Brix Smith Start and Grace Woodward with some of their shwopped items
The stylish pair were styling customers in the first ever pop-up Shwop Shop on the 24th and 25th of January in the Marks and Spencer’s Marble Arch Store on Oxford Street this week.
Taking time out of their busy morning chatting to shoppers and showing them how to style their outfits, the dynamic duo picked out their favourite items that were on sale in the Shwop Shop, and described how they would put them together in an outfit.
Grace picked a show stopping gown that had been donated to the Shwopping campaign by fellow stylist Sairey Stemp, along with a lemon yellow cashmere jumper which she found amongst the items which shoppers have shwopped in Marks and Spencer and are normally on sale in Oxfam stores. She styled the jumper with a pair of Burberry black trousers that were shwopped by Tali Lennox, and completed her selection with a black shirt dress which was donated to Shwopping by the fashion team at Marie Claire magazine.
Grace brought a whole bag full of clothes to the shwop shop on Thursday because she said, "As a stylist I am a clothes horder - I have 11 wardrobes of clothes!" she went on to say, "I can't throw anything away because I just don't like things being landfilled - Shwopping is giving people a way out from destroying old clothes and sending then to landfill".
Grace’s fellow stylist and friend Brix Smith Start was also styling shoppers at the shwop shop on Thursday. As well as Shwopping clothes that she wore on Gok Wan’s Fahsion Fix and from the Sky Living Show ‘Promzillas’ which she was also a stylist on, she displayed her favourite pieces from the sustainable fashion selection.
Creating three outfits out of her chosen pieces, which included a blazer donated by Gary Barlow, a pair of sequined trousers shwopped by Grace Woodward and a selection of items which had been shwopped by Marks and Spencer’s customers; Brix said her favourite outfit was the one featuring Gary Barlow’s blazer.
Of her favourite outfit, Brix said, "This outfit is all about the clash of prints and mixture of textures. It's all about the person that would wear it. They would have to be confident , creative and very individual. Of course, each piece would look beautiful on its own. Imagine wearing Gary Barlow's blazer as a boyfriend jacket - I love it!"
M&S and Oxfam’s Shwopping collaboration urges shoppers to donate - or ‘shwop’ - an unwanted item of clothing that will go on to be re-sold, re-used or recycled by Oxfam, cutting waste while raising much-needed funds for the charity.
All money raised by the shop will be used to support Oxfam’s projects around the world working to alleviate poverty.
For more information on Marks & Spencer and Oxfam’s Shwop Shop visit marksandspencer.com /MS-Stories
Grace Woodward’s selection
From left: Sairey Stemp dress, black shirt dress from Marie Claire magazine, Cashmere jumper from M&S Shwoppers, bag from Brix Smith Start, Burberry Black trousers from Tali lennox.
Brix Smith Start’s Selection
Outfit 1:
Tie dye and stud top shwopped by M&S customers, black trousers donated by Tali Lennox.
Outfit 2:
Blazer shwopped by Gary Barlow, flower pattern silk shirt shwopped by M&S customers, leopard print trousers donated by Grace Woodward.
Outfit 3: Silver jumper shwopped by M&S customers, silver sequined trousers donated by Grace Woodward.
Tagged in fashion Grace Woodward Style