Lydia Rose Bright burst onto our screens in hit TV show TOWIE in 2010 and won masses of fashion fans
with her cool and quirky style. Since quitting the series in late 2012, Lydia has made a venture
into fashion. Lydia and her sister Georgia are the proud owners of boutique
shop Bella Sorella. With a collection of era-influenced dresses styled for a
new generation. Crushing on all things girly and glamorous, Lydia Rose Bright
channels timeless style rather than throw away trends, adding delicate beadwork
and handcrafted crochet to floral print dresses, full length maxi dresses and
sweet separates.
I had the
opportunity to interview Lydia at the end of 2013 to learn about her love of
vintage style at her boutique in Loughton, Bella Sorella. With Christmas and Lydia's recent travels I wanted to bring this to you all at the right time and what better time than her recent return to our TOWIE screens!
I planned to
interview Lydia as part of my Essex trip to find out what all the TOWIE hype is really all about, see what
the shops have to offer and what an Essex night out is really like. I travelled
to Essex with my friend the very fabulous Betty, owner of Betty Blue’s Loungerie.
We drove off to Essex early on a Saturday and made good time. I instantly felt like I had arrived in Essex as we
saw from the car park the line of girls in their workout gear heading into
Essex Bikram Yoga studio. A short walk to the high street and we easily found
Bella Sorella. I saw the lovely light blue front of the boutique and gorgeous window
display. We went in and as we were a bit early we had a look around before
introducing ourselves. It was nice to see the store; we were greeted to see if
we needed any help. We were browsing so declined, the girls Georgia and Lydia
were very friendly, professional but not at all pushy. I had a good look
through the rails and watched the girls as they served other customers. It was
very reassuring to see smiling happy customers paying for goods and getting all
the help they needed at the dressing rooms. All the items were clearly laid out
and easy to find, all in size order. There is a real mixture in store of casual
wear, day dresses, evening dresses, party wear, prom style gowns, sterling silver
and costume jewellery too. Once the store
had quietened down I introduced myself. The girls were very friendly. Lydia was
dressed casual in Bella Sorella items, hair tied back and not a scrap of make
up on. Her skin looked flawless, a real porcelain beauty. We held the interview
in the store, this way we could get a good feel of the boutique and talk
through some of the clothes with Lydia.
I planned to
interview Lydia as part of my Essex trip to find out what all the TOWIE hype is really all about, see what
the shops have to offer and what an Essex night out is really like. I travelled
to Essex with my friend the very fabulous Betty, owner of Betty Blue’s Loungerie.
We drove off to Essex early on a Saturday and made good time. I instantly felt like I had arrived in Essex as we
saw from the car park the line of girls in their workout gear heading into
Essex Bikram Yoga studio. A short walk to the high street and we easily found
Bella Sorella. I saw the lovely light blue front of the boutique and gorgeous window
display. We went in and as we were a bit early we had a look around before
introducing ourselves. It was nice to see the store; we were greeted to see if
we needed any help. We were browsing so declined, the girls Georgia and Lydia
were very friendly, professional but not at all pushy. I had a good look
through the rails and watched the girls as they served other customers. It was
very reassuring to see smiling happy customers paying for goods and getting all
the help they needed at the dressing rooms. All the items were clearly laid out
and easy to find, all in size order. There is a real mixture in store of casual
wear, day dresses, evening dresses, party wear, prom style gowns, sterling silver
and costume jewellery too. Once the store
had quietened down I introduced myself. The girls were very friendly. Lydia was
dressed casual in Bella Sorella items, hair tied back and not a scrap of make
up on. Her skin looked flawless, a real porcelain beauty. We held the interview
in the store, this way we could get a good feel of the boutique and talk
through some of the clothes with Lydia.
Lydia’s
collections are going from strength to strength. Lydia launched her first
collection which was her Christmas collection in 2012. She then followed with a
spring/summer collection and 3 autumn/winter collections. Now for 2014 there
are 2 spring and 2 high summer collections. Originally she would have 15 pieces
in a season whereas now it’s more like 40! There is a growing demand for more
and more new product, especially being linked with so many suppliers; everyone
wants to see the latest items that are ‘new in’. It’s safe to say business is
booming and the future looks very bright for Lydia.
Lydia
designed her brand which initially was supposed to be stocked at just Bella
Sorella and by her manufacturers (Lipstick) on their website. Lydia decided to approach
some more suppliers to see if they would be interested and approached Very, New
Look and a few other suppliers and they were really interested and took on
board the first collection and then the next time they got in touch with other
brands such as ASOS who came to the girls for a buying meeting and were sold
the first collection. The only company that has come directly to Lydia about
stocking is River Island who are their latest stockist.
