it's a man's world

It's not easy being the first show off the block at Paris Fashion Week. You have to show, uneasy in the knowledge that after you comes some of fashion's biggest, most coveted, most important shows. Chanel. Dior. Yves Saint Laurent. Stella McCartney. Celine. Dries Van Noten, however, always likes to stay ahead of the fashion pack. Whether it's the way he quietly promoted ikat and ethnic patterned design for a good 7 years before it caught on in the wider fashion mindset, or perhaps his loose, languid and drapey sillhouette that is having a moment right now, or even his use of colour, pattern, embellishment and shape that defies the imagination and inspires all. He prefers to leave everyone in his wake, rather than quiver in fear. Dries Van Noten is a worthy show to start paris Fashion Week. If you remember last season his show was enough to bring me out in raptures. Pragmatic, yes, but still covetable and oh so fabulous. It was all practicality, efficient elegance, to use the new york times' turn. It wasn't stuffy, it was just clean and simple. The look of the season - the long, fishtailed evening gown with cropped sweatshirt - came from that show. The second look of the season - the full, ballooning skit with matching blazer, lady-like luxe with a modern twist - also came from that show. The accessories shape of the season - doctor bag, tucked under the crooked of an elbow - came from that show. The colour of the season - camel with a dash of khaki and navy blue (together but not mixed, natch) - came from that show. The pattern of that season - leopard print - came from that show. Need I go on? 

all style.com

Dries has built on last season's wonderful realism to create a spring summer vision that is totally gorgeous. It is a breath of fresh air, a waft of easy luxury and simple clothes that are completely delightful. It may not have quite the punch of last season, but i think it has something more simple and comfortable. Everything seems geared for summer picnics and balmy gossamer spring evenings when you're eating things like beef carpaccio and drinking wine by the carafe. The master of layering showed looks that were easily achieved by throwing on such wardrobe staples as the blue jean, the peri-winkle blue shirt, and the white shirt dress. For evening the idea was simple - just nick something out of the boyfriend and/or dad's wardrobe. Dinner jackets swung, oversized, against sequined tops and tailored white shirts. There were a couple of glamorous frock coats that had more in common with Erdem than they did with Balmain, elegant and beautiful, a real museum piece. A lot of sheer, and the camel of winter is toned down into a more-ish buttery lemon yellow. In keeping with the major trend of the season there was a lot of white, a classic summer colour, and yet at the same time, ridiculously difficult to keep clean. But I imagine that being a Dries Van Noten girl would also come with a town car and a chauffeur, so things like public transport wouldn't even cross her mind.

What's to like? If you're sick of unattainable fashion and ready for some clothes you can actually wear, then Dries delivers. It's not for everyone, but then, I endeavour to suggest that perhaps 80s trashtacular, 70s glamour and 60s bombshells aren't for everyone either. That's the beauty of fashion, you can find a look that you love and cultivate it, and it's all for you. Whether you're a parisienne urban warrior like Emmanuelle Alt, a quirky accessories master like Taylor Tomasi, or the fashion is art kind of woman like Daphne Guinness, there is something in fashion for everyone. 

And for me, well, I'm choosing Dries.

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oh dear

 winner Amanda

L: runner up Kelsey, R: second runner up Sophie

Ah next top model. Can't make it through one season without drama. Last year was Cassi's "boganista" antics, the season before that it was the horrible tall poppy syndrome regarding "real" model Alice. And this season, well, let's say it has been a cock up of epic proportions. That recurring dream where you read the wrong name out in competitions actually came true for host Sarah Murdoch last night, when she read out "Kelsey" as in the winner, when in fact it was "Amanda". After about 20 seconds of Kelsey's elation and thank you speech Sarah started murmuring "Oh no, Oh no". You could see on Kelsey's face the moment she realised she hadn't won, and it was crushing. But, as a credit to both Sarah and Kelsey, both handled the situation with grace and professionalism. Kelsey supported Sarah while she, i believe the technical term is, FREAKED OUT over this colossal mistake, and then Amanda while she disbelievingly received her crown. The whole thing was just ridiculous, and I'm not just saying this because I'm a Kelsey fan. Amanda was my second choice, and I didn't want her to win like this, and I didn't want Kelsey to lose like this either.

