the third

purple diary

In fashion month I hold my breath for Paris as long as I can. I hold it for the street style, and I hold it for the front rows, which are generally full of people like Clemence Poesy and Marion Cotillard and not, well, d-list italian soap opera stars or rock star progeny and radio djs. And I hold it for the shows. I actually hold it for three shows in particular. The first is Celine, for aspiration and inspiration and sheer sense of unitary purpose. The second is Isabel Marant, for real life, for cote d'azur summers, for endless glasses of rose. And the third is Dries Van Noten.

It's funny, I don't own a single piece of Dries Van Noten. Not the one. I've toyed with a few - namely bits and bobs from what is actually my favourite collection of all time which, not coincidentally, was also my favourite season of all time, f/w 10-11, Phoebe Philo's first foray at Celine and the season of Isabel Marant's first woolly Bator coats with deep pockets - sleeveless trenches and silk skirts and cropped sweatshirts with tie-cinch waists. I've flirted ostentatiously and without success with those dip-dyed jeans and jackets. I've wanted so much but the timing and the bank balance has always been wrong. But, unlike with other brands, where I get the feeling of buy no or regret it later, I never have that with Dries. Because I know that every successive season will be as good as the last, if not infinitely better. I know that those floral silks or digitally printed shirts that I was so enamoured of nearly 3 years ago will return (this season in grunge-tacular Tartan or watercolour splodge trousers). I know that the heavy brocade applique and attention to detail will re-emerge from the ether (this season on sweaters so glorious it is almost rude to call them sweaters, laden down as they are with puffs of silk organza flowers and strips of beading). I know that the shapes that the Dries girl loves; oversized sweatshirts with silk pants, boxy shirts with fitted skirts, dresses that trail at the back and slim-cut blazers that tuck into a-line skirts will never got old and never go away, because Dries uses them every season.

It's one of those funny chicken and egg scenarios, really, when you think about it. Is what Dries does so popular because it is in tune with a fashion model that resonates at the moment, or because Dries does it? I think the answer speaks for itself. In his entire career - all two decades of it and counting - he has been consistent in voice and tone and ideals. I think it's funny that the moment when he was least popular; in the 1990s, the heyday of heroin chic and tartan shirts tied around the waists of every cool girl and guy with greasy hair and ripped jeans, is the exact same moment which dominates this collection. But Dries has taken grunge and not only modernised it - the washed out colours, the masculine shapes paired with the feminine styling (classic court heels and red, baby, red lips!), that ineffable Dries way of mixing print and fabric and technique - but he has also rendered it even more cool than it was the first time around. Not everyone can do that. When designers delve into the past they either come up with costume or creation, it's always either purely referential on one hand or completely alternate on the other. What Dries has done, what he always does, what he excels at and what makes him so incredibly indispensable in this fashion world, is make a collection that was inspired by a moment that it both operates inside and outside of. This is the kind of thing that girls will wear today and in ten years, those screen-printed blazers with stripey tee shirts and ripped jeans and flat sandals as they stroll pass the Quai Malaquais (where Dries' best store resides). But it's also the kind of thing that Sadie Frost or Meg Matthews might have worn, those tartan pants with a holey sweatshirt, maybe, or a band tee shirt with the sleeves hacked off, curled up on a tatty sofa in Primrose Hill, smoking cigarettes through burgundy-stained lips.

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dip it

twin fashion people

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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multiple of three

streetpeeper

OH GOD. These photos aren't helping much, are they? I think this might be the case of minty wang part two, although thankfully these are not to be found at any australian stores preventing the trying of them on, which would only clinch the deal I think. Maybe I'll be able to find them when I'm overseas? I can't believe how effortless they look, despite the fact that in theory and on paper they sound a little bit trashy. White jeans? No thanks. But dip them in indigo dye and give them a wide leg and I might pair them with a plain tee shirt and a mannish blazer. I mean, how good does the first girl look? There is class and there is class, and she is of the latter. 

It begs the question, is it clothes or the person that engenders style? I used to think it was the clothes, but more and more recently I've come to realise that you can try as hard as you want to look the part but if you're not comfortable then it won't work. It has to be 100% you. These girls in their bleached jeans make them look so incredible, but I think it's them, and not the jeans, that does this. Maybe these are best admired from afar, no?

