Out and about....flower power

From Fashionistable

So where do I start with Jin? Love the hairband (Primark), love the t-shirt (White Fox - cant find them), love the shorts (from China), love the tights (Topshop), love the bag (Luella - sadly not trading anymore). Love the look. Jin is from Nanjing in China. She has been in London for 5 years now, but this is her last as her Interior Design course will finish. Jin said she loves London. Her style is influenced by the weather. We met on a bright sunny day, which is why she is colourful and bright.

Out and about....a woman of industry

From Fashionistable

Alena was walking towards me with purpose when we met. She had a great forward energy and I really liked her cape. She is half British, half Canadian, lived in Belgium until the age of 5 then moved to Switzerland with her Mum. She has been here in the UK for the last 15 years. For fitness she has been using personal trainers for years and has found a way to help them organise their time and clients in a more efficient way. To help them achieve this she is in the process of building an online platfom for them. She was very excited about her venture. It is very infectious this kind of positive thinking. When I left her I was cretainly uplifted and happy. She describes herself as an old fashioned girl in terms of morals. Her marvelous cape is by Cynthia Steffe she bought her boots in NYC but can't remember where and her leggings are by J Mendel. She describes her style as casual chic.

Out and about....red lips

From Fashionistable

From Fashionistable

Mizuko was wandering through Brick Lane when we met. She was just about to go into the antique market when I stopped her. She was surprised. In fact when I asked her for her surprising story she said that today was her surprising story as she had been photographed so many times. She was bemused but happy. She does look great though so I am not surprised. Mizuko is from Yokohama in Japan and is working here in a Japanese restaurant. She has been in the UK for 6months now and likes it. Her style influences are, black she likes to wear black and Vivienne Westwood. The ring she is wearing is only 1 ring, but worn on 3 fingers is from Topshop. Mmmm I would like one of these. The scarf in her  hair is from Brick Lane. Her poncho and trousers are from Zara. (Small rant here. I bought some things from there yesterday, why is it such a big deal to ask to have your newly bought items folded properly. Its such a big deal for them. I ended up folding them myself, even that didn't make them happy. Is it just me? How about you guys do you like your new clobber treated? With respect or are you happy for it to be rolled in a ball so that needs to be ironed when you get home? ;-) Rant over).  Her bag is from Miss Selfridge and shoes are from New Look.

Out and about....high flyier

From Fashionistable

Samantha is at college in Herts studying to a air hostess/cabin crew. She loves travel and figures if you can be paid for something you love to do you should go for it. Wise words. If we all did the things in life we loved to do we would all be a lot happier. He style influences are a vintage and designer mix up. Surprisingly she like to play her XBox and favourite game is Call of Duty. Here she is wearing a cardy from Urban Outfitters, jumper and shorts from Topshop, boots Hunter, bag Dorothy Perkins and necklace from New Look.

Out and about....green light

From Fashionistable

From Fashionistable

Alex is a Civil Servant, however his post is not permenent and with the way things are right now is feeling a bit apprehensive, so is job hunting. The 50's is his style influence, he told me because he is skinny he is restricted as to where he can shop. He has found that only Topman really caters for his size off the peg. Otherwise he has to have his clothing altered. He said "there are not enough clothes for skinny guys." He loves to jive and regularly goes to the South London Pacific for their Rock 'n' Roll night. His glasses are Kirk Originals which he bought in Covent Garden. All his clothing is from Topman. The shoes are from Schuh and his watch is by Nooka.

Out and about....cats eye glasses

From Fashionistable

Andrea is a fashion designer. She is originally from the Basque country in Spain. From there she moved to and worked in Milan and now London. Her inspirations are Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvador Dali. Schiaparelli and Dali are linked two ways, first with surrealism and then in the fact that Schiaparelli commissioned him along with other surrealists to design fabrics for her. Andrea's sense of theatre continues with her love of Flamenco. She told me she loves to watch people dance. I love Andrea's glasses they look like cats eyes to me, they are by Tom Ford. I also really like her mac, the details are great, this is from Whistles. Her look is completed with shoes Cassidy (can't find a link for you ), bag from Celine and that expressive scarf is from Jotamasge.

Out and about....May's day

From Fashionistable

May was shopping with her brother when we met. She loves going to Brick Lane and Spitalfields market which is were we met. It was chilly but the sun was shining. A great excuse to wear lovely over the knee socks with shorts. How many more days will you get away with that before Spring? Aren't the ribbons in her shoes wonderful. May is a Londoner and is studying for her GCSE's. She told me she will go on to do her A'levels. She loves drama but is not sure of her direction yet. There is still time. I really feel for children and young people at the moment. They are being hit really hard. No child benefit. No new schools. Pay for ever for your university education. I am amazed they are not up in arms. I remember going on strike in school because they took too long to fix the heating and we had, had enough. Come on students time to hear your voices, where are you? OK that is my rally cry over. For style May looks to Alexa Chung who she see's as effortlessly cool. Also Vogue for inspiration. I agree on both counts. Can you believe it she used to play Rugby. I did Kung Fu for a short while but gave it up because it hurt too much. Wonder if she gave up Rugby for the same reason? Her shirt used to be her brothers, the sweater her mums. Some great wardrobe mixing here. Shorts and socks are Primark. Her shoes are from a stall on Portobello Rd and her bag was from Columbia Rd. Her story gives us a great tour of a lot of the wonderful markets in London.

