make a statement

fabulous future me, with her incredible wardrobe funded who knows how and her impeccable taste stemming from who knows where will of course have drawers and drawers of statement necklaces. Which, i suppose, rather defeats the whole purpose of a statement necklace which is that you have one or two that will completely elevate an outfit from simple to amazing, but then, fabulous future me never does things by half measures. Nestled in her huge closet among shoe boxes filled with cuffs, cocktail rings, leather bracelets, chandelier earrings will be row after row of beautifully crafted feats of metallurgy and jewelry making, big pendants, huge paste stones, ingenious designs and glittering colours. Some of them tied with grosgrain ribbon in luxurious warm shades, others with thick chains, others with dainty slivers of gold or silver so sleek they look like liquid mercury against the skin.

Ah, can life hurry up and get me to that point already!

Monday

lanvin ballet flats, vanessa bruno dress, lanvin necklace burberry trench, chloe bag, topshop sunnies.

You really only ever wear sunglasses on a monday morning. You own so many pairs, and yet, you never seem to wear them. You just forget to put them on, and because you're always in your spectacles (myopia is a real chore sometimes) you just can't be bothered to switch over to sunnies even though the other girls in the office are never to be seen without their black frames. And don't even get you started on transition lenses, *shudder*. But on a monday, a sunny sunny monday, with the prospect of a full working week before you, you just can't help trying to block out the brightness of the coming days for a little while. And although it doesn't change anything, it does make you feel better. As does your fuss-free outfit, a cute smock dress, comfortable ballet flats and a classic and chic trench coat topped off with a big, bold, here i am necklace with wood, pearl, chain and velvet components. A mixture of earth, sea, luxury and everyday, just like you!

Tuesday

giles and brother necklace, topshop crop top, zero+maria cornejo skirt, stella mccartney blazer, cartier bracelet, joanne bracelet, yves saint laurent cuff, azzedine alaia wedges.

Your magazine is celebrating their 75th anniversary this issue, and to launch the upcoming special edition with 4 separate collectible covers each with a model integral to the success of the magazine, past and present, there is a huge party. Anticipation is huge, expectations even higher, and it seems like what started as a small industry gathering has turned into the 'must-attend event of the year!' (tatler). Oh well, there are worse things you have to do for you work, you think, as you slip into a slinky black evening skirt, cool crop top and tailored man-style blazer. Knowing there will be plenty of judgmental eyes combing your outfit over you slip into super high alaia wedges, but are unsure how to complete the outfit. usually you would scrape your hair up into a bun and go make up free, but it seems like a little underdressed for tonight. Instead you pull your hair into a messy half up half down do, with a slick of mascara and liptint and add a multi-chain bib necklace that rings around the neck of your top like a scarf. Perfect!

Wednesday

proenza schouler bag, acne top, current/elliot jeans, marni wedges, marni necklace, doma cropped leather jacket, benjamin glasses.

wednesday is date night, as you remember so late in the day thanks to an early deadline. It's not like you actually forgot you had a date tonight, it's more like it slipped your mind. As you rush home after work to change into something a little nicer than your distressed jeans and comfy wedges (you didn't feel like chancing stilettos after the hours spent dancing at the party last night) you think, hey, what is wrong with your outfit? It's easy, it's simple, but it's not boring, and you like the warm colour combinations of the rich ochre with the slightly washed out purple suede of your satchel. And with the interesting shapes cast by your marni resin and horn necklace you know that it will go straight from day to night. So instead of turning into your street you jump into a cab to go off to the restaurant, confident in the belief that even though you might not look sexy, you do look lovely.

Thursday

american eagle denim jacket, proenza schouler bodycon dress, lanvin pendant necklace, celestina box clutch, nicholas kirkwood heels.

When you donned your sunglasses on monday in an attempt to block out the horror of another working week you must have forgotten how party-filled this week actually was! Thursday yields another invitation, this time for a swanky gathering celebrating the life achievements of one of your favourite designers and a good friend of yours - Nicholas Kirkwood. Throughout your life writing for various magazines he has kept you well shod in beautiful heels that defy gravity and imagination. In celebration for his fabulous career so far you don your favourite pair of kirkwood heels, the first pair you ever owned, in fact. Sculpted to perfection, with interweaving suede straps like snakes across your foot, a slightly exposed and truncated platform and a cut away heel studded with diamantes, these shoes are not for wallflowers. You pair them with a simple sculptural LBD, a long pendant crystal necklace and after some hesitation in front of a rack of blazers and leather jackets you settle for a denim jacket instead, the perfect counterpoint to a sexy, attention grabbing outfit and the perfect full stop to a beautiful crafted sentence. As you step out onto the pavement and hear the signature 'tap tap' of your heels you can't help but let a huge grin cross your face, cinderella's going off to the ball!

