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15% off. Today I'm going on a sartorial
journey with Prince's Trust Women Supporting Women
ambassador and transgender fashion designer Serenity Mason.
Serenity started her fashion business in 2018, Vault of
Serenity, a stall in Tunstall Market, Stoke after completing
the Prince's Trust Enterprise program.
The program had offered her practical advice about tax,
business planning and pricing her items, as well as the
support of a business mentor. I met Serenity at a Prince's
Trust fundraising dinner and I was so struck by her and her
story that I felt the best way for me to help shine a light on
the incredible, life changing and at times even life saving
work that the Prince's Trust is doing was to use my Style DNA
platform. So hello and welcome, Serenity.
And thank you for having me. It's lovely to have you here.
Thank you for making the journey from Birmingham today.
I think in the first instance I would love to understand the
impact of the Prince's Trust has had on you and your life.
Where do I start? It It changed my life.
It it saved my life in many ways.
Before the Prince's Trust, I was in a very, very dark place where
I was dealing with my PTSD and my depression and various other
sort of issues and sort of all piled on me and made life just
very, very difficult. When my father died, I decided
this is the time where I need to start turning things around.
So I started to look at my options and think, how can I get
back on the ladder? How can I get myself turned
around and try and make something of myself so I don't
waste away here in my current circumstance?
And so I reached out to the Prince's Trust and they go in
contact with me immediately and be like, yeah, we can help you.
And there's just such a level of energy that comes from them that
I'd not seen in a very long time.
For the first time in yes, I, I felt hope and, you know, hope to
somebody that hasn't seen that or can't feel it right at that
point. It's, it's a nice feeling.
It's, it's, it gives, builds your resolve and it makes you
feel like, you know, maybe I'm not a write off.
Maybe I can do something? You mentioned PTSD.
Yeah. Are you happy to share?
Yeah. Absolutely.
I had quite a rough life in school.
I was bullied relentlessly. My parents were always phoning
up the school and trying to deal with things like I'd been in
another fight or I'd been beaten up or something could happen.
And I was living life in survival mode for so long that
I'd kind of built up traumas and very different things from not
actually coping with them healthfully at the time.
Because I just needed to focus on getting through the next day
and the next day after that and just living so that maybe when I
get out of the other end, I can pick up the pieces.
And PTSD isn't easy. It sort of affects me now
actually. I'm currently going to CPT
therapy every single week just to get through it on like
alongside me doing all this crazy stuff with my life.
To to process. It yeah, to, to sort of like
process it be able to cope with it easier so that as my life
progresses, it can stop being something that holds me back
because at the moment it it feels like an anchor.
It feels like I'm, I'm sailing the seas, but I still got this
thing dragging along behind me and I'm like, I want to snip
that off. I want to get rid of this.
I don't. I want this holding me back.
Yeah, a way to heaviness. Yeah, exactly.
How did you first hear of the Prince's Trust though?
So I heard of the Prince's Trust initially because I was reaching
out for the Job Centre on the most glorified start.
But, you know, you've got to be somewhere.
And they said about the Prince's Trust that they had a couple of
programs and things that I could go and do, So I didn't know
exactly what that would be. And I always said that I wanted
my own business, but it was always something I wanted to do,
and fashion was always something I really wanted to do.
So I went to the Prince's Trust and although I had no kind of
fashion background in education or anything, they were more than
willing to support that. And what did you do initially
with the Prince's Trust? What programme did you go on?
That was the enterprise programme, MMM.
So it's a programme that's focused on just building young
people's business ideas, their business plans, and then helping
them with the funding and ability to actually make it
happen. And when you first went there,
did you have an idea for Vault of Serenity or was it just a you
wanted to work in fashion? I, I always had this kind of
idea kind of set out at the start, like I always wanted this
little shop or I was selling all these kind of alternative
clothing wares and things, different bitches, something
unique, something unusual, something that not everywhere
else has. I want it to be like that little
glimmer of light in the High Street that you see and be like,
that's a cool shop. So you you went in to the
enterprise program knowing that that's where you wanted to get
to at the other end of it and they took you on a business
journey. Yeah, they took me on a business
journey. So it was, it was a five day
program at the time. I think it's been produced and
free now with like extra kind of support.
