Home » Archive for June 2011

cell phone diary










It's very hot here in Hong Kong. Have been detoxing with visits to the Joyce and Lane Crawford outlet stores in Ap Lei Chau (APC sandals for $30 yes please!), long, relaxing swims and plenty of "banquets in my honour" with my extended chinese family. It's definitely been a great couple of days!

1 - Hong Kong skyline by night from the star ferry
2 - peking duck pancakes, why not? 
3 - It's been really rainy in Hong Kong the past couple of days, I think it's quite beautiful
4 - One of the best things about HK is that there are fresh flowers everywhere
5 - Salmon salad at The Pawn, one of the best meals I've ever had, for main I had pork loin and a banana cake for dessert mmmm
6 - They built a Diagon Alley in the middle of Times Square in Causeway Bay. I wasn't excited at all.
7 - Plexiglass stars from that YSL collection at the Lane Crawford outlet store

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holiday!



You know how Carrie says that some outfits wait a lifetime to go to Paris? Well here are a couple of things I'm excited to take on my holiday. I leave in a few hours and it's starting to dawn on me that soon I'm going to be in Paris! In summer! Having cafe au laits, and macarons and baguettes and wearing sandals and spritzes of diptyque philosykos. God I really needed this holiday, it couldn't come a moment sooner. I don't think that I'm going to be able to post while I'm away but I'll try. Mostly it's going to be all about relaxing and detoxing and just recharging my very worn out batteries.

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brown paper packages tied up with string



There is nothing, and I mean nothing like a package to lift your mood from grumpy to glorious. This parcel from Giselle at Mychameleon was waiting for me when I got home today and it was almost painful to have to rip apart that lovely packaging. Inside a brown paper package all tied up with string was beautiful clotted cream coloured tissue paper, and inside that was a fuzzy duck egg blue jewellery case, and inside that was a beautiful PetiteGrand string cord bracelet with silver beads. It's just too lovely for words, and I haven't taken it off my arm since, even though I've just been doing boring things like working on an essay on my computer. Giselle also wrote me a lovely note saying that it can be a start to my new collection of delicate jewellery. I have to say, it goes perfectly with my little IM rhodonite bracelet and the bright colour of that coral silk string is a great mood elevator. Jewellery in general is a great mood elevator, I think. Thank you very much indeed Giselle! Wow, wow, wow.

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eat it!






Yeah this is kind of a lazy post. But I like food! 

1. ginger chicken udon and apple, mint and lime juice on a very sophisticated working gal lunch break at wagamama
 2. impromptu brunch at forbes and burton, probably the best muffin I have ever had in my life, peach and dark chocolate and jesus this thing was fantastic.
3. home made pumpking and ginger soup, a handful of tamari almonds and a chicken sandwich from sonoma which I still love. I ate this while watching Law and Order SVU - be jealous. 
4.   Ellie dragged Tania and I to the Macleay St Deli to try the Carrot Cake. I know this is a big call, but this cake changed my life. Really.
5. I have decided that every time I go out for a meal I'm going to call it a Banquet In My Honour. This was the Banquet In My Honour that I had at youeni with my friend. Avocado and lemon oil on miche and a Cranberry muffin.
6. It was one of my best friend's 21st birthdays a couple of weeks ago now, and we had a great breakfast at this Sicilian Cafe on Crown St, followed by a dark chocolate, marshmallow and raspberry tart chaser from Bourke St Bakery.
 
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when i was a kid

 tommy ton for style.com, we the people

My mum gleefully regaled the dinner party at our house last night with tales of my childhood sartorial decisions. When I was a kid I loved overalls - so much so that I wore them to the exclusion of all else. I had a raft of crayola-coloured overalls (short, long, denim, chinos, patterned) that I wore every day, day in day out, for about 2 years. I also had a page boy hair cut and a fierce love of pokemon cards. This was around about the same time that I started to really read voraciously and there are hundreds of photos of me at this time, curled up on the couch in overalls and a hoodie, cap on backwards or lying by my side as I devoted my entire attention to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It's all very hip like Greta Villiger - my I was trendy aged 11. I've always wanted to wear overalls again now, but I've never found the perfect pair and they kind of require an Alexa Chung-esque body shape. Still, in 2 days (2 days!!) I embark off to Hong Kong and Paris, and it's worth day dreaming of languid summer days in a an overall dress with a criss cross back and a big oversized oatmeal coloured sweater and bronze limbs.

