Skulls n' Dolls

  Halloween has long been one of my favourite celebrations, most likely because inside of me still dwells an imaginative 6 year old who loves to play dress up. My first foray into Halloween started when I was about 7 years old and I had been invited to my first fancy dress party at a friends house since her birthday fell on or around the holiday. My Mum helped me with my costume but I never considered for a second that I might stand out when, walking into the party dressed head-to-toe as an adorable little red Devil, twelve perfect witches in pointy black hats stared back at me stunned and a little bit perplexed. Apparently (for what would certainly not be the last time in my life) I had missed a memo. Feeling what I now remember as my first ever pangs of self-consciousness I had no choice but to shrug it off only to be quickly relieved and rewarded with praise for my seemingly bold originality. This one party could be considered a fitting metaphor for much of my life.

  All Hallows Eve may have started as a day to remember the dead but I think in our time it has become a chance to show another side to yourself, to inhabit another character, think outside of normal everyday expectations.  Perhaps in my past the idea could have caused me anxiety but now it's one I embrace. So when Leren and I discussed attempting a Halloween inspired photo shoot I was genuinely excited, primarily by the opportunity to attempt some more fashion/editorial style photography and secondly to be in an outfit styled by Leren with professional make-up by the excellent Lizzie Mazza. I was particularly impressed by Lizzie's candy skull make up which was styled with a Leren Connor waistcoat, vintage shirt, black trousers and spats. My concept was a cracked and aged porcelain doll, the waistcoat is also a Leren Connor piece and she made a collar and cuffs especially for this shoot, paired with a lace dress and knee high cotton socks sent it truly into the realm of the creepy.

  So I hope you all enjoy our little Halloween special and get involved yourselves, I love seeing crazy and creative costumes and am always surprised by what people come up with .  I also encourage anyone reading to leave us some comments, I'd love to know what you think! Oh and... Happy Halloween!

  Victoria has pretty much summed it up of what we were aiming for with this collection so I would like to say a big thank you for all the help you provided and most of all the general creativity that you contributed to making this happen! Halloween is a great time of the year where you get to dress up and be someone else for the evening whether it be one of your favorite characters or just something creepy you want to try out for the evening. I have fond Halloween memories from my childhood and with being a mother I now get to share the memories from this time of year with my daughter.
  For this shoot we literally worked with our own imaginations in terms of bringing out the best in what we had to work with, fortunately it worked to our advantage. The image of Victoria on the settee with all the dolls and teddies was taken in my daughter's room, Victoria set it up, sat right in the middle and off we went. It took quite a while to get those images right and a lot of adjusting to the camera and lighting but we got there in the end. For the shots of me as the skull we captured the nightlife with the use of street lamps as well as using Victoria's house as she has a very dramatic staircase that worked perfectly for the concept of the shoot. We hope you enjoy the post and happy Halloween.