Foxtel agrees. They've dug deep into their pockets to find a prize for Kelsey too, $25 000 in cash and a trip to New York to meet with modelling agencies. It's the least they could do. It was just human error, but it was human error on a ben hur scale, and it was a potentially upsetting thing for all involved. There is even talk now of running both kelsey's and Amanda's harpers bazaar covers next week. I would actually want to buy Kelsey's i think it practically sings of November, but I am torn because I feel that it doesn't really make it fair to Amanda, who won (despite everything) and therefore deserves the spoils of her prize, including the Harpers cover. Here are all three of the finalist's covers. Which one would you buy?

With the election, the AFL grand final draw, and now this, it hasn't been a great month or so for Australian competitions, has it?

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good evening

style.com

Rarely, if ever, does something truly new happen in the realm of evening dress. Sure, hemline can go up or down, shoulders can be sharp or loose, draped or cut away, strapless or long-sleeved, but really, in the grand scheme of things, it's all been done before. Flared mini dresses? We had those in the 1960s. Drop waist? Way back in the 20s. What about bias cut evening gowns? the 1930s has a monopoly on those bad boys. Designers today have to mine the past for inspiration and yet simultaneously strive to make their designs seem modern and resonant for a new audience who, let's face it, have seen it all before and certainly worn it all (at least!).

So that makes this season's take on evening even more remarkable. Because here is something that, if it isn't new, then it most certainly is intriguing. The new shape for evening isn't shoulder pads or plunging necklines or shorter than short, it's long, easy, comfortable and not even remotely sexy (although, perhaps in its own way, it is). The new shape is a sweeping floor length gown, slimline and tight against legs, paired with a simple, cosy jumper or sweatshirt. The inspiration is one of England's classic roses, a girl who heads to a country manor with a 1930s bias cut gown and throws on her boyfriends nubby knitted jumper as an afterthought to the cold. The same girl who, on a typical english summer night, heads out to a gala at the serpentine or the saachi in last season's Raisa Gorbachev gala black tie gown with a bonds sweatshirt over the top. With simple flat strappy sandals, a fresh-from-a-tryst hair do and a lick or peachy lipstick the look is complete. It is simple and seasy - oh so easy - and completely fresh. I haven't seen something in evening wear that has so inspired me in a long, long time.

And it's not just because I like long skirts. I do happen to like them, but that's not why I love this look, although I doubt it would have the same impact on me if it were a mini dress, or even a knee-length shift. The luxury of this pairing, it sings of women who have a wardrobe full of floor-length couture but the style smarts to pair it with arran knitwear and not south sea pearls, is fascinating. It is almost impractical, those skirts might get wrecked stomping through the streets of milan or trecking through country mud in rural england on the way back from a shooting party. It flaunts that kind of wealthy mindset where you are "criminally irresponsible", to use fitzgerald's words. You have so much money that it doesn't really matter what happens to your clothes. You can wear your couture in everyday situations because, hey, you've got 20 more where it came from.

And this is where the jumper comes in. Just when this look becomes too nauseating, too sickeningly upper-class bijou-aristos, you pop that knitted sweater on and everything is allllright. It could be a pringle of scotland chunky knit or it could be a scratchy pull over from topshop, but either way that heavy, comfy, snuggly, all-encompassing goodness that is the oversized jumper, calms it all down. It's like that friend of yours whose presence is enough to soothe egos and assuage fights. It's that reminder that even the very wealthy can be quite, quite cool. And you've got to be pretty cool, pretty remarkable, pretty modern to think to put these two together.

It's a shame, really, that I have nowhere to wear this pairing. No galas, no balls, no foundation charity evenings at which some fabulous friend of mine is the chair. Do you think it's too much for daytime? Long sweeping skirts and easy sweaters? Doesn't sound like too much to me...

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prints please

whatuwearing, tommy ton for style.com

whenever milan fashion week rolls around I always feel more inclined towards prints. It's something about that bold, brash Italian personality that we know, stereotypically, loves to slip into something as incredibly cliche as a leopard print jumpsuit or a camouflage dress. The girl who relishes itty-bitty polkadots and circle skirts with carnivale prints. Is this look compatible with my favourite fashion movement of the moment (I am loath to call it a trend lest I sound it's death knell prematurely!) - minimalism? I feel that, just like in Celine's resort collection, pops of colour and flashes of prints are allowed. Just a little bit of something different is often enough to make a Milanese-style impact.

