TRY THIS - Art Is The New Black

I find you don't always get what you pay for. Often, as in the case of a free exhibition I dropped in on this week, you get much more. For Arts Sake, an Ealing print gallery and framer, is currently showcasing the work of linocut artist and craftsman Paul Catherall CLICK HERE. 

His work may look familiar - the likes of Transport for London, Penguin Books, Wallpaper Magazine and Mark & Spencer have commissioned Catherall to provide them with his distinctive urban images. 

Catherall's colour combinations are thrilling. It seems with ease and confidence he adds pigment to an urban landscape that I often consider colourless or at best, grey. A sky shot red, for example, by a brown Battersea Power Station seems as right as rain in this colour blocked world.     

If you live in the Ealing area, don't miss this bit-sized exhibition celebrating 15 years of linocuts by Coventry-native, and now Londoner Paul Catherall. But be careful, his work is tempting and For Arts Sake's monthly payment plan make owning an image budget friendly. I walked away with one - a limited-edition print that will inspire me for years to come.  

FOUND - Face to Face at My Place

I find myself surrounded with like-minded women. They're an eclectic group of gals who've been my friends for years. We're a close knit group - I strip down to my knickers in front of them every day. They are the lovely ladies who line the walls of my dressing room.

Framed ink drawings, ceramic busts, old postcards, a needlepoint portrait, a charcoal nude, photographs and more; all images of women that I've found compelling. 

Of course they're secondhand sirens. From flea markets, garage sales, Ebay, car boots and of course charity shops I've tracked down these highly decorative dollies. 

Like mirrors, the images reflect the me I see and the me I wish I could be. My girls remind me that beauty is an expansive word, its permutations endless. 

Faces from places far and wide, the girls mark my travels. I remember the estate sale in Washington DC, the secondhand shop in Florida, the window in Antwerp, the auction house in Chelsea, the antiques barn in Ohio, the roadside stall in Harare. From high art to cast offs, they are the company I keep.

From my dressing room, a self-important name for the room wear I dress, these lovely ladies wish me well. At day break do I hear them remind me I'm special, so special...

FOUND - Blogs Keeping Us in the Pink

This from my pal, actress Gretchen Egolf:

"Recently on my way to see my friend Anmarie’s utterly charming and smart play, RE-TALE, I found I had a little time to kill before curtain-up so I popped into the Marie Curie charity shop just steps away from the Hen & Chickens theatre in Islington. In honor of the play and Huntress London (I'd been surfing the blog that week), I was inspired to buy this scene-stealing Diane Von Furstenberg number. Seen here at a film premiere, I felt picture perfect wrapped in DVF's fuchsia wool winner. The dress was just £40. I'd like to thank the Academy, the charity shop, Huntress London, my family..."

I'm flattered that Huntress inspired Gretchen. Her hot pink pick got me thinking about the blogs that inspire me. There are so many but here's a stylish sampling of what I've been clicking on lately:

Kerry Taylor Auctions website & blog CLICK HERE features an online catalogue that is glorious. KT's latest fashion auction is scheduled for 28 April and even if you can't afford to buy, the viewing days prior to the auction are FREE. The blog itself is full of fash history and style ideas. Read and Learn.  

I'm a big fan of Caroline Jones, of Knickers My Own CLICK HERE. She's wearing clothes from Cancer Research Charity shops for the whole of 2015. That's 365 days of 2nd-hand chic. She's good at it too, Caroline makes charity shop style look easy, modern and cool. In the process she's raising money for Cancer Research - I like to think of her as a sartorial philanthropist.

I'm from the American midwest state of Ohio, so a virtual visit to Kent State University's fashion museum feels like coming home. The Online Catalogue CLICK HERE allows you to browse their collection, and oh my what a collection! Lovely photos coupled with informative descriptions. It's a nice way to wile away a Sunday afternoon. 

