capture the castle

so sweet, so sinful

2012-02-10T10:18:00.000+11:00

"Happiness. Simple as a glass of chocolate. Bitter. Sweet. Alive."

Joanne Harris, Chocolat

Chocolate is good. Plain and simple. Mast Brothers chocolate is better. Going to Mast Brothers chocolate with nice people like Siri and Rachel is the best. I know it's kind of cliche for girls to love chocolate, but I actually do love chocolate. Just a square or two of something with a bit of bite can make me really happy. But that's just me.

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Lauren Moffatt NYFW

2012-02-09T10:13:00.001+11:00

I was never a naughty schoolgirl. Not once. Well, maybe once. But, really, I was a bit of a nerd, with a backpack bigger than my torso and a heap of books that I carted around and a blazer pocket filled with pens. But I've always kind of harboured these vague fantasies of being a bit of a naughty school girl, knee socks and all, writing lines or being sent to read in the corner as punishment. I always kind of wanted to be Lindsay Lohan in Freaky Friday, you know, how she's so well acquainted with the detention master that she swaps sandwiches with her and gets to share cute over-the-shoulder glances with Chad Michael Murray. The one time I was in detention I mostly just stared out the window. I'm sure if, aged 15 or 16, if I had a wardrobe of a-line skirts in mustard yellow or all-american-red-white-and-blue and stripey boatneck sweaters I would have been a little cheekier. As Lauren Moffatt's show notes explained, girls who wear peter-pan collars and knee socks are Sugar and Spice - all at the same time. When they are good they are very, very good, but when they are bad they are horrid.

I loved this collection. I loved how youthful and fresh it was. I loved the way it was presented, with the models sitting at desks idling twirling their 2B pencils and doodling in their notebooks. Of course, being me, my favourite pieces were the coats which hang from the mantlepiece - especially that gorgeous colour-blocked number with a fur hood. But the polka-dot midi skirts and the ankle boot with socks and the little silk crop tops were so cute and reminded me a lot of how some of my friends dress. It was sweet without being saccharine, which is kind of the standard way of describing something that Alexa Chung might wear, but seriously, there is an art to making something fresh without it being oppressive. Last season there was a lot of sickly sweet sugar on the runways (and were starting to see it seep onto the magazine covers now, hello Alexa and Lana!). But you can always count on winter to add a little spice to the mix.

The best thing about the show? The clothes were accessorised with beautiful BRVTVS jewellery. You all know how much I love Caroline's designs, and they looked so fantastic with the clothes (see pictures 7 and 13 above for detail shots of some BRVTVS bracelets, including the Claudia bracelet which I love so much!). Caroline is such a multi-tasker, she even appeared IN the show itself as a model. It must have felt like going back to school again - which I definitely don't want to do in a matter of weeks when uni starts again. Maybe this year I'll be naughty...

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ps. New York shows are so well produced! I mean, come on. This was in a school and everything. And the invitation was a "Hall Pass" (oh, all my New York dreams are coming true!)

Tanya Taylor NYFW

2012-02-09T08:50:00.000+11:00

I had so many questions after the Tanya Taylor presentation today - and not that many answers. Could I wear a mohair singlet with a racy cross-back? Where did those fantastic fedora hats come from? How could I get my hair to curl so perfectly down one side like the models (who all looked like Lana Del Rey)? How many Lana Del Rey references am I going to make this Fashion Month? And, oh, where did they get such beautiful peonies in February?

ps. It's snowing. I couldn't be more happy today, even if I tried.

In the studio: Satomi Kawakita

2012-02-08T02:36:00.000+11:00

all photos by me

It started with a thin gold band - small and delicate and fine as a morning in February - dotted here and there with the tiniest of diamonds. "This is the first ring that I made. I had never seen something like this before, where the diamonds are randomnly set across the ring. So I made it and I wore it."

Jewellery designer Satomi Kawakita is sitting in her studio, cradling a cup of green tea between fingers with rings stacked high like the Empire State building. Her every movement gifts a glimpse of something sparkly and like a magpie I follow each glint - here a ruby, there a black diamond, everywhere a gem stone. "Being a diamond setter I had worked with diamonds, gold and platinum metals every day, but I had never found gold jewellery that I liked. I wanted to make something for myself. Gold and diamonds together are so classic and that's not something that I might wear myself. So I started to make rings. I showed them to my friends and they liked it. Then they started to place orders. I sold one and I made another one. Then I sold two and I made four more new rings. So that was how things grew. Slowly!"

Looking at her studio now it is hard to believe that only a year ago Kawakita was working from her bedroom late at night and carting boxes of her dainty rings to customers' homes across New York city. But a lot can change in a year. After a popular blog featured her unique engagements rings with hand-cut stones and hammered gold bands Kawakita could not keep up with demand. "Everything kept getting busier and busier ever day. Even my husband started helping me make jewellery when he moved here! I wouldn't have survived the holiday season without his help." Swamped by orders through her online store, Kawakita and her husband worked day and night. "We didn't have a day off from September to December," she says laughing. "I realised that I really have to find someone to help me."

Hiring an assistant is a big step for this Japanese-born, New York-based designer. Her independence is one of the hallmarks of her label. From the milky cognac diamonds to the wax moulds to the jewellery boxes and online store, Kawakita does everything by herself."It's not healthy working every day for a long time. I like working, but it is too much. You need a balance between staying home and relaxing and working." The balance is slowly tipping, thanks in part to Kawakita's new assistant, hired only two weeks before our interview. But, like all things that are truly important, change is difficult. "I have to learn to hire people and trust people, which is really hard. I have to be patient and I understand that it is not easy. I have made many mistakes at the beginning of my career and I need to know that it is normal to make mistakes."

