about

 

I’ve been interested in dandyism, vintage clothing and design for many years. I’m especially interested in 18th and 19th century ‘underworld’ styling – the clothing of criminals, vagabonds and saboteurs; clothing that isn’t quite right, over-worn, skew-whiff, misshapen and most definitely not-perfect. To me it’s much more interesting to develop your own style by wearing pieces inspired by different eras and styles, from here and there. Don’t give yourself rules, and don’t let anyone tell you what’s right or wrong with style. It’s not what you wear, it’s how you wear it.

When I’m designing I have a narrative in mind: imposing Victorian gaols, asylums for the criminally insane, foggy London backstreets, underground Soho bars – the places nobody knows. Behind every item is a story, a reversible prison cap used by a convict during their escape, a pocket square with a map of secret criminal hideouts, love tokens given to transportees…

Where possible, I use as many ethical and ‘green’ materials and processes as I can; organic or vegan materials from factories that run on 100% renewable energy, water-based inks and recyclable mailer bags and boxes to name but a few. I also try to leave as little a mark on the environment as possible by reusing and repurposing scrap materials and end pieces to make small one-off ‘skew-whiff’ items. Remnants of thread are even put to the side and used when hand-sewing labels into items. Anything left over from this is collected and sent to a specialist fabric recycling company to be repurposed into new fabric. Because of this I am almost completely zero-waste. 

Like the dandy botanising on the asphalt, I want all aspects of my creations to be considered thought out, artistic and fitting with the concept of my shop. As William Morris said ‘Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.’

So please do pour yourself a yard of Bailey’s, peruse my shop, and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.

Mickey Strangeways x