Not surprisingly I'm both a regular reader and contributor to the Oxfam Fashion blog CLICK HERE. A relentless team of 2nd-hand style bloggers provide great ideas, content and photos, making this blog an eclectic style read. Contributor Britishette CLICK HERE is a personal fave, and writes her own rather compelling blog as well.  

Clea Broad CLICK HERE is not just a milliner, not just a florist but a style story teller. Her creations have the power to transport you to an imaginary fashion paradise. I love looking in on her, virtually. I'm always uplifted by Clea's latest and greatest.  

What style blogs are you reading these days? 

TRY THIS - Secondhand Soundtrack

The Bargain Store by Dolly Parton

My life is like unto a bargain store

And I may have just what you're lookin' for

If you don't mind the fact that all the merchandise is used

But with a little mending it could be as good as new

Why you take for instance this old broken heart

If you will just replace the missing parts

You would be surprised to find how good it really is

Take it and you never will be sorry that you did

The bargain store is open come inside

You can easily afford the price

Love is all you need to purchase all the merchandise

And I will guarantee you'll be completely satisfied

Take these old used memories from the past

And these broken dreams and plans that didn't last

I'll trade them for a future, I can't use them anymore

I've wasted love but I still have some more

The bargain store is open come inside

You can easily afford the price

Love is all you need to purchase all the merchandise

And I can guarantee you'll be completely satisfied

My life is like unto a bargain store

And I may have just what you're lookin' for

If you don't mind the fact that all the merchandise is used

With a little mendin' it could be as good as new

The bargain store is open, come inside

The bargain store is open, come inside

To my surprise and delight, I've found the Huntress London anthem, in fact the perfect theme tune for any 2nd-hand style siren. It's Dolly Parton's The Bargain Store, a sweetly melancholy track released in 1975. I ran across it after picking up The Very Best of DP, pre-owned of course. I'm old school, no music via a portable MP3 player for me, instead I enjoy and endure the sounds of the city when traveling about London. It's while comfortably confined in my own home that I pop in a CD and crank up the tunes. Behind closed doors I can safely dance about the sitting room and warble into a hairbrush. To hear the Dolly ditty that has me singing her praises, CLICK HERE. The Queen of Country's My Potential New Boyfriend and the classic Jolene make this song compilation a must-have costume jewel.

TRY THIS - You May Kiss The Bridesmaid

Once again my friend Alma - actor and frequent guest blogger - offers her insightful 2nd-hand style observations to Huntress London readers. I Do - love a wedding. Don't you Alma?   

"I find myself cast in an unexpected role, not on stage but in life - I am a bridesmaid. Maybe it's a role I should have considered sooner, but growing up in Italy it really wasn't a star turn I ever contemplated. As a little girl, dreams of the perfect wedding weren't something I imagined. My debut on a West End stage, yes, many times; a walk down the aisle, never." 

"So when one of my best friends asked me to be her bridesmaid, I entered a highly unfamiliar world. I love this girl and I'm really excited for her big day, because in her case this is a dream come true, so I'm keen to embrace the wedding-sphere." 

"Unfortunately, our first bridal mission did little to win me over to the white side - a wedding fair at the soulless Excel Centre in East London where the first stall to welcome the bride-to-be was hosted by Weight Watchers. I could bore you with 5 paragraphs on the myriad ways in which that stall galls me, but this is not the place. Instead, I want to tell you about the perfect antidote - The National Vintage Wedding Fair CLICK HERE." 

"The venue, lovely Stoke Newington Town Hall, looked picture perfect decked out in well-chosen vintage stalls. The fair was small, friendly and full of good ideas. The exhibitors were approachable and everyone had a chat with us without a hard sales push. Offerings ranged from photographers to prop hire, wedding dresses to stylists, all with a vintage angle, naturally."

"Where at the Excel the entertainment was provided by a woman in a wedding dress singing the Disney anthem 'Let it Go,' here we were delighted by the dulcet tones of Rose Lancaster CLICK HERE and effervescent wartime trio The Victory Sisters CLICK HERE." 

