About this deal
The label gained notoriety with its signature body-con dresses worn by celebs such as Cher and Grace Jones. Esme is over 70 now and has lived a fascinating and creative life, there’s just not enough pages for her to go into great depth but gives you just enough. Grace Jones wore the brand’s “Padlock dress” and “screamed with pleasure” when she first laid eyes on it.
Caroline Baker was the fashion editor at Nova magazine at the time and she loved our see-through plastic macs. She has also been a part of an individual commission for Phil Collins, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Cher and Jane Asher. There are occasional delicious moments of name dropping - she dated and moved in rockstar circles, and has designed costumes for all sorts of films - but she never cashes in on these, and is unwaveringly lovely about everyone she's met. Every Friday we had to spend time mending our own uniforms, too – it gave us the liberty to subvert the rules! David Bailey photographed one collection and Vogue featured Brigitte Nielsen wearing a Swanky Modes lycra two-piece in the mid-1980s.In the last series in particular, there have been some tantalising hints about her previous life as a designer for the avant garde Swanky Modes, so I was really looking forward to learning more. You’ll spend the two nights with breakfast at the gorgeous Country Living Lansdown Grove, housed in one of the oldest buildings in Bath.
To get you into a creative mood and show you how wonderful (and relaxing) the hobby can be, we're inviting you on the ultimate sewing holiday in Bath, where you'll have the chance to meet Sewing Bee judge Esme Young. This was the same year that she learned to read, and had partial deafness diagnosed (she had a severe case of “glue ear”, and had her tonsils and adenoids removed to rectify it). She has not worn the necklace since for fear it might leak: each bottle contains a different colour paint. Young’s teenage years are full of midnight feasts, Radio Caroline, and reading banned books by the likes of James Baldwin.She's good at recognising the contribution of others to her success - not always the case in autobiographies - and it's a book I'd enjoy reading again. Just diving in and “having a go” is a credo she has always applied to her life too, the latest example being joining a primetime TV show at almost 70.
I remember reading about her 70’s/80’s label Swanky Modes back in the day and being so influenced by the London punk, New Romantic and new wave scenes. It is, however, quite reserved - although names are dropped throughout, don't expect lots of juicy stories about people, you definitely don't get them. Now 73, her love of an artistic challenge and a boisterous party have seen her hang out with David Bowie and the Sex Pistols, create Bridget Jones's famous Bunny Girl costume and dance with Dustin Hoffman. It must have been a tough and difficult time - she does admit to being scared - but this was a feel good book. Though the sun is shining, it has recently rained – we have perched on the only two dry benches we could find, beneath a tree that drops large white blossoms on our heads as we chat.Lots of name dropping of who she had met, partied with etc, I was not impressed, don't feel I got to know her at all. Very interesting and enjoyable autobiography by the lady you know as the Judge on The Great British Sewing Bee. As Young puts it: After the Swinging Sexy Sixties our generation were trailblazing into the new decade in a streak of sequins and safety pins. Some of the high profile campaigns Young has worked for include : Tia Maria (with Iman ), Levi’s, Boots No 7, Marlborough, De Beers, Pretty Polly tights, Max Factor, Yardley and Rimmel. The latest series of The Great British Sewing Bee is well underway with the remaining contestants hoping to impress the judges and earn a place in the semi-final.