MAGPIETreasure

Issue 1

One of my all time favourite books is Flower Fairies of The Spring, as a child I used to covet them, wait with anticipation as my mother would gently turn the pages, getting lost in the delicate illustrations and the whimsical tales, believ-

ing that one day my life could be as magical.

Magpie is a story teller’s dream. Issue one casts its gaze over the women and stories that have shaped our lives, there is so much to admire and marvel at,

from the dark fairytale that is Edie Sedgwicks life, to a true love story, so inspiring it crossed continents.

In testing times we all need to have an escape route, we hope Magpie and its wonderful cast of characters becomes your something special that takes you

away, time and time again.

Editors

Trust Wish Dream Chance4

contents

Treasure Truth Promise Hope

Editors 4

Contents 6

Contributors 7

Luella`s Girls 11

Libby I`ll wait for you 23

Edie`s Tale 27

Poem For Everyman 39

Alex in Full Bloom 41

Natal Give Us A Twirl 47

6

Assistant Photographer

Jonathan Bracewell

Mixing beats on my decks, putting on my headphones

shutting the world out.

Make up Artist

Sarah Taylor

Looking through old pictures, reading old letters,

reminicsing over lost memories,

7

Family Escape

Stylist

Danielle Allen

Taking the dogs on a walk on a misty morningwhen no one else is awake.

Art Director

Kaylie Rowe

Taking Bluebell the camper to the seaside andeating fish and chips even on a rainy day

8

We allhave stories

to tell

Girls

Luellas girls wear bows in their hair.

Luellas girls live life without a care.

Luellas

11

Words : Tess AshwinStyling : Tess Ashwin

Photography : Tess Ashwin

Luellas girls wear bows in their hair.

Luellas girls live life without a care.

Dress : Rare £ 50Bow : Topshop £ 12.00

Bow : Topshop £12.99Coat : River Island £ 80

Shoes : Stylist Owns

Luella Bartleys life seems laced with serendipity, herself titled label Luella was coined over late-night drinks with the girls. This happy go lucky attitude towards life transcends into her clothes. Whimsical creations full of character and life, Luella is renowned for not taking life to

seriously.

Luella quickly became one of the countries more popular labels, regularly cited as a modern day Biba on account of her youthful slant and English quirkiness, Her appeal was so prolific it crossed continents. Adored in America, where she held her show for six years before returning to London last year. American Vogue described Bartley as “ a star... a posterchild for London

cool”

She showed her first collection, called ‘Daddy, I Want a Pony’, in a flat belonging to a friend, Steve Mackey, bassist with Pulp. It was very Brit-inspired and although low-key, a spark had been ignited. By next season, Bartley was on the London Fashion Week schedule and her debut

show, ‘Daddy, Who Are The Clash?” was one of the hottest tickets in town..The blend of pop culture, fashion was all consuming and Bartley was quickly coined the undis-

puted head girl of the new cool school.

Luella`s fans are so loyal and their style so defined they are referred to as her “girls”, but it’s not just the clothes they wear, it’s attitude, and how they wear them. Luella`s girls embody a par-ticular effortless cool. When she creates a collection she creates a character, which the wearer then takes on. Often overlooked by the fashion elite she manages to connect with her audience

on a level that not many designers can achieve.

It came as a shock but in spring 2010 Luella ceased trading, a surprise for anyone let alone a designer coveted by some many, she didn’t take upon the decision lightly, but with the advice

from Celine Creative Director Phoebe Philo, it`s something she is now comfortable with.

Perhaps fitting for the Final collection Luella`s girls calmed down and smartened up. Gone were the ditsy prints and layers of tulle we’ve come to expect from the former writer turned designer. Instead, in their place, Luella presented us with a more formal grown up collection featuring flirty dresses and pretty skirt suits, yet the cut out hearts and oversized bows were a

nod towards the Luella we have all come to love

Luckily for her fans Luella has ventured into new avenues. She has penned a book about the subject closest to her heart. Everything down to the chic tan cover emblazoned with a prowling cat just epitomises her signature British cool style. She investigates the combination of smart and scruffy, classic and street-style, which ensures that English girls are always at the cutting edge of fashion. There are photographs, diagrams and plenty of sketches. But Luella’s Guide to English Style isn’t simply a book about fashion and style, it’s a work of social anthropology – delivered with a wink and a kiss on the cheek. Luella attempts to answer the age-old question

“What makes English girls the coolest in the world “

It’s been almost a year since our beloved Luella ceased trading, but with her venturing into pastures new, its’ not the last that we will see of her, how could it be, her spirit will forever live

on in her girls.