And besides, as I learnt in philosophy 1001 a couple of years ago, how do we know minimalism if we do not know it's opposite? Meaning is relational. You can't have clean, pared back design without out-there, retro print-tacular brashness. The more, the merrier!

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questions

   I used to do a lot of these tagging questionnaire things in the early days of my blog (do any readers remember? hahaha). I was so happy to be tagged by Rachel of I want what she's wearing, it was a hark back to the glory days that's for sure. So, here we go.   1.) why did you start blogging?
I started blogging as an attempt to start writing. I said to myself - if you want to be a writer you have to practice, and this seemed as good a way as any. What started off as a personal sort of project turned into something much bigger (and better, might I add) where I got to share ideas and thoughts and hopes and dreams about all sorts of things. Fashion was always the common denominator, but I write about everything from history and film to society and food. mmmm food.
 
2.) do you prefer spring/summer or autumn/winter?
 Winter for sure! I adore winter - but I hate tights. I'm famous among my friends for never, ever wearing tights. Although they all harp that I wear such long skirts it doesn't matter, my legs won't get cold, to which I answer, they do, but I just grin and bear it. What is winter for, anyway, if not to get cold? oh, and to drink hot apple drinks and hide from the rain, of course.


3.) what do you notice first: smokey eye make-up or bright lips?
A bright lip always commands a room.

4.) who are your style icons?

Yasmin Sewell, Phoebe Philo, Taylor Tomasi Hill, Alexa Chung, Ashley Olsen, Gaia Repossi.

5.) describe your personality in three words?

dramatic, excitable, loving.

6.) if you had to leave the house with only one item of make-up what would it be?

Nars Sabrina lip treatment (or Bianca, as the new product is called, but to be honest I loved Sabrina's pinky - tinge).

7.) Which era do you think influenced fashion the most?
 It depends on whether you mean "fashion" as in today's fashions, or fashion as in the movement itself. In terms of today's fashions the era that always influences and always commands the imagination is the 1960s without a doubt. It is a goldmine of inspiration due to the myriad of different fashion movements within its timespan - from hippie to mod to mad men to librarian. Almost every fashion show last season referenced the 1960s in some way.

8.) what beauty product do you always repurchase?
 Nars Sabrina lip treatment - that stuff is absolute heaven for the lips. It looks great fresh, with a tan, and it sets off a clean face by giving heaps of moisture and a healthy glow.  I tag Emily of Little Black BookLyndsay of Lovely Discoand Briony of A girl, A style X

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legless

I think the whole world is used to seeing Alexa Chung's thighs. Well, if not thighs then definitely her knees. She is the matron of the mini skirt, the doyenne of the denim cut offs, the siren of the short shorts. Rarely if ever does she lower her hemline, her legs are, undoubtedly and unashamedly, her thing. And who could blame her with pins like hers? If it was me I would be constantly showing them off...

Until I got sick of it. Enter Fashion Week:

Barely even a kneecap in sight. What's going on? Where have those legs gone? The answer is - hidden under this season's super-fabulous, super-demure, super-lovely dresses and skirts where modesty is king (or, should I say, queen), and legs are a thing of the past. The old adage if you've got it, flaunt it, seems a little tired and sad today. Much better is if you've got it, dress like you don't have it. Or, if you've got it, who really cares? These gorgeous, flowy skirts range from mid-calf to knee length and are simple, chic, and oh so lovely. They gather and they drape or they cling and accentuate, but either way they lose none of Alexa's fashion appeal, if anything, they only add to it. 

And besides, after years of parading those pins around, we still know that underneath all that fabric, she's still got them.

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tuesdays are a good day

Today I did a guest post for The Corner Shop Blog. Regular readers will know that I adore the corner shop (and spend way too much time and/or money there). I feel I'm not quite cool enough for there, but I love it all the same. So you can imagine I was pretty chuffed to be asked to do a guest post for their blog about the 7 things that have been inspiring me recently. Things like Isabel Marant coats, macarons, and train rides - maybe all three at once, perhaps?

