5 Minutes with... Elizabeth Day
We're very excited to announce our first Style Team guest member, journalist, author and podcaster (of the wonderful How to Fail), Elizabeth Day.
We sat down with Elizabeth to talk about style, confidence and, of course, the importance of embracing failure.
Elizabeth also shares her favourite styles from our new SS26 collection.
When it comes to my personal style, I aspire to look clean, elegant, effortless and powerful.
I tend to focus on versatile wardrobe updates like denim which you can pair with existing pieces. It doesn’t have to be over-complicated - could be a great pair of cropped jeans with ankle boots, paired with a jacket over a thin knit is a staple I return to again and again. I like that it’s smart but never feels too done and it’s also the perfect combination for a changeable climate - you can easily layer it up or down.
I tend to focus on versatile wardrobe updates like denim which you can pair with existing pieces. It doesn’t have to be over-complicated - could be a great pair of cropped jeans with ankle boots, paired with a jacket over a thin knit is a staple I return to again and again. I like that it’s smart but never feels too done and it’s also the perfect combination for a changeable climate - you can easily layer it up or down.
My event style is powerful and classic, with a modern twist.
What’s your go-to outfit when you want to feel confident?
Sometimes cliches are cliches for a reason and I don’t feel you can go wrong with a little black dress, especially not if it comes with a slight twist - an asymmetrical shoulder, for instance, a note of sheer or a backless drape..
When I’m with my loved ones. Confidence and worth comes from feeling seen, understood and accepted exactly as you are. That happens for me when I’m with the people I love the most. But it also happens when I work on loving myself too - flaws and all!
When I’m with my loved ones. Confidence and worth comes from feeling seen, understood and accepted exactly as you are. That happens for me when I’m with the people I love the most. But it also happens when I work on loving myself too - flaws and all!
Your podcast How to Fail explores challenging life moments and how to grow from them - what advice would you give on embracing failure?
Treat all failure as data acquisition about what to do differently next time. All failure, in the fullness of time, will teach us something meaningful if we let it - even if the only thing it teaches you is that you are strong enough to survive it.
Have you ever had a wardrobe failure?
Oh - so many times! At my most recent book launch, I wore a stunning black velvet dress. It was repurposed from several different pairs of trousers and had an utterly unique and striking silhouette. I was enthusiastically hugging one of my party guests and one of the straps broke. Luckily, I caught it just in time before flashing my entire right boob. Even more luckily, one of the other party guests was Trinny Woodall who just so happened to have a safety pin in her Chanel clutch.
Michelle Obama, Jacob Elordi and Jane Fonda.
Can you tell us a bit about what inspired your new book, One Of Us?
I was interested in why we fall in love with the people who damage us - and why we sometimes elect them too. It’s a sequel to a novel I wrote in 2017 called The Party and part of me was just curious as to what my characters had been up to because the political landscape had changed so dramatically in that time.
