Morven

Morven (Premier Model Management), Surrey, August 2012.

A little shoot that I did back in August with beautiful Scottish model Morven and styled by talented designer + stylist Verity Pemberton with gorgeous hair & make-up by Jessica Mejia. The shoot day turned out to be the hottest summer day this year so we were all positively melting especially Morven who was a trooper when we put her in heavy winter pieces (the vintage swimsuit was a lunchtime cool-down treat!). 

credits:

 A.P.C stripe frill blouse from my-wardrobe.com + white boy shorts, stylist's own

 Le Mont St. Michel green sweater + Zoe Jordan white shirt + beautiful bug badges, stylist's own

Vintage swimsuit, stylist's own

Carven tweed coat with faux fur coat  from my-wardrobe.com + Urban Outfitters bra + Le Mont St. Michel pants

Bo peeps bra + Hannah Casen Seawright skirt

Zoe Jordan red dress + vintage headpiece, stylist's own

stylist: Verity Pemberton

hair and make-up: Jessica Mejia

model: Morven (Premier)

Storm in a Teacup Vintage Store, London....Claudia

Claudia Raba, co-owner of Storm in a Teacup vintage store, Dalston, London, January 2012.

One frame from a little shoot I did earlier (much earlier!eep, how time flies!) this year with the beautiful Claudia who is a model with Models 1 and also owns a wonderful vintage shop called Storm in a Teacup on Kingsland Road with her boyfriend, Joe Miller. Joe, who is also a stylist and artist, and Claudia stock vintage treasures picked up on their travels - think vintage Vivienne Westwood, Maison Martin Margiela, Raf Simons, Ann Demeulemeester, Dries van Noten - as well as an edited selection of new pieces. You can read more about their store on Susie's blog (who writes a million times more eloquently than me).

If you are in London, go check out Claudia and Joe's store - apart from the gorgeous selection of vintage, they also have a fabulous sweetie counter with jars stacked full of old-fashioned lollies.

You can follow the store on twitter @StormTeacup366

Alexandra for Grazia.it

Alexandra Spencer for Grazia.it.

Head on over to Grazia.it today to check out more photos and the interview with Alexandra (plus all the wonderful street style and catwalk action from Milan men's!).

Beautiful Alexandra, who despite the early start and not wearing a scrap of make-up, managed to look fresh and pretty and oh sooooooo good in a swimsuit! I mean who does that? Who gets out of bed at an ungodly hour, drives half-way across Sydney to meet a complete stranger and then manages to look so effortless and calm while workin' it for the camera in a bikini?! Aussie model and stylist, Miss Alexandra Spencer, that's who :)

When I was planning my Sydney trip, I knew I wanted to shoot something a bit beachy and summery for my Girl Next Door series on Grazia.it despite, or perhaps because of?, knowing that we would be in the depths of winter when the feature was published. And Alexandra's super cool, relaxed style suited the brief perfectly. Alexandra's agency in Australia, Chic Managment, was kind enough to hook Alexandra and I up, and we met in North Bondi to take these photos. Alexandra brought along a bag full of clothes and we managed to get her changed without attracting too much attention (models are experts at slipping into and out of things before you can say "was that....????"!".

Alexandra's modelling career (she has been modelling for the past 3 years) has taken her all over the world and she currently lives between L.A., Sydney (where her family are based) and London. Her response when I asked if she enjoys modelling? "...... I love every job I do! I'm lucky I've never had a bad shoot. I'll always remember my first shoot for Vogue, I love shooting with Nicole Bentley, I had a great time shooting a campaign in Morocco, I loved the cover my friend Darren and I shot for Soma Magazine. But I really enjoy all of it! Big or small it's a great job to have". I loved hearing that from Alexandra - it makes me happy that she enjoys her job so much and knows how fortunate she is.

Apart from modelling, Alexandra is also the editor of achingly hip blog 4th and Bleeker * where she documents her outfits, travel and inspirations. Her photos are beyond gorgeous (like I die a little each time I look at her blog) taken in the most beautiful locations around the world when she travels. Her blog has opened many doors, one of which was the role of creative director for Australian label, Friend of Mine. Alexandra came onboard last year and together she and the girls behind the Friend of Mine label created a collection which was shown at fashion week in Australia - the first show for the label.