Here's the full post, and a link to it here.

We love following blogs, particularly those with lovely writing, photos and lots of personality. Hannah-Rose Yee is a media student from Sydney and the blogger behind  Capture the Castle. Here she shares her top 7 favourite things.

1. Isabel Marant Coat

I just bought this coat from the corner shop and, quite literally, haven't taken it off. It's brown and tweedy and all good things: deep pockets, long lines, dropped shoulders and oversized. It's like wearing your grandfather's tweed if only it was tailored to fit you perfectly and made everything you wore seem impossibly chic and french. I am a jacket person, I have a veritable "wardrobe of jackets", and this one has pride of place at the moment. Even though we're heading into summer everytime I put this coat on I'm back in a European winter again, traipsing around to art galleries and cafe bookshops and pizza expresses.

Vogue Paris 2008

2. Sofia Coppola's Somewhere

Sofia Coppola is a singular director. She has a style that is instantly recognisable - all soft focus and phoenix soundtrack - and her films are, as Variety said, "quiet heartbreakers". After the extravagance of Marie Antoinette she has pared back to her usual simplicity and freshness with a film about films. The main character is an actor taking time out in the Chateau Marmont, Los Angeles, when his daughter comes to visit. It's a story about fame and celebrity, but also fathers and daughters. It just won the golden lion for best film at the Venice Film Festival, and its bound to be just as wonderful as the rest of her canon - Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette and the Virgin Suicides.

3. Long Skirts

I'm in luck this season: long is in. After years of having to either make my own long skirts or adapting them from floor length gowns the stores are saturated with them: jersey, structured, ballerina style, full, sleek and everything in between. I don't know what to do with myself! There something about a skirt that hits the calf and not the mid thigh that can bring a bit of glamour and excitement to everyday dressing. They're a breath of fresh air coming into summer.

4. Sonoma Chicken, Walnut and Lemon sandwiches on miche

This is the King of all sandwiches. There is no sandwich on earth to equal the gloriousness of this sandwich. Juicy chicken and creamy mayonnaise shot through with tarragon, acid lemon and the crunch of walnut. This sandwich has been known to lift bad moods, bring brother/sister bonding and be the glue that causes lunches to turn into long, leisurely lunches.

5. Trains

One of my favourite things to do is catch the train up the blue mountains to my aunt's house in Leura. The train rolls right into the station and suddenly you're in a complete other world complete with year-round christmas shop, the "olde lollie shop" and a vintage shop stocked with bakelite bangles and army surplus cargo jackets. It's best in winter when the windows fog up and the wind howls and you can settle down in your seat with the new issue of Vogue UK and your favourite novel (I always bring Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan because it's short novella form means I can read it in one sitting) and while away the hours watching the mossy green and forest browns rush by in a watercolour blur. Life can be really busy but it all slows down on a train. They give you time to think.

6. Macarons

Yes, yes, everyone loves them. Everyone talks about them. Everyone eats them. And there is a simple reason for that: they are soooooo good. They're pretty too, but mostly they're just really yummy. My favourites are the salted butter caramel and rosewater from Baroque in the Rocks, the chocolate delice from the Lindt chocolate cafe, and the rich, ripe raspberry goodness from Adriano Zumbo's patisserie in Balmain.

Macarons from Adriano Zumbo

7. Vintage Sex and the City

I do a very good Aidan Shaw. It's something about the voice - I'm great at impersonating guys with really comical, low voices. Like Elton from Clueless. And Aidan Shaw. My favourite episode is "the good fight" from Season 4, when Carrie and Aidan have a fight about clothes, closet space, small apartment and rogaine, among other things. "Don't mock the clothes", Carrie says to Aidan after he makes fun of her Robert Cavalli top. Don't mock the clothes. That's not a bad motto for life, now is it?