But I went through it and every day was slightly different.
So at first it was like put your business plan onto some paper,
like, you know, just write down what it is, brainstorm what it
is, get a grasp of what you want to do.
And then you go for the things like financial things.
And some people find the accounts rather boring.
Luckily I had studied that at college, so I kind of whisked
through that fairly fast. And by the end of the week I
pretty much had the basics to build a business plan.
So then we'd go away. We could build this plan we've
on, we've got on on support from the trust itself.
I had a rather nice guy called Martin that was helping me out
whenever I had any, any needs. So I could just phone him up and
be like, I'm a little stuck here.
What do I do with this? And he'd be able to give me the
support and guidance that I need, but not just the support
in the case of building the plan and building the business.
If I called up and I was like having a little bit of trouble
with my mental health right now or this is holding me back, I
was always met with kindness and patience and they'd help me
resolve that. I'll deal with that, or get me
the extra support I need so that I can still continue doing what
I want to do, but without sacrificing myself.
Brilliant. And then, so you present the
business plan and then what happens next?
So I remember when I presented the business plan, and that was
an interesting one because they get several local business sort
of people in just to sort of look over your plan and give it
the give the thumbs up. I went in there and it's like a
boardroom. It felt very kind of like
tonight Dragon's dead or something.
And I was like, oh, here we go. This is where it could all fall
apart or it could all come together.
They were all really impressed by my idea.
They liked what I was going to bring to this local community
and the space that I was in. It was, it was risky, but it
was, it felt exciting at the same time.
And I bought something to that town that had never been seen
before. I've just actually started the
business on 1000 lbs, which is well done.
Very little. Well done, but sometimes I think
actually being on a really tight budget can actually make us
really creative. Yeah, you can get very creative
when you've got limited options to what you do.
And because I was making a lot of bits and pieces in house, so
I was had my little sewing machine at the shop and I was
doing bits and pieces. I was sewing pair bows and
little accessories and things. I was like buying and selling
dresses and things from companies that I knew were
reputable because I kind of admired other fashion companies.
I like to wear other fashion company stuff as well.
So I was quite often running around the the market in in a
lovely like 50s swingy dress or something.
So I was always a character and people always admired the kind
of like over confidence that I kind of bought out there.
Creativity, yeah. But now you are an ambassador
for women supporting women. Can you tell me a little bit
about that? So my role as an ambassador is
sort of represent the trust's interests.
So I'll go out to events and I'll be that kind of
representative head, but I'll tell my story and inspire people
and people that have never heard about the trust before,
particularly even that they might be there.
And they're like, I don't know what the trust's about.
And then there's I stand up on the stage and I tell them my
life story. And I'm like, I started in the
dark and now I'm here, I'm doing things.
And now I'm standing before you telling you that your support
can support for people. I must admit, when I heard you
speak at that dinner, it just bought the whole thing to to
life for me. You know, it's one thing saying
Princess dress does this great work, etcetera, etcetera.
But when you see and hear how it has really affected and possibly
even saved someone's life, it's, it's so uplifting and it, and
it, what I love about it is so constructive.
You, you know, it helped you create a business that's that's
such a gift and. There's not many organizations
out there that would that would give you those tools.
They might be able to give you the business of pop up and
things like that, but not hold your hand for the entire
process. And there was never any kind of
like limitations or, or kind of like, oh, you're going to have
to look at this realistically or anything.
It's like you, you've got a dream.
Let's see how it's possible, and let's see how we can do it.
Love that, love that. But today we're going on a style
journey. Yes.
So my first question to you is, how did you decide what you were
going to wear today? Oh heavens.
Well, obviously we're coming into a bit of an autumnal kind
of season, so I tried to pick some Browns and things and none
of this is my work. I've got this rather nice top
out in Camden a couple of months ago and I thought it was just a
little bit bright and warm. Yeah, I'll just try to fix
something that was a little warmer for the weather, kind of
felt right for the season because a lot of my own personal
designs are quite somewhere orientated are.
They that's interesting. And you were always a hat
wearer. Oh, I like a good hat,
especially Bray, the hat of the creative.
As I like to say, that means you've got a bad hair day.
Oh, absolutely. I've I've got more into hats,
definitely. Finding the right hat, though,
because I feel like everybody's got a hat that suits them.
