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the shade

"Some people, some nations, are permanently in shade. Some people cast a shadow. Lengths of elongated darkness precede them, even in church when the sun is in, as they say, mopped up by the dirty cloth of the clouds. A puddle of dark forms around their feet. It's very pinelike. The pine and darkness are one. Eucalyptus are unusual in this respect: set pendulously their lives allow see-through foliage which in turn produces a frail patterned sort of shade, if at all. Clarity, lack of darkness - these might be called 'eucalyptus qualities'."

Murray Bail, Eucalyptus



Today, in this still, unyielding heat, I am sitting in my garden in the shade of a eucalyptus tree, or rather, the mottled shade of the eucalyptus tree, and watching the light dance across my computer screen. I could try and think of better ways to waste away such a hot day but, then, it's just too hot for that.

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to pack and wear



In just over a month I'll be heading overseas for a European winter and I can't wait! After this year of ups and downs, hard work and sweat and tears, I've definitely earnt a holiday. But, also, this is an end of era of sorts. When I first started planning it it was to be my end of university last hurrah before entering the real world. Back then I wasn't sure that I would be doing honours or that my time at university was not yet to be completely over. But, in a way, it is still the end. Next year is going to be so different - more work, more expectation, more results - and it might be a little while before I get a holiday again. So this trip to Europe, seeing things I've never seen before and visiting places that have only previously existed in my imagination, or on the pages of books, is more exciting than I can say. Just over a month and I'll be driving across those twisty Alps roads and drinking cocoa every chance that I can get and trying to stay very warm.

So, naturally, my mind turns immediately to packing. This trip is a road trip, train trip, bike trip kind of trip and I'm determined to go light. I say that every time I go overseas but this time - this time - I really mean it. This isn't going to be a fashion parade, this is a chance to see so much of the world, and I don't want to be weighed down by stuff when I could be unburdened by everything. This trip, more than ever before, is not one for big bags. For inspiration I've turned to Joan Didion's packing list, in turn the inspiration for the latest Dress Up collection, from The White Album, which taught me so much about writing, and reporting, and living. The list could not be more perfect for what I am trying to achieve. The bare essentials - plus cigarettes and bourbon, of course - just enough to get things done in comfort and in peace, without having to spend all night washing your clothes in the bathroom sink. At the moment my list is leaning heavily towards knitwear - I'll be taking one coat (for those who know me, narrowing them down has proven a really difficult task), two pairs of pants, two pairs of shoes, two tee shirts and two scarves. But, for some reason, I'm finding it hard to cull the sweaters. I'm at four and counting. Still, it could be worse. And, besides, having space in my suitcase will give me a bit of room to squeeze some COS and Armor-Lux and Porselli bits and pieces in on the way back.

CAPSULE WARDROBE




 






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cinematic style - Denise Richards in The World is Not Enough


It's been a month since my last cinematic style (shameful!!! but exams got in the way) and while casting around for my next topic I had so many good suggestions - I still havent forgotten either Bianca's wish for a Gosling/Drive dissertation, nor Madeleine's pick L'auberge Espagnole, which is next on my list of films to see - but as I was sitting down to write this all I could think about was Bond, James Bond. I'm yet to see Skyfall and the anticipation is near crippling me, so I thought I'd look back at the style of what I think is an under-appreciated Bond girl. Denise Richards. Sure, she's no Ursula Andress (that bikini!) or Honor Blackman (that wrap top!) or Carole Bouquet (those green eyes!) or even Eva Green (that purple dress!), and I'm kind of jeapordising my own argument by talking about all the other great bond girls - and there are so many more! Talisa Soto!!! Sophie Marceau!!! - and I know that she was named the worst bond girl ever but don't you think that was kind of harsh? Seriously. There have been worse bond girls. Like. Whoever played Holly Goodhead in Moonraker. Just, Moonraker in general was a bad Bond movie. And if people have a problem with Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist then why doesn't anyone have a problem with Tanya Roberts as a geologist in A View to Kill - also another bad Bond movie. Answer me that, huh? 