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dipped

The more I see of these pants the more I want them. Actually in truth what I want is the skirt version of these pants, but I didn't even know it existed until I saw the lovely Brenda Harvey of Benah wearing it at the Arnsdorf show on day of RAFW. It's a midi length and fantastic and something I would totally wear, but she said it was the only one that Poepke got in, and I don't like my chances of finding it. But these pants are still a bit of alright. Like the perspex frames I think they add just the right amount of cool to an outfit. They do what normal blue denim wide legs wouldn't. The dip dye effect goes that extra mile to take this an outfit that includes these jeans from cool to extraordinary. They just look so normal - as if you might have come from painting your house or doing some gardening. I'm a big fan of clothes that work effortlessly into real life. I am of the opinion that fashion should never be laboured. You can wear whatever you want as long as you are comfortable and happy in it. That includes both couture and track pants - I loved that feature with Sarah Harris in Vogue UK a couple of years ago now where she wore couture every day of the week. She picked her children up from school, did the grocery shopping, walked her dog - all in couture Chanel, Givenchy, Dior, Elie Saab, Armani... And it worked. By that same token casual clothes can slot effortless into a high end wardrobe as long as you are confident and comfortable. Wearing casual clothes at all times is kind of my mantra, and I would love to pair these jeans, a la Emily Weiss, with a sloppy joe, sandals and a big jacket. Oversized sportswear with a nod to the styling at the Dries show. I'm feeling a DIY project coming on!

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cut and paste

One of my favourite things to do is to cut out my favourite pictures from magazines and paste them into the front of my daily diary, so everywhere I go I can have a little bit of inspiration. 

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bleached

Vanessa Jackman

It's funny when you see outfits that initially provoke the outburst of "what the?" that then turn into an intense love. I had this in lightning-quick, sped up form this morning, upon seeing this picture of Emily Weiss from Into the Gloss on Vanessa's blog. My first reaction was "woah this is way too 70s, way too acid wash for me". And then I looked again and I saw what a fantastic interpretation of the 70s look this was, moulded with a bit of modern day chic and effortlessness. I think sometimes people - and magazines too - get too caught up with carbon copies of runway trends or fashion movements. The best looks are those that are inspired by and influenced by those trends and movements, rather than slavish copies of them. To do a good 70s look sometimes all you need is a headscarf, or a pair of flared jeans, or a long fur gilet. Not all three together. That's why that little suede bucket bag - with just a hint of hippy - and the slightly flared jeans do the trick. They recall that mad 70s trend that is so big right now without making Emily look like she's stepped out of a timezone. I also like how modern the look is too. That dip-dyed bleach effect is amazing, just like Christine Centenera's dries van noten jacket during fashion week, and I love how the jeans are both flared, and baggy, which is a different kind of i-stole-these-from-the-house-painter kind of look that sets them apart from the myriad of tight kick flares worn by Emmanuelle et al. I love how she's tucked that little grey marle sweater, perfectly baggy and with sleeves pushed up, into the jeans. I love her big sunglasses too. How chic - this is like something Jackie O would wear - but it's chic with a side of grunge. Jackie would have worn proper, tailored beige slacks with such a sweater, the modern girl, cool and fun and with a mind brimming with ideas, likes her bleached and dyed.

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golden touch

into the gloss

No mascara, no blush, hardly any foundation - just enough to even out pigment and cover any blemishes - clean, dewy skin that glowed golden. That was the look at the Dries Van Noten show in Paris, make up by Chanel. How fantastic that there was just a hint of gold around the model's eyes and a touch of it glinting out of sleek (but not stuffy) ponytails? How beautiful that the lips had just a touch of peachy pink? How wonderful that this was a make up look that required hardly any effort, even backstage at a catwalk, and that could easily transfer itself to an everyday situation - albeit a fabulous one. Sure, you can't go wandering around with gold rims on your lower lids everyday. But on that right occasion, it could be something quite spectacular.

I think these close up candid backstage photos make me like the Dries collection even more. He always has the best styling - think wispy, real-girl hair tucked into the collars of his covetable coats - and this season is no different. It complements and offsets his collection perfectly. How else to translate trippy black and white prints from runway to reality? With make up that looks fresh from the streets.

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it's a cinch

The Dries Van Noten show is one of my most anticipated shows of the season - after Celine of course. I love the way that Dries can successfully match creativity and eccentricity with a mind for commercialism and what women want. His clothes might be a little on the kooky side, but they sell, and people actually wear them - real people, not just fashion people - and they look so damn good. That's what makes him such a fantastic designer. He operates in a world somehow outside the bubble of trends and 'fashion' and magazine clippings, yet he is also at the centre of those very things because of the strength of his design and his ability to start fashion movements. He is somewhat like Miuccia Prada in that respect. I still dream about that fall 2010 collection filled with the doctor bags, the sleeveless trenches, the sweatshirts and evening skirts, the horn-rimmed sunglasses. I am currently - perhaps subconsciously - styling my summer outfits in the spring 2011 way, all oversized boyfriend jackets, loose languid silhouettes, and pastel mixes. He has a power over the way women dress even if he doesn't feature heavily in magazine editorials.

