08|04|2018
BURGUNDY LEATHER CHIC
My new spring crush
jacket
BLACK DUST
trousers
ZARA
shirt
PRIMARK
shoes
GANT
CLOTHES
SHIRT PRIMARK
JACKET BLACK DUST
TROUSERS ZARA
SHOES GANT
Sometimes you find something that you just have to have. Be it an article of clothing, an accessory or what have you, you know deep down that that item will be yours imminently. I remember the first time I felt this, and it was all about a bed-spread with a tyrannosaurus rex design from Jurassic Park (I was considerably younger). I knew I just had to have it. As I grew up (well -ish) my next capitalist crush turned to black vans. I loved them so much, I went out and bought a second pair the next day as I knew the first pair would be worn down in a matter of weeks. I never took them off - and even tried to convince my mum that I should wear them to an upcoming wedding. It didn’t go down well. These items cropped up over the years and I fell in love with something that I usually wore to death.
Flash forward, it's 2018 and here I am, doing some much-needed online shopping (I think my wallet would disagree with the ‘necessary’ statement) and was sizing up some gorgeous leather jackets in all shapes and sizes. I love a good leather or suede jacket, it always conjured up Hollywood classic cool. Gimme a leather jacket in short, bomber, black, tan, green, whatever it is, I’m automatically sold. Now as a ginger, I’ve always been told to avoid certain colours: oranges, reds and yellows are usually a no-go for me. However, when I’m told I can’t or shouldn’t do something, I just want to do it even more.
In my shopping extravaganza that may or may not have been fueled by a few glasses of wine, I spotted a burgundy suede leather biker jacket from Black Dust that looked super-bad ass and I INSTANTLY fell in love. I had to have it. I bought it, fully expecting to look like a giant red mess in it. When it arrived a few days later, I ripped open the packaging and threw it on. I was enthralled. It fit like a dream and the colour was great. I felt so bloody cool in it, I didn’t take it off all day. It was a bit weird eating dinner at the dinner table in a leather jacket, but hey, what can you do. I had to shoot the jacket ASAP before I got anymore stains on it.
But where would be a place that was cool enough? Oddly enough, the underground is always a good place to show off your look and check people out. London has so many cool and interesting people with all sorts of outfits and styles. So, I thought, why not show off my new favourite piece there? I decided to match my red coat with a few favourite finds: a brilliant patterned shirt from Primark, khaki trousers from Zara and tan shoes from Gant. I was going for cool, with a hint of not trying too hard.
In the end, the outfit became a cool mishmash of patterns and colours and I had just as much fun curating the outfit as I did shooting it. Strutting to a tube station in West London to shoot the look made me feel like a superstar. I was just missing the aviators and half lit cigarette. Now I can’t seem to take it off and I’m starting to plan the next hundred outfits or so around the coat…the only problem is that I am running out of the necessary cool clothes to pair the coat with.
