Stuff

Say hello to Girl No. 2!

Say hello to Girl No. 2!

Girl Number 1 sold out in a heartbeat. She was here for a magical moment and then she was gone...
On Silvia Simms, shyness and a singular vision

On Silvia Simms, shyness and a singular vision

Interview with Susie Cave for Elle Magazine: Susie, what are the building blocks of your look? I start with my hair, if I’ve got that right, the rest pretty much falls into place...
I knew her for a little ghost

I knew her for a little ghost

I knew her for a little ghost. That in my garden walked; The wall is high — higher than most — And the green gate was locked...
The Vampires are gathering! Lookout! Lookout! Lookout!

The Vampires are gathering! Lookout! Lookout! Lookout!

Dressed in Girl No 1 Limited Edition t-shirt, the charming and debonair Noah Taylor reveals a darker side. But, people, he is not alone!
Girls behaving themselves in The Vampire's Wife No. 3

Girls behaving themselves in The Vampire's Wife No. 3

So many wild beauties at my husband’s after-party, following The Bad Seeds concert at the Zenith in Paris...
In deep praise of Sharon Olds and Edvard Munch

In deep praise of Sharon Olds and Edvard Munch

Sometimes I can almost see, around our heads, like gnats around a streetlight in summer, the children we could have, the glimmer....
Susie on the Swing

Susie on the Swing

The beautiful photograph by Dominique Issermann called Susie on the Swing on the front page of the The Vampire’s Wife website was taken in County Cork, Ireland, in a gorgeous garden called Lis Ard. In the garden there was an old house and my husband used to go there when he wanted to lay low for a while and regenerate. He invited me there to visit when we had only just met. We hardly knew each other. My beautiful friend Dominique sort of chaperoned me because my future husband had something of a reputation back then. When we arrived at...
Zabelle Panosian - we are the servants of her voice

Zabelle Panosian - we are the servants of her voice

The Crane Bird Crane, where are you coming from? I am servant of your voice. Crane, have you not news from our country? Hasten not to your flock, you will arrive soon enough! Crane, where are you coming from? I am servant of your voice. Crane, have you not news from our country? Hasten not to your flock, you will arrive soon enough!   Dear All, Please listen to the Armenian singer, Zabelle Panosian, who died not so many years ago at the age of almost a hundred. She was twenty-three years old when she recorded this beautiful song. It...
Girls behaving themselves in The Vampire's Wife No. 2

Girls behaving themselves in The Vampire's Wife No. 2

The divine Salma Hayek, that dark-eyed beauty looks gorgeous in The Vampire’s Wife Orange Florus Festival Dress...
There are three things I love most - love, love and more love

There are three things I love most - love, love and more love

I like lots of things, but there are three things I love most – love, love and more love...
Susie and Nick entering Narnia - Backstage at the O2

Susie and Nick entering Narnia - Backstage at the O2

On Saturday night my husband and the wonderful Bad Seeds played the 02 Arena. For me, it was a proud and emotional night...
Everyone needs a Masato!

Everyone needs a Masato!

The world is full of pattern cutters. You see them here! You see them there! You look behind a tree and there is a pattern cutter...
The Vampire’s Wife limited edition t-shirt has arrived and it’s beautiful!  See below!

The Vampire’s Wife limited edition t-shirt has arrived and it’s beautiful! See below!

Here at The Vampire's Wife we have collaborated with the artist-recluse Karen Constance in a t-shirt like no other...
Leonard Cohen consoles Nick Cave

Leonard Cohen consoles Nick Cave

Some years ago, Ben Smith painted this picture of Leonard Cohen, the sage master, serving the child-husband the blood of Jesus...
In praise of Soulfoo and the beautiful Hilda!

In praise of Soulfoo and the beautiful Hilda!

The Stuff Page is not a place we generally plug commercial enterprises because it is rare these sorts of places really inspire us to reach...
I don’t want to draw any more unnecessary attention towards my husband but…

I don’t want to draw any more unnecessary attention towards my husband but…

I don’t want to draw unnecessary attention toward my husband but is he cute or what? I don’t want to draw unnecessary attention...
Her delicate beauty must avoid strong light! In praise of Blanche DuBois

Her delicate beauty must avoid strong light! In praise of Blanche DuBois

Her delicate beauty must avoid strong light. There is something about her uncertain manner, as well as her white clothes, that suggests...
The Falling of the Leaves

The Falling of the Leaves

Autumn is over the long leaves above us, and over the mice in the barley sheaves; Yellow the leaves of the rowan above us...
Girls behaving themselves in Vampire's Wife No. 1

Girls behaving themselves in Vampire's Wife No. 1

Not quite sure what is going on here, but much love to the divine Greta Bellamacina for wearing the Vampire’s Wife...
Somewhere between my 19th and 20th nervous breakdown

Somewhere between my 19th and 20th nervous breakdown

Somewhere in 1994 between my 19th nervous breakdown and my 20th nervous breakdown, I listened to my dear old grandmother...
My husband wins 'Best Band' at the GQ Awards!