Bow : Topshop £ 12.99Dress : Rare £ 50

Shoes : Stylists Own

Bow : Topshop £ 12.99Dress : Rare £ 65

Bow : Topshop £ 12.99Dress : Miss Selfridge £ 55

Shoes : Stylists Own

Dress : Rare £ 50Bow : Topshop £ 12.99

Shoes : Stylists OwnOpposite Page

Dress : Rare £ 65Jacket : River Island £ 80

Bow : Topshop £ 12.99Bag : Urban Outfitters £ 25

Belt : Mang0 £ 19.99Ring : Sylists Own

23

LibbyI`ll waitfor you

I would give you the moon and the stars up above

If you needed some proof of my deep tender love

But all that I have has been yours from the start

For the very first thing that you stole was my heart

Little did I imagine that these words would be written to me six weeks later as I sat with my roommate in college sixty two years ago.

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Only two weeks to go before we all left for the Christmas holidays, we were enjoying a quiet Sunday afternoon with our knitting in our attic room when a knock came on the front door downstairs and I was summoned to the common room where two young men awaited, one an acquaintance of the family, the other a complete stranger with a mop of blonde waves. They had been enjoying a weekend of freedom and had intended visiting my sister, a nurse in Leicester but that was too far away so I was to be second best. Could

they take us out to dinner?

In 1949, rules were rigidly applied. All students back in college by 6pm, and no men in our rooms. How could we get out for the evening? A tale was spun off long lost family friends to our housemistress. So we put on our best freshly knitted sweaters , a coat of lipstick and off we dashed. I have no memories of the dinner only of the feeling of some strange comfort as I sat next to this stranger in the car on the return journey who had by chance lived most of his early years within two miles of me and whose back view I had once seen disappearing at great speed on a drop-handled bicycle down the village street,

it took an offer of a lift home, and I was his.

Four weeks of wonderful happiness was ours as we shared our hopes and dreams, grow-ing closer every day, walking the countryside, racing down hills, following packs of beagles and finally climbing the Malverns for a long embrace in the fog, knowing we had to part so very soon. Africa awaited, but first a wisdom tooth had to be extracted, and on his return home I had a visit. Was it the shock of the anaesthetic? We shall never know,

but a proposal was given and accepted.

Twenty months would pass before we should see each other again. Many temptations to break our promises in the form of bored district Commissioners wives and feisty visitors from Southern Rhodesia, but in August 1951 I sailed with my future mother-in-law on

the Bloemfontein Castle for Beira, leaving the rationed U.K behind.

We were together again at last and I didn’t know how to cope, nothing could compare with the feelings of happiness I felt we disembarked to travel by train through Mozam-bique, across the giant Zambezi river, past natives villages built of mud, with people so

vastly different to ourselves but with whom I would spend many happy years.

We were married in Zomba a week later. The love we had discovered so many months before had endured and enriched our lives and gave us strength to overcome some of the difficulties which came our way. How lucky I was that on that day in 1949 a wonderful young man found the journey to Leicester too long, who gave me his heart, three chil-

dren, five grandchildren, all that I have and for whom my heart still aches.

25

26

Edie’s Tale

Nothing ordinary

Almost like she just walked straight out of a dark fairlytale

She had nothing human about her just a mystery

Words : Tess AshwinStyling : Tess Ashwin

Photography : Tess AshwinModel : Katie Clarke

Previous PageSlip : Elle Mcpherson £ 45

This PageDress : Bank £45

Tights : Pretty Polly £ 4.95Knecklace : Vintage £ 21.99

She was living on her own yet still a baby, incapable of dealing with the simplest task, depending on ladies in waiting male and female

alike. The limo service cradling her from place to place.

A child in other ways too, afraid to go to sleep, the demons could be waiting. Her farther a black shadow following from her past, cast-

ing himself over every decision. Even in sleep she was frenzied. Her hands clawing scratching fending off an invisible attacker. It would

catch her even if she paused for a second. Dance dance dance!! If you dance fast enough the demons will recede

A tainted beauty caught on camera, abused and exploited she had perfected the creature, and he wanted to preserve it under a glass .

One of the first child women, an un polished diamond, being cut the wrong way, exploited, then cast aside, she was nothing without the

Factory tribe.

Every day dipping into the dressing up box, thigh high boots, mink coats, and gold dust eyelashes, she had a Natural magic and was quite

unique the elfin creature who defied the laws of common sense.

The factory was a place for lost boys and confused girls to take solace and cultivate their darkest impulses, Edie another casualty of the

industry, fooled and forced into situations so much greater that her.

“ I wonder when Edie will jump”

“ I hope she lets us know so we can watch it “

A bed in a hotel room, no love, no exit. Drugs cigarettes and T.V waifish in black bra and panties, she wasn’t here, the way she moved the way she danced, all caught on camera, but she couldn’t be con-

tained.

She pushed the limits and tested the boundaries, like so many stars before her, that dazzling outer shell a result of inner turmoil, like

most everyone else in her life we only ever really got to know a small portion of the eternal mystery that is Edie Sedgwick.

