A recent interview with Hannah Murray [1] in Pop [2] magazine, aka the girl who plays Cassie from Skins [3] (oi, oi, oi season 2 has been raised up a notch so if you were skeptical wating the first, I'd re-check it out) brought out a memorable quote about the white sunglasses she wore quite a bit in the first season   

Those white specs were very on-trend.

‘Oh, I don’t know anything about on-trend.  Someone did tell me they were a bit “Kurt Cobain meets Marc Jacobs”.  I pretended to know what they were talking about.’

Murray wears a lot of her own clothes on the show and from the few public events, it's clear she has a very set idea of her own style.  Yet from this quote, it seems she has an unawareness of 'fashion' as we know it and as we harp on about on this blog.  She's drawn to sheer tulle things, dropped waisted sequin flapper dresses, excessive plastic accesories and vintage sailor toops/dresses which I'd say were quite stylish in a distinctive way.  However, by wearing her dropped waisted sequin flapper dress, she's not trying to making reference/allusion to this season's John Galliano because she is unaware.  She simply likes what she likes and the result is that she comes off as looking someone who is 'into fashion' the way most readers are here....

Then again....'most readers' might be a generalisation in itself as I receive emails from people saying they don't know anything about designers but they're still drawn to reading the blog and commenting on clothes, outfits and designs from a PURELY aesthetic point of view - i.e. 'That looks so cool/nice/stylish!' as opposed to a more name-laden, labelled view e.g. 'That is very Balenciaga SS08!'. 

I don't feel guilty about 'knowing' fashion i.e. the labels, the references and all that schtick but I'm fully aware that there are a million ways to be 'into fashion' or perhaps 'into style' if you prefer the latter term and take that to mean something that is more relevant to you and the way you dress.  It's not Trivial Pursuits.  Knowing every collection like it is the back of your hand isn't going to automatically translate into being 'one up' in the fashion ladder.  It is those that are completely unaware of the 'official realms' of fashion that fascinate me.  That they have an instinctiveness about them that can't be explained.  They know how to put different skirts together and make some fab colour combo work but it's not because they were shackled with catwalk knowledge.  I'm sure you wonders exist out there and it is to you, that I apologise and say that I might harp on a bit about all that designer malarky but at the end of the day, it is fundamentally about making ourselves happy with clothes and being drawn to garments in an inexplicable way.      

[4]

So back to Hannah Murray.  If we were ever to meet...we may not have a conversation about why Miu Miu AW08-9 was a bit of an oddball that we're still trying to get our heads around.  But I have a feeling we would have a lovely time taking a gander in Cornucopia in Pimlico [5] (which is another London vintage gem that will be closed later on this year....) and find some floral tea dresses to flounce about in.