My husband wins 'Best Band' at the GQ Awards!

He’s my hero. He’s my hero. He’s my hero. He’s my hero He’s my hero. He’s my hero He’s my hero. He’s my hero He’s my hero...
More Vampire's Wife testimonials

More Vampire's Wife testimonials

I am just writing a fan letter to the clothes, and saying thank you for the stuff section. I had forgotten some of my heroines...
I am not one for idle speculation but...

I am not one for idle speculation but...

Dear All Famous People, I am not one for idle speculation, nor am I inclined toward magical thinking, nor am I suggesting that...
Spiegel im Spiegel by Arvo Pärt

Spiegel im Spiegel by Arvo Pärt

This is so beautiful. This is so beautiful. This is so beautiful. This is so beautiful. This is so beautiful. This is so beautiful. This is so beautiful....
He just pointed at the plane and told me to start screaming!

He just pointed at the plane and told me to start screaming!

I did work with the incredible Guy Bourdin, for the magazine called Egoist. I stayed in his house in Paris, and it is one of the happiest, craziest, most interesting weeks...
I was digging through some old photographs and...

I was digging through some old photographs and...

I was digging through some old photographs and found this double portrait of the husband and me taken by...
Miffy – That’s All You Have. Two Dots And A Little Cross

Miffy – That’s All You Have. Two Dots And A Little Cross

The Dutch artist and children’s author Dick Bruna, whose much-loved cartoon rabbit Miffy has sold more than eighty million books since her creation in 1955. Bruna devised the character to entertain his infant son after they saw a rabbit in the dunes while on a seaside holiday. He went on to relate the bunny’s adventures in more than a hundred books, sold worldwide. Miffy enjoyed great popularity. But Miffy was not an overnight success. Bruna’s parents weren’t impressed with his iconic simplicity: “They said, ‘Oh, that’s too simple. The colours are too bright and I don’t like blue and green...
Elvis remembered or else!

Elvis remembered or else!

“How come you basically only do women on the Stuff page?” I’m in the kitchen and it’s my husband asking. “I don’t know,” I said...
Lisa Dwan - And So It Continues

Lisa Dwan - And So It Continues

Taking the baton from the magisterial Billie Whitelaw, Irish actor Lisa Dwan has become the foremost Beckett performer and a huge influence on us here at The Vampire’s Wife. What is it about her that commands such deep respect; her dedication to the process and to the form, her sense of duty to continue the lineage laid down by Billie Whitelaw, her willingness to go to places beyond what is normally required of an actor, her rawness, her naturalness, her fragile beauty? Artists, like Lisa Dwan, who by being in the world, just make us all a bit braver. We...
Billie Whitelaw performs Samuel Beckett's Not I

Billie Whitelaw performs Samuel Beckett's Not I

Here at the Vampire’s Wife we play tribute to the great Billie Whitelaw, who was Samuel Beckett’s favourite actor and muse...
In Praise Of Glen Campbell

In Praise Of Glen Campbell

We all have our songs that bind us, each to the other, lover to lover. And some lovers endure and some fall away...
The Vampire's Wife walks the alleys of Chinatown

The Vampire's Wife walks the alleys of Chinatown

The Vampire’s Wife walks the deserted alleys of Chinatown in the gathering darkness of a tranquil L.A. evening...
In praise of Vivienne Westwood and Sara Stockbridge

In praise of Vivienne Westwood and Sara Stockbridge

My relationship with Vivienne began as I was reapplying my lipstick at the dinner table at La Coupole in Paris when I was about 23 years old...
A moment to reflect with Joan Jett

A moment to reflect with Joan Jett

I saw him dancin' there by the record machine. I knew he must a been about seventeen. The beat was goin' strong. Playin' my favorite song...
Emily Dickinson - astral traveller

Emily Dickinson - astral traveller

Emily Dickinson lived in almost total physical isolation from the outside world, in Massachusetts...
The Stevie Nicks wars and how we won them!

