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Today I'm going on a style journey with British luxury
footwear designer, the wonderful Penelope Silvers.
Hello and welcome, Penelope. It's hello, Amanda.
It's. Lovely to have you here.
And thank you for having me. Oh.
That's such a pleasure. Congratulations on your new
Cotswolds store. It's your first country store
and I'm curious to know why you decided you settled on Store in
the World. Well, store in the world is
quite close to home and it's a very pretty historic town and
I've always wanted to have a country store.
So it's it just it was serendipity that the right store
came up at the right time. But actually I've wanted to have
a country store long before I had a London store.
It was always my dream to have the the concept of a country
store on the way to somewhere beautiful.
And back in back 22 years ago when I first started, people
asked me what what my dream kind of shop would be.
And I always said it would be on the side of the motorway on the
way out of the city to escape for the city to go somewhere
absolutely beautiful and bucolic.
And you know, I used to look at those wimpy bars and that
eventually became M&S and, and think about them as perfect
locations. But anyway, I ended up opening
three stores in London lot before I managed to convince my
team that I really wanted to be in the country as well.
Oh brilliant because the I always think of the collection
as being quite country inspired. If if that's a fair.
It is definitely yes, even though it sounds rather unsexy,
you know, country, country clothing has has got a certain
ring to it, which I don't necessarily feel totally
encapsulates what I do. But when I'm designing and
thinking, thinking about what we stand for and how I want people
to wear our our shoes and boots, it's always in a beautiful
landscape, one with nature feeling free.
Yeah, that, that's really beautiful.
And I do actually feel that the country and the Cotswolds in
particular, is having a massive, massive moment.
I mean, you know, with everything from Daylesford to
Soho Farmhouse to, you know, Maison, Estelle or Estelle.
Farm Manor. Manor.
That's it And and everyone sort of who you would expect to be
quite towny, people are now going out and enjoying the
splendor of the British countryside and so it must be
actually really brilliant for a brand like yours.
Yeah, I think post COVID, there's certainly been that,
that direction that people have wanted to go in out of the city
and and, you know, so many people actually left the city
for for the time of lockdown, but it's also badly needed.
I think. I hope I can justify to some of
the older generation living out in the country who say to me,
oh, you know, don't bring sophistication, let's just keep
it how it is. But I have taken on a very old
store in a market town where there's always been commerce,
the history of commerce, you know, thousands of years back.
And I feel like the custodian of a beautiful old place that needs
restoration, revival and energy. Possibly one of your most iconic
styles is your gorgeous long tassel boot, particularly loved
and worn for many years by our beautiful Princess of Wales.
Do you know how she came to own a pair of your boots in the 1st
place? Were you aware that she did or
was the first you saw when you saw a fabulous picture of her
looking great in country clothing?
I think that the first time I met Kate and her mother was at
Spirit of Christmas where she bought a pair of boots and she
obviously liked them a lot and wore them again and again.
But it was that moment when there was an image that went
viral of her wearing the boots the day that they got engaged.
Gorgeous. And that went viral all over the
world, and she'd had the boots for quite a long time by then.
And did your website crash? Did you sell hundreds of pairs
overnight? I'm.
Not sure if I even had a website then.
I didn't have a shopping website.
It was very early on, but I had a wholesale website.
And did the phones ring off the hook?
Yes, they did. And she continues to wear them
to this day. Yeah, and I have to say, I have
a pair. They are fantastic.
They last forever. They last forever.
They look great. There's something, I mean, I
love a good pair of wellies, but there's something about that
long tassel boot that just looks a bit chicer, a bit more
feminine than than a good old pair of wellies.
I it was the first boot I ever made.
It was when I was living in Barcelona and I used to go
riding in my lunch break in Koicerola, which is a park above
the city and. That sounds so glamorous.
Sorry. I used to go riding in my my
lunch break. That's just fantastic.
So. So you decided that you needed a
boot. Well, I went to a horse fair and
met an artisan and got chatting. I, I was already working with
artisans and craftspeople in Spain.
That was what I did when I lived in Barcelona.
And so I got talking to him and I'm fascinated in design and we
designed the classic Spanish riding boot to my own
measurements and design where I tweaked the ankle.