Suits the the face show. It always fascinates me going to
see a Milliner actually, because they can, they can look at your
face and put the right hat on you immediately.
I you know, it's, it's such a skill, but you grew up in the
Midlands. I did were you were very aware
of your parents style when you were growing up?
My mom was always quite fashionable.
My my dad thought so much, but that's because my dad had
disabilities. So he was just sort of like slap
a slap the jeans and polo top on that all day, you know, he lived
in those things. But my mom was always quite
export like a experimental with a style.
She'd like try different coats and different scarves and
combinations, and she'd be in these blouses and jeans.
And she's even sort of passed down close to me in the past.
And I was wearing a rather nice sort of leather bodice at the
dinner when you met. And that was actually handed
down from my mother and she used to wear it when she was my age.
Now, am I correct in saying that your mother and your grandmother
love to sew? They do.
My grands kind of went off the serving as much these days
because her hands aren't quite as good, but she's just recently
got into crochet thanks to my mother and now she's a little
bit obsessed with crochet, so lots of yarn all over the place.
Are you designing what she's crocheting?
No, I'm not. I've obviously had to design
crochet patterns. I'm still learning how to do
that. Did they teach you how to sew?
My mom taught me how to sew, and my mom was always there sewing
and bits and pieces and always heard the stories of my nan
making like dresses out of curtains and things growing up.
So that was always like, I was like, wow, that's so cool.
You know, you know, to just take a cone which would have just
been thrown away and turned it into something you could wear.
I was always fascinated by that, yeah, sort of the idea of taking
something that so remnant and turning it into something that's
wearable. So I actually tried to do that a
lot with my own work. I tried to make sustainable
fashion. So in that sense, do are you
upcycling? Are you taking one garment and
changing it? Yeah, sometimes.
Sometimes it will just be off cuts of fabric that are in weird
shapes, but you can still get a little bit of a thing out of it
or kind of half of a top pattern and then you can change it and
do different things of it. I recently made a sort of like a
long sleeve cold shoulder topped with sort of like a mesh
netting, and I made that entirely out of recycled ban
T-shirts. Oh, great.
Brilliant. What do you remember your
earliest sartorial memory? The moment that you realized
that clothes had power, that you put something on and you felt
completely different. Yeah.
OK. So this quite relates to my
transition in a very strong sense.
And when I was sort of in my very early years, maybe 10-11
years old, I was sort of like stockpiling bits and pieces sort
of in hiding spots so I could kind of experiment with my
gender and sort of find and before I feel more myself.
But if I, when I put all that kind of there's bits and pieces
on and I've made some unusual style choices when I was 10,
because we do, I was finding myself and by choosing that kind
of clothing and different bits and pieces and even the
alternative way that I got into a couple years afterwards, it
was always like just me experimenting.
And I never really sat on a style.
Like even now, I'm still almost, I'm that child still.
I'll go out and I'll pick random things and I'll put different
things together. I never seem to follow trends as
much. I was find myself looking at
trends occasionally, but because that's just because I want to
keep up on them because of my profession.
But it's more that I like to be the trendsetter almost and kind
of go, well, this makes me happy, but also this over top
makes me happy. Or I'm going to put a cardigan
with that because that's cozy and it makes you feel fuzzy and
warm. So I'll throw things together
because they reflect my inner self.
So you're quite a mood dresser, would you say?
Absolutely. Did you wear a school uniform?
I did. How did that?
Feel I hated. It what was it?
Tell me. So it was the old blazer with
the stocky shoulders. Lovely lovely dark blue tie.
I absolutely loved the entire outfit but I think it's because
of what it represented as well because school was not a nice
place for me so it was almost felt like I was putting on my
prison jumpsuit every morning. What colour was it?
It was black and dark blue. Did you ever customize your
school uniform? I did too much how?
Tell me. I was always getting told off
for it. I was always untucking my shirt.
I was always doing my tie too short and you know, making it
big or. Big not.
I was always trying to play around with my style even then
because it was very restrictive, but I've always wanted to not be
the same. That was school uniform and that
was at a time that you were feeling not fully yourself in
your body. Yeah, it felt like I was wearing
a mask, almost like. And so you would come home and
try on different looks in the privacy of your own.
