big jet plane

purple diary

 

How does Alexandra Golovanoff manage to look so bloody good mid-flight? Relaxed, casual and in possession of that maddening sophistication that seems to come with being 30 (can't I just look polished now? Why is my hair always messy? Will I ever be truly 'elegant'?). Today I'm leaving Sydney and going on my holiday that has been so sorely desired these past couple of months. I've taken up every shift at work, tried to curb my spending (emphasis here on the word 'tried') and scrimped and saved until I had almost quite enough for a modest european sojourn. I know it'll be the dead of winter, but I like the cold weather. And there's London Fashion Week at the end of February. And friends to catch up with - and new ones to meet. I'm excited. I've packed all manner of warm weather staples like my Isabel Marant coat and my new boots. I've got my pounds and euros, my passport, the keys to the apartment I'm staying at in Paris. I'm about to leave. Do I look as good as Alexandra Golavanoff? I don't think so, no. But I do look happy, which I guess is all that matters, right? 

See you sometime in Europe! I'll try to blog, and I hope to go to all your recommended places and even meet some of you! Bon Voyage!

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Aussie, Aussie, Aussie

Vogue Australia March 2010

Mod: Abbey-Lee Kershaw

Ph: Max Doyle

St: Naomi Smith

"Life Aquatic"

Today is Australia day, so to all my fellow antipodeans (and even those of you who aren't), eat some lamingtons, swim in a pool, throw another shrimp on the barbie, and have a couple of beers.  Fittingly, today is my last day in Sydney before I jet off overseas. I can't think of a better way to spend my last Australian day than pool-side, listening to the triple j hot 30 countdown. Now, If only there was a Dion Lee dress hanging up in my wardrobe that I could do it in...

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let it snow

garance dore

Please, please, please, please let it snow when I'm in Europe.

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ps. in other news - my trusty, faithful, i've-been-everywhere-man laptop died on sunday night. Everything in my life is falling apart at the moment - broken phone, broken laptop - and right before I go overseas, when I've cleaned out my savings and don't even have anything tucked away for a rainy day. I guess it's future me's problem. But just to let you know, posting is going to be thin on the ground, unless I can get my brother to lend me his laptop...

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bringing it home

One of my friends posted this on my facebook with the caption - "I expect this exact photo to be emailed to me during your trip". As many of you know (because I bloody talk about it every second post), I'm about to go to Europe for a month. And I'm really excited. And even though I am travelling with a modest, maybe a little too modest amount, I have set aside a little bit of money for shopping. When I travel I love to buy one special thing, whether it be extravagant or not, that reminds me of my trip and will always be a symbol of the good times that I had. When I was in New York in February of last year, surprising one of my best friends who lives there and attending fashion week and just generally having a fabulous time I bought a YSL ring as a treat to myself. I wear it almost every day and every time I see it, I think of that trip and how much fun I have on it. I'm not sure what I'm going to bring home this trip, but I do have my eyes on those celine cuffs or maybe something from IM? It'll be a late birthday present to myself, and the perfect start to a new university year (beginning just 12 hours after my flight arrives back into sydney, eek!)

On the note of shopping, however, I'd love to hear any recommendations from you all for shopping tips in Edinburgh, London, Paris and Venice (the cities I'll be visiting). Even though I've been before I would love to hear your favourite haunts - shops, bars, cafes, restaurants, touristy gimmicky things and all the like - because I'm always open to suggestions. I'm in the feverish planning stage right now, laying all my maps out over long tables and X-marking-the-spot for where I want to go. I would love to add onto there your favourites!

