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| Resting in the magical realms of Sherwood Forest. |
I have been going through my publishing archive boxes today, trying to put all of my back catalogue into some sort of order and sequence. With well over a decade of published words to my credit there is a lot to sort out and it is going to take me quite some time, not least because today I allowed myself to be distracted by a big box of Spirit&Destiny back issues. These are the early issues, long before I was one of their columnists, when I was already an established author and S&D was still relatively new to the stands.
I was looking through the pile of magazines for two issues in particular...I was searching for the fashion shoots that I found incredibly magical and inspiring at the time. The Dream Weaver shoot from September 2003 issue had a fairy tale 'Sleeping Beauty in the Woods' theme, with an iron bed placed in the middle of the forest and a model sleeping peacefully. The rest of the shoot was made up of images of the model wearing diaphanous night clothes and be-ribboned ballet slippers, dancing beneath the branches, gazing into a silver hand mirror and lighting her way with a candle. It was such an enchanting fairytale shoot, and it was followed up with a piece called A Bedtime Story...another lovely shoot of how to make your bath and bedtime routine more magical.
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| A publicity photo taken in my garden...yes, that IS an orb. |
The next issue I dug out was from January 2004. This fashion shoot was called Into the Woods and it was themed around the notion of wood nymphs and elves. The images in this shoot were of a model wearing cosy knits and autumnal dresses in shades of brown, plum, bronze and gold as she walked with a beautiful grey horse and strolled through the long grass. This is the kind of thing I wear in the autumn and winter months so the shoot really resonated with me. It was followed up with a 'where to buy' spread called Earthly Pleasures and I must confess that I went out and purchased most of the items shown - the faux fur bag, suede gloves and scarf I still have and I dig them out every autumn. Again, this shoot was followed up by a piece on beauty products which used berries and leaves as their main ingredient so that readers could turn themselves into little wood nymphs if they were so inclined. I liked that their fashion, shopping and beauty pages always ran with the same theme back then and that their themes were so magical and enchanting.
The evocative images from both these fashion shoots have stayed with me in my mind for a decade, inspiring me far beyond the shelf life of the magazine. It makes me smile to think that I am now a part of Spirit&Destiny, inspiring readers in my turn. What goes around, comes around. If you have the S&D back issues mentioned here, dig them out and revisit those stunning shoots. Or simply enjoy being a wood nymph in your own right by getting out into the forest, wearing autumn tones of brown, bronze, russet, gold, plum and dark berry red. So what if you're not a model? Neither am I, but I still like the photos I had taken in Sherwood Forest and among the trees in my garden. As summer draws to a close and the shades of autumn dapple the trees, get out into the woods and snap some memorable wood nymph photos.
BB Marie x
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| Sherwood Forest is stunning at any time of year, and I love spending time there. |
Ahh well, soon be autumn...
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