Yeah, kind of when I had my own space and my own room, which I
did eventually have by the time I was in my mid teens, we never
had much room going go because my dad being disabled and me and
my sister in to share space and never really had that space to
explore myself. And then when I finally did get
that space I was trying whenever I had a spare moment, I'd be
exploring something called would have managed to buy a skirt from
a charity shop or something can hid it away and.
Did your sister know about this? I told my sister when I was 16
because I finally confided in her because she came into my
room one day and I was rather upset because I just, I was just
cracking under the pressure. I couldn't, I couldn't hold it
in any longer. And so I told her, and she kept
it to herself all these all these years until I finally came
out. Did she help you at all on your
style journey? I think that she was always been
quite inspiration in my life. I've always really looked up to
my little sister. She's always been such a strong,
independent character and she's always been there for me.
So whenever I was struggling or had hardships, she was always
the 1st to be like, straight in that room, put an arm around me
because of, you know, you OK, what's up?
You know, do you want to talk about it?
Or even if I don't want to talk about it, she'd just stay there
until I felt OK again. You know?
True sister. Yeah, we're quite close.
Lovely, lovely. And you still.
Are. Yeah, we are.
She lives in Brighton now. So beautiful city.
Yeah. And I'm yet to visit her.
I'm. I'm certainly planning on it.
It's great. Vintage shops.
There, it's like the creative capitalism, yeah.
So I do intend to go there, but we are still really close even
though the distance. Now you created a label called
Vault of Serenity. How did you come up with the
name and the concept? OK, so are you vault of vault as
if like it's almost like you're open a vault and all this
magical stuff's inside, all this colour, all these unique stuff
and you don't know what's going to be behind this big vault
door. And this is this feels like the
the mask I was wearing all these years.
That door was that mask and I just needed someone's like the
the strength to be able to lift the Hatch and pull it open and
open up all this stuff inside. I'd been hiding.
So I call it the Vault of Serenity because I wanted to be
almost like this is me world and this is who I am and I'm here to
share it with you all now. And I'm not scared anymore.
It it's lovely. I I can, I can really understand
why the name came about. And serenity because it's your
serene space. Well, I suppose so.
When I was, when I chose Serenity as my actual name, I
chose it because by definition, it means Peace of Mind.
And that's exactly what I got from transitioning.
I finally felt at peace with who I was.
I felt like I was who I needed to be.
And when did you feel you actually transitioned?
How old were you? So when I actually started
transitioning, I was 2122 years old and that was when I first
got myself on the NHS waiting lists, which are precariously
long. Yeah, and what does it actually
mean? Sorry if that's a very ignorant
question, but I'd love to understand what it what it means
to you. To what?
To be transgender. To transition.
OK, so to transition for me.
So it's so hard to put it into words because it means so many,
so many big incredible things I've that it's very difficult to
verbalize almost. But it feels like you're finally
living your life for the first time.
It feels like you're living in a pilot, like when you're, when
you're masking and you're, and you're hiding away and you,
you'd like, I don't know how the world's going to take this.
Are they ready for me yet? You know, is it progressive
enough? Am I going to get, am I going to
be in a world of hell just by doing it?
And fortunately for me, when I came out, my family was very
supportive. My even my dad was notably
supportive, which I did not expect at all.
I completely read him wrong and I finally felt like I was alive.
It felt like I had a reason to get up in the morning and before
that it didn't feel like I was living.
Did you ever feel that you wish you'd opened up a little bit
more to your family about it earlier because they were so
supportive when you did? Yeah, and no, I wish I had in
many senses, because I feel like they, I already know that they
always would have loved me and they never would have turned
their back on me. I've seen some horror stories of
what happens to when it goes wrong, but in my case, it went
very, very right. But I don't feel like the bolt
was ready for me earlier on, especially in my teenage years.
I don't feel like it was a safe enough space for me to
transition, or it might have made my mental health worse with
me trying to navigate the world. You know, when it's slightly
less educated, I mean, there's a lot more talk about it now.
We're we're talked about a lot more now.
I mean, it's such an intensely personal thing that, and it's
such a complex thing that I would imagine it's a, it's a
very bumpy journey that you just have to navigate yourself.
Through, and I mean you, I face a great deal of challenges like
through my transition, it's been difficult.