Friday

all saints parka, GG boatneck top, michelle jank necklace, kimberly mcdonald ring (browns), bondage ring (browns), joanne bracelet, acne skirt, chloe bag, topshop plimsoles.

Glorious, glorious friday! How you adore thee! How you sing to the heavens at your arrival, signaling the imminent arrival of a weekend and the promise of seemingly endless hours of doing nothing, eating lovely food (and not quickly grabbed toasted sandwiches as you chase the clock to get a story in) and slow, languorous glasses of wine. As if sensing your restlessness for the weekend to begin your editor has sent you out of the office so you can't distract the others with chats about where you are escaping to this time to interview the new young wife of a famous football star, plucked from obscurity in her native Lithuania and thrust into british limelight. When you meet her in an organic whole foods cafe near the office you are surprised and touched by her natural sweetness and her genuine-ness. She seems unfazed, if a little stunned by media attention, and has that rosy glow of someone deeply in love. After spending an ejoyable couple of hours with her, gathering the information necessary for the piece accompanying her recent photoshoot for the magazine you swap numbers and promise to catch up soon . And even though her husband is incredibly good looking you don't feel like you have to off her and steal her boyfriend, you just feel very happy for her. What a nice person! So nice you even forget that it's friday and the weekend is starting tomorrow. When you get back to the office you type the story straight up in one go, finishing 1 hour after your normal time. When you realise you just laugh to yourself, and quickly hurry home for a big bowl of pasta and the promise of lazy saturday mornings ahead...

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you look lovely today... just today?

This week has been marvelous, i got a new phone (finally one that works!) that also happens to be a brand spankin' new iphone, which sweetens the deal rather, and i've spent a few giddy days learning how to use it, loading it up with facebook, twitter and blogger applications, and getting ready to wave goodbye to my already non-existent social life. I also started uni again (boo) but have cleaned out my room (yay!) which means that although my educational world is a bit of a mess, my spiritual space is rather tidy. All this has nothing to do, of course, with what has been going on in the world of celebs this week, namely, premieres, openings, attendances and, of course, that most lovely of papparazzi photos, the candid. 

Sienna Miller

justjared

Ah Sienna, i do love you a great deal. Though you may not be a great actress (in my opinion), you are lovely to look at, and isn't that all that matters! This outfit coincides perfectly with my current penchant for luxe minimalism, the slouchy grey sleeveless singlet, the loose tapered high waisted black pants and the opulent bottle green stilettos with bauble are a perfect match of colour, proportion and silhouette. I also love the scarf she's wrapped jauntily around her neck, completely redundant of course, if she really was cold she should put a jacket around her bare arms, but it does look nice, all the same. And who could not love that radiant golden hair! 

Mary-Kate Olsen

tfs

As i search for the perfect pair of harem pants to complete my capsule summer wardrobe (still um=ing and ah-ing over the topshop ones although i'll likely take the plunge when my next paycheque comes through) this is great inspiration. I love it when MK doesn't do her grunge and 90s look and goes more for the streamlined, sleek chic of her sister. I love the kaftan-y type top paired with the grey slouchy harem pants and the ballet flats. She is perfectly dressed for a trip to the shops, comfortable and yet easy to remove when trying on clothes. This is the exact outfit i envisage harem pants forming in my wardrobe when i buy them, in fact, let's do it, i'm off to topshop.com to purchase a pair right now! (thanks MK)

Diane Kruger

Another casual outfit done perfectly, i love the pairing of that rich royal blue with the summery yellow, and then both of those against her golden skin tone. She is the master of dressing, truly, her style is original and quirky and very, very chic. Her statement necklace is also simply amazing, i have been looking for one similar to that with the 'leaf' or cascading effect (know what i mean?) for ages. And, of course, a chanel 2.55 slung over her body. Oh how hard it must be to be beautiful, wealthy and the muse of Karl Lagerfeld. *sigh*

Lily Allen

celebutopia

Speaking of muses to Karl Lagerfeld... How far has Lily come! although i loved her brazen prom dress with trainers look of her early teens i do love the woman that Lily has matured into (weird to think that she is only 4 years older than me!) I love the pop of the blue suede shoes (hehe) against the black outfit. I love the fit of this suit, it fits her like a glove, and i also like the sexy elements - the brassiere, and the suspender bits that are hanging down over the pants... It gives what is an otherwise business like look a very, well, french twist. Ooh La la.  Also all that lovely jewelry Lily designed herself, a girl of many talents, apparently. 

