delicacy

sweet bird of youth

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

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

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

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happy days

Decjuba oatmeal jumper, Bassike cool grey oversized tee, Opening Ceremony trackpants

Remember when I said I loved surprise early birthday presents? Well I also love late ones. They both prolong the birthday experience to make it extra special. Yesterday I got a late birthday present from my friends at work - a gift voucher for one of my favourite stores, Mecca Cosmetica. So off I trotted today to spend all my moneys there, stocking up on travel essentials like Kiehl's cleanser, but also the things I've been meaning to buy for ages but never got around to (like hair masques and blotting papers). I'm very happy! I was at my internship today, which is going swimmingly, and I wore my new super comfy Opening Ceremony pants from the Lands End sale, and just generally wandered around the city looking like I was wearing pyjamas. Lovely!

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clearance

Land's End, that antipodean emporium of fashion and one of my favourite stores in the whole world, has just begun a one week clearance sale for summer. Up to 90% off sale stock from the spring/summer collections and previous seasons. As I've attested many-a-times, Land's End do a bloody good sale. So who knows what you might snap up? Richard Nicoll shirt dresses, Proenza Schouler circle skirts, flirty Opening Ceremony floral dresses, a couple of brightly-coloured Suno tunics, maybe even a big Preen sweater? Or could it be some Balmain excess? I suggest that if you are in the Sydney area pop into Land's End. Who knows? You might nab a real bargain and something you'll love forever.

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surprise!

After a long day at work, punctuated by visits from friends and by-the-slice crust pizza (mmmm peri peri chicken), there is nothing more fantastic than coming home to find surprise presents in your room. Some of them are from my best friend, who is about to jet off to abu dhabi and new york of all places and have a wonderful white christmas. She left bags full of early birthday and christmas goodies - from a box of delicious chocolates from my favourite paddington chocolate shop, a notebook that covers 5 years on each page, so that you can look back over the years to see what you were thinking/doing/believing on the exact same day, and the most incredible smelling candle by Penhaligons from my second home Lands End. She really spoiled me rotten, and I can't wipe the smile from my face as I arrange my little gifts on my dressing table. And, not only that, but my parents had arranged a surprise for me too. They had fitted a chandelier in my room!! I couldn't believe it (And apparently almost spoiled the surprise when I came home early this morning, but I didn't go into my room, so the secret was safe). Even though my birthday is not till Christmas Eve, they could only get the electrician to come today, so there it was, shining brightly from the roof when I flicked the light on, a complete and utter surprise. I have always wanted a chandelier, even though they are just a teeny bit silly. I can't believe I have my very own one hanging from the roof - I'll have to be careful from now on not to whack it with my hands haha. What wonderful surprises!

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shop till you drop

I go on about them enough, and so for those of you not living in sydney, here is a bit of a glimpse into my favourite shops. I've been having a bit of a wander around and enjoying all the new collections - although not buying, i'm being very well behaved indeed! - and thought I would have a play on polyvore with new clothes, and then that resulted in a whole post... and now I want to go out shopping again. Wish i didn't have to work tomorrow! Things i'm looking to invest in are pieces of blood orange's minimalist chic, like k jacques sandals and t by alexander wang basics, or a slice of the parisien cool from isabel marant at the corner shop. If i had the funds I would be buying up all the vanessa bruno in the world from Belinda, and of course, nothing could stop me from purchasing a PS1 from Lands End, but for now I'll settle for my Assad Mounser necklace and the hope of one of Christopher Kane's floral tee shirts. Divine!

Blood Orange

Achingly hip like that girl who wears the clothes you wish you knew the label of but you're just not cool enough to know - or wears the clothes you think are boring until she wears them and you go, oh!. Diptyque candles, Mediterranean amulets and charm, charm, charm. She lives by the beach and has skin the colour of toffee.

alexander wang jacket, ellery sunglasses, bassike tee shirt, jennifer meyer necklace, current/elliot pants, proenza schouler ps1, k.jacques sandals. 


Belinda

 This girl's got style. There's really no other word for it. Style. She's clever and funny and bright and she wears all the right things in all the right ways. She goes to all the cool parties. She works in PR. Don't you just want to be her?

Vince jacket, vanessa bruno top, the row sunglasses, ysl ring, bex rox neclace, marc by marc jacobs bag, peter pilotto skirt, alexander wang shoes.

