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Yeah, I was that girl. The one that wanted a nameplate necklace. The one that wore ghetto gold jewellery for fun and never took her treasured bits and pieces off. Well, since I never got my nameplate necklace (although I did get some treasured bits and pieces) I feel like now is as good a time as any to indulge. I love the PetiteGrand custom collection, just in time for christmas gifting, where you can get a classic gold chain, or bracelet, or drop earrings adorned with your initials. And, as someone with two first initials, this is the perfect chance to fulfill all those childhood desires for name necklaces that didn't just have H or R on them, but both.

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the other baguette

fendi

I'm probably going to regret this. I kind of already do. But I think I might like this new Fendi Baguette reissue? In a humorous, ironic, tongue-in-chic kind of way? Not this yellow colour specifically, but maybe a nice simple black one, or even an out-there shade of green or red or pink or blue... I don't know what it is exactly about it - it's flashy and it's over the top and it's ridiculously... it. And that's so not me. But there's something kind of compelling about how the Baguette is coming back in style, as if it was never 'it' to begin with, as if it was just laying the grounds to become a true classic. 

I wouldn't - and couldn't - wear it the way Plum Sykes used to. "A Fendi purse in an ever more luxurious or decadent yarn was a compulsory part of a strict Friday-night dress code of skintight Stella McCartney jeans, agonisingly high Gucci heels and a beaded top by Chanel or Dolce & Gabbana." How Carrie Bradshaw. "The bag that went on a thousand dates," Sykes adds, and I like that. It's funny to look back on trends with the benefit of hindsight. How are we going to look back on our time now? Are we going to laugh at Philo-mania, are we going to have a burning desire to bring back the Isabel Marant Flana jacket? Are we going to reminisce about all those dates that we went on in Dicker boots and Acne jeans and cute little Equipment shirts? I'd like to think that when I'm in my 30s or 40s I'll still be in love with the things that I'm wearing now, not necessarily because they are classics, but because I have sentimental value attached to the very way that I wore them back then. How can you ever fall out of love with an item of clothing? I don't think I can. I'm gonna love my stuff forever and ever and always.

If I had a Baguette I would probably try and dress it down, to let its flashiness speak for itself. A heavy-lidded wink on a fresh face. I'd wear a pair of tapered pants and a big sweater (here I am with the oversized knitwear thing again, but man is it a good look), boyfriend jeans and a blue shirt, a trench coat over a midi skirt. A little Baguette might be just the thing to complete the outfit with a smile. Not taking fashion too seriously, and all that. Something over-embellished like the bags that you would buy from a street-market or a tourist stall. Something kind of crazy, almost too crazy, something that no-one would ever think I'd want. No, it's not minimal, its got wild-branding, it's even just a little bit trashy. But I think that's why I like it. You can get caught up in your own style sometimes to the point where everything starts to look the same. You can predict exactly what you want, you know your wardrobe inside out and you can reel off your favourite designers like they were your own family members. When you get to that point that's when you start to crave something a little out of the ordinary. Like flatform laceups, or a peplumed-top. Or a bright yellow Fendi Baguette.

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longing to stray

in no order the sart, style me romy, street peeper, flickr, tumblr, my own photos.

I am longing, and i mean really longing, to go back to New York. I know myself pretty well, and I know what this is - it's the 6 month inch, that moment when I want to splurge all my money on a ticket to sweden or something and get the hell out of here, or hang up the jacket I've been obsessing about in favour of something a little different. The biggest complaint about Sydney is that it is always the same. Sydney is just like a rut, the same cafes, the same bars, the same people everywhere. It doesn't help that every second person I meet has a glowing tan and has just got back from New York (or they're just about to go). It doesn't help that I've had about 6 reeses peanut butter cups in the past 4 days or that I'm missing my best friend like mad. It doesn't help that I've switched, perhaps on a bit of an impulse, to an American Studies major over my old history one. It doesn't help that I've been spending every spare second I have watching films like Manhattan and The Nanny Diaries (yes, yes, from the sublime to the ridiculous). It doesn't help that I've spent days trawling through nymag's restaurant reviews and I just want to go back to cafe gitane and the standard to have yellowfin tuna ceviche and a Bicyclette Rouge.The more I see the more I am reminded of New York - from frozen yoghurt to bikes to pierre hardy heels - even when those things have nothing to do with new york at all. I think that is the magic of New York that I've missed until now. If you get it under your skin you can see it everywhere, if you really love it, it never quite gets away from you.

