Welcome to February musings with Amy Bannerman.
The second in our new series of conversations with inspiring voices from the creative world sees us taking a deep dive into vintage and second hand with stylist and vintage queen, Amy.
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What do you do to feel motivated creatively or otherwise?
I'm a very motivated person, probably to my detriment sometimes. Although I struggle to function without caffeine and need the combination of strong coffee and a slow start first thing in the morning. Then the motivation kicks in and I will barely stop. Creatively, I feel like I need headspace to be able to think clearly so I often have ideas for things while I’m driving the car or before I go to sleep, when I'm not distracted by my phone or the other tasks that life entails!
What’s making you tick right now, is there something new you’ve discovered you can tell us about?
Without sounding like a massive cheeseball, the thing that really makes me tick is being a mum which is what I have wanted my whole life. My son is learning to talk and I just find the changes even within one day so immense, I am trying to soak up every single second of it. The best days are ones when I can fully focus on being a mum and not having to balance work and being a single mum, it’s a lot! In terms of newness, it is not a new discovery but perhaps one which is relatively unknown, I love looking for jewellery on auction sites. It is quite addictive, I warn you. Often the items are not in the UK but you can get them shipped quite cheaply and this is a much more affordable way of buying antique jewellery than going to a traditional shop.
How do you start your day, what does your morning routine look like?
With a cuddle from Alfie in bed, he watches cartoons while I go and make a coffee and then we lie in bed together. He's started waking me up like we're in some sort of rom-com, telling me he loves me and I'm his best friend - such a lovely way to start the day. He's just the sweetest boy. Then I have a shower which is a good time to collect my thoughts for the day. I have just started seeing a personal trainer and he would definitely tell you that I am not seeing him enough but I am excited to learn about weight training and realising that I am actually stronger than I thought.
What’s your favourite thing about your job? Who or what inspired you to do what you do?
I love literally everything about it. Working for eBay was a long term career goal of mine and I feel extremely lucky to be part of their team and have been able to create my own team to work on love island, they are just the best at what they do and I look forward to spending time with them immensely. We all share such a passion for preloved and inevitably really geek out about it whenever we’re together and over WhatsApp multiple times a day. Growing up my mother's younger sister wore pretty much only second hand clothes and always looked cooler and more effortless than anyone else, I was slightly in awe of her and the way she put things together. My school was a convent in the middle of nowhere and I left not even knowing that there was such a thing as a fashion industry. But at university one of my modules was about feminism and fashion and I think this was the only part of my course in which I actually sat up and listened, it ignited something in me. When I left university I got my first job as a personal shopper in Topshop (RIP), and that was that.
What’s most exciting you about the upcoming year?
So many things in my personal life and work life too, there is a lot happening! The whole pre loved movement is gathering so much momentum and I'm very proud to be part of it and to be able to invoke real change. I'm meeting so many wonderful and inspiring people through working in this part of the industry and I am excited to get to know them better and to do more work collectively. I started a campaign this year #CHOOSEPRELOVED and I have lots of exciting things happening around this, I do weekly preloved edits on my Instagram, I get a lot of feedback from my followers that people struggle to find things so I am enjoying this process immensely!
Song that never fails to lift your mood?
The boy in the bubble by Paul Simon. It reminds me of being a child and having nothing more to worry about other than where my next baked goods were coming from.
What is your favourite possession and the story behind it?
My Mum’s Gucci bracelet watch that my parents passed down to me one birthday, it is the one that came in a box with screw off coloured rings so you could change the colour to match your outfit. I always coveted it and when I was a kid I used to illegally sneak it out of her knicker drawer to try it on, so I was very excited to finally have it in my possession!
If you could visit anywhere in the world tomorrow, where would it be?
India, my favourite place in the world. What time are we leaving?
And finally...what will you be carrying in your reworked vintage patchwork tote?
My mum is Canadian and we have a cottage on a lake in Canada, most of the beds are covered with antique quilts, so it makes me very nostalgic for that part of my life and somewhere I think of as my second home.
My 2 year old son and I are quite nomadic and always leaving London to visit relatives or go on adventures to the coast, so this bag will be full of both of our favourite things, hastily packed at the last minute.
My 2 year old son and I are quite nomadic and always leaving London to visit relatives or go on adventures to the coast, so this bag will be full of both of our favourite things, hastily packed at the last minute.
- My new Tom Ford rose tinted sunglasses that make everything seem better!
- My green and white striped oversized Cos PJs.
- Crocs, used for sea swims, slippers and general life.
- Alfie’s vintage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sweatshirt from eBay which is one of my favourite things he owns.
- Perfume oil by e11even which I am obsessed by.
- Lulu Lemon Align leggings that make me feel sporty when I most definitely am not.
- Alfie’s iPad because, you know, lie-ins.
- Alfie’s monkey from IKEA who has become almost like a sibling to him and a son to me.
- Dior lip glow, without this I feel like I don’t look like myself!
- My kindle, because I’m always reading something- at the moment “Conversations on Love”