 

The Corner Shop

Why bother? there are girls out there who can pull off denim short shorts and pink tips in their hair and slouchy little vests! There are girls out there who manage to know everything about fashion and music and art and food and culture and lie! There are girls out there who get to dress up for work in Isabel Marant and 3.1 Phillip Lim instead of black, black, black. And they all work for the corner shop.

Elizabeth and James blazer, Isabel Marant jumper, Sahani necklace 3.1 Phillip Lim shorts, Alexander Wang boots, graz sunglasses, jerome dreyfuss bag. 


Lands End


If a store could possibly be your home, it's this one. Cooler than cool, chicer than chic, and always with at least 3 fingers on the pulse. To own everything that has ever passed through those blue doors would be a blessing indeed - just think of all the ps1s you would have! The only bad thing about this store... they don't carry shoes. Think what gloriously shod feet you would have if they did!

opening ceremony jacket, A.L.C dress, assad mounser necklace, cutler and gross sunglasses, proenza schouler ps1, christopher kane dress (worn underneath), lanvin ballet flats.

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all mine

I'm a jewellery girl. I love necklaces, bracelets, cuffs, rings, chains, pendants, earrings, stones of all kinds... need i go on? I believe that a good piece of jewellery can change an outfit. And with Assad Mounser you could be wearing a tracksuit and still look fabulous. Amanda Assad Mounser is a 32 year old New Yawker who used to design for Moschino and now creates "phunky phresh" necklaces and bracelets that are crazy, over the top and just how I like my jewellery - Attention Grabbing. These are STATEMENT pieces. These are necklaces that declare "i'm here. now buy me a goddamn drink". What I like about my Assad Mounser necklace is the mish mash of all the different elements. There are heavy metal spikes, colourful beads and a plethora of different coloured chains. There is even some Givenchy-esque cubes hanging off the bottom. It's a heavy necklace, yes, but it is bloody spectacular. It's a necklace that isn't run of the mill or everyday - but totally unique and incredibly, painfully hip (trust me, an hour in this bad boy and your neck starts to protest). I first got exposed to them through the liberty website, one of my guilty pleasures is scrolling through there, imagining what I would buy if there myself. Then I saw them draped over Abbey Lee in the March issue of Vogue Australia. Then I found out they were stocked in none other than my favourite store in the whole world - Lands End. The points were stacking up in favour for getting a piece of Assad Mounser. 

And then they went on sale. 

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Encore

style.com

This time last year Christopher Kane's atom bomb and cloud print tee shirts and dresses were, well, EXPLODING into the fashion stratosphere. His Resort 2010 is delicate in fabric, but strikes a mighty impact with those prints. "Sinister but beautiful" was Kane's description of the atom bomb print, and it's an apt way to capture the feelings that these images evoke. Like the bloody gunfight at the end of the Western, there is some visceral, and tragic, certainly, beauty in the rising atom cloud print. When it is contrasted against the images of the natural cloud formations that adorn the remaining dresses, jackets and even shoes (Kane wanted to communicate the idea of walking in the sky) it is poignant indeed. On the one hand, a cloud of warfare and anger, on the other the innocent formations of a peaceful sky. I'm sad that Christopher Kane didn't do a resort collection again this year, but we have certainly been spoiled for Kane over the past 6 months, what with his eagerly anticipated Topshop collection, his exceptionally witty and clever debut collection for Versus by Versace and the perfection that was his gothic vision for Spring/Summer in London Fashion Week in February. I've said it once, I'll say it again, Christopher Kane is a fascinating designer. He uses the word sexy at least once to describe every collection, and yet there is something else in his clothes. Intelligence. History. Good Humour. And sharp tailoring that can make any woman look good. I wish he was stocked with more regularity in Australian boutiques, we have been shamefully slow on the Kane uptake. 

Oh, and these tee shirts are on sale at Lands End at the moment. A slice of Kane for all, perhaps?

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to buy

at current, 30% off at lands end and calling my name. how can you resist that utilitarian shape, that perfect, buttery soft malleable leather, that veritable painters palette of colours - I'll take one in murky charcoal for sad days and one in bottle green for the happy ones - that easy, hang it from the crook of your arm top handle or the carefree longer strap for the shoulder, that perfect shiny clip clasp, that multiple pocket interior to keep everything separate and easy to find... am i ranting yet? I have dreams about that bag, seriously, I have dreams that random people in the street gift them to me and I have a huge party with mexican food and pinatas. This bag is not a want, it is a need. It will complete my life. I know it. from now on siphoning every spare cent I have - food money, bus ticket rations, rainy day coins - into the "ps1 fund". who needs to eat, anyway?

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