Etsy yum yums $10 and under

Because... why not?

Ring from penorus, best green and I love how the stone protrudes so excessively:

Turquoise bracelet from Emma's Gems, with beautiful metal work:

Silk dress from jessieallyn, best colours:

Lemon heels from nemres, not on trend, perhaps, but lovely nonetheless:

Seriously but, someone needs to put me on Etsy's payroll.

Could we not dye it red at least?

The colours in the dance scene of West Side Story (1961) would be incredible as inspiration for a Summer RTW collection. I only just noticed that the Sharks and the Jets have colour themes.

Purples for the Sharks:

And mustard-y yellows for the Jets:

But it's all the colours in between that really make me swoon:

When I was little I felt sorry for the girls who were made to wear pencil skirts and thus missed out on this kind of fun:

Sad for them.

muse musée

What to make of Muse magazine's Winter triplet-covers?

I know that the concept is reminding me a little of Russh magazine's October twin-covers:

And in both instances I wish they'd used flat-coloured text.

Still... They're not wrong about Edita.

None shall sleep

Kate Moss is looking phenomenal as a brunette in the December issue of Vogue Italia.

I've been trying to work out who she reminds me of, and it might be Maria Callas as Turandot:

But maybe not?

Don't play in her garden and don't smell her flower.

I'm going to a party tomorrow, the theme of which is 'Floral'.
Hell. Yes.
I'm going to wear this Christopher Kane jacket:

In my DREAMS.
Ha ha ha sucked in, me.

Her pants hangin' low/ she never says no

The name is massively off putting but online store Nasty Gal is actually many kinds of wonderful. Observe:

And there's even some vintage, though a lot of it has already been sold, including this Givenchy dress:

Lucky, really - I don't think I could have resisted.

in charge?

Oh dear.

Of all the people who sound like Uffie, Uffie has to be the least successful. 

p.s. I recently had the rather disturbing experience of walking in on my parents listening to 'Illusion of Love', debating its merits. As part of his 3/4 life crisis my dad has also started listening to Radiohead. 

But they're definitely not cooler than me. I'm pretty sure.

saturation point

My dear friend and I were discussing Rihanna's latest video for her song 'Only Girl'. I like it though the colour saturation and floral prints threaten to overwhelm at some points. My girl noted the Wizard Of Oz vibe which I hadn't seen before but now seems totally obvious.

and

Rihanna has flirted with the same reference before:

On a different note, I don't think I'll be revisiting the babydoll grunge look that Rihanna's rocking here. Though she looks very pretty, her current hair colour is more interesting to me when combined with polished styling, à la this Marchesa dress:

breath

A lady pays a visit to the shop of a famous milliner and asks him to create for her a one-of-a-kind hat, something unlike anything her contemporaries would have seen before. The milliner pulls from a drawer a length of red ribbon. Before the woman's eyes he begins to weave, knot and generally fashion this single piece of red ribbon into a most splendid creation, a hat of perfect loveliness.

The lady exclaims at the beauty and ingenuity of the hat, gleeful that it will soon be hers.
'How much do I owe you?' she asks.
'$10,000' the master milliner replies evenly.
The lady gasps, 'What? But it's just a piece of ribbon!'
The milliner gently unweaves, unknots and pulls at the hat in his hands until only the piece of ribbon remains.
'The ribbon,' he tells her, 'you can have for nothing.'

When I first heard this story (I don't know where), its message was totally lost on me - I just thought it was super cool that the lady got some free ribbon.

Photo by Naomi Hoare.

Anyway I've had ribbons on my mind a lot recently partly because a friend of mine is currently raising money for The Australian Lung Foundation. It's got me thinking about how little attention this cause gets - their's is the pearl-coloured ribbon, by the way, and you can donate here.
xx

edge of seventeen

Here is Atlanta de Cadenet, who I've discussed before.

I know I'm an old nanna but I feel mildly uncomfortable with this photo, as well as all the ones with her and Mark Hunter (aka. the cobra snake). I also take issue with underage girls smoking (hello, Misses Momsen and Scodelario). Seriously, where are your parents? Oh, that's right, bonking a Stroke.

p.s. she's actually about 18. Good title, but.

Love these boys.

You know what's uncool?

When lady-men look hotter than lady-ladies.

Be proud. Be Ugly.

Another day, another article about fashion models not being representative of 'real women', and this time it's short ladies who aren't getting a fair crack at the catwalks. I have some pretty fundamental beef with this article and the many others of its ilk.

