9.11.09

fur real: pia & her wonderfully vintage chocolate brown jacket, on portobello road



You know how sometimes you save a special project for a rainy day? Well, I do. Sometimes I postpone doing the things I like most. That's what happened with Pia, who I met on Portobello Road a few weeks ago. I just love her look: so gamine, so Audrey Hepburn, and such a delight to shoot! When she emailed, and admitted that I hadn't posted her shots only because I couldn't decide.



So I'm posting them all. What happened was, I had met a friend there for a coffee, then was roaming around the stalls, looking for a fake leopard coat like I posted the other day, and instead, came across that wonderful fake chocolate brown one I've been telling you about. Which I WILL shoot, I promise, soon as I become normal again (I'm typing this from my bed with 'the vapours', as Mr. Dot calls it, surrounded by tissues, cold cups of tea, and paracetemol packets).

Anyway, minutes after my new (old) purchase, with chocolate brown fur on the brain, I saw Pia with two guys (not in the shots). I said I loved her coat and asked to shoot her and she said 'that's funny cause he' (the bf, I assume) 'wants me to bin it!'



So I asked her to pose like this, to show you the holes more clearly. If this blog wasn't called 'street style london', I'd post simply this shot on its own: as abstract art.



It's funny, I was saying recently that what I want to wear now is fur, but not new fur: either good faux (preferably, like my chocolate brown faux jacket, vintage), or if it's real: vintage. Because it's guilt free ('I didn't kill it, it was already dead'). And sure enough: yesterday's Times Style Section: they talked about the very same thing.

But before anyone gets their knickers in a twist: I'm not claiming to have coined the concept. I just love coincidence, it's hard to explain. Yet can someone explain to me please: why is it there's all this controversy about fur, when we don't even blink about leather? Is it because we somehow don't think of leather as a skin, but fur seems so much more... cuddly bunny? Is it like the thing where you can't eat a whole fish with the eye showing, but fish fingers, no problem?



Just pondering... as I lie in bed with the Miss Haversham vapours. And oh: one of my favourite colour/texture combinations: brown fur or velvet, with something shiny & turquoise. I'd love these ethnic bangles with just about anything.

Re: sourcing. This is in Pia's own words, which I felt were so charming, I've added them verbatim:

"hey! thanks for the photos its really funny seeing them.. i felt realy nervouse at the time... haha! ok so the boots were a real bargain and still being sold at 15 squid from primark! brilliant find! the coat (i still have ;) despite my boyfriend hating it... you are now my reason i keep it haha!) is from portobello market infact. £50 and rabbit fur.. they still have really lovely ones there i noticed the day you took the picture. oh and yes it was my boyfriend he is called matt oldham and you can mention if you like. i dont mind. and the bag was £15 from absolute vintage near brick lane. and the leggings were from american apparel. once again thankyou. its been really exciting all this... simple pleasures. hope you're well! xx "

12 comments:

Cafe Fashionista said...

I absolutely adore these photographs - Pia is so full of life and enthusiastic; and her style is absolutely heavenly.

I too have been coveting faux fur as of late. Just a few days ago I bought a faux fur in a leopard print that is very Edie Sedgwick - I imagine it will look amazing paired with all black.

I truly hope that you get well soon, darling. I too have the flu, and can hardly even sit up, let alone type. I have been absolutely miserable for the last week, so I know how you feel! :(

Anonymous said...

love these shots & love her pixie look ; )

feel better soon!! xx claire

Style Odyssey said...

hope you're better soon- bless you for still having the energy to post this!

i love that Pia's coat is (1) vintage and (2) slightly tattered and therefore very un-precious and not at all pretentious.

as for the the controversy "fur is bad, leather is ok"....i wonder myself. perhaps the only explanation is this: eating meat is considered by the majority of the world (non-vegetarians) to be important for survival (health concerns aside, as that's another subject)- and wearing fur may be considered frivolous/luxurious because it's not needed for survival. i say if you're going to eat meat and/or wear leather, then fur-wearing should be ok to you.

i don't own a fur anything because of the climate where i live. but should i ever purchase a fur item, it would be vintage ("it was already dead").

i'm curious to read what others say on the subject. you raise some great questions, J!

feel better soon, by the way!
xoxo

Anonymous said...

i just wrote and lost my comment...
anyway, what i wanted to say is that i find her absolutely adorable. this is how i would want to look like if i could choose... she's so beautiful but not uniformly so, has fresh style, looks so full of life and happy... girl crush?

Pearl Westwood said...

Pretty girl, I love how the chocolate brown makes her eyes pop!
I eat meat and so wear leather with no guilt, and I only by meat from sources I know the animals were well treated. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for fur farms where the animals are treated horrendously. The worst is that cheap, real fur can actually be dog or cat fur, strays or even someones pet, kept in cages the size of shoe boxes. As part of my 'real life' I work in forensics and you would be horrified by the things that I've seen. But it does seem strange that only a few years ago the super models were all 'going naked rather than wearing fur' why has the dynamic changed so dramatically?

Susan said...

this girl is so cute :)
have a lovely day, xoxo

Lolitta said...

she is just as cute as she can be! I also love all the jewelry pictured below her pics.

http://loveyourfabulousself.blogspot.com/

the style crusader said...

oh i love this! she makes me want to get a fringe and experiment with my black liquid eyeliner... although it always turns into a mess when i try to do it!
i'm also after a fur jacket like that! and was planning on trying to find one on portobello road... one of my friends always turns up with the best things from there. that's so funny though, first sushi and now fur... your reading my mind!! xx

daisychain said...

wow,
I LOVE it
(and I'm linking you now)

dot said...

thank you all for your lovely & thoughtful & thought provoking comments & get well wishes. my own mother (who discovered i was sick via my blog) just sent an email asking how i'm managing to post 'if you're so sick'. thanks mom!

i'm discovering i'm not the only one.. big get well shout out to erika @ cafe fashionista, roz @ clothes, cameras & coffee, and the countless more professionals who know that the show must go on ; )

ms. odyssey: i think you're right. i think that's the distinction. somehow leather seems part of the by-product of us consuming meat.. but still, i'm not comfortable with any of it. i still eat meat, and cook with it, but i've always been by more vegetarian by nature. i have to shut off a part of my thinking to eat meat.

Cecilia Villamil said...

Hi Jill,
I love your photos they take me to London, plse more about portobello!!!

dot said...

Will do, Cecilia: I've realised how much I've missed it there, will definitely be shopping - & shooting - there again very soon (possibly even tomorrow with my friend Claudia, if I'm well enough). Thank you.