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a tale of two cities

It is always fascinating to see how the different "fashion" cities subtly, perhaps even almost imperceptibly develop their own style. We all know that New York is hip, London edgy, Milan glamorous and Paris is chic, but when you watch collections and trawl through pictures on style.com it really hits home that, whether invited or not, the ideas about a particularly city seep into clothes and inform designs. London Fashion Week has just begun, a very different fashion week to New York, with a well-established "bad boy" reputation and tradition of young and up and coming designers. LFW has, over the past decade or so, seen a mass exodus of its big names to other fashion weeks - Burberry went to Milan (although, in an excellent PR move it has since moved back), Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood and the late Alexander McQueen all to Paris - something that New York has not even remotely experienced. Short of people leaving to work for other houses American fashion designers have a history of staying loyal to their city. Maybe it's a nationalism thing - the Americans are big on their country - or maybe it's just the way New York and London work. In London the culture as it stands today, although it is ripe for change, is about training them off and then sending them on to better things. London Fashion Week is a relative baby in the schemed of things, a mere decade or so old. Better to send them off to paris when they become big names. New York is more insular, more about carving a niche and keeping it that way. 

How is this reflected in design? One of the biggest and most resonant, convincing trend in fashion right now is Minimalism. I've talked and gabbed and preached and blaahed about it so much because I really feel it is the most pressing, most urgent message in fashion today. As a curvier girl I find this whole "bosoms are back in fashion" thing quite patronising, actually. Cleaning your act up and paring back is, to me, much more attractive than getting your boobs out just because Vogue says its "back in fashion". It should always be in fashion to love the skin you're in, and I find that minimalism does promote this in ways that are far more empowering than 1960s sexpots. With minimalism it is about being confident and comfortable with simple clothes, allowing you - whoever that may be - to take the centre stage. If that isn't about body, and personality, confidence then I don't know what is. 

style.com

The minimalism of New York and the minimalism of London is vastly different - as is the minimalism of Milan and Paris. New York is Calvin Klein, a show that Nicole Phelps on style.com deemed "uncompromising". It was sleek, clear and very, very confident. Francisco Costa knows what he's doing and he's not afraid to do it. Every garment was self-assured and totally covetable. There was a knowing gaze in the eyes of the models, a determined stride to their step. The tunic tops sitting stark against cropped pants, the bell bottomed dresses, the deep, plunging v-neck dresses and the swing style inverted collar coats were all perfectly formed pieces of clothing, it's as simple as that. The palette was, unsurprisingly, "uncompromising", a domination of creamy whites and murky blacks shot through with one spectacular fire-engine red and a couple of navy blues. This is no junior minimalism, no rookie, no entry level - it's Calvin Klein after all. This was design that was totally and utterly unashamed of being something that is, at times, confronting and harsh. There was no coddling circle skirts, no easy knitwear, no 1960s fun. This was all sharp lines and clear focus. Sometimes it's hard being a woman, especially a New York Calvin Klein one. But in dressing like this fashion can, in that magical, sometimes incomprehensible way, impact upon the way you feel too. It's nigh impossible to have self-esteem issues when you're wearing Calvin Klein - and with dresses like that, it's not hard to understand why. 

style.com

On the other end of the spectrum, hovering somewhere between sportswear and minimalism, is Osman Yousefzada's sophomore outing at London Fashion Week for his namesake label Osman. The Osman girl is not as sharp as the Calvin Klein girl. Her hair is in two parts, tucked behind her ears, her lipstick is smudged. Osman chose his shot of colour to be a burnt orange-y amber, a clear contrast to Klein's crimson firecracker. This wasn't a collection of BANGS and BOOMS, this was one of quiet elegance and a fusion of modern and vintage. Whilst round, scooped necks and tweed harked back to easier, simpler times, the shiny vinyl strapless tunics in lightest nude and the the midriff tops and midi skirts recalled a minimalism from just under a decade ago. Then, the simple white tops and the sleeveless trench vest with cut-away coat-tails were all modern. The Calvin Klein girl knows what she wants all the time but the Osman girl is more unsure in that typical London way that is so endearing. With the great London girls you never know how they will dress. One day Kate could be rocking a jumpsuit, the next it'll be jeans and a band tee, the next it'll be a vintage sundress and espadrilles. The excitement is all in the not-knowing, as contrast to New York, where knowing your style to a stitch is the most important. With simple, sporty lines and a quirky eye for textures and fabrics Osman shows how minimalism can be mysteries, surprising, and - dare I say it - youthful. 

