The Shoot: 3 Mill Lane

Take on this season’s austere trends on the cobbled streets of 3 Mill Lane, as we showcase high necklines and avant-garde tailoring with a touch of the Old Masters style.

I am generally not a fan of the monochrome look; I like my bright colours and prints far too much, but as I’ve gotten older it’s strange when you start to develop a taste for simpler clothing, plainer colours and more basic items. When I was younger it was all about clothes making a statement, drawing as much attention to myself as possible; but then I suppose that’s natural for a teenager going into their twenties. You’re entering the adult world and you want to make your mark on it. But as you go through your twenties, you start to calm down and that includes in your style. Gone are the days of being obsessed about clashing prints and statement heels and you start to view comfort as a bigger factor in how you dress. Now that I’ve a child, a full-time job in a serious corporate industry and a home, comfort and ease of wear become a lot more important. With it comes an appreciation for monochromatic clothing, structured cuts and finer tailoring that wouldn’t have been as important when I was younger.

Which is why this shoot spoke to me a lot more during the planning period than any other shoot. It was the easiest to plan from a clothing angle as all the items were things I would naturally wear. Obviously since it’s an editorial shoot you have to up your ante in regards to styling, but essentially this is what I would happily wear into work. So while these two outfits are obviously highly stylised and are heavily tied to the Gothic Victorian trend on the high street this season, they are also great workwear outfits.

The cape jacket from Miss Selfridge has a lot of structure for a jacket with no sleeves, and the matching wrap skirt has a lot of shape to it too. The structured black H&M dress from the second outfit really sucks you in and hides all your lumps and bumps because of its corset-style waist. The frilly light blouse from Zara is a good opposite to the thick and heavy fabrics of the jacket and skirt and the fedora hat adds a bit of oomph to the second outfit. The DIY white and black cuffs were actually handmade for a different shoot, but they just ended up fitting so well for this shoot that I reused them; and I’m glad I did as they worked so well with the River Island bib collar from the second outfit. The funny thing was it was a last minute addition that wasn’t even planned.

Overall I’m very happy with the final piece, so much so that I immediately sent a copy of some of the unedited images to my mum that morning because I was so proud of them. Now that’s a sign of a really good shoot!

Outift 1

Cape jacket: Miss Selfridge, found here – Midi skirt: Miss  Selfridge, found here – High necked blouse: Zara TRF, found here – Boots: New Look, found here – Statement necklace: New Look, found here – Cuffs: DIY

Outfit 2

Dress: H&M Trend, similar one found here – Mock bow collar: River Island, found here – Fedora hat: Miss Selfridge, found here – Boots: Miss Selfridge, similar ones found here – Cuffs: DIY