30

Jumper : Topshop £ 42Boots : Topshop £ 90

Previous PageDress : Vintage

Socks : Pretty Polly £ 3.75This Page

Same as before

Slip : Elle McPherson £ 45Ring : Stylists Own

Previous PageDress : H & M £ 29.99Earings : Stylists Own

This PageDress : Miss Selfrdige £ 85

Earings : Topshop £ 15

Poem

For

Everyman

Words John Wood

39

I will present you parts

of my self

slowly if you are patient and tender.

I will open drawers that mostly stay closed

and bring out places and people and things sounds and smells, loves and frustrations, hopes and sadness,

bits and pieces of three decades of life that have been grabbed off

in chunks and found lying in my hands.

they have eaten their way into my memory,

carved their way into my heart.

altogether-you or I will never see them- they are me.

If you regard them lightly, deny they are important

or worse judge them I will quietly, slowly,

begin to wrap them up, in small pieces of velvet,

like worn silver and gold jewelry, tuck them away

in a small wooden chest of drawers and close.

Poem

For

Everyman

Words John Wood

40

Alexin

FullBloom

Loose yourself in this season gilded treasures

Fanciful petals and blooms to delight

Photography : Tess AshwinModel Hanna Wales

Neckalce : Alex Monroe £ 135

Previous PageTop : Topshop £ 45

Skirt : Reiss £ 55 Bracelet : Alex Monroe £ 145

Ring : Topshop £ 15This Page

Dress : Mango £ 49 Bracelet : Pilgrim £ 55

Ring : Topshop £ 12

Opposite PageJumper : Topshop £ 40

Big Flower Ring : Accesorize £ 14Ring : Alex Monroe £ 126

This PageRing : Accesorize £9

Natalie give us a twirl

For fashion label Rodarte the fairytale came true, just 18 months ago Laura Mulleavey – one half of the Rodarte empire was working as a waitress, and Kate was selling records, now their magical vision is being transferred onto the big screen.Black swan, the Psychological thriller featuring actress Natalie Portman, explores the limits of reality, depicting a ballerina who is preparing for the coveted role of Swan Queen, so desperate to achieve perfection mentally and physically dissolves before our eyes. Director Aronofsky turned to Rodarte to turn his dark fairytale into a reality.An obvious choice The Mulleavys are renowned for the meticulous detail that goes into each dress, the collaboration on Black Swan resulted in the creation 40 pieces, a sizeable task for even the most established designer.

It would seem they had an affinity with the subject matter. Rodarte had already tapped into horror films and ballet, the same elements that are the foundation of Black Swan. Collections such as their Spring 2009 which explored the link between site-specific art and the search for life in space. Earth, art and science fiction are intertwined they are able to blend the delicate and the beautiful with the strange and dark. For the film they had to understand the darker nature and more twisted side of ballet, and embody this within the garments.Like previous collections they sought inspiration in some bizarre places, this time a mechanical bird was the basis for the infamous costume, The black swan. They had a daunting task, to create a costume that was keeping in the tradition of Swan Lake and yet completely modern and innovative. A black feather tutu, combined with net and a metal and Swarovski crystal crown defines the key moment within the film the mo-ment where the black swan is revealed.

One of the most celebrated pieces within the film is the tutu, one of the lost couture arts, a tutu is so precious, so coveted, they rarely see daylight. Consisting of 13 layers of tulle sticking straight out and then pulled over the body, this proved a challenge for the duo who had only seen a ballet costume up close once before the film. The most difficult part was designing tutus that were functional and yet were to be shot up close, while still maintaining the beauty of a distant view. you have to help bring to life the dancers’ movement.

To create the pieces they turn to each other, they sit, sketch, talk about ideas, they speak about a collection in half sentences and unfinished thoughts. For the sisters

48

Words : Tess AshwinImages : Fanpop.com

sisters there’s a certain level of intuition involved. Little needs to be verbally explained, because they both intuitively understand what the other is trying to create. They researched the ballet in depth. Looking at its historical relevance and the socio-political developments of ballet and the female body over the years.But for Rodarte this project wasn’t just about the clothes it was about telling a story, they design from a very personal place. They approach design as story tellers, so each visual reference draws meaning and relevance from something that they have experienced. The philosophy behind all Rodarte`s pieces is that they create garments that can be transformed by a women, made entirely her own by the way she wears it.

So what’s next for the design duo, their now designing costumes for a production of the Dutch National Ballet. Their pieces have always blurred the lines between art and fashion, is this another step away from the main-stream fashion world? Only time will tell.

The film has already premiered in the U.S to rave re-views, here in the U.K We’ll have to wait until January 21st to see Black Swan but from what we’ve seen so far of the costume design sketches, film stills and trailer, thanks to Rodarte`s vision, ‘Black Swan’ is set to be one of the most stylish films of the year

And she lived happily ever after

Treasure Truth Promise Hope56