Style it up

As a new book celebrating the work of the stylist is set to launch next month Mrs Fashion presents a peaen to the trade in her own inimitable style. IE bitching and moaning about photographers.













On editorial shoots why do photographers insist on thinking they are the most important person there? In most cases the stylist is the one who came up with the idea for the story, booked them and had the overall vision for the shoot. The photographer, like the hair stylist, make-up artist, model and location are all bought together by the stylist because of their particular look or style of work - and the stylist makes sure that everything gels the way he / she wants it to and in the way that he / she knows the editor will be happy with. If we've booked someone because of their crisp contrasty lighting (and tell our editor that this is the way the story is going to look) we don't want to be confronted with the photographer deciding he'd like to try out a new sludgy-shaded lighting set-up on the day.

Of course on ad or music jobs the stylist is oftentimes relegated to mere wardrobe and running duties which is why stylists that spend their time soley dressing slebs (Hi, Rachel!) are omitted from the tome and Camilla Nickerson, Melanie Ward, Carine Roitfeld, Venetia Scott and Edward Enninful are all in.

As a postscript I'd like to reiterate that not all photographers are bad. There are just a few who have their own agenda and don't want to work as a team - but after xx years in the industry I'm in a position where I can steer clear of them. Luckily I have a great core of people I regularly work with, who just 'get' it, and we can create beautiful music pictures together.

(On that note, girls and boys, please never ever ever ever never never ever get romantically entangled with a photographer. It will drive you to distraction and cause many a tear to fall. No, not even if they shoot for Elle on, like, a regular basis*. Promise? 'Kay. Good).

*Extra points in you can guess the movie I'm (quite possibly mis-) quoting.

Photo by Alan Scrymgeour who has nothing to do with the snappers berated herein.

Lies, it's all lies I tell you

The myth perpetrated by magazines that "just one piece will update your look" should be banished from the fashion kingdom. It's a lie! A filthy, fat, black whopper. And it's one that I am incredibly guilty of reiterating in my xx year career.

The stark truth was bought home to me on one of my regular jaunts on the number 14 bus: Out of the window I saw an averagely-pretty Indian-Asian girl in a simple single breasted grey wool coat, black trousers (probably from Next) and pointy black court shoes (shudder). She was carrying a purple patent sac the like of which has been flagged up as being (one of) The Must-Have Bags of The Season.

Although no, it wasn't the luscious Mulberry Mabel - above - yes, it was very purple and, yes, it was very patent (your head must be screwed on backwards if you didn't know that the regal shade and shiny finish are on-trend (hate that phrase) for Autumn 2007) but adding something so incongruously It to a mediocre look didn't "update" her look, "freshen (her) outfit" or "add a splash of so-this-season". It just looked like she was an average office-worker carrying a brand new bag. I could see her chatting to her girlfriends over a glass of ABC* (she's not that unaware) in All Bar One and them all cooing how it's very "trendy" and how they read in Company that purple was "really big this season".

The reality is that one trend-led piece worn with a classic outfit will throw the whole of your look out of kilter, bringing the focus onto your basics and making them look out-dated and dowdy. The prescription? I'm not going to tell you stop buying magazines - hey, I like having a job - but rather boringly that you should search out classics that will add polish and finesse to your look and not make you look like a mis-matched trend slave (because that's so not a good look).

*ABC = Anything But Chardonnay

UPDATE: Maybe I didn't make myself clear - this isn't a post berating It bags, but a post about how it's finally dawned on me that adding one on-trend / so-this-season piece (be it a bag, shoe, hat, midi-skirt or big-shouldered jacket) will not update your look on it's own and will instead draw focus onto the rest of your out-dated outfit.
Clear? As mud.