Professionally, a trip to "The Smoke" provides inspiration for my work, as it's one of the fashion capitals of the world (and it certainly showcases some extrovert interpretations of fashions!).
But that's also what I love about the place, its diversity. From the dinky independent "vintage" boutiques, which tempt you in, with their unique chic-appeal... to the elite and bold windows of Knightsbridge where I allow myself to wallow in a "money-no-object" daydream - NB: it's a daydream!!
And back to reality. I'm here in the capital, because I'm booked to work at the Britains Next Top Model Event.
From when the exhibition opens, until the 7pm finish, women of all ages - mums, daughters, girlfriends (and even some boyfriends), have been queuing up to have their colour and style questions answered.
I was part of a team of qualified experts who are passionate about helping people with body confidence, so even though some had a 2-hour wait for their 15 minute consultation, everybody left the stand delighted.
Teenage girls and their mothers were our main audience. It was lovely to see such fresh faced beautiful girls, but heart-breaking to see a few not even able to loon in the mirror - regardless of how gorgeous they appear to everyone else. Body confidence is such an important part of feeling good about yourself. We can only hope that a few of the less confident girls now feel better about their body image.
My own short-comings....
Being surrounded by models all day, I reckon that this is a good time to highlight one of my own body-image solutions.
Here goes..... At 5ft 3ins I'm a little on the short side. Without dramatic surgery and/or stilts this is not something I'm able to change so I draw on all my knowledge to work with it by creating optical illusions to look taller, things like neck-lines, hemlines and various other tricks of the trade.
Of course this includes wearing heels - which isn't the best choice of footwear for standing all day. Fortunately I soon discovered the Redfoot shoes stand and bought a pair of their amazing folding ballerina pumps - heavenly slippers for my sore feet.
As I walked around the event in my new "slippers" I found myself in the middle of a group of 6 foot models who were weraing 5 inch heels. I chuckle when I picture the scene of all 5ft 3ins of me looking up at these beautiful, statuesque figures. Here's one situation where image consuultancy wasn't stacking up - and no amount of optical illusions would've made me look taller against these goddesses.
Back soon....
I finished off my trip to London with a walk around Harrods admiring the Burberry fashions, and Roberto Cavalli and Gucci handbags from afar. My love of London will never waive, but I'm always glad to get back to the fresh air of Devon. Until my next visit.
And from the glamour of London... to the muddy fields of Devon - but it's all fabulous!
Whatever you believe about image consultants, you’re probably right! I’ve heard there are a few of us that even don make-up to take the bins out… so when it comes to breaking the mould, I like to think I’m leading the way.
And so it was, last Friday afternoon, that I was blazing a glory trail in my wellies and cardi, splattered head-to-toe with mud and straddling an unlady-like ditch whilst running a “ladies networking event!” Friday afternoon saw a group of Ladies Do… members, meet at West Town Farm, near Exeter, to learn the art of clay making. Our first fun event, Ladies Do… Mud was all about building friendships and getting to know more about each other whilst digging, squeezing and sculpturing clay cows! Our final “works of art” contributing to a Andrew Gormley style “Field of Cows” exhibition organised by Organic Arts. (www.organicarts.org.uk )
Over a delicious farmhouse lunch of homemade pumpkin soup (note to self – email Christine for her recipe) and bread it was the perfect opportunity for us to find out more about each other and our businesses – from accountants to speed-reading training, photographer to product designer and teacher.Then it was on with the wellies, armed with wheelbarrow and spades we headed down to the field to dig – yes dig – for clay. Straddling ditches, getting stuck in the mud and pushing wheelbarrows led to some ungainly but funny photo opportunities.
Like me you may be surprised to find that it’s not as simple as digging a big hole, extracting the clay, throwing a pot or two and then firing in a big furnace. Oh no, there’s several processes the clay has to go through before its fit for sculpting.
After our gentle work-out we headed back to the barn to roll up our sleeves and delve into buckets full of clay and water. A kneading sensation which can only be best described as close to that you get from squeezing a stress ball. A lot of innuendoes and imagination brought about some hysterical observations, laughter and squeezing clay I discovered is an ideal stress relief.Christine then explained how the water is drained from the clay using a hessian bag and then showed us how spreading it over a plaster-of-paris block drains away moisture. Only then, after a few intensive hours of processing is the clay we dug from the land ready for sculpting -wasn’t told that before we embarked on our digging workout.
In a classic Blue Peter moment “here’s one I made earlier” Christine gave us some pre-prepped clay to make our cows and gave us a quick lesson in how it’s done.
Our cows were beautiful (in traditional artistic style we all had our own interpretation of what a cow looks like). And we even declared a winner – Debbi’s cow was judged to be the best and she was presented with swiftly done clay cow’s head, by Lisa. A trophy we’re hoping will stand the test of time and be handed onto the next Ladies Do… Fun winner.
We rounded off the day with a cup of tea and a few purchases from the “Real Food” farm shop. Laughter, fun and networking were what this event was all about and I think we achieved all that and made some new friends along the way.
I can’t think of a better way to finish off a hectic week than to meet up with a group of like-minded business ladies to make clay cows!! Whatever that does to my image…