We are just going to put this out there: Lydia Bright is definitely our favourite of the TOWIE crew. In a sea of orange fake tan and body-con dresses, Lydia stands out with her unique sense of style and retro beauty look. She has recently been working with Wonderbra on their Ultimate Plunge style challenge, which encourages us all to wear more of our wardrobes and try out new fashion looks. The Ultimate Plunge Bra is cleverly designed to cut low at the front and features multiway straps, enabling you to wear it so many different ways! Lydia is a big fan and is excited about inspiring women to be more adventurous with fashion.
Lydia told us that she has always been daring with her fashion choices. “When I was a teenager I would wear vintage clothes, inspired my mum and aunt, who have always been in the rag trade. My Mum was a fashion buyer and my aunt was an executive at Debenhams, so I was always surrounded by fashion. Growing up, my Mum would put us in all these different outfits and always told us how important it was to dress well and not follow trends.”
This seems to have stuck with Lydia as we witnessed her style transformation over the first few series of The Only Way Is Essex. “There is a stereotype of short, low cut dresses in Essex but I just did my own thing because fashion is such a big passion for me. My beauty look also changed after the first series - I toned down the fake tan and the make up for a paler, more natural look. But that came from being educated about what looks good on me, and it was a natural process as I grew up. Everyone goes through their ‘orange’ phase, especially in Essex! Some people have definitely stayed in that phase...”[ed: who could she be talking about…?]
Now, Lydia loves vintage fashion and beauty, especially ‘40s and ‘50s styles. “About one third of my wardrobe is vintage. I really like shopping at Beyond Retro in Shoreditch and the Stables Market in Camden. Los Angeles has got some amazing vintage shops too.” Fellow vintage queen Carrie Bradshaw is Lydia’s long term style icon because “she always went outside the box with her outfits. Olivia Palermo and Blake Lively are also incredible – Blake never looks bad!”
Even style icons have their off days, though: Lydia is the first to admit that she has had some fashion disasters. Her worst fashion experiment involved purple leather trousers (nice) which she wore with the matching purple leather jacket. “I was trying to be cool and ‘out-there’!” she giggles. “At least I tried! When a stylist gives me a terrible outfit, my motto is that I would rather wear something unusual rather than something boring.”