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roman holiday


I guess I'm just in a bit of a "Be Italian" kind of mood. I'm missing my Italian holiday at the start of the year, getting insanely jealous of people who are going on Italian holidays, or people like Vanessa Jackman who have already been and taken much more beautiful photos than I ever could. And then I saw this girl on the Sartorialist and I've been hooked on her blog ever since. Eleanora Carisi, who on paper should leave me a little cold (she's got more arty oval ysl rings than you can poke a stick at, and jeffrey campbel litas etc etc) but in reality is that refreshing mix of cinematic Italian beauty, cool-girl (read: face hunter) style and an amazing hair cut that is textured and thick and hits just below her shoulders. She makes me want to wear big 90s earrings and hoodies under pea coats and bright envelope clutches and travel the world. I need a holiday.

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flat packed


Yesterday I wore my k.jacques sandals. I just can't let go. It wasn't even that hot but it was sunny - it gets me every time. I guess I'm just excited for my trip and I couldn't wait to get them out again. Sandals are the best. I don't know why people don't wear them more often. Seriously, I can't name one good thing that happened to me last summer that happened when I wasn't wearing sandals. I feel like a little kid again in my strappy leather numbers with their sensible thick soles to weather my inane ability to wreck shoes from walking all over Sydney, mostly from the good newsagent in Taylor Square to the other good newsagent in Kings Cross. Stevie is all over it. She understands how important good sandals are. Comfortable. Fun. Flat. What more can you want?

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rugged up

style.com


Poor Reed Krakoff. He's never going to live up to this first collection. From the moment it strode out onto the runway, all long billowing skirts, oversized sweaters and moleskine coat this collection was enshrined in my mind as legendary. It's up there with the infamous Dries Van Noten number in terms of capturing my aesthetic completely. I am all over the textures - furry, shearling, softly softly suede and cashmere, cosiness of knits - and all that jazz.  Whenever I wear my shearling vest I just want to stroke my belly all day, it's the best thing ever. I think if I wore something from Reed Krakoff I would spend the time just stroking my clothing. There are worse things, right?

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zara zara!



Just casually reproducing my favourite Maya Villiger Turned Out photo. Yeah, it's not a Cabas tote. It's not navy blue either. But I really, really, really love this Zara bag and this COS sweater in creme caramel tan that is actually a pyjama top but I wear as a jumper anyway because I do what I want. 

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friends


My friend Talisa is on the hunt for this Isabel Marant sweater. I myself quite like the look of that oatmeal-coloured open knit (is anyone surprised?) and if that skirt was longer I would wear that outfit no hesitation. We have heaps of fun together. We'd probably fight over that navy blue ps1 though. The Sart always gets me when he posts pictures like these. He has a knack for shooting friends or sisters (or friends and sisters). It just looks so natural, as if he's shooting pictures to go on Facebook or something. How does he do it?

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I want candy


joe zee's twitter // vogue daily

The other day a woman came into work and was eyeing off the Celine bags and whenever a customer hovers for a long time around that general section I get waved off to go help them because I'm the Celine expert in our department. So I went to see if she needed any help and we ended up in a lovely 20 minute natter about the state of the luxury market and how Celine is the next Chloe (which would make Phoebe Philo the next... um... Phoebe Philo) and that everything she touches just turns to gold, and that those luggage totes are just amazing aren't they? and that she really knows how to use colour, and how great is her mix of linen and leather? I love it when I get to really talk to customers. It doesn't have to be about Celine - but of course it's fun when it is - it can be about anything really. It makes the whole monotony of retail seem a bit more exciting. And I like seeing the Celine go to a good home. 