One of the
great things about Lydia’s clothing is that she does personally design each
garment. Lydia has a factory in Tottenham where she has her design studio and
where they make their first samples. There are few other factories dotted
around the London area they use when the clothes go to be produced for the
suppliers.
I do personally love things to be ‘Made in England’ as I feel British is best. My friend who was with me
for the trip is a fashion designer and business owner. Betty Hobcraft from Betty
Blue’s Loungerie who produces all of her products within the UK herself. When I
asked Lydia if all of her clothing is produced in the UK I was pleased to hear
that it was. Here is why she has decided to do this: ‘Firstly, as I came out of school when the recession was hitting hard I am a
strong believer in keeping the economy in the UK because I feel we do need the
help. Secondly, for quality control as it’s so much easier to get better quality
products in the UK. Because I first initially designed my collection on such
a strict time scale I need something that could turn around really quickly. I
didn’t have to wait for all the delivery. If I want a sample and need to tweak
it slightly I can do it there and then and get it to the factory in the next
couple of days. It’s got so much more benefits I feel.’
There is a world of
beautiful fabrics to choose from and Lydia does choose and source the fabrics
themselves. Lydia said; ‘We use an agency that buy in loads of samples and get
in the swatch cards for us. We just tell them what we want and they source it
for us. I use a lot of laces and a lot of crochets so I’ll tell them to source
them for me lots of those because there are thousands and thousands of them to
choose from but they get my style. I then decided what samples I want to go
for. For example, say I have a dress with a crochet trim I will make up ten
dresses with different crochets and that helps me to distinguish what ones I
want to go for.’
There is a lot involved and
its does take time from the initial idea of a garment to it being fully
produced. ‘I am constantly cutting things
out of magazines and newspapers etc. If I am going to do a full on mood board
researching into designers etc it will usually take around two weeks, then I
will start my sketches which will take for a full 20 piece collection around another two weeks if I am going in every other day. There is another designer who does my patterns and CADs for me and that takes her
around another two weeks, samples then take another two weeks and after this I
go in and make any amendments. Really from start to finish of a full collection
it will take around a month and a half and then as soon as my order is placed
it’s around an eight week delivery. As soon as I have done all my buying
meetings it takes around 8 weeks for the delivery to come.’
Lydia doesn’t actually put
the clothing samples together herself because the quantities are so high into
the thousands it actually takes around 200 people who do all the background
work for her due to such high numbers.
Being in the recession and
independent businesses are finding times hard I wanted to learn how the sales
are split between online sales and in store sales. Lydia said, ‘I would
probably say now there is a lot more going on with online as it’s so much more
convenient. I would say the way things are moving forward a lot of people do
prefer shopping online. Although the boutique does bring a lot of traffic
through the door due to local tourism and the TOWIE status, online I feel is where the real demand is now. With
this in mind moving forward if people were to ask if I would look to open more
stores I feel my focus will be more around the online business. I wouldn’t
really look to open more stores as I don’t think they would do so well if they
were outside of Essex.’ The Loughton store is the main store for the girls.
They do so well with this due to its location in Essex and the tourism for the
area, weekends are crazy busy as I had experienced. With Lydia’s most recent
return to screens I am sure this will boost even more.
We hear so often that ‘the
high street is dead’ which is not the case here. Every business has competition
and with being a boutique and online retailer Bella Sorella no doubt has its
competition out there. I asked Lydia if she is finding competition online when
it comes to her designs and styles. Lydia advised, ‘You do find a few people
copying your designs which does of course get quite aggravating, but there is
always the knowledge that you started it first. There is competition out there and there are so many massive brands out there now that it’s becoming such a dominated
market with the massive high street retailers, which is why it’s so great that they
have come on board and supported me by stocking my brand. I feel like Bella
Sorella itself being an online retailer stocking brands will never become as
big as ASOS as they have already cemented themselves within the industry but
it’s so great that they have come on board and stocked my range and in return
that helps Bella Sorella and remind people I have a store as well so it’s all
swings and roundabouts’.
I asked Lydia where she gets
her inspiration from for her fashion range. Lydia said, ‘When doing mood boards
I will research what’s big on the catwalk because although I have my own
signature style I like to follow trends
in some aspects. For example I am doing my spring summer range now which I have
finished designing. I am having all my samples being made up at the moment.
Culottes are going to be massive for spring/summer so I will incorporate that.
