Party Dress Kelly
Party Dress Kelly
Amy threw a £15,000 dress from Alexander McQueen on the barbecue
As she took off her trademark beehive and wiped away her heavy kohl eye make-up, Amy Winehouse made a frank admission. ‘I won’t be an old lady. I’ll die young,’ she announced, without a hint of drama or self-pity.
She was herve leger dress in pyjamas with her hair loose in a pretty bob, the fragrance of her favourite Penhaligon’s bath oil scenting the house in Bow, East London, where she was living at the time. Despite her tragically prophetic words, she was at her most relaxed.
It was a side of Amy not many people knew, but Archie Reed, who became close to her after meeting her in 2006 at a party in Chelsea with his then boyfriend, designer Alexander McQueen, was one of the privileged few.
‘Yes, she was an addict with a serious problem but she was also the most beautiful human being. She had so much to give and she looked so lovely and normal standing there in her pyjamas without all her hair and make-up on. That was the real Amy.
‘She had an old head on young shoulders and was very kind and caring. Some of us used to jokingly call her Mum because she was always looking after people. It’s such a shame how her life ended. I miss Amy so much,’ he admits, choking back tears.
Since the singer’s sudden death, Archie, a 34-year-old stylist from Barnet and one of her closest friends, is still struggling to come to terms with it.
The last conversation he had with the 27-year-old singer was in June after she was discharged from the Priory clinic.
Amy had checked herself in to dry out. According to Archie, she sounded sober, upbeat and happier than he had heard her in months.
They spoke regularly and on this occasion the conversation was about how Amy was entering a new stage in her life. She spoke about her 35-year-old boyfriend, British film director Reg Traviss, who had been instrumental in persuading her to check in to the clinic.
It seemed as though her life was back on track – or getting there – and that she had finally moved on from her destructive relationship with her former husband, Blake Fielder-Civil.
Alexander McQueen sent Amy a £15,000 frock as an apology after he offended her and she put it on the barbecue
Alexander McQueen sent Amy a £15,000 frock as an apology after he offended her and she put it on the barbecue
‘I don’t know if Amy was ever going to get Blake out of her heart, but I think she managed to shelve him,’ says Archie.
‘When I asked her if she was happy, she said, “Happy’s a big word but I’m getting there.” She said that things with Reg were good and that he was a kind and wonderful man. She seemed to be in a better place.’
For Archie, who had partied with Amy many times at her homes in Camden and Bow in London, the conversation was a relief. Too many times to recall, he had witnessed the debauched nights – parties where vodka was drunk like water to wash down the class A drugs being handed around.
‘Amy had an addictive personality. Everything she did was in extremes, be it drugs, drink or partying. I don’t think I ever believed she had truly kicked drink and drugs because Amy’s demons were so great. She would have had to lose all the bad friends and the hangers-on, and she hadn’t done that.
‘But she did seem much happier. We were chatting about meeting up. She invited me over for one of her lovely roast dinners. She said she had missed me because I had been away for several months, working in LA and Ibiza.’
Archie will always regret not seeing his friend before her untimely death. As a recovered addict himself, he understands more than virtually anybody else the nature of Amy’s troubles. Like many of Amy’s friends, he blames her heartache over her doomed relationship with Blake for her descent into drug abuse.
‘She was very bad when Blake was arrested for GBH in 2007 and at an all-time low when he was sentenced. She took a cocktail of drugs, heroin and crack. I got a call asking me to come over with my tool box as Amy needed it. Her father Mitch was there and was very worried about Amy, who was irate and emotional.
‘She said she had lost an earring down the sink and asked me to get the U-bend off, which I did. It wasn’t an earring she wanted, it was a bag of drugs she had hidden. She stayed up in the bedroom for half-an-hour afterwards and then came downstairs completely high. We all knew what she was doing but there was nothing we could do to stop her.
‘Mitch was desperately worried about her. She spent hours just staring at herself in the mirror which she often did when she was high. She would also spend hours staring at her wedding photos.’
Ironically, it was times like these that Amy wrote some of her best music. ‘She would get straight on the guitar and start writing lyrics and making music. I’ve never met anyone who can do that while on so many drugs.
‘Her music was amazing but we all knew that she needed help. At one stage, I got her a month’s supply of something called Subutex, a medication used to wean users off heroin.
‘I don’t blame Blake but he did introduce her to class A drugs. Dope was always Amy’s drug of choice, but Blake introduced her to crack and heroin and that was what got her. Amy loved him unconditionally and the break-up destroyed her.’
The Subutex was not enough and the drug abuse continued – as did the all-night parties. Archie was at Amy’s flat in Bow three months after Blake’s arrest when Amy was entertaining friends, among them TV star Kelly Osbourne.
‘Amy was still using drugs and the house in Bow was a party house. On one occasion when the paparazzi were waiting outside, Amy asked me to get the drugs for her. I didn’t want to but Amy had a way of making sure you never said no.
‘At about 3am we were all starving hungry. Kelly hunted out some pasta and a jar of pesto sauce. She took an hour to cook it and when she served it, it was inedible because she had made it with sugar instead of salt. Amy spat it out screaming that it was disgusting. She found it hilarious.’
At the time, Amy was rumoured to have a £1,000-a-day drugs habit but according to Archie, she gave away much of what she bought.
‘There were always hangers-on who Amy was giving drugs to. She had an allowance from her management but she always overspent it on the addicts she was hanging around with.
‘She was very generous, not just with drugs but with everything. She paid £130,000 for her friend Alex [Foden] to go into rehab and she wanted to buy another friend a house, but he wouldn’t let her. She didn’t care for material things.’
When she received a £15,000 Alexander McQueen frock Amy put it on the barbecue.
‘She and Lee [McQueen's real name] didn’t get on. Lee had offended her at the party where I first met her and Amy never forgave him.
‘When he sent her a herve leger dress to say sorry she put it on the barbecue. She also spat on one of his dresses at Selfridges which she had to pay for because she had soiled it. At first she refused then she just said, “Fine – but tell Alexander McQueen I ruined his dress,” ‘ recalls Archie.
Despite her famous friends, Amy did not care for celebrity. ‘She wasn’t impressed by the limelight or showbusiness. All she cared about was the music,’ says Archie.
‘The truth is that she was a very homey girl who loved her parents and friends. She was happiest at home in North London playing pool or her favourite game, Patience.’
Archie was not at Amy’s funeral and says he was not invited. Like her millions of fans, he prefers to focus on her music.
‘Music was her one passion – it made her so happy. There’s a lot that has never been released. She wrote a lot when she was living in St Lucia. I just hope her fans get to hear it.’
Read More: Tory Burch Outlet and Uggs Sale
About the Author
Regis and Kelly Guide to Dressy Dresses
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