19
May 1986
STRAWBERRY SWITCHOVER!
No, you haven’t got double vision, nor is our brightest girl pop duo expanding. What you see here is one picture from our great Strawberry Switchblade reader make-over! For the final results, turn the page.
Photos/ Adrian Peacock. Make up/ Jaqueline de Boer
We were lucky that Strawberry Switchblade could find time to at as our stylists considering their schedule for 1986. Not long after our session they were due back in Japan, then it was back to work on their second LP (due out this summer) before rehearsing for their appearance ant the Scottish Live Aid shows.
It was also lucky that Rose and Jill had any clothes to bring with them. A recent fire at Rose’s flat wiped out all of her stage wardrobe, but didn’t spread to Jill’s flat in the house they share. Rose views this with typical good humour: ‘I think it was a good thing, really, because I needed a clear-out! I collet junk, and now I’ve been forced to chuck out all the clothes that got smoke-damaged!’
Rose McDowall and Jill Bryson may share a lot – their career, fashion tastes and a house in Muswell Hill – but they are very different personalities. Jill is cautious and sensitive. She feels she’s won her years-long battle with agoraphobia (fear of open spaces) and still remembers the move to London from their native Glasgow as a painful wrench: ‘I was miserable for three months afterwards, but I had to do it. I still hate going out and being away from home, now, but you’ve got to push yourself’.
Isn’t it admirable that she ever found the nerve to get on stage? ‘I was always petrified, and I am still a bit scared! But one you’ve been on TV, you realise nothing could be worse’.
Rose, on the other hand, describes their live work as ‘totally fantastic’. Admitting she prefers things with ‘more action’, she relates how her thrill-seeking instinct almost brought her to her maker – when she climbed a 100ft tree one night: ‘We saw this lovely tree on Hampstead Heath and decided to go up it. As I overtook a friend, he warned me not to go any higher. All I can remember is tumbling through the air and watching stars swirling about in the sky. It was the most fantastic feeling!’
If a branch hadn’t broken her fall, Rose could have suffered worse than three broken ribs. She only just got an all-clear from the doctor to travel to Japan.
It is on Japan that Strawberry Switchblade have one of their biggest followings. Why do the Japanese love them so much?
‘They seem to identify with the way we look and sound,’ Jill explains, describing what it’s like to be surrounded by hundreds of Japanese Strawberry Switchblade lookalikes, all brandishing scissors and asking for pieces of their ribbons!
While the duo’s style may be simple to copy, it’s an individual image that’s developed over the years. It grew out of being in Glasgow and on the dole. They couldn’t buy what they wanted, so they made their own clothes and soured the second-hand shops, basing the look on traditional Spanish costume and Egyptian make-up, with a touch of showbiz glamour: ‘We dressed far more outrageously then, but now don’t have time for such detail,’ they say.
Theirs is the classic case of having all your life to write your first LP and 10 minutes to write your second. Not that they’re unexcited about their new songs, which they say are ‘more grown-up, musically’. Because, their fun, sparky image aside, they fully intend to be taken seriously.
Rose concludes: ‘It is much harder for women in pop… People might think you’ve got nothing to say, but you just have to prove them wrong. I’ve always been determined like that’.
On the day, Samantha and Christiana arrived at Adrian Peacock’s studio looking fresh and bright. As both girls wear little or no cosmetics, make-up artist Jacqueline de Boer got to work straight away, using 17 cosmetics from Boots.
As a base, the palest shade of fountain and powder – Near Skin Foundation in ‘Nicely Natural’ and Shimmersoft Pressed Powder n ‘Silky Ivory’ – were used, along with a hint of blusher – Lush Blush in ‘First Light’.
‘Wuthering Heights shades from the Eye Tones collection were used on Sam’s eyelids. For both girls, ‘Soft Black’ Kohl Lid Liner darkened and defined their eyes and Runproof Mascara in ‘Black’ was stroked on to false eyelashes and eyebrows. Gleamers Lipstick in ‘Plum-In-The-Mouth’ was used on Christiana, and ‘Home To Roost’ on Samantha.
As the girls were being made up, Rose and Jill arrived. They’d come prepared, with several elephant-sized holdalls full of fabric to twist into hair or drape around waists; tons of eye-catching Indian jewellery; boxes of flowers and a selection of waist-pinchers (basques). Enough to stock a Moroccan market for a month!
Working from a basic outfit (black net petticoats, leotards and fishnet), our stylists got going with gusto. Their main concern was getting the right balance and shape; too little decoration would look dull; too much, ridiculous. Also, Jill thought Samantha’s short hair might pose problems. ‘But even the one hairpiece gave a full, luscious effect,’ she said.
What about Christiana’s hair? Deciding against a blonde corkscrew hairpiece, Rose added volume with some nifty back-combing which did the trick.
With their hair and make-up complete, Jill laced the girls into the waist-pinchers. ‘But I haven’t got any boobs!’ lamented Sam, surveying her chest-hugging basque. ‘Neither has Twiggy,’ replied our rather unsympathetic team, regarding Sam’s slimline figure.
Considering this was a first for all four – in styling and modelling – they were bearing up well under the strain and even managed to crack a few jokes!
After four hours’ toil, Rose and Jill stepped back and decided that they were happy with their work. Now they had about five minutes to get ready themselves!
Sam and Christiana got used to having their photos taken throughout the session. Now came the acid test: posing under the hot studio lights for the final photo session. We’re glad to report they were both models of poise and calm. They even made holding difficult positions for up to 11 shots at a time look dead easy.
What was their verdict at the end? They both agreed: ‘it was hard work but great fun.’
Rose and Jill also agree that they’d enjoyed themselves. When asked if they’d contemplate a career in fashion, Jill replied, ‘Yeah, I’d love to go into styling!’ Rose wasn’t about to encourage this idea – she’d be losing a valuable partner.
What did they think of the final results? ‘Fantastic!’ came the chorus. ‘It helped that the girls were so good-looking. They suited the clothes and looked very glamorous,’ said Jill. ‘But what was really nice was that, instead of other people fussing around and getting us ready, we had to do all the work. It took the pressure off.’
Feature / Beverley Perry