Today I’m reading

The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton. Savour it!

Today I’m reading

Fashion as a Career by Janey Ironside … just in case!

Blonde ambition

Just started reading Deborah Harry: Platinum Blonde. Harry is one of Trash Chic’s style icons but, in keeping with our principles, I bought the book in a charity shop for £4. Only comment so far is … why not more photos? Very sparce as far as this is concerned considering Debbie always looks so cool.

Seeking inspiration

I have a fascinating pile of books on my desk … full, i am sure, of inspiration and information. Gianni Versace: Fashion’s Last Emperor by Lowri Turner; Patrick Cox: Wit Irony and Footwear; Poiret – Academy Editions; another Versace book by Nicola White; a few fashion encyclopedias and dictionaries; Twiggy’s guide to looking fab over forty; Good Housekeeping book of 1950s with some great fashion shots. Lots of reading to do!

Reading matter

What are the Trash Chic girls reading at the moment? Fashion Babylon by Imogen Edwards-Jones. Witty expose of the fashion industry. We’ll let you know what we think. So, watch this space.

Fifty Dresses that Changed the World is published by the Design Museum so, needless to say, entertaining and informative. A nice book to dip in and out of, leave on your coffee table, or give as a gift.

You’re booked!

As well as looking at clothing we also look at books. Our recent reading is a 1982 publication called ‘More Dash Than Cash’. There are many brilliant things about this book, especially if you shop on a budget. But what has struck us is how contemporary all the styling looks. One of our customers links this to the popularity of the BBC TV drama ‘Ashes to Ashes’ set against the backdrop of that decade. The part of DI Alex Drake, played by the g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s Keeley Hawes, epitomises the era’s clothing. We all thought it was fab at the time, but hid our photos in embarrassment during the 90s. Now it seems it’s bang on trend again. What goes round …

What we’re reading

If, like the Trash Chic girls, you lived through this era you’ll find Robert Elms’s autobiography THE WAY WE WORE completely absorbing. The subcultures of mods, skinheads, suedeheads, soul boys, punks, new romantics and goths are examined in great detail and deliver a pleasurable trip down memory lane.

 

I was a regular at Billys/Blitz and recall being chased through Holborn station by those who didn’t share my passion for billowing white shirts and pirate hats. I sold clothes at Greenwich for a while and, on one occasion, had fruit pelted at me because of my ‘costume’. When I lived in Belsize Park (North London) the workmen making minor repairs to our property made the sign of the cross when I left the house clothed from head to toe in black and dripping with crosses and chains. Oh, those were the days …