Unknown, maybe Joanna Coles? from the Sartorialist

Now this is what i mean by a long dress or skirt... Not your fliffy flaffy church types, not matronly, not boring, but sleek, chic and very very sexy. This dress is incredible, i love the way it is cinched in at the waist and then poufs out at either sides, acheivable only with a very small waist unfortunately, i love the ruffles at the high collar (very elizabethan luxe), i love the full folds of the skirt that fall down from the waist like doric columns, i love that rich teal colour, half way between blue and green but all beauty... I mean, what's not to love. I know she's not strictly a celebrity (technically i don't even know who she is!), but i couldn't not post this picture from the sartorialist a couple of days ago. All woman. All class. 

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ten things about my style -2. bold is better.

'I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number of carats in a diamond.'  

Mae West

I usually like my clothes to be chic and simple. With a few small exceptions, remember this jacket i bought on a whim and love dearly although hardly ever wear, the clothes in my wardrobe are classic, very me, mostly high quality (although i do have an unfortunate penchant for sportsgirl, the australian topshop i suppose, that i just cannot break) and although they are simple, are still very beautiful. 

However, this trend does not seem to extend to my jewelry box. I say jewelry box but it is actually a small tall boy, bought in morocco, and stained with green algae, it's lovely, with one drawer for each accessory - necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, brooches and various. It is a veritable treasure trove, and although i am guilty of recycling through the same items of jewelry for a period of time every 3 or so weeks i delve into those drawers and come out with beautiful things i forgot that i had, and then the cycle begins all over again. 

Why do i like over the top, dramatic jewelry? I suppose the obvious reason is that it is a counterpoint to my clothes. I tend to wear lots of long sillhouettes - long skirts, long tunic tops, loose and cinched in at the high waist or natural waist, cuffed jeans with short dresses - and the effect of simple jewelry paired with that can be aging and boring. I like the languid and reposed air my dressing gives off to be counteracted by a bold, brash and gauche piece of jewelry that stops people in their tracks. Hey, if my long skirt isn't weird enough, grab a look at whatever piece of sculpted metal i'm wearing on my neck!

But there is another element, like with clothes i appreciate wholeheartedly artistic design and extravagance, even if i feel i could never wear it or pull it off myself. However with jewelry i feel that i am able to appreciate and wear the more crazier of pieces. This probably stems from the fact that i am inherently chicken, that i am never game enough to try something crazy with my style but when it comes to something little (although in the case of necklaces and bangles, they are not always so 'little') i'm all for it. Oh well, that's just the way it is, i'm not here to question, just to report!

Necklaces are my favourite, and are certainly the easiest to go over the top with. Though i don't own any pieces by Lanvin, Marni or Burberry, their recent necklaces show the ease with which luxury and boldness can be carried off in statement jewelry. Magazines usually warn readers not to where too many statement jewelry pieces at once, at risk of looking like a clown, but i am all for it. Please pair a chunky resin marni-esque necklace with huge chandelier earrings and a fistful of rings if you so choose, i'm sure you will look dazzling!

Costume jewelry and paste is another favourite of mine, a remnant of my heady days devoted to the 1920s and 1930s. During that time i scoured flea markets and op shops for paste necklaces that would satisfy my precocious craze for 'diamonds, dahling'. I still have drawers full of big cubic zirconia or crystal earrings that drop down in art deco styles, chokers, wristlets 8 rows long of diamond imitations, and a stunning necklace i wore to my aunt's wedding that has crystals shaped as flowers and set in silver. It's a guaranteed show stopper. And with Breakfast at Tiffany's as your guide dress all in black and come off as a lost travelling soul, who just wants to be happy... 

I also dearly love rings, from cocktail rings to the simplest kind engendered with meaning. I love the very idea of rings, as i have written before, they are infused with ideas of extravagance, wealth, theatrics and glamour. They are the ultimate luxury piece of jewelry, and can be the ultimate statement jewelry too. I have a friend who is even more devoted to rings than i am, who is never seen without 4 or 5 adorning her hands and constantly changing them. I think that an outfit can be perfectly counter played with one extravagant cocktail ring on your index finger as you wave your hand for champagne. 