It used to be more of a unisex style, but I made it very
feminine and slightly longer. And that was the first pair of
boots I I ever made. I wasn't, I didn't have a
business then. I was doing something else.
I was designing other things. And at that stage, did they have
the chunky sole or were they a leather sole?
More of a riding boot sole. I put on the chunky cell, yeah.
Fantastic, fantastic. I mean, I think we have a mutual
love of timeless design, which I, I guess from a business
perspective has its challenges because your design, you've
designed pieces that last for a very long time.
How do you overcome that in terms of driving the business
forward? There are plenty of people out
there and everybody needs footwear.
So I'm not worried about my product lasting for a very long
time. In fact, I'm very proud of it
and I really believe in making things for longevity.
And I think I also believe in teaching our customers how to
care for their boots. I mean, today I'm wearing a pair
of boots that are three years old that I've had resold already
and I love to Polish them and it's part of our DNA.
There is something lovely about the patterner of time, isn't it?
And the artisans that make our boots, particularly our
equestrian boots, are experts in making footwear to last for a
very long time. It's what they've always done
and they've taught me really my trade so.
And so with do you have two collections a year?
How does how does it work or or do you drip feed new product in
throughout the year? Yes, we've started doing that.
So it's it's an evolution rather than a revolution.
Yes, Yeah. Nicely put.
Yeah. I love that I I always feel that
clothes and accessories should be an evolution rather than a
revolution. We, you know, we get through too
much stuff and we should be buying less, buying better,
cherishing it, which I think is. Yes, and also the design
process. You know, I do start a year in
advance to think about what people will be needing in in a
year's time. And I like to try and make kind
of the essential wardrobe for a woman.
So I try to keep it as lean as possible always.
And sometimes I miss things at the time, but I work with
factories in Spain, so they're all close to home.
So we're still quite agile. And if I think about something
that we've forgotten, I'm able normally to turn it around quite
quickly. Now talking about a capsule
wardrobe, if if I said to you, what would be in your capsule
wardrobe of shoes and boots at an absolute minimum, what would
those pieces be? Well, there would be an ankle
boot, probably on a crepe sole that you can run around in.
There would be a trainer or a walking boot that you could walk
on, walk in and get exercise, you know, wherever you go,
walking to work or just going for a quick Sprint.
I, I, I walk twice a day and I don't normally put on special
trainers. I wear my own boots or shoes,
whatever's comfortable. A party shoe, probably flat and
high. Yeah.
I wear a pair of clogs because we have very cold floors in the
country and I love to wear those.
But I also love I've. I find them incredibly
comfortable at the end of a day as well, when you've been
wearing something different. A pair of velvet slippers for
the evening. I find those incredibly
comfortable and beautiful and timeless.
I don't think I can think of much else.
But do you know what I I think that covers pretty much
everything. I mean, just talking velvet
slippers for a moment, these exquisite ones that that you
bought today, Talk to me about those.
So that was a collaboration with a group of of safari camps in
Rajasthan owned by Anjali and Jaisal Singh and they're called
Sujan, the group, and they all offer something entirely
different, but they are all conservation projects that I
found. I went, I went there to find out
what they were about. And it was the most impressive
effort to conserving the local landscape and wildlife that I've
ever seen. Absolutely extraordinary.
And these, these slippers were dedicated to the conservation of
the tiger, which is in dangerous extinction.
And we dedicate 10% of every pair of slippers that we make to
the conservation project. That's Suzanne.
And can you just talk me through the design process because
you've got the most extraordinary looking tiger on
these embroidered absolutely beautifully on this deep, deep
green velvet. But just just talk to me about
did did you draw that tiger and then get it embroidered?
How? We drew it together, Angele and
I Yeah, she already draws her and her, the tigers that she
knows, they, she knows quite a few of the local tigers that
that move around the camp and they see them sometimes at
night. And it's within the Ranthambore
Forest. So the dark green velvet is
represents the Ranthambore forest.
And the tiger. I had to adapt to the shape of
the upper of the slipper, the pattern.
And Anjali was very particular. She said no, no, that those gels
need to come out a little bit more.
It's looking like a Chinese tiger and the the the ears need
to be a certain shape and the markings need to be in certain
places. So it took quite a long time and
it's all in, in gold, metallic thread, in three tones and the
negative is the velvet. Absolutely exquisite.
