Lucie Loves... Fashion // Chasing dusk and summer sun
I’ve just got back from a brilliant two weeks in California – not that I got much of a tan… but believe me, I do have a bit of a glow and a few more freckles across my nose than I did before! It may be down to the fact that I chose to wear SPF 30 for the whole trip, I do like to look after my skin. Gotta keep those wrinkles at bay in my old age! Haha!
My friend’s James and Sarah had come over to ours for dinner, a catch up and a few tales from my trip. I’d cooked us a pot of Spanish stew, and bought some olive bread from M&S to mop up the delicious sauce. All in all, it was a really nice Tuesday night.
Initially, it was James that I was going to photograph, but the evening was so nice, it would have been a waste of the beautiful light (and the availability of a photographer) not to doll myself up and get a few shots taken for the blog.
I’d just re-dyed my hair, which had been looking pretty fried and orange after two weeks baking in the California sun. I have to dye it every 4-6 weeks, as it fades from red to apricot (in a matter of days) to orange to gold/blonde.
However, the main reason for the shoot was to show off these gorgeous Image Crush Clarks shoes, and my Mondaine Evo Big Date watch, complete with its coordinating luscious red leather strap. These shoes might actually be the comfiest heels I’ve ever owned! Clarks are pretty good at that, aren’t they?
In a recent blog post I wrote after attending the Timex event at Shoreditch House, I’d written about my love of Mondaine. They’ve been known for over 70+ years for their timeless Swiss Railways design, clean watch faces, beautiful typography. I think it was the iconic black design with red second hand, that got me hooked.
I remember Interrailing across Europe, when I was at university, during the summer holidays, and stopping off in Geneva. I spied the Swiss design and fell in love. Almost 10 years on, I finally have one to call my own.
If your a Helvetica fan boy or girl you might also want to check out their new Mondaine Helvetica range. “Transferring the essence of Helvetica to a watch.”
To complete the look, I pulled on a pair of coral red culottes that I’d bought last year in the M&S sale for about £12 (bargain!).
I think I bought these culottes because they were so cheap, without really giving much thought to what I would wear them with. In the end, I often turn to Pinterest for inspiration when I’m not sure what to pair a piece of clothing with. I’d recommend it.
I love this embellished top from Zara’s AW15 collection. I treated myself to it before christmas. A bit of retail therapy. It hasn’t had many outings, so I was really pleased that it went well with the rest of this outfit. Pounds per wear and all that…
Because of the bold colours and embellished detailing, I wanted a pared back location to shoot in. Something subtle, concrete and more structured-looking. The bridge over the tube station near my house was perfect, and conveniently close, while the Spanish stew was still bubbling away.
As dusk fell, the last of the daylight mingled with the lights coming on to illuminate the walkway. A mixture of cool and warm hues contrasted with hot reds and stark blacks.
We never shoot with flash. That’s one of the reasons why I love my dslr camera so much. The Canon 5D MKIII and 50mm f1.4 lens work really well in low, natural light and allow you to keep shooting until there’s barely any light left to work with.
Thank you to my work wife, Lucie Loves Men’s fashion & lifestyle editor, James Barley, for shooting the photos.
Disclaimer: Thank you to Clarks and Mondaine for gifting the pieces for this shoot. We really hope you like the shots.