found!

 petite grand for my chameleon



Hark! Rejoice! Just a day over a week from christmas (and bang on a week from my birthday) I have found it. Perfection, distilled into a dainty gold chain with charms hanging off it. Beauty, winking from every flaxen-hued link. Luxury, crystallised in a pair of anklets. Long have I searched for the perfect one, something to match Ashley Olsen's fabulous Ileana Makri pair, something as fine as the one Garance loves, something as ridiculous and gaudy and therefore wholly fabulous (yet without the wholly extravagant price tag) of the subsequent Ileana Makri for The Row number - clearly the Olsens wanted to answer the prayer of anklet-lovers the world over, yet failed to recognise not all anklet-wearers have their multi-million dollar bank accounts. Best intentions and all that. And thus, deflated but not dejected, the search continued and the obsession prevailed. I predicted that next year everyone would be wearing anklets. I commented that the ankle was my erogenous zone of choice. And I waited until someone - someone! - would make exactly the kind of anklet that I wanted and had dreamed about, falling delicately over strappy sandals and bringing a touch of the ghetto-fabulous to every outfit.

And I found it. Petitegrand, a lovely little Australian jewellery company, has collaborated with one of my favourite online stores My Chameleon on a capsule collection of brightly-coloured cord bracelets and beads and - oh! - anklets. ANKLETS. Amazing, amazing anklets. Silver anklets with cross charms dangling down, caramel coloured anklets with twin jade beads or a radiant indigo blue version of the same and, the crowning glory, a gold anklet with oval charms that is just the ticket, something that Ashley Olsen would surely wear, paired with birkenstocks and straight-leg jeans or stilettos and a tailored blazer. She might have two, or three, or four, and wear them all at once, cord and gold strung together in a perfect harmony of kitsch and cool. Long have we wondered just how, exactly, the Olsen twins can do what they do and make things that are so wrong so very, very right. We may not know, we may not ever know, but at least we can wear anklets while we ponder on these pertinent, pressing questions of mankind.

monday. long skirts and lace bras and matching anklets

Isabel Marant Xavier coat from La Garconne, Acne Wonder tee shirt from La Garconne, Opening Ceremony knit blazer from La Garconne, PetiteGrand for My Chameleon Gold Charm Anklets x 2 from My Chameleon, Demylee New York maxi skirt, Repossi ring, Cos lace bra and knickers, Benah Ryder sandals, Celine trapeze classic bag

tuesday. byredo blanche and black backpacks and matching anklets

Isabel Marant Atea Jacket from My Theresa, COS stand-up collar tunic, Prism glasses, Byredo Blanche, Michael Michael Kors watch from Nordstrom, Repetto BB ballet flats, Petite Grand for My Chameleon Caramel Cord anklet x 2 from My Chameleon, COS relaxed fit jeans, Isabel Marant black and ivory Take Me With You necklace from La Garconne, Satomi Kawakita black diamond solitaire ring from La Garconne, The Row aligator backpack

wednesday. a handful of rings and shades of grey and blue and matching anklets.

 

Le Mont St Michel Fleece-lined Parka from La Garconne, COS salt-and-pepper tunic, Isabel Marant take me with you necklace from La Garconne, Alexander Wang colour-blocked cardigan, Saskia Diez thin gold ring from La Garconne, Catbird Memory ring, Satomi Kawakita Polka Dot ring from Catbird, Catbird Heart ring, PetiteGrand for My Chameleon indigo cord anklet x 2 from My Chameleon, Prism glasses from Net A Porter, Serge Lutens Five O'Clock Au Gingembre, Isabel Marant Dicker boots from La Garconne, Hope News Trousers from La Garconne, Proenza Schouler suede ps1

thursday. shearling and sandals and matching anklets

Proenza Schouler shearling zip coat from La Garonne, Dress Up tee shirt from My Chameleon, Prism glasses from Net a Porter, Isabel Marant bracelet new america bracelet from La Garconne, Isabel Marant pop colour bracelet from Net a Porter, La Garconne Moderne trousers, COS lace bra and knickers, PetiteGrand for My Chameleon gold charm anklets x2, Isabel Marant bracelet, Repossi ring, k.jacques barigoule sandals from La Garconne, Celine classic box bag

friday. tweed and tortoiseshell and matching anklets

Isabel Marant Kalimba jacket, Margaret Howell striped boatneck sweater from La Garconne, Karen Walker helter skelter sunglasses from La Garconne, PetiteGrand for My Chameleon cord string bracelet from My Chameleon, repossi ring, Diptyque Philosykos from Nordstrom, Porselli ballet flats from A.P.C, PetiteGrand for My Chameleon caramel cord anklets x2 from My Chameleon, Jane Norman striped maxi skirt, Michael Michael Kors Rose Gold Watch from Nordstrom, The Row black backpack from Net A Porter

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it's not what you think

Behold. This is a leather bag. Not a paper bag - although that crumpled creme brulee leather sure pulls the wool over the eye, doesn't it? - but a leather bag. It is the Proenza Schouler boys classic witty take on accessories. For their first line they didn't want to make an it bag - lo and behold: the PS1 is born. Now they want to make an unfussy shopping tote so they base it on a paper bag. There are so many things that are right about this: that classic proenza double strap running along the mid-thirds of the bag. The slouchy, who-gives-a-damn shape. That loved, lived in kind of feel. And let's not forget the humour of the whole thing. You're going to need it because at upwards of $615US (although, we are dollar for dollar right now, so i guess it's the time to buy), you better hope this bag is funny. At $615 it better sing and dance too. 