The thing is, I like The World is Not Enough, and I like Brosnan as Bond, and I like Denise Richards as Christmas Jones. I may be the only one, but hey, the 90s were good to me, and I'm rather fond of them. Besides, this series isn't really about acting or skill, it's about the wardrobe (otherwise I better find some reasons for why Alexis Bledel is in it) and man Denise Richards has a good wardrobe in this. The Bond Girl is supposed to be a pretty face, anyway, the distraction from the poker game. And what a distraction! Richards' first get up in army green tank top, shorts and hiking boots was that Lara Croft kind of sexy way before Angelina Jolie got her hands on it. She graduated from that to a non-descript military grade shirt, baggy black slacks that would make even Bassike proud and, like any good 90s nuclear physicist, a g-shock. Then - my personal favourite - all Britney in Stronger, with the tight cropped tee, the little baby blue sports jacket and a silver pendant winking against her clavicle. All that, and she scrubs up nicely, too. Her obligatory party dress isn't a floor-sweeping ballgown but a babydoll sequinned mini with all of that fantastic hair hanging down one side. All of them well executed, all of them both pure 90s thriller fodder and reasonably practical - it's those combat shorts and hiking boots, she's a scientist after all - at least more so than the wardrobes of some other Bond Girls.

And I guess I like her sheer American pluckiness when squared off against Sophie Marceau's fur-wrapped Elektra. It's like... the difference between champagne and coca cola. Sometimes you want one and sometimes you just want the other. So she's not a great actor. Whatever. Most of my favourites aren't. What we need of stars, especially in blockbusters like James Bond, is a pretty face and a nice outfit. And Christmas Jones gives us both.

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Ladies it ain't easy being independent



Because it's the best music to listen to while editing photos. Because it reminds you of being in year 9 and making collages out of smash hits magazines. Because it was always (secretly) going to be about the one-shouldered top and booty shorts. Because it's the kind of stuff that gets your gals grooving. Because we all want a rude boy that's good to me with street credibility. Because sometimes you just want to get down. Ladies, it ain't easy being independent.

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ps. yes that is N.E.R.D and pharrell in there. Like I said. Ladies it ain't easy being independent.
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letters

1 // 2

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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again and again and again


In the never-ending rotation of handbag musical chairs (wants and needs and haves and have-nots) you can sometimes forget the things you've had the longest and the things that have stuck by you through the thick and thin. The ones you struggled so hard to get your hands on, the ones who've been your constant companion at morning brunches and on evening dates and at fancy birthday dinners with fancy birthday friends. But then, like all good things that are so, so good, you just forget about them. A newer model comes in, something else catches your eye, and that old favourite gets wrapped up in its dustbag and sent to the back of the wardrobe. It's silly, really, but it does take a reminder to jolt you back to your senses. It might be the glimpse of a picture from Paris, bag tucked casually under the arm. Or the sight of it, perched resiliently in its place, begging for the chance to be given another moment in the sun. Or, much more shallow, yet infinitely more true, the sight of it on a streetstyle blog. How has it come to this? Rather than all those good times and all of those happy memories the thing that makes you want something the most is seeing it on the arms of some fashionista? Well there you have it. We are, all of us, completely and irrevocably human.

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Chez Dee


Sugar and spice and all things nice - what a surprise. But really, this place was. Tucked into a corner pocket of Potts Point, opposite the infamous Iguana Bar, and festooned with pot plants and fresh fruit and rainbow-coloured cushions. Surprising. And the food; tinged with sea urchin and other salty, briny things when breakfast food is normally served sunny side up, doesn't really get any more exciting, and surprising, than this. It's a surprise to find a cafe with what is essentially well-stocked pantry shelves (all for sale, thank goodness!). And it's a surprise to really enjoy yourself in the middle of exam period. So go on, surprise yourself.

Chez Dee with Rachel, 62-64 Kellett St, Potts Point
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holiday!


Just had my last exam!!! And now please excuse for the rest of the day while I alternate singing this and this at the top of my lungs.

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one


A bracelet you'd never take off, not even to have a shower, not even to wash the dishes, not even to make gingerbread, not even to paint your nails, not even to take the rubbish out, not even at kid's birthday parties, not even at the beach, not even in an exam, not even if it didn't go with your outfit (but it would always go with your outfit, always), not even to make sausage rolls, not even to sleep, not even to live. The one. (and that name! was it made for me or something?)

