December 13, 2017

Willow Hilson December 2017 Photoshoot

After years of working with mannequins, I thought it was finally the right time for me to share a different side of my visions around the beautiful dresses and outfits in the shop.

I met Stevie-Ella Keen, the incredibly talented photographer behind this photoshoot, through the shop. She often pops in looking for vintage delights, and pieces to inspire her photoshoots. Her work simply blows me away, I love her dream like photos and the way she captures light, her images are beautifully atmospheric.

We began working on ideas, I had visions of classic vintage dresses paired with every day casuals, on a scenic background, and with Stevies' wonderful eye for light, there was no end to the creativity.

My initial idea was to create a photoshoot that perfectly described how to bring vintage fashion into a modern day fashion context. I love layering, and I really wanted to be able to portray how you can wear a timeless vintage dress more simply, and create your own individual styling with it.
This stems from the one question I hear everyday in the shop: But when would I wear it? The answer is simple, wear it with your everyday wardrobe, dress it down or dress it up.

When it finally came to the day of the shoot, Devon had extreme weather warnings. We had initially planned to go out on location on Dartmoor, but with the snow fall and high winds, we both agreed that staying closer to home would be the safest idea.

We headed out to a location by the quay side in Exeter, the wind was blowing a gale, accompanied by light showers.

The models were dressed in beautiful vintage champagne coloured dresses dating from the 1920's, 1930's and 1950's. I wanted the outfits to really represent my ideas of pairing new and old together, and for the models to add their own styles to the dresses.

We layered the dresses over simple long sleeved blouses, black tights and boots, and as a last minute call we added coats, it was too cold and windy to go without.

The light was perfect and we were so lucky that the extreme weather had taken a short break, allowing Stevie to take some of the most incredible photographs.

Here are some behind the scene shots of the day