One of the striking things about Kawakita's jewellery line is how beautiful her mistakes are. A former glass-blower in Japan, her eye has always been for the unique. "I like to work with small details," she says, nodding. The handmade quality of her pieces have an almost organic air - no two rings are the same, even when they come from the same mould, even when they are cut from the same stone. As wedding and engagement rings they are imbued with the kind personality and integrity that a bride dreams of, as pieces for casual, everyday wear they take on a character that is purely their own. A host of different coloured stones and remarkably stunning diamonds, from the classic to the unusual - maybe a milky grey number or a tiny black diamond, a cult favourite - characterise her range. Necklaces, bracelets and earrings complete Kawakita's canon, but her heart will always be with her first designs. "Rings are what I like to make the most," she says. "I think it is because I don't have to buy the clasps, I can make everything myself from the beginning. They are on such a small scale but there is unlimited possibility."

In keeping with her label's bespoke feel, Kawakita's design processes often begins in the thick of it. She rarely sketches or sets out mood boards, preferring to get straight to carving out designs from wax. Boxes of these litter the studio and there are even more drawers of moulds and samples. Sometimes Kawakita will see a stone that she loves or that intrigues her and the process starts from there. "I often go and check with my stone dealer to see what they have and what's new. If I find something that I like I just buy it. So I have a lot of loose stones waiting for me to design around them!" As her business grows, Kawakita has started to open up her studio to customers who are interested in more custom pieces. "For many of them it is their first time in a studio! They are always asking, what is this tool for, what does this do? Yes, it does look like a dentist's office," she laughs. "I sit down and show them how the tools work and how to set stones. Sometimes the customer is leaning over my shoulder, designing their own ring." This personal contact is one of Kawakita's favourite things, and something that she loses as more and more of her pieces are sold through her stores. "I love talking directly to customers and hearing their stories."

After more than seven years living in the city, Kawakita has found her feet. Her advice for those looking to make it in the big apple is simple. "This is a very honest city," she remarks, "if you work hard and if you love New York, New York will love you back. That's what my friend told me at the very beginning." The contrast to her homeland is striking. "Japan is more traditional," she says. "Here in New York people have their own taste and their own opinions... People are always looking for new thins and this city is so open to the new."

Simplicity in design is the most difficult attribute to attain - it is easy to follow natural instincts and over-think, especially in the gaudy world of fine jewellery. But there is a reserve and a sense of calmness to Satomi Kawakita which is, ultimately, refreshing. It is not hard to understand why her designs have become so popular. Who wouldn't want an engagement ring that was so personal the very setting itself might have been created just for you? It's a classic and romantic notion, but it is one that has been increasingly lost in the trend-driven world of fashion. As the pendulum swings back, led by the success of taste-makers including Phoebe Philo at Celine and Sofia Coppola, small brands like Satomi Kawakita have found their niche. The only question is, how high will they go?

As the pile of orders grows and the hits on her site steadily increase Kawakita is adamant that she will remain in control. Her nightmare would be having to yield any measure of creative independence to an outside party. "Some people think that my company is big from what they see on the internet, but it is quite small," Kawakita remarks. "It is growing now. But I don't want it to be too big. I want to keep it the size it is now, where I can control everything myself." Just as with that first ring - the result of that innocent, almost child-like yen to make something because you want to, and you can - Kawakita will continue to make pieces that she would wear herself, that she finds beautiful. Some things really do come full circle.

This is the first in my series of studio visits during my time in New York, I hope you like it! Satomi Kawakita is one of the most talented jewellery designers I have ever met, and her pieces are so incredibly beautiful it is remarkable. If you have any questions or would like to place an order, contact info@satomikawakita.com

a morning in brooklyn

2012-02-07T02:00:00.000+11:00

Mornings are made of this - stretching out your arms till you feel like they might snap off, yawning loudly, pottering about, warm showers, wet hair, and shy, tentative light.

Hong Kong photo diary

2012-02-06T05:04:00.001+11:00

one. never-ending buildings that touch the sky. two. stairways to heaven. three. Hong Kong is dotted with this places to rest, cordoned off from the street and a world away. four. bamboo. five. the canyons of Hong Kong. six. It's the year of the Dragon! seven. flowers so pink it was remarkable. eight. that unmistakeable skyline on a cloudy day on the Star Ferry.

Something that I've learnt over the years: everything is bigger, brighter and bolder in Hong Kong. The buildings are taller, the colours are more saturated and it doesn't rain, it pours.

on the up

2012-02-05T09:16:00.000+11:00

one - four, six and eight: my photos. five: new york social diary, seven: poul webb.
one - My Benah tote and the New York Times, two and three - yellow cabs and blue skies from Central Park, four - Vogue's profile of Navina Haidar, curator of the absolutely stunning Islamic Art galleries at the Met, five - The Green room at the Frick, six - Laduree Paris in New York, seven - Damien Hirst skate decks, seven - the remains of the day

Paper and coffee and bagel in hand - why not, it's New York after all - I set off for a day on the Upper East Side this week. I picked up my friend fresh off the plane and we had a yummy lunch at Pop Burger before starting our steady ascent up and up and up past shops and galleries and patisseries and all things nice in the brisk New York sunshine. It was a little cold, true, but with skies so blue and so clear, how can you stay angry, even just for a little bit? We got all the way up to 91st street where, at the corner of 5th Ave, is the school I attended on exchange, and then we turned back in time to catch the new Islamic Art galleries at the Met that are profiled in this month's Vogue US, a spot (har har) of Damien Hirst at the Gagosian - every Gagosian across the world is simultaneously showing a retrospective of Hirst's dot works at the moment, from prints to tote bags to large scale works and, well, skate decks, some more artistic appreciation at my favourite gallery in New York, The Frick, Henry Clay Frick's personal art collection housed in his re-designed mansion on the beautiful East 70th street, a little light relief at Laduree, decidedly un-New York but hey, you can't blame a girl can you? And, well, the obligatory stop-offs at Barneys New York and the brand-spanking-new Celine store on Madison, so new it still has exposed wiring on the walls, which doesn't stop you from wanting to spend the big bucks... More on that later.

