Mockup Publication - 12 PEOPLE Charlotte Emerson Fashion Product Development Communication Level 6
Introducing Debbie for
12 PEOPLE
‘‘First and foremost , I am a christ ian I am also a mot her of 5, a grandmot her of 3, I’m a dog walker (for f ree) a manager at a church caf e (for f ree) a carer and I’m a f riend. I t hink I’m quit e a good f riend, my st rengt h is being a good loyal f riend.”
W hen did you be come a C hr i st i a n ? I be c a me a C h ri s ti an at th e a g e of 16, I we n t t o a l o c al a n g l i c an ch u rch in my h o me town . I st a r t e d to th i n k wh e n I was a b o u t 15, t h a t t h e re mu s t b e mo re to l i fe than j u st liv i n g. T h e re h as to b e mo re to l i f e than just l iv i n g o u t yo u r l i fe a n d th e n dyi ng. For t un a te l y I we n t th e C h ri s ti an rou te be c a us e o n e d ay I was l yi n g i n my b ed in a n a tti c ro o m a n d th e b e l l s s tarted r in g in g an d I th o u g h t I ’m g o i n g to g o to ch ur ch. I t wa s h a rd a t f i rs t b e c au se my f a m i ly we re n ’t ch ri s ti an s. So I went to ch ur ch wi th o u t my p are n ts a n d the vi car c a m e down i n th e s e rv i c e a n d s ai d ‘The pe a c e of th e L o rd b e wi th yo u (To w hi ch you a r e me a n t to re s p o n d , an d wi t h you ) O f c ours e I d i d n ’t k n ow wh a t to s ay, so I sa id
‘ Oh, thank yo u ve r y m uch’.
Th e ch u rch i n vi te d me to th i s event c a l le d Al l To g e th e r. I h ad th i s fe el i ng t h a t s o me th i n g wa s g o i n g to h ap p en t o m e a l l d ay. I was o n my way to thi s eve n t o n th e b u s a n d s o me o n e a sked m e, ‘wh at d o yo u th i n k a C h ri sti an
‘A Chri sti an is som eone who vi s i t s old peo pl e, eats f i s h on Fri days, prays a nd is? ’ A nd I s ai d
g oe s t o chu r ch.’
That i s honestl y w hat I thou g ht C hri sti an p eop l e d i d . A t the ti m e I was a sm oker and I was keen on swear word s.. S o I u sed to ask, i f you ’re a C hri sti an can you sm oke? If you ’re a C hri sti an can you swear? It’s so fu nny, I l ook b ack now and I had no i d ea w hat- so- ever at the ti m e. A t thi s A l l Tog ether event there was a cal l , and these p eop l e asked i f I want to b ecom e a C hri sti an. I thou g ht ab ou t i t and I l i ked g oi ng to C hu rch and I cou l d see som e p eop l e had som ethi ng and I wanted i t. I j u st sort of sai d
‘ oh, ye s p l e as e ’
. The p eop l e started to p ray for m e and strai g ht away I was f i l l ed w i th the H ol y S p i ri t, not that I knew w hat that was at the ti m e of cou rse. B u t thi s sensati on was l i ke a w i nd g oi ng ri g ht throu g h my b ody. N ot i n a shaki ng, oh d ear she’s g oi ng to fal l over ki nd of way j u st i n a p eacefu l strai g ht throu g h m e ki nd of way. A nyway after I l eft and I rang u p my p arents
Mu m, Dad I’ve b e e n s ave d and t hey s ai d , ‘ al r i g ht , w he n ar e you home ? ’ and I sai d ,
D o you th ink thi s had an a f f ect on yo ur fashi on sense ?
You k n ow ye a h , I th i n k i t ma d e me awa re of how I looke d t o t h e o p p o s i te s ex , s o a s a yo u ng t e e n a ge r I wa s awa re o f th a t mo re. I h ave alway s wor n c lo th e s th a t h ave ma d e me feel co m for t a ble a n d a ttracti ve b u t n o t n e c e s s a ri l y sexy. I m e a n i ’ve n eve r b e e n a n e l e g an t p e rson b u t I l ike t o we a r cl o th e s th a t ma ke my f i g u re look be t t e r t h a n i t i s a n d to h i d e s o me l u mp s an d bum ps ove r th e ye ars a fte r h av i n g 5 chi ldr e n . W h e n I b e c ame a ch ri s ti an I s ta rted to sh ow i t of f i n a s mal l way, I wo re a n d s ti l l d o we a r a c r oss aro u n d my n e ck s o me ti me s to show of f w h a t I b e l i eve an d b e c au s e I l ove i t. I also h ave a dove n e ck l ace th a t I we a r al l the t im e a n d i t’s my d ove o f p e ace.
