FASHION ECCENTRICS 1:

On the 17th of December a new life is starting for me. I used to work in the Wholesale department  for the luxury mens fashion retailer Hackett London.  I decided recently to quit my job and embark on a 'creative' fashion career. Ok, admittedly, I learned a lot during my time working in admin, too. I think to know the whole process of  fashion production and distribution might proove to be quite helpful  in future. But I want to close this chapter and open a new one. Above you can have a glimpse what my mornings will look like when I start being self - employed ( I wish...).

Inspired by the book 'ECCENTRIC GLAMOUR' by Simon Doonan - creative director of Barney's and and more time on my hands for my blog- I will start presenting  to you, the people - past or present - who I consider to have had brilliant fashion-taste, fashion-elegance or fashion-eccentricity, with loads of money or no money at all... they just need to have one point in common - a great sense for fashion. I will call these presentations: FASHION ECCENTRICS.

I will start with the Empress of all Fashion Eccentrics the Hon. Miss Edith Sitwell DBE - poet, writer, aristocrat and fashion icon par excellence. She had a terrible childhood, not least because her father made her undertake a "cure" for her supposed spinal deformation, that apparently involved locking her into an iron frame. Together with her two brothers she belonged to the avantgarde of literature in the 20's and 30's of the last century. I think she is just the kind of person I admire!

She stood 6' ( 1,83 m) and looked a bit like Queen Elizabeth I. She was in the conventions of the Edwardians, actually conceived as 'ugly'. But instead of hiding herself, she embraced her unusual features and emphasized them with all this beautifully crafted jewelery with gowns of brocade or velvet with gold turbans and a plethora of rings. Her beautiful hands were covered by rings - one more unusual than the other with huge stones and again unusually cut stones and unconventionally designed mounts.

 

Although from an aristocratic back ground - she always struggled financially since her father did not leave her a lot and she never married within her social circles. But she made the best of the her situation and kept the most important aspect of an artist - her freedom. I just love her- she was always interesting to look at and the archetype of a great 'FASHION ECCENTRIC'. I hope I have made you interested in her. At a time when 'indivdualty' has gone lost in a sea of chain stores and globalisation, which gives you three Uniqlo's within 300 meters on even the same road side of Regent Street (London, UK) just sparated by two more H&M's. I think we should learn from these people and take them as a role model.