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I'm not the biggest print person, but I can objectively appraise prints with the best of them, and this collection is full of them. Kooky, almost psychedelic black and white swirls, oversized houndstooth, lashings of an amber and brown pattern that was like a geometric update of his old favourite 'rain' splattered silks, harlequin diamonds and his classic burnished gold jacquard. There was plenty of what the fash pack are labeling 'texture blocking', an idea cultivated by Dries in that fall collection where fur, calico, jacquard, embroidery and leather were all clashed together in one look. Dries has updated this for the new season with a host of tweedy coats with just one fur lapel, silk shirts with heavy embroidered sleeves and jackets with matching tobacco coloured leather belts and collars. He tapped into Chinoiserie and the opulent east with oversized kimonos over wide-legged pants - a look that recalled Phoebe Philo's spring collection at Celine and is a successful way of taking what is essentially a very dramatic and exaggerated look to a more realistic level. For evening it was all about the shift dress with Dries' characteristic slight drop-waist cinch, but this season in all manner of crazy clashed prints. Gone were the sweatshirts, the man-style sports jackets, the denim and the bell shaped skirts. They were replaced by wide-legged pants - still the shape du jour - and a host of boxy, belted coats, lingering tunics over skirts whose hems just poked out from under the top and slinky evening dresses.

But that certain Dries 'look' that is easily identifiable was still there. This is what makes Dries a great designer, rather than merely a good one. He evolves every season without completely leaving his aesthetic behind. Unlike Christopher Kane who seems to emerge, screaming, like a phoenix from the ashes after every outing (the only given with Kane is that next season he'll be doing something completely different), Dries quietly, successfully, forges the Dries girl. She has messy hair, oversized sunglasses, carries her bag in the crook of her arm and wears socks with heels. She loves pattern, belted jackets, jewel tone colours, wrap skirts, silk and ethnic touches. She's a bit of a magpie - gold jacquard trophy jackets and twinkling embroidery are a winner. I've always thought that the Dries girl is like a glamorous lady of leisure, that eccentric grand dame who brings her poodle to lunch and has a toyboy that looks like Baptiste. I'm not entirely convinced by some of the pieces in the collection - like I said, I'm just not a prints kind of gal - but then, that's the beauty of being a consumer. All I have to do is pick and choose what I like. And there was a lot to like.

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one more time

style.com 

 Almost a year on from this landmark collection and I can safely say that it is one of the most defining fashion shows of my life. Not because there were theatrics, or because it was over the top, or because it was artistic or extravagant. The excitement in the Dries Van Noten FW collection didn't come from flashing lights or smoke machines or live animals (I'm looking at you, Dan Single), but rather from the fact that everything sent out onto that catwalk was perfectly realised in a way that incredibly, potently, very tangibly real. I have worn a variation on every one of these outfits over the past year. I am still inspired by that clash of prints (tartan and leopard print and khaki oh my!), by the sweatshirt as a shirt (I must be Bonds' best customer), by the sleeveless trench coat. I still have dreams about waking up and finding this collection in my closet - every last piece - and running around Sydney as a delightful Dries girl, all tousled hair, Karen Walker sunglasses and easy, nonchalant elegance. These are clothes before they are fashion, but because they were fabulous clothes, they became fashion. These were cool before they were a trend, but because they were styled in such a fantastic way (tuck your hair into your coat! carry your big bag as a clutch! try a double layered sweatshirt combo in putty coloured neutrals!) they became trendy.

Different designers, models, magazines, photographers, stylists... they all cater to different crowds and work a different image. That's why I am constantly bewildered by people who claim to be "disappointed" by Vogue America's commercialism - they have the biggest circulation of the world and speak to a variety of different women across their diverse country (and the world) with equal conviction. How can they be avant-garde like Vogue Italia or Vogue Paris? Designers like Dries Van Noten don't have to be conceptual. Not because they can't, but because they don't want to. There is nothing to be ashamed of in designing in a way that is commercial - in that it will sell. The reason for this is simple. Things are commercial for a reason. This collection will sell - or pheraps, more accurately, HAS sold - for a reason. Because it is bloody good.

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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? 

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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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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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sale!