Also shimmery materials and iridescent materials will be big so I am incorporating
that in it. I do try to follow trends. High summer has a lot of pastels in it, a
lot of lemons etc. I want to do what a lot of the high street retailers and
designers are doing because that’s what everyone is going to be looking for. I
also do massive vintage shops as well before I do my designing. I buy in bulk a
lot of vintage clothes to use for ideas. For example if there is a dress I absolutely
love we will take it and chop it up and change it around and base the sketch on
that. I will also take a lot of magazine snippets as I may see a celebrity past
or present in a dress I love, for example the Ada dress I absolutely love, it was based on an Audrey Hepburn dress that she
wears in the opening of Breakfast at Tiffany’s which has a cross at the back.
There is another dress called the Carina which has a big organza bow which is
based on a Marilyn Monroe dress.’
Lydia always wanted to go
into fashion; it was a movement she was always going to make. The platform she
was given from TOWIE has definitely
helped her establish her name in the industry. It also gives huge self-advertisement when pictured in magazines, if Lydia wears one of her own
garments whilst being photographed and that image makes its way into
magazines/newspapers it is great advertising for the brand. Following the show
Lydia has now gained many celebrity friends who help to push the brand and
promote her product by wearing it. Lydia knows full well if she wasn’t on TOWIE she would really struggle to
become a designer and open a boutique & online store and make this happen.
Realistically she wouldn’t have been able to go down this route if it wasn’t
for TOWIE as she wouldn’t have been able to fund the project. The
route she probably would have gone is to design for another company rather than
actually having her own name.
I
asked Lydia about her more ‘high profile’ customers. ‘I do have celebrity
friends that come to the store and wear my products which is amazing especially
if they are pictured wearing the items. Denise Van Outen wears a lot of my
dresses. She has probably worn about 10-15 of my dresses before in TV and
magazines etc. Katie Piper is another person who wears some of my stuff and
comes to the boutique as well. Danielle Lloyd has also come to the boutique and
wears my clothing. Some of the Eastenders cast have worn some of the stuff in
the past. Some of the Geordie Shore girls wear the range which is amazing. Charlotte
from ‘The Voice’ came recently and got 4 of our evening dresses, she wore one
to the classic brit awards. She wears
more Bella Sorella rather than my actual brand. TOWIE cast haven’t really so
much, I don’t think it’s really their style.’
I asked Lydia who she would like to have as a customer, she said ‘I would love it if I had some big A-List celebrities and American Hollywood stars but I think that’s a bit out of reach but that would be the dream. When anyone celebrity or non-celebrity wears my brand it’s great. When I went in a club the other day I saw a couple of girls wearing my dresses so I went and got a picture with them. It’s so exciting to see anyone wearing my collection; it’s a great sense of achievement.'
I asked Lydia who she would like to have as a customer, she said ‘I would love it if I had some big A-List celebrities and American Hollywood stars but I think that’s a bit out of reach but that would be the dream. When anyone celebrity or non-celebrity wears my brand it’s great. When I went in a club the other day I saw a couple of girls wearing my dresses so I went and got a picture with them. It’s so exciting to see anyone wearing my collection; it’s a great sense of achievement.'
I
always ask every business owner what advice they would give to other aspiring
entrepreneurs as it’s so important these days to take advice from others in the
business. Lydia’s advice is ‘You really have to be so passionate about what you’re
doing in business. It has to have relevance to you and you have to be so
passionate about it as it is such long hours and you never ever switch off.
Whether I go out for dinner or for drinks I am always constantly thinking and
ticking so it has to be something you love as you need to put so much time and
energy into it. You really need to do your research as well when you open a new
business. You need to research if there is anything similar, if for example you
are opening a store you need to really research the high street and what audience
and market are there. Also look into government schemes as well as there is a
lot of help put there for young and new entrepreneurs as they want to help and
aid people who want to go into business.’
There are good bits and bad bits about any job. When it comes to running your own business I asked Lydia what she feels are the best and worst aspects. Lydia said, ‘I would say the best thing is you have no one to dictate to you and if you make mistakes it’s only you that will be disappointed in yourself. The worst thing is that you want to switch off but you can’t, even on holiday you want to relax but you can’t your always stressing and worrying about things. Also sometimes you do have to put in loads of hard hours which is difficult. For example when we did our tour it was amazing and really successful for us but we did not stop for two months. We did 12 hours days and had about 6 hours sleep it was non-stop. You do put in a lot of time and effort but eventually the bigger your business becomes the less hours you need to put in as you can get more people in and watch it grow.’
