The British model Suki Waterhouse was a late bloomer in the clothes department. Growing up in West London, she was a self-described tomboy who competed nationally in karate tournaments, rock-climbed, and wore a favorite T-shirt that read bad girls never die. Needless to say, she didn’t make a very stylish impression on her first go-see, at 16.
“I went in my mom’s trainers and baggy pants,” recalls the 20-year- old. “The casting director told me I should start dressing like a girl.”
Today, pairing smock dresses, polo-neck shirts, and Russell & Bromley brogues with anything sixties-inspired, she sports a tough but feminine mod-schoolgirl look—as with this ensemble from Salvatore Ferragamo (left), complete with lash-tickling fringe reminiscent of Jane Birkin. Her High Street–meets–Gallic gamine mash-up is perfect for nights out with best friend Georgia May Jagger at pubs in Primrose Hill or dance spots in Camden. And if fellow guests don’t dig her party frocks that she says resemble “a Christmas cake”? Too bad.
“I actually love the fact that I’ve made so many horrible mistakes,” Waterhouse says of her evolving style. “You should just have fun with it.”
