Suse inspo

I bet we’ve all got a handful of things that we’re a little bit obsessed with.

For me, it’s often the things I was into as little Susie: the girl in high bunches who had plastic beads to match every pastel cap and wouldn’t go anywhere without her suitcase of Sindy clothes.

Here are a handful of my early inspirations that continue to obsess me today…

Swimming pools

We used to go to a garden centre that had an outdoor swimming pool showroom as part of it. Nothing was more exciting than looking at all the different shaped pools.

Where we currently live, there are several abandoned outdoor pools and some that have been filled in, but the steps remain.

There’s something beautiful and slightly chilling to me about that deep space.

Pastels

I guess it’s being a child in the 80’s, but pastel colours will always be my happy place.

I’d sit and watch Anneka Rice leap about on ‘Treasure Hunt’ in her pastel jumpsuits and think she was Sindy come to life.

My Care Bear sticker album (complete, of course) was my pride and joy and although I never had a My Little Pony, my friend would let me play with hers.

Some of them were even scented.

Princesses

I’ve always been fascinated by the girls who look like they’ve won the jackpot: the Carnival Queen, the Disney Princess, the Prom Queen and the cheerleader.

I think perhaps because I’ve always been so (very contentedly!) ordinary, that the idea of being the girl who gets to wear the ‘gown and crown’ really fascinates me.

Diners

When I was in art college, we visited New York, where a friend and I spent the entire two weeks photographing diners. We ate a lot of pancakes with cherries and bacon and syrup and had a blast.

There’s something lovely to me about the idea of a simpler time, when ladies wore aprons, cooked breakfast for their kids and put a pretty ribbon in their hair.

(Yes, ‘The Truman Show’ is one of my favourite films.)