In short, a day of aesthetic feasting. I never thought I would say this, but there exists in this world something even more beautiful than trapeze luggage totes and bi-colour pochettes and sleek, utilitarian box bags. And that thing is the Islamic Art galleries at the Met. There was something so peaceful about the rooms and their design - salmon pink walls and cool tiles and symmetry everywhere, in the mosaics and the Arabic script and the gentle curve of arched frames. They have a lot of beautiful illuminated manuscripts and a few absolutely incredible ornamental pieces - ruby encrusted daggers and ornately carved flasks. It was quite wonderful, and I loved that you had to walk through the Assyrian art section to get there. I studied Assyria at school and have always had a fond spot for that oft-forgotten period of Ancient history when Sennacherib ruled the world. The perfect end to the day would have been a little walk back to midtown and catching something at the Paris Theatre, New York's most beautiful cinema and immortalised in Sex and the City and then dinner at Ma Peche. The Paris theatre always show the most touching and artistic films (they've got the Oscar-nominated silent film The Artist on at the moment) and you can grab a ticket and some junior mints and settle back into plush velvet seats to enjoy the show. Just how movie-going should be.

I don't care what anyone says, I love the Upper East Side.

Notes:

Momofuku Ma Peche: 15 West 56th Street (between 5th and 6th Ave)

Pop Burger: 14 East 58th St (between 5th and Madison)

Paris Theatre: 4 West 58th Street (at 5th Ave)

Barneys: 660 Madison Ave (between 60th and 61st)

The Frick: 1 East 70th St (between Park and Madison)

Laduree: 864 Madison Ave (between 70th and 71st)

Celine: 870 Madison Ave (at 71st street)

The Gagosian: 980 Madison Ave (between 76th and 77th)

The Metropolitan Museum: 1000 5th Ave (around 82nd)

Dean and Deluca: 1150 Madison Ave (between 85th and 86th Street)

finally!

2012-02-02T04:17:00.000+11:00

“I remember walking across Sixty-second Street one twilight that first spring, or the second spring, they were all alike for a while. I was late to meet someone but I stopped at Lexington Avenue and bought a peach and stood on the corner eating it and knew that I had come out out of the West and reached the mirage. I could taste the peach and feel the soft air blowing from a subway grating on my legs and I could smell lilac and garbage and expensive perfume and I knew that it would cost something sooner or later—because I did not belong there, did not come from there—but when you are twenty-two or twenty-three, you figure that later you will have a high emotional balance, and be able to pay whatever it costs. I still believed in possibilities then, still had the sense, so peculiar to New York, that something extraordinary would happen any minute, any day, any month.”

Joan Didion, Slouching Towards Bethlehem

I'm in New York. I'm cold. I think I need to wear tights but I don't want to. I've never been happier.

ps. thank you everyone for your suggestions, they are all on the list! I'm really enjoying slowly crossing things off. Yesterday I went to Soho and window-shopped up a storm with pauses for Cafe Gitane hibiscus tea and carrot salad and Ruby's flat whites and Billy's peanut butter cookies. The best! Until then, more frequent updates on my instagram (@hannahroserose)

Wandering in Wan Chai

2012-02-02T03:44:00.000+11:00

all photos by me, one: the view up St. Francis Street, two: a laneway off Ship Street, three: development on Ship Street

Wan Chai is my hood, and I mean that in the oldest of old school ways. My grandparents have always lived in Wan Chai, first on a street so overflowing with shoe-box sized shops peddling wedding stationery and celebratory chopsticks it was nick-named Honeymoon Alley, and now on a bustling main road near the MTR station. I’m comforted by its familiar winding laneways and gargantuan buildings, the same restaurants we’ve had yum cha at for years, decades, the same places my family and I return to over and over again whenever we are there. This time I visited by myself and it was a whole new experience wandering Wan Chai on my own, searching out good coffee and shops. My discovery? Wan Chai is up and coming! Who would have known! Up a steep hill (reminiscent of Soho’s inclined walkways and with that same best-kept-secret feel) was a little enclave of cafes, wine bars, organic food purveyors and a host of trendy boutiques as well as one quite spectacular French deli and patisserie. I spent most of my time exploring there and getting to know these mostly new fixtures in the neighbourhood I know and love so well. So here is my itinerary for a Wan Chai day!

Breakfast at Classified, Mozzarella andWine Bar – 31 Wing Fung Street

Coffee in a bowl and a good granola are some of life’s great, great luxuries. After having drunk what can only be described as hot water and foam for a few mornings at various coffee chains that will not be named it was so lovely to sit in this tiny, tiny little shop front with a steaming bowl of milky coffee and read the paper. This is one of their smaller outfits with just two communal tables, but it’s nice to sit elbow to elbow with strangers and share a few words or two. My granola was shredded, which I’ve never tried before, dotted here and there with dried apricot ands and sultanas and dusted with elderflower honey. To finish, a generous helping of apples. Just lovely!

Window shopping at

45R – 7 Star Street

A cult Japanese denim and basics label that only uses organic cotton in their products, this shop was very cute and filled with the kind of oversized sweaters and checquered smocks that Sofia Coppola would love. I loved how they displayed their product, hanging up on hooks throughout the shop like someone’s intimate wardrobe, and the shop girl sitting at a sewing machine working on alterations behind the counter.

Cocktail – 33 St. Francis Street

Cocktail stocks trendy designer labels like Sonia Rykiel and Forte Forte as well as Australian brand Something Else by Natalie Wood. Bright and punchy, the layout of the store was almost like a cool bar. I loved their catalogue, designed like a tabloid magazine, which featured look book and editorial shots as well as short articles. Such a fantastic idea for a store!

You can always count on Hong Kong having beautiful fresh flowers everywhere, but especially during Chinese New Year!

Monocle – 1 St. Francis Yard

I mostly got excited about this one for all of my guy friends who religiously pick up Monocle on the way to uni and sit at Taste Baguette looking all superior in their horned-rim glasses and briefcases, but this store was actually very cool. You could purchase back issues of Monocle as well as limited editions, monocle carry cases (!!!! Yes these exist!!!), travel accessories and a small men’s accessories edit. The store front was tiny with shelves sitting along the wall and items resting on the 5 or so steps up to the main bank of the building, which actually houses the Monocle Hong Kong offices. If you’re lucky you can get a sticky-beak at journalists conducting interviews on the leather couches just behind the curtain!