And......and this is my most favourite, delicious morsel of information about Alexandra.....she is learning to play the HARMONICA!!! Holllllla! I cannot but ♥ a gal who is trying to master the mouth organ (my Great Uncle Jim played the harmonica when I was little and I even had one myself for awhile! I think I probably sucked at it...a lot!). Note to Alexandra: you gotta post a video of yourself playing the harmonica on your blog!

Alexandra's outfits for our shoot?

At The Speedo Cafe: Indiana Jones hat by Akubra, blue shirt (YSL Homme), white dress worn underneath (Bassike) and sandals (Zara).
Apricot swimsuit: American Apparel

Black tank: Bassike and bikini bottom (Lover)

Cream lace dress: Friend of Mine and jacket (Kate Moss for Topshop)

Big thanks to the girls at The Speedo Cafe in North Bondi for letting Alexandra and I shoot out front.

*I think she said the blog name came about because of a special moment she shared with her sister (who lives in NYC) on 4th and Bleeker.

Joanna for Grazia.it

Miss Joanna Broomfield for Grazia.it.
One of the highlights of my recent trip back home to Australia (apart from visiting family and friends of course!) was photographing 5 super cool girls for Grazia.it. And Joanna is the first of the features to go live (yay!). So head on over to Grazia to find out Joanna's fav places to shop in Sydney, how her experience in Australia's Next Top Model Competition has changed her life(more on that in a minute), what tracks she is currently chilling to on her ipod and her perfect way to spend the day.

Sooooo some of you Aussie readers might recognise startlingly beautiful British model Joanna from Australia's Next Top Model competition where she came sixth in the competition out of 16 other girls. So amazing and I am immensely proud of her (in retrospect, as I didn't meet her until the day of our shoot!). Joanna has already achieved brilliant things in such a short period (she landed the cover of Frankie magazine -one of my favourite Australian publications-just before I photographed her) and I know she has a fabulous modelling career ahead of her. I kept telling Joanna that she has to come back home to Britain (she grew up in the UK and moved to Adelaide, Australia in her mid-teens) as I think she would do brilliantly over here.

Anyhoo, so Joanna now lives in Sydney and I headed on over to her house to photograph her in a few of her favourite outfits. Joanna lives with three other models, two of which were in Australia's Next Top Model competition with her (the surfboard in the photographs belongs to one of her flatmates.......and if he reads this, I promise it absolutely wasn't us who put a ding in the surfboard. It was the wind! Honest;) Can you imagine what parties at their house must look like? Beautiful faces, bodies and limbs everywhere :)

Joanna's style is, in her words, "androgynous and grunge" although I would add in "accessoried with quirky, feminine pieces like rings and necklaces". She loves trawling the various weekend markets in Sydney for vintage finds (find out where she is currently enjoying hunting for one-off pieces in the Grazia.it article) and likes Zara for basics (who doesn't?!) plus Australian label Saxony for investment pieces like the leather shorts in these photos.

And before you ask, yep, Joanna has a blog! So head on over to Blogfield.tumblr.com where Joanna posts snippets of things and people that inspire her (like musicians, photographers, and fashion) as well as documenting her own creative journey. As you might have guessed from the guitar in the photographs, Joanna is also a wonderfully gifted musician (and a great cook!) - she sings and plays guitar- and her New Year's Resolution is to post some of her own music on her blog.

So what was Joanna wearing on the day of our shoot?

Red shorts and white shirt (Zara)
Black dress (Saxony)
T-shirt (vintage) and black jeans (Levi's)
Black shirt (vintage) and black leather shorts (Saxony)
Jeans, jacket and shirt in the last photos (Levi's) and brown boots (Wittner).

Thank you to Joanna for being so, so easy to photograph (she really is super chilled and lovely) and a massive thank you to Joanna's awesome agent in Sydney, Priscillas, for hooking me up with Joanna.