I've had times where there's a lot of people that want to
discredit the sort of the legitimacy of my existence or
that that I shouldn't exist at all in some cases.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no. But you have this incredible
thing that you've created, Vault of Serenity.
I understand it's on hold at the moment while you're at fashion
college Which. Is brilliant.
I'm studying textile design now at university.
I started on fashion yeah and I decided I because I am actually
self-taught pattern making and I can do all my own garments and
things like that. So I thought I've already
covered this space so but what I don't understand is textiles as
much, but in the more the sense of how fabrics are created and
made and printed. And I wanted to explore that and
dive into this world of curiosity and a way for me to
explore all these different fabric types and how things work
and different kind of types of print and different ways of
doing it. Has your course impacted you
already on the way you dress? Yes, I suppose.
I think I've opened myself up to more inspirations as I
progressed through it. I've always been quite an
outright kind of dresser anyway. I've.
I mean, I've, I've been wearing quite unique clothing or things
that I've made myself because the things I can't find are
quite unique enough. So I've always been quite
experimental with how I dress, especially when I came out
because I'd spent most of my time in secret transition, sort
of like figuring out what to wear, what works.
So I kind of had an idea when I first transitioned of what looks
good. So when I finally kind of came
out and I was going out into the world, I was like, I know what
to wear. I mean, I often talk about how
clothes can sometimes be our armor.
You've talked openly about being bullied at school and how you
battled with depression. And as a result of that, I
wondered whether you think you ever used clothes to give you
strength or protection. Oh, absolutely.
But I feel like that's because when we look good, we feel good.
And when we, you know, when you get up in the morning, you, you
put your, you put your armor on. You do you, you put your clothes
on, you put your, you put your outfit that you've chosen and
laid out the night before. And you're smart.
And that isn't armor in a sense, because you go out and you feel
confident. You strut yourself stuff down
that street. You could be in the middle of a
council estate, but you still feel like you're on fire because
you look good. Love that, love that so so would
you say you're a mood dresser or do you plan your looks ahead of
the ahead of the day? I'm going to say a mood dresser,
but I also do plan, but that's more 'cause I plan multiple
outfits for certain moods. So I might make wake up one day
and I feel like a comfy jumper mode and I just want to feel
cozy and comfortable. I've got outfits planned for
that, or combinations that I've got that I can throw together
for that. How do you plan your outfits?
Do you get in your bedroom and do a real blitz in front of the
mirror and take selfies or how do you plan?
Your outfits. Yeah, I suppose I am a bit of a
bit of a mirror hogger. I'll go through my wardrobe.
Sometimes I'll pull bits out and they'll be all over the floor,
all over the chairs, on the bed, everything.
And I'll just be going around picking things up, putting
things together that I didn't know might not work.
I didn't buy them with the intention of going together and
then I'll throw something together.
I'll try it on in the mirror and then go no.
And then I'll go back to the drawing board, try again, try
something else, and then I'll find all these really unique
looks that just really combo well together just by trying and
experimenting. How did you learn how to do your
makeup? It's quite common actually that
I get asked like, how do you do your makeup?
Where did you learn to do your makeup?
And what makeup artist taught you how to do that?
And I was like just just myself. But it's just because I've had
lots of time to experiment because even when I was in those
early times of transition and if when I was hiding it and I was
just in my bedroom when I had my privacy, just trying things like
I'd have some makeup wipes on hand and I just try different
things. So through my whole life almost,
I've been experimenting and trying these different looks and
seeing what works for me. So when I got to this point,
it's like an everyday thing. I, I go to university with this
kind of makeup on and stuff and everybody's like must take ages.
And I was like no, 20 minutes. Do you ever go out without your
makeup on? Very, very occasionally might be
if I'm just popping to the shop for a bit of bread or something.
You know, the, the most briefing count you can get away with.
But Oh no, if if I'm going to go out I I feel like it really
helps my confidence and it makes my eyes glow a little more,
makes me feel brighter and I feel happier.
Yeah. What do you think you reach for
when you need to feel empowered? It's.
Got to be a flowy skirt. Got a big flowy skirt?
Love that you just feel. So untouchable.
Actually, out of interest, what did you wear when you went in
front of the, was it the enterprise board?
