MY DAD & THE FUTURE FASHION ME

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

Like I said earlier on Twitter, my dear Dad Mr. Robert "Roy" Rickey passed away last Friday. He wasn't ill, in fact he remembered to post my birthday card the night he died, before going to the pub (he was extremely sociable), and coming home to settle into his favourite chair and watch TV. He didn't see the morning, and died in his sleep. (I'll know why later today.) I'm OK with this. Not OK with the fact he was just 62; he would have turned 63 this Friday.

My feelings are up and down, but I've a handle on how grief operates having been through it before. One minute you can be laughing fondly about the person you have lost and then, as I did today, dissolve at the sight of a man walking down the street who, from a distance, could be him even when you KNOW it is not. It's irrational.

HOWEVER. How can one reconcile grief with work and the work mindset? I've been mulling this over, and decided not to mull it over any more! This - journalism, blogging, trending - is what I do, and I can no sooner disentangle my work mind for the matter at hand, as I can't not breathe. Not everyone could align themselves to this approach, but I know it is the Rickey Way and steeped in the DNA. I will be digging up 'Dad Style Through the Years' in the next few days. He looked like a movie star when he was young.

Back to what has been on my work mind. Having digested the ENTIRE show season - my 300 page trend report is *humble cough* the most comprehensive of my career to date, and been declared a "triumph" by a colleague. I can safely report that the AW season represents a huge and positive change in the way we will be dressing. This change is what I am calling a return to "practical desires" (tm). Never have I wanted a camel jumper and pair of flared black trousers more than I do now.
So here, three long weeks after getting home from the shows, are the ten looks I just cannot get out of my head. These clothes represent the future fashion me. I will be dressing like this next season. In fact I think these ten outfits could see me through the entire winter -well, these and at least TEN jumpers, a Celine "classic" handbag, some yeti boots and a pair of kitten heels from Manolo. Thinking about winter is all too easy on this bleak, FREEZZZING day.

FASHION EDITOR AT LARGE'S PERSONAL FASHION TOP TEN FOR AW 10