Who is this Feral Strumpet?

Portrait of me by Gordon Fraser, taken with an antique collodion camera using the wet plate process

I am a writer and jewellery designer and maker based in Banff on the North East Coast of Scotland.

(You can find my writing blog here, or go to my Patreon page to see more of my written work.)

For ten years I have designed and created unique handmade jewellery  inspired by dark fairy tales and folklore, Hammer Horror films, gothic novels and pagan ritual. I also lovingly refurbish antique and vintage finds that suggest their own dark histories.  All handmades are created one at a time in my workshop and home in  what was once a school built in 1803.  I’m serenaded by the wind, waves and sea birds on this wild edge of the North of Scotland.

You can find my online store here.

Though I’m now living in Scotland, I came of age on the West Coast of the U.S. and that sunny nostalgia and the cultural hybridity of Cali still brighten my imagination.  Everything I sell is assembled, knit or gathered with love. I believe in personal adornment as a a kind of talismanic language, and I work with this in mind.

You can find my author blog at allysonshaw.com

15 thoughts on “Who is this Feral Strumpet?”

  1. Love reading you here! Have you heard about Ravelery? I have an extra invite and thought you might enjoy it. I’ve been a slacker there, but it is a great way to keep track of knitting/patterns etc. If you’re interested let me know and I will send it to you.

  4. Hey Allyson,

    Hope you are well. Could you please contact me at the Press Office at the National Gallery here in London? We would like to use excerpts from your blog in a book we are producing and I’d like to discuss this with you.

    Regards,
    Ken

  5. i get gogol bordello.
    i was also sad i could not be in the mosh pit without being drowned in meatheads.
    i get it.
    ❤
    i was sad not to see more of my tribe, too!

  6. Hi. How’ve you been?

    I’m glad I could still find you through google.

    You once had a headline on Consumating that said something about “dark waters” and “taking it on the chin” (sorry if this is vague). It’s been buggin me because I tried looking it up because I wanted to read whatever you got it from.

    Hopefully you can remember the quote and tell me where you got it from.

    Hope all is well,
    Ken

  7. Hi Ken– I’m doing really well, thanks! Getting more settled in London now. How have you been?

    I think that line was something Mandy (Be Secret) wrote for me. Sadly, I don’t still have it– I lost all that stuff when the site went down.

  10. Hi there, I’m just writing a post about the revival of the Swatch watch and found your swatch collection picture on Flikr. I’m just asking if I can use it ( and credit)? Many thanks

  11. Hi Nicky, If you want to use the Swatch photo just credit me as velvetdahlia on flickr. Thanks!

  12. Hi,

    I tried to reply to your entry on your visit to the Wellcome Collection but for some reason it wouldn’t let me. I really enjoyed your blog on this. You might be interested to know I am doing a PhD on Wellcome’s erotic collection. One of my main research questions is why he collected this material and how he saw it fitting into a medical museum! Was very interested in your theories! Particularly the idea of the ambiguity of the status of the doctor – the line between erotic and healing contact. Did you see the locket with the picture of the man unlocking (or locking?) a woman’s chastity belt? Is he her doctor or her husband or her lover? I’m also really interested in the beautiful anatomical figures you featured in one of your pictures which also blur the line between instructional and erotic…

    Be happy to send drafts of my work if you’re at all interested!

    Cheers,

    Jen

  13. Hi Jen, Thanks for coming back to comment. I think with this WP layout the comment hierarchies are wonky.

    I would be interested in reading more of your research. Is it available online anywhere?

  15. Hi Jen, Thanks for the link! I look forward to reading it. The talk sounds fascinating, wish I could be there.

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