Out and about....stopping traffic

From Fashionistable

I want everything Mira is wearing. I love this look. Mira runs her own jewelery business on Old Bond Street which is a franchise of Damiani. Mira is originally from Kazakhstan and has been in London for the past 2 years. She is the mother to 4 children. When I stopped her she told me 'it is usually my son who gets stopped for this kind of thing.'  Well all I can say is that he is lucky to have such a good looking mother. Mira is very sporty and has been a rescue diver for the past 15years and is in training for the Davos 42km marathon next year. Now we can see why she is in such good shape.  In the shot she is wearing a jacket by Dolce & Gabbana, McQueen scarf, Prada trousers, Sergio Rossi shoes and is carrying a YSL bag.

Out and about....Horiyoshi the Third

From Fashionistable

When I saw Dawn I thought she looked amazing, I loved her Sweater/Cape. When I eventually caught up with her and started to chat I had a very strong feeling we had met before. She felt the same. I had a look through my archive when I got back home and yes we had. You can see our first encounter here. Dawn is now the commercial director for Horiyoshi the Third, who is a world renown tattoo artist and designer. The wonderful cape sweater Dawn is wearing is one of his designs. She told me his collections are now available in Browns, Harvey Nichols and Matches. When I asked what influenced her own style, she said happiness plays a large part and allows her to have a different style every day. Her surprise was that she has an cherry blossom tattoo on her back that Horiyoshi created for her. I would love to see it. That would make a great third image of her don't you think? An nice studio back shot. As I only interview the people I photograph after I have photographed them I didn't know Dawn's story until then. As is turns out I was very lucky with the choice of background for the shot as it incorporates two popular art forms.
Apart from the Cape/Sweater Dawn is wearing trousers by JBrand, her bag is her mums and is a Mappin and Webb (however looking at the link I think I may have gotten that wrong.....), Valentino sunglasses and shoes by Rupert Sanderson.

Out and about....beautiful

From Fashionistable

From Fashionistable

Charlene is a London lass but is a beautiful mix of her mothers Chinese and Malaysian background and her Sri Lankan dad.It was her face and hair that stopped me in my tracks. Work wise she is an Art Director. Style wise she told me she is not a shopper. When she see's what she wants in her minds eye she will then take herself out to find it. At the beginning of the summer it was a particular dress that she could see with birds on - which she did eventually find. She also loves bows and wears them in some form all the time. Today you can see one on her fingers which is from Accessorize and one you cant see just under her hair as part of the earrings which she made herself. I love the way she has put her colours together. The green cardy picking up the colour on her shoes and the pink bag with the socks.  Her cardy is from Zara, T from H&M, jeans River Island, bag Topshop and she couldn't remember where her shoes were from.

Out and about....busy, busy, busy

From Fashionistable

Sonia kindly gave me a few moments as she was very busy. Her phone kept ringing while we shot. Originally from Shanghai Sonia is setting up and managing an online fashion store. She was not ready enough to tell me the name yet. Her style influences are the high street and London in general. To surprise us she told me she loves hot spicy food. Her grey top is from All Saints, the shorts and top below the grey one are both from Topshop. The tights are from Harrods and had a lovely bow on the back, my back shot of her was not as good as this one so you just have to believe me. Her shoes and necklace are Chanel and her clutch is YSL.

Out and about....a mothers love

From Fashionistable

I met Vaiva just as I came off my train on my way home. I passed her but had to go back to get her. Sometimes it is hard to believe your gifts are right on your doorstep.
She was waiting for her husband and they were going house hunting in the area. She told me the miracle of her daughter who is now 5. She is an IVF child. Like so many children of our age. Our little miracle children I see them as. Longed for, for so long. A wonderful blessing if you are lucky enough to have them come along. Vaiva was so grateful her's did she is still emotional about her 12 year journey with IVF. So, she told me everything they do now is for her daughters advantage. Vaiva works as a managers assistant in the Mandarin in London. Which is one of our best hotels here. I so love her boots I really want a pair. She said they were by John Baker but I cant find him or them. Her jacket is from Patrizia Pepe, shirt Escada, jeans she couldn't remember and her bag was bought in Lithuania which is were she is originally from.

