Ribbons
Ribbons were one of my first collections and I have never grown out of them. Although I do not sport them in my pigtails anymore, I use them for colour inspiration, making a package special, tying a placecard on a napkin, or have them simply because they're beautiful. My ribbons are now housed in yellow vintage labelled shoeboxes, each colour in a different box, all special and all treasured. My mother used to buy me two lengths of ribbon, each a metre long, so I would always have on for each pigtail. I continue to buy two metres at a time, a leftover habit from childhood, but have no need to cut the length in half these days.

Rope
A fixation with pulleys and rope serves as more than another excuse for me to rummage in ship chandleries and seaside antique stores. I use them at home and in my shop for many practical reasons – they’re perfect for hanging large items from the ceiling or wall – but also to add textural differences or a new focal point.

Rubber stamps
They’ve always been part of my styling inventory. I hunt rubber stamps down in antique shops and print specialists or have them custom made from favourite fonts. I then stamp everything from hessian sacks and unhemmed pieces of calico to price tickets at my shop.

The Stylist Alphabet:
A is for...      
B is for...
C is for...      
D is for...
E is for...      
F is for...
G is for...     
H is for...
I is for...      
J is for...
K is for...     
L is for...
M is for...    
N is for...
O is for...     
P is for...
Q is for...