because rules are made to be broken: good one

When I was young, my mom - bless her - was not one of those mothers who told us how we should dress. I am sure that's why I never have one of those days when I'm trying six million things on and have 'nothing to wear'. She didn't follow fashion like some kind of slave, but - I can see now - by not having any dramas about how we styled ourselves, she gave us a strong sense of fashion confidence. We found our own style.

She did have one rule. It was just something she said in passing, one day. She said we shouldn't mix patterns, because they clashed. I had to ask her a few times, what was a pattern ('You know: dots and plaids and stripes') and the more difficult one - 'what does clash mean'. She probably just eventually gave up and went back to 'wear whatever you like: it's no skin off my nose.'

If it's possible that there is one trend bigger than 'colour blocking' - which I'm not seeing as much of as I'd like, or assumed - it is the sophisticated use of multiple patterns.

Clashing, with confidence.



You might recall, last fall, I did an impromptu series of streetstyle photo shoots for Goodone, an ethical recycled clothing company based in East London. (for example, click here or here or here or here. Or, here!). I had been sent a press release from Topshop, who were running their A/W 2010 line, and I said you know what? Rather than use your photos - which I don't like to do - if you send me some clothes to borrow, I'll get some friends together, blah blah blah. AND THEY DID: a messenger delivered the whole line, in shopping bags, the next day, and we did a really quick shoot. It was like a flashmob photoshoot. We met at my local Cafe Nero, changed in the ladies' room, had a laugh.. an example, here:



Anyway, just before LFW in February, someone who worked with Nin Castle, the designer, got in touch, and arranged a meeting at Somerset House. Nin is DELIGHTFUL. We just got on instantly. I just love what she and her team are doing: creating affordable, sustainable, and very wearable, collections, made in England from reclaimed and up-cycled fabrics.



So when she sent me a press release recently with shots from a shoot she did with one of her best friends - and flat mate's - JESS BONHAM, shooting - well I simply had to break my 'don't use other people's photography on my blog' rule. Besides, I love these shots, and the way they're styled, so much.



Soon, I want to stop by with a friend or two to her studio, and do my own shoots again. But for now, here are some examples from Goodone's Basic Collection: everything is under £100, and can be customised TO ORDER. So you can give them, for example, a leg length.. it's extraordinary, really. Especially in the recent wonderful exchanges on posts to do with 'where can we find affordable, ethical clothing?'

Who knew: in our own back yards. Metaphorically speaking.

GOODONE BASIC COLLECTION is available online (www.goodone.uk) or on the ASOS marketplace. If in doubt, contact them at GOODONE. Ask for Nin, tell her Jill sent you ; )

Photos by Jess Bonham, except the middle bunch - by me.

influence: the vanishing twin

This isn't the post I planned to do today: I've been storing up a whole collection of leopard print images, far too many for one post. This is, instead, about an amazing Singapore born, London based designer named Eugene Lin. I was so grateful to Jen for finding him at LFW and bringing me along to his studio a few weeks back.

Her post about him, about the concept behind his S/S 2011 collection, The Vanishing Twin, explained it so well, I felt, that I just didn't feel the need to do my own post.





And also, I was so impressed by Eugene, so inspired by the magic of the light in that studio, his intelligence and keen mind and sense of humour and irony.. as time went on, I felt I couldn't do it justice. And I had too many photos to fit in one post.. and I had done one already ('ghost in the machine')..




But the idea itself, and that day, kept haunting me, like my own invisible twin growing in my imagination. These pieces, you see, were inspired - influenced - by a rare medical condition where one's twin can develop, be absorbed, into our own bodies. Jen said her husband, Mr. Crusader, who is a scientist, was scoffing that it's not a real condition. And I was laughing when she told me because when I told Hedvig, she had looked at me in her stoic Norwegian way and said, totally deadpan: 'I know what it is. My friend had it. In her butt.' You had to be there, to know how calmly serious Hedvig can be, to know why I found that so hilarious. Or maybe I've got a really sick sense of humour.






I'm fascinated how an idea, sketches, can become a reality. Or rather, how rarely we bring our ideas to fruition, which is why I so admire those who do.






So why did I choose to finally post this today? Because I happened to see my friend Shini's post about being 'in exile' in Warsaw: Atelier Klimas (I love this girl's deadpan humour). And reading her post, the way a shot of a cup of tea could transport me to a designer's studio in Poland, influenced me to get off my own metaphorical butt and get this post done and dusted.




Can you see how even this jacket has a kind of 'twin': the vest is part of the jacket. Each piece has that element. I'd love to do a little shoot, like I did with Topshop/Goodone, because everyone I know could easily wear a piece from this collection: while it's all clearly Eugene Lin's vision, his voice, it also is versatile enough that there's something for everyone's unique style.

Is that something you'd like to see? If I can get enough interest, I'll ask to borrow some clothes.

Photos by me, apart from the shots with the model, which are by Anna Feyimi courtesy of Eugene Lin. Photos of me in the jacket are from Jennifer, the infamous, ubiquitous Style Crusader. And by the way, I'm aware it's Halloween but no one's invited me to any Halloween parties, I'm not dressing up this year, and this post wasn't intended to tie in with Halloween. Altho... in a way.. I can see the influence.