W h at ’s the fi r st gar m e n t t ha t come s t o mi n d w he n yo u think abou t you r w a rdrobe ? I k n ow it ’s n ot a g a rme n t b u t B R OW N ! M y hu sb and says ‘You g ot anythi ng el se? A nythi ng that ’s not b r ow n ? ’ I don ’t h ave a p arti c u l ar g arme n t bu t the other word that com es to m i nd i s fl owey. M os t t hings I have a r e f l owey. I h ave n ’t re al l y g o t a ny th i ng that’s ti g ht. I d on’t l i ke som e l u m p s and b u m p s s o I don’t want t o we a r a ny th i n g th a t’s ti g h t. N o t o n l y that b u t I hate weari ng j eans. I hate i t. I have them but t hey ar e so un c om for ta b l e a n d yo u g e t th at b u tton sti cki ng i nto you , 9/ 10 ti m es the b acks to b i g and you get a dr a f t goi n g d own th e re. I l i ke l e g g i ng s, l eg g i ng s l eg g i ng s l eg g i ng s, and fl owey thi ng s on t op.
What are some life challenges you have gone through? We ll, t h e bi g g e s t l i fe ch a n g e you c ould eve r g o th ro u g h i s h av in g ch i l d re n . B e fo re I h a d my k i d s I u s e d to we ar l on g c lot h e s a l l th e ti me ! I r e m e m be r a p e rs o n came i n to my l if e c a lle d Es th e r a n d s h e h a d t h e se wo n d e rfu l l o n g c lot h e s a n d I th o u g h t s h e looke d t h e b u s i n e s s. T h e n s h e we n t of f lon g c l o th e s a n d g ave t h e m a ll t o me ! S o ye s a fte r ch ildr e n su d d e n l y yo u can ’t we a r w h a t yo u wan t to we a r. A n ot h e r h ug e l i fe ch a n g e was be i n g i ll. So wh e n I wa s i l l , I didn ’t r e al l y care wh at I wor e. I h a d L u p u s an d C an ce r a n d for a l o n g ti me I we n t ve r y in t r ove rte d fo r me. At t h e be g in n i n g o f my can ce r I l ooke d 9 mo n th s p re g n an t, be c a use of t h e tu mo u r. S o th a t wa s h a r d to wo rk a ro u n d . S om e t h i n g I fo u n d h a rd wa s w h e n you g o th ro u g h can ce r you ge t gi ve n a wi g, b e cau s e you l oose yo u r h ai r.. B u t I didn ’t l ike i t. H oweve r I fo u n d t h a t If I wor e a s c arf, p e o p l e t r e a t e d you d i ffe re n tl y. S o
when I fel t l i ke crap, w hi ch was m ost of the ti m e, p eop l e wo u l d say ‘Wou l d you l i ke thi s s e a t?’ Or ‘H ow are you d oi ng ?’ w hi ch started to real l y affect me. S o even thou g h I d i d n’t l i ke to wear a w i g, w hen I s tarted to g o to tow n I wou l d wear a w i g b ecau se then I was treated the sam e. I was l i ke everyone el se, I b l end ed i n, I d i d n’t stand ou t and no o ne was l ooki ng at m e. Then I l oved my w i g for that reason and al so i t was an i nstant hai r d o! My l i fe chang es have had a b i g i m p act on my p ersonal i ty m ore than anythi ng b u t then from that an affect on my styl e. A nother l i fe chang e i s the m enop au se, I g ot whacki ng g reat b i g b osom s , whi ch I had never had b efore. I d i d n’t l i ke i t at al l , I thi nk unl ess you wear som ethi ng f i tted and show them off i t tend s to m ake som e p eop l e l o ok a b i t b i g g er or fru m p y. I don’t wear f i tted thi ng s and
I’m g l ad I d on’t. Af t er t he tu m ou r was taken out a nd I was on chem other a py. I los t a hu g e am ou nt of weight . For m ost p eop l e.. that would be wond erfu l , b u t for me I ha t ed the way I l ooked . I looked t oo thi n and I d i d n’t like being that thi n. S o I was gla d t o put the wei g ht b ack on, I pref er my b ody a b i t chubbier. One of the b i g g es t a f f ec t s on m e was w hen my brot her d i ed i n 2006. I u se d t o wea r real l y b i g earri ng s, s erious ly the b i g g er the b et t er, but the m orni ng after he died I j u st cou l d n’t. The idea of it b ecam e so fri vol ous t o me I j u st cou l d n’t and I have never worn earri ng s l i ke tha t s inc e. I have recentl y started wit h one earri ng. I was a ti ny ba ll s t ud and I’ve worked my way up to a l i ttl e sw i rl stud. I ’ m jus t tryi ng to p u sh thr ough. I t ’s od d i sn’t i t how l i fe cha nges can sti l l affect you s o much 10 years on.
