Lyndell Mansfield, her love and energy, were a huge support and driving force behind the birth of Lelsley Magazine. A close personal friend of our founding editor Kat Hudson, Lyndell was excited about the concept of our magazine from the beginning and when we released our first issue she beamed and took a stack with her share with her hairdressing clients. She talked us up all over town and filled us up with love.
Lyndell lost her life very suddenly on October 1st last year to an undetected brain aneurism. Today would have been her 50th Birthday.
In honour of Lyndell on her Birthday we are honoured to present this very special piece of writing by her beautiful niece Keya McGeown as a tribute to her and her incredible life.
Happy Birthday Lyndell!
We love you very much and we wouldn’t be here without you
Lyndell Mansfield
By Keya McGeown
March 10th 2022
Lyndell is an incarnation of love, fervour and power.
She was gifted to our world by Vivienne in 1972 on the 10th day in March. Lyndell energized our world with vivid colour and electricity for 49 years, between her two homes Australia and London.
Her essence was so powerful that it was suspended across the globe for 25 years, and never waned. Her birthplace, and the people who first taught her how to love so fiercely remained in Australia, her darling Ma and Pa, Vivienne and Barry. Despite how much she felt their absence, they never felt hers for long. Lyndell had this presence that surrounded you for long after she had left.
Lyndell’s younger brother Darren has always been in awe of his strong and wild older sister. Darren was her first model, from the age of 2 she had him painted in makeup, hung dresses from his frame and styled him like a living mannequin. She cast him in her productions and shows, exploiting the sibling bond to have him accompany her on those early escapades in Sydney and Brisbane.
Her family were the first to be on the receiving end of Lyndell’s styling skills. She was known to always have a brush in her hand. Lyndell often told people that she believed her reason for becoming a hairdresser was bestowed upon her by Vivienne in the womb. Throughout Vivienne’s pregnancy she was an apprentice hairdresser. At the tender age of just
12 years old, Lyndell lied her way into a summer job where she recalled “drowning old ladies and sweeping the floors”. At 15 she had her first apprenticeship and quickly became known as one of Australia’s most impressive stylists.
At 15 she had her first apprenticeship and quickly became known as one of Australia’s most impressive stylists.
Her mother Vivienne has been heralded as the reason for Lyndell’s illustrious and award-winning career, but she also had the strong foundation of her Pa, Barry. Barry loved his darling Dell from the moment they met. Barry quickly became the support crew for all of Dell’s productions, chauffeuring the ladies around to get the last spools of tulle or extra glitter. He never complained, because it was never too much for his Dell.
She spent her first half of her life dancing up and down the east coast of Australia, between Sydney and Brisbane. Often in her green kombi. In the 1990’s Dell lived in the heart of Sydney on Oxford Street and amongst her friends and family in Brisbane. She was the bond between so many souls, and still is. Throughout the early years of her career in Australia, Dell assembled a tribe of vibrant, wild and devoted friends that made space for her boundless and effervescent energy. Despite her success in Australia, she was never one for the celebrity. She earned her recognition; she nourished her talent and she embraced every opportunity. Lyndell was quoted in a Brisbane newspaper shortly before her move to London to say, “everything you do has an effect on someone. Use your influence for progression.”
While in Australia, Lyndell was known by many as a manifestation of style, vision and success but to those who had the opportunity to know her, the air of mystery was stripped away. To them, she was Delly. Not that that was any less spectacular. It was the greatest compliment when she would sit with you and wasn’t outwardly brilliant or wild or crazy. She didn’t have to turn it on, she just had to turn up. And she always did. There was never a time in my life that Lyndell didn’t show up, she was there the moment I needed her and even when I didn’t think I did.
After 10 years of working in salons in Sydney and Brisbane, by 24 having more awards than she could count, Lyndell was the age I am now when she had a chance encounter with a stranger in a crystal shop who offered her a reading. The stranger told her that although she wasn’t someone with itchy feet, her work was going to take her away. Sure enough, when shortly after Lyndell was selected as one of only ten competitors in the won the Australian Hairdresser of the Year Awards, her life would change. She won the award and was given and two tickets to London.