Now talking India, you did a collaboration with India Hicks,
didn't you? Yes.
Yeah. Can you know what brought that
about, that collaboration about? South India is one of our PC
pioneers, which is a name that we give to all the women that
inspire me as a designer but also the brand to to embrace the
women that we admire and. I love that.
By the way, I was looking at on your website as I was sort of
pulling together my, my research and you've got such a lovely
cross section and, and some surprising women on there, which
I think surprising is always inspiring.
Well, she very kindly asked me to do the footwear for her
collection. And then we're also bringing
back something that I think our customers are going to be really
excited by, which is the first cowboy boot that I ever did with
her that you're wearing today. Which I love, by the way, and I
love a cowboy boot with a skirt and so yes.
It's got a particularly long shaft which is incredibly
elegant, designed especially for India who's got very long legs.
So today we're going on a style journey.
I want to know how you decided what you were putting on this
morning. I'm wearing.
I will start with the footwear. I was going to ask you that, Do
you always start with your footwear and then work work on
up? And maybe not if I'm at home not
wearing anything, but if I'm going to be, yes, if I'm going
to work, yeah, I do. And today I'm wearing a pair of
pull on brown boots and a vegetable dyed leather and they
were the second pair of boots I ever made.
So after the long tassel boot, I made these and I haven't had
them for a long time. I mean, I've had my own which
are 20 years old and I've had versions of them, but I haven't
had them in the collection for a long time.
But I wanted to go back to it and offer something bespoke for
the new store in Stowe, because it's in the middle of horse
country, English horse country. I wanted to to provide a new
equestrian boot, not to just be worn on horseback, but also to
be worn with skirts like I'm wearing today.
And so we're offering it in three different calf
measurements and I think 6 different Leathers, and we're
embroidering people's initials on it.
How lovely and how long does the the process take from me coming
in and ordering mine with my initials and all of that to me
pulling them on? Six weeks.
God, that's quick. Yeah, that's incredible.
And so lots of different colours.
Yeah, well, just classic colours.
These are boots to be worn, you know, throughout the year.
So we've got our classic Conquer brown and black and an amazing
tan, natural tan and then different suede colours like
khaki and Navy and bitter chocolate.
Gorgeous, gorgeous. So you've got your riding boot
on with a denim skirt. Denim skirt that was made by a
friend of mine and a shirt that I bought on holiday in Spain.
It looks very Spanish. I'm not very good at my brands
and and then my jacket that I was wearing earlier is Lagazel,
which is a brand that make jackets and coats and boleros
out of vintage blankets. Oh gorgeous.
And we, we are representing them in still in the world.
We've got a little area in the shop that's a pop up for other
brands and I've specifically chosen small British brands that
do really unusual things. Lovely.
I love vintage, so yeah. Yeah, I know.
I love the the whole feeling of upcycling.
Yes. Can you tell me a bit about your
necklaces because they are striking me as so beautiful.
Thank you. Well, this medallion was given
to me by by my factory after a pilgrimage that we walked on
together. It's the Rothea and where I make
boots in Spain everybody pays homage to once a year and goes
on a horseback ride to to Rothia, which is a place in
southern Spain and it was probably the most incredible
journey I've ever been on. How long does it take?
2 days. Wow, and you were on.
I was actually on foot. On foot, Yeah, Wow.
But a lot of people are on horseback around you.
Yes. How magical, Yes?
Half are on foot and and the restaurant on horseback.
It's it's I found it very inspiring and wonderful.
And I was christened on the pilgrimage to be at Rothiera as
well. And it's kind of feels like a
good luck, good luck token to to my business, really all the
first people who started making. And do you do you find yourself
wearing that every day? Most days, yes.
Do you ever reach for it when you think I just want a little
bit of extra confidence? Yes, I probably do.
Yeah. Now you grew up in England, were
you very aware of your mother's style growing up?
Yes, I think my mother was. Both my parents enjoyed clothes
and I think I think my mother was very stylish.
I do remember one of my earliest memories was spending hours in
her silk scarf drawer tidying and putting colors together and
folding them and looking at them.
I loved that moment and I can remember it and I used to.
