What Women Wear: London Design Festival 2019. The colour edit
Part Two from London Design Festival is a case of colour and comfy shoes all round. Mei Chen (pictured above), aged 60, is a freelance journalist from Singapore who has lived in London most of her life. She buys all her clothes from charity shops and has a ‘no more than £5 rule’. The brilliant blue floral dress Mei’s wearing is from Oxfam, ‘I never spend much on clothes,’ she says,’ I love finding a bargain. Today I’m wearing a turban because my hair is messy. People think it’s all about glamour, but it’s actually all about control!’ Frugal, environmentally-friendly and a sense of fun. Hooray for Mei.
Ciara Elliott
The first installment from London Design Festival focussed on shades of neutral but overall the vibe was more mixed: cool, uncluttered and at times quite colourful. Most of the women I spoke to had opted for pared-down outfits with the occasional wild card piece. Clothes and accessories from charity shops, flea markets and car boot sales were whooped up with the odd designer buy, splash of colour or pair of sustainable sneakers. In her vintage, lilac jumpsuit and charcoal tweed jacket, interiors journalist Ciara Elliott (above) could be classed as more of a neutral-lover but she co-ordinated beautifully with the striking Camille Walala rugs. As well as freelancing, Ciara organises pre-owned fashion sales across the country, check out Fashion Re:Boot.
Neutral or not?
Showing at the festival for the first time, Joanne Coe (below) is the founder of furniture company Living Room. Admitting that she had rushed into John Lewis for a new outfit to wear, Jo’s saffron yellow Boden trousers, Breton top and accessories are brilliantly ‘on brand’. After working as a commercial buyer and product developer for 20 years, and travelling the world for Habitat and Made.com, Joanne had an epiphany, ‘I launched Living Room in 2017 out of a desire to create furniture of quality and provenance, with a British mid-century mood’ she explains. ‘It’s my personal passion. All the fabrics are made in the UK and everything is British made or EU-sourced.’
Jo Coe
It was a busy day whizzing around the Truman Brewery, so thank you to all the women who stopped to talk to me and be photographed for That’s Not My Age. Last but not least, colour champion Katrina Burroughs is an interiors editor and writer for The Sunday Times Home and How To Spend It . ‘I love colour, it’s my favourite subject to write about. I’ll often wear all of my favourite colours at the same time – it might not work but who cares?!’
Katrina Burroughs
More London Design Festival inspiration:
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Photographs: Claire Pepper.
Discussion (14 Comments)
Janet says:
I love the colors and color combinations in addition to the women’s confident smiles. But I can’t help thinking that a little skillful tailoring would have taken each outfit to the next level with sleeve lengths, hems, etc. adjusted to their most flattering for the wearer. As we grow older our shapes change and it makes sense to have favorite clothing tweaked a bit.
Mrs Tonia says:
Enjoyed seeing these real women juxtaposed against the Design festival backgrounds. More great photos from Claire.
I’m most drawn to the Katerina Burroughs outfit. I own a very similar long orange poplin shirt dress. Mine has waist ties attached at side seams. Worn a lot this past summer. The big blazer over it looks good in the photo.
Do keep some element of What Women Wear going. If not in very expensive clothing it is interesting to see how people style themselves.
And what were you wearing to attend this event ?Northwick says:
Love the blush pink brogues – but even though I love Paul Smith, nearly £700 for pale leather shoes just not possible. Practicality if not frugality!!
Anne Murphy says:
Loved Mei Chen’s look, the turban is fab! I’ve taken to wearing headbands, to accessories my shoulder length silver hair. I wore one for my son’s wedding recently, with an Art Deco brooch pinned to it…..no fascinates pour moi!!! Lots of compliments too!
Martine Large says:
What a cheering, inspiring article. I’ve recently lost a lot of weight so actually need to buy new clothes, but finances are thrusting sustainable shopping on me. These women make it seem both stylish and fun.
Jax says:
Love Clara’s charcoal blazer/jacket. Seems like a piece that would last for a long time and not date, but still have vintage charm.
Also love all the sneakers and not 1 but 2 crossbody bags (favorite handbag style of chiropractors).
Fun, comfortable and not self-serious style.maudie says:
I tend to agree with Katrina Burroughs about plonking your favourite colours together and hoping for the best. Most of us have an ‘inner eye’ for colours that do work together and there are just some days when you need to crack out some joyful colour amongst the safe sea of black, grey and navy. I saw an amazing lady in our high street the other day (not madly young either) sporting an eye-watering orange mohair coat with a big sparkly brooch pinned to her lapel and serious orange lipstick. She looked amazing and brightened my day no end.
Gabrielle says:
Love seeing how others style themselves. Inspiration is always welcome. Keep these articles coming!
Scotcat says:
Wow – love these excellent women and their gorgeous outfits. Living as I do in the back of beyond, this is fascinating and inspirational. Can you make it a regular feature please? A sort of Sartorialist for cool over 50s.
Isobel says:
Loved Jo’s Breton top with saffron trousers, and of course, those are my kind of shoes!
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Love the pink brogues. Where are they from?