Out and about....colourful and fun

From Fashionistable

From Fashionistable

I think that Kay's lovely smile says a lot about her it is great. Style wise she told me that her influences were Hitchcock films, cosmetics from the 60's, and clothing which allows her to show her character. For this look I love the way she has taken one solid base colour and added a riot of other colours around it. Kay is an artist and incorporates photography, painting and textiles into her work. She feels by mixing the media it allows her to create something new. To supplement her student income she works in a store in Carnaby St called Year Zero. It was only when I was processing my close up of her that I realised the needles on her T made it look like she was being injected. My aim had been to show you her accessories. Now it looks edgy and pretty all at the same time. Her T and trousers are from Year Zero. Then all the added colour is -  vintage scarf from Deptford market, earrings Topshop, denim shirt H&M, boots DM's, there are so many great variations of these around at the moment it is making me wish for a pair again. Her bracelets are from Funky Bling and she said her bag was random from Pop.

Out and about....time for tea

From Fashionistable

Mika is from Tokyo and was in Cambridge studying management for 1 month when we met. She told me she thought Cambridge was a very beautiful place. Her style influence is British style. When I asked her what was surprising about her she told me she could perform the tea ceremony. That is an extremely patient talent she has. Everything she is wearing is from Japan. Her bag is from Kansai, which is in the south central part of Japan. And her shoes are Converse.

Out and about....with the Princess

From Fashionistable

Originally from Poland Marta has lived in London for the past 5 years. She makes and sells her own costume jewelery. She is wearing one of her own necklaces and the blue ring on her left hand is also one of her own designs. Her label is Princess Per you can check out and buy her work at PrincessPer.etsy.com and follow her blog at PrincessPer.blogspot.com Her style influences are the Victorian and Baroque periods in history. When she dresses she will mix vintage with modern designers. In this shot her jacket and bag are from Love Moschino and her waistcoat and trousers are vintage.

Out and about....with love

From Fashionistable

On my travels I meet people from all over the world and often there is a language difference, which is always surmountable, although Carola is from Norway it wasn’t the spoken language this time we were negotiating with, it was my inability to sign, as Carola is deaf. During my interviews I usually ask my subjects to tell me something surprising about themselves – however I found that everything about Carola was surprising, but out of habit I asked her the question anyway and she told me she was an agent of love. Carola works in the circus. When I asked what she did in the circus she told me many different things, like aerials, clowning and contortion. For style inspiration she looks to life. Her sweater is from Aredabrit (cant find a link) and was a present from her boyfriend. The studded cuff is from a little shop in Oslo, her glasses are vintage and her Nike are from a collaboration with Wood Wood. You can learn more about Carola at carolainsolera.com When we had finished Carola gave me a wonderful big hug. She truly is an agent of love.

Out and about....

From Fashionistable

Sara was born in Australia to an English mum and an Italian dad. She loves music but also loves her tattoos. When Sara was 9 she was attacked by a Kangaroo. I can imagine that would have been very frightening. They can be pretty big animals. Style wise she loves Alexa Chung. Like all good Australians Sara is well traveled.  Her traveling started at a very early age when her parents took her on an around the world trip when she was 1½. She just wishes she could remember it. Here she is wearing a cardy is from Urban Outfitters, dress from Topshop, socks from M&S, shoes from OZ and her bag is from Camden Market.

Out and about....Swedish cool

From Fashionistable

David and Jenny, very English names for this Swedish couple. They have been living in the UK for 6 months now. David works in the theater but is just about to start a film, TV and production course at Greenwich Uni. Jenny just quit her job but would love to work for an international welfare organisation specialising in compassion in world farming. In style they are both influenced  by people on the street and film. Their surprises for me were that Jenny teaches African dance and David learned to dive recently in Sweden, Brrrrr.
David is wearing specs from Spec Savers, scarf and bag from Granit, cardy from Uniqlo, T and trousers from H&M. His belt is by Carhartt and shoes are by Fred Perry.
Jenny's scarf is from the 70's/80's and belonged to her mum, She thinks her jacket is by Blossom (cant find a link) was from a friend who is Korean. Her lace top is from  American Apparel, the vest below it is from Rokit. Her trousers are from POP Boutique. Bag is from Topshop and her shoes are from a store in Sweden.

Out and about....pastures new

From Fashionistable

Amelia is from Leeds and has just arrived in London. In a moment of spontaneity she decided to drop out of Uni and just go for it and follow her dream of working in fashion. She loves fashion and make-up. When we met she had just been for an interview at M&P models and had another interview lined up at MAC. She describes her style influences as effortlessly street and also looks to Vogue and online for inspiration. For herself she likes to be individual and likes to strike the fine balance between glam and casual. Her favourite looks at the moment are maxi dresses, denim and double denim. For going out she loves to wear Lipsy dresses and Kurt Geiger shoes. She bought her denim jacket in Barcelona the label said Stradivas. Her dress is from a shop in Leeds called Internacionale and the bag is from  Pauls Boutique. To complete Amelia’s international sounding outfit her shoes are from a shop called Prague, which have stores in Leeds, Manchester and Bury.