Brooches are another standout piece in my jewelry collection, perhaps more so than in many other wardrobes i know, simply because of my mother. She wears brooches religiously, they are the finishing touches to an outfit for her, after you've pulled on your shoes and decided on your bag you should always affix a brooch. She loooves them, and i grew up with someone who affixed such significance to brooches that i couldn't help becoming an afficianado as well. In brooches i look for something a little diferent to what i look for in necklaces, bracelets, rings and the like. For brooches i love animals, horses, sea animals, bears, snakes, tigers, kangaroos, octopi etc. I don't know why i love animals the more in brooches, perhaps a brooch allows for the chance to fully realise an animal rather than in the limited space given to pendants on necklaces, bracelets and rings. They can be intellectual and intelligent as well as stylish and hip, and although they seem to be associated more with nannas and the CWA that's not always the case. Mary Kte Olsen is an aficionado of the brooch, for example.  It's hip to be square!

So there you have it, picture me now, running out to uni wearing a simple black dress and leggings under a classic line trench coat and the biggest pendant necklace you've ever seen, heaving a huge teardrobe shaped crystal below an elaborate parisian chandelier-esque piece of metal... And though it's heavy, it doesn't weight me down. 

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body swap?

scrolling through my inspiration folder for images of the 'luxe minimalism' that i am interested in trying out these next couple of days, particularly for a cocktail reunion party on friday, and was stopped in my tracks by this photo. Even though it's not strictly 'luxe minimalism' it is more in the ease and assuredness of the gesture that i am captivated. I hope i am even slightly as self-confident as mary kate is, supremely happy with the person she is at last. 

back on track, i'm thinking my floor length calvin klein black skirt, clingy and sleek, with a plain white tee shirt, cotton and slightly sheer, with a black blazer and a big pendant necklace. I'm not sure about the shoes though, i'm thinking maybe my platform wedges... I know that minimalism need not be synonymous with boring when it is done right, but i'm unsure if this is too matronly and 90s lawyer. 

Is there something i could do with accessories or hair to jazz it up a bit? Or should i just wear a clean face of make up, hair in a messy up do, and a big smile on my face? 

X

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cleanin' out my closet

There is something very, very liberating about cleaning out your wardrobe. Of course, for me i employ the term 'wardrobe' figuratively as i don't actually have one, but the sentiment still stands. Going through your clothes, sorting them out, and deciding what to keep and what to throw away is an act of supreme freedom. 

As i watch my style mature and my tastes evolve i can't help but go through a process of, well (forgive me for the darwinian references), natural selection. In an act of clear, but not unkind, ruthlessness I have 5 garbage bags full of clothes waiting to be sent to the nearest charity shop. These clothes are things that I've either grown out of but never threw out, I haven't worn in over 6 months, and that i have never worn and frankly should never have bought. Shoes, handbags, some jewellery and various other things have also been relegated to the bags. As you can see, i mean business. 

This process of clearing out has two main culprits. The first is clear - lack of space. My room is very small. You've all seen harry potter, right? Well, imagine the cupboard under the stairs and you've basically got the size of my living space. Don't get me wrong, i absolutely love my room, i've plasted every inch with magazine cut outs, it's filled with all my creature comforts and loves - floor to ceiling stacks of books, magazines and newspaper cutouts, my temperamental record player, old mirrors, a beautiful wire day bed and all my lovely clothes. Although there isn't much floor space it is wholly me, and i wouldn't relinquish it for the world.

The problem is, though, that my clothes have no home. They are piled up on my dresser, in corners of my room, over the backs of my desk chair and bed posts. Sacrilege, i can hear you all breathing, letting your beautiful clothes sit in musty piles on the floor to gather dust. I totally agree. I hate myself for letting my clothes situation get to that state. Which is why i recently invested in a tasteful, if very small wardrobe from Ikea in which to hang up (oh, the joys of coat-hangers that a girl living a lifetime of drawers can feel!) my clothes. 

The size means, though, that some stuff has had to go. 

Necessary, if a little cruel. I bid farewell to everything that didn't fit, everything i hadn't worn in ages, everything that i have never worn and should never have bought. a couple of bags were filled up, and the pile of clothes dumped on my bed was looking considerably, if not remarkably lighter. 