The
tour was so successful for us, we met so many people. It really generated a lot
of interest in our online business afterwards. We sold lots of products on tour
and did really well from it. We travelled the whole country; it was amazing but
such hard work. We had to drive sometimes for 9 hours straight then get there
and have to set up and have about 4 hours sleep then go to trade, it was
really, really hard work but amazing. It was very much public facing, so even
if you’re tired you have customers and people are excited to meet you so you
have to be upbeat which is tiring.’
I
asked Lydia to describe her style in her words; she said ‘I would probably say
that generally when we go out its girly, very feminine. I love the 50’s era so
I am a big fan of that style, red lipstick, lace, glamorous etc. I have always
been into glamorous dressing.’
When
Lydia first started TOWIE she did
support the dyed blonde hair, fake tanned skin etc. I asked Lydia what has
changed to make her want to support a more natural look. ‘I think it was
because I always had the same sort of dress sense. I was always into more
vintage shopping and into that kind of era. It was my beauty that was different I had the
tans and the big blonde hair. I think as I grew up I was only 19 when I started
on TOWIE so I was going through that
phase where everyone around here when you are at school etc are bright orange
etc. I was still going through that phase learning how to do make up etc. I was
going on a few shoots and they had styled my wardrobe in my style which I loved
and it was suggested maybe they should match my make up to my clothes and
started to make me over in a different way which I realised did suit me more.
So eventually I stopped being so
orange and stopped with the big hair, and had it all chopped off. I
went really short.’
‘Because
I had bleach in my hair for so long it was all breaking off so I had to go
darker and I didn’t like it. I was at that in-between blonde and decided to go
darker until my hair gets a bit healthier. As soon as its healthier and grown
out I am planning to go back blonde eventually. I quite like being dark, It’s
nice to have a change. I like brunette at the moment but I would like to go
back blonde. You have to constantly reinvent yourself; you can get bored with
the same look. I like experimenting, that’s what fashion and beauty is all
about.’
Over
time Essex has gained a reputation for being a glamour hub. Hair, beauty and
style are very big here. I asked Lydia if this had an effect on her being a role model for
young people. She said:
‘I
do like to be glamorous but I am not one to be afraid of coming into work
with no make-up on (at the time I was talking to Lydia she was working
without any make up on), mind you after this I am going to go and put some on.
I am not conscious of it though. I enjoy being glamorous and when going out and
being pictured I wouldn’t go out without having my hair and make-up all done. Casually
day to day I don’t always wear heels and I’m quite chilled out, I’ve been
papped before without make up and don’t really mind. Where we live everyone
gets so dressed up when they go out, it’s a really big thing.’
I
totally relate to Lydia’s view, I too love being glammed up however day to day
I don’t feel pressure to be 100% glam all of the time. I have no make-up days,
minimalistic looks, flats etc and don’t mind. If I go out I usually do my own
hair and I am in practice for different styles but it’s great occasionally to
get it styled professionally too. Lydia similarly if going out for dinner with
friends etc will do her own hair and make-up however she does enlist the help of
professionals for red carpet events (I unfortunately haven’t been to one of
those!). Lydia does admit as she has hair extensions in at the moment she
struggles to do anything with it so is getting her hair done by professionals a
lot more often.
I know myself I have a routine I use for beauty, it can vary and products change. Lydia did explain that she uses the same products when it comes to her make-up and beauty. ‘I have my set regime with my moisturisers etc, I don’t chop and change with things like that as I know what suits my skin type. For my make-up I do have a set day look and a night look, I don’t tend to change that other than a lip colour or something as I know what suits me now. I always have matte look, brown smokey eye, lashes. My lip colour gets changed around a bit but always the same kind of base. Hair I change all the time, I sometimes go through a phase where I always have my hair up or down styles.’
I know myself I have a routine I use for beauty, it can vary and products change. Lydia did explain that she uses the same products when it comes to her make-up and beauty. ‘I have my set regime with my moisturisers etc, I don’t chop and change with things like that as I know what suits my skin type. For my make-up I do have a set day look and a night look, I don’t tend to change that other than a lip colour or something as I know what suits me now. I always have matte look, brown smokey eye, lashes. My lip colour gets changed around a bit but always the same kind of base. Hair I change all the time, I sometimes go through a phase where I always have my hair up or down styles.’
‘I
love my foundation as I am really into matte porcelain skin, I always use MacStudio Fix Fluid as it’s my favourite foundation.
I
love wearing lashes. My favourite are Giles Deacon lashes – they are amazing, they really fan out.