What, what did you put on for that meeting?
Because that's quite a big meeting.
Yeah, it was quite a big meeting.
I had, God, it was so many years ago.
I had like a purple kind of plum kind of colour blouse with like
the sleeves cut off. It was like a short sleeve kind
of thing with the nice little gold buttons.
And I look a quite nice pair of fitted kind of trousers, which
was quite unusual for me because I was usually, I'm usually like
a skirt kind of girl. And heels.
I didn't own a pair of heels at the time because I hadn't quite
branched into that far of my transition.
I did eventually get into the heels and now I own multiple
pairs. Who would you consider to be
your style icon? Oh, I've had this one many a
time. My answer is always the same.
I've always looked up to Vivienne Westwood.
I, I love her attitude, even if you just strip the fashion stuff
away, it's the attitude and the way that she viewed the world
and the way that she had impact as well.
When did you first come across her?
How old were you? I was quite young, and that was
because I had family that told me about Vivian Westwood.
And I was like, Oh yeah, you should, you should see Vivian
Westwood's work and stuff. So from quite early on, I was
sort of like looking at various bits and pieces of her and not
always even the fashion, but just like the things she did,
like the protests and all the different things, Her vibe.
Yeah. And her shop.
And she first initially opened that shop, and it was quite
controversial, but that was just so very her.
And I was just like, I want to be like that.
I think what was so strong and is still about the brand, but
about Vivian was her absolute integrity and authenticity to
her thoughts. That that was, that's another
thing. And she's just so true to
herself. And I feel like I am also like
that in a sense. And I think it was, yeah.
There's a lot to be taken from that, isn't there?
You know, I think it's it, it is inspiring.
Yeah, she had a great sense of character and she was, she was,
she was never apologetic about being her or being herself or
whatever she put out on the table.
It was like, this is what I'm putting on the table.
It was. It wasn't up for debate.
Vivian was very much, we're doing it my way.
Oh, I I really admire that. Absolutely, absolutely.
MY1 tiny little Vivian story was there was a big fashion party at
Kensington Palace. I can't remember.
It was a Fashion Week party or something like that.
Was years and years and years ago.
And I remember we were sort of presented, I think it was
Princess Michael, and chatting to her and she looked over my
shoulder and she went, is that a bum I see?
And it was Vivian there in a lace dress with absolutely
nothing underneath. It was fantastic.
So very Vivian. So Vivian, if someone were to
describe your style in three words, how what 3 words would
you want those to be? Oh, definitely.
Like unique alternative. A very alternative.
It's inspiring. I mean, I can.
I'll go around wearing whatever I want and people will see that
and be like, well, why can't I do that?
Good, good. Do you have one item of clothing
that means the most to you? Oh, I've got a few items of
clothing that mean the most to me, and one of them is on my
feet. These boots have been with me
since the beginning of the. Transition.
I was going to say, how did they come about?
How did you how did you find them?
I bought these boots from the Rock themselves and it was in
2016, two, 1015. I've been the very, very back
end of 2015 and that was when I just moved away from my parents
and I was living out in Stoke and, and wanted to express
myself a bit more. I'd always wanted a pair of
these boots. I was there in 2008 absolutely
envying every goth girl that had these platform chunky boots.
And I was like, I've got to have a pair of those.
So I went out and I bought these and, and I've had a few like
really loves over the years. I've had to replace the laces
and sort of sew up a little bit where I've had it split in.
So they're probably pretty empowering.
Yes, I would say so, Yeah, kind of clunking your way in with
these big platform boots. I mean, I've got another pair of
new rock boots as well, and those ones, I've got a little
bit more of a Click to them when you walk in.
So you almost get that kind of empowering, kind of like wearing
the high heel level click. And when you're walking out, you
slowly tap your way in and people all look around and I'm
like, I'm here. Is sound important to you the
way a skirt might rustle or your boots might click?
Oh, absolutely. I think the way that you carry
yourself and then has your clothes motion to reflect that.
Do you ever think about how something is going to move when
when you try it on? Oh, absolutely.
