She pursued a career in writing, much like myself, as a result of one Carrie Bradshaw, who she admits “sold me a pipe dream and led me to believe that you could survive – nay, thrive!!! – on a single column a week.”
What do you get when you mix an Essex blogger with a flurry of feathers and a large portion of pie and mash? The answer: Daisy Keens, aka @pieandfash. She’s wonderfully eccentric, bright, talented, friendly and funny in equal measure whose leitmotif would most likely be an amorphous ball of feathers. She used to be part of a hammer throwing team, once conducted an ‘incredibly awkward’ interview with Jared Leto and admits to eating mozzarella balls in the same manner as she’d eat an apple. She kindly took the time out of her incredibly busy schedule (and devouring mozzarella balls I assume) to talk to Voir about fashion, glitter-tits and starting her own label, Ploom.
Daisy started a blog at university as a means of ‘flexing her literary muscles’, titled ‘The Girl Who Doesn’t Blog’s Blog’ which she confesses was both conceptually and grammatically confusing, “I’m still not sure where that apostrophe belongs!” Don’t worry, I can confirm, apostrophe’s all in order. She pursued a career in writing, much like myself, as a result of one Carrie Bradshaw, who she admits “sold me a pipe dream and led me to believe that you could survive – nay, thrive!!! – on a single column a week. Once that illusion was shattered, I reassessed and realised that blogging could be a thing that I do but probably not the ooonly thing that I do. Design, on the other hand, wasn’t in the equation whatsoever. It’s a pleasant surprise; equivalent to rooting around in your handbag and finding a long-forgotten bar of Galaxy.” What a poignant picture she paints. In a parallel universe, her alternate career would be a forensic pathologist. Now you know.
After curating a successful fashion and lifestyle blog, she recently turned into head honcho of her own label Ploom, a purveyor of plumage, and one half of a mother-daughter production line,
After curating a successful fashion and lifestyle blog, she recently turned into head honcho of her own label Ploom, a purveyor of plumage, and one half of a mother-daughter production line, hand crafting each garment from her home in Margate. “I’ve got a real affinity for feathers – or anything that brings my silhouette closer to Big Bird, really – and I was forever bugging my poor mum with requests to fashion me some fabulous top or another. After wearing the aforementioned tops on the ‘gram, I’d find myself inundated with questions about where I’d bought it or how someone could replicate it. So I decided to give the people what they wanted and set up shop! Everything is made-to-measure, so it’s a small operation and every piece we produce is different.”
“I’ve got a real affinity for feathers – or anything that brings my silhouette closer to Big Bird”
If you’re wondering where you might have seen her lovely face before, I will elucidate. She was once atop the finest news outlets in the land (for example, LADbible) made famous for trailblazing the now ubiquitous glitter tit. I asked her how she felt about her time in the limelight: “Positively gleeful. I was howling. My favourite headline came courtesy of Crave Online: The Newest Craze ‘Glitter Nipples’ Is The Hottest Waste Of Time Yet.” (Honestly, iconic.) “If that’s the legacy I leave, I’m thrilled. A pioneer in the disco tit department. What more could you want?’ She then went on to collaborate with Ruth Melbourne (long-time disco-tit advocate/enthusiast – full title) to produce Swarovski-encrusted nipple pasties at £165 a pop. Who’s laughing now, lads?
A lot of her fashion choices are (what some may consider) risqué, so I wondered if this was a deliberate or loaded choice. “I don’t dress with the intention of being provocative, but sometimes that just happens to be a bi-product of the clothes that hang in my wardrobe and the way society digests those clothes. My sartorial choices are deliberate insomuch as whatever I choose to wear has to make me feel good. My world could be falling apart – every element thrown into chaos and disarray – but one thing is steadfast and immovable: I like my outfit.” I think those are words to live by, no?
“My world could be falling apart – every element thrown into chaos and disarray – but one thing is steadfast and immovable: I like my outfit.”