Kapok – 5 St. Francis Yard

I found my perfect hat at this store, a Steven Alan fedora at 40% off in delicious olive green and caramel felt, but they only had size small and it wouldn’t fit on my big head. Very, very sad. Kapok is a cute boutique with shoes on one side, one rack of clothes on the other and a few leather accessories in the middle. Their style is that very Alexa Chung indie/nerdy-cool, with Breton tops from Paris mingling with Steven Alan shirts and desert boots.

Russell Street – 6 St. Francis Yard

I stumbled into this shop on the first day they were open after Chinese New Year, which was lucky because it was probably one of the most interesting stores in the area. It’s tiny, like all Hong Kong boutiques, with just one rack that extends to the back of the long store. Their philosophy is up and coming British and American designers, and I was excited to see labels like Eudon Choi, Vena Cava and Velvet. They had some beautiful cashmere sweaters on sale for a steal, and the lovely sales assistants explained the history of the store to me as well as picking out some things that they thought I would like. One of the sales assistants, Amus, was one half of Hong Kong fashion and jewellery label Anyway, and she modeled one of her cute leather rings for me. She told me that you can purchase kits to make the rings yourself, and check out their blog here. I really loved this store, even though it wasn’t my style. It was such a breath of fresh air and filled with people who were devoted to fashion.

W.D.S.G Art and Craft Department - 9 St. Francis Street

This shop was a true gem, the kind of thing you really do stumble upon in back streets and forgotten alleyways. It had only been open for one week, and yet it was filled with beautiful, classic menswear - pleat front chinos and three piece suits and desert boots - and those pyjamas that your dad used to wear with the curvy collars and the thin stripes. They also had homewares and lifestyle products as well as some amazing vintage furniture and tchotchkes. My favourite? The Soir d'Ete label which hails from Australia, simple packagin, no bells and whistles, and man, it smells good. I can't wait to come back here with my brothers and dad when we come back to Hong Kong - they would love it.

Orange, orange everywhere and not a drop to drink. Forgive this interlude but I just love Orange so much!

Stock up on supplies at Just Green – 7 St.Francis Street

I only found this store because I happened to glance to my left and see the neon flashing sign. I’m glad I did because it was such a cute place and one of the best health/organic food stores in Hong Kong. I’ve noticed that Hong Kong has had a few of these stores catering to vegans and organic devotees pop up recently, probably because there has been a bit of a health-food revolution in Hong Kong of late. Just around the corner from here, a few metres from The Pawn (more on that later), there’s a cute Vegetarian and Vegan deli which sells fresh salads in cute brown paper boxes.

Intellectual stimulation at Agnes BLibrarie Galerie – 1/F 18 Wing Fung Street

Yes, Agnes B is a French fashion label, but this isn’t a shop, this is a Gallery. It’s opposite Classified, so after you’ve had a good walk around you can hop skip and jump back to get your fill of contemporary international artists.

Afternoon snack at Chez Patrick Deli – 3Star Street

three: the view from below in the Chez Patrick outdoor seating area

This is a real Parisian delicatessen, with pastries (eclairs, opera cakes and mille feuilles abound) and a delicious, delectable window of imported cheese as well as freshly baked baguettes and a select blackboard of French-inspired dishes. I wouldn’t go as far as to call this stretch of Wan Chai the French quarter, but with the L’Occitane spa a casual stroll away on Star Street maybe it is.

There is also plenty of green weaving its way through Wan Chai...

Dinner at Limehouse or Nightingale, 35 and33 Ship Street

What do you fancy? Modern British Gastropub fare? Or classic French and Italian? You can decide on the go because these two fresh Hong Kong restaurants are actually side by side on Ship Street. Limehouse serves up traditional British favourites like battered fish and chips and bangers and mash with flair and panache while Nightingale, literally just opened, sticks to the simplicity of meat based dishes and light desserts. Both have a relaxed atmosphere and a small dining area – all the better for intimate dinners that lead to drinks somewhere else…

Cocktails at The Pawn – 60 Johnston Road

… Like the Pawn! The Pawn is probably my most favourite restaurant in Hong Kong. I remember when it opened we were one of the first to dine there, thanks to my foodie mum who sniffed out a new restaurant in Wan Chai that we had to visit. And, after weeks of Chinese cuisine all of us were desperate to eat things like potatoes – without the added seasoning of soy sauce. We weren’t disappointed – how could we be – with what we were offered, a reasonably priced set lunch menu of cold trout salads, pork shoulders swimming in apple sauce and the lightest, fluffiest cloud of eton mess. We’ve been back countless times and had perfect meals every one – dinners, lunches, brunches, afternoon teas. But it’s also fun to head to the Pawn for drinks, mostly thanks to their inventive cocktail menu. This trip I sampled their Pawn Broker cocktail – a vodka based drink, something new for this Makers Mark and Apple Juice girl – a blend of wild raspberry liqueur and Belvedere Vodka with raspberry coulis, fresh raspberries and mint, giving a completely new spin on the shudder-inducing Vodka Raspberry order. It was so tasty it was almost enough to turn me away from whiskey for life. Almost.

And that's that! I hope this inspires some people to go to Hong Kong - seriously you won't regret it, it's such an energetic and vibrant city that is full of life. If you do, make sure you go for a little wander through Wan Chai. There'll probably be a dozen more restaurants to rest your feet in and shops for you to browse...

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on the list

2012-01-28T12:21:00.001+11:00

garance dore

At the moment I'm drawing up a list for my must-visit, must-see, must-enjoy places to go in New York, and even before seeing these beautiful pictures on Garance's blog, Mast Brothers Chocolate was on it. I remember seeing it first on kinfolk maybe and feeling a slow smile spread honey-like across my face. This is how chocolate should be, simple and fun and full of life. It reminded me of my favourite chocolate, Mazet, from Montargis in Paris, just good, creamy chocolate flecked through with a bit of something nice, like salted caramel or almonds pralines, or - hark! sour cherry. I know I'm going to love Mast Brothers just from seeing the packaging, and I think these will make the perfect presents for my family back in Sydney - cranberry for my brothers, some kind of toffee/caramel number for mum, and dark dark dark with a hint of coffee for dad.

