Tell us a little bit about your family...
There’s me, my husband Gabriel, and our daughter Hella, who is just over two months old. We’ve also always got a multitude of grandparents and aunties and uncles around, so our little family manages to feel very big.
You are a passionate fashion historian and write on the subject for your Newsletter, Old Fashioned. What first sparked your interest in fashion?
I have been obsessive about clothing since I was old enough to choose my own outfits, and I started working in fashion when I was fourteen! I felt so grown up at the time, but now when I look at fourteen-year-olds out on the street I see how ridiculous that must have been. My love of clothing only grew from there and led me on several pathways through the fashion industry, and eventually I realised that my real passion was doing research in museums and archives before runway shows and photo shoots. I feel very lucky now that I can be immersed in that type of research all day and still be in touch with contemporary fashion.
We love your playful style, what are your biggest influences?
Oh, there are too many to choose from! And they change each time I start a new project and become obsessed with more stylish figures from history! Perennially: Marie Antionette, Schiaparelli, and Brigitte Bardot.
My eternal inspiration is my husband. He has the best eye.
Now I find myself super inspired by my daughter’s outfits too! I mean, I pick them out, but baby clothes are so much more fun than adult clothes.
If you could go back to just one particular era, which would it be?
How did you approach dressing throughout pregnancy?
What has been your favourite thing to do with your little one in tow?
Walking! Everywhere! Just like both her mother and her father, Hella hates sitting at home all day. We’ve been having really lovely early summer days strolling through the whole city from morning to evening, showing her all of our favourite places and stopping for bottles and treats along the way.
What is your favourite part of Motherhood so far?
I get to see the world through fresh eyes. And the smiles!
...and the hardest?
Honestly, my daughter is a really great baby–she eats and sleeps like a champion. In that sense, the transition to motherhood has been easy. The harder parts have been more about navigating my own identity after such a colossal change. I’m the first of my friends to have a baby, and I don’t feel isolated at all because they’re all so helpful and amazing and living their own lives full of equally important challenges, but it is wild that I just went to the hospital one day and came home in a totally new phase of life. I think my mind is still kind of catching up to that change.
What is your top tired mama tip?
Remember that you’ll sleep eventually. The baby will sleep eventually. Try to let loose and have fun while you’re not sleeping.
What Beauty product you swear by?
Right now it’s Saie Super Glowy Gel. It makes you look super glowy (as the name would suggest), sunkissed and wide awake. Also pre- and post-natal vitamins – they make your skin so good!!
Has anything about motherhood surprised you?
Thus far, motherhood is surprisingly peaceful. I feel like social media is full of horror stories–you’ll never sleep again, you’ll be drowning in diapers, your body will be falling apart. While it’s important to acknowledge that motherhood can be difficult and messy, it can also be quiet and wonderful with lots of time spent strolling in the sun and laying on the carpet listening to music.
Is there anything you wish you had known before becoming a mama?
No! Everyone is full of advice for moms but truly no one knows your baby better than you do. Your best guess as to what they need is going to be infinitely better than anyone else’s tip.
And finally.. please and you share with us your top BINI picks?
I love all three bellow but my no.1 has to be the Selfridges Peekaboo Snuggler because I hope my daughter is as invested in the history of departments stores as I am... and because we love colour