I wouldn't put it past those proenza boys.

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back to SCHOULER

Today was my first day back at uni for second semester and I must say I'm enjoying easing myself back into study and lecture pads and weekly bus tickets. I hate uni while I'm there, but being on holidays reminded me that study's not all bad. There are $6 thai lunches, the best chai lattes in town and the chance to see your friends everyday. This semester would be complete if I could run from class to class carrying a proenza schouler ps1 in my hand. These are the winter colours, and they sing of chestnuts roasting by an open fire, christmas trees and colder climates. I love that almost burgundy red in the top left hand corner and the opulent purple python in the middle of the bottom row. What a perfect combination of utility and fashion, the best marriage of practicality and frivolity - a bag with many compartments, that resembles a simple school boy satchel and with the added bonus of two straps - but in beautiful, heart-racing colours like purple, cobalt blue or even - WHITE. If anyone would like to send one of these my way I will be a happy, happy girl indeed. 

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bag it

pictures (in no order): the sartorialist, jak and jil, vanessa jackman, tfs, louis vuitton.

In fashion circles it seems like there are only three bags worth having. The first is Celine's itty bitty shoulder bag that comes with a hefty price tag. The second is Proenza Schouler's utilitarian dream boat - the PS1. And the third is Sofia Coppola for Louis Vuitton's satchel bag, part overnight-er, part chic tote, all class. It has that quintessential Sofia Coppola stamp of luxury and sophistication mixed with the french elegance of Louis Vuitton. It has a price tag well into the obscene - think $4500 US - but at the same time it has an allure that makes you consider, if you could just save up, if you could only forsake things like, ooh, a house, you could get one of these bags, and your life would be complete. 

I am not a bag lady, not by any stretch of the word, but lately I've been thinking a lot about bags. Perhaps it is because I work in the handbags section of a big department store here in Australia. Or perhaps it's just that, after years of just shoving everything I need into my pockets, I've come to realise that bags really are an important part of finishing an outfit. I see girls on the street whose bags are an extension of their style, whose bags provide an interesting counterpoint to what they already wear - a woman came into work yesterday in a simple black duffle coat and a wicker basket and canvas bag by miu miu, she was a regular alexa chung. Is a bag necessary to complete an outfit? No, by any means. But it does add a little something extra. It's like in exams when they say you are not obliged to use secondary material and extra sources, but you get extra marks if you do. Your bare bones outfit is perfectly fine without a great bag, but with one, it becomes extraordinary. 

Why do we love bags like Sofia Coppola's LV collaboration so much? I think it is because fashion is swinging against the extravagance and "look at me" nature of past seasons - those seasons when every LA starlet would swing a Balenciaga city from the crook of her elbow and those bags were being copied left right and centre by every chain store you can imagine. The interesting thing about the Sofia Coppola LV bags is that they are simple. Very simple. Unlike even the Celine and the PS1 bags they have really no distinctive characteristics other than their shape. They are just a bag. This makes them, by default, not interesting for copiers and fakers, who want the big ticket items like the Mulberry Alexa or the Chloe Paraty. This bag can slip under the radar so that, for those select few with the $4500 chump change, they can be something exclusive and unique. Without fakes flooding the market their value increases exponentially. 

More than this, we are looking for simplicity. This can be seen in the success of designers like The Row, Joseph Altuzarra and Haider Ackerman, who take simple silhouettes and give them subtle twists - the fish-tailed evening gown, the belted kimono style over-shirt, the rope sandal - so that they are both familiar and unrecognisable at the same time. We want to revisit the heyday of our minimalism - the 90s - but we don't want to relive them. We want to infuse them without our more modern sensibilities, with our ipads and our grande cappucinos. We want a duffel bag that isn't really a duffel bag, that is lined in the softest suede, that has the two characteristic piping lines running down the middle, that slouches perfectly and moulds to the shape of the body, that can be at once both sporty and sleek. We want a bag that multi tasks - gone were the days when we had different bags for different outfits. The modern bag should be casual enough to work with jeans and yet elegant enough that when you sling it across a cocktail dress you look chic, not sloppy. 

You can get all of this, I think, from the Celine bags, the Proenza Schouler PS1s, and from Sofia Coppola's LV duffel bags. All of these bags are the ones on constant rotation on Garance, The Sartorialist and Jak & Jil, and for good reason. The fashion world is enamoured. Who is to say in a few years what will happen to these bags if - like the chloe paddington, the fendi spy and the balenciaga city - they too will fade into oblivion? Who is to say what the trends will be in a few short years? People always talk about investment buys - but really things that are classic are subject to the tastes of those who compile those lists of classics. The army jacket will not always be a classic, but it is a current classic. When it comes to bags, buy it if you like it, you want it, and you'll wear it. Don't worry if, in 20 years, you think you'll never wear it again. To be honest, you probably won't wear anything you have now in 20 years.

Fashion editors are saying that this season has seen the "death" of the it bag. Well, if the street-style sites are anything to go by, the it bag is alive and well, it just has a new label. 

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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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give it to me, baby!

I legitimately save every picture of a ps1 i see. 

happy sunday funday guys!

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