Margarina was interviewed for Vintage Life Magazine while styling a vintage shoot at Bourne Mill Antiques. Below is a transcript.

Models are Issy Glynn and Darren Smith.

 

INTERVIEWER:  What was it that persuaded you to come out of retirement Miss Bavette?

MARGARINA BAVETTE:  One retires to bed , never from the world of fashion. One was merely ‘resting’.

INT: I understand. So how were you persuaded to stop resting? Was it money?

BAVETTE: Absolutely not and I didn’t need persuading. The gowns, the accessories…  I saw the potential for the creation of something fabulous, in my hands.

INT: They are paying you though?

BAVETTE:  One does not create for mere coins. I am amongst their clientele, certainly.

 

INT: This isn’t the first time you have worked, sorry, created together. Tell us how you got involved with the film ‘The House of Real Green Dress’.

BAVETTE: The film was very nicely done in its way but what was needed was an expert with style, grace and an elegance of diction to give it that final polish.  Naturally after my experience with [British] Paté, they came to me.

INT: Tell us about your co-presenter Richard Handler.

BAVETTE: Dick [long pause].  I’d rather talk about me.

INT: Style goddess, icon, fashion guru, all terms that you say have been used about you. Who by?

BAVETTE: [laughs] I couldn’t possibly say! Sorry who is this for? Oh, I thought you said Life Magazine.

INT: What vintage fashion trend are you currently following?

BAVETTE: I don’t follow fashion my dear. It follows me. I’m still a little unsure of the reliability of the new zipper fasteners after that terrible to do with a gown of Elsa’s [Schiaparelli].

INT:  And finally Miss Bavette, with your considerable years of experience, what one tip would you give to me?

BAVETTE: Not having a pretty face is no excuse for poor grooming.  Cleanliness, especially of one’s gloves, should never be neglected. One of the joys of shopping with Real Green Dress is the knowledge that the gowns have been expertly cleaned and conserved before sale. The only vintage liquids one wants to encounter are those sipped from crystal, not those found dried out and festering in folds of foulard.