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again

There's minimalism and there's minimalism. And this is of the latter. I've said it once, I'll say it again. There is something so polished about the way that the Olsens pull their collections together. Without even a hint of their midriff top and high sneakers past they've managed to use their golden touch to turn their hands to fashion design. With the exception of Victoria Beckham I can think of no other celebrity designer who can hold a candle to A way their innate skill. They have the eyes of stylists - the way they put their clothes together is impeccable. Think - Annie Hall type layering and their infamous cotton tee shirts with leather skirts and luxurious fur. They have the wizened taste of true fashion stars. Think - the fabrics that they choose, from softly softly silks to buttery smooth leather. And then they have the skill of the rag trade. Think, the way their tee shirts skim over curves and highlight all the best, or how their clothes have the perfect amount of easy-going slouch. The Olsens are always ahead of the fashion curve. Whether it be the longer lengths, brogues and flared pants that they favoured this time last year that are now enjoying a redux, or the fact that they called minimalism way before it became the buzz word on every bloggers, well, blog. They know what they want to wear. And because we want to look like them, we want The Row, too. It's that simple.

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happy days

Decjuba oatmeal jumper, Bassike cool grey oversized tee, Opening Ceremony trackpants

Remember when I said I loved surprise early birthday presents? Well I also love late ones. They both prolong the birthday experience to make it extra special. Yesterday I got a late birthday present from my friends at work - a gift voucher for one of my favourite stores, Mecca Cosmetica. So off I trotted today to spend all my moneys there, stocking up on travel essentials like Kiehl's cleanser, but also the things I've been meaning to buy for ages but never got around to (like hair masques and blotting papers). I'm very happy! I was at my internship today, which is going swimmingly, and I wore my new super comfy Opening Ceremony pants from the Lands End sale, and just generally wandered around the city looking like I was wearing pyjamas. Lovely!

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one for the boys

sans artifice and garance dore

Is anyone else getting inspired by men's fashion lately? There's something about the way they wear pastels that has nothing to do with saccharine sweetnes, or how they can tie a scarf just so, and layer like they were born in coats, blazers, waistcoats and tee shirts - all at the same time. I like the way that men's fashion remains remarkably steady over the years and the seasons. Sure, everyone now and then someone tries to ignite a trend (Marc Jacobs and his kilts, anyone?) but on the whole I feel that men dress in the clothes that they like and don't really give a fuck. Men like Jefferson Hack who have been wearing skinny suits and long overcoats and band tee shirts and converse all their lives, and will continue wearing them for many years more, despite what happens in 'fashion'. I think that women's dressing is moving more towards this paradigm, but it's going to take a little while. We are creatures of habit, after all. And with trend cycles playing heavily on our minds, and in our magazines, and in the windows of stores, it's going to be hard to throw off.  

My brother probably shops once a year. He grabs a couple of pairs of his favourite ksubi jeans, some tee shirts, a few perfect o-neck sweaters that I covet shamelessly and a pair of shoes and he's done. He's got one cool flak jacket, one classic blazer and a dress shirt that he's had for years, and that pretty much sums up his wardrobe. Is he fashionable? Well, maybe not. But he definitely has style. And, these days, isn't that what we want? This year I'm going to try and shop more like my brother.

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clearance

Land's End, that antipodean emporium of fashion and one of my favourite stores in the whole world, has just begun a one week clearance sale for summer. Up to 90% off sale stock from the spring/summer collections and previous seasons. As I've attested many-a-times, Land's End do a bloody good sale. So who knows what you might snap up? Richard Nicoll shirt dresses, Proenza Schouler circle skirts, flirty Opening Ceremony floral dresses, a couple of brightly-coloured Suno tunics, maybe even a big Preen sweater? Or could it be some Balmain excess? I suggest that if you are in the Sydney area pop into Land's End. Who knows? You might nab a real bargain and something you'll love forever.

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perfection

It is exciting when you can truly tick something off your capsule wardrobe list. Today, en route to the bank to prepare for my overseas trip, I wandered into Trenery - a high street store - and came out minutes later with the trench coat of my dreams. In a stiff - but not uncomfortable - cotton, gold buckles, and in that deep, sandy beige that I so love, this trench is truly a thing of beauty. Remember when I really wanted one, and I kept seeing them everywhere, but I couldn't buy them? Well for some reason the gods must be smiling on me. Because despite searching and searching for one a couple of weeks ago and coming out empty handed. Now, all of a sudden, I find it - by complete accident - and it's perfect. A jacket to take me through transitional dressing (whatever that means), right into that so frenchy, so chic elegance that I'm constantly searching for. It's the mystery and taboo of an item of clothing favoured by private detectives and spies, but also the hint of excitement from that beguiling tan colour and and it's utilitarian design. Easy to throw on anything, it goes with everything, and when you put it on, you suddenly look like Audrey Hepburn. Now, what is not to love?  