It was a big treat to be able to go and tidy her silk silk scarf
drawer. How old were you, do you reckon,
when you were doing that? I can't remember that, it's
probably the earliest memory. I must have been 6 or.
And and was it the feel or was it the colours or the patterns?
It was all of that. It was all of that.
I know you were very influenced by childhood holidays in Spain.
Can you tell me about what what were the particular influences
there? Yes, I feel like my creativity
awakened in Spain. It felt very exotic and
beautiful. We had we used to spend summer
holidays there and I remember there was a there was a family
who lived next door who only wore white.
I thought they looked so exotic. White and bare feet to go to the
square for a drink in the evening.
And they were probably gorgeously tanned to.
And were they, were they Spanish?
Yes, yes. And I also remember finding I, I
remember my first, first shoes that I have, you know, my mother
gave me at the end of the holiday.
It was a treat to go shoe shopping at the end of a summer
holiday and I remember buying some moccasins in a beautiful
bullhide leather which I absolutely adored and my very
first cowboy boots as well. And what colour were your
bullhide moccasins? They were a beautiful tan, the
perfect tan. Lovely.
Now are are these the? Made by hand.
Al Hagatas. No no, but I I do make
alphargatas as well. So please can you tell me what
an alphargata is? Yes, it's an espadrille in
Catalan. Right.
Yeah, OK. And I speak.
Spanish and Catalan as well. I I can tell just by the way you
say Catalan. Why does it need to be in
Bullhide? Bullhide is a is a cut of of
cowhide, but it's particularly thick and wrinkly and beautiful
textural. And does it have a certain flex
to? It, yes, you don't need, well,
you don't need to line it, which is lovely.
Yeah, those natural vegetable dyed Leathers that I use,
there's only one tannery really left that does it.
In Spain. In Spain and I love their
Leathers, we make belts and wallets and.
And can you? Can you?
For those of us who don't might not know what veg tan means, can
you just explain that? So vegetable dye just means that
there are no chemicals used and our particular hides are oiled
in cabraccio, which is a kind of oil that comes from a tree and.
So it's all an incredibly natural process, because
otherwise the tanning process is pretty chemical, isn't it?
Yes it is. And now we've started using gold
rated tanneries for any of our other Leathers just to make sure
that we we know what's being used.
What's your view on vegan leather?
I say vegan leather. I don't have much of A view on
it yet because I haven't started using it because I haven't found
one that works in the same way as natural Leathers.
If I could and it was biodegradable, which for me is
the most important thing. You know what I worry most about
being in production is waste and where it goes to.
And I can't bear the thought of any of our products sitting in
the ground and not biodegrading. So until a vegan leather is
created the way, it hasn't got any plastic in it.
I know you love an animal print, hence me wearing 1 today.
Is that just for show shoes or do you enjoy wearing animal
print on on your body? I love wearing animal print.
It's perfect neutral. And I think it's.
I love it, yeah. Have you ever been inspired to
venture into Ready to Wear because you've got this sort of
lovely brand, the timeless shoes and boots?
And I just wondered if you've ever thought, OK, well, I could
take that one step further. I would love to, I would
absolutely love to give me the brief.
Funny enough, a lot of people ask us, you know, when we're
styling our footwear, we always obviously need clothing and we
try really hard to style well. We it isn't, it isn't difficult,
it isn't trying hard. We really enjoy styling with
vintage clothing and some of the vintage clothing that gets used
on our shoots. I hold onto with the thought
that one day I'll have an archive to to design A
collection. Yeah, it is lovely actually,
just dipping into vintage to to be inspired.
Well, I love textiles and I love my clothes, so I would love to
one day. In this content hungry world,
the social media that we inhabit, how do you feel about
being the face of your brand? I just feel incredibly lucky
that I'm still relevant, you know?
Yeah, I feel just very lucky. I mean, I love to.
I've, I've really enjoyed creating a brand.
For me, it's been like a, you know, I was trained as an artist
and painter and went to art school and building a brand,
funny enough to me has been a little bit like a work of art in
its many layers. And it's, it's conceptual side
as well as the design side. So I love to, to think about it
and talk about it and, and represent it because it's
everything I believe in. And but there's another side to
it that I also, I really enjoy spending time on my own and I
need to be creative. So if it steals time for me
making things and being creative and thinking through the process
of of my work, then that that can be annoying or a hindrance.