I really hope we get some of these neon bright and candy-floss beauties into work next season. Seeing all the new bags coming in is the most exciting thing about working in retail, we get to open up those plain cardboard boxes to find magic within. I've become really good about knowing which box has come from which company (anything marked Firenze heralds Tods, the ones that come via Emirates/Etihad from Hong Kong are Marc Jacobs/MBMJ, Celine comes with the most beautiful "Made in Italy" stamp on the outside near the invoice). It's like a game, though, to see what is inside. The invoices will say cryptic things like "Boston bag: Sunflower" and we can only guess what beautiful, bright, egg-yolk-hued loveliness will emerge. I will literally be waiting with crossed fingers and bated breath for these to arrive. Can you imagine how uplifting it would be to have these bright-as-a-button bags on the selling floor?

 The new Celine resort collection is great in the way that things that are slightly tacky are great. The crazy jacquard prints, the bright neon, those huge oversized novelty belts, the flatforms, the latex pants (not pictures, but you can imagine, right?), the too-long cuffs. It's all a bit weird and wacky and 70s but it works because of the way that Phoebe puts it all together. She plays with proportion so that cropped pants flare out just slightly at the calf, and a little leather mini dress hits right where your hands rest by your sides, and the slouchy pants of the season before last are updated as le smokings where the blazers tuck into the pants like shirts. I actually kind of like this season's Celine girl. She seems like a bit more fun; her hair is messy and she's wearing crazy "look-at-me" pants and those belts are just too good to be true. She seems a bit younger and a bit less severe - past seasons (including last fall) have been quite serious and oil-slick city dweller, this is looser, slouchier and more relaxed. It's resort after all, how can you take it seriously? But it's still wearable and chic; the trench in the bottom left is probably the most beautiful jacket I've seen in a long time, and don't get me started on those tuxedo suits. It's Phoebe's usual old schtick but, as they say, if it ain't broke don't fix it!

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mood

"Perfect Pitch" From Vogue UK September 2010 // 3.1 Phillip Lim Shearling Coat by Streetpeeper // Reed Krakoff 2010 RTW // Camilla and Marc Oversized Sling Knit // "Aline the Always" in Marni Edition in RUSSH // Celine Fall 2010's fabulous coats // Alexa Chung arrives at Burberry Fall 2011 RTW in a fuzzy jumper from streetpeeper // Carly Hunter Shearling Vest 

Forget the last mood. I'm snug as a bug in a rug. Thank god for shearling, right?

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this is madness

my pick of the sales!


I always find it really hard to enjoy my job in retail during sale time. Just that one little word - clearance - makes me want to burn all my black clothing and hide in a corner, rocking back and forth. It's the hardest, most trying thing ever working the first day of clearance. The floor is in a mess, there are customers everywhere and they all need your help and everyone is stressed out. You want to clean, you want to serve, you want to sell, you want to do everything, but you can't. It's such a relief to swipe out at the end of the day and go home and think about anything - anything - other than sales. On the other hand, it's quite lovely to shop in sales. Maybe not on the first day of clearance and stocktake, but every day after that it's quite fun. I love finding bargains. Give Mychameleon's sale a go if you have a spare internet second. They've got labels like Arnsdorf, Benah, Bodkin, Therese Rawsthorne, Mont St Michel and more reduced by 40% and more, as well as some goodies from past seasons still left over. Let me, who is on a shopping ban because it is 11 days (11 days!!) from my trip and I have nary a penny in my account, know about any purchases so I can vicariously living through you. Cheerio!

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summertime


I'm excited to dress like this again when I'm in Paris. It's been fun to rug up but I'm missing not having to put a scarf on. I'm missing wearing my billowing skirts and having that be a cool thing, not a cold thing. I'm missing simple outfits of shirts with the sleeves rolled up and simple pants or long skirts and a loose cardigan and my hair tied up and a little bag. Actually, what I'm missing most is being able to wear my k.jacques. God damn I love them. So much. It's really sad just looking at them, sitting on my floor, and not being able to put them on. Of course when it gets to September in Sydney I'll be moaning about how I just wish I could wear my coats again and how dumb it is that I have to just wear a tee shirt and a skirt and why can't it be cold enough for all my lovely shearling. Oh well. You always want what you can't have.