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off the cuff

What's not to love about the double cuff trend? It's a little futuristic, a little Bianca Jagger, and a whole lot chic. All those long, clean lines and those simple, pared back clothes need accessories that will take them to the next level. The rounded sheen of these cuffs - they are so perfectly circular, so slim and sexy, that they look like they were cut with diamonds - is enough to propel even the simplest of minimal looks into fashion stratosphere. They are exciting, singing of alien spaceships and Buzz Lightyear wrist controls. They are subdued, none of the flashy rhinestone embellishments or swarovski overload here. They are super sleek with that metallic shimmer, the polished counterpoint to a Celine suit, but also utilitarian enough that you know they'll go perfectly with khaki flak jackets and a-line skirts. And if you have two - matching, one on each arm - they suddenly become more than an accessory. One cuff would be jewellery, embellishment, the full stop to your outfit's sentence. But two? Well, we're talking about a statement here. And what a statement it is.

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burning desire

style.com

I love when Dead Fleurette does her wardrobe planning posts. They give us a window into the planning process of someone else - how they go about preparing the perfect capsule wardrobe. She shops with a conviction I've rarely seen, and is remarkably persistent in her pursuit of perfection. I am not half so bold or focused. Something she always says struck home with me, though. She said that every season she has an intense, inexplicable desire for something from Isabel Marant. She can't explain it, she just has to have something from there. I guess that's what I'm like with Celine. I have a burning desire - every season - to have something from that collection. It might be those glorious twin gold cuffs from the last resort collection, or maybe those gold-tipped flat knee high boots from fall 2010. I can't really explain why I love Celine so much - because at the end of the day I'm not nearly as polished or put together as a Celine woman should be. And yet, at the end of the day, I think it comes down to the aspirational quality. With those cuffs, those boots, and this coat from the current pre-fall collection, I could be.

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sunday afternoon

What I wore today to get brunch with Rachel and Frances. And what I've been wearing practically every day this past fortnight. My faovurite long black jersey skirt, a light tartan Isabel Marant shirt under another light oatmeal coloured oversized jumper. Finished off with sandals and a messenger bag. It's so summery and simple and is the definition of a "go-to" outfit. I don't have to think about it, I just put it on. And, something that made me smile today: It's council clean up in my suburb and everyone has been throwing out their old stuff onto the street for collection tomorrow morning. I managed to snag a couple of vintage Vogue America magazines, including this perfect summery Kate Hudson cover from 2008. I'm in the middle of reading an article from it all about the glamour of the Borromeo family - this is Vogue, but it reads just like Tatler. 

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VA-CAY

vogue daily

It's like going from the sublime to the ridiculous - right? I'm already in Holiday Mode, and I've still got 19 days until I'm on a plane and out of Australia. It's super hot in Sydney right now - classic sydney weather that modulates from rainy and wet to boiling heat - and all I want to do is laze around by the side of pools eating fresh fruit and doing absolutely nothing. But when I leave on the 27th I'll be flying into what has, by all accounts, been one of the most brutal winters on record for Europe. Am I excited? You bet. I'm a cold person. Why not? The fashion is much better. Vogue Daily has been doing this fun little section where they get fabulous people to upload some holiday snaps. They are very jealous-making indeed, and include Alexander Wang's crazy Vegas Birthday Party, Caroline Sieber's awe-inspiring Mexican getaway, and the quiet, tranquil beauty of blogger Hanneli Mustaparta's hometown in Norway. I like the way that Sieber's unabashed luxury (she wears Hermes scarves as tops!) contrasts quite nicely with the simplicity of Mustaparta's photographs from Norway. They are all darkness, snow and big coats. Still, a holiday is a holiday, right?!