B

Belinda

Everyone loves a good sale. Well, it doesn't get much better than this. Belinda and the Corner Shop are having their warehouse sale featuring labels like Isabel Marant, Lanvin, Dries Van Noten and Friedrich Gray. I've been to one of these before - a hallowed, hallowed day in my 14th year - when I bypassed all the gorgeous Givenchy and Stella to go straight to the Marc by Marc Jacobs pile where I practically passed out on top of a mountain of canvas totes. Still have the one I snagged from that sale (for a mere $95, what a bargain!) to this day. What great memories! (I also remember it being really crowded and filled with yummy mummies balancing prams and skim soy lattes). 

Starts today at 2:30 at 30-38 Victoria St Paddington and runs till this Sunday 12th of September.

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no title. just awe.

jak and jil

Taylor Tomasi. Is. A. Goddess. The flash of wedding ring, that hit of khaki, the abstract print in that classic dries van noten cut - loose but oh so sexy, the cat eye sunglasses, the itty-bitty chanel bag, that yellow taxicab in the background (i'm getting a little nostalgic!), and - of course, how could i forget? - that hair. We all love Taylor Tomasi. She is a fearless dresser with an eye for colour, proportion, cut and has the best accessories of any editor at any magazine - hands down. Sure, the traditionals can keep their Emmanuelle Alts and their Kate Lanphears. Give me Taylor Tomasi and her New York vibrancy any day.

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doctor, doctor!

style.com

On my way home from work I grabbed Vogue Australia, ready to settle in for an hour or two of completely frivolous - but perfectly wonderful, of course - reading. What should I see, except a break down of trends that included my current favourite, the Doctor Bag. Yes, yes, I do love the PS1s and the Sofia Coppola for LV Duffel Bags of this world. But I've been carrying a satchel on and off (most notably off when I went through a 6 month "clutch only" phase) for the past 2 years. It's time to move forward. It's time to grow up. And what better to do that with than a Doctor Bag, that staple of lady-like dressing. The bag that swings from your hand or, if you want to go totally uber modern and chic, tucks in the crook of your arm like an oversized clutch. 

The shape is timeless. It is boxy and bulky and not practical at all. It's the kind of bag that men of the 1950s used to like - you can't work a typewriter or a read a book if one of your hands is completely occupied with holding a bag. But so what, really? Sometimes - just sometimes mind, I still crave a  PS1, believe me - you want something a little more refined. You want a bag that requires, no, DEMANDS, that you pay it attention, that you slather it in leather conditioning creams and ensure you don't just plonk it down of any surface. A bag that makes you look delicate and dainty, yet which is made of sturdier stuff than your average suede hobo. I want a bag that is a little more... well... chic. I always dress down - I'm the girl in an oversized shirt and plain skirt at the club. But, looking at Alexa, and the Dries Van Noten collections, I think that with a bag like this you would be dressed up for anything occassion, brunch or birthdays. I think that with a bag like this you would stand up straighter, your hair would slick back, and you would be a "glamazon" for want of a better word. One of Louis Vuitton's buxom babes - Rosie, Catherine or Elle. Blessed and Bold. But still "Cool" like Alexa. The perfection combination.

I glanced at my archives and realised that pretty much every second post is about bags. Is working in the DJ's handbags department getting to me a bit? We'll see.

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sloppy joe

I'm going to a 'casual' themed 21st party this weekend. The last 21st I was at had an Abfab theme (and it was, thank you very much), but this one is themed 'casual'. As in, don't dress up. Don't wear heels. Boys - don't suit up, etc, etc. I'm generally not a 'dress up' kind of girl. What I mean by that is that I tend to wear whatever I want whenever I want in. Sequins in the day time? Fine. Thongs to a night club? Also fine, provided the bouncer doesn't take offence. Similarly - lary 80s floral blazer to a morning tea? Fine. Simple, dowdy even structured calf-length skirt to a formal dinner? Yes, please. I don't let rules about when and where you can wear certain items dictate when and where I do wear them. In the way of perennial bad boys the world round - I do what I want.

But faced by the request to 'dress casual' i am stumped. What is casual? What i would wear to uni? Well, on that count I know I can't use that marker - many times my friends have told me off for being 'too dressed up' for uni. Because I tend to wear whatever, wherever, there is no casual marker, and as such I can go from night to day (and vice versa) with little difficulty, but no real borderline. Casual for me has no real meaning anymore.