One of the criticisms levelled at this new minimalism is that it doesn't translate well for those under the age of 30 not working a full time job and living it large and in charge as students, interns, cadets and general adolescent and early 20 layabouts. I would point them to Osman (and then onto Philip Lim who showed a very youthful minimalist/sporty collection at NYFW). Sure, Calvin Klein caters to an older set. But in real life who follows those rules anyway? Sure as you can have mutton dressed as lamb the reverse is possible, too.  I guess when I call Osman youthful I mean that it is more accessible for young people. I for one saw it and went - Spice Girls - then, Carrie Bradshaw (from dress number 5) and then, me! We get the pop culture references, we understand the allusions. I saw Calvin Klein and I was intimidated, but in that way that all good design intimidates you at some point. It was so "uncompromising", so "clean and clear" so utterly confident and self-assured that it immediately made me want to curl up under my covers and not think of anything fashion/uni/life related. The thing is, I don't know where I'm going to be in 10 years. Will I be sitting at a desk, typing away in my Calvin Klein pantsuit and strappy sandals? Who can tell, certainly not me.

So until I know I'm going to settle for Osman's exuberant minimalism. It's coltish, a little confused and unsteady on its feet. Just like me.

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no sweat

grazia UK

For me, when it comes to tops, there are only really two options: shirts and sweatshirts. Shirts because of their loose but buttoned up seriousness and sweatshirts for their louche, easy luxury. I love sweatshirts. As anyone will tell you they practically never leave my body (and when they do, they're replaced by a shirt, natch). I may not be a world champion runner and my sweatshirts have rarely, if ever, set food inside a gym - although they have seen the inside of a Bikram Yoga studio which is a story best left untold - but they add a little sporty ease to my dressing. I've lost count of the amount of times they've saved an outfit. Under a sleeveless trench, over a pair of boyfriend jeans, as a counter-point to my new IM coat. The sweatshirt adds a degree of casualness and, well, there really is no other word for it - ability - to any outfit. They make you feel like you could do things. When I'm wearing a sweatshirt i get things done. I go for walks, I buy groceries, I write stories, I read books, I do uni assignments. I am a wonderwoman! 

My sweatshirt of choice is Bonds. I have one in a grey marle, well-worn and well-loved indeed, and one in a charcoal grey, both of which are comfy and absolutely perfect. I love rolling the sleeves up so you get that flash of fleece underneath. I love pulling them a little to the sides to expose a bit of shoulder. I love how they can take an outfit from night to day and right back again, depending on what you pair them with. I love how they go equally as well with ballgown, bustling skirts as they do with baggy pants and sandals. They are the everyman of shirts. 

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dries van noten FW10 style.com, garance dore by mr newton, alexander wang SS10 style.com

In fashion - as in my wardrobe - sometimes movements and trends can collide. The minimalistic moment that we're having at the moment can crash spectacularly into sportswear until you are faced with the sweatshirt, the perfect foil to a pair of kickflares and yet also in tune with knee socks and footy shorts. It is both minimalist and sporty. And, since those are the trends that I am currently drawn to, i seem to have found my top "soulmate". Well done, me!

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wanna be on top?

australia's next top model

Australia's next top model is my guilty pleasure. I love nothing better - nothing better at all - than to sit in front of next top model with a cup of tea, my mum, and gab about who we like better and whether the whole thing is a bit farcical. I have to say, the photoshoot this week was gorgeous though. Photographer Jez Smith used low exposure to capture the girls on the streets of Tokyo so that the background - busy, frantic and on its feet - slowed down and the girls took centre stage against a city that, for a while at least, was quiet. The styling was supposed to be over the top, in the mood of japanese street style, taking the central ideas - fur, volume, texture, silhouette, colour and embellishment - and channeling it into a high fashion urban environment. My favourite at this stage is Kelsey (photo number one), she is very beautiful and a great commercial model and she seems like a lot of fun. She's the one I'd like to see in harper's Bazaar next month as the winner! But hey, it's just a television show.