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orangina


So Clare Vivier not only makes wonderful bags (Like this little envelope clutch), but she also has great jewellery. This is exactly what I'm looking for. Those very flat, disk-like pendants with very fine chains, a couple of thin cord bracelets and then I'll call it a day. Still not sure whether I'm going to go for gold or silver at this point - I have so much mixed metals in my jewellery box it's safe to say that I can have either. Although I've re-pierced my ears and have been wearing my Karen Walker little cat earrings which are silver, so who knows, really? Also I love her fizzy orange nails. The perfect hit of colour against white, and they remind me of the great polish that Brenda, another great accessories designer, was wearing during RAFW. She told me that she always wears orange polish - and why not? I'm more of a dark purple gal myself (like just one shade lighter than "lincoln park after dark), but maybe for a European Summer I could test the waters?

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user

miss moll cherie - not sure who the original photog is!

I used to get upset whenever I saw someone mistreat a boxbag, flick their cigarette ash on it or fling it under their chair. But now I see that actively using and loving the bag is all part of the philophile magic. The giant scratch across the front of my celine was horrifying and tear-inducing at the time, but is not just a great anecdote of classic HR clumsiness, as well as a sign that, among other things, I really, truly love my bag. Someone asked me today when I wore it, doesn't it upset you? No, it doesn't. It really doesn't. It used to, but I think I understand things better now.

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delicacy


For a while now I've been dreaming of a jewellery box full of delicate, dainty jewellery. Of Me&Ro necklaces, of jordy askill heart rings and little karen walker twists of silver and cord bracelets with beads hanging off and big, flat, round pendants like Ashley Olsen has by the barrelfull and those Stella Mac pendants that, when you twirled them, read out love, and anything from lagarconne.com really, and just a bunch of daisy knights little bracelets and oh. Wouldn't it be something just marvelous? The problem is, it takes a little while to get these things together. I mean, I've got a jordy askill pendant from a fantastic Lands End sale a while ago, and my new Tiffany Lock that I rarely take off and my Isabel Marant bracelet. But other than that my jewellery falls firmly, squarely and very much surely into the realm of more is more. If only the perfect jewellery collection could just materialise, fully formed, and I wouldn't have to go on this endless hunt for delicate little pieces of twisted metal (that invariably end up having not so delicate price tags). I just want some big, flat pendants! And some cord bracelets. And some cute little chain necklaces. And some very thin rings. Is that too much to ask? I'm about to go overseas and I can't spend any money at all, but if anyone wanted to buy this for me, I would love them forever. Really truly!

 I love how Rachel is on the same wave length as me. She just posted a studio visit she did with Tanja of PetiteGrand (Available from Incu and Mychameleon) and it's fantastic. All delicate little chains - and many of them, that's the problem with fine jewellery, there is a tendency to layer where you just physically can't with big chunky pieces, and so the propensity to need more and more and more is great - worn with such insouciance and ease. I love the necklaces with their tiny little charms, and the cord bracelets. The lesson here is never wear fine jewellery as if you are wearing fine jewellery, wear it as if you are wearing the oldest, most worn in, more beloved thing in the world - which really it should be, right? I am of the opinion that jewellery should have sentimental value. It doesn't necessarily have to be a gift, although some of my favourite pieces of jewellery have been gifts, and when they were lost or broken they broke my heart. They can be sentimental because you bought them for yourself at a significant part of your life, or because of what they represent for you. I still mourn my beautiful star bracelet from Fleur Wood, broken on a big night out in Melbourne. I bought it on a whim while buying a birthday present for a friend - it was on sale and I had looked at it months earlier, thinking it was too expensive. It was a bracelet made up of big links of the outlines of stars in really thing contrasting metal - silver and gold. That bracelet made me so happy! I had just finished exams and I was elated. I wish I could get it back - and get some of that exuberant energy back too. 