That's fine. Because I already have the perfect outfit that will surely satisfy all parties involved. I'm going to listen to Dries, and mix my textures and sillhouettes. The sporty utilitarian jersey with a swishy, fish-tailed evening skirt - their love child could only be that kind of smart casual outfit that is so tantalisingly elusive. This is why I love Dries. He takes ideas and turns them into wonderful, well-cut and winning reality. I don't have to even buy anything - I have all the elements in my wardrobe already. I said way back when I first saw the F.W 10.11 show that the Dries girl would dominate my thinking come winter. How she was everything I wanted to be, only better, taller, sleeker and oh so chic with her jumbo bag stuffed under her arm and her hand shoved in her pockets. It's the little things - the curved flick of perspex sunglasses, the scruffy updo, cuffed sloppy joe over a flash of peacock-y brilliance - that make the most impact.

Thankyou Dries, for pointing the way.

X

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all about me

there is always one show a season where you just want to grab at everything you see and keep it forever. there are some shows where individual pieces might stare out at you and implore you to purchase, but that magic pull that makes you love everything - even things that you normally wouldn't go for - is reserved for one show alone. Last season it was, bizarrely for me considering minimalist utility was not something you would have described my style as at the time, Phoebe Philo's spring collection for Celine. Rather than the clothes themselves (though they were undoubtedly very lovely), what drew me to the collection was the energy and atmosphere it imparted for Spring and Summer. Pared down elegance in a number of easy-going separate in the muted tones of a vermeer painting. What wasn't to love when the rest of the shows had been peddling a blinding array of flashy mini-dresses and slashed blazers. The understated, yet not romantic (there was nothing 'soft' about this collection), beauty of Celine last season was captivating and set the tone for many a wardrobe haul-over (not the least my own).

style.com

This season I can safely say that Dries Van Noten holds the key to my autumn/winter mood. I know the shows are not technically finished yet, but I doubt i will see something to top what Dries Van Noten has stirred inside me. I recognise it all from last season - those feelings of longing, the stirrings of d.i.y's in the recesses of your mind and the biting of the lip as you struggle to think what might best replicate the looks from your own closet. I want to be the Dries Van Noten woman this autumn, just like how I wanted to be the Celine woman last spring - and the interesting thing is, the Autumn Dries woman is almost like a slightly more 'me' version of the Celine Spring woman.

All those elements of Celine - the no-fuss utilitarian lines, the sinuous draping contrasted against harsher body-con silhouettes, the neutral palette shot through with jolts of colour, the way evening was crafted through separates - they all found a home in Dries' autumn collection. But they were twisted and shaken about in a way typical of Dries. His girls had messy hair, hip sunglasses and canvas clutches tucked under their arms, they most certainly were not Philo's urban jungle sirens. What they were was ever so slightly more real, and thus achievable - they looked like they were just walking down the street in their daily uniform comprising of mis-matching prints, khaki separates and the perfect balance between sporty and glamour.


style.com

I looked at the models and thought - hey! that's just how I dress.. Or at least just how i WANT to dress. Elements of my style were there, and quite strongly, but the collection had pulled it all together in ways that had either never occurred to me before or i had ruled out as naff. Ideas like this had never really been presented on a runway to me in quite so clear a way - I like prints a lot and equally divide my love between plaid, stripes, leopard and floral. So why not mix them all? I like the sporty lines of sweatshirts and track pants, so why not jazz them up with tailored jackets and full skirted evening gowns?

It was almost as if Dries was presenting all those elements of my style and wardrobe and showing me how to update them. This was my style - but better, more pulled together - in other words, just how i WISHED it would be. I couldn't take notes fast enough. Come winter you'll find me kitted up like this Dries girl in rehashes of my own wardrobe staples - the trench coat, the khaki parka, the tapered pant, the floral blazer, the striped breton, the sweat shirt, the full skirt, the plaid shirt - but, here's hoping, in that cool, street-style way of the collection itself. The magic is in the styling, the individual pieces are lovely indeed, but it is the styling that is the hero of this collection. Imagine the looks without that elegant yet slightly witty touch? For how else would you describe the pairing of a floor length bright amethyst skirt cut on the bias with an oversized sweat shirt falling slightly off the shoulder? genius.


style.com

This collection spoke to me in a very powerful way, and not just to say GET THEE TO POEPKE/BELINDA AND BUY THEE SOME DRIES. It said - consider your wardrobe. Think outside the square when it comes to getting dressed in the morning. Throw things together and then pare them back with a sporty or military piece. And dear god, get yourself a good pair of sunglasses.

X

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hot hot summer!

'Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.'