The second reason for the clear out was, though, a little more personal - my steps towards 'capsule-ising' my wardrobe. My search for the 'french wardrobe', filled with quality basics with classic design twists and quirks with a few pieces on trend and an army of adjustable and mixable separates has been fore-frunt in my fashion mind for a long time now. My style used to be temperamental and costumey, and thought that suited a girl of 16 and 17, dramatic and passionate to a fault, i find my more matured 18 year old self (oh, how much hindsight i have, she says sarcastically, is a little different. A little wiser perhaps, with less self-consciousness and more acceptance of my style, body and personality. I no longer feel the need to wear some of my more crazier get ups, and though they served me well as a rowdy youthquaker (if i do say so myself) i'm no longer that girl. Let's just say that drinking vodka from the bottle no longer interests me, i'd rather have it served shaken not stirred in a martini glass if you please... 

So i went through my wardrobe with a critical eye, looking at the clothes that littered my room and sprung out of my chest of drawers to see what no longer had a place in my life. musty 90s floral skirts when i went through my 'hipster phase' were placed on that pile, as were lacy overshirts and a host of 1950s style separates including 2 aprons (i always loved dressing as victorian girls with white smocks and an apron, don't ask me why!). A grandma-esque beaded cardigan is searching for a new, loving owner at my local charity shop, as are several pairs of converse shoes (i kept one for sport), peep-toe bow adorned suede flats and a pair of floral embellished gumboots. Gone are my many short skirts from 2 years ago that i never wear, and now that i have discovered the glamour of long skirts in day time probably never will again. Lots of ill-fitting cardigans, ripped tights (hello, my alice dellal obsession), waistcoats, peasant tops and shorts are also in garbage bags in my living room. 

I suppose it comes with the realisation that to pay homage to your favourite time periods and decades you don't have to dress head to toe in their styles. For years i used to completely replicate a 1920s flapper girl or 1930s heiress at a shooting party. And while i still loooove that era and the way they dressed, the cut of the clothes and the shape of the accessories, i know now that to show your appreciation and respect you don't have to done a cloche hat, too.  

Though perhaps in a few years i will regret giving this stuff away, i think that the benefits for my state of mind are greater. I gain a more free-flowing space in my room, and my clothes have been given a loving home. I feel a little more grown up with a wardrobe in my room, a little less of a child... As does my sartorial wardrobe, with the gladrags of my (relative) youth (i know it was only 1-2 years ago, but i have changed an awful lot in that time) gone i feel lighter, less burdened, more free to pursue my current interests and stock up my wardrobe with the clothes that i want to wear now. 

I also feel, and i did not have this same feeling with the various styles and get ups of other years that this idea of 'french dressing' in name, if not in actual style, is one that is here with me to stay. I feel very comfortable and at ease in my trench coat, in my breton tops, in my ballet flats and ripped jeans and tapered pants and full skirts. I feel like i am no longer seeking attention in the way i dress, i just am. 

And that feeling is simply marvelous. 

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putting it to bed

this is crazy! am in the newsroom and have just filed my first news story... i'm going to be on tv! can you believe it! haha i look terrible, i don't look the part at all (hello josh goot tye dye skirt, flowy stella mccartney black jersey top and my boxy topshop swing coat a la chungster) but hopefully the story sounds alright. it's only a couple of minutes long anyway, so my ugly mug won't be on tv for long, painfully extended shots.

don't think i could be a TV journalist though, feel a little flat out after today, interviews, two shots, natsoc, all sorts of weird and wonderful things. I definitely prefer print to broadcast, it seems more concrete and less judgemental. But i have enjoyed working in TV this past week immensely. even if i've just been writing newstreader voice overs and holding up fleckies.

Will be back in sydney tomorrow! sorry to have missed you all, a quick glance at bloglovin' tells me that i have over 150 unread posts... goodbye social life! and who needs uni anyway?

X

ps it's channel 9 regional news, but i'm getting a dvd copy.. if i can stomach it i'll put it up for you all hahaha! can't wait to be back.. we're having cake now we've put the bulletin to bed and i'm leaving *tear*.

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confessions of a shopaholic

just a quick share of my hong kong purchases... 

zara jacket

uniqlo hoodie cardigan in organic cotton

recent topshop online crop top purchase

recent topshop online crop top purchase

h&m grecian dress in sea green

vanessa bruno sandwashed tiered purple silk asymmetrical skirt - AMAZING! PHOTO DOES NOT DO JUSTICE!

coral necklace

h&m oversized paint splodge clutch bag

magazine madness, but it's so cheap there!