I'm still working on that list, even as we speak. If anyone has any must-visit cafes, restaurants, bars and shops, or even cute little parks, nice quiet museums and places to rest your weary feet after a day of soaking in the city - let me know! Leave a comment or send me an email, I'd love to hear your recommendations.

toasty, mach 3

2012-01-27T13:05:00.000+11:00

So I'm doing this. Again. For the second time... you know what I mean. I took a nice woolen Isabel coat, and then I added my Carly Hunter shearling vest and my Benah cashmere scarf that's longer than a metre ruler (always the stock standard WOAH measurement when you were a kid with vegemite teeth and bruised elbows and you wanted to impress, not much has changed, eh?) and I'm all wrapped up and ready to go. I think this is my favourite of all the toasty variations, but it's definitely too warm for Sydney weather (unless we have a cold snap this winter, fingers crossed please please PLEASE!). This is a dress rehearsal for New York, where I fear sub-zero temperatures are going to force the shearling layer out almost every day. Hey, I'm not complaining. I love the cold, remember? And I love the shearling (happy Austraya day, didn't you know we antipodeans love our sheep?). Another thing I love? The bay window in my hotel room. When I'm not at my grandparents I've been sitting on it and reading, drinking green tea and watching that Hong Kong bustle go by. It's nice.

sneak peek: dear lovers

2012-01-26T14:16:00.000+11:00

Love love, love love love. Who doesn't love it? Who doesn't love staying up late to watch Notting Hill, or Pretty in Pink, or Out of Africa? Well the last one might be just me, but still. That's why I love Valentine's Day. I love listening to this, and this, and reading Persuasion and Eucalyptus and Circle of Friends and Brideshead Revisited and all of that good stuff and love is the drug, you know? I mused on love and valentine's day (and shared The Corner Shop's exciting love-themed installatino this month) and had a little look at the incredible jordan askill rings in my latest post for The Corner Shop.

Check it out in full here.

it's shocking

2012-01-25T14:39:00.001+11:00

“Eventually Fox coaches Rusty back out onto the highway which climbs into the Opthalmia Ranges whose bluffs and peaks and mesas rise crimson, black, burgundy, terracotta, orange against the cloudless sky. Gully shadows are purple up there and the rugged layers of iron lie dotted with a greenish furze of spinifex. You sense hidden rivers. Your ears pop with altitude. Closer to the road, on scree slopes the colour of dry blood, the smooth white trunks of snappy gums suspend crowns of leaves so green it’s shocking. Mobs of white cockatoos explode from their boughs. The colours burn in his head. Wide bends reveal the country behind darkened by the shadows of late afternoon. Fox feels his head slump back on his neck. He comes from low, dry, austere country, limestone and sand and grasstrees. Apart from the sea itself the only majestic points at home are the sculpted dunes. Even the graceful tuart tree seems dowdy up here.”

Tim Winton, Dirt Music

One Easter break I went to stay with my friend who lives in Tumut, a country town in South West New South Wales. There were three of us city girls going, and they’d all travelled together on the “boarders’ bus”, an unlikely sort of community which ferried country kids back to their hearth and home once the school holidays began. I had to stay back in Sydney for a few days so I met them by plane, a measly one rickety hour or so to Wagga Wagga – so good they named it twice! – and then the short drive to her place, perched on a hill and surrounded by green just outside of Tumut. Those four days were blissful in the way that school holidays can only be. We rode tandem bikes and watched Centre Stage and drank milo till it made us sick. We reveled in endless, circuitous games of monopoly and staying up as late as we could, prank calling pesky ex boyfriends and chatting about everything and nothing until, eyes heavy and drunk with sleep we drifted off in turns, each gamely feigning alertness. In the mornings we pattered out to the kitchen and clambered up onto high stools, awaiting whatever cooked thing would emerge, steamy and hot and delicious from the linoleum kitchen of her epicurean mother.

On a lazy Thursday we went for a picnic in a hilly grove that could be only be reached by a steep climb through a thick forest that was swollen with green, somehow made more lovely because this bit of earth didn't belong to us. Saturated tourist placards proclaimed that this was one of the oldest woodland growths in the area. All we cared about was that these were the kinds of trees fairies lived in. Tall-trunked, thick-leaved and with branches that were long and coltish like the legs of a baby deer. Perfect. And so tall! Rising high from a blanket of fallen leaves browned with age and decrepitude there is, and could be, no more perfect place to picnic, no more perfect place for a teenager to sit down and feast upon cut ham and soft cheese and flasks full of home-made ice tea. It was something out of an Enid Blyton novel. That day we were smothered by green – it was above us and below us and around us and on us, on our coats and scarves and sweaters and cargo pants. We had mint in our tea and lettuce on our sandwiches and bunches of grapes in our esky. And, when we lay out flat on the rug, arms laced behind our heads, we looked up and saw green. It was peaceful. Isn’t that what green represents, anyhow?

When I thought about it today, I’m a bit smothered by peaceful green at the moment too. On my Thursday Sunday sweater which I’ve been wearing non stop to keep me toasty in the unexpected chill of Hong Kong. In my scent and my bath, figs and geranium leaf all round. All throughout the book I’m reading – Dirt Music for a class on Australian literature at uni – beautiful and haunting and true. Regarding the boots I’ve finally – finally! – purchased and added to my life, crossing another thing off my winter wardrobe planning list. Maybe the real reason I've been wearing (and acquiring!) so much green is that it goes so well with red, which is everywhere in Hong Kong at the moment. Kung Hei Fat Choi!

sneak peek: longing to stray

2012-01-23T10:51:00.000+11:00

Everyone is so happy that I'm going to New York - not the least me - but also the girls at The Corner Shop. Look how they smile! In my latest post for their blog I reminisce about that amazing city and style up some of my favourite New York labels on my trusty model Katrina. It's up on their blog now - and I'll be in Hong Kong, eating my body weight in San Chow Bau and celebrating Chinese New Year with my family, and then I'll be off to the city that never sleeps. If only I had a wardrobe of Phillip Lim, Helmut Lang, Current/Elliot and Theysken's Theory to accompany me!

