Minggu, 31 Mei 2009

I Heart Her Majesty

It's the Queen's Birthday holiday here today... gotta love her Majesty!

So because of that it is going to be a busy day hanging out with hubby and kids and trying to get out after being holed up inside over the weekend with severe southerly winds, rain and ice!

It is nice to see some sunshine, but it is still very windy out there.
Hubby even baked eggs this morning for breakfast, a triumph indeed.

I will leave you today with just a gorgeous pic to keep you going until I'm back on board tomorrow with kiddies at school and hubby at work.

Christy Turlington in Galliano photographed by Shawn Mortensen.

*Trend: Animal Instincts

Animal prints & skins have been there previous Spring and are coming back this Spring.
Many designers as Christopher Kane, Cavalli and Bernard Willhelm show us that there are many summer alternatives to traditional animal skin prints (like leopard prints).
The animal print trend has developed so fast this year, that it now includes other animal skins, like: zebra, crocodile, cheetah, ocelot, jaguar, cow, giraffe,... Another way that this season trend is growing, is by using bold animal images on the entire outfit like Christopher Kane.
Animal prints add an exotic flair to any fashion wardrobe and generally look great on any body type.
If you're normally an understated dresser and you're not fully convinced of this trend, then you can stay with accessories too: even a leopard clutch or zebra wedges can spice up your entire outfit if you combine it right.
The main key with this busy trend, is to keep the rest of the outfit simple!
*I love to hear what you think of this trend and thanks to all of you for the inspiring comments so far!*

Yves Saint Laurent Crocodile-print metal cuff

Yves Saint Laurent crocodile-print metal cuff

Chloé Leopard print tank

Chloé leopard print tank

Rick Owens Crocodile leather vest

Rick Owens Crocodile leather vest

Maje Cosmic snakeskin-print dress

Maje Cosmic snakeskin-print dress

Hervé Léger Zebra stripe dress

Hervé Léger Zebra stripe dress

Matthew Williamson for H&M Peacock feather dress

Alice + Olivia Francesca feather fringe dress

Alice+Olivia Francesca feather fringe dress

Christopher Kane cotton monkey dress

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Sources:

www.net-a-porter.com

www.matthewwilliamson.com

www.elle.uk

Kamis, 28 Mei 2009

These Shoes Are Good for the Soul (or should I say sole?)

 The YSL cage
Are they practical?  Non, but does it make her feet look transcendent?  Oui, absolument!


Once again it is time to lust after some goodies for your feet.
As always they are avant garde, unconventional, and impossibly unattainable.
So relax, kick back and enjoy my little fashionistas!


Aren't these Christian Louboutin hot pink platform pumps delovely?

 Christian Louboutin

These Louboutin boots are fierce.  They look like they belong to a domanitrix or a stormtrooper, either way the woman that wears these boots is not to be trifled with I can assure you.



Image from Jak & Jil 
Another architectural triumph!




These might be a little closer to being mine that I ever thought possible after I spotted a pair in a store window this week.  J'adore the look of these with the torn jeans, don't you?


Awesome to see world-famous New Zealand designer Karen Walker being worn on the feet of some Parisienne Voguette! 


Prada platforms
 These look a little precarious to walk in, but oh so hot.


These are just cool.  I don't think I would ever take these off my feet. 


Well heeled?  Carine Roitfeld in her Martin Margiela boots.  We've seen her in these boots before, but honestly, I just can't believe that these would be comfortable.  Oh, I forgot!  It has absolutely nothing to do with comfort - it's all about fashion, n'est pas?

Ann Demuelemeester

This Belgian designer is famed for her gothic designs, which makes this boot with its sharp heel and multiple laces pure goth.


I don't know about the acid green pants, but these Marni platforms look super comfy, don't you think?  But then again, they probably aren't.


Well there it is, this weeks round up of all that is funky and fashionable in shoes.

Of course, we can dream, can't we?

Rabu, 27 Mei 2009

I Heart A Philip Treacy Hat

When I lived in Sydney, not so long ago, one of my favourite things to do was to pop into the David Jones Jones millinery department and spend as much time as I had up my sleeve trying on all the hats.  This was especially helpful if I was having a bad day as I felt transported just being there.  My worries disappeared, my stress fell away, it was bliss.

Philip Treacy, the artist at work.

This was how I discovered the world's greatest milliner, Philip Treacy.  In my opinion, there is no finer milliner.  No one has his daring  and creative approach to design, he is fearless.

Linda Evangelista on the cover of Vogue Italia June 2008 wearing a hat designed by Philip Treacy.


Treacy's talent was evident from the very beginning.  Discovered by the late Isabella Blow in 1989, she knew he was going to change the face of millinery.  At the time Isabella was style editor for Tatler magazine and after meeting him she commissioned Philip to make her a hat for her wedding and as luck would have it (the luck of the Irish perhaps?) he was blessed with having a client that sought out the unusual and the unconventional.

