Not Bringing It All Back Home
Pandora Sykes' discerning eye for vintage and reasonably priced trousers.
Drowning in deadlines this week —please keep hitting me with all your secret Swiftie theories— so I’ll just check in to bestow upon you this absolute treat of a Fashion Proust Questionnaire. Courtesy of my brilliant friend Pandora Sykes.
Pandora needs little introduction (especially here on Substack) but let’s say having begun her career as an (excellent) fashion journalist, she has now very much expanded into star cultural commentatordom, podcasting celebrity and literary authority. She is one of my top book gurus to be sure, but the thing is, while Pandora may speak/write less about fashion these days, she continues to be a style reference for many, myself included. She may have hung her up her Sunday Times Wardrobe Mistress booties many moons ago —but you don’t have to be a fashion person to be a fashion icon, do you?
Basically, this post is like if Dylan came back to sing a folk song after going electric. Except imagine people lapped up Bringing It All Back Home as much as they had The Freewheelin’. Anyway, you’re welcome.
Pin’s style is just so singular. I guess the uniqueness comes from her sharp eye for colour, talent for mixing unexpected textures and passion for uncovering vintage treasures, sometimes in frankly quite random places. I know each time I see her (or stalk her Instagram) she inspires me to branch out of my comfort zone (and buy vintage.)
Thus, I give you a rare Pandora fashion pin down!
Enjoy, and don’t miss her newsletter this week on one freaky subculture I still can’t stop thinking about…
What is your idea of a perfect outfit? Something I feel comfortable in, with a point of interest. For the last few years that's been a really well-cut suit, or a pair of high-waisted trousers with an excellent blazer. (I own more blazers than I do t-shirts.)
What is your greatest fashion fear? My trousers splitting. That actually happened about 5 years ago. It was a jumpsuit and very tight on the bum and when I bent over, it ripped right down the buttocks, literally waist to thigh. My friend Dolly and I laughed so hard we cried.
What, in hindsight, is the worst outfit you ever worn? There were lots in my twenties which now strike me as exhausting. Just so many layers! A dress over jeans over lace tights, cinched with a belt. A short skirt over a shirt dress, with a neckerchief for.... flair? At the time I was very ensconced in fashion and I felt great about what I was wearing, so I don't regret the chaos era at all. I just wouldn't wear any of it now. Or at least, I'd wear one item at a time.
What is the worst outfit you’ve ever seen on someone else? At the time Lady Gaga's meat dress made me feel nauseous. Now I think it was kind of great.
Which living person’s style do you most admire? I'm more into someone's energy than their style. Where they just seem really comfortable in their clothes and you can't actually identify why they look so great (sometimes it isn't even about what they are wearing - it's the way they carry themselves.) I also generally love someone's vibe when I don't see pictures of them on the internet in new clothing, every week. I get to see them rarely, and often they are wearing the same thing and they wear lots of vintage, too. That feels - madness to write this - special, now. Some of those women who emit that kind of elegance and conviction, for me, include Ines de la Fressange, Liya Kebede, Sienna Miller, Otegha Uwagba, Bella Freud, Greta Bellamacina and - it's going to seem like I feel obliged to say this but it's true and always has been - you.
What is your greatest extravagance? Dying my hair. Goddammit.
What is your current state of mind with regards to the fashion industry? Deliberately lukewarm. I am not so disinterested that I don't care when a store closes (rip MatchesFashion) or when a fun new brand comes on to the scene, but I wouldn't go to a fashion show, or read a catwalk report anymore. Part of the reason I left my job as a fashion columnist just before I turned 30, is that I didn't like how ensconced I was in the acquisition of things and the relentless pace of it all. In the years since I left The Sunday Times Style, I have been trying to interrogate what style means to me, what suits me, how things make me feel and ultimately, to shop a while lot less! Fundamentally, I really disagree with the whole flying all over the world for fashion shows. Financially and environmentally, it is totally unnecessary. Your readers don't care, let's not pretend it's about anything other than status. (See: Alain de Botton's very good book on this subject.) I also think the price of luxury fashion has gone batshit bananas. Take the cult High Sport pants. They're $900. I don't care how sucky sucky that scuba fabric is! A pair of trousers should not cost $900.
On what occasion do you lie about someone’s outfit? Always! I have no interest in weighing in on something so personal. It's all about how they feel in it. I would only ever tell someone the truth if they were doing a closet clear out and asked me if something which didn't fit, did fit.
What is the quality you like most in a man’s outfit? A good cut
What is the quality you like most in a woman’s outfit? A good cut
Which fashion trend do you most despise? I don't dig the naked dressing trend. Some of the aspects of the Y2K revival - the parts that celebrate thinness - also make me uncomfy. The whole nude athleisure thing (nude clothing generally) is also baffling to me. And I have always hated anything neon.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse when describing fashion? Elegant, chic, sexy.
Which runway collection in history was your greatest love? Tom Ford for Gucci F/W 1996 - I just love a sexy suit with hair scraped back.
When were you happiest with your own look? I remember feeling really great in this gold and pistachio Roksanda dress that I borrowed for the Women's Prize for Fiction party, a few years back. I felt elegant and interesting but also covered up - no errant boobs to worry about. It was too expensive at the time - I have never entered into the 4 figures for any purchase - and have been combing second-hand sites for it ever since.
Which designer’s talent would you most like to have? J.W.Anderson's latitude when it comes to design - the sheer number of design threads he has in his orbit - staggers me.
If you could change one thing about your wardrobe, what would it be? More great trousers!
What do you consider your greatest achievement, career-wise (so far!) Hanging on.
If you were to die and come back as a fashion item, what would it be? A perfectly cut, statement blazer. Maybe a buttery little suede number with a nipped in waist.
Where on earth do you get the most style inspiration? Pics from the 90s. I will always love the grunge/ Calvin Klein thing.
What is your most treasured possession? My black leather horse-bit mini dress that I bought from a Gucci sample sale about a decade ago (back when they still did sample sales.) I never don't feel great in it.
What do you consider the lowest depth of fashion rock-bottom (ie. Karl’s sweatpants) Lime green cycling shorts are a bit much for me.
What is your favourite fashion-related occupation? Vintage shopping. Preferably in a market.
What is your most marked style characteristic? Hard to answer about one's self. You tell me, Moni! (Editor’s note: see intro.)
Who are your favourite fashion writers? I like Elizabeth Paton on the business side of the industry, Viv Chen on the history of fashion and Becky Malinsky, Harling Ross and Leandra Medine's substacks on personal style.
Which individual that you know (or have known) personally most influenced your style? My friend Lara has always been such an inspiration to me. I don't think she even knows it, and she's been wearing the same things for years - she literally never buys clothes - but I will remember, in crystalline detail, the way she walked into a party, or hopped off her bike, and there something about what she was wearing, or has put together, in those moments, that will stick in my brain and I'll sort of find myself thinking about it, in this elusive shape-shifting way, for years. Ultimately, she dresses for comfort and curiosity and I like to think now, when I gravitate towards a beautiful cut or a delicious colour, that that's how I am searching for my own style.
What would you like to wear to your own funeral? Christ. Bleak. The Gucci leather dress? Keep it sexy?
What is your style motto? You do not need to own - or embrace - everything!
PS- I highly recommend both of Pandora Sykes’ books, How Do We Know We’re Doing It Right and What Writers Read.
Oh yes, Pandora! I love her! Great interview 💟
It's always when the deadlines are tight that the good work comes out - great interview, great energy. Love it