Today someone made my day. That someone is Karen Ho, my uber-queen of schtyle, fellow shipmate in the sea of life.
Usually a parcel will come in layers of plasticky nonsense and bubble wrap and tape. Usually you will reach for scissors. But not today. The packaging is shockingly minimal, lightweight and beautiful, with not a trace of sellotape or plastic. Not to mention the contents. The item came wrapped neatly in black tissue, with a Janine Basil trademark thank you tag, light blue and red ribbons, in high quality design, a 8bit heart sticker and a contact card.
The item is a Gemstone headband RRP£15. It has six gemstones, digitised and machine embroidered, each in a different colour of rayon embroidery. It is felt-backed and has thin black elastic to secure it. All in all it is well-made, fun, lightweight and a classic piece of hair ‘jewellery’. The texture itself is very interesting as it is woven but shiny. The form takes many shapes so the whole object has the right feel and scale.
Janine Basil’s designs are pop art inspired with a strong 1960s and 1950s influence, but far from kitsch, so yes, very up my street. There will of course be a cupcake design in there somewhere, in keeping with the vintage feel! The designs will be collectible, so watch that name.
I so, so look forward to using this headband in my next shoot. Karen Ho, you are a total gem!
