Inspiration

The idea for Spellbound Style was born on a crisp October day in London on the somehow-both-quiet-and-busy Goldhawk Road. My husband and I were wrapping up a week of Harry Potter-centric activities, touring the Warner Bros studios in Leavesden and catching a performance of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

We’d hauled through the galleries, sipped as much tea as our bladders could stand, and battled the crowds at Harrods to see the already-hung Christmas displays, but before we left, I had to see Goldhawk. When I travel, I love to find the local garment district and peruse what’s popular. I live in New York City, which has no shortage of fabric, but beyond taking in the local fashion, I love to see what fabrics inspire a city.

If you’ve never heard of Goldhawk Road, hop on the Hammersmith line and head to West London, where you’ll find a cache of 15 fabric stores on a quarter mile of road. The variety of shops and density make it a fabric shopper’s paradise.

I hauled my husband up and down the street, hesitant to buy anything both out of fear of adding to my massive, unused stash and adding excess weight to my carry-on suitcase, which was already brimming with souvenirs. But in one last shop, a jewel toned bolt caught my eye. Shocking turquoise, ruby red, and emerald green competed with flecks of gold across a burned-out velvet.

Draping the sheer across my arm, all I could see was a robe. Enchanting, alluring, vibrant and alive. I whipped out my cell phone and desperately tried to understand the yard-to-meter conversion rate, so I could order my cut like a local. Four meters and 3,500 miles later, my robe stitched up quickly. I paired it with a fiery red silk brocade that had occupied my stash, waiting for the right match.

I so enjoyed the project, that I went out to the garment district of New York in search of more burn-out velvet. In a shop not unlike the one on Goldhawk Road, my eyes landed on a black velvet bolt, which revealed an intricate medieval pattern when unspooled. The salesman and I chatted as he measured and cut my order, and as I complimented the textile once more, he remarked “it’s very English, isn’t it?” It was!

It was in that moment that I knew that this project, this fabric, this idea was worth chasing. I’ve climbed a few more hills since that English day to make Spellbound Style a reality, and I have quite a few more to climb until I achieve my goals. But when as I look ahead to what I want Spellbound to be, I look back fondly to Goldhawk Road as the place where inspiration first seized hold of my imagination and future.

The author in her first robe.