And because now I'm studying textiles, it means that I, I'm
hyper vigilant to that. So when I'm buying something in
a shop or even picking fabrics in a, you know, like in a fabric
warehouse or something for my own projects, I'm sitting there
thinking, how will this flow? I'll sit there with a meter of
it off hanging or like flowing around in the air trying to get
a feel for it. So I'm like because this is
going to be how it behaves and how it behaves effects how you
produce and what you make with. It and how you cut it, Yeah,
absolutely. When you're not absolutely sure
on something you know a look, whose opinion do you most trust?
Mom, always mom. And so I'll, I'll like I I still
do it now. I'll, I'll put on an outfit and
then I'll, I'll tap on a door and I'll be like, what do you
think of this one? Does this look OK?
Is this all right? And she goes, yeah, you look
great. And I'll block.
OK. Yeah.
OK. Take your word.
Your word is final. We've all had them, but what
would you say is was your worst fashion moment?
Oh God. OK so my worst fashion moment.
I bought these faux leather leggings which I thought would
look great. They did look great.
They felt great when I wasn't moving.
Walking down the street, not so much, because all I could hear
was this fabric rubbing together.
Was it a squeak? Squeak.
He healed. It was a little squeak, squeak
and a little brush, brush and everybody could hear it.
And I felt like I was some kind of like human cricket, rubbing
my legs together. And I was like, yeah, maybe not.
So I've actually never wore them since.
But I can't. I don't have the heart to get
rid of them because I could cut them up and turn them into
something. Absolutely, Absolutely.
If money were no object, what would be your just golden brand?
What would be the brand that you would love to wear?
That's a really hard choice because there's a few brands I
go to for different things. But if we're talking clothing
wise, there's actually a little golf company called Poison
Industries and it's spelled with a zed just to just to be fun and
they make some wonderful clothes.
The the coats that I've had off them have lasted years and the
land they do tops and gloves and all kinds of things.
And he's just really nice little stylistic add-ons for your like
current wardrobe that's really bring out a little bit of class
in it, but still kind of maintaining that kind of golf
alternative vibe. What would you say you've got an
excessive amount of, if anything, in your wardrobe?
Oh, excessive amount of dresses. I have so many dresses.
And then that's partially because I run a dress shop and
every single time I had a new dress in, I always wanted one
myself. And I wore them around the shop.
I'd wear them around the market and different things.
So customers would see them being worn and how they flow
when they walk. And that didn't inspire sales
because they could see it on a person and it kind of made them
go, wow, that's amazing. And yeah, I've got some on the
rack there. And then they try one and then
they can't, they can't leave it. They're like, OK, I've got to
have this. Because it just showed them that
like, I, I won't sell. I wouldn't sell anything that I
wouldn't wear myself. And I think that that inspired
confidence in them. Out of interest, when you had
your shop did you sell to many other trans?
Oh yeah, individuals. I was kind of like a kind of
very friendly space in that area.
So I had nearly nearly every other trans person or LGBT
person or even just normal people that just wanted
something completely different. But they could come to mind in
full confidence that I was never going to sit there and question
them or anything. Like I was just more bothered
about have I got the size or have I got the right fit for
you? I'd even help style.
Sometimes they come in and be like, look, this is very new to
me. There might be trans and, and
they only just started their journey, so they didn't really
know what would work for them and not be able to look at their
body type, look at their style and be I would pick something
out and be like, OK, try this, try this.
Or maybe a little dress belt with that and things, you know,
just to really bring it out. And they always left with such a
big smile on their face and they were like, we're coming back.
What is your approach to sustainable fashion?
OK. So sustainable fashion is
something that I've had to really take on board a lot
because of my degree. I never really give things or I
never throw things away. If I do get rid of something, it
will go to charity where it can be repurposed, resold.
If it's something that's too bad to give away, I will butcher it
up, take what fabric I can and I'll turn it into something new
or it stays in a bag for so many years until I finally get round
to turning into something new. But I never waste.
I try to never waste no matter what it is.
I'll I look at it as fabric that can be used.
What do you do with your clothes when you've had enough of them?
I might cut them up, turn them into something different.
Maybe if I've got a dress that I've wore so many times and I'm
just sick of it, but it's too warm to be able to gift it on
or, or whatever the case, sometimes I will gift, gift a
piece on to maybe another trans person that's just starting
their journey out and they want to experiment.
You know, they might get through many dresses.