Models aren't meant to represent 'everyday women' (whatever that means). They are meant to be prettier than you. That's their job. The tricky thing is that, because of the nature of fashion, what constitutes being beautiful or pretty is constantly changing. An example: here is Diana Mitford who was widely considered to be one of England's greatest beauties in the 1920s and 30s:

I don't think many of my contemporaries would consider her looks to be ideal.

Similarly, I remember a bit of dialogue in the 1958 film Gigi, in which the title character (played by Leslie Caron) complains about her legs being too long. Here is current supermodel Hana Soukopova:

These days I don't think there's such a thing as 'too long' when it comes to legs.

The reason I'm in favour of designers using larger models is that I think we're due for a change in the popular fashion silhouette; the super-skinny look has been in for about twenty years, it's time for something new. Perhaps in the future (though I can't imagine it will be too soon), a shorter figure will become fashionable. If this does happen, it will necessarily mean that tall models will be out. Fashion can be mean like that.

So how about this: forget 'fashion should embrace fatties'. Never mind having 'real women' in magazines. Don't bother yourself with 'put shorties on the catwalk'. Not everyone is beautiful. This is OK. Let's embrace being ugly.

Love and sexy magic.

In the past I've suggested that Jany Temime, the costume designer for the Harry Potter films, has taken inspiration from the work of high fashion designers for her costumes - not a bad thing in my opinion. This direct-rip of Alexander McQueen, however, is a bad thing:

I actually thought that Marchesa got a bit too close to the same Alexander McQueen design in this Fall 2010 dress worn here at the VMAs by Katy Perry:

Obviously, I didn't know how bad life can get.

Glass half full but I’m not thirsty

Yesterday I went to the new Westfield shopping centre on Pitt St in Sydney's CBD. Somehow I missed all the hype about this place and I've been surprised when its come up in conversation with friends over the past few weeks. Is a shopping centre really worth getting excited over? Short answer, no way josé. It's a shopping centre and, by definition, is filled with the same old shit you can get anywhere else, with two exceptions - I have to admit I got a bit fangirl when I saw that Miu Miu and Christian Louboutin boutiques would soon be opening up there (all the fancy stores are apparently arriving fashionably late to the party, their 'under construction' signs still up).

SS 10/11 RTW Zimmermann

Also the Zimmerman boutique was a lovely experience, party because it currently contains the label's absolutely killer 10/11 SS collection (which incidentally took some inspiration from Miu Miu). Browsing the store was basically one long sigh of clothes-lust. Also, I might have been imagining it but the shop girls seemed nicer than your average high-end boutique wenches. Like a new pretty girl at school who has to be nice to everyone while she's settling in.
What an AWFUL analogy.

nice kicks

I have a flexible body. My body is really good for clothes. But I never wear makeup because I have an androgynous face. If I wear make up I look like a transvestite.

- Anna Dello Russo

Giddy-yup.

My interest in the races begins and ends with hats. I am totally ok with this. And my goodness if there aren't some gems on etsy.
I think a shallow base on a hat is infinitely more attractive than the heavy-basined alternative:

And whoopee to the woman who can pull off a sculpted hat like this. Fortune has smile upon you:

Black tulle; a perennial favourite:

And the total show stopper. I die.:

On the whole I dislike rules in fashion but perhaps the races are an exception. No felt in Spring!

Whip My Hair.

Question: Could Willow Smith be any cooler?

Answer: Nope.

Louis Louis

I was feeling the oriental vibes at New York Fashion Week and I have to say, chinoiserie looked pretty good in Paris at Louis Vuitton as well.

Go trend, go.

smushed

I liked several pieces in Maison Martin Margiela's Spring 2011 collection and took issue with Style.com's lazy review. Too often that website dismisses garments simply because they are not deemed 'wearable'. What a shame and a bore.

The first thing I though of upon seeing the collection was a scene from Modern Times, in which the tramp (Charlie Chaplin) accidently puts his boss' coat (pocket watch and all) into a huge industrial squashing-machine.

It has since struck me that the more obvious reference is a packaged men's shirt. Duh.

You're better than cool, you're warm.

Diane Lane's character in Rumble Fish is all fantasy and pretty much the sexiest thing that ever happened. I don't even like the movie much but there are a few moments (including Mikey Rourke's dreamy scenes), that make it worth watching.

And you'd better believe that's some vintage Sofia Coppola. Adorable.