I guess I'm in a New York state of mind.

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fur thoughts

If I was to have a fur coat - which is a moot point considering it never gets cold enough in Sydney for a duffel coat, let alone a fur one - but if I was, for arguments sake, to get one, I'd want one just like Carrie's. That collar is absolutely perfect - big and wide and perfect for drawing up around your neck in the cold or letting hang off your shoulders, cape-like. I like that this fur coat would pop up in the series at the most unexpected times. When Carrie was going to the baseball game and didn't want to be under-dressed in case she ran into Big - just add cocktail dress and heels. When she went shopping and returned home to find the Senator on her door step - just add pearls and girlie gingham. In the final episode, in the final scene, when we finally learn Big's name (John, of course!) - just add, well, everything you can imagine, Neon, peep toe, full skirts, tulle, studded belt, and a manolo blahnik bag. I love how Carrie seemed to run around in this fur coat in the mythical New York winters - where it was cold enough for fur, but not enough to wear tights. I hate tights myself, so I am quite fond of this idea. Having experienced a real New York winter I know it's manifestly ludicrous, but it's certainly a nice idea. 

People always talk about how you can wear an item dressed up and dressed down. Well, you can never dress down a fur coat. But who cares, really? If you didn't want glamour, why are you wearing one in the first place? I'm not sure how I feel yet about fur. I don't have a problem with eating meat or wearing leather, so I'm not sure that I should, logically, have a problem with fur. But so far all I can bring myself to buy is the fake stuff. I'm just not sure, which probably means I need to write a pro/con list or have a good natter about it with my sister, who has the answer to every question. But.. and this is a big but. I do like this fur coat. In fact, I love it. It's fabulous! And since Sex and the City first introduced that word to my vocabulary, I think it's reasonable that I use it here. 

What are your thoughts on fur? 

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reality bites

I kind of love this picture. Having spent a lot of time in NYC on exchange and later visits I know exactly what the city looks like when it is turned into a film or television set. You could just be walking down, say 5th Ave and find yourself surrounded by trailers, grande starbucks coffee cups and big, bright lights. To get that 'AUTHENTIC' new york city look they call in yellow cabs, scatter well-dressed extras around and the sidewalk becomes a veritable soundstage, complete with dolly wheels, cameras, mega-wattage lights and that intern guy who has to walk, out of sight, holding the light reflecting plate so as to ensure maximum 'glow' on the stars faces. Most of the time they film at odd hours, like really early in the morning or just before nightfall so as to avoid the crowds, but sometimes - just sometimes, mind - they need the full harsh glare of daylight, and you can find yourself, whilst going about your daily business, confronted with the sight of your favourite movie stars, filming a scene. This happened to me in New York when I saw Clive Owen and Naomi Watts filming a car chase scene for "the international". We were down in Dumbo and our car was stopped because the road was closed temporarily. So we got out of the car and stood behind a barrier to watch these two people act out a chase scene. There was screaming and yelling and then the director would yell "Cut" and Naomi Watts would run to the side and read her children a bedtime story. It was completely surreal and totally New York.

This, of course, is Sex and the City - Carrie and Miranda to be exact - and one imagines that hovering, just out of sight, are the hoards of screaming fans that throng around the filming of this franchise. I just love the moment of reality captured here. The pinch on the arm that reminds us that what we see on the silver screen is the result of hours and hours of manual labour, of sweat, blood and many many tears, of artificial lighting and artificial taxis and artificial New York. For every time I watch a movie and wish i could live in that apartment, that city, that life, I remind myself that included in the package are the hundreds of crew members, hovering just behind the camera. 

Someone once told me that there is an entire company in New York that just rents taxis out for the film and tv business. The guys who drive these "movie" cabs are all actors, struggling to make it. My friend who recently got back from New York told me all about this restaurant in Times Square where the waiters and waitresses sing/give you a show while you eat. They are all trying to catch a break on broadway, and the restaurant uses their tips to help get their staff to their auditions. Something to think about. 

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sex and the city

I know, i know i know... it's turned into this mass-audience, commercialised, squeeze-every-dollar-out-of-the-bad-boy drivel. But i remember when it was great. When the show was real. Hadley Freeman wrote that one of her favourite things about the show was how there was some poignancy, some heart-breaking truth to the storylines. She used the example - my favourite, favourite storyline - of how Carrie can't force herself to marry Aidan, a guy who is perfect in every damn way, no matter how hard she tries. She hopes and dreams and wishes, but she just can't. And there is something so real about that, sometimes people who are perfect for each other just can't make it work, and it's sad, and awful and heart-breaking. But it's life. The tv show was life - bittersweet, belly-laughing life. And i love it. 