The Stevie Nicks wars and how we won them!

I have a confession to make about Stevie Nicks. Is not just that I adore her but rather back in the nineties...
Anais Nin and Henry Miller

Anais Nin and Henry Miller

With Anais I felt safe, secure. She delighted in keeping things running smoothly so I could write. She was really a true guardian angel..
Lily James blows everyone away in Kuala Lumpur!

Lily James blows everyone away in Kuala Lumpur!

Lily James stuns the crowds at the premiere of Baby Driver in Kuala Lumpur wearing a Vampire’s Wife Gold Lamé Night Garden Dress...
Leda and the Swan

Leda and the Swan

A sudden blow: the great wings beating still. Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed by the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill...
In praise of the Falconetti and some half-remembered guy

In praise of the Falconetti and some half-remembered guy

I saw The Passion of Joan of Arc way back in the early nineties and was shaken to my core by this near-mystical performance...
No reason - just a little more Isabelle Adjani

No reason - just a little more Isabelle Adjani

What I saw was the Count's head coming out from the window. I did not see the face, but I knew the man...
A little poem from Rumi

A little poem from Rumi

A friend sent The Vampire’s Wife this beautiful poem by the Persian poet Rumi and I thought I’d pass it on...
Cigarettes, ice cream and Kate Moss

Cigarettes, ice cream and Kate Moss

When I met Kate Moss she was fourteen or maybe fifteen and a foot shorter than everybody else. Because I was a bit older and had some success...
The Vampire's Wife answers Nico's eternal question

The Vampire's Wife answers Nico's eternal question

What costume shall the poor girl wear, To all tomorrow's parties? A hand-me-down dress from who knows where, To all tomorrow's parties...
Julia Margaret Cameron - and the mysterious children

Julia Margaret Cameron - and the mysterious children

I bought the picture of the two children above, from a second-hand shop in Notting Hill in the mid-eighties and I hung it on my wall...
It should be known that we love Soko The Cat

It should be known that we love Soko The Cat

It should be known that we love Soko The Cat. It should be known that we love Soko The Cat...
In deep praise of Cher

In deep praise of Cher

"As if you were on fire from within. The moon lives in the lining of your skin." 
Laura Bailey wears a pale blue silk chiffon metallic Vampire's Wife dress and becomes divine!

Laura Bailey wears a pale blue silk chiffon metallic Vampire's Wife dress and becomes divine!

Laura Bailey, model, Vampire’s Wife acolyte and all-round Supreme Being looks celestial in her diaphanous metallic pale blue silk...
Henry Darger - In the Realms of the Unreal

Henry Darger - In the Realms of the Unreal

On a snowy day in November 1972, a poor, badly crippled old man left his room on the third floor of a rooming house in Chicago for the last time...
Dionne - Angel on the end of the line

Dionne - Angel on the end of the line

Did you know the Archangel Gabriel, who announced to the Virgin Mary that the Holy Ghost would impregnate her with the baby Jesus is...
In praise of Bella Freud and wedding dresses

In praise of Bella Freud and wedding dresses

I was standing in the vestibule of a little medieval chapel in Surrey waiting for my knickers to arrive...
Florence stuns us yet again!

Florence stuns us yet again!

Headlining the 6th annual Festival of Writing & Ideas in County Carlow, Ireland this weekend, Vampire’s Wife advocate...
Patti Smith - the sea of possibilities

Patti Smith - the sea of possibilities

For a year or so, I attended a school called Dartington Hall in Devon. It was what they called a progressive school, which meant that you could do nothing...
More Vampire's Wife testimonials

More Vampire's Wife testimonials

My dress today was delivered by The Vampire’s Wife and I have never been happier with a garment. I’m saving it for a special event...
I prayed to blessed Jane of Orvieto

I prayed to blessed Jane of Orvieto

I was sitting at the kitchen table brooding. I was worried about a new toile that I had made and how it was going to look in black velvet...
The ecstatic music of Alice Coltrane fills the studio of The Vampire’s Wife

The ecstatic music of Alice Coltrane fills the studio of The Vampire’s Wife

We can’t stop listening to The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda, the new Alice Coltrane release here...
Dora Maar - The Weeping Woman

Dora Maar - The Weeping Woman

The erotic, the exaggerated and the elegant are interwoven in all the accounts of Dora Maar’s meeting with Picasso in 1936...
It's official - Alessandro Michele is a God! We thank you here at The Vampire's Wife.