So it's it's very much just a placeholder in their wardrobe.
So sometimes I'll chalk it that way.
Otherwise I might go, you know, I really like the pattern on
this, so I might cut it up and turn into a little pouch or a
pillow or something. I've made a few pillows over
time from recycled dresses. Lovely, lovely.
What is the oldest piece in your wardrobe?
I've got some old Hell Bunny brand pieces from the early
2000s which are considered vintage now.
It's like God knows what the classmate has.
Yeah, I suppose. I've got this one skirt which is
gorgeous. It's like a multi layered
pinstripe with these little patches on and it's a stunning
pace to wear. I almost never wear it because
I'm so scared of wearing it out. You sound like you have a huge
wardrobe. I do have.
Quite a lot. Do you look after everything
beautiful I. Do it's all on hangers, It's all
laid out. I can pick and nitpick at
anything, but it means I've got so many options that depends on
how I'm feeling, depends on sometimes I'm going to an event
and there'll be a theme and I'll be like, well, I've got
something for that, you know, I don't need to go out and buy
more. I don't need to go and consume
more. I can try and put something
together or I I can even take this.
I haven't wore this in seven years and I'll take that and
I'll cut it up and turn in something new.
Move on to the quick fire questions.
What fashion advice would you give to your 20 year old self?
Oh, don't be afraid to experiment.
Don't be worried about what people think of what you're
wearing. Just wear things for yourself
because if you look in the mirror and you can be happy
about that, then that's all the clarification that you need.
That is pretty sage advice for someone who's still in their
20s. I think that's amazing.
Which fashion trend would you most like to see make a
comeback? Love to see the 50s sort of
rockabilly kind of comeback because it's just so fun and
colorful. Joyful.
Yeah, joyful. Which fashion or beauty trend
would you consign to Room 101? I find it really hard to just
throw a whole trend away because my, my jam might not be somebody
else's and somebody might really be into something.
So I'm actually going to say I I would never throw any trend away
because even though it might not be my trend, it might be
something that I can take aspects from.
Good answer. Your last impulse buy?
Oh, I bought a rather nice coat. Views on tattoos.
I love them, love them. High end or High Street?
Bit of both. Bling or bear?
Bling. Minimalism or maximalism?
Maximalism all the way. She says loudly.
Crocs cute or puke? No.
Birkenstocks or boots? Boots sports likes or rock
chick? Rock chick, Trend or style?
Style. Color or monochrome?
Color, experimental or uniform? Experimental, Very experimental.
Hoarder or editor? Oh, I'm a bit of both.
More hoarder, I think. I I'd like to not admit.
I think so. Beanie or Berry?
Beret. And finally, one last question,
the end of the day, what do you or don't you wear in bed?
Oh, what do I don't. I wear in bed.
I don't wear anything. It's more comfortable.
Perfectly fine. Serenity, thank you so much for
coming and making the journey here today.
It's been a fascinating conversation and I, I think it's
been amazing that you have been so open with your, with your
answers. It's been really a wonderful
journey for me. Thank you.
It's been an absolute pleasure. Thank you for having me.
And if I could turn the tables and ask you to ask me one style
DNA question, what would that be?
OK, so with me being a student and studying textiles, if there
was one piece of industry advice you could give to somebody who's
just starting out in the industry, just starting out with
their degree, what advice would you give?
I would say understand the industry as well as you possibly
can go and do as many internships, just just absorb as
much information. And then the other thing I would
say is you don't have to have your own business or you don't
have to be the designer to be a very credible part of the
industry. There are so many careers within
the industry. It it you don't have to be the
founder the the designer to to have a really fulfilling life
within the industry. Yeah, because I mean, from
outside the industry, there's a lot of sort of like implication
almost that if you go into fashion, you need to be this
roommate designer and all of this, because that's what that's
what most of the media exposes people to.
So it's quite refreshing to hear that even if I didn't follow my
brand, I can still be a very credible part of the industry.
There are tons of amazing careers within the industry and
it's a it's a brutal industry. It's a really complex, hard
industry. So go and get as much knowledge
and experience as you possibly can and enjoy it and if it
doesn't feel great then move on to the next job.
Yeah, absolutely. I hope that helps.
You did. Thank you.
Great, great. Well, thank you so much.