STYLE WHISPERING: Foxy Knoxies, the Mother/Daughter/Dog Vintage Extravaganza @ Notting Hill's RELLIK

Thanksgiving, that somewhat pointless holiday for intercontinentaled diaspora'd families sans-hearth round which to gather, but still necessitating some semblance of display of familial sentiment. Thus was the reason that the Mamma Whisperer, for the hefty sum of two weeks' time, had descended upon Londontown in a blaze of trendy Tokyo glory, invading my flat and settling in only as a mother turkey can do. But Mother in your mist or no, the Style Whispering must go on. So in the spirit of the season, rather than gathering round a frozen turkey from the one Whole Foods in London at my little fold out table and making a stymied attempt at American "normalcy," we decided instead to do it our way. And our way, from day one, has meant one thing and one thing only: shopping.

She is the Dr. Frankenstein and I her little monster, she often declares with mixed pride and fear. The trouble is, my wardrobe (in quantity, not quality) overtook hers around the time puberty overtook me. And while, at the time, this amounted to a fateful teenage mother/daughter dynamic of her yelling at me for my excess and the mess that it inevitably accrued and me, in an attempt to stage sartorial revenge, creeping into her closet during the wee hours of the morning to pinch a Christian Dior bag or the like from her closet sanctuary and slip off to school without mummy any the wiser til breakfast time.

All grown up and squarely situated within the fashion world, when mum comes to town, we can now turn those bickerings into full blown blogging playtime. Enter Rellik at the top of Golborne Road. What better venue for a glorification of mother/daughter fashion playtime than the prize of London's supreme vintage eye? With their selection of dream stock--ranging in style and content from the 20s to the mid 80s, designers include Westwood, Alaia, Comme, Christian, Pucci, YSL, Chanel and the rest of the gang, its fashion history unplugged, and I'm there to shoot with the woman responsible for unplugging me. 80s Chanel blazers and 60s leopard spotted caps, the Mamma Whisperer was in her element, reliving her stylish years prior (this is a woman, after all, who purchased her first car at 16--a yellow convertible--because it matched the cardigan she was wearing on the day of), with me lecherously lurking behind. I remember watching mom go off to work in the late eighties in NYC, Christian Dior hot pink shoulder padded power suits proudly strutting out the door to hail a cab. So I pulled one off the rails and tried to recreate. A futile effort. Some women, namely five foot three Japanese with platinum locks and an attitude to match, can pull it off. Others, such as my meek self, simply cannot.

So we plundered and ravaged, three generations of foxy non-criminal Knoxies (Butters representing for the granddoggiess) committing the crimes of shopping so deeply embedded in their genes. Shopaholic family much? Guilty as charged.

RELLIK
Holmefield House
8 Golborne Road, North Kensington, London, W10 5NW
020 8962 0089

Photos by PAT LYTTLE

Look One: Bitches in time
On me: jacket-no label; white top-Kenzo; black skirt-no label; shoes-Westwood; belt-Thierry Muglier
On Delphine: jacket-YSL; black dress-Chanel; shoes-Ossie Clark

I loved the feel of this theatrical jacket, and felt it needed some volume to go with it in order to prevent myself from looking like an extra in the Nutcracker. Hence Issey-esque skirt with enough fabric to drown a small child and funky Westwood boots complete this just-emerged-from-grandma's-closet-and-aren't-I-fab-look?

But when you lose the jacket, the look has a totally different feel. The look over all is SO Yohji...reminds us why we should rally behind the man and pull him back from the brink of bankruptcy!

Look 2: Ladies Who Lunch Circa 1986
on me: silk check blouse-YSL; blazer-Moschino; gold skirt-YSL; bag-Westwood; pearl choker-Westwood; shoes-Westwood
on Delphine: dress-Christian Dior

This look was all about the power woman of the 80s, the ladies who lunch with a vengeance. I went for a sort of New York Upper East Side Gossip Girl gone 80's feel. Lots of layers, with preppy accents give just the right amount of snooty feel. Hiding behind my massive sunglasses and floppy hat, Fifth Avenue better watch itself!



Delphine's look, on the other hand, was ready to do some pocketbook damage on the Champs Elysees after a quick cafe au lait and a macaroon or two. Suited up in her Christian Dior frock and fedora, Delphine's is the perfect time frozen mirror image to my Fifth-Avenue stalker. Le Gossip meets le girl.