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no sweat


The truth about fashion - the one that no-one really wants to tell you, because it defeats the whole purpose - is that look books and campaigns and all of that don't have to drive you to buy new things. That rush of new season thrill isn't always about money and purchasing and shopping bags with crisp tissue paper at the top. It's about looking at something new and taking inspiration from colour and shape and texture and form. That's what I get when I look at Dries Van Noten, and it's what I get when I look at this collection by UTS alumnae Talia Shuvalov, knitwear designer at Narcisco Rodriguez.

What I like most about this is the shapes. I like that really supersized line of the sweatshirt - over sweatshirts and over even more sweatshirts - paired maybe with bare legs or with little skinny jeans. I like the idea of big on top and small on bottom. That boxy line - with a softly arching neckline and a clean drop to a wide sleeve opening - is probably my favourite shape of all, and it's one that I search out constantly in sweaters and knitwear. I look at this incredible collection and I see not just sweaters that I want - I really really want - but, more importantly, a shape and a cut and a form and a texture that I want to try myself. It's inspiration and reinvigoration; maybe add grey to your usual colour palette of burgundy and oatmeal and black, maybe try a short sleeved sweater over a longer one, layer, layer layer. Great fashion is always inspiring well before you even think about getting your wallet out.

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sunday morning



Sunday morning is cashmere sweaters and white tee shirts and blue jeans and freshly washed hair that's still a tiny little bit wet.

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italiano



I made my mum lunch today and somehow, completely by accident, it ended up with an Italian theme. Nothing like a little bit of red, white and green on a Thursday.

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gather

"'I don't understand how a young couple can begin life by buying a sofa or a television,' he said indignantly to me. 'Don't they know the table comes first?' The table comes first. The table comes first, before the meal and even before the kitchen where it's made. It precedes everything in remaining the one plausible hearth of family life, the raft to ride down the river of our existence even in the hardest times. The table also comes first in the sense that its drama - the people who gather at it, the conversation that flows across it, and the pain and the romance that happen around it - is more essential to our real lives, and also to the real life of food in the world, than any number of arguments about where the zucchini came from, and how far it had to travel before it got here. If our questions of food matter, it is because they imply most of the big fights about who we are - our notions of clan and nation, identity and the individual. Civilisation is mostly the story of how seeds, meats, and ways to cook them travel from place to place. The parts of that story are surely things that everyone should know, if only because they lead us to who we are."

Adam Gopnik, 'A Small Starter' from The Table Comes First


It seems like the only thing people can talk about at the moment is food. I'm guilty. I write about it, I take photos of it, I meet people and we eat it and write about it and take photos of it - not at the same time. It consumes me, just as I consume it. I spend hours on Kinfolk and this new one, Gather Journal. I think about starting something of my own, soon, soon. I put it off, so that I can go out for breakfast. I know that all of this means something but I just don't know what. I buy Adam Gopnik's The Table Comes First. Suddenly, it all makes sense.

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another one



Another good study outfit. Thank god the weather has taken a turn for the worse, study always works the best when it's a little chilly out. The brain functions much, much better in layers and layers of cosy knitwear (as well as little flashes of gold), I'm sure of it. Normal posting will resume post exams I promise!

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the best ever



The perfect study outfit: the best ever breton, the best ever cigarette pants and the best ever sandals.

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where I was from



Ensemble 1 - Where I Was From, this amazing vintage store with classic, menswear inspired items and incredible finds, I've got my eye on the perfect simple skirt and the max mara overcoat

Winter should be like this. Cold that is white and fresh and clean - snow falling on cedars - and messy hair that smells like the ashes of a dying fire, and big sweater and denim jackets underneath overcoats and puffer jackets. It's a cold that bites, a cold that hits the face and the fingers and the toes, a cold that seems to be so, well, American. It's a cold for tartan, and quilting, and suede fringing, and wide-brim hats. It's a cold for blackened corn on the cob and meat that has been roasting all day. It's a cold that I love.
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