Bay Garnett: Doyenne of jumble-sale chic
But does the queen of 'thrifting' practise what she preaches? Caroline Kamp pays her a visit
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Your support makes all the difference.Garnett has made her career styling models and pop stars with clothes, often designer pieces from the Seventies and Eighties, that she's found in second-hand shops here and in America. Standing in her living room, with its high ceilings and big windows, surrounded by her eclectic collection of furniture, photos and random ephemera, she clearly practises what she preaches. Her home is a colourful jumble of thrifty one-offs and personal memorabilia.
As Garnett glides around the flat she points out the photographs and mementos that crowd the walls and surfaces. There she is with Kate Moss and Anita Pallenberg sitting in a little boat on the Thames in a photograph by Juergen Teller for Vogue. On the wall are framed pictures of Iggy Pop laughing for the camera in a shoot for Cheap Date. On the fridge is an entry ticket to Graceland from a road trip around Tennessee with her dad. "I'm lucky," says Bay with an insouciant shrug, as she points to a picture of her with her designer friend Matthew Williamson at the singer Kelis's wedding. "What I do for a living means I get access to things like this."
Her mother, Polly Devlin, a writer and one-time Vogue contributor, is credited as a big influence on her style. "We often go to antiques shops together," says Garnett. "She's got an amazing eye." It was Devlin who found the Trash table, made of old drinks cans, at a Royal College of Art graduation show, which now has pride of place in the living room. On it is an art deco lamp base which Garnett found on one of her thrifting missions, but the shade was bought by her photographer boyfriend Tom Craig at a car boot sale. "He's also got great taste," she laughs.
In her bedroom, which has a picture of Debbie Harry above the bed, Garnett pulls from her wardrobe an extensive collection of vintage Chanel handbags. "I sometimes hate myself for wanting things, but I'm obsessive, I just have to have it." What does her boyfriend think? "Oh he's very tolerant," she says showing me a pile of his things hidden behind a sofa, "and he's completely unmaterialistic.
Visit www.yahoo.co.uk/digging for links to Bay Garnett's favourite thrifting websites
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