Uptown / Downtown Style
My graveyard of URLs reminds me of all the things I may have wanted to pursue as a business but happily paid $18.99 a year to GoDaddy for the privilege of not doing so. One of the hardest to let go was www.downtowngirlsworldwide.com something I bought in 2007, in my early twenties, when there was a small bubble of girls from NYC/LDN/LA/TOKYO who had their own style, not flattened or homogenised by social media.
I've always maintained that this style is a mix of Uptown/Downtown, which is still my parameter for dressing today. I like to mix a big-girl-in-the-city vibe with streetwear and bold jewellery just so the folks in the office know that I'm actually cool.
Personal history and storytelling are also important to me. I will almost always be able to relate an item of clothing that I love back to an icon, a movie or a music video that inspired it. When it comes to taste, I most definitely do not believe in free will. Every bit of my cultural consumption over the last few decades determines my choices today.
So it is very easy for me to link this Theory leopard print coat with my icon Eartha Kitt. I'm obsessed with leopard, and once read that it should be considered a neutral. It's a classic and when I wear it, I feel very... me.
Our friends at Theory have sponsored this post and have also kindly gifted us 20% off until October 4th 2024. Shop your new season pieces and enter STACK20 at checkout to receive your exclusive discount.
But I also feel very Eartha. With her sardonic wit and her life of pleasure, Eartha Kitt is truly a woman made in her own mould and she really really, loved leopard...
Similarly, these new season Theory camel pieces bring to mind one of my favourite Big Business movies, Network (1976) where a television network cynically exploits a former anchor's ravings and revelations about mass media for its own profit. Faye Dunaway's wardrobe in this movie is just * chef's kiss *
Faye Dunaway in Network (1976)
Every Autumn, I find that a few camel pieces keep me feeling back-to-school chic and these are my fave's from the new Theory collection...
But let's talk about all of this IRL as on October 3rd at 6.30pm I'm hosting a free cocktail and shopping evening with Theory on Regent Street where we will be talking through What to Wear to Work and you'll get your exclusive discount on the evening. RSVP here, can't wait to see you!
