Customer of the Month: Jools

We first spotted Jools when she posted this photo on Facebook: The way her shoes match the tube doors made us happy, along with that Mr Whippy t-shirt and Moustache Necklace. Ever since then, the words "Jools has tagged you in a photo" were guaranteed Facebook gold. But Jools doesn't often ride the underground - you're more likely to see her out and about on her Pashley bike, as she's been blogging her adventures in cycling and fashion on her Vélo-City-Girl blog. We've watched as Jools's Tatty Devine collection has grown - she came to our Brick Lane sample sale looking for statement necklaces, then blogged about her bike ride to pick up her Name Necklace, and hit up Ebay until she'd collected all three different dagger necklaces we've ever created. This lady is on it. We're worried that she knows more about Tatty Devine than we do. Tell us a bit about yourself. I'm Jools Walker (also known as Lady Vélo), 28 years old and I'm from and live in east London. I currently work in education, but I spend a lot of my free time on my favourite things: cycling, fashion, photography and blogging... and eating nice cakes. How would you describe your style? I would say it's very eclectic, from my ever-changing hair down to my shoes! I love the freedom of mixing high street with designer pieces, and beautiful vintage items too. I could be dressed like a girl from Mad Men one day, and then be in skinny jeans and electric pink brogues the next! Accessorising is a major part of my style, so jewellery features heavily in what I wear. I'm definitely a self-confessed wardrobe magpie - a gatherer of shiny pretty things, which I put together to make my own fashion statements. How did you become a Tatty Devine customer? I'm a local girl, and became aware of Tatty Devine on a trip to Brick Lane. The boutique looked like a magical jewellery box and the moment I stepped in, I was in love! I then started treating myself to pieces whenever I could and it's also fantastic to know that it's supporting an original and brilliant female design team too! What are your favourite pieces? I'm a MASSIVE Tatty Devine fan and have an ever growing collection... my favourites have to be the Tiger Necklace, my prized Dagger/Cutlass collection and of course my special "LadyVélo" name necklace I had made to celebrate the 1st anniversary of my blog and cycling. Tell us about your bike! I ride a "Buckingham Black" Pashley Princess (named 'Frankie') which is a traditional ladies loop frame bicycle. I adore classic bikes - she is my pride and joy and a total pleasure to cycle around London on - especially with the big wicker basket and the ding-dong bell! I believe that fashion and cycling can go hand in hand - there is no reason why riding means you have to sacrifice style while doing it... I say you can keep it chic on two wheels! As a regular cyclist, what style tips do you have? Is there anything you have to avoid wearing for safety reasons? Make sure that you are comfortable in what you are wearing on your bike, feel confident (as that really shines though when you are cycling - people notice!) and if you're wearing a super-long necklace, you might want to think about tucking it in if there is a sudden strong breeze... I have learnt about this the hard way! If you're going out for a bike ride, does your style differ from days when you don't ride your bike? My style remains the same whether I'm on my bicycle or not. I really believe that there should be no wardrobe difference there... my bike reflects my style and personality so my wardrobe will always be pretty when on two wheels. Tell us about your blog. I've been running my blog Vélo-City-Girl since March 2010. It's a mixture of my two loves: cycling & fashion. Vélo-City-Girl covers these elements, along with other adventures on my Pashley, and my fashion advice for girls who want to cycle in style. Keeping the blog has had a huge and positive impact on my life: I love how it has linked me with like minded people from the UK and across the world and has brought me new friends and followers. Style-wise, it's made me even more determined to remain chic and keep on mixing up my wardrobe, especially if it inspires other female cyclists in London (and beyond) to get on their bikes and do the same! Do you ever get stopped in the street and asked about what you're wearing? Yes, I do, which is awesome - especially as I tend to put my outfits together through wardrobe remixing and not follow the latest trends all the time. It's wonderful to know that people like my style... I tend to get lots of attention when I'm wearing my Tatty items too. What's your favourite outfit? My favourite outfit will always be one that makes me feel good and gets me smiling. Current fave at the moment is teaming my favourite Lanvin T-shirt with any of my skinny jeans, and one of my pairs of Vivienne Westwood jelly shoes. You recently completed your collection of all our dagger jewellery! How did you do it? Indeed I did! My quest started when I saw the Cutlass Necklace you did for the Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration launch party - I fell for it instantly! Once I got that one and then saw the gorgeous one on your blog for Charlotte Delall / Paris Fashion Week 2011, I was a girl on a mission to find that one, as I knew it wasn't going to be released. A very lucky search on eBay (and some tactical bidding!) later and it was mine! I knew about the original Cutlass for the "Treasure" collection, but sadly I missed my chance to get one when it was released... I had to find it as that would be my mission complete: this was another lucky eBay find. I have to say, those three necklaces are the pride and joy of my Tatty collection - they're beautiful! Thank you Jools - we'll try to find a piece of Tatty Devine that you don't have as a gift to say thank you for appearing on our blog. If you'd like to be our Customer of the Month, here's how to get noticed: tag Tatty Devine any time you post a photo of you wearing your jewellery on Facebook (we'll ask to add you to our Fan Photos album). Or mention @tattydevine when you post photos of you wearing your jewellery on Twitter. Good luck!

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