I mean, you have two daughters. Who are they now both involved
in the business? Yes, they are.
Yes, yeah. Do do do you think having their
generation within the business, has that affected your approach
to design in any way? Yes.
I mean, wherever evolving, you know, we're in a very different
place to when I started designing 22 years ago.
I mean, fashion has moved on. Everything that the fashion
world stands for has moved on as well.
We're, you know, so much so different.
But I find it incredibly inspiring working with them.
I feel very lucky to be surrounded by by family but also
the next generation. Because am I right in saying one
of your daughters works with you on the design side?
Yes. And the other one works in
marketing, but she's also our stylist, our in house stylist.
So she dresses the model for all our photo shoots and she dresses
me as well. That's that's absolutely lovely.
How would you want your daughters, let's say, to
describe your style DNA in three words?
Well, colour, I think I'm very colourful, so they probably say
I was colourful, eclectic and interesting possibly.
Yeah, like that. I like that.
Would you say being stylish is important to you?
I suppose just because I'm a great appreciator of beautiful
things, I think that dressing with care can, you know, can be,
it partakes a bit of joy and that doesn't it?
And. I I often talk about clothes
being our armour and I wonder if you ever think like that.
Sometimes, yes. I mean, not very.
I don't think of it very often, but I think one of the questions
you were going to ask me today was an extravagant moment in my
wardrobe when I bought something.
Can I talk about? That you can talk about that
right now. I was thinking of probably the
most expensive dress that I've bought recently.
When I was in New York and I was I was host, there was a party in
that was hosted in my name where I was going to give a talk and I
caught something on the plane and felt terrible and I caught
flu. And there was no way I could not
turn up for this, this party full of customers that that knew
the brand. And so I bought myself a dress.
I was on the North Shore in Massachusetts and I bought
myself a beautiful emerald green dress from Anne Mashburn in a
really thick raw silk and wore that to the party with a pair of
leopard skin velvet pumps that we make.
And it kind of felt like Armour that night because I was, you
know, topped up with paracetamol and feeling terrible.
But it was turned out to be the most incredible evening,
probably thanks to my dress. And out of interest, had you
you'd obviously packed something to wear that night and and then
arrived feeling horrible and knowing that you needed a bit
but a bit of a boost. Absolutely.
Fantastic, So what is at home? Chill out, Penelope wearing.
Well, I love a shirt. I I wear a man's shirt or a man,
you know, I'm a masculine looking striped blue and white
shirt when I'm designing and jeans.
If I asked you, do you have a style hack for staying sort of
cooler and as the years creep by, what would that be?
A good neckline like a like a shirt like you're wearing today
is really always attractive. Lucky I reach for this, isn't
it? What's your approach to hair,
makeup and manicures? I don't do enough of it because
I always feel so nice when I do. And what what's your favorite in
terms of a treat? Probably the hairdressers a.
Good blow dry, yes. Yeah, nothing beats a good blow
dry, I think. Do you have a style icon?
Yes, I've, I've been thinking about this.
I have many style icons, but I thought I would mention Karen
Blixen out of Africa. That just wonderful look when
she was played by Meryl Streep. Yeah, the jod pas and I actually
once went to Nairobi and visited Karen, which is a district
outside Nairobi named after her. And her wardrobe just had three
pieces of clothing in it. It had a beautiful pair of brown
riding boots and then two pairs of Jod pas, beautiful wool jod
pas with leather patches down the inside leg and a shirt.
Talking about the, you know, living in the wild or being
wild, I, I love a free woman. You know, in my, in my mind's
eye, when I'm designing someone, I'm thinking of that freedom
that a pair of boots gives you. And I was thinking of penélope
Cruz, but I'll say it in English. penélope Cruz or
penélope Cruz, who is the most incredible Spanish actress and
in Hammon Hammon, which is one of her early films.
I just love her wildness and freedom and hair and her face in
the wind. I just, I love.
That lovely, I love that. Inspiring.
Oh, I love that you lead an incredibly busy life.