I didn't love the first movie, but i liked it, and let's be honest, I'm probably not going to love the second movie either, but my heart still sings for those four girls. Because they've made me laugh at things I never thought I'd find funny, they made me cry at things I never thought I'd find sad, and they taught me that you could see a movie by yourself, you could have lunch with your three best friends, you could go out to dinner on valentines day with your mate and not feel sorry for anything. Yes, the clothes were incredible - the good, the bad, and the downright ugly - and yes, there were moments of complete over the top hilarity, and even a couple that made me wince with awkwardness. 

No matter how many bad reviews the film gets, I'm going to see it. Because I remember the tv show. And it was great.

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hello loverrrr!

This week has been especially unproductive, i've got a load of work to do and i haven't done any of it because I got sidetracked by my collection of sex and the city DVDs... Mindless and charming entertainment that doesn't masquerade as anything more than feminine fun. I had so much fun accompanying Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha through 6 seasons of relationships, drama and beautiful shoes! And then the creative juices got flowing and all I could think about was Carrie's incredible mix-match style and making some polyvores of the whole thing. I'm not quite sure whether Fabulous Future Me is Carrie, or if she's just channelling Carrie. But hey, they're both fabulous! 

Monday

Marni duster, christopher kane dress, marni necklace, tom binns cuff, christian louboutin shoes, lanvin purse. 
Oh Monday is a great day to be in love! The start of the week starts to look brighter and better when you're in love. A working week is no longer 5 days of drudgery and work but rather 5 days of dinner dates, movie meets and late night trysts. So why not start the week with fun colours and bright sunshine? THe interconnecting velvet and sheer stripes of your shift dress clash marvelously well with the turquoise of your duster and the saffron of your purse. Together with fun statement jewelry that glitters and shoes that flutter - super high of course - you're ready to hit the streets in style! 

Tuesday
marni duster, forever 21 slip, muriel grateau earrings, playtex watch, christian louboutin shoes, stella mccartney purse. 
The best thing about wearing a sexy slip to work is that you can go straight from work to night without changing anything at all. Lunch meetings and content run throughs are serviced well with the bright colours of your accesories and the floral pattern of your cute duster coat (perfect for this transitional weather!). And when you go to drinks with the girls later that night you don't even have to go home, the sexy slip, the elaborate earrings, the cut out shoes... Night time meets day in the best possible way! 

Wednesday
Jaeger blazer, lanvin dress, mawi necklace, manolo blahnik heels, valentino kaleido tote bag. 
Ooooh night times are fun. You can get dressed up, all sparkly, and go dancing with friends, be a bright young thing with your gay pals. Nothing says a night on the town like glitter and sparkle, and you've got enough on it for 6 women in atlantic city. The metallic sheen of your lanvin dress, an embellished tote and heels topped off with a man's jacket and a hot pink necklace. Just enough brightness and glitterati for a late night of cocktails and laughing till your cheeks hurt. With heels this high you feel like you have vertigo, but hey, the view looks good from the top! 

Thursday
jil sander blazer, maison martin margiela sweater, prism glasses, american eagle boyfriend jeans, giuseppe zanotti shoes, DE and G bag. 
Thursday is a great day for shopping. The stores are open later, and the sales assistants are too tired from a wednesday out to push the hard sale, and you and your friends can mill around in beautiful department stores and boutiques trying on dress after dress, slipping your perfectly manicured feet into sky high stilettos, movie montages in the change rooms with tailored jackets and swingy skirts. You find the best thing to wear out shopping are comfortable clothes like loose fitting boyfriend jeans, comfortable sweaters and a big bag (for holding all your new purhases). Bright and colourful shoes make you feel sunny and fabulous.  

Friday
yves saint laurent bangle, lanvin top, maison martin margiela cardigan, marni bracelet, dries van noten shoes, christopher kane skirt, fendi baguette. 
Thank God it's Friday, right? Even if the week has been punctured by lovely brunches, dates and nights out with friends, there is nothing, nothing, better than that friday afternoon feeling where you watch the clock and countdown the seconds till the weekend. You always feel that your friday outfit needs to be suitably fun, and with bold jewelry, glittery tops, bows, sheer panelling and checked heels. All together it was a bit of a madhouse, but it worked alright especially with the big smile on your face and the swing in your step. Fun, crazy and fabulous, just like you!
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