"We had a long chat with self-proclaimed "professional hoarder" Mandy of Something Borrowed Something Vintage CLICK HERE who, apart from having THE best business card ever (attached to a tea bag), hires out vintage china and other items to give a special touch to any wedding venue. Lula & Rye CLICK HERE offer a similar service with a hipster edge if that's your style."

"My personal favourites were the dresses. To my mind they were simply stunning vintage dresses - right up my street - that just happened to be white. If you don't mind your special dress being worn ahead of your big day, then you can expect to find a beautiful, unique and affordable frock. Bristol-based Heartfelt Vintage CLICK HERE stocked beautiful lacy dresses, Vintage Trousseau CLICK HERE offered rather elegant looks and Sally Lacock CLICK HERE really caught my eye."

"All in all we had a lovely day and came away with a few useful contacts and good ideas. I'm certainly feeling steeped in wedding spirit after seeing things through rose-tinted, vintage glasses."

"As I said to the bride, it will be just like putting on a fabulous show. The next few months will be spent sorting out costumes and props and on the day, as a bridesmaid, I'll help the leading lady get into costume, hair and make-up. I've got to remember my blocking and make sure no one misses their cue. Seems as a bridesmaid, I'm perfectly cast."  

For more information on National Vintage Wedding Fairs CLICK HERE.

FOUND - Scenes Set in Aquamarine

I found this Aquamarine ring at Avenue Vintage & Antique Market in West Ealing. The semi-precious gem is the birthstone for March, and while my birthday is in February, I can't resist the sparkling lucidity of this sky blue jewel. An incredibly hard stone due to a high iron content, the watery hue is a particularly appealing pastel. The earrings were actually mined near Zimbabwe and set in Harare - my home from 1998 to 2001. Memories of my Southern African adventure are the greatest gift the country gave me. From the hot wet spray off Victoria Falls to the wide Jacaranda-lined streets of Bulawayo, from the soulful sounds of native son Oliver Mtukudzi to the piercing, lyrical words of writer, my friend, the late Yvonne Vera, Zimbabwe lives inside me. Her people, troubled but eternally optimistic, burn bright in my head and heart. Zimbabweans deserve so much more than they've been given by their so-called leader. Uniting my Zimbabwe gems with the matching secondhand ring feels like connecting the dots of my life. With flawless clarity they represent my love of Zimbabwe and my life in London. I don't recall how much the earrings cost but the ring was just £20.   

TRY THIS - Style Scripted On Stage

Over the weekend the curtain came down on my play Re:Tale at Hen & Chickens in Islington. It was an exciting 1-week run that saw my nerves fray and pride swell, as talented cast and crew brought my work from page to stage. If you weren't able to see it, here's one of the character's mini rants, performed by the exceptional actress Zena Carswell. A rather 'Huntress London' sentiment, I think you'll find.  

     

(customer exits)

SHOPGIRL: She left her paper. (a glossy fashion magazine is curled inside the newspaper)  Oooo, and this.  This.  She had one of these. Bright, beguiling but evil. The devil in a red dress, Satan in satin, Lucifer in leggings, well for one more season maybe.  Leggings.

(opens the magazine)

Shame. 

Shaming us into wanting pricey frocks imagined by over-cool under-coiffed, occasionally anti-Semitic, wide boys who are having a laugh while disguising themselves as everymen women lovers. 

Consider this darling demon! He’s over-thinking a perfectly acceptable mackintosh, in an attempt to justify making it ludicrously expensive. He claims “the trench coat is the most democratic piece of clothing. A farmer in Yorkshire, the Queen of England and Sid Vicious would wear it.” So then modern democracy is white, Anglo Saxon and sporting a bad haircut? Maybe he’s got a point. But fashion? Democratic? Democracy’s not even democratic lately, so how are frocks and baubles going to be? And why should they? Fashion is fluff, not politics, and no matter how hard it wishes it were significant and serious, it’s not. 

Most women know it actually.     

We don’t take this personally. Maybe we do. (starts tearing pages from the magazine) It’s a trivial, convivial con that makes us chuckle. It takes the edge off, really. Flipping through these glossy, saucy, worthless, clueless, pretty pages.       