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Crack

s

style.com

"Unforced Chic" is how style.com summed up Reed Krakoff's sophomore outing at New York Fashion Week. Hardly words you would use to define the man who was the creative director at Coach - not that this is anything against Coach, but "unforced chic" it most certainly is not. I guess it goes to show that even in Fashion sometimes you have to work your way up in order to do what you want. Just like George Clooney who pays his way to independent films through the minefield of the blockbuster, so too is Reed Krakoff finally establishing himself as one of the quiet achievers in minimalistic American design after years at a big fashion house (read: corporation). After turning Coach into a money-making machine Krakoff has now launched his own line, here in its second season, that is hip, urban, definitely chic and so, so so American. With design stints at Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren Krakoff better be able to design 'American', but for his mainline this is a different kind of American. Think: Erin Wasson and Carolyn Bessett Kennedy had a love child who dressed like Dree Hemingway. This is no country club Southern Belle, this is a New York City Doll who likes her dresses to be as slick as leather and her lips to be red, baby red. 

So what's going on here? The touched of leather hark back to a Phoebe Philo Celine moment that hasn't quite departed from fashion's mindset. Her pin-sharp minimalist (re)debut for Celine was an ode to all things working women supposedly want: tailoring, sexy and comfort. Reed Krakoff has taken those ideas for a spin, but added his own oriental theme and urban sportswear tint that New York designers are so enamoured of. The dresses may have been in rustling silks with leather edging but they were kimono style, not a-line. The leather coats had a bit of American swagger in their swing. The plunging necklines were an aftershock of sexuality departing from the scraped back hair and the long(er) hemlines. Piping along dresses and "V" lines were echoed throughout the designs on shoes, bags, tops and dresses. Everything was pulled together in the manner of designers far more experienced and far more confident than Krakoff. But hey, he is American. Say what you will, but they do confident well.

What's all the fuss about? In a nutshell, America is producing some really exciting designers right now. Their clothes are interesting and conceptual without straying too far from what is commercial, they have an eye for tailoring that even Saville Row would commend, and their price points are right on the money. I'm talking about the hallowed five: The Row, Alexander Wang, Proenza Schouler, Altuzarra and now Reed Krakoff. Save the theatrics for London's bad boys (Christopher, Richard, Marios et al) and the classics for Paris. What we want from America is sporty day wear that can take you right from the office to the gym to the Boom Boom Room. And from Reed Krakoff, I think we've got it.

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future classics

  tommy ton for style.com, jak and jil, tfs, altamira nyc

Have I got a perfect wardrobe? No, not by far. Not yet. But hopefully, one day, when I'm old and wise and very, very fabulous I will. I think I'm on my way to this wardrobe. I've bought the coat of my dreams, an Isabel Marant Etoile number that's tweedy and warm and perfect, perfect, perfect.I have the skirt of my dreams to go with it: A jersey midi that reveals a flash of tan ankle when I walk. I've got my favourite grey sweatshirt with sleeves rolled up to go underneath (Aussie chain Bonds, still the one!) But there are still some voids left to be filled. I need a pair of sandals - rough and raw - with thick leather straps and big gold buckles. I need a small frame bag that I can sling over a shoulder or tuck under my arm, equally as chic. I'm searching for a chunky men's watch like Garance's that is thick and heavy and big and brash. I need a pair of jeans with the hem let down, revealing frayed turn ups and dye lines. I'm still searching for a tan blazer and tan pants - not necessarily matching, but ones that I can pair with bretons, with khaki shorts, with midi length grey jersey skirts.  And, of course, if anyone knows any high street (aussie) secrets as to where to find maxi or midi length jersey skirts, perferably in colours like chestnuts or caramels, greys and charcoals and olives or khakis, let me know! Add a nice thick, chunky scarf, a simple denim shirt and a pair of ballet flats and that's me set for life, I think.

Well, for now, anyway.

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brown eyed girl

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tommy ton for style.com

t

the sartorialist

These two images are the most inspiring thing I've seen in a long time. Thank God for New York Fashion Week, right? They makes me want to run to my cupboard and put on every brown thing I own. It's okay to mix your tones and shades, it's okay to wear head to toe brown - as long as there's camel, tan, oatmeal, nutmeg, toffee, caramel, chocolate and chestnut in there. Oh, and while I'm at it, I'm going to raid my dad's wardrobe to find some khaki shorts and throw them on too. This is ridiculous - I don't even like shorts (or brown), but suddenly being nut brown (and/or nutty) is seeming so right. It's unfair that there are women in this world like Garance, like the girl from Tommy Ton's picture, who are so effortly chic in their brown shade clothes, their peep toe booties, their big gold men's watches, the leather shorts, their itty bitty chanel 2.55 reissues in ivory. It's unfair that they just 'know' what colours will go together perfectly. It's unfair that no matter how hard I try I know I'm not going to look as "fabu" as them. But still, I'm inspired. Maybe I'll find a khaki dress instead of shorts, maybe my jacket will be more of a chestnut than a camel, but at least I'm trying.  Suddenly we're shaking up the fashion rules. And it looks good.

