From Stylist to Model

You may remember from previous posts that I am part of a style team led by Lynne McCrossan for the Edinburgh Evening News. Well, on the last shoot I ended up modelling too which was very exciting! The shoot was located at Hotel Missioni which is the most stylish and modern hotel I've ever seen. It was perfect for our fashion feature which was based on Edinburgh's top boutiques.

I had so much fun posing in the hotel lobby's window and in two of the beautiful bedrooms. The highlight had to be slipping into the floral Erdem maxi dress as Erdem is my favourite designer and his designs are so dreamy and romantic. I wonder if he'll ask me to model for his next catwalk show...

I was also pleased that I was featured on the cover of the Evening News (in the corner but still the cover!) It's strange to think that so many people will be looking at my modelling pictures in the paper and may even recognise me! I've already been in a newspaper, magazine and on TV for fashion purposes before, but it's always really exciting to get an extra 15 minutes of fame!

Stripe T-shirt dress, £51 @ Sam Brown

Leopard print trainers, £35 @ Lipsy

Gold cross necklace, £10 @ River Island

Silk floral maxi dress by Erdem, £1745 @ Jane Davidson

Moonbeam dress by Carolyn Baxter, £110

Studded boots, £75 @ River Island

Ripped jeans, stylist's own

I hope you like my pictures. I know my back looks boney on the main picture but it's only because I was asked to hunch my back as much as possible. It wasn't the most comfortable pose to hold but it definitely looks the most editorial. 

What do you think of my modelling debut?

Love from Lou Lou

Day as a Stylist's Assistant

Photography by Jane Barlow, Make-up by Ebony Smith, Styling by

Lynne McCrossan, Emma Prior, Oliver Hay and Louise Arnot.

Last week I got my first experience of assisting a stylist, which was just as fun as I imagined! The shoot was for Edinburgh Evening News and I was helping the wonderful stylist Lynne McCrossan. She had two other assistants, who had helped out before, so I learnt what to do from them. 

The day began by us all picking up bags of clothes and accessories from various stores and we then took them to the location which was the gorgeous Le Monde bar on George Street. There I met the rest of the team and started putting together six outfits as quickly as possible while the model got her make-up done. All items the model wore had to be written down with the price and store so that everything was printed in the newspaper correctly. The shoot was a great creative collaboration with everyone coming up with ideas for how the model should look. Every tiny detail counts, from how she should hold her coat to the position of her foot! 

The concept of the shoot was "day to night looks" where the model wore one key piece that was accessorized for working at the office, then transformed by   a pair of heels, jewelry and some sparkle! Lynne selected some beautiful pieces including a stunning mirrored feather dress by Jenny Packham which is worth £2699 so I was obviously VERY careful handling that!

At the end of the shoot we packed the garments back into the bags and returned them to the stores. I was really excited to see the result of the shoot which was published just a few days later. It was also nice to  see my name in the credits! I hope to work with Lynne again and follow her footsteps in the fashion industry. She has also written a fantastic book which features the best vintage shops in Britain: A Girl's Guide To Vintage. Make sure you add it to your Christmas list! 

Love from Lou Lou