Surely we know this is rubbish. We do! But still. It’s this that allows us to think that she (points to a woman in the audience) is something less than thee. 

Thank you to everyone who made Re:Tale happen.

 It was dramatic, joyful and stylish. Thank you so much. 

photos of Zena Carswell by Alex Grey 

TRY THIS - Reactionary Style

I find myself much in the company of actors lately. Rehearsing my play Re:Tale, debuting at Hen & Chickens in Islington 24-28 March, I am surrounded by drama. The quartet of actors and director Brigitte Adela of Written Foundations bring a positive intensity to the rehearsal room, an honest vigor that I'm finding rather stylish.

Carrie Hill CLICK HERE

How often do the world's most photographed models stare lifelessly down a camera lens? It seems contemporary fashion often requires expressionless faces that tell no tales. 

Laura Glover CLICK HERE

But actors, while indeed acting, brim with potent emotion. They're engaged in every word uttered. They naturally search for truth in their work, a search I find mesmerizing. It's difficult to take your eyes off these women as they continually act and importantly, react.

Zena Carswell CLICK HERE

Reactions, subtle but fierce or clashing and unexpected, add texture to who we are as human beings. Nothing is a stylish as a woman engrossed in the world she inhabits. (Even if it is the make-believe world of a stage play). Why not wear the beating life inside us like a giant wooden bangle or shocking pink top coat? The body language and expression of a corpse may be all the rage but it's a modern look that wants for character.  

Liis Mikk CLICK HERE

 CLICK HERE for tickets to Re:Tale, 24-28 March

TRY THIS - Give Mumsy Real Meaning

My Mom

I find fashion jargon occasionally baffling. The word "mumsy," for example, has come to stand for a vogue-less clothing look. For much of the Flippin' Fashion Industry (FFI), mumsy means thoughtless, feeble and ineffective dress sense. And while recently Dolce & Gabbana sent models accessorized with babies down the runways of Milan Fashion Week, this headline-stealing stunt did highlight the fact that women with children are normally anything but thoughtless, feeble and ineffective. 

Me and Mom, 1965

My mom raised three children, supports and delights in her grandchildren, built a banking career, opened a clothing shop, buried a husband, remarried, perpetually seeks new experiences and takes pride in her rather chic appearance. With humor and panache she shines in a world that would just as soon make septuagenarians like herself invisible. If mumsy means style-less, then my mom is un-mumsy.

Me and Mom 1998

But when did mumsy's meaning get so muddled? Shouldn't this term be applied to those whose determination and experience is offered with creative concern? Let mumsy signify strength, sensitivity and style. That's surely what it's meant in my life. Shouldn't an industry keen to court women make "mumsy" high praise? Language is powerful, but never more so than when it's misused. I'm left wondering why the FFI continually insults women who, for many of us, were our first style icons?  

Mom and Me, 2013 

TRY THIS - Black Brit Experience at V&A

I found the V&A Exhibit, Staying Power: Photographs of British Black Experience 1950s-1990s that opened yesterday both absorbing and optimistic CLICK HERE. Over the last 7 years the V&A has worked with the Black Cultural Archives to acquire images that document the lives of black people in Britain. Supported by Heritage Lottery Funding, the museum has collected 118 works by 17 artists in an effort to beef up their collection.

Al Vandenberg, 'High Street Kensington' from the series 'On a Good Day'   

(c) The Estate of Al Vandenberg / Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The photo above was part of a grouping by Al Vadenberg that were collectively my favourite. Vadenberg lived in New York City in the 60s but would later move to London. He combined street photography with portraiture, posing his subjects, often outside shop fronts. They include a photo of school girls preening for the camera. It seems clear that for these young women the camera retained a magical quality. While they're light-hearted, the girls radiate respect for the process of being photographed. There's also a photo of a woman wearing roller skates who caught my eye - her rope belt something I intend to style into my look come summer. 