Henry James

There are some things that i love about summer - lemon-y fish and chips, salty sea breezes, mangoes with juice that drips all over the floor, ice tea, lying around lazily in parks and the colour white. I love alfresco lunches, i love dive bombing into pools, i love sleeping on top of the sheets.

But god, i hate getting dressed. I wake up in muggy summer heat, tangled up in the sheets and i dread the prospect of putting clothes on and venturing out in polite society. If only we could all run around like Carrie Bradshaw in midriff tops and full skirts. On the days I have work i can just pull something black and 'business-like' out of my closet and jump on a bus, but every other day I stand, flummoxed, trying to work out what to wear. The heat suffocates me and all i can think about is how much i would rather just stay home and sit in front of my freezer wearing nothing but a slip and knickers.

I felt it today, i spent a whole lazy sunday with friends doing nothing but gossiping and eating, cool, refreshing salads, lashings of lemon and crispy baguettes. I tried to find something to wear that would keep me cool in this ridiculous sydney heat as well as appear chic in the manner of european jet-setters in monaco or biarritz, something of such sort. Where were my little cheesecloth tunics and pencil-thin legs, my little strappy sandals and floppy hats? My loose linen trousers and baggy breton stripes. All i could see were my stuffy skirts in thick materials, scratchy tops and ill-advised jackets. Why do i have so many jackets? Why do i have so many thick skirts and tops?

Maybe it's never been this hot before, or maybe i've been too long away from the heat of summer, but it felt hotter than ever before. I eventually settled on my perfect oversized cotton tee shirt in a minty green and a long checked skirt with a pair of sandals. But i wasn't cool and languid in the manner of a dries van noten babe or riviera champagne bubble girl. Later that night at dinner I was stuffy and sticky and not even ice cold coke could cool me down. It was terrible.

What is the secret to summer dressing in sydney? Seriously, i need to know, especially since i have so many more of these to endure. And there's got to be more than just one answer - denim cut offs and tank tops. Not every girl can run around town in those clothes.

This is what i want to look like. Why can't i, even when consciously emulating this look, be easy and breezy like they appear. Little silk slips of things layered over each other, duster jackets that provide that light coverage that you need on gossamer summer nights. And it's not because these are actually quite hot things to wear - Dasha Zhukova and Margherita Missoni swan around Cannes in clothes similar to this all the time. So what is different about me, and Sydney?

I don't (and won't) submit myself to the cliche bronzed amazonian aussie girl. I think that bronze limbs poking out from crisp white shirt sleeves can be just as alluring and summer-sodden as mini skirts. And it's also just as cool, wearing less clothes, than it is wearing ones with slightly more coverage if made from materials that breathe. So why doesn't this work for me? I know it works for some people... I know it. So why not for me? I end up muggy and downcast, and end up having to tie my hair up into a very unflattering top knot and fanning myself with whatever flat item i can get my hands on.

Am i being unrealistic here? Is the key to summer dressing LESS not MORE? Or can we achieve that languid, loose, boxy silhouette of the belgians without sacrificing comfort? I certainly hope so.

X

ps. i'm so sorry for the lack of blogging, i've been house sitting for friends, working hard, planning february and uni and it's also been so damn hot i dont want to do anything other than cold baths and reading silly books whilst sitting in front of freezers and/or fans/open doors.

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hot hot summer

What is one to say about June (December for us Aussies), the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade.

Gertrude Jekyll

catwalking, style.com (throughout)

Upon seeing the Dries Van Noten show during Paris Fashion Week yesterday my first thought was - Summer is here. And my second was Lanvin. Not because the Dries Van Noten show borrowed or referenced that collection heavily, but because the mood in both was eerily similar. It's almost as if Van Noten and Elbaz stuck their heads together and envisioned their perfect summer - bright, bold and young.

From the very glimpse of pleated beige trousers with a smorgasbord of prints on top and sensible, classic bags I was instantly transported into this world of resort glamour, if updated a little bit to fit into city life. Where Lanvin was unashamedly riviera - the lanvin customer can, and does, spend thousands on a pretty little outfit to sun on a beach in st tropez - Van Noten knows that this is a spring/summer collection, and is just as likely to be worn on the streets of London as it is on a boat in Lake Como. He updated his Spring/Summer collection from 2008 and took it into the here and now. His usual cacophony of colour and print subdued with the occasional shot through of block colour and the clean, simple lines. Van Noten can mix like no other, though, and he's at his best when throwing prints together haphazardly to create a look that is wholly unique. Tricky to take on, undoubtedly, but if you have that sunny disposition that prints so require (try wearing a print when you're in a cynical, sarcastic mood and get back to me), as well as an effusive grin then you'll get by just fine.