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On No Work of Words

On no work of words now for three lean months in the

bloody

Belly of the rich year and the big purse of my body

I bitterly take to task my poverty and craft:

To take to give is all, return what is hungrily given

Puffing the pounds of manna up through the dew to heaven,

The lovely gift of the gab bangs back on a blind shaft.

To lift to leave from treasures of man is pleasing death

That will rake at last all currencies of the marked breath

And count the taken, forsaken mysteries in a bad dark.

To surrender now is to pay the expensive ogre twice.

Ancient woods of my blood, dash down to the nut of the seas

If I take to burn or return this world which is each man's

work. 

On No Work of Words, Dylan Thomas

This is the best poem to read when suffering from writer's block. The quiet, and yet quietly raging anger seething and bubbling to the surface, the helplessness and powerlessness you can feel from not able to find the right words, the torture that it is to be unable to express what you are thinking, or unable to grasp exactly what it is that you are thinking about expressing... haven't we all been there before? 

Haven't done a poetry post in a while, and this is a great one to induct into my bank of poetry. I've always loved Dylan Thomas. He has such a fluid style, like grains of sand through an hourglass, despite the breaking of syntax over lines. His poems always make me think of water for some reason, rushing gently, but always with great speed, over rocky rivers and creeks. 

X

flickr

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it's fun to be it.

It's never too late to rock up to the party for an it-girl. It's mini or nothing for an it-girl. It's all about the shoes for an it-girl. It's tousled bed hair and a come hither smile for an it-girl. It's always cigarette time for an it-girl. It's showtunes and electro funk for an it-girl. It's friends in high places for an it-girl. It's whiskey and apple juice till your throat burns for an it-girl. It's getting stains on a borrowed dress for an it-girl. It's a throat full of diamonds with a dress hanging by its threads for an it-girl. It's telling secrets by candlelight for an it-girl. It's stupid hipster poses pulled with a sardonic smile for an it-girl. It's dancing all night till your feet get sore... then kicking off your heels and dancing some more for an it-girl. It's exhausting and exhilarating all at the same time for an it-girl.

It's pretending to not care when really that's all you do. 

It's fun to be it.

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vive la france!

Vive la France!

Happy Bastille Day!

Model: Lily Donaldson

Photographer: Patrick Demarchelier

Publication: Vogue UK August 2009

Stylist: Kate Phelan

Now this is the Paris of my dreams... the newest ready to wear pieces so artfully and skilfully constructed they might as well be couture on your back as you stride purposefully around the empty belle-epoque streets lined with imposing, but not intimidating buildings. The best thing about these clothes, all fresh-from-their-boxes FW 09 Paris collections is that Lily could be anyone in them, a particularly chic lawyer rushing to drop a deposition, a gallery-girl bright young thing on the way to a glamorous opening, a whimsical young parisienne on her way to a costume party, a style doyenne taking a breather from the hustle and bustle of paris life, a leggy and genetically blessed model posing in front of artefacts... It's hard to say which is the most glamorous of the lot! 

I'd take them all over struggling student living at home any day... 

I've just got back from Hong Kong and have the better part of 24 hours in Sydney before i go off to Melbourne to au pair and then into the depths of the country for my internship at Channel 9. *sigh* the things i do for my future! 

But today, at least, i will be settling in with a tray of Jean-Paul Hevin macaroons from Hong Kong (of all places!), a baguette and liberal smatterings of fromage d'affinois as well as a selection of french films to celebrate one of the defining days in one my favourite country's history. I hope you are too!

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Neo-Romantic

Neo Romantic

Vogue Italia July 2009

Emma Summerton

Abbey Lee Kershaw and Imogen Morris-Clarke

Double barrel names abound! 

This editorial is beautiful, well shot, amazingly styled and incredibly modeled by Abbey and Imogen. They manage to embody that mannequin-esque character as well as adding something of their own to the mix, seeming both plasticine and pliable at the same time. 

The styling perfectly evokes the shoot title and concept too  - neo romantic, with all those masks, glitter, renaissance patterns and big lips it is clear that they are revisiting romance of the venezian kind. But then another dimension is thrown in with a revisiting of the revisit of romance, the neo-romance that became popular in the 1980s through Adam Ant's revival of 18th century bourgeoisie clothing. the catsuits, the big sleeves, the roses, the clothes just this side of bad taste are all nods to a 1980s vision of what romance was. I love it when fashion shoots have many dimensions!

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