You know you're designing, you're travelling, either on
production or promotion. Is your wardrobe phenomenally
organised? No, I'm really untidy,
disorganised and my wardrobe's a mess.
Would you say you're a mood dresser or do you plan your
looks at the beginning of the week?
I'm definitely a mood dresser. I find it very difficult to make
a decision until it's 10 minutes before I have to go.
When you're unsure of what you've put on, who do you most
trust for an honest opinion? My daughters.
Would you say you've had a worst fashion moment?
Yes, I'm sure I have. I remember when I was about 16
because I think it was a 16th birthday party.
I went. God, I can't imagine what I
looked like. I wore my father's red Viola
pyjamas to a party once. I'm tiny but I thought it looked
cool at the time. Was there a dress code or you
just thought it looked? Cool.
I just thought it looked really cool.
What? Do you know what?
I'm sure it did, and you probably felt really cool too.
But the must have been done by my knees.
I'd. Love to see a picture of that.
Let's talk about travel. What shoes do you travel in?
I like to travel in a crepe soled boot.
We've been making Safari boots for many, many times.
So many of our customers have bought them over the years and
this season we've done a new version of that boot, which is
called the Rambler boot. And talk to me about what that
looks like. It's crepe soled.
It's a Billy construction, which means that the the outside edge
of the sole has been turned out and overstitched.
Oh, lovely. Crepe sole and we've got a lace
up version in in in a tortoiseshell print which looks
like a large version of leopard skin print and that's what I run
around in when I'm on photo shoots.
Yeah, and. At the factory as well, when
we're on our feet. All the time.
I was going to say you spend quite a lot of time in Spain
visiting factories etcetera, suppliers.
Would you say your style is different in Spain to being in
the UK? Yes, it is actually.
That's a sort of interesting question, A.
Little bit more Spanish do. You.
Speak fluent Spanish anyhow. Don't you?
Yeah, yeah. I lived there for 10 years, but
I spoke Spanish really before I went to live there.
I think my style in Spain is probably a bit more feminine.
I think the Spanish Spanish women really know how to bring
out that they're very confident with their curves and their
femininity. And I think I probably dress in
that way when I'm when I'm in Spain.
The Spanish are quite formal in their dress, aren't they?
Yeah. And I'm out in the sticks.
My, my factories are not in in the city.
So I don't mean that I am wearing formal urban style.
It's just tidier. Maybe like I've made an effort.
It's important to make an effort.
In Spain, the men and women really respect people who make
an effort with their dress. I find I find it really charming
actually. You a good Packer or a bad
Packer? Good Packer.
Favorite luggage? My holdall that I just wear over
my shoulder. Which brand would you say is
your guilty secret and why? I love Ola Johnson I because I
really respect the way she uses prints and the prints that she
that they're just, it's an intelligent, intelligent
approach. If you had all the money in the
world and you had a money no object brand that you could
wear, what would that brand be? I've no idea.
I I'm, I don't think. I like that, I like that.
What, if anything, do you feel you've got an excessive amount
of in your wardrobe? Probably too many shoes.
Do you of? Course.
Do. You too many shoes and I never
quite dare throw them away because they might be a
reference for the next season. I was going to ask you, do you
archive one of every style you've ever created?
No, I don't. I did start doing that and I did
think it would be a wonderful idea and kind of in my dreams, I
thought maybe we could do, you know, an exhibition of the
development that I've gone through my career, but it just
isn't practical. Because of space and.
Space, I suppose. Yeah.
I mean we. I hate waste as well.
I hate the thought of something just sitting there not being
used. Yeah, yeah, but I hate the
thought of some wonderful references that you no longer
have. So do I and I'm, I can't go to
my own sample sales because of it, because I see unfinished
work or something that I think's really brilliant and I think,
gosh, why didn't it come into the collection?
And there's only one pair of it. So I don't go any longer because
it makes me feel very anxious. I can understand that I'm.
Delighted that it's all being, you know, we have lovely sample
sales and people who who wait for the for the 2 sample sales
that we have a year so that they can buy them and that makes me
feel happy as long as I don't see it.
Do you ever, when in buying an expensive piece, do you, do you
ever justify it at sort of pounds per wear that it's going
to last you a long time? Yes, I do, yeah.
