On Saturday I had a lovely breakfast with Tamara Rogers, one of the women behind Stella & Dot jewellery in the UK. Stella & Dot has lustworthy jewellery for incredibly good prices and encourages women to get involved and host trunk shows from their living rooms for other women. With the brand expanding and going from strength to strength, with even Princess Eugenie due to host her very own trunk show at Clarence House, Tamara explains the ins and outs of Stella and Dot.
Location - Le Pain Quotidien
Breakfast - Scrambled eggs with prosciutto
Tell me about Stella & Dot, Tamara? What is your role and how did you get involved?
'Stella & Dot is a global fashion brand. It sells beautiful costume jewellery designed in-house by amazing designers, and is sold online and in pop up shops in women's living rooms. I knew someone in the US who was involved with the brand, knew it was soon to launch in the UK and I loved the mission statement - allowing women to style their own lives, work flexibly from home. I wanted to make a change to my life and have a better life/work balance and now I have my own home based flexible, full time Stella & Dot business.
The head office in the US is in San Francisco, and the design studio is in New York. The UK HQ is now in Hammersmith. Stella & Dot stylists in the US are able to win trips to the design studio and all the pieces in the Summer collection are named after women who have won. In the future the UK stylists will have incentive trips to New York too, and currently an all expenses paid trip to Marrakech is up for grabs! As the brand goes global, there will be a design studio in Europe.'
What is the brand ethos?
'Women can become involved with the brand as a trunk show hostess, or they can become a stylist for the brand working anywhere between 4-40 hours a week. That can change as and when they like. They can work a couple of hours here and there to be able to afford a incredible pair of shoes, or they can grow their business over a number of years to eventually earn six figures. It's all about flexibility.'
Do you have a favourite piece from the current collection?
The Zahara Bib Necklace
What kind of jewellery do you favour?
'I choose statement pieces most of the time - statement rings and necklaces, which i often combine with delicate earrings. If I wear an incredible showstopping pair of earrings, I'll wear no other jewellery.'
Most treasured piece of jewellery?
'I wear the Aurora cocktail ring the most. I also have a star ruby and diamond pendant which was my grandmother's, and a silver bangle which I got for Christmas when I six. The silver's almost all come off it, but I still wear it all the time.'
The Aurora Ring
What is your earliest fashion memory?
'I remember always wanting to go to haberdashery so I could buy different coloured ribbons, I was OBSESSED with ribbons in my hair up to probably the age of fourteen. <Here Tamara and I gush for 10 minutes about our childhood fixations for buttons, ribbons and the like, I'll leave that to your imagination!>
My mum used to sew my sister and I's clothes when we were little. Everything from dresses to pyjamas.'
As well as jewellery, what else do you rely on to transform a look?
'Shoes and handbags. Prada or Nine West for shoes, and bag-wise I'm COVETING the Chanel 2.55 or an Hermès Birkin. Long term investments!'
Your best piece of styling advice?
'Pay more for something that is not going to go out of style in the next two seasons. Buy less, spend more. Use great jewellery to transform an outfit into twenty different outfits. Always feel comfortable when you walk out the door or you just won't look good.'
Where are your London haunts?
'I love London because you can go anywhere, anytime, and there is always something going on. That's the reason I live in London and not Australia where I am from. My haunts are my two local pubs in Battersea - The Lighthouse and The Prince Albert. I love Monmouth Street in Covent Garden for all the little boutiques - I found an amazing Liz Claiborne dress from the 80's for £20 there. The Tate Modern is fabulous and I'm obsessed with going to the ballet. My favourite bakery is Poilane which is a Parisian bakery and there are shops in Belgravia and the King's Road.
I'm a South / Central girl, I feel a little lost when I'm in North London!'
What are your favourite things?
'Coffee - never instant. My black lab who I walk with everyday in Battersea Park. I'm constantly online looking at fashion magazines and I love the traditional print versions like Vogue for bed time reading. I'm a real foodie and I have a serious reality TV guilty pleasure - The Only Way Is Essex, Made In Chelsea, the Kardashians...'
What do you Love?
'My little family of my boyfriend Morgan, myself and our dog.'
What do you Lust?
'I'm LUSTING over a house around the corner from me in Kersley Mews.'
What do you Like?
'Doing something new every day.'
The beautiful aqua and gold Serenity earrings that Tamara gave me - a MASSIVE
thank you for such a kind gift! I can't wait to wear in the Summer and reignite my earrings obsession.
Click here to see how you can host your own trunk show.
