About A Blush of Rose

I moved to London in late 2006 and settled in a quiet leafy part of West London where fashion seemed to be happening all around me. Fashion Week shows, studios, boutiques and museums where on my doorstep. It was all a great surprise as I'd just been hoping to find a peaceful neighbourhood. Since I was small I've always been a writer in my inner self, determined to write and communicate my insights and ideas as well as anyone else after a brief spell of early childhood dyslexia. So here in London, with Paris also just a stone's through away down the train track, I was suddenly immersed. After going to talks, functions and the occasional charity ball that would be a fashion showcase, I began to be aware of the industry dynamics behind the magazines I'd read. A Gala opening here, a ticket to Fashion Rocks for the Princes Trust there, frequent trips to Paris and a few other things made me want to start writing fashion from a tiny cold attic space in South Kensington near the park. Although I was in a nice spot I couldn't afford to join the industry on the minimum wage internship carousel for an extended period and something inside me also said 'why should I?' Why should I and many others work for near minimum wage for very wealthy people, what's going on here? It didn't seem right to me for people to be reated like this although most people seemed to be accepting of it so I built my profile and work around a full time (also rewarding) career in charity an then the City of London.

So the website was born to be a simple online magazine that I could have as my own space as a basis to show my work before people where really using the word 'blog' and I saved up for a couple of months to by a laptop to get working on after handwriting some stories in 2008 and 2009. It's been a journey and brought me back to Paris many times (a city that's drawn me with echoes of it's past since my childhood like an old friend or family member from another lifetime that I can't forget) as well as seeing maybe 20 London Fashion Week seasons. I have enjoyed the discovery, picking up great writing assignments and meeting some very special clients I can potentially style for. I've also been able to do some photography work, which like my Mum, I had a hunch I could be good at. It's a journey and an adventure and while I have quite a few other demands on my time, I'm thankful that I've been able to endure and people have seen and read me all over the world. It's kind of a DIY approach without the easy way in but I feel like I've learned a lot and am thankful.

I hope you enjoy A Blush of Rose.