Wooed by Wu

I love everything about this Jason Wu dress, with the necklace, and those heels. (Image from Grazia.com).

On The Palette: Teal

"That's not a knife..."

I don't think Australians are meant to like the film Crocodile Dundee - well, sure, it broke all sorts of box office records as a hugely successful Australian flick, but we're at least meant to view it with a sense of irony. No one actually believes there are Aussie blokes out there like Mick 'Crocodile' Dundee, right? Anyway, it seemed an unlikely source of style inspiration when I came across it on television a couple of months ago. Yet, somehow, Linda Kozlowski's character - a New York journalist named Sue - really rocked walkabout chic in the Australian outback!

She arrives in Australia's Top End with a flourish, decked in a safari hat and long white scarf like Katharine Hepburn in The African Queen. Then she unrolls with her sleeping bag the coolest casual clothes - high-waisted khaki culottes and bodysuits, headscarves, the cute athletic NYCG singlet and cut-offs, and that bathing costume. Back in NYC, the costuming gets a bit too 80s. But in the Australian outback, Sue certainly outshines all those crocs...

Oh, Stella...

Stella McCartney revealed a capsule collection exclusively for Net-A-Porter this week, including this cloud print designed by Sir Peter Blake. I love these very summery espadrilles! (Images from Net-A-Porter.)

The Lace-Up Weigh-Up

In one corner, Office's dainty Victoriana black lace-up with Annie Oakley shoot-em-up pizazz... and in the other, trusty Dr Martens with a pointy toe twist to celebrate the '90s grunge revival.

Both £85. Who to choose? Who will outlast my obsession? Who will transcend a trend? Will there only be one winner?

A Gladiatorial Stance

Her name is Antonela - isn't she pretty? Patent, plum-red, a platform sole. And she's feisty, too, with that gladiator heel. I can't resist...

Grandma Ariel...?

Grandma’s heirlooms – think lace doilies, pearls, crochet tea-cosies, housecoats, and pompoms – draped off the Romance Was Born SS 09/10 collection at RAFW. The other inspiration was a mermaid’s garden under the sea – so just try to imagine granny chic crossed with The Little Mermaid’s shell bikinis and shimmery fishscales!

Apparently, Romance Was Born designers Luke Sales and Anna Plunkett made the entire collection in just six (!) weeks. Models showcased the designs at the Sydney Theatre Company’s Wharf Theatre - the company's artistic director, global movie star, and all-round style icon Cate Blanchett has asked RWB to create costumes for a theatre production later this year. Seems like a great fit, given the theatricality of this collection! (Pics from Grazia online.)

"When the sartorial becomes the political"

A couple of weekends ago, Miriam Cosic reviewed in The Australian a memoir on fashion titled The Thoughtful Dresser by Linda Grant, a former winner of the Orange Prize and a short-listee for the Man Booker prize. Miriam starts her article by recalling her stint as a fashion journalist and how often this meant that (male) colleagues put her down:

FOR a few fascinating years I was a fashion journalist and became used to receiving backhanded compliments from male colleagues: you're so well read, educated in politics andphilosophy, how can you be interested in this stuff?

...

Imagine that comment being handballed to a sports journalist. Or writers in any other area of interest to men.

I've heard the New York Times journalist Maureen Dowd decry the same "backhanded compliments." How many of us hear comments like that? Anyway, Miriam writes that Linda Grant's book "is a meditation on clothing, and femininity, and power." It sounds like a great read!

Grant is the grandchild of immigrants who left eastern Europe for the political freedoms of Britain. From them, by emotional osmosis, she came to understand intimately the importance of appearance in the adjustment of migrants. Unable to be located exactly on the class ladder by means of their accent, for example, or the school they attended, they could remake themselves and their offspring afresh in their new land.

Even when her mother was subsiding into dementia at the end of her life, a shopping expedition for clothes could revive her. Her "last full, coherent, grammatically intact message", Grant writes, was uttered to her sister. "I like your earrings," their mother said.

Tea and Daisies with Kate....

The Liberty-inspired Daisy Print Tea Dress from Kate Moss's ninth collection for Topshop. Isn't it darling?

Zimmermann SS 09-10 RAFW

The Zimmermann sisters are among my favourite Australian designers, and I love this collection's harmony of lace, floaty mauve and peachy florals, bright coral and mint swimsuits, flashes of shiny black, nude shoes, and that bronze neckpiece!

Lady on a Bicycle

*Swoon*...

camilla and marc SS 09-10 RAFW

Photos from: http://grazia.ninemsn.com.au/Rosemount-Australian-Fashion-week/

On The Palette: Peachy Pink

The Rosemount Australian Fashion Week is in full swing in Australia at the moment (despite a GFC downsize). camilla & marc opened RAFW in Sydney with their SS 09-10 collection - I loved the super-soft ice cream palette, offset by shiny metallics, tough matte black and fine candy-stripes in neon green! (The catwalk also featured Balmain-esque ripped denim cut-offs and sharp tailored suit jackets.)

The nude tones inspired my favourite colour of the moment - would love to see more of a blinding white peach contrasted with pewter or bright turquoise. And those camilla and marc leopard-print booties!

Coming Soon...

Fashion news, editorial, inspirations, ideas, colours, and other musings.