How did Daily Dress Edit get started?
DDE started as a middle-of-the-night thought and completely on a whim over 5 years ago. As a brand consultant I was keen to keep up to date with what was going on in the fashion industry on Instagram so I started the account as an excuse to scroll. I just couldn’t believe how many new designers I found and I started sharing my discoveries. Slowly my audience kept building and then I was approached by Grosvenor London to curate my first Pop Up.
Previously, you worked as Special Advisor for Samantha Cameron and before that as Global PR Director for Anya Hindmarch. How did your experience in these two roles inform what you do now?
I love working with strong, opinionated and successful women which both Anya and Samantha are. The favourite part of the DDE for me is being able to work very closely with an extraordinary group of female designers who have founded their own businesses, often from their kitchen table who share my passion for dresses and ethical production. Having worked in fashion since I was 19, I adore working with smaller rather than larger corporate brands. The community the DDE has created between all these small brands is something I am hugely proud of.
Where did your love of dresses come from? What is your earliest memory of wearing a dress?
My Spanish mother used to dress my sister and I in matching outfits when we were young so I remember a lot of pretty dresses with smocking and Peter Pan collars. I don’t remember loving them particularly and rebelled after that and would wear only denim in my teenage years. However, when I started working aged 19 I ‘discovered’ them again as I realised throwing on a dress in the morning is not only far quicker but also easier. I adored wearing them at No10 in bold colours and prints amongst a sea of mostly grey suits and always used to get asked if I was going to a cocktail party! As women we are so lucky to be able to use our wardrobes as an armour and I found this particularly useful while working in a very male dominated environment.
Do you have a favourite dress in your wardrobe?
It will always be my wedding dress, made by my good friend Emilia Wickstead and one that I will treasure forever. Inspired by Audrey Hepburn’s in a heavy cotton lace that weighed a ton, it fitted me beautifully and I still look back at the photos and wouldn’t change a thing about it. I’d love for it to be worn again, however with two sons I am hoping one of my nieces will love it as much as I do when their time comes.
Which dress(es) do you want to buy this autumn?
I have an unhealthy obsession with the colour burgundy from the 1st September up until January. I really have to sit on my hands not to purchase every burgundy dress I see, particularly in a great print or a soft cotton corduroy. I pair them with my favourite Jigsaw coat and Jimmy Choo boots – both in burgundy for a full tonal look. You will always find a lot of this colour in my autumn Pop Ups, not just because I love it but also as it really does suit every skin tone.
Where do you find all the independent labels that you champion?
All of them on instagram! I have a love/hate relationship with the platform but goodness it does throw up some serious treasures. My daily search for a dress for the next day is a very effective hunting ground for new discoveries and it is just the best feeling when you do. It makes all the hours I put into the DDE worthwhile.
Tell us about your Pop Up that’s happening from October 2nd – who is involved and how does it work being online?
I usually do a big all-singing and dancing in-person Pop Up in the autumn but I have been really keen to shift this to early summer so I took the decision to flip it round this season. I also wasn’t going to do a Pop Up at all but have been besieged by messages from customers enquiring and demanding one which has been lovely. So I have pulled together a ‘Mini’ virtual Pop Up with 15 brands, most of them DDE favourites like Justine Tabak and Opioneers and a few new ones like Kate Barton, Lexy London and a first – a European brand called Hortense Studio, to design 15 beautiful autumn dresses. We go live on Sunday October 2nd at 7am and the Pop Up will run for a week over the DDE instagram and website. Look out for the burgundy and pink corduroys, paisley prints and rich velvets (see below).
When we’ve visited your Pop Ups in the past, we’ve found your shopping advice excellent. What would you advise our readers when buying a dress? How do you buy one that flatters but doesn’t swamp for example?
This is why I love the in-person ones as I can really advise with huge honesty on dresses for each customer. Virtually it is a little trickier but I am always available to answer any queries to make sure each customer buys the right dress for them. At the end of the day you need to feel really good in every dress you buy and that dress should also have multiple jobs. We shouldn’t save our dresses for best, just get on and wear them and I hope to show via the content I am creating for this Pop Up exactly how to do that.
We find your Instagram feed very inspiring. Which are your favourite IG accounts?
I love curated edits bringing me the best new discoveries and brands so @collagerie and @littlespree are definitely up there. For style I love people who use a lot of print and colour as it inspires me to wear things of my own in a different way such as @karodall and @blaireadiebee.
What would your ideal day be?
To be honest – probably not wearing a dress and not at my desk! I love those beautiful autumn days when that light is just perfect. I would be brought a cup of tea in bed as I flick through the papers, then a family walk (as long as my boys aren’t fighting) picking blackberries to make a crumble for lunch and a cosy afternoon on the sofa. It doesn’t happen very often!
Sign up to Daily Dress Edit newsletters here.
A Little Bird Loves