Nomski, 'African Homeboy - Brixton, London 1987' printed 2011
(c) Nomski/ Victoria & Albert, London

This photo, part of a trio on exhibit by Nomski, held my attention. While the man may be trying to appear ominous, it's not working. I wonder if his sense of style trumps his desire to intimidate? Another photo of 3 young women entitled 'She Rockers (London Rap/Dance Crew),' shows tough, urban girl friends. But like the photo above, the violent insignia that often adorn contemporary gang culture is absent. The 'She Rockers' appear fresh faced, even naive.        

Neil Kenlock, ‘Untitled [Young woman seated on the floor at home in front of her television 
set]' C- type print, London, 1972, (c) Neil Kenlock/ Victoria & Albert, London

Neil Kenlock's quartet of photos, including the one above, show what appears to be a family (mother, father, daughter and young son) posed with their possessions. I'm drawn to the pattern clashing and matching that dominates this photo. For me, their home is this family's canvas and I envy their courageous and idiosyncratic style.      

JD Okhai Ojeikere, 'Untitled, HG423-04 from the series Headties
silver gelatin print, Nigeria, 2004, From The Estate of
JD Okhai Ojeikere/ Victoria & Albert, London  

Eight photos by JD Okahi Ojeikere, like this, show 4 head ties and 4 contemporary black hair styles. Each set of images, one traditional and one modern, offers up remarkable style sculptures. While we cannot see the women's faces, these imagines are surprisingly personal. The back of the human neck, such a vulnerable place - both strong and sensitive. 

The exhibition runs until 24 May and is free of charge. If you're in the area, I urge you to view these photos and the others on offer. Running alongside the V&A Exhibit is a Staying Power selection of photos at the Black Cultural Archives CLICK HERE. Founded in 1981, Black Cultural Archives' mission is to collect, preserve and celebrate the heritage and history of black people in Britain. Staying Power serves as example of why London is a vibrant, buzzing, world city - an institutional partnership, supported by public funding, produces a thoughtful, stylish and FREE exhibition. 

TRY THIS - A Play With Words & Dresses

I find myself enjoying a spot of good luck. I'm pleased to announce that my play - RE:Tale - will make its debut at The Hen & Chickens in Islington, North London, 24-28 March. The play is inspired by the women who frequented my clothing shop near Hyde Park, a place Time Out called a "flamboyant nugget." While the shop is now closed, this pacey little play brings it back to life while considering our complicated relationships with clothing and each other. 

"I was only, I don't know, 13-years-old. But already dresses were speaking to me."

Part who-done-it, part dressing room drama, RE:Tale features four talented actresses playing 15 characters. Thanks to Written Foundations, the brainchild of producing powerhouse Brigitte Adela, we've already had our first read through. Huntress London will bring you occasional updates from the rehearsal room, costume reveals (2nd-hand of course) and ticketing details. To book NOW go to Unrestricted View, CLICK HERE. 

Re:Tale is proudly Sponsored by 

Shoelicks CLICK HERE and 

Blue17 CLICK HERE

Poster designed by Alex Grey of Sideline Artwork CLICK HERE 

TRY THIS - Window Stopping & Seeing

Clerkenwell

Bristol

Deal

Brugge

Derby

Antwerp

Paddington

Penzance

I find shop windows irresistible. Having once dressed the large, telling window in my own shop, I know creating a porthole that pops is no walk in the park. I appreciate the ingenuity and vision of shop owners and dressers. Windows, like eyes of the city, reflect a story that is instantaneous and infinite.  

FOUND - Selfie And The City

I find hand-held technology remarkable. That said, I don't have a smart phone or a tablet, and my MP3 player is gathering dust in my desk drawer. The sights and sounds of the city so heavily inspire what I wear and write that I can't afford to block them out with 'personal' music or lower my eyes in favour of a blinking screen. I have however lately snapped a handful of selfies, with a camera (not a phone). This pop culture portrait phenomenon and its limited perspective quickly left me spiritless. But as soon as I turned the lens outward, something far more interesting developed.