Jess says she was destined to work in fashion from a young age, and was famous amongst her peers for "having an obscenely huge handbag collection and a penchant for customising clothes". She began her journey into fashion back in her hometown of Cornwall, where she struck up a friendship with Dawn Bebe, famed for launching Grazia in the UK, and was invited to London for an internship during Fashion Week. Fast forward a couple of years, and a stint in India, (where she stared in Bollywood, went searching for tigers, and lived with one of the Dalai Lama's old bodyguards) Jess is well and truly part of the fashion pack in her role as Editorial Director at Aigua Media.
As well as overseeing content across OSOYOU and all of the groups leading fashion and beauty blogs, including Catwalk Queen, Shoewawa, Kiss & Makeup, and The Bag Lady, she also coordinates features and leads a happy team of writers in London, Sydney and New York. Aside from her eclectic wardrobe, obsession with shopping and addiction to chocolate, Jess has an infectious positive attitude and a huge heart - she recently decided to cycle across Kenya to raise money for women with cancer which you can read about here and here!
With a job that requires attending lots of events (sometimes at very short notice) Jess always carries a set of emergency items to dress-up her look, but if I told her to remove anything, she'd probably pinch me. Lets take look in that giant handbag shall we?
Name? Jess Markwood
Age? 26
Occupation? Editorial Director
Style? I guess I'm a bit of a chameleon - last week it was a modern tailored look, complete with high waisted pencil skirt, bralet and neon yellow woven jacket. Wednesday saw more of a bohemian influence in a floaty maxi skirt, leather jacket and LOADS of jewellery. And Thursday was sport luxe day as I was attending the Stella McCartney Team GB unveiling - so high ponytail, wet look leggings and baggy vest with a neon pink bra poking out.
The bag
I've been on a bit of a rollercoaster ride with this CC Skye handbag. It was love at first sight when I snapped it up at the sample sale at London Fashion Weekend, but sadly quite early on the handle started to come apart so I had to send it back to the designers in California. It was returned a month later with a new much sturdier handle and has been my go-to bag ever since.
The purse
My purse is Tabitha...and its bulging with receipts. I have a shopping problem and I don't care who knows!
The books
I may well be the editorial director of an online Megazine at the forefront of digital technology, but I can't ever imagine giving up my paper diary. Forget all these Outlook calendar reminders every five minutes and newfangled phone organisers, if it's not written down, on paper, with a pen, it won't happen! I'm currently reading Starter For Ten which is a great book by David Nicholls - I laughed out loud on the tube this morning - and the notebook was a birthday gift from my friends for important note taking emergencies.
The gadgets
My iPhone 4 and my iPod Nano, incase of low battery emergencies.
Beauty products
Lipstick is my thing, and I carry an array of bright lipsticks in case of every eventuality! My favourite is a neon pink Lancome Le Rouge Absolu in Amour Rose and the rest are Dolce & Gabbana Passion Duo Gloss Fusion Lipstick in Infatuation, MAC lipstick in Impassioned and MAC Matte lipstick in Lady Danger. The bareMinerals powder foundation keeps me looking fresh whilst the YSL bronzing powder and Nars black eyeliner are great for after work drinks. The mascara (Maybelline The One by One Volum' Express) is the best mascara EVER in my opinion! There's also a Body Shop eyeshadow quad and some Boots eye drops to keep me bright eyed and bushy tailed! The makeup bag was a press gift from Camper to contain all of the above.
The rest
Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream (in case of all emergencies) compeed blister plasters (in case of shoe emergencies) Topshop flat studded slippers (for all emergency shoe moments when blister plasters won't cut it) curvy grips and a hair tie (in case of hair emergencies) my oyster card with Noble Macmillan case, keys complete with novelty keyring containing a picture of me and the girls on our friend's hen night, my beautiful Miu Miu sunglasses, a pocket mirror, a pen (because otherwise the notebook is pointless) a pair of emergency earrings (in case an outfit suddenly needs dressing up) some leather gloves (because it's still chilly at night) a novelty USB stick (in case of document storage emergencies) my business cards (because you never know who you might meet and when) friendship bracelets brought back from my recent trip to Kenya, and finally a Full Circle black waist belt. Everyone should carry a waist belt with them - you can transform your look with a simple belt.