Check out the entire post here.

how funny you are today new york

2012-01-23T09:05:00.000+11:00

1: me, 2-4: Nidhi

The last time I was in New York my flight was the last plane that arrived at JFK before they shut the airport for three days. The city was being ravaged by a blistering, bone-chilling blizzard that meant that The Row's samples never made it in time for their show and that Marc Jacobs had to move their alotted catwalk slot to later in the week. In other, non fashion related news, the city was covered in a blanket of white and the subway shut down and people closed their doors to the cold. As I arrived at my friend's house blanketed and wrapped up and red-nosed, I remember looking around me at her street, her beautiful brooklyn street, and seeing the snow fall and the quiet of the white and the softness, the real softness of the air and I remember falling silent. I put my suitcase down and I sat on it for a moment and looked around. It was 5 in the morning and yes, all streets are quiet and still at 5 in the morning, but this was a beautiful, haunting, ethereal stillness. It was a stillness that I felt could last forever, even when the snow melted and turned to slush, even when the subways started again and the shops opened and the restaurants turned on their lights I felt the stillness all around me. Even in the city that never sleeps, I felt still.

I can't wait to be back. I'm off today. I will update as much as I can, and promise to take loads of pictures for when I come back. Thank you so much to all my new followers and all my faithful readers - I swear to have many new stories when I come back. Check my twitter and instagram (@hannahroserose) for more regular updates. And until then, here's some Frank O'Hara, who is one of those perfect American poets that says exactly what he means and means exactly what he says.

New York, I love you.

flour and stone

2012-01-22T21:19:00.000+11:00

After first seeing Flour and Stone on one of my favourite tumblrs - and after getting over my fear of eating cakes that don't come from the patisserie at the foot of my street (what! french people just know how to make a croissant, okay) - I decided to cross William Street and venture into the canals of woolloomooloo in search of coffee and cookies and such things. I wasn't disappointed and I had a really lovely time talking to the shop girl about the merits of ginger in baked goods (I wanted to pass on the recipe for that amazing ginger cake I made the other day) and how we both needed to wake up properly (it was bright and early and my coffee was being made and I said "tray" instead of "bag", it was a little embarassing).

I loved the relaxed, easy-going atmosphere of this tiny cafe, where the salesgirl ran out to give a customer some macarons so that he didn't have to leave his kids alone in the car and that she took the time to talk me through each of the cakes on offer, which ones were her favourite, and to warn me that in 15 minutes lamingtons would be coming out and I better brace myself for an onslaught of deliciousness. I left with some of their famous gingerbread and a buttermilk, chocolate and raspberry cake for my mum, and I'll definitely be going back again to try that Ginger Iced Tea and that famous fine apple tart. And maybe the carrot cake. And maybe the lamb pies. And maybe the sandwiches. And maybe the lamingtons.

Flour and Stone, 53 Riley Street, Woolloomooloo.

I am Ashley Olsen

2012-01-19T14:21:00.000+11:00

my photos, Petite Grand for My Chameleon gold charm anklets against Amy Kaehne knits in the Style Me Romy magazine

The transformation between my boring, non-anklet wearing self to, well, Ashley Olsen, is complete. And, you know, what starts with a single pair of delicate be-charmed Petite Grand for My Chameleon anklets will hopefully end in a crocodile backpack - as all good things in life should. Finally! Finally tight jersey midi skirts and oversized tee shirts and watermelon-coloured suiting and straight leg jeans and big-old-acne shirts will look complete! Finally I have my ultimate piece of jewellery, the one thing to bring everything together, the one thing that will make everything in my wardrobe work. I haven't stopped wearing them for three days - tapered pants, jersey skirts, drapey tops, baggy chinos - and they look good with EVERYTHING. And I literally mean EVERYTHING. This is a wardrobe revolution. I'm never going back to non-anklet clad feet. Never. What I love most about them are how they are the perfect mix of a beachy, nonchalant, criminally insouciant vibe and a little pinch of grown up glamour. These aren't the anklets you wove with your best friend, salt-water hair and sun-drenched skin and all on a beach when you were young. These are the kind of anklets you would wear with stilettos, if you were so persuaded, and a tight-as-anything leather pencil skirt to a business meeting.

Anklets - you complete me.

a lazy sydney day

2012-01-18T19:03:00.000+11:00

My ideal Sydney day? Well. The other day I hung out with my friend Carmen, who shared my birthday party with me and just returned from a jet-setting European Grand Tour and is the best person to have a lady date with, really. We had brunch at Youeni and then a casual stroll down Oxford Street and through the city to The Corner Shop, where we had a bit of fun playing dress ups (see the result here!) and we chatted with our friend Sam, who was looking incredibly stylish in Isabel Marant Dicker boots (oh! get in my life now, please!). After that I wandered home, picked up some flowers and read for a little, before setting out to Surry Hills for a 21st that carried way on into the night. That is quite a perfect Sydney day to me!

blocks

2012-01-17T14:57:00.000+11:00

images: ztylistas, lagarconne, celine prefall 2012, decade diary, portable, mandatory alexa chung picture

I, too, like Natalie, am waiting on the postman to knock on my door and proffer my Thursday Sunday sweater. I, too, like Natalie (incidentally that is one of my favourite "likes" if anyone was interested in my opinion), dream of the days where I can sit on the floor and drink red wine, smoke cigarettes while my nose gets cold and read books with a slice of ginger cake in my new sweater. I am dreaming of the days - soon, so soon! - where I can snuggle up in this sweater, watching the snow fall out my window after a day spent roaming Cobble Hill. I am dreaming of the days where uni blues will be completely, wholly washed away as I slip into this sweater, pop my lecture notes, copious biros and a crisp green-as-you-like-it apple into my bag and start walking up my street to the bus stop. How long have I wanted it! How damn long! And finally it's on its way, and it's almost, almost mine, and I can cross the first thing off my winter wardrobe planning list - which I engineered so that it would be on it since I wrote the list after I knew I was buying the sweater! It's my list, and I'll cheat if I want to...

