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She may be in the pink today, but years ago it was goth all the way.
Nicky Hambleton-Jones talks total transformation with Shannon Denny
he signature specs; the
clipped accent; the
glossy blonde hair –
if you’re in possession of
a television then chances are
good that you know Nicky
Hambleton-Jones. While most
of us first encountered her as
presenter of Ten Years Younger,
she remains in the public eye
through her books and
websites, work as Avon
spokeswoman, columns
in national magazines and
through the NHJ Style
Consultancy.
But recognising HambletonJones is not the same as knowing
her – beneath the immaculate
exterior lie some secrets. For
example, when we spoke one
bright and beautiful spring day
I learned the following:
Hambleton-Jones’ early style
influences came from heavy
metal and The A-Team; her
first job was selling shoes in
a department store; she only
got into styling after being made
redundant from three City jobs in two
years; she initially agreed to date the man
Vincent Starr Photography
T
who is now her husband solely on the
basis of his south-west London postcode.
Ready to unpick these
reveleations? Let’s go back
to the beginning. Nicky
Hambleton-Jones grew up
in South Africa, where she
always had a keen eye for
style – even if that style
isn’t what you’d call stylish
today. So who were her
inspirations? “Probably
a mixture between
Madonna and Alice
Cooper, if I’m really
honest,” she giggles.
“I was very much a goth
and a bit of a headbanger,
much to my mother’s
horror. Like BA Baracus
from The A-Team, I had
that many chains around
my neck at one point.
It wasn’t pretty.”
Gradually the chains
came off, and by university
Hambleton-Jones was
poring over the fashion
magazines and recreating
the looks she liked on her
sewing machine. In the
holidays she worked at Edgar’s, the local
equivalent to Debenham’s, first in the
June 2011 29
local life
30 June 2011
www.sw.greatbritishlife.co.uk
shoe department and later in ladies
clothing. Thanks to the employee
discount, her wardrobe expanded –
though her bank balance didn’t.
“I used to literally spend all of the
money I earned before I even got paid!”
Sixteen years ago she relocated to
London to work in marketing for
financial services, but as her 30th
birthday approached a hat trick of
redundancies were starting to take
a toll. A life coach helped her articulate
her passion for fashion, and
Hambleton-Jones’ vision to become
a personal stylist was born.
Success wasn’t instantaneous
though. “It was pretty nerveracking, and it took a long time
before I could actually pluck up the
courage,” she confides. “One day
my life coach was like, ‘Ok, I think
it’s time you actually put all of these
lovely business plans into practice and
start seeing clients.’ I was horrified!
It was a classic panicked boa constrictor
suffocation moment. She set me a task:
‘By this time next week I want you to
have got yourself a client.’ So I did
nothing, staring at the walls of my flat.
And at that moment the phone rang.”
A friend of a friend, the caller wanted
a wardrobe overhaul so the next
morning Hambleton-Jones arrived to
analyse her current look. The pair spent
eight hours in the shops, and by the
live in south-west London.’ She was
like, ‘Well, luckily he does!’” Very lucky,
in fact – the bloke is now her husband.
She spend limitless hours in the park
with her son, but when she’s not on baby
duty Hambleton-Jones relishes brunch
at Jack’s, drinking “sundowners” on
Northcote Road, dining at Lolo Rojo
and seeing theatre at the BAC. And
whether she’s accompanied by her little
one or not, she can’t get enough of
LK Bennett, Question Air, Hutton’s
or Whistles.
As for the most recent addition
I just couldn’t live anywhere
to her own wardrobe, she’s fairly
thrilled about a new pair of
else in London; Battersea’s
summery strides. “I just bought
just got everything you could
a bright fuchsia pair of jeans from
possibly want
Zara which I’m super-excited
about,” she says. “I’m going to be
pushing that pram in my bright
pink jeans, my wedge sandals and my
I really kind of thought towards
bright orange top. It makes you feel
Clapham is where it’s happening.
so liberated to wear pink jeans!” It’s
So I moved to Battersea and have been
a sunny ensemble to suit her warm,
over here ever since,” she says. “I just
optimistic outlook, and it reveals
couldn’t live anywhere else in London;
something about Nicky’s philosophy:
it’s just got everything you could
clothes are not just about how you look
possibly want.”
but how you feel. And with that, I’m
Including, in Hambleton-Jones’ case,
in the market for a pair of pink jeans. ●
the love of her life and father of her
one-year-old son. “When I was working
years ago, one of the girls in the office
Make-up by Jules Cardozo-Marsh using Mii
wanted to set me up on a blind date.
Cosmetics www.JulesCardozoMarsh.com
I was like, ‘Look, I’m not going on
Hair styling by Glenn Conroy of Lockonego
a blind date with any bloke who doesn’t
www.lockonego.com; www.nhjstyle.com
end the client had ditched both her selfconscious attitude to her bum and her
size-14 clothes for a closet full of size-10
fashion. “Her life has literally never
been the same again,” Hambleton-Jones
grins with undiminished delight.
“It was literally a light bulb moment.”
Throughout the journey from staring
at the walls to solving the world’s style
problems, south-west London has
remained a constant. “I started off
around Southfields, a real village, but
READY, STEADY, DRESS
expert. It’s a bit like seeing a doctor with an irritating condition
and getting an instant prognosis and prescription – a total
Inspired by the transformative qualities of Nicky Hambleton-
relief. I develop tactics for revamping my footwear collection
Jones’ jeans, I booked myself onto Taste of Style event held
(the bottom line is I need some patent peep-toe courts),
regularly by the NHJ Style Consultancy. Costing £75, the two-
receive advice on how to make more of my haircut (add layers
hour session brings together clueless shoppers like me with
in the back) and get heaps of insider secrets on my makeup
top stylists, hairdressers and makeup artists. Following an
(such as applying mascara to lash roots and not just tips). The
interactive overview on current trends and essential seasonal
bespoke advice is illuminating and empowering. I feel finally
strategies, each participant gets some face time with each
ready to face the high street – and after that, the world.