B and B blog
B&B interview vintage obsessive Emma Davies November 20, 2019 12:00
Emma is a woman after our own heart - a lover of tattoos, vintage, rockabilly and all things stylish. We met through her love of our butterfly skull logo, and bonded instantly. We love all she does and wanted to find out more about her.
Tell us a bit about yourself...
I’m Emma Davies a 42 year old mum, wife and vintage obsessive. I freelance write and blog and for actual proper money I work as a children’s nanny and as a receptionist in a local hairdressers. I love my family, dogs, tattoos and cake!
You always look fantastic! Where do you get your inspiration from?
Thank you very much! Coming from you both that’s one helluva compliment, and I’m very, very flattered. My inspiration is a bit of a 1950’s/1980’s mashup with a teeny sprinkling of goth thrown in for good measure. I love the rockabilly pinups, Debbie Harry, Siouxsie Sioux and Helena Bonham Carter, these ladies are my idols!
What would you say your style is?
It really varies from day to day depending on what I’m doing but I always try and get a bit of vintage in there somewhere! Saturday for work was a Collectif tartan swing dress, yesterday a original 80’s dress complete with shoulder pads and today I’m nannying so I’m wearing a oversize customised bleached denim shirt, leggings and Converse. Everything is topped off with a slick of red lipstick though, I don’t feel like me without it.
How did you first come across Brennan and Burch?
About 5 years ago I was staying in the AMAZING Hotel Pelirocco in Brighton and fell in love with the beautiful wallpaper in their bar area ( butterfly skull and madworld print). It was exactly the sort of art that I love. Bright, quirky, but not too creepy. I did a bit of research when I came home and learnt more about Brennan and Burch and wanted everything!
What made you decide to have a tattoo on your hand of our butterfly skull?
I had wanted a hand tattoo for a while and knew it had to be something a bit special. I fell in love with the butterfly skull so emailed B&B and tentatively asked if they would mind if I used their design. You guys were so lovely and even sent me the .pdf file to give to my tattooist! It’s one of my favourites and I’m so grateful to you both.
You have some lovely tattoos, which are your favourites or mean something to you?
Thank you very much! I love my ink and it’s a constant work in progress. They are a big old jumble of everything I love, from my kids names to Tim Burton movies, flowers and butterflies. My favourites change but I love my pug in a teacup (I have two pugs and they are my babies!) and my butterfly skull on my hand. I recently got my first tattoo that I had when I was 18, a ropey looking 90’s dolphin, covered up, and I have to admit I felt a bit sad about it. They are all special in their own way.
We know you are passionate about your thrift shop finds. Does your home reflect this?
I love thrifting and this has definitely spread into my home. I’ll trawl markets and even skips for unusual pieces that fill my home. I love colour and graffiti art too. None of it is expensive. We have too many kids and dogs to be too precious!
Lola Crest Bedroom update January 1, 2019 12:00
We love this beautiful bedroom update using Lola Crest wallpaper. It's such a great feeling when someone takes the time to send in pictures of the finished room where they have used your wallpaper. The Lola Crest wallpaper was used by a long term customer Charlotte, who became a friend. We call her our number one fan because she has loved and supported our brand for many years, from when we started in fashion until today doing interiors .
This design means a lot to Charlotte and her husband, as she purchased a top from us with the Lola Crest on it and met her husband wearing it. They now have this wallpaper in their first home bought together.
Updating your wardrobe by swapping February 9, 2018 12:00
We helped out in January at SwapAholicsUK Shoreditch clothes swapping event (in return for credits from the time banking platform Echo) and will be back again for this month's event! It was great to use our skills from the old days selling Levis 501s/vintage in Camden Lock market and then touting B&B wares on our stall in Electric Ballroom.
The message behind these events is a worthy one:
SwapAholicsUK is an organisation that values the importance of protecting our environment that we live and play in. To achieve this mission, we hope to advance a more sustainable future by offering events that encourages the reuse, recycle notion of a better world for our future generations “why shop, when you can swap”.
Tickets are £3 per person. You can swap up to 20 items in good condition:
- clothes (any season)
- shoes (any size)
- bags
- accessories & jewellery (high street and max 5 pieces per person)
The next SwapAholicsUK event will be from 12:30-16:00 on Sunday 18 February 2018 at Shoreditch Platform,1 Kingsland Road, London E2 8AA. Be there or miss out on some gems!
Adding art to your home January 26, 2018 12:00
This week we have been mostly... adding art to our homes!
Our A2 posters look fab framed, but have had them propped up in a corner forever. At long last they are hung in the entrance hall. Accessorised with oddball items of course. These include a vintage cabinet hand decorated by Lisa, stand up animals and a Shaun Ryder mask.
This shot is of some very retro brown PVC reclining armchairs purchased for first flat from an antique shop in the Angel Islington and finally destined to be on their way to a good home somewhere else. Couldn't resist using giant diamante boombox (originally used for window display in The Retailery) to help display them at their finest when listing for sale.
Loved the pic so much it had to go on our Instagram @brennanandburch for posterity. Follow us on there for more behind the scenes shots as well as art and other stuff that we see along our travels.
Sara Stockbridge iconic muse of an era June 24, 2015 12:00
I have to post a little homage to Sara Stockbridge as she has been playing on my mind for some reason over the last few weeks. Sara was Vivienne Westwood's muse in the mid to late 1980s and had a very distinctive kind of Marilyn Monroe mash-up look. You couldn't miss her and to me she represented Vivienne at that time. She started her career at Models One and after her high-profile work as Vivienne's muse she went to be an actress, writer and singer. Still to this day she retains the crown as the face of Vivienne Westwood and that era in our youth. Her i-D magazine cover was firmly stuck on our wall for many a year and she still looks as fresh and relevant to this day. She still looks absolutely fab at 49. There's still hope for us!
All images copyright Vivienne Westwood / i-D Magazine / Sara Stockbridge
STOP PRESS
While researching this blog came across this pic of the one and only NIck Kamen, another love of our youth, but that's another time, another blog...
We love runty toys February 25, 2015 12:00