I have to be dead honest with you, colour blocking was not something I ever thought I would get involved in. Neutral blocking maybe, but colour blocking? Well, I guess in its own small way this is how I can adapt colour blocking to my wardrobe, how I can take this trend head on and give it a little hannah-rose spin. I love the bulky, murky tones of the Alexander Wang cardigan, which is so big you could probably fit an extra person in there if you wanted, very handy on cold days. I like the fact that all these sweaters are colour blocking with neutrals - my favourite kinds of colours - lots of grey and black with just that little pop of colour to keep the eye trained. Mustard, blue, khaki, poppy red. Colour blocking or two-tone is the perfect update from the block colours of previous seasons, which means that you can keep old styles and just tweak them, subtly for the now. This idea is one that definitely applies to my wardrobe. Everything is a subtle tweak on what came before.

I think what I like most about my sweater is its slouch. I love the big sleeves that end at bracelet length (I think it should be mandatory that all clothes end at bracelet length, thoughts?) and I love that haphazard zig zag that runs across the front. It's not perfect, which makes it better, and it's a nice point of difference. This sweater is so big! Fantastic! That's exactly how I like it. You could make a risotto in this sweater, with the sleeves rolled up, sitting on a wooden stool with The Tree of Man or something in one hand and a slotted spoon in the other, stirring, stirring, stirring. I'm going to let you in on a secret, I think I judge all my clothing based on whether you could make a risotto in it. There are a surprising amount that fail this test. Okay. I'm ready for this sweater to arrive now. Mr Postman??

chilly

2012-01-17T12:14:00.001+11:00

garance dore

GOD how excited am I to dress like this in a mere 6 days! In 6 days I'll be able to get out my ankle boots and woollen coats, my shearling vest and oversized parkas, my cashmere scarves and knitted gloves, my cosy sweaters and thick jeans, my long sleeve shirts and warm toppers. GOD how excited am I to be in New York? Seriously if I don't stop thinking about it, and about wearing winter clothes, and about being cold, and about drinking so much coffee, and eating so many steaming bowls of soups, I think I'm going to explode.

sneak peek: wild at heart

2012-01-17T11:57:00.001+11:00

Last week I had a first look at the new 3.1 Phillip Lim that has just arrive at The Corner Shop Strand Arcade, and oh my, is it good. There's a lot of bright colours and cute, Alexa-esque flat sandals and cosy knits and, well... an amazing leopard-print pyjama suit that everyone kind of went a little bit crazy for. So wrong it's right? So awful it's delightful? Or just plain amazing? You decide.

Check out this post for The Corner Shop here.

wrapped up

2012-01-15T09:37:00.001+11:00

I'm cosying up with a big shawl and a stripey tee shirt and a cup of tea and listening to the rain and listening to this.

ps. is anyone else ridiculously excited for the golden globes? just me? okay then...

things I love

2012-01-13T20:26:00.000+11:00

we the people

“These things I love – neutral tones, the more washed out the better. Simplicity distilled into an ice blue Bassike tee shirt, or an oatmeal colour COS sweater. Who could ever choose brights over the beauty of beige? Céline bags are the height of luxury! I am lucky enough to have two in my life, both the products of long and arduous pilgrimages across Paris, both the most elegant things I own, and both reminders of perfect moments in my life where I was gloriously, unashamedly happy. Gold accents which glint from my person, a blinging Michael Kors rose gold watch which shouldn’t work but does, or Benah cuffs, bold and brash, and eye-catching. I’m such a gold girl at heart – I love anything with a bit of that summery shimmer, like honeyed limbs and sticky toffee and brushed gold hardware. Delicate jewellery is my obsession. At the moment I’ve been wearing thin rings doubled up or above my knuckle as memory rings. I also take to layering slip-of-a-thing bracelets like this Van Rycke bead and cord number, or the BRVTVS julia bracelet which I wanted for so long and will always remind me of my friends. Sometimes just wearing one piece of jewellery is even better, like a single Me & Ro necklace with a teeny, tiny, barely-there pendant. Sandals, flat, so flat, forever flat sandals. I am infamous for wearing sandals all year round – even in winter – because I love them so much and I just can’t let go. Just look at these K.Jacques? How could you pack them away, even when it starts to turn cold, how could you?”

One other thing that I love - Jessie. I love how smiley and happy she is, even when we're both really confused about something, I love how collusive she is with me in the need to spend money on unimportant yet totally wonderful things like Celine and Acne, I love how she doesn't mind when I mimic her (adorable) accent and call her "Jissy", I love how she'll have a coffee or a juice or a beer with me, I love how she has like a million girl crushes and is happy to share them all with the interwebs, I love how we only met at RAFW and yet we've become such fast friends, and I love how she can call me up and ask to come over and take some photos of my stuff and how a few calm if slightly hungover (me, not her!) minutes at my house can turn into this because oh my, is she one talented thing.

the search continues...

2012-01-13T20:15:00.000+11:00

the sartorialist

Am I ever going to get that perfect hat? Well, Am I? How long is it going to take? Is it too much to ask for a stiff-brimmed felt number, wide enough to go low over my brow or perch above my bun? I know I have a big head (physically speaking of course) but COME ON this is getting ridiculous! Every hat I've tried on doesn't fit! Is there something wrong with me? Or, in a fashion version of the perennial chicken-and-egg dilemma, is there something wrong with the hats? I still dream of a day, winter or summer, cold or hot, where I can perch a hat on my head and hide under it and call it a day. No-one would care what you were wearing if you had a spectacular hat on your head! Isn't that called the Candice Lake effect?? When can I experience that effect for myself? Well, WHEN?

sneak peek: oh isabel!