It's official - Alessandro Michele is a God! We thank you here at The Vampire's Wife.

We saw something truly humbling on Monday night. – The Gucci Cruise 2018 Show in Florence...
The purest beauty! Praise be to Karen Elson!

The purest beauty! Praise be to Karen Elson!

Vampire’s Wife acolyte and general goddess Karen Elson wears the Vampire’s Wife Gold Lamé Street Sweeper...
The husband hands The Vampire's Wife a unicorn

The husband hands The Vampire's Wife a unicorn

One morning I woke up and found that my husband had spoken this poem into my iPhone while I was sleeping...
Nijinsky

Vaslav Nijinsky - I am Nijinsky. I am an earthquake

I am Nijinsky. I am a simple man. I have bad habits. But I want to get rid of them… I want loving care and not harsh care...
The Vampire's Wife speaks

The Vampire's Wife speaks

Dear friends of The Vampire’s Wife, No good work is done in a vacuum. And we are essentially the sum of the things we love. Those things we love find their way toward us, because they live for the light of attention and die when they are forgotten. These are the fragile creatures of creation! Watch them all come out to play! We invented the STUFF page because we felt it was essential to give these ideas their due, to bring these influences into the light. Here at The Vampire’s Wife there is not a decision in the making of a dress...
Susie warms her self in Florence's fire

Susie warms her self in Florence's fire

Congratulations to the astonishing Florence Welch for winning the International Achievement Award at the Ivor Novello’s yesterday...
Héloïse and Abélard - Love Hurts

Héloïse and Abélard - Love Hurts

Abélard and Héloïse are one of the most celebrated couples of all time, known for their love affair and for the tragedy that separated them...
Nina Simone Sings My Father – The most beautiful of songs

Nina Simone Sings My Father – The most beautiful of songs

I was driving up to London the other day and this song came on the radio and I had to stop the car, pull over on the side of the road and have a cry...
Happiness is The Vampire's Wife (with a little bit of Gucci!)

Happiness is The Vampire's Wife (with a little bit of Gucci!)

Susie walks blissfully through the Ivor Novello Award ceremony in a silver lamé Vampire’s Wife Street Sweeper...
All hail the wonder of the Gold Lamé Knee Length Party Dress

All hail the wonder of the Gold Lamé Knee Length Party Dress

Soon to be with us! We await it with baited breath! Susie plays with the hem of the new Gold Lamé Knee Length Party Dress while Masato...
The Vampire's Wife does The Dance of Life

The Vampire's Wife does The Dance of Life

The Dance of Life by Edvard Munch painted in 1900 takes place on a bright summer night along the shore of a fjord in Oslo...
In deep praise of Victoria Principal

In deep praise of Victoria Principal

We adore Victoria Principal here at the Vampire’s Wife. Some of us are even known to do Victoria’s Morning Workout...
Julian of Norwich receives a vision of Christ

Julian of Norwich receives a vision of Christ

The date was 8 May 1373 and in Norwich an obscure woman, now know as Julian, about 30 years old, was approaching the end of her life...
Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene

The companion of the Saviour is Mary Magdalene. But Christ loved her more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often on the mouth...
Renoir casts his spell here at The Vampire’s Wife

Renoir casts his spell here at The Vampire’s Wife

It’s the gorgeous colours of Renoir’s exquisite paintings that have had such an inspiration over us here at The Vampire’s Wife...
The eye of the great Azzedine Alaïa

The eye of the great Azzedine Alaïa

We, who are not worthy, found this wonderful little movie about Azzadine Alaïa, fashion’s true genius and the greatest designer of them all...
Stevie Smith - Sweet Prairies  Of Anarchy

Stevie Smith - Sweet Prairies Of Anarchy

When Stevie Smith hits, she strikes to the heart’s core. She can sometimes take your breath away with a sudden jet of pain or rage...
Jan van Huysum and his miraculous bouquets

Jan van Huysum and his miraculous bouquets

Jan van Huysum was the last of the distinguished still life painters active in the Northern Netherlands...
Dominique Issermann – the most mystical and tender eye

Dominique Issermann – the most mystical and tender eye

Dominique has worked with Susie for many years and taken the most beautiful and iconic pictures of her in existence...
The lost photograph – teenage Susie shot by Helmut Newton for the Pirelli Calendar

The lost photograph – teenage Susie shot by Helmut Newton for the Pirelli Calendar

