Meet Ali
Hi! I’m Ali Campbell, the mind behind Tip Your Feathers.
While my focus these days is on style, I have always had an interest in fashion since I can remember. As a kid and into young adulthood, I probably made as many fashion mistakes as I had successes but it was all about trying things out and not playing it safe. I didn’t ever want to be run of the mill.
I completed a degree in textile design not long after dinosaurs had ceased to roam the earth. Since then, I have loved the look and feel of great fabrics.
Jump forward to the pandemic, with nowhere to go and no one to see, I found myself caught in a rut of pulling on a pair of jeans with a hoodie up top. Like many others in that bizarre era, I have to admit that I was struggling at times. Then one day, I decided enough was enough and rather than dragging myself into a grey sweatshirt, I reached further into the cupboard for something more. The neckerchiefs and neck scarves came back out; I stopped wearing jeans on a daily basis and really considered what I was wearing each day, a habit that hasn’t left me to this day. The uplift in my mood was astounding. Even now, choosing the right outfit can still have a transformative effect on my mood.
I started wearing scents again after what was probably a thirty year hiatus. Even if my day was to be filled with fixing bikes or sorting out some plumbing issue, if the mood took me, a little spray of, let’s say, Issey Miyake just added an extra lift.
I began to look at jewellery and accessories again. A few rings here, some necklaces, bracelets and so forth. The combination of all of these things, as superficial as it might seem, had a positive effect on my life. Does that seem shallow? Fuck it, I don’t care.
I was talking to my wife one evening and was trying to explain the concept and how this sort of stuff made me feel and the analogy that came to me in that conversation was that all of these things are feathers. Core emotions are still there; the body is still there, the blood courses and the heart beats. Everything underneath is still there but sometimes we just need that lift that straightens our posture, makes us walk taller, prouder… these are our feathers.
The photo was taken on my 55th birthday on our way into dinner at a fancy restaurant in Paris. I loved my outfit that day, details below…
Denim jacket – Levis
Tee – Cos
Scarf – Paris thrift shop from my big daughter
Scarf ring – a Campagnolo seat post cut and refined, given as a gift by a very classy gent
Sunglasses – Ray Ban Mega Wayfarer