Eau Zone

My father often despaired of my spontaneity, I was quick to lose focus and turn my attention to the next best thing. Consequently I had many jobs after my appalling attempt at tertiary education.

One of the jobs I applied for was being a part of the opening crew for Eurodisney. The advert stood out for me immediately…Looking for crew to open Eurodisney, Paris…must be able to speak 2 or more languages, willing to start straight away, a perfect opportunity. Sounded great. I had just done a stint playing shop manager at a discount perfume store. How I ended up there, I’m not sure. It seemed like wherever I ended up, I made a connection with the people I worked with, and this funny shop in Guildford shopping centre was no different.

Our sales drive went like this… Can I help you?..The Anaïs Anaïs or Opium? ….Eau de toilette or perfume? Then holding up the item, we’d go, retails at £12, we’re selling for £10.99, and then we would stare back at them giving them a little time to think. Maybe a spritz on the wrist for good measure.

The temptation was real, it worked every time.

It took some courage to walk into our shop, there were 3 or 4 of us behind a counter. The lights were stark and bright. Customers had no means of getting to the perfume, they were all behind us. We had full control, a little intimidating I would say, but this was part of the sales drive.

I think Pebbles came with the shop. She was a big lady with a particular no nonsense attitude and had a way of sizing up the customers before they’d even ventured inside. One step over the threshold and they were in her clutches. She had been doing this for years. There were no airs and graces about her sales pitch, she was hard core. Carrie became a part of the team, I immediately took to her as soon as she walked into the shop, a tall, long legged young girl with brown sparkly eyes, a beautiful smile and a dry sense of humour. Her sales approach was one of indifference, are you going to buy this.. otherwise.. don’t waste my time. We had an Iranian girl too who was a trainee actress, I can’t remember her name but she entertained us with her bubbly personality.

Nicola even worked over the busier periods. She came in on a Saturday to help out. I was living with her in Woking at the time.

Next door to our perfume shop was a boutique clothing store. A Greek guy called Chris ran it, he was in his early 30s. He sold exclusive women’s clothing, but so low key was his sales pitch that he spent most of his time outside the shop watching the world go by. I’m not sure how many clothes he actually sold, I think he was kept entertained by the energy and humour from Eau Zone next door.

At some point I felt bad that Chris wasn’t making many sales, so I browsed around and picked out the only thing that looked moderately ok for my fashion sense at the time. It was a black flowy chiffon blouse with shoulder pads and a gaudy gold top button giving it the Greek touch. Chris said it looked great, of course he did.

Going out in the Eau Zone days

I’ve never been one to wear an item of clothing like everybody else, so it made sense for me to wear this elegant number with a bodysuit, leggings and biker boots. Perfect outfit for a manageress of a discount perfume store. Why ever not.

Little side note, I loved those biker boots, my mother not so much. On one of my trips home to see my family, I accidentally left them behind. My mother thought this was a great opportunity to throw them away. How could she? She was hoping to get me to dress more respectably, unfortunately that never came.

Me with Greek shoulder padded gold buttoned top, sans biker boots