Look Three: Sparkle Fest
Delphine's ensemble and my dress are by the same designer...shamefully I cannot remember the name! Check back later for those deets :(

Look three was all about party party party, sparkle sparkle sparkle. Think New Year's Eve 1988: belles of the ball, looking like the disco ball. Whenever I think of New Year's in the 80s, I think of that pivotal scene in the film When Harry Met Sally, and remember watching the ball drop as a little kid, itching to break out of my apartment prison and take to the streets of Times Square. In this look, Time Square comes to me and I AM the ball.

Delphine's look is a bit softer, a bit girlier, a bit sweeter. More Parisian off to sip champagne like a lady at a reasonable hour on New Year's Eve than New Yorker looking for a bumpin party to crash. The look is very classic because of its matchy-matchy nature, but that golden cone cap really funks it up, takes it out of the 60s and into the 21st century.

This look is all about layering on the sparkle factor. Sequin jacket worn over metallic dress with the bling piled on: you've got to have somewhere to go in this outfit, preferably with a cocktail in hand. But while the overdone bling factor may make the look seem a bit outlandish, I think layering mix-n-match sequins upon each other is actually a great way to reign in the trend without going for the obvious. A sequin blazer is an unexpected alternative to a black one, keeps the look young, fresh and personal.

Look Four: Daytime Divas
on Delphine: shoes and gloves-Gucci; dress-no label
on me: vest-???; skirt-Yohji; shoes-Doc Martins

Delphine's look here is very buttoned up and coordinated. Red gloves, red hat--she is the quintessential put together Parisian. Prety as a picture.

I, on the other hand, feeling the stress of the holidays slowly wrap its cold fingers around what's left of my meagre sleep time, felt like going for the edgy grunge look that gripped Manhattan around the time I escaped from the womb. the Docs went on (unlaced of course) and I worked a full length houndstooth Yohji skirt with a ??????????? jagged tooth-fringed vest. I'm a lean, mea, downtown early 90s Andy-Warhol lovin' vintage machine.

Mamma Whisperer arrives...
on Mother: hat-no label; python jacket; plaid coat-Westwood; gold chain-YSL

She came (late), she saw (the same hat I had already shot) and she conquered. At first, given that the shop's heating seemed itself to be something of a relic, she refused to whisper anything other than outerwear. But my obsession with coats does come from somewhere, and this would be it. Guess which of these two little gems will be trekking back across the pond with mother, joined for ever in holy vintage union?

Look Five: Frankenstein and her little monster
on me: shoes-Doc Martin; feather jacket-no label; sunglasses-Stephen Sprouse Runway
on mother: orange jacket-no label; floppy hat; chain necklace-YSL; clutch-no label

This look is strictly fun only. Ok, I'd wear it out, but only in New York, and only if Lady Gaga were my plus one to some fabulous event (what is: Marc Jacobs' after party?). This coat, i.e. my "big bird" look (thanks mom) is a statement in and of its self. Cinch the bad boy with a belt, pull on the docs, and let the feathers do the talking. The Stephen Sprouse glasses--produced exclusively for one of his few runway shows--were a purely cheeky touch. Completely unable to see through them, I now understand that Sprouse's models must have been pretty damn high on their 80s fabu Soho selves in order to strut down the legend's catwalks without crashing down face first.

Mother's look, on the other hand, to me, is very Japanese-y. This printed bright orange unstructured coat is sort of Kimono-esque, and those gold accessories really pop against that vibrant hue. Accessorized to a tee, this is what Tokyo style is really all about. And despite her multi-decade tenure as a New Yorker, you can take the girl out of Harajuku, but you can't take the Harajuku out of the girl.

Look Six: Brown Classics
on me: tweed blazer-YSL, shoes-Westwood
on Delphine: finged leather cape-no label
on Mother: shearling-Nicole Farhi

The classic hue reworked a la vintage in three ways: fringed and funky on the Parisian, furry and accessorized on the Tokyo maven, preppy school boy with a twist on the American. This look was all about the hats, leopard cap for mother and Delphine to share and a little dunce cap for the misbehaving clothes whisperer. No one puts the whisperer in the corner. Except her mother.