Jan 23, 2015 Fashion
Comedian and TV personality Jaquie Brown talks about the clothes that matter to her most.
Portrait by Jane Ussher. Jaquie Brown wears a Lonely Hearts dress and Penny Sage kimono.
As told to Rebecca Wadey. This story first appeared in the November 2014 issue of Metro.
NOM*d jumper.
I bought this nearly 10 years ago. Look at the condition! Everything I’ve bought by NOM*d has lasted the distance. It was from Zambesi. I saved up. I really wanted something new to wear because I was going on a date with this new guy (now my husband) and I wanted to be trendy and cool yet casual, like no big deal but, yeah, totally a big deal!
Our first date! I don’t know what we did; probably just drove around in his car.
I used to work in a cafe near Zambesi in Vulcan Lane. I was the dishwasher there for ages. I don’t think I ever graduated to making coffee. I must’ve been about 16 or 17. I was a wild-looking kid! Crazy, wild, curly hair, and I used to wear tiny trainers and massive jeans. I was a bouncing ball of energy.
I started going up to bFM when I was 18, volunteering, doing the graveyard shift from midnight all the way through to 6am. I loved it so much; I was living the dream. I have put in the hard yards, I worked for free for years, but I didn’t think anything of it. I just kind of worked my way up, doing talkback, request shows, I produced Mikey Havoc on the breakfast show, I learned everything.
Margiela wedding shoes.
These were my wedding shoes that I no longer fit — my feet grew after having babies. To fit them again would be incredible, although they weren’t particularly comfortable on the day. You realise the next day. Actually, I wish I’d done the whole thing in jandals!
We were trying to be really low-fi, have a very relaxed wedding, but people kind of had the expectation we were going to do a first dance.
We hadn’t planned anything. So we just held each other and kind of moved and they played something. And everyone crowded around watching us, expecting something to happen. I guess because I’m a performer they were hoping that I’d bust some crazy move.
But I was just, like, I am so exhausted, I just want to go to bed. So I did.
The next day was great, it was beautiful and sunny and everyone was there. We all played around in the garden and I wore flat shoes. It’s been a revelation recently, learning the joys of the flat.
Cybèle dress.
Cybèle made this dress for when we won Best Comedy at the TV Awards for The Jaquie Brown Diaries. I was 20 weeks pregnant. I had been throwing up all day and I rang the organiser and said, “Look, I really don’t think I’m going to make it to the awards, I’m really, really sick,” and she said, “Um, I think you should come,” and I was like, “Man, I’m pregnant and I’m so sick and I’ve been vomiting, I’ve been in hospital,” and she was like, “Jaquie, I really think you should come.”
I had hyperemesis gravidarum, like Kate Middleton. I got it at six weeks: multiple vomiting during the day, had to be rehydrated a couple of times in hospital. I couldn’t work. It was just awful. It lasted the whole pregnancy. And here I had to put on my gladrags. So luckily Cybèle made this especially for me. I haven’t worn it since, but I should.
I was terrified when I did The Jaquie Brown Diaries. I hadn’t done acting, only school plays. What if it was awful? But I do think nothing ventured, nothing gained. Life is short. I’m very aware of that. That said, it’s been a real challenge detaching myself from Jaquie Brown. I think getting married and having another identity has really helped me separate the two.
Lonely Hearts Dress (main photo)
I’ve got quite a few beautiful pieces that I never wear but my wardrobe these days is Cotton On T-shirts and post-pregnancy leggings with holes in the crotch. But this is a beautiful dress that I do wear all the time; it makes me feel like a lovely lady.
