My Favourite Era: Kiera Buckley-Jones

We haven’t run a “Favourite Era” blog interview for a while. We have some great ones lined up and this one starts the new series with a bang!

We have an interview with Kiera Buckley-Jones, the stylist behind all the fabulous shoots in Homes & Antiques magazine. She styles many of the features including the most recent fabulous one on Norwegian kitchenware (which we are included in so maybe we are a little bit biased!!)

Hi Kiera, what is your favourite vintage era and why?

It’s always been the 1950s, I fell in love with the period when I was a child – I think it was all the pastel colours, the clothes and girly prints. There is a sense of fun and experimentation in the designs of the Fifties. I love the iconic furniture shapes and playful textile designs, which must have been a much-needed antidote to the austerity of the war years.

One of Kiera’s roomsets including our furniture

 

The fashion is truly amazing isn’t it? What draws you to it?

Again, I think it’s the sense of fun which appeals: the huge skirts and charming textile prints. I have a great Fifties sundress which has illustrations of garden tools and I’m a great fan of Horrockses sun dresses. As much as I’d love to, I don’t tend to wear head-to-toe vintage as it’s not always practical when you’re running around at work.

Kiera

What about the home styling?

For homewares I tend to collect bits and bobs from our local flea market at Shepton Mallet. I really just buy what draws my attention, which could be anything from deer-shaped salt and pepper shakers to thermos flasks. I live in a house-share so I restrict myself to smaller items to display.

Interestingly many people we have interviewed so far love the 50s  style. Would you really have wanted to live back then though? (even if you could have bought a Horrockses dress new?)

The period is seen to be a frivolous and exciting time in terms of design. Socially, Britain was still recovering from the devastation of the war years, in fact rationing still was in place up until 1954.

During the war other opportunities were open to women, they were called on to work in the fields and munitions factories, role traditionally assigned to men. But the 1950s saw a return to the conservative gender roles, with woman as housewife and mother, and men as the chief breadwinner.

Women of that time didn’t have equal pay and I get the impression you have to of chosen to either pursue a career or a husband. Not that this was true of every individual but it seems your options were more limiting during that time. You could argue that now we have too much choice.

I think we tend to romanticise about the period as it was so stylish but I think the reality without the fabulous clothes and furniture, was a time of poverty and the beginning of social change.

 Pretty pastels

Time was very different back then for women, indeed for everyone. What values could we maybe learn from them?

The era also saw the beginning of consumerism as we know it, the desire for the ‘new’ and we were slowly given more choice. I think it’s interesting now how we hack back to the past, almost wanting to reclaim the innocence and traditional roles of what we see as a ‘simpler’ time. You see this with the explosion of ‘Vintage’.

So for values I would say, the slower pace and simpler expectations..

 I agree with the slower pace thing…I truly wish I had time to do some of the nicer stuff like make bread and deadhead the roses. We juggle so much now, and are always on the go. And when we do sit down we still have a smart phone in one hand so we never really switch off.

 

Thanks to Kiera. See some of here gorgeous work here. And for a peak at our stock that has her magic styling click here.

 Amazing styling of enamel cookware including some of ours!!

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WIN a pair of tickets to London Fashion Weeks’s vintage event!!! This is for entry into the reception including cocktails, seats for the fashion show plus the after show party!!! You must be available to get to London on Sat 15th September. For full details scroll down to the end of the post.

Here’s more info about the event:

Retrospective is an exciting new London Fashion Week show and party that explores the past to predict next season’s trends. Taking place at Bloomsbury Ballroom on Saturday 15th September 2012, Retrospective will feature catwalk shows exhibiting beautiful one-off pieces from the world’s finest design houses and collections.

Founded by Bourne & Hollingsworth, the creators of the hugely popular Blitz and Prohibition parties Retrospective will be the first event during London Fashion Week to show the cyclical nature of styles and trends, whilst offering the fashion industry the chance to indulge their love of vintage and period design.

Retrospective has teamed up with the best vintage experts in London to create a show that features fashions from the 1920s right through to the 1980s. From shops like Lucy In Disguise, vintage suppliers Peekaboo Vintage and costumiers Violet’s Box, the brands involved in Retrospective are all well respected within the fashion industry and well known in the public consciousness.

Retrospective will be open to the public, allowing ticket holders a glimpse into one of the most exciting events in the capital’s calendar, and offering high fashion for all. The evening begins with a reception of cocktails and canapés. Then guests will be seated to enjoy catwalk shows featuring designs from names such as Mary Quant, Givenchy, Ossie Clark, Chanel and Dior. Mixing gowns, accessories and casual wear from over 50 years of fashion, each look will be selected and styled to reflect the current and future trends being showcased during London Fashion Week.

After the show, Retrospective will move the party from catwalk to dance floor with a dazzling event that celebrates the finest fashion moments from the last century. With cocktails from Bourne & Hollingsworth, and music courtesy of the finest DJs and bands in London, Retrospective will combine style and spectacle to present a LFW party like no other.

Throughout the party will be a programme of floorshows that captures the key moments in fashion history. Using exciting performers and dancers – from flapper flash mobs to Studio 54 dancers on horseback – Retrospective’s live re-enactments of the most iconic and influential events in the fashion world will amuse, provoke and inspire.

Whether it’s an original Yves Saint Laurent Le Smoking or your Nan’s favourite fur coat, a one off Schiaparelli gown or that amazing prom dress you found from a Hackney charity shop, throw on your finest finds from the last 10 decades and join Retrospective to celebrate the fashion of the past and the future.

www.fashionretrospective.com for more information.

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:

1. Make sure you can actually go to the event, you can make your own way to London, you are free on 15th Sept and that you are over 18 years old

2. Subscribe to this blog: just enter your email address on the subscribe box on the right

3. Leave a comment to tell me you’ve joined and that you would love to win the tickets!

The winner will be chosen randomly on Tuesday

 

 

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