What is fashion to you? We l l I d o n’ t w a n t t o f e e l l i k e a f r u m p y C h r i s t i a n w h o’s w a y b e h i n d t h e t i m e s so I like to have some items in my wardrobe that are trending. Whether t h a t ’s c o l o u r s o r c e r t a i n s h a p e s o r l a y e r i n g e t c . F o r m e i t ’s m o r e a b o u t style than fashion. Normally for me, I s e e s o m e o n e ’s s t y l e t h a t I l i k e a n d I j u s t copy it. I try to become their friend, ask them where they got it from or wait until they give it to me. When I had children, obviously my m o n e y w a s n’ t s p e n t o n m y s e l f a n y m o r e it went all on them so I stopped buying nice clothes or shoes for a long time. I think that young people (having had 5 children I have seen this) who see me looking slightly more stylish makes me more approachable to them. For example if I was wearing a tweed twin set and p e a r l s a n d d y e d m y h a i r g r e y I w o u l d n’ t b e a s c o o l . I m e a n i t ’s n o t l i k e I c a r r y
those thoughts around my head all the time because a lot of my clothes i’ve been given, i’ve had a ver y big influence o n m y l i f e f r o m a f r i e n d c a l l e d B e v. B e v is very stylish and when my kids were grown up, she encouraged me to spend money on clothes again. Now whenever I g o s h o p p i n g w i t h h e r I t ’s t e r r i b l e . I spend so much! She goes ‘Oh this would look great on you’ or ‘Oh you s h o u l d b u y t h i s . .’ S h e h a s b e e n a m a j o r influence and change in my life and she my old church leader and best friend and she has had a massive impact on my l i f e . Hu g e l y. I’m n ot t h e t y p e of p e r s on t h at h an ke r s after things or thinking oh I need that e t c . I’m a v e r y c ont e nt p e r s on an d I’m h a p p y I ’m t h a t w a y. I ’m f a r m o r e h a p p y with a sack of second hand clothes than I am with any new stuff because it h a s n’ t c o s t m e a n y t h i n g !
How does being a Christian affect your fashion? Being a christian, there are things you want to express which affects your fashion. Yo u w a n t t o b e g r a c i o u s and holy and all the things that Jesus represented you want to emulate. And I believe that he is with me, I w o u l d n’ t w a n t t o w e a r something that showed too much to give the wrong i d e a . I d o l i k e j e w e l l e r y, I d o n’ t w e a r a h u g e a m o u n t but I do like it. But I think y ou’re c l ot h e s i n a s e n s e do reflect who you are and the way you wear it. The colours that you chose to wear do reflect who you are as well it shows who you are a n d w h a t ’s g o i n g o n i n s i d e . I think you can tell a lot about a person from their clothing. B e i n g a c h r i s t i a n h a s n’ t affected my fashion as much as being a mum and a grandmother has because I have to think about functional clothes f o r e x a m p l e I c a n’ t w e a r long dresses on days where I will be walking up and down stairs with a baby or jewellery that a child could get in their mouths.. I also do some charity work as a manager of a cafe in a church and I have to think about looking nice and wearing the right thing. I
d o n’ t w a n t t o g e t m y p r e t t y long sleeves in the soup of t h e d a y. I will only ever spend a certain amount on clothing. I w o u l d n’ t s p e n d a h u g e amount on clothes I just w o n’ t . I j u s t t h i n k t h e r e is so much deprivation in the world and so many other issues going on. How could I go and spend £1000 on clothes when there are children starving, blind people not seeing, drug a d d i c t s e t c . T h e r e ’s j u s t s o m u c h I j u s t c o u l d n’ t d o i t . I think that is because of my C h r i s t i an f ait h . I’m n ot saying that just Christians do that, but I think that is a big influencer in my life. The most expensive thing I have in my wardrobe is £100 pair of boots and that was outside my comfort zone and I have worn them to d e a t h . I d o n’ t f e e l t h a t G o d has put a restriction on me to make those decisions, t h a t ’s j u s t h o w I f e e l a b o u t it and being responsible and a steward for your money so I think I cannot spend that when all of this is going on. I believe that God is a c r e a t o r, t h e r e f o r e h e i s creative. I think being a christian you can express some of your creativeness t h r o u g h y o u r w h a t y o u w e a r.
What is the most important thing when it comes to your style? For me and with a lifetime of experience.. Comfort and feeling attractive. No worries about moving a awkward bra o r t r o u s e r d r a f t i s s u e s . I t ’s comfort and looking fairly a t t r a c t i v e f o r m e . I d o n’ t t h i n k I can go wrong then.
Thank you Photographer - Abbie Fisk Location - Debbies House Art Director - Charlotte Emerson And a special thank you to 1 of our 12 people - Debbie Goodall