Laura Jackson's had a busy few weeks. In between filming ITV’s Saturday morning kids' show Scrambled, she's been out in force at London Fashion Week. Perhaps it's why when we grab her between shows she's speaking at a truly frenetic pace, simultaneously informing us of her fondness for two-piece suits as well as her plans to cut her hair into a really short bob, like Chloe Sevigny. 'If I wasn’t so lazy, I would try and dress up by wearing a suit every day', the 27 year old tells us.
Instead, what does she wear? How does she decide to get dressed every morning? We grilled her to find out:
The Debrief: Morning! So let’s talk about your addiction to all things Gallic. Where did it start?
Laura Jackson: This sounds so cheesy, but I’ve felt affiliated with France since I was a child. I’m one of five, and every summer my whole family would drive down from up north, all the way to France, to go camping for 3 weeks. Obviously, I would wear a Breton stripe when I was there. It's genetic. My mum loves a Breton stripe. My grandmother loved a Breton stripe.
DB: You love a Breton stripe, don't you.
LJ: I love that whole French look: Françoise Hardy, Jane Birkin, Clemence Poesy, Lou Doillon and Sofia Coppola (French in style, if not by birth) are all so good. I aim for ‘chic and understated’ like them, but I actually think I often look like a bit of a mess.
**DB: You don't! You look a bit like Lou Doillon too. **
LJ: She’s my ultimate! I got more French, so to speak, when I got into music. Growing up, I was always really into cheesy girly pop like Take That, but then I got into boys and both my music and sartorial horizons widened. Seriously. I remember this like it was yesterday, but when I was 16 I’d go to my first boyfriend Tom’s house and he would play me The Smiths' Girlfriend in a Coma. I would think, ‘Why are you playing me this song about a girl in a coma?’ He started showing me all these pictures of Morrissey and got me into New Order, Pulp and The Smiths, too. Then I went out with a boy who was into '60s ska and I listened to a lot of The Specials.
DB: Where do you get your clothes from these days? Is it all Saint Laurent and Sandro?
LJ: I discover lots of new brands, like Each Other, through my boyfriend, Jon [Gorrigan, a fashion photographer]. He recently shot an incredible knitwear brand, & Daughter. I am obsessed with knitwear. I’ve got, like, 50 jumpers, which I wear with black jeans and ankle boots. All my favourite labels are French – Sandro, Isabel Marant, Zadig & Voltaire, Carven, Céline. My dream buy would be a Saint Laurent suit. But I can’t afford it, so I go to Zara – it’s so great for Saint Laurent rip-offs. I love going onto websites like My Theresa and Net-a-Porter and looking at these gorgeous, really expensive dresses and then thinking, ‘Hold on, I’ve seen something like that in Topshop!’ So then I buy it and everyone goes ‘where’s that from, it looks really expensive?’ I used to tell people, ‘Oh it’s just from Topshop', or 'Zara’ and my mum would say, ‘Don’t tell people that! They’ll never know!’
DB: Oh, The Debrief likes sneaky tips like this very much. Do you shop a lot?
LJ: Oh my god, so much. I just bought a jacket from Topshop, some blue velvet Chelsea boots from Penelope Chilvers and a Carven dress. I’m really naughty. I will go on a spree and then think, ‘Shit I can’t eat now!’ I love a bargain too though. I recently bought some black denim dungarees from Miss Selfridge for £15. Now I really want a Saint Laurent Duffle bag. I think about that bag so much. I need it. I actually can’t sleep.
DB: That’s real love, right there. So how can The Debrief do the '60s? Give us your key pieces.
LJ: A black polo neck, a black shift dress, messy hair and cat-flick eyeliner. I wear my black Zara shift dress the entire time and you can’t go with a Breton top, obviously – I just bought the best one ever from Whistles - and a pair of J Brand jeans. If in doubt, keep it simple and add a piece of knitwear.
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DB: You also wear a lot of vintage too though, right?
LJ: Yeah, but I’m not good at trawling through tons of stuff. I find it much easier in New York. I always go to Stella Dallas in Brooklyn, which is also a sort of haberdashery. They have lots of amazing fabrics and quilts as well. In Paris, they’ve got amazing flea markets. I got my vintage Gucci suit from a flea market.
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**DB: Even that sentence sounds cool. **
LJ: It was very cool. My boyfriend bought it for me. I was really poor and it was 800 Euros. Very kind of him! I’ve got three suits. My Gucci one, one vintage one and one from Jaeger. If I wasn’t so lazy I would wear a suit all the time. I’m not always smart, I’ve also got loads of pairs of New Balance and Reebok Classics. Maybe I should wear them together. That would be a good look.
**DB: A good London Fashion Week look! What were your favourite shows? **
LJ: I’m really sad, I know, but I literally go through the photographs from every catwalk show. I always love Mulberry, Burberry, Topshop Unique and Christopher Kane, but my favourite show was Simone Rocha. I wanna wear everything she does, everything. And I like to support emerging designers like Happy Ashley, Eudon Choi and the Fashion East lot, because I feel like I’m emerging too.
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Picture: Jason Lloyd-Evans
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.