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the corner shop

On the Streets of Sydney

For the past two months I've been working on this blog, interning at a magazine, and working as the Features Editor for On the Streets of Sydney. It's been exciting, and I've been able to meet new people, write stories, attend fashion shows and visit shops that I love in Sydney. One of these has been The Corner Shop. Regular readers will remember how excited I was about being featured on their blog. Or the numerous occasions that I bemoaned the fact that I don't think I'm quite cool enough for such a hip emporium. Or they might remember how I obsessed over the Marant coat from there - that later became my one true coat love. It was really exciting to interview buyer Elise Pioch and my mate, Talisa, who runs the Corner Shop blog. The photos were taken by Rachel, and perfectly convey that hip, slightly off-kilter way of decorating that they have going on in their Paddington store. 

Check it out: here

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my favourite

The only good thing about a sudden cold snap? Getting out your favourite coat that you thought had gone into hibernation for the summer. Hello Marant, how I've missed you. 

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the mood

Jackie Onassis by Ron Galella - Sheer shirts buttoned all the way up to the collar - Spring/Summer 11 Alexander Wang boots - Venice (although the one I'm going to is in Italy, not America) - New ways to get your hair did, try knotting it together at the back - vintage Charlotte Rampling and Audrey Hepburn in their summer best - The Tourist magazine's 'Clean' fashion spread - Cleo's solo ice-scapades in Somewhere

I read somewhere (har har) that Sofia Coppola conceived the scene where Cleo glides around the empty ice rink after listening to Sebastien Tellier's Elle. This song kind of sums up everything in my life right now. I had a day off so I took my cousins to the ice-skating rink and just relaxed, thought about pastel coloured lace up booties, black and white Jackie O and Charlotte Rampling, simple camel sweaters, blowing bubbles and tying my hair in knots. It's all about the simple things. Have a listen to the song that inspired such a peaceful, beautiful scene.

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Be Italian

Gerard Darel Pull Marilyn

 

Naturally, I'm very interested in pictures of starlets at airports at current. I've travelled a bit, but I always want to improve the way I travel (and the way I dress when I travel). Rachel Bilson - fashion plate that she is, bless - knows how to travel well. Just check it out; chunky o-neck sweater, slightly distressed straight leg jeans, comfy lace up wedge boots, a heavy coat thrown over her arm and an easy-going backpack. It's a throwback to the grungy 90s, and I kind of love it. This trip I'm trying to travel without a suitcase, and am evaluating my wardrobe right now to see if I can fit in a large sportsbag, plus handbag (and maybe small backpack). I just don't think that catching trains with big, unwieldy suitcases is the funnest thing in the world to do. I think that items like these - the wedge boots, the easy pants, the throw-it-on-over-everything sweater - are the perfect building blocks for a winter holiday. I've wanted one of these sweaters ever since Alexa Chung donned an oversized Pringle number in Vogue US. The kind of jumper that you could throw on over a tailored pair of pants or an a-line denim swingy piece, that would go just as easily with ripped cords and a fitted calf-length skirt. Roll the sleeves up when eating a particularly saucy pasta puttanesca, or pull them down over your wrists when the chill picks up. Rachel is wearing the Gerard Darel Pull Marilyn, a re-issue of his famous sweater worn by Marilyn Monroe in The Millionaire. Look at it! Perfect, bracelet length sleeves, that slightly snug, but only slight, fit, those glorious shades of bottle green, panna cotta cream and tomato red. Very Italian - even though Darel is French. But hey, I don't discriminate. If I had one of these beautiful jumpers I'd wear it in Paris too.

