Tell everyone a little bit about yourself...
I'm a hairstylist at Harry Blades and Angry Daves, on Christmas Steps Bristol. We are a hair salon and clothing boutique. I also make jewellery, I've been selling it at Angry Daves and at Friend and Co gallery. You can see some of it on Golden Magpie Kadi. I want to move in to metal work, I recently made a spoon!! So I'm starting a silversmith jewellery course soon, and I love all kinds of crafts - drawing, sewing, knitting etc. I love 80's/early 90's fashion and 70's decor.
Favourite 3 albums of all time?
Neutral Milk Hotel
Interpol
Blondie
These are 3 favourite artists! I don't think I can pick albums!!! It was hard enough to pick just 3 artists, and out of music I love listening to or music I sing really loudly to.
iPhone or Blackberry?
iphone ....*sigh*, one day!
Top 3 blogs?
Twin Peaks Episode Guide - A guide to Twin Peaks series 2 - It has loads of stills from the series!
45 RPM Eye - Amazing photography and witty observations!
Lookbook.nu - Pictures of people wearing their clothes. I need to look at this more!
Meat or veg?
Veg. Nothing is better than a good stir fry!
So, we do kicks. Kicks is what we do. What were your first pair?
Reebok classics! Black and Pink. I bought them at Seven in Bristol. They were my first pair of proper trainers, to wear as a fashion item, not just for P.E or something! My fav pair ever are my lilac and mint vintage LA Gears. I'm going to wear them to death! ...With some big slouch socks like Melanie Griffith in Working Girl.
With that in mind, (or maybe not!), who’s your style icon?
Hmmm.... Every woman in Twin Peaks, the vintage section of etsy, the kid's Mum from This Is England? Usually I just end up liking what I like, but a lot of it is vintage or vintage inspired. I want to do a dressmaking course so I can follow all the 80s dress patterns I have bought but then realised I didn't have a clue how to follow them. I would go a lot more ridiculous if I was a bit more confident, I'm building up quite a collection of 80s dresses that are hanging on my walls, and I'll probably only ever admire them from there! I love shopping in the vintage shops around Brick Lane, I'm saving up at the moment for a shopping trip.
I definitely could be more in touch with modern fashion, I like backless bodycons and dangle earrings and knitwear with acid denim and white converse. Hair, I like big loose curls top knots and pushing everything to one side/side ponytails. There are a lot of well dressed girls in bristol, ones who are sucessfully avoiding too much Cabot Circus! Although, I did find an amazing pair of shoes at Peacocks the other day! I struggle wearing anything too nice to work or it'll get hair in it or I'll stain it with hair dye!!
OK, turning to work… you have a chance to work with anyone you want, who? Why?
I love where i work now!! It's such a great working environment. We have lots of fun, we just did a photoshoot with with Odd and Eden photography (also on Christmas Steps) and we have photos of our hair, clothing and accessories coming out soon! And we do a night of free hairstyling at Start The Bus once a month which is really fun and a great way for people to find out about us! We have pictures of what we've been up to on Harry Blades & Angry Daves Blog. I have sooo many interests I want to persue right NOW! So I would love to work with an expert in every craft I have an interest in and get them to teach me everything! Watching the programme Mastercrafts on BBC2 is driving me mad with jealously!!! I'd do one of those every week!
Where do you find inspiration?
Style wise - I love taking old and mixing it with new. Or just leaving it old sometimes actually! I'll normally just search 80's or 90's in the vintage section of Etsy. I dont know many sites for pictures of 80s or 90s style so normally it comes from hours of trawling through the internet until I find something! Generally - I like looking at Fecalface, Craftzine, Burdastyle and Booooooom and looking at different types of artwork, handmade things and designs and seeing what people have been up to.
At Harry Blades, we take a lot of inspiration from current fashions and trends and from our customers!! We're working for them after all! As the shop's quite new, the team is also quite new so we're learning a lot from each other at the moment too! We have all been trained differently so we pick up new techniques from each other and different ways of doing things. Last week, we were practicing our Gaga bows!
Now from work, to play : where can we find you in the summer time?
New York! So much left to explore, so many pancakes to eat! I've been twice now and I can't get enough! Failing that, summer is mainly bbq's in the park or sitting outside with a nice drink, trying to get tanned!
Actually let’s better that, if you had to go and live in another country FOREVER, where would you fly & why?
Again, New York, definitely!!! Well, for the summer at least. I'm not built for that level of cold! It's so beautiful in the summer and I love all the outdoor music and movie screenings in parks and on rooftops in the city! They have some great looking salons out there too and lots of creative people. It would be fun to work there for a while.
Can you speak any languages to get by?
Deutsch! Another place I would like to go. Even if it's just because I wont feel like a completely hopeless tourist!
If you were stuck there, you couldn’t leave – what song would keep you going nuts?
Nuts in a good way? Stacey Q - Two of Hearts
Err, what kind of nuts?
Hazelnuts! mmmmmm...
And you’re still there, still stuck in the perfect abyss - what could you just not live without?
The internet, it has Spotify and Etsy!!! And of course my boyfriend. (puke)
OK, you’re out of solitary confinement, let’s have some fun - what's the first thing you notice on a bloke?
Uum, I'd have a look at what their wearing and see if they had any facial hair, I like a good beard or handle-bar moustache, I don't know why, I just do! I like the low maintenance look on guys. My boyfriend fits this perfectly!
And on fellow girls, what do you check out?
What their wearing and their accessories, how they have put it all together. It usually ends in jealousy! And I'll have a good look at their hair of course, see if I need to offer my services!
Everyone’s got someone right – so who’s the person you find hot but you really shouldn't?
Judd Nelson from The Breakfast Club. One hot bully.
OK, work done, play is over. That was quick. Finishing up, mature hats at the ready – looking back, if you could give a younger version of yourself advice, what would it be?
I would go back and tell myself to start all the things I wish i could do now, then! I'd be an expert knitter by now!!
So finally, you may have already achieved a lot, you may have plenty more dreams to fulfill… but years down the line – how do you want your epitaph to read?
'Feel sorry for the charity shop that ends up with all her tacky junk.'
Check out Kadi's Blog here and also Harry Blades and Angry Daves x