Shortly before she left Australia to pursue her career, she became ‘Auntie Dell’ for the first time. In 1996, Dell met her first niece and we made an instant impression on each other. Our connection transcended the time or distance between us. Dell had this way of making the years and miles fall away whenever we were together again. I asked my mother Lisa about Dell, and she remarked that she trusted Dell whole-heartedly and Dell never made her doubt that trust. Dell shared her whole life with me and felt a responsibility to inspire me on a journey of discovery. Dell filled my life with awe and wonder. She showed me how big the world is and how to take up space.
Everyone in this room, and across the globe know how Dell’s life was never in a lower gear, but when I say she made time for me I mean dropping everything to fly 24 hours for my 21st birthday, as a surprise. She changed tour schedules and carted me around in transporter vans with bands or artists just to spend a few more hours with me while she was in Sydney.
Lyndell loved being an auntie and after her move to London, her brother welcomed three more children Zahlia, Tamika and Janaya, we call them ‘the girls’. Lyndell was always grateful when her work sent her to Australia. She made use of every opportunity to see her family in both Brisbane and Sydney, she shared her time across the east coast. Dell always valued her time with her family, and relinquished so much of her limited rest for a few moments with her nieces, her grandmother Thelma, her cousins and of course her Ma and Pa.
“I encourage you to be you, I don’t see anything but your spirit and I’m so proud you are on your own journey”
One of Dell’s final messages to me said, “I encourage you to be you, I don’t see anything but your spirit and I’m so proud you are on your own journey”. Dell saw you for who you are, and she didn’t want you to change a thing. Dell made it cool to be unapologetically yourself. She inspired all those around her to accept themselves, embrace who they were and love themselves as much as she did. Lyndell had a mindfulness for human life unlike any other. The chance to have such a fortunate human experience happens in the brief moments. Lyndell gifted all of us those moments. Lyndell invited you to be a part of it, not to show her how valuable you could be, or how known or fashionable.
She invited you to notice what you were already a part of and to share it with her. Lyndell invited you to live. Unapologetically, boldly and honestly.
When asked how she did it, how she overflowed with this zest for life, she said “surround yourself with people who give you what you deserve”.
For so many, Lyndell was the difference between artificiality and authenticity. When she entered the world of celebrity she was never intimidated because although she was ambitious and passionate, she cared about the person in front of her more than herself. She carried power with her that was revived and revitalized by the time she shared with those she loved. When asked how she did it, how she overflowed with this zest for life, she said “surround yourself with people who give you what you deserve”. She poured that fuchsia love, and power and fun into every room she entered and every soul she met but so many of us filled her back up. She surrounded herself with the people, the power, that she needed to be the pink, starry fireworks display we all know her to be. She was generous with herself, and her time
but she had this otherworldly understanding of the human experience, so she was never depleted. She vibrated at a higher frequency, untouchable by the decay and poison of competitiveness or jealousy. She was true, and loyal and a cheerleader for the soul. She was vivid and fluorescent. Lyndell was made up of life.
In March of 2008, Lyndell and her valentine found each other in a raucous London pub. Dell was an atomic blonde bombshell that rocketed into Tom’s life with the shake of a tambourine. I remember she had fleeting reservations about the age difference, but that dissipated once she recognized his tender and wise soul. My Uncle Tom brought music to her life, he harmonised with her so perfectly and let her absorb every achievement as the frontwoman. Tom unleashed the parts of Lyndell that resembled the sculpted glass she and Vivienne collected, the delicate and precious parts of who she was that she only displayed to a select few. The past decade of Dell’s life was filled with love and adoration, silliness, and mischief because of Tom. To a woman that had spent her whole life entertaining,
performing and reviving depleted souls, Tom was to her what she was to so many. He became her entertainment, her biggest cheerleader, her whole heart, the energy that lit up every room she walked into. Vivienne and Barry couldn’t have wished for a better husband for their daughter. My sisters and I couldn’t have wished for a better Uncle. We are all so grateful to Tom for cherishing Lyndell and giving her the love she deserved. Dell considered Tom to be the greatest manifestation of love. She wanted everyone to have a love like she had, Tom offered her peace and acceptance and fun like no one else could.
