I thought they were but their uniform communicated that they were a fun loving bunch. In British slang, “mustard” refers to someone excellent and/or enthusiastic. “She’s mustard!” is how a part Geordie friend describes her ebullient teenage daughter. I wonder whether the school’s founder, Liberal Party politician, Stuart Townend had that in mind when designing the Hill House uniform back in the late 40s. I read that he and his wife, Beatrice wanted a uniform that was vibrant and versatile so that their students could be spotted all over London, as comfortable in the classroom as on the playing field. “Grey uniforms produce grey minds,” said Mrs. Townend. I updated my profile photo last week, and no surprise, I’m wearing a mustard linen jumpsuit from one of my favourite British brands, Toast. Forty years on, and the colour still represents fun and play, warmth and nostalgia.

paper, scissors, ring

March 14, 2025

Paper artist, Jeremy May designs sculptural rings inspired by the books they’re made from. He begins with a book and a ring shape and meticulously cuts through the book, one page at time, until he has hundreds of layers of paper that he stacks together and compresses (using his secret lamination technique) to make the ring. Thick book, big ring. Very often clients will have a book in mind. “After I receive the book, I read the book completely. While I’m reading, I’m sketching. Within the words, I get inspired for the design of the jewel.” May scours second hand book shops for hidden gems and has amassed a vast book collection of his own. If selecting a book for my jewel, I’d choose The Odyssey; the stories were so much a part of my childhood with visual possibilities a plenty. The piece below was inspired by Coleridge. But already I’m seeing the sails of a Homeric ship.

dungarees

February 17, 2025

There was a brief period in the early 90’s when blue dungarees over tiny t-shirts (and a push up bra) was my uniform. I was an avid Neighbours watcher and Kylie Minogue –– aka Charlene the mechanic –– left a mark. There was something in the comfort of dungarees, open on one side, low in the front, that was so appealing to me at a time in my life when I wanted to be highly visible and I wanted to disappear. The uniform allowed for both, and straddled the line between masculine and feminine, flirty and modest, too much effort and none at all. I look at my daughter’s generation and see similar contradictions in their uniform of baggy sweatpants and voluminous hoodies that unzip to reveal minuscule ribbed tops in all shades of sherbet. To some degree, we never completely outgrow these tensions. They’re always with us and always changing. And is that such a bad thing? Outfits (people) are much more compelling when they’re an odd jumble of contradictions. As a middle aged woman, I am still wearing dungarees. Only this time around, I pair them with my son’s old flannel shirts and ochre woolly socks. Has my need for comfort consumed every ounce of sex appeal I ever had? I swap my socks for a pair of lurex silver ones. And add a flush of pink to both cheeks. That’ll do, for now.

shoe in

March 15, 2023

The first pair of designer shoes I ever bought were cream with red piping and a kitten heel so small that they were almost flats. I think I was just as excited about the felt shoe bag as I was the shoes. Marc Jacobs. I wore them everywhere, and with everything. Skinny jeans, check. Tea dresses, check. To the cinema, out to dinner, in the grass. I have no idea where they are now. Did I give them away? Throw them away? Are they in my mother-in-law’s North York basement with all the other sartorial relics? What I loved most about the shoe is that it exposed the perfect amount of toe cleavage, not too much, not too little, and that the leather softened with every party and every mad dash for the 22 bus. The 22 bus that took me straight home. These pink leather beauties (with a point like my MJ’s ) are from the 1800s. Fashion is cyclical. So is life.

forever in blue jeans

January 31, 2023

There was a time that I owned more pairs of jeans than socks; Dad jeans, Mom jeans, ludicrously low slung jeans. Distressed, shredded, stone-washed and tie-dyed –– I had them all. There were the Marc Jacobs flares, wide enough to place me alongside Abba at the Eurovision song contest. And a pair of jet black jeggings so tight someone had to peel them off me. There were my Sevens –– the OG of premium denim –– that I’d customized with tiny Swarovski crystals, and my trusty Chip and Pepper’s worn with vertiginous heels and sparkly tops to every party I ever went to. Over the years, I’ve outgrown them all (in size and/or style) and I’m now left with two pairs of the same jean. They’re smart enough to wear out to dinner, and comfortable enough to do a downward dog in. I’m not sure I’ll ever wear another style. That is unless I find a replica of my earliest denim memory. 1987, blue like the sky, soft as clouds, baggy, pleated, perfection.

heart of mine

December 7, 2022

Surreal, magical, otherworldly, Azumi Sakata’s brooches are modern heirlooms, to be treasured alongside your grandmother’s wedding ring. Her moths, skulls and human hearts are all handmade in Japan using the finest gold threads, velvets and beads. “I think that in the past, many women had few creative outlets other than embroidery or cooking,” writes Sakata. “I think that the repetitive stitching motion of embroidery was therapeutic, and the choice of colours and techniques allowed them to express themselves. Like these women, I want to use embroidery to strengthen my own heart.”

piece of my heart

October 13, 2022

There are a few contemporary art blogs that I check in with almost daily. As I scroll through square upon square of murals, lino cuts, stone carvings and papier-mâché, I am in awe of the sheer magnitude of art that’s being made by human hands all over the world. It might not all be my taste, a lot of it isn’t, but with every brushstroke, and every stitch, every click of the shutter button, these artists are sharing something of themselves with the world and that deserves our respect. Have a look, if you feel like it, at this beautifully curated Tumblr that I visit daily, packed full of rich and eclectic art. There’s an artist who paints seashells with a fine tipped blue Sharpie, a ceramicist on a quest for the perfect iridescent glaze, and a felter who makes hats worthy of a post code. Each and every one of them is sharing a small piece of their heart with us, some more than a small piece, and how gutsy is that?

à la main

September 27, 2022

Inspired by domestic handicrafts –– quilting, embroidery, needlework, china painting, and sewing –– Sea’s latest ready-to-wear collection pays homage to the hand. “During the pandemic,” says Sea’s co-designer, Monica Paolini “we studied craft and what women did when they were at home. I just kept looking at Etsy and hand-work and different ways that women occupied their time, like crochet or needlepoint. It’s so touching and [something] I’m personally super-attracted to. I always want [our designs] to be like little treasures and to bring optimism and happiness to people.” From the quilted pieces to the hand-crocheted details, there isn’t a single look I’m not drawn to. And if I was as taking something home, it would be this dress; cutouts and puffed sleeves –– what’s not to love?

adorn

August 26, 2022

It’s this pink sapphire waterfall that caught my eye. It’s striking, and yet everyday wearable. Alexa de la Cruz designs jewellery for women who appreciate the art of the subtle statement. Enter the Tulip ring. Or the Arcoíris Eternity Band, made up of Cabochon Australian opals in pastel hues. I love the watermelon tourmalines in these floral earrings. I wear hardly any jewellery these days, but de la Cruz’s pieces seem like they could quite quickly become part of one’s skin.

around and around

July 19, 2022

Rebecca Sammon’s mythical, magical figures.

A mural by artist, Zhang Enli adorns the facade of a rural, Italian chapel.

Printed summer dresses by Oslo based, Cathrine Hammel.

Francisco Matto’s couple, crafted from marble and wood.

Smithsonian miscellaneous shell collections.

The walls at Osteria dei Meriavigliati

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