When it comes to the articulation and safekeeping of fashion history, is Belinda a little like one of her own handbags? She carries and protects her knowledge with grace and attention, she is filled with the loveliest and stores the most obscure (at one point in 2014 she was unknowingly carrying a hammer in said handbag everywhere she went.) Only when you start picking inside all her pockets do you realise the volume of cloth related information she has safeguarded, held onto and incorporated into her sartorial language. Her by appointment studio, Belinda Vintage, is one of her special pockets. Its seams burst with flavour and taste so exquisite, trust and safety are immediately felt when in proximity to her choices and the sight of her rummaging. My best friend, twin, a kindred mind, the person closest to me on this planet. I lived with Belinda uninterrupted for 5 years and I have many, many memories with this person. My favorite moments experienced when with her revolve around… fabric. Buying satin bedsheets at the same time and sliding off them during the night, a trip to Bath mainly to try on the costume in the Fashion Museum, our first Frock Me Vintage Fair which she is now as seller at. (I shudder when I think of a certain shocking purchase of a denim jacket with a giant zip.) The strongest of all these moments is smelling lamé together for the first time. We navigated our self discovery in the most intuitive and natural way, somehow meeting in the middle, always mirroring our next sartorial moves unknowingly and never not having fun with experimenting with shape and size. Of course, Belinda always does things a little better. She knows a million facts about fashion and collections and pins and trends and untrends and colors and vibes and shoes and boots and boots and boots. What she doesn’t know is just how much she knows. With her knowledge comes kindness and a sincere invitation to bond over discovery, a web of beautiful connections she’s built to share these clothes and the stories behind them as she embodies a container for the memories within shattered silk. She is the gentle keeper of dust people don’t want to inhale anymore. I’ve seen Belinda move in the world for so long now, touch a million skirts, hold thousands of coats and experiment in different areas of textile. She always did it perfectly of course, but until starting Belinda Vintage, a venture encompassing the selling of cherry-picked pieces, keeping and caring for an archive of unique garments and styling for various projects, I hadn’t seen her find the perfect way to show the world just how incredibly…

…well stitched she is.