It's a good one, isn't? It, yes.
And isn't it funny the things that you do wear again and again
and again? Absolutely.
And the things that you think you're going to and you don't.
Yeah, yeah. I mean I, I, I think.
It's impossible to know. It it is, it is, but you've got
to fall in love with something and.
Got to fall in love with it and most most importantly, it's got
to be comfortable because so often you'll reach for something
just because you know it feels good.
What's your approach to sustainable fashion?
Well, I like to buy vintage and I like to buy.
I go to Portobello Rd. Because I've got that on my
doorstep in Notting Hill Gate and I think that they're the the
traders there are so talented, they've got such a great eye.
And so. You always find it very
inspiring together. Are you going to the market?
Or I go to the market, yes. And the stores are great too,
actually. Under the canopy.
Yeah, love that. Love that Friday morning.
Friday morning, yeah. Now I used to buy clothing as a
reference. Do you do the same thing with
shoes? Because shoes evolve so much,
have evolved so much through the decades, do you, do you ever buy
shoes as as references? Yes, I do.
Yeah. Yeah, Sometimes if if it's just
it's not very often any longer because of photography, you
know, because of social media as well.
And you can find so much on Pinterest.
But sometimes it's really important to buy something to
look at a detail that you can't see in a photograph, like like
the the last, which is is the shape of the foot, the mould.
What do you do with your clothes when you've had enough of them?
I give them to charity shops. What would you say is the oldest
piece in your wardrobe? I've got a jersey and a kind of
oatmeal. I don't know where it's from.
It's kind of oatmeal, chunky knit that I bought when I was
about 18 with my father. He wanted to buy me a birthday
present and we were shopping together, which is a very rare
thing, which is probably where I can remember it.
And I think we're supposed to be buying a dress for a party, a
special occasion or something. Because I remember going home
and my mother saying, is that all you bought?
You know? But it was a lovely jersey and
I'll never forget, you know, I, I still wear it.
And do you wear it because it's a lovely jersey or because of
the memory of being with your father?
I think it was very special because my father was really
pleased with himself for having found it with me and me being so
happy with. It and do you know the yarn?
I don't, but it's, it was a mohair mix and it had a lovely
high collar with buttons. Yeah.
Lovely, now we are going. In a men's man shop, it was in a
yeah, but it was yeah. And was it very oversized?
Quite oversized, yes, Yeah. We're going to spin on to some
quick fire questions. So quick answers.
What fashion advice would you give your 20 year old self?
Buy carefully to last. Which fashion trend would you
most like to see make a comeback?
I love the 60s. What fashion or beauty trend
would you consign to Room 101 Crocs, your last impulse buy?
My jacket from Lagosale. Views on tattoos.
I don't have any tattoos and I don't like them very much.
Beauty treatments. Because I like the natural skin.
Beauty treatment you couldn't give up.
I haven't really got an answer there because I don't do very
many. I'll sometimes try something
once and then not get into the routine of doing it again like
the beautician tells you to do. High end or High Street?
High end. Bling or bare?
Bare. Minimalism or maximalism?
Something in between. Couture or charity shop?
Charity shop. Crocs cute or puke?
Oh. I'm not, I'm not keen.
Sneakers or stilettos? Sneakers.
Skinnies, boyfriends or wide legs?
I like them all. I've got a wide variety of
jeans. Body corn or boho?
Bo. Sports Lux or Rock chick?
Rock Chick. Colour or monochrome?
Colour. Experimental or uniform?
Experimental. Cashmere or cotton?
Both.
Hoarder or editor? I'm not a hoarder, but I'm not
good at editing either. Just messy.
Charity shop or resale? Charity shop.
Shapewear or sexy lingerie? Sexy lingerie, tights or
stockings? Tights.
Bikini or one piece bikini? And finally, at the end of the
day, what do you or don't you wear in bed?
Depends what I'm sleeping with. So is she the married woman?
Yeah, with my husband, probably nothing.
And with, you know, I often I end up bunking up with my
daughters, particularly on photo shoots and and factory trips.
And then we all wear pyjamas. Lovely, lovely Penny, Thank you
so much for your time and coming here today and sharing your
style journey with me. It's been a lovely conversation.
It's been really fun, thank you so much.