The last time I visited London with my partner Dan, Lyndell had me at the kitchen table and asked me – is he your Tom? I reflected on how Dan made me feel cherished and adored and supported and said YES. For her to ask me this confirmed that she placed Tom at the highest point of partnership and love, a companionship she would wish for her niece.
My sisters and I spent all of our lives, knowing what it felt like to miss Dell but this is different.
To my beautiful Aunty Dell, where do I even start… I remember from such a young age I always looked up to two inspiring souls, yourself and my sister Keya. There was never a moment when I was with you that I didn’t have smile on my face. No matter what you said or did you always cheered me up. I can’t explain this energy you have, but it’s a gift that only you were given. All the times I shared with you growing up, you made me feel safe, loved and wanted. Words could never describe the pain I am feeling for losing the person that gave me a purpose, a reason to do good things. But, I know you will always watch over me and I promise I will continue to celebrate your life and do good things to make you proud. No laugh could ever replace yours, I still hear it now. I see your smile when I sleep, and the warmth of your embrace every morning I wake up. Thank you for giving me the best experience of my life, I am so blessed to be named after you and to be your little Dell.
Until we see each other again auntie.
- Tamika
Since Lyndell passed on 1 October 2021, I have observed the magical impact that Lyndell made to the world. We have lost one of the world’s most genuine, supportive and vibrant people but so many of us have embodied her selflessness and honoured her passion for life since losing her. The contributions made to our family have been bountiful and life changing, not only financial, but people who have been generous with their time and their memories of Lyndell. I have received so many letters from people expressing what a difference Lyndell made to their lives, how proud she was of her nieces and how much love she had for her Ma and Pa and I can’t even begin to express how much it means to me.
In all of my awakened memory, Lyndell has been my inspiration. Lyndell filled the part of my young, naïve soul that felt misunderstood. Despite being a world apart for 24 years of my life, I felt a deep otherworldly connection with her that I was incredibly privileged to have. To be so close to Lyndell was the greatest gift of my existence, she was a supernatural force that permeated every part of my being.
When I was still very much a child, Lyndell took me to my first festival to see Pink Martini. We sat with her girlfriends on a picnic rug in a Sydney park with pink parasols and non-alcoholic champagne. She embraced me, before I knew who I was. She was playful and made believe that I was just another one of her young beautiful girlfriends filled with potential and on the precipice of finding a purpose. She invested so much faith in me, that I would be successful and that we would celebrate that success together.
When I was admitted as solicitor in Australia, the first thing she suggested we do was start our own record company. I’d do the legal stuff and she’d find the artists. The last time I was in London we plotted the expansion of DIY, and Hairdresser on Tour. Many people have told me, since she passed, that she often remarked on how proud she was of me and I want all of you to know and her, that making Lyndell proud of me has always been my primary purpose and goal in this life. Lyndell is louder than life and larger than death. I will spend the rest of my life investing in the divine magic that she had, bringing it to the world and showing up just like her. Lyndell left a lot of power in this place and that energy will travel around for many years to come.
Today would be Lyndell’s 50th birthday. She had plotted, even through the dreaded pandemic, of meeting her glorious global tribe in Japan for the blooming of the cherry blossoms. She wanted to invite all of those she loved from the planet she traversed to meet in a pink petal filled place to celebrate and connect. If you knew Lyndell or were touched by her, think of her now and dream of her often.
In love and pink,
Keya
Keya recently launched an Instagram account where people can submit letters to Lyndell.
If you have a letter you would like to send in or would simply like to read more tributes to our Delly then you can find the account here: Dear Lyndell