You know what’s it’s like - February.
Trees bare, garden tangled chaos, you, your home and your business need a makeover. Roll on Spring , you think, and then ... your whizz of a marketing Goddaughter and you have a brainstorm.
Louisa : “We need to shoot some dresses for the website”
Me: "But where?"
Louisa : "You know, I love your house ..."
You groan thinking "is she mad?!", but are firmly told she's roping in her sister to model and they'll be turning up Sunday morning. What can one do?
Bright and early with cold watery sun they arrive, these two girls who've been raiding my dressing up box since they were children, and encamp like winter geese on the estuary and we just open the trunks in the attic and get stuck in.
Accessories are piled onto the sofa, every hat in the house is tried on twice and petticoats accumulate on the dining room table. Everyone has ideas, and our model Josie cheerfully dons each outfit with grace despite the freezing temperatures.
This old workers cottage would not have been an obvious choice for a shoot but there was certainly no shortage of curios to pull out of the bag .... and you know what? It was pure joy!
We laughed, we played, we entertained the farmers and walkers (especially in a red hunting jacket and bashed top hat with Josie giving saucy winks) and we just had the most relaxed fun. We ate huge quantities of veggie lasagna and buns and most of all .... we hope you enjoy the results!
One of the most frequent comments we receive on Facebook says “It felt like dressing up with your best friends in the most amazing room full of Linda’s gorgeous things”. I love matching brides to gowns, watching them select accessories and try things on until they find that one gown, or that finishing touch, and discover the bride they were born to be.
So many years of collecting means that as well as our passion for antique and vintage wedding gowns there’s every kind of accessory, prop and ephemera any stylist could ever wish for ....... and it’s all going to begin to make an appearance on these pages. Because you can bet that after such a gorgeous day of dressing up, we're all keen to plan another quirky vintage shoot soon!
Photography by Louisa Currier
Model Josephine Birch
Styling by Linda Duriez with "assistance" from both girls.
Clothes and accessories from Days of Grace Vintage