Disclaimer: This is the first in what I hope is an ongoing series of photoshoots with a story behind them. I was asked to model two jumper dresses for Rockabilly Pinup, and as I always have a story behind the shoot to set me in the right mood, my set mistress/ part time social media manager Hybris Photography suggested I write that out and stop just telling her and the photographer about it.
It must have been 10 years since she last set foot on the school grounds. As she was leaving the safe and sacred space where she spent most of her childhood, she was certain it would be the last time she would see it.
When she was younger, stepping outside of the cool school building and into the early summer, she was always eager to remove her gloves and cardigan and leave, leaving them on the stairway.
The grounds were no longer tended to back then, and were growing wild. She didn’t mind it, and had enjoyed exploring the new wilderness for hours without end with a book as her faithful companion.
When she left she was a student-teacher. Now she is returning as the new headmistress and owner. The old school had laid abandoned and overgrown, and she had to walk, carrying her suitcase and bag, for almost a mile.
She could hardly believe her luck when she saw the old school being sold for next to nothing. Thanks to a family inheritance, she could just about afford it. It will be a lot of work to rebuild, and a lot of it she will have to do herself.
But she was back, to the place she called home for so long, and she will make sure it becomes a place to call home for many generations of students to come. Time to roll up the sleeves and get to work!
Student ensemble:
Dress and cardigan: Rockabilly Pinup
Blouse: Rock n Romance
Shoes: Deichmann, modified by me
Gloves: thrifted
Books: Mine (G.K. Chesterton – Father Brown Stories and Agatha Christie – The Man in the Brown Suit)
Schoolmistress:
Hat: gifted
Blouse: thrifted
Dress: Rockabilly Pinup
Shoes: gifted
Weekend bag: Woody Ellen from Rockabilly Pinup
Suitcase: borrowed
Photo: Miss Nephtyhs
Set Mistress: Hybris Photography