 Isabella wearing her elaborate head-dress designed by Philip Treacy for her wedding to Detmar Blow.

After graduating from the Royal College of Art with first class honours, Philip moved into Isabella and Detmar Blow's basement where he set up his workshop.  Isabella the benefactor became the artist's muse and they talked of nothing but hats, hats, hats!



In 1991 Treacy was to meet chief designer at Chanel Karl Largerfeld and became their chief milliner for the next 10 years.  Not a bad job straight out of university.  He was just 23 years old.  Wow!

Treacy and models at a haute couture show.


The real change for him happened after his first catwalk show.  Supermodel's Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Yasmin Le Bon all agreed to model his hats, (an all black collection) and were paid not in money, but in hats.  The media went crazy when the girls did his show and this changed how hats were seen in fashion from then on.

 Isabella Blow wearing a Philip Treacy creation.

By 1999 Treacy was designing for Alexander McQueen for Givenchy in Paris while while still designing for Chanel.

Some of Treacy's designs for Alexander McQueen and Givenchy.

This led to the first ever Haute Couture show devoted purely to hats which was held in Paris by the chambar syndical de la haute couture and of course Treacy was invited to contribute.



Treacy has now taken his design esthetic into other mediums, designing accessories, glass wear and furniture.  Treacy was awarded an OBE by her majesty the Queen in 2007 in recognition of his services to the British Fashion industry.


"Glamour is a world-wide currency" - Philip Treacy

"I believe in beauty and elegance and communicating thoughts and dreams in a visual way. I started designing hats 15 years ago while I was a student at the Royal College of Art.  It was at a time when hats were perceived publicly as something worn by ladies of a certain age and something from a bygone era.  I thought this was totally ridiculous and simply believed "we all have a head, so everybody has the possibility to wear a hat." - Philip Treacy

A design sketch by Philip Treacy.

"I have had the greatest pleasure of having the opportunity to challenge people's perception of what a hat should look like in the 21st Century."
 



This butterfly hat is truly my favourite.  I imagine the wearer must feel like they are in a butterfly enclosure, it is pure whimsy, sigh.  If I was lucky enough to own this piece of millinery genius, I would have it on display in my home for all to see. 


This post is dedicated to my friend Trudi Francis.

Selasa, 26 Mei 2009

I Like to Dream of Summer Days

Lately I have been dreaming of a bicycle ride along the sunny shoreline at the beach.  You know, when the days are long, the sun is shining down on your shoulders and the summer breeze is flowing through your hair.   Makes me think of string bikinis, cute shorts, flip-flops (or Birkenstocks in my case) and when your hair is looking amazing from all the sea-water and salty air, even if it has been almost a week since you last washed it.
There is a problem with this fantasy though and it's not just that summer is a distant memory and winter is fast approaching.  I don't actually own a bicycle.

This gorgeous photo (thanks Bliss) sends me back in time to the early 80's.  I had a blue bike with a white seat and white rims on my tyres too. This is the style of bicycle I want to get myself.  Old school with a basket on the front and painted in a pastel gelato-colour that looks good enough to eat.


The Cherryblossom Girl

Bikes are fast becoming the chicest mode of transport, if only we could look as fabulous as Aggy while we skoot around town.  Every where I look these days I see papparazzi photos of some Hollywood star on their bicycle.  Brad Pitt, Elle McPherson, Chloe Sevigny, Owen Wilson, Kate Hudson et al...

Diane Kruger and Aggy (on her Gucci cycle) looking very stylish.

Chloe Sevigny (check out that basket, I love it!)

Elle McPherson is always too cool for school, imagine being picked up from school by this?


This picture of Audrey Hepburn on her bicycle with her little dog in the basket is so cute.  Maybe I should wear a scarf too?  I mean I should make sure I look the part, shouldn't?
Just because I'm riding a bike doesn't mean I can't look stylish, right?

Gucci

I mean honestly, who wouldn't look stylish on this red number?
Designer bicycle are becoming de rigueur with the likes of Hermes, Chanel and Gucci producing haute couture cycles.  And they have to be seen to be believed - especially the price tag!


Chanel (top) and Gucci


Hermes

As nice as it would be to have such a gorgeous bike to ride around on, I would be so concerned that my beauty would get stolen that I probably wouldn't want to leave it unattended anywhere.  If I bought a Chanel cycle, would it come with free body-guard?



I adore the wheel spokes on this bike, reminds me of Penny Farthing.  The leather seat and the shape of the handle bars is also old school.  Beats those modern bikes any day I think!


Even the Sartorialist is posting pictures of people on bikes, which is definitely saying something.  It has to be a stylish past-time for certain now, wouldn't you agree?



A bicycle leans on a deli in Umbria.  Sigh.

Well my mind is made up.  I surely have to get a new bicycle now.  I'm off to find the best Gucci knock-off I can find!


I know what I'd rather be doing.