In this way, her choices are empowering and therefore, feminist: “Fashion empowers me every single day. Clothes can be as meaningful or meaningless to you as you fancy, but for me getting dressed is a way of communicating who I am to the world. Sometimes words fail me or anxiety gets the better of me, but the clothes I’m wearing are putting in the legwork even when I can’t.” Her fierce feminism is apparent throughout her many blog posts surrounding the issue, whether that is the importance of the female orgasm, tampon tax or overcoming period taboo. She believes that fashion and feminism are “inextricably linked” and that they always have been. “Fashion is a means of communication; it can both signify and elicit change.” Fashion is proactive, rather than reactive. Women have always pushed boundaries in an attempt to redefine and elasticise feminine conditions: the mini skirt didn’t come as a result of sexual liberation, rather it was the catalytic precursor to the movement. Daisy points me in the direction of the Bustle article that says it best.
If you pop over to her Instagram page or blog, you will find her very candid and courageous posts about her own abortion, her (usually humorously unsuccessful) sexcapades, including attempting to make her own home sex tape, and her mental health struggles. “Being an open book comes naturally to me but I’ve realised that that level of transparency doesn’t come so naturally to others. I hope that me being frank and honest about these things either emboldens others to do the same, ensures that they don’t feel alone or educates those who can’t relate.” Her relatable narratives wonderfully weave serious subjects with a healthy injection of humour and a sense of, “hey, it’s okay if your IBS made you shit in the street…I’ve done that too”.
“I don’t have a huge platform by any stretch of the imagination, but it would be remiss of me not to shout about my passions – politics being one of them – and spread the word.”
You might also notice how lively she is on Instagram, sharing stories about serious political and social injustices. She impresses, “politics is everything! EVERYTHING! I know so many people who aren’t interested or feel as though politics doesn’t impact their lives, but I also think it’s quite often a privilege to be able to disengage with it. And those of us privileged enough to disengage are really the ones who need to be the most engaged. I don’t have a huge platform by any stretch of the imagination, but it would be remiss of me not to shout about my passions – politics being one of them – and spread the word.” She comments that she often receives messages from her followers thanking her for bringing the information to their attention, that they were unaware of the injustices, because they are so ubiquitous and overwhelming that she and her followers are grateful for the opportunity to be able to share and highlight these important issues. Then the next image she shares might be her in a rhinestone thong or wearing diamanté belts as a top à la Jodie Marsh circa 2004 – get a girl that can do both.
She is no stranger to eBay and Depop (she used to work for Depop, in fact) and those who are newer to the vortex that is online bargain hunting, she has some insider tips and tricks for dividing and conquering these sites. “My mind overspilleth with eBay tips and tricks! For example: you’d be surprised at how many people don’t proofread their eBay titles and send their precious listings live with some fatal spelling mistakes. With that in mind, make sure you have a little hunt for ‘Louis Vuiton’ bags, ‘Guci’ belts and ‘Manolo Blanik’ heels. You might just stumble upon some unearthed treasure. And then we’ll end up in a bidding war.”
I left the most important question last – where her favourite pie shop was. “Proper pie and mash with liquor is an East End and Essex staple and my favourite eatery is Danny’s Pie & Mash in Barkingside, although I’m also partial to Robins Pie & Mash in Romford. I’m salivating just thinking about it.”
“You only live once, so why not wear the bedazzled thong? And now you can shop that bedazzled thong directly via my link in bio! Ta-daaaa!!”
Daisy is wonderfully refreshing to interview, and I’ve loved talking to her. Check out her blog and Instagram to keep up to date with her feathery endeavours, and perhaps indulge yourself with one (or indeed, several) of her colourful creations for the upcoming festive parties – I heard feathers are here in a BIG way this AW19. I know I will. She even recently enabled a tool in her blog that helps you shop her looks, “You only live once, so why not wear the bedazzled thong? And now you can shop that bedazzled thong directly via my link in bio! Ta-daaaa!!” Her favourite Instagram follows include @ocasio2018, @aclu_nationwide, @iamcardib, @commentsbycelebs, @thisishowilook, @gabriel_held_vintage and @celestebarber, in case you want to get inside her world a little deeper. And if those aren’t enough outlets to satiate yourself with Daisy-wise, perhaps pop to one of her local pie shops to buy her one, so you can natter over feathers, politics and her notorious glittery titteries.
Words by Lizzy Greenwood
Graphics by Katie Janes