So I think one of my new season resolutions is to build up my fine jewellery collection. I'm going to go on the hunt for it in Paris and try and come back with at least a couple of bracelets and pendants. That's the plan, anyway!

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dip it


I am not a DIY aficionado by any stretch of the imagination. I'm great with anything that just requires cutting (jackets into sleevess jackets, long skirts into shorter skirts, natch!) but when more than just a pair of scissors is necessary count me out. I'm hopeless with a sewing machine - in fact, I don't even own one - and I wouldn't trust myself with a glue gun. Which is why I find myself completely shocked as I contemplate doing a DIY that involve that most scary of chemicals - bleach. It's a DIY version of the now infamous Dries Van Noten dip-dyed pieces from the Spring collection - dip-dyed jeans, jackets and skirts. The interwebz is awash with successful attempts - Jessie, Geneva and Kate have all given it a go with amazing results. You know I love the dip-bleach look. I already own a little sleeveless black coat like the outer layer of this DVN jacket - the remnants of an older DIY project that only required scissors and a steely resolve as I cut up my beloved stella mac for target coat - if I just bleached the sleeves of an old denim shirt (I'm sure my dad must have one somewhere...) then I could get the look of this jacket stat! The tutorials over on their blogs are great to give an idea of what you have to do in the DIY, but for someone who's never really delved into the realm of personal projects with the exception of ikea projects aided by allen keys, I am understandably very nervous. I mean... we're talking bleach here! That can't be a good idea, right?

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toasty

gap jacket, carly hunter shearling vest, benah scarf, country road long sleeve tee shirt, country road skirt, prism glasses

So the other day I decided that I had to do something about this cold, so I turned my Carly Hunter shearling vest inside out and layered it underneath my favourite flak jacket from gap. The result was blissful once I added my cashmere Benah scarf - the warmth was amazing and my happiness was complete. The days have been super brisk in Sydney at the moment - the sun is high and shining but the air is so crisp it cuts like a knife. It kind of reminds me of New York winters, although of course far less brutal, those bright blue skies that fool you into thinking you're going to get glorious weather when in fact you are getting quite the opposite. This kind of layering has been keeping me pretty toasty up top though, if only I could find something to keep my little ballet flat-clad feet warm..

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insatiable


 stella mccartney hat, repossi ring, the row sweater, celine box bag, prism new york glasses, Rundholz skirt, benah cuff, k.jacques sandals 

 maison michel hat, me and ro necklaces (x2), cacharel sweater, 245 Rue St Honore suede blazer, Prism new york glasses, Satomi Kawakita ring, Wouters and Hendrix ring, Jordy by Jordan Askill ring, alexander wang pants, proenza schouler large ps1, sigerson morrison ballet flats
APC beanie, Rag and Bone sweater, Rag and Bone flak jacket, me and ro bracelet, isabel marant bracelet, satomi kawakita ring, repossi ring, see by chloe skirt, celine box bag, prism new york glasses, Rag and Bone boots

Still majorly feeling the love for hats. I found the stella mac hat that I was obsessing over way back when on sale at Robby Ingham in paddington. It's so wonderful in real life - that stiff felt brim and that gorgeous mossy colour is part tea parties and intrigue at Downton Abbey, part lower east-side cool. It's all in the way you accessorise it. Oh yes, I've come to realise that hat's are not accessories in and of themselves, they are actually the founding point of the outfit. You have to make your outfit from the starting point of the hat, and not the other way around.With a maison michel topper it would be all about boy/girl dressing - a pair of slim pants and an oversized mannish blazer but with a heap of beautiful, delicate, simple jewellery and some intricate ballet flats. With an APC beanie in brilliant burgundy it would be hard not to fall head over heels for Rag and Bone sweaters and utilitarian flak jackets, but keeping things a little bit sexy with a short hemline and a classic celine box bag. That's just the way it works! 


ps. if you have the chance I would love it if you could vote for me in the colourdujour blogging awards! click here .. thanks friends!

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