Elfy Scott is a Sydney based journalist, best known for her work on politics, social issues and mental health advocacy. A true example of using your platform for good, Elfy reflects what it is to be a journalist in the modern media landscape.
Can you describe your style in three words?
Comfortable, playful and erratic.
How has your style evolved over time?
I’ve noticed in recent years that I’ve become a far more conservative dresser than I used to be in my early to mid-20s. I used to dress pretty provocatively, show a lot of skin and wear tiny skirts that would defy the logic of a skirt whenever I bent over. I guess I used to wear my sexuality on my sleeve a lot more (although I rarely wore sleeves per se).
I’ve retained a hint of that but I’ve also started to feel-out a different sense of style where I can wear bigger, baggier shapes and still feel cute. I’ve become more focused on silhouettes, quality of clothing and expressing myself through colours … I think this may just be getting older.
What item in your wardrobe are you planning to keep forever?
A cream-coloured knee-length vintage leather coat that I found in the back of an op shop in Bowral. It’s butter-soft and easily the piece that attracts the most compliments in my wardrobe. I also managed to snatch it for $40.
How can fashion be used as a vehicle for change/protest?
I absolutely believe this! I am deeply opposed to excessive consumption and try my best to keep all purchases to either second-hand or ethically produced clothing. It can feel really boring getting browbeaten about ethical consumption so I think that being able to show-off the joys of supporting certain labels, and second-hand or vintage clothing, is also an important part of the process.
Your book, 'The One Thing We've Never Spoken About' explores the experience of people living with complex mental health conditions in Australia - how do you feel a year on from its release?
I’m still really proud of the work that went into my first book and I’ve heard from countless people with lived experience, or family members of people living with complex mental health conditions, who say they felt really seen by it. From the outset of the research process, I was really just devoted to the idea that if it helped a small handful of people in any way then I had done my job and it seems like the book has, so I’ll always feel satisfied with that.
You were recently awarded the Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund to undertake travel for your next book - what can you tell us about this project?
I’m still in the very, very early stages of this project but essentially it’s focusing on generational inequality and how younger generations can claw back hope in a world that is so stacked against them. It comes from a place of feeling incredibly pessimistic about the future but also wanting to rediscover light and promise and help others to do that, too.