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la dolce vita

'La Dolce Vita'

Ph: Nick Haymes

St: Nancy Rohde

December/January 2009 Teen Vogue

I've actually been meaning to post this for a little while, ever since I decided that I would be going to Italy (and Venice) in my Europe trip. But this post by Victoria-Belle prompted me to jump the gun a little. What she said about Teen Vogue was very true. Beautiful, happy, joyful editorials litter Teen Vogue and it is a magazine that is aspirational and exciting, rather than condescending, patronising or even prescribing - like Vogue can be at times. Who could help being inspired and forever influenced by their particular brand of 'more-is-more' fashion, so much so, that even years later and with my head stuck in a minimalist hole in the sand, I wouldn't mind things like feather skirts, elaborate bow-tie chiffon shirts, long chain necklaces and leather leggings. It's that happiness thing. You want to wear clothes that the models look like they're enjoying. How do they do it? I mean, just how do they get pictures in Saint Mark's Square holding pigeons and not make it look like a dreadful cliche? I think it comes from the way that Editor Amy Astley looks at fashion with the eye of a teenager. Collecting together all that is hip and cool as well as producing images that - to an under-travelled young girl - seem so iconic and exotic (think Miley Cyrus on the roofs of Paris, or models traipsing through Peru in woven skirts and leather sandals).  Being both trendy (urghh, i do hate that word) but also futuristic. The magazine offers many a pair of jelly-sandal or rag and bone piece to BUY NOW, and the editorials to mark IN THE FUTURE. I know I did that. When writing this I thumbed through my old copies of teen vogue, with pages ripped out as I hurriedly plastered them on my walls aged 14 and 15, and I found most of the editorials that had been dog-eared were the ones "on vacation". I remember being 15 and thinking, I want to go there and there and there, and I want to wear all of that when I go. Maybe now I don't quite want to wear things like bubble skirts or ruched leggings with high top sneakers. But I do still want to go to Venice, Brazil, Seoul, Tokyo, Cape Horn, Mexico City. And I think that  it was Teen Vogue, with their energetic and exuberant images that made me think so.

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love loss and what I wore - fuzzy

Stylist: Marie Dehe

Ph: Andrea Pola

Cerruti knit, American Apparel Peter Pan collar, Stouls skirt

RUSSH blog

When I was a kid my mum had this jumper that was thick and fuzzy and crayola blue bright. It must have been mohair or something, because it was so soft to my 5 year old touch, and I remember thinking that it was the cookie monster jumper. In my favourite ever photo of my mum she is wearing it on a New Years Eve in wintry, sub-zero Toronto where she lived and worked as an intern at the "Hospital for Sick Children" (no joke, that is what their children's hospital is called) for a year. In the photo she is clutching a bottle of champagne and pouring it into a champagne saucer, so chic, with a look of concentration and glee and a smile that is just like mine. That day her and her best friend had gone to the mall on their day off to get supplies for the party that night. Rugged up in coats and gloves and that jumper they had, stupidly, caught the bus. As they alighted at the front of the mall they realised that the bus stop was about 500 metres away - across a carpark. Whenever I complain of cold or worry about chilly weather, my mum shakes her head with that world-weary way of wiser adults and says "You've never felt cold until you've run across a carpark in Toronto and felt the skin peel from your face as you go". She said that when they got to the mall their Canadian friends stared at them in disbelief. Who would have run across the carpark in such freezing, freezing weather when, in winter, the bus actually goes one stop more to the Mall door. Of course, they didn't know this at the time. 

I don't even know where that jumper is right now. But these shots from the RUSSH blog - wonderful original content from some of the most creative, dreamy people in the world - reminded me of it. My mum even wore hers in the same way - a long-ish black skirt, the collar of a contrasting shirt poking out from underneath, sleeves pulled all the way down over the wrists (not rolled up as I do with mine, there is something where we differ), messy short hair. My mum was a bit of a babe back in the day. She had all these great clothes, most of whose locations I have no idea about. I inherited what seems to me to be a measly slab compared to some of the wonders in the grainy photos I've seen. Where is that glorious camel coat with Ali McGraw in Love Story oversized lapels? What about those Bruno Magli court shoes in sinful red? And this fuzzy, slightly oversized sweater with the perfect o-neck in an unmissable 80s blue? She doesn't remember, and it's all my loss and none of what she wore.

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