This Summer i know i'll be ferreting out all the print, bold colour and riviera neutrals (beige, khaki, brown and french navy) that i can find to mix and match like a Van Noten superwoman. Not least because I do like to mix my prints, the effect that my vintage lanvin sheer floral print shirt and my checked skirt have with each other is wonderful. Also because, despite what fashion might dictate with its spiked heels and black sharp-shouldered jackets, summer isn't really a time for seriousness and vamp. Although i might wax lyrical about the beauty of a pencil skirt and white shirt, implicit in this is the fact that these clothes are to be worn in winter. To wear such things in summer is to rain on the parade, to turn up at a byo party empty handed.

In Summer you are supposed to dress in this brash and excitable way, where one print is fine, but 3 is better, and as you're leaving the house you don't take off one accessory you add 6 more. There is nothing that rings in Summer more for me than beach-side ice cream cones held in an arm jangling with resin bangles and charm bracelets. Whilst a pair of earrings dangle from your lobes. And a huge cocktail ring winks from your fourth finger. Summer is all about excess, too much sun, too many cocktails, too much... No-one pares back in summer. Sure, for the lead up to Summer there are the girls who detox and subsist on pepper water and dried fish so they can look great in a bikini, but when December the 1st comes round, rosy and rotund, they're tucking into the berry thickshakes and grilled fish just like the rest of us.


If you're unsure about the print orgy then tone it down with a cashmere jumper or just go all out with the accessories. Dries Van Noten's collection showed an equal amount of print-tastic pieces for the wild as well as the subdued jumpers, pants and mini trench coats for the discerning eye. As always his proportions were spot on, pants tapering to a cuffed hem just above the ankle, crop tops revealing a wink of skin above a pair of drawstring pants. Duster coats in the unmistakeable summer hues of tangerine orange cut long and lean in the length but a little shorter in the width, so they hung as if just resting on the model's shoulders. Perfect for the type of girl who likes to wear a coat but still wants people to see what the colour of her top underneath it (guilty). Everything was cut with that boxy silhouette of his that manages to float away from the body and yet define it irrevocably. There are few other designers today who have such a grasp on the more is more trend. Few other designers except Alber Elbaz, that is.


I've said it before that Alber Elbaz's designs are refreshing in the way that a glass of creamy milk can be with a slice of rich chocolate cake. He's too much, and just a little bit camp. But the more he throws on the girls - paste jewelry, tassels, cone heels, chain handles, big sunglasses, bold bangles, ruched, ruffles, scrunching, prints, hats - the more it works. I honestly believe that Elbaz's designs would not make so much of an impact just by themselves, removed from the theatrics. And that is not a bad thing, on the contrary, that is marvelous. Elbaz is one of the only designers today who is unabashedly bringing back excessive glamour. And not in the 'balmainia', disco slut way. In the old-school peggy guggenheim way with exaggerated jewelry and a wry smile. The type of woman who is still wearing her pearls and elbow length gloves when she's 90, sipping a double espresso in a Paris cafe. The type of girl who walks home at 6 am in the morning after a big night out with her eyeliner smudged and her hair mussed up, but still defiantly strutting in her party dress and shoes. The girl who goes to a resort and brings 4 suitcases for a fortnight-long trip. But she's travelling by her hubby's private jet, so who cares, anyhow?



But, it must be said, these aren't the kind of looks you can wear all summer. These are December looks to slip into when Spring, swollen with rain, shifts imperceptibly into dry Summer. When every night stretches out languidly before you without end and every time you look at the sea it seems to be a different colour. Your printed dresses go with everything - with salty air, beachy waves, the sweet acidity of lemon over chargrilled octopus. They go with mojito-sodden nights spent laughing over everything from the sunset to the sunrise with friends. They go with walks from beach to beach in little leather sandals and a wide-brimmed hat. They go with summer stillness seen through the deep belly of a chardonnay filled glass.


But once December moves steadily into January, and summer morphs into heady stickiness those endless days aren't as charming as they are a chore. All you want to do is lie around the house, fanning yourself carelessly with a recent grazia. You can do that in a long printed strapless gown, of course, but its bright colours can be a little disarming. So you file your prints away, preparing for Autumn. You start counting down the days until you can bring out those cardigans, those comfy leggings, those all-enveloping coats. But when the leaves start to turn their colours remind you of those azure skies and eternal promise of early summer.

