Ladylike v Grunge

Often when I grab a streetstyle shot, I'm left wondering what my subject wears on every other day...is the photo I took their usual 'look', is it something they're experimenting with, do they like to glam up in the evening? And usually you just never know, the mystery is part of the appeal. In Ella's case however, I have crossed her path several times, as she works in one of my favourite vintage stores, and is now working for the new Blitz Department Store (where I expect to be a regular visitor).

It was at the press party that I took this first shot, in which Ella is the epitome of ladylike retro glamour, in a vintage lace dress from the store. The second shot is from when I first met Ella, a look I described at the time as modern grunge. About her dressed-up look, Ella told me she was going 'ladylike' having cut the green from her hair and wanting to dress up for the evening. But her innate style is still there, in the collection of rings she wears, and the attitude with which she wears that dress, and now I look back at that original shot, you see her tendency to glamour was there all along, in that flowy skirt and up-do.

Proof, I'm going to venture, that personal style is about more than just the clothes you wear- and that it's fun to mix it up sometimes...