I
love MAC red lipsticks like Russian Red and Ruby Woo. They have a really bright
pink one called Candy Yum Yum which is amazing as well.
Skin
care I use a lot of Rodial, products like Snake Serum and Glamtoxday. They are
real tightening creams.
I have
quite dry skin. I do get break outs but I do have regular facials so my skin
type usually is quite normal. I’m lucky as I don’t get oily skin.’
I
personally have a few set favourite red lipsticks and over time you learn what
works and I have my staple few favourites. I asked Lydia if she had a favourite
red lipstick what would it be, she said ‘If I could only choose one it would be
Maybelline 24 hr lip stain. You can touch your lips and it doesn’t come off. It’s
a really good staple lipstick for all day wear. I love matt lipsticks but they
can dry your lips out if you wear them all day. It doesn’t come off; I have to
scrub my lips with a toothbrush. That’s what my mum wears all the time as well,
she always has red lips. I don’t think I ever see my mum without red lips, as
soon as she gets out the shower she puts it on again! She never goes without,
she needs to get it tattooed on really!’
A
lot of girls take fashion and beauty inspiration from their mothers but not
Lydia. ‘Not really, I never took make up
inspiration from my mum because she doesn’t really wear any. She’s all into letting your skin breath and
cuddling trees, she’s not really into make-up. I kind of have to do
hers when we go out, she doesn’t have a clue how to do it. Style wise not so
much probably because my mum has an eccentric style but my mum was always
telling me to have my own style, not follow trends, so I took that advice from
her but I don’t take style tips off her otherwise I would be dressed like my
mum. She does a lot of layering and she wears clogs and cow shoes with bells on
and sarees and stuff like that, stuff I would never wear. She is very eccentric
in her dress sense like that!
Shopping is very much a
personal thing. Myself and Lydia share some similar styles and I tend to do a
lot of vintage/second hand shopping as well as retail high street shopping. Lydia says 'I
do a lot of high street shopping. I love Miss Selfridge, they are probably my
favourite high street retailer. Their stuff is unreal, especially their party
wear. I do a lot of basic shopping for essentials in Warehouse they are good
for things like leather trousers and blazers etc. River Island as well they do
some good bits. I do a lot of designer shoe shopping as well. I don’t buy
designer clothes much as I can only really wear something once so there is no
point in me spending say £700 on a dress I can only wear once.
If I do designer shopping
its mainly on footwear. I have quite a few Jimmy Choos as they are classic, a
lot of my court heels are by Jimmy Choo. I also have some Charlotte Olympia
they have some crazy statement footwear. I do have some Louboutins but they are
uncomfortable, I wouldn’t buy anymore. I do have a pair of Chanel heels that
are amazing.'
For the rest of my time in Essex I have mainly planned my time
around TOWIE. I asked Lydia
what kind of things she would say you have to do if you were coming to Essex. Lydia
said she would ‘recommend seeing all the TOWIE
cast boutiques as you’ll be able to meet a lot of the guys working in their
shops by doing that. For the evening I would recommend Sheesh in Chigwell. If
you’re coming down to Essex for the weekend I would recommend to stay down here
(Loughton) as it’s so much nicer than Brentwood way as that’s more in the
sticks. We have lovely restaurants around here. You can also stop at Mojo’s or Nubar.’
You of course have to go to Sugarhut one night as it’s
the TOWIE thing to do. Although Lydia
doesn’t really go out in Sugarhut, she’s only been in there herself four times!
Where she lives so close to London it would take her half an hour to get to
Brentwood, half an hour to get to Oxford Circus too so normally nights out end
up London way.
Lydia
and Georgia’s hidden gems:
Sheesh
Fifteen
Catch Restaurant
Queens Road – designer shops
Bluebell Chigwell
Buckhurst Hill/Chigwell
Fifteen
Catch Restaurant
Queens Road – designer shops
Bluebell Chigwell
Buckhurst Hill/Chigwell
Once the interview ended we had a good look around with
Lydia learning about some of her favourite pieces and what she thought would
look good one me. I tried on some dresses and with a little help from the girls
decided on the Larna dress in teal which for you lucky people is currently on sale! I also bought a Bella Sorella candle which smells beautiful and is glittery on the top!
Lydia put a little bit of make-up on to see her through the
day at work and we had our photo all together.
I would like to thank Lydia and Gerogia for having us to
the store and their time for this interview. I hope you have enjoyed learning
more about the Essex pin up beauty.
Stay tuned to find out more about the Essex adventures of
Leanna and Betty and what happened after we left Bella Sorella!
xoxo
No comments:
Post a Comment