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l'appartement

tfs via En Voyage

This, ladies and gentelemen, is Charlotte Gainsbourg's apartment. Notice the Balenciaga shopping bags and the sculptural ghesquiere goodness hanging from the closet? What about a chinoiserie desk, an array of leafy potted plants, a nick cave and velvet underground record set, a record player on a low coffee table, a mirrored closet. It's french enough to fit the vision I had in mind, but then it is so much more modern, so much more streamlined, so much more chic. For some reason the Gainsbourg apartment I had in mind was more ramshackle and haphazard, fraying "shabby chic" (oh, how i hate that term) lounges and french provincial decor. This one is far more cool. It jars a little with the simplicity of her dress, but in a way that is rather pleasant. As if all this modernity and hipness and sleek design was just as natural as ripped jeans and a blue shirt. 

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high culture

Recently I've been a very good sister. I've bought my brother a kick-ass 18th present of a leather wallet. I prepared my other brother a great lunch last weekend of baguettes and his favourite: pannacotta. And I just spent days helping him on his art project about Jeff Koons. When he told me he was doing an art project on a modern artist I secretly crossed my fingers under the table that it would be Jeff Koons. Sure - Louise Bourgeois is nice (she's my best friend's favourite, actually, the spider statute which normally freaks out little kids brings her heaps of joy) but Koons is where its at.  Childish, fun and just a heaping of cheeky mischievousness. I love how he puts the balloon dog in a variety of incongruous places: the roof of the Met, the jardin in front of Versailles... the structures of high culture are broken down, artistic significance is mutated and Koons comes out on top. It's a matter of no small irony (and just a hint, once more, of adolescent cheekiness) that some of the people who pay millions for the classics now pay millions more for a koons. Just like fashion, last season's proenza schouler is just as important as vintage chanel as long as you really love it. Don't buy anything because it's "good" - buy it because you love it.

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watercolour

nathan smith

This is the Nathan Smith Spring Summer 2011 collection. It is, in a word, divine. But here are a few more words, because that's how I roll. Muted. Clean. Fresh. Languid. Simple. Easy. Luxurious. Blooming. I love the palette of khakis, blacks, whites and a few peaches and dove blues. I love how everything is loose; from the peg-leg cuffed trousers to the tunic dresses to the little lilac cardigans. This is exactly the mood I'm feeling for spring and summer, collars popped on shirts, trousers rolled up, big sweaters over silky skirts and every pushed, pulled, rolled and tucked. Simple. When you see the last photo, the whole of the lookbook together (including the very cool stuff for the guys, mmm!) you can see the totality of the collection. It makes me long for balmy summer nights and gossamer evenings where the time stretches out in front of you through the belly of a wine glass. These are separates to live in, and that's all I really care about right now.

I'm not sure what it is but I'm definitely feeling a simpler mood right now. I'm just reaching for the same old things over and over again - button downs, jersey skirt, boxy coat. That's a winter wardrobe. This is a summer wardrobe - loose tee shirts, rolled up pants, bodycon skirts, baggy jumpers, strappy sandals and swishy skirts. Recently I've been editing down my closet, getting rid of everything superfluous and everything that's weighing me down. My whole family are compulsive hoarders depending on their personal tastes. Clothes are my poison. I have an overflowing closet and a dresser stuffed with clothes, more than 75% of which I don't wear, and quite frankly, I'm sick of wading through piles of clothes that I have neither the time nor the inclination to wear. I'm editing down until I only have clothes that I love, really love, and that I wear, really wear. I'm fairly certain that these clothes would slot in more than capably. It's all about ease. And these are certainly easy.

Collection available online( Link above) and from selected stockists.

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