Violet Folklore Style Siren: Bette

From Sasha at Violet Folklore Bette found us on our Violet Folklore Myspace site, and her beautiful pictures intrigued me from the start. Born a California girl, Bette now lives in rural England, and the place she calls home is unbelievably dreamy. It functions as the perfect backdrop for her wonderful sense of style, which incorporates a painterly sense of color, neat lines, and great heapings of imagination. She recently became a Violet Folklore customer, when she purchased what happened to be one of my personal favorite pairs of shoes from our store. She was kind enough to share some of her beautiful world and inspiring style with us here!

Violet Folklore: Where do you live?

Bette: I live in The midlands, in Oxfordshire.The town or village I live in is called Shipton -u-Whychwood.

VF: How did you end up there?

B: I ended up here when I met Andy and fell in love. He invited me here to visit when he lived with his mom. He is from Reading... we both wanted to move to the country. He has an amazing size record collection. At the time he was taking care of his mom and writing small pieces for Mojo. When I went home at Christmas time to look after my mom when she fell sick, Andy made our dream happen. He used some of his collecting and writing gigs to get our house. My mom got better, and when I came back to the U.K. I returned to a cute stone house in the country. We married on Valentines day following my return!

VF: How would you describe your sense of style?

B: I'm not sure how I would describe my style... I like to be comfortable...I believe that is key. I like colors a lot and mis-matching... mostly I love to dress quite classic. I guess I could say quirky:-)

VF: Tell us about a favorite vintage piece that you own.

B: A favorite piece in my closet is my acme cowboy boots. They were my mom's. She grew up in Nevada City and she just turned 70. There is a photo of her on a horse with the same boots on and she has a ribbon saying "Miss Nevada".

VF: What did you like about the shoes you bought from Violet Folklore?

B: I loved the shoes I bought right off. The color, straight lines and Oxford style. Very sweet and simple.

VF: What have you been listening to lately?

B: I have to say I have been very in to some great sounding Samba records lately, and Bossa Nova... with just as cute sleeves on them. I have also been listening to P.J. Harvey's white chalk album.

This is the first installment of our series on Violet Folklore "Style Stars"-- mini-interviews with fashionable characters from near and far! Thanks so much to Bette for being our very first Style Siren!