The original version was never launched because Newton was forced to stop shooting due to personal family issues...
We love poet, model, filmmaker and Vampire’s Wife advocate, Greta Bellamacina

We love poet, model, filmmaker and Vampire’s Wife advocate, Greta Bellamacina

The Many Ways You Can Marry In ‘high Windows’. Your arms are sunset sonnets made of pavement oak filling the rain passing...
Sara Lownds - Scorpio Sphinx in a calico dress

Sara Lownds - Scorpio Sphinx in a calico dress

Actress, model, and former Playboy bunny, Sara Lownds met Dylan while she was still married, but the two became romantically involved...
Porch of The Maidens

Porch of The Maidens

Six stately young women stand like sentinels on a marble parapet atop the Athenian Acropolis. Casual and relaxed...
Susie and the brilliant Polly Borland wander the streets of Malibu

Susie and the brilliant Polly Borland wander the streets of Malibu

The amazing Polly Borland and Susie have worked together for years, creating strange and complex images...
Katherine and Angela Sloan – writers on board

Katherine and Angela Sloan – writers on board

Here at The Vampire’s Wife we have solicited the talents of the notorious Sloan twins – two gifted ladies from Virginia...
Karen Dalton: Haunting, Earthy Beauty

Karen Dalton: Haunting, Earthy Beauty

Karen Dalton was a folk singer and musician who gained fame within the Greenwich Village Beat scene in New York City during the 1960’s...
The Vampire's Wife testimonials

The Vampire's Wife testimonials

“Dress arrived today - Oh my god I’m in LOVE!!!! I took it out of its box to sounds of rapture from my whole team - absolutely obsessed! Thank you!!
Sylvia Plath: The Vampire's Wife

Sylvia Plath: The Vampire's Wife

On February 26, 1956, Sylvia Plath describes in her journal her first meeting with Ted Hughes...
Claudia Cardinale: Divinity in Sicily

Claudia Cardinale: Divinity in Sicily

The most beautiful dress on the most beautiful woman. The costumes worn by Claudia Cardinale in Luchino Visconti’s 1963 period drama...
Marilyn in the pumpkin dress

Marilyn in the pumpkin dress

Jane Russell and Marilyn enter the ship ball room for dinner and everyone gasps. The creative union between costume designer...
Sissy Spacek with wide lovely eyes in Badlands

Sissy Spacek with wide lovely eyes in Badlands

Delicate, ethereal and feminine, Sissy Spacek’s character, Holly, in Terrence Malick’s 1973 film masterpiece, Badlands...
Chan Marshall, AKA Cat Power, wearing The Vampire's Wife Black Liberty Cate Street Sweeper performing in Argentina

Chan Marshall, AKA Cat Power, wearing The Vampire's Wife Black Liberty Cate Street Sweeper performing in Argentina

Once I wanted to be the greatest. No wind or waterfall could stall me. And then came the rush of the flood. Stars at night turned deep to dust...
We love the secret photographs of Miroslav Tichý

We love the secret photographs of Miroslav Tichý

Always watching, always searching. Miroslav Tichý, the Czech photographer, was a artist and inventor...
Dakota Johnson wearing The Vampire's Wife Classic Liberty Cate Dress

Dakota Johnson wearing The Vampire's Wife Classic Liberty Cate Dress

Dakota Johnson on The Today Show in NYC wearing The Vampire's Wife Classic Cate Dress in Black Liberty print...
Florence Welch wearing The Bronze Lamé Cate Dress

Florence Welch wearing The Bronze Lamé Cate Dress

'And although I was burning, you're the only light'...
The Johnstone Sisters

The Johnstone Sisters

Janet and Anne Johnstone were twin sisters and British children's book illustrators best known for their delicate, detailed prolific artwork...
Florence Welch wearing The Vampire's Wife

Florence Welch wearing The Vampire's Wife

The divine Florence Welch reading at Letters Live wearing The Vampire's Wife Bronze Fil Coupé Streetsweeper...
One Deadly Summer

One Deadly Summer

Isabelle Adjani is nothing short of hypnotic, adorable, sexy and mysterious in the 1983 French film, One Deadly Summer...
We love Stefan Lochner here at the Vampire’s Wife

We love Stefan Lochner here at the Vampire’s Wife

All those gorgeous blue angels...
J. M. Jacquard, our hero!

J. M. Jacquard, our hero!

His ghost is reported to haunt our secret mill in Suffolk...