Many of our customers send us lovely messages, so, this Christmas, we decided to return the sentiment and invited five Finery wearers to star in our new campaign. It was a great day on set, as these perfect strangers came together, sharing stories and jokes as they played dress up with the new collection.
Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, this is a chance to spend time with loved ones, celebrate successes and make exciting plans for the year ahead. We asked our campaign stars to share a few of their family traditions as well as what’s on their wish list.
“We always take the turkey with us [when travelling at Christmas]. We put it in our hand luggage and easyJet doesn’t seem to mind.”
Penelope Dalrymple-Smith
70, Retired
Christmas will be particularly special for Penelope this year as it’s the last in the family home before they downsize next spring and her two sons will fly in from Holland with their families. On Christmas Day there will be stockings, a big walk and a meal cooked by all the family.
New Year is a foodie celebration too, with a roaring fire, and a lot of good champagne and delicious food. “We’ll still dress up,” says Penelope. “And I’ll put on some rocks.”
Penelope has a thing for jewels and ran her own pearl jewellery company after living in Hong Kong. “I like modern jewellery, it’s got an edge to it,” such as the bold Finery brooch that she’d pair with the navy jumpsuit that she loved: “It was just me”. As for the move, Penelope’s sons are sadder about it than she is - the keen gardener can’t wait to do the new garden.
“Christmas is generally spent indoors cooking, eating, sleeping and eating again.”
Thandi Maqubela
32, Associate Director, Deloitte
When at home in Cape Town Thandi’s family eat Christmas lunch outside. But this year she’ll be with her boyfriend’s family in Brighton in relaxed manner: cooking, eating, sleeping and eating some more. “We’ll be a little bit hungover as Christmas Eve is always spent pub-hopping around the quaint local pubs. I love food, but I’m not a great cook, or maybe I just don’t try hard enough.”
“My boyfriend and I don’t really buy material gifts, we prefer to give each other experiences. For Christmas I’d like to surprise him with a trip. On my wish list is this silver leather pencil skirt.” As Thandi has progressed in her legal career she feels more free to experiment with colour and push the boundaries of conservative business dress where she can. “Finery is great for transitional dressing - I can wear it at work and change it up for the weekend.”
“For me it’s important as a time to stop and be together.”
Suzanne Bernie
50, Stylist and Founder of Coathanger
“Our schedules are crazy,” says Suzanne of her hairstylist husband and two daughters, both models. She’s busy herself as a personal stylist. “But Christmas Day is always holiday time, a chance to stop.” The festive season sees Suzanne and her family returning to her hometown of Leeds, a place where growing up she felt like an outsider: her New Romantic bloomers and big sleeves getting strange looks. When she moved to London 33 years ago Suzanne suddenly felt like she fitted in and has been in love with the city ever since: “You can be anyone you want there, dress anyway you like. Finery is absolutely what London’s about - it’s different and interesting and brings out people’s personalities.”
Suzanne’s style is androgynous with a sexy twist, “I usually wear jeans with a sexy top and fab shoes. I’m not a dress person, but for Finery I’ll give it a go.”
“One Christmas me and my mum woke up, had prosecco and then sushi.”
Isobel Karpel
23, Events Co-Ordinator, Business in the Community
Christmas is a relatively low-key affair for Isobel and her mum. It’s usually just the two of them and they do something different every year - a highlight was spending the day in their pyjamas drinking prosecco eating sushi that they made themselves. In January she’s off to explore South America with her best friend, starting in Colombia. “I’d like a nice backpack for Christmas,” says Isobel. “I’ll be packing light - lots of linen, comfy shoes and my trusty red lipstick. But I’ll be keeping space for the trinkets and outfits I pick up along the way.”
Drawn to colour in a big way, Isobel has a degree in Fine Art and alongside her job with a charity spends Saturdays working at a gallery where she feels she can dress as herself a bit more. “It alters my mood when I wear vibrant things, makes me feel more alive,” she says.
“Food’s really important in my house [at Christmas]. I cook, my mum cooks. My dad doesn’t.”
Isabelle Zubaida,
23, Junior Online Visual Merchandiser and Freelance Illustrator
Isabelle studied illustration but didn’t want to spoil her passion by pursuing it full time. She still draws every day though. She shares character sketches with funny stories or wry comments on Instagram, alongside snapshots of her creative style. “Style is very instinctive to me,” says Isabelle. She takes great pleasure in choosing what to wear in the morning. So much so, that sometimes it’s the lure of getting dressed that gets her out of bed. “Being comfortable is important, and a lot of the time I’m comfortable in frilly things, or cut-off things and mis-matched colours. I’m not very good at normcore - more is more for me.”
Isabelle’s family is Jewish so Christmas to her is about family and food, and celebrating her late grandmother’s birthday with champagne and Christmas crackers. On her Christmas wish list is a digital camera and some art supplies and inks.