So i know what i'll be wearing come summer. And even though in February you may find me lying down with a hat firmly over my face doing nothing at all I'll be thinking wistfully of that fresh-faced youthfulness of early summer where it was all prints, all the time. I hope you will be too.

X

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It's dries, dahling.

Of course, my love for Dries will extend far into the future. 

Fabulous Future Me, that is. 

(can you tell that i am desperately procrastinating uni work?)

Monday 

Dries Van Noten blazer, Marni skirt, dinosaur designs bangle, lanvin heels, YSL bag.

Thank God for cone heels. This pair may be embellished dramatically and opulently with pailettes, baubles, and enough semi-precious stones to keep costume jewellery in gin and knickers for a month, but they are marvellously comfortable without sacrificing an inch of glamour (literally or figuratively). Which, of course, was the point. Stripes and circles may not be broach-able territory for anyone else, but it is a hazy monday morning, and the softly graduating stripes in french navy of the Dries blazer are calling to you. You dress in a bit of a daze, knowing full well that the only thing awaiting for you at work is a big feature to write and phone calls to make and an editor to suck up to who only really likes you because you're going out with a famous actor. Well, it all pays the bills, darling. 

And by bills, you mean your store charge at Dries Van Noten. 

Tuesday

Dries van Noten lounge coat, chloe blouse, malene birger skirt, marni bracelet, marc jacobs pumps 

You're running horridiously late for lunch with your fabulous friend, a photographer and model and all around style maverick. Unfortunately for you, marc jacobs didn't design these pastel pumps with running in mind. By the time you make it there, shuffling ineptly along the london streets, you are 20 minutes late. Damn. You hand your coat to the maitre'd at the front of the restaurant and go to move towards your friend, her eyebrows raised in bemused annoyance. However you've noticed the Maitre'd hasn't moved. He's still clutching your coat, a starry expression in his eyes. 

'There are coats, and there are coats.' He manages to choke out. 'And this is of the latter.' 

You smile. 'It's Dries, darling.' 

Wednesday

Vanessa Bruno blazer, miu miu heels, dries van noten dress, marni bangle, marni clutch. 

On your way to a play opening, you push the sleeves of your blazer up in a hurried attempt to take your work look 'into night-time'. Elle Magazine might exhort you to add a little diamond sparkle at your neck or throat, but unfortunately all you've got on you is lip gloss. That'll do. And anyway, you never really believed in day and night dressing in the first place. If you want to wear sky high stilettos and sparkly dresses to work, why don't you? Likewise if your idea of an outfit to party in is a flowing skirt and loose top, then you own it! Feeling empowered you walk up the steps towards the theatre and see the Boy waiting for you, the sleeves of his tuxedo jacket rolled up as well. Great minds think alike. 

Thursday

Dries Van Noten blazer, stella mccartney shoes, marni dress, rayban wayfarers, marni bag. 

you've managed to escape the office for the day, whizzing up to Cambridge to see your mother, and then to interview a young director holed up in his manor house as he contemplates his oscar win. Kill two birds with one stone, and it means you can wear a bright sunny dress without seeming frivolous (your colleagues tend to wear a lot of black. A LOT of black). Your mother is delighted to see you of course, and plies you with brownies and chai tea until you protest innocence, holding your balloon bag in front of you as you escape. You speed along the winding roads over to the quaintly named 'Coddington Hall'. The young director is terribly talented, and as such, terribly difficult to interview. As he mumbles his way through your questions, you notice he's staring absent-mindedly at your jacket. 

'I never really thought checks could go with spots.' He says at last. 'But you make it look quite good.' You blink. 

'Its the Dries, dear.'  

Friday

Marni top, lanvin necklace, dries van noten skirt, givenchy leather jacket, ysl bag, forever 21 gladiators. 

Casual Friday hits you like a ton of bricks, and you can just hear your feet singing with happiness as you stride up the stairs to your office in sandals. Oh the bliss of completely horizontal feet! Thank god for small mercies. You love the way this skirt moves too. It clings to your legs and every curve, the material a bright, sunny, goldy gold that is so opulent and extravagant (without a price tag to match). And besides, long skirts aren't just for night time. You think there is something very elegant about the sound of material sweeping over the floor. To prove it to yourself you stride across the floor of the bathroom, loving the swish swish noise of lurex against tiles. 

'What on earth are you doing?' your boss says, surveying you as if you are an alien of indeterminable danger and your odd behaviour is catching.

You shrug, grinning. 'It's the dries!'

hahahahahahhahah that was fun. but now i really have work to do.

love!

X

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