2012-01-11T15:30:00.001+11:00

You all know I love Isabel Marant. And, in Australia, one of the places where I can feed my obsession is The Corner Shop. In my second post for their blog I preview the just-dropped-into-store, hot-off-the-steaming-press Etoile collection, which includes beautiful distressed knitwear, printed dresses and boxy coats galore. It was very fun to play dress ups at the Corner Shop the other day, and thanks to the lovely Katrina for letting me style the clothes on her - she was the perfect model!

Check out this post for The Corner Shop here.

a thing

2012-01-11T10:20:00.000+11:00

into the gloss

Look, I really hate to labour the point, but doesn't Marina Munoz look great in that anklet and with bright red nail polish on her toes and fingers (note to self: vampy nail polish ASAP)? Didn't I tell you anklets were a thing? Didn't I?

ps. still dreaming of a pair of these ones, charmed and charming and just bohemian enough, you know?

the stain of love

2012-01-10T14:43:00.001+11:00

Vanessa Jackman

I have always loved the colour yellow - hair, clothes, sunny flowers - it's about brightness and brilliance and boldness and it puts a smile right on your face. It is also, and I do believe this, the colour of love. How else to describe that golden hue that the world takes on when you're truly, truly happy? Forget red, red is lust and all that physical stuff. Red is boring. It's yellow that represents how light it is, how honeyed you feel, how sun-drenched the world looks through saffron-tinted glasses. Thanks William Carlos Williams for putting it all into words, again.

ps. if you haven't already, check out Vanessa's incredible photos of my friend Talisa! They are my favourite photos she's ever taken and are just so beautiful. And there's a yellow Acne dress in there! See, there is method to my madness haha.

cold happiness

2012-01-10T11:57:00.004+11:00

the sartorialist

When my friend grabbed me by the shoulder and started shaking me I thought the house was on fire and I mentally prepared that list of things I had to grab before they went up in flames. But no, it was something entirely different. As I blinked sleepily at her, stretching my arms above my head, I heard her say the words, "snow", and suddenly everything went white. It was five o'clock in the morning, five o'clock in the morning in new york city, and I'd never seen snow before. I leapt out of bed and ran to the window, both of us resting our foreheads on the glass and peering out. The sky was so white it seemed unreal, like in a movie or something, and each snowflake fell with the grace and poise of a ballet dancer. My friend smiled at me. "Let's go outside," she said. "Just for a minute."

We grabbed the things that were nearest to us in our rush to be in the thick of it - she ended up in gumboots and a trench-coat, me in my swing coat, ballet flats (in retrospect a bad decision) and two big scarves. I twisted them both around my neck as we ran down the three flights of stairs that would take us to the ground floor. She grabbed the door and flung it open and we rushed outside - there we were, there we were! - and it was snowing, and it was freezing, like bone-chillingly cold, and we were so happy. In truth, the strongest memory I have of that morning was the smiles, the big smiles, the ones that spread across our faces, and the infectious laughter that bubbled up and never really stopped, not even as we crawled up the stairs, ebullient but shivering 30 minutes later, not even when we eventually fell back to sleep warm and toasty in our beds. Outside, we were under-dressed and overwhelmed, jumping up and down from excitement and from cold and from being in New York and being with my friend and being together. That morning was one of those fleeting New York minutes, the ones you remind yourself to remember at the time because you know that they are Important with a capital I. Every other time I had been to New York I had enjoyed myself, and enjoyed the city, but I'd never felt that it was for me. That morning, with snowflakes that stayed on my nose and eyelashes, I realised that I could live there forever, and that I actually wanted to.

I've always been happiest in the cold. I'm a coat and scarf kind of girl, you know? That's why I smile so big in my pictures overseas. Because I'm just happy to be cold. Invariably I end up looking like this when I'm over there, rugged up, wearing six layers or something ridiculous, but underneath the fur and cashmere and wool and all that I'm very, very happy. Cold weather means coats, and boots, and scarves and sweaters! Cold weather means steaming bowls of soup, and restorative cups of tea, and bushels of plums! Cold weather means the promise - sealed with a firm handshake and assured by wizened old grandparents who always know best - the promise of snow!

ps. I know the past couple of posts have been about New York. Can you tell I'm longing to stray?

sneak peek: my local corner shop

2012-01-10T09:52:00.000+11:00

I'm so happy to be sharing some exciting news with you - this year I will be working with The Corner Shop as a guest editor of their blog. Basically I'll be producing some exclusive content for them, which you'll be able to see as a sneak preview here first, and then in its totality over on their site. For those non-Aussie readers, The Corner Shop is one of Australia's best boutiques, stocking such very, very important international labels as Isabel Marant, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Alexander Wang and Theysken's Theory. Locally, they nurture Australian designers including Benah, Amy Kaehne, Carly Hunter and Nathan Smith.

In my first post for The Corner Shop I introduce myself and my local Corner Shop, the original paddington store on William street, a mere stone's throw away from my house, perfectly located for a little check in on the way home from uni. As you'll see from the pictures, their shops are always so beautifully fitted out with knick knacks, quirky art and eclectic window displays. In winter they hold tea salons at a long table in the back of their store, serving tea in fine china and oatmeal biscuits that seem to go perfectly with tweedy Isabel coats and suede ankle boots. There's something inherently creative about the Corner Shop - they're that girl you always wanted to be in paint-splattered jeans with her lips red, baby red. I hope some of you have experienced the allure of The Corner Shop before, and my posts will introduce others among you to these two wonderful boutiques.

Check out the entire post here.

get up

2012-01-09T21:29:00.000+11:00

sous style

A good morning routine is one that invigorates you for the rest of the day. I think the best morning routine I ever had was when I used to live in New York, my friend and I would wake up slowly, have our showers and wash the sleep from our eyes and hair and person, and then congregate, homework, books and wet hair on hand, to eat a little something before running off to school. My friend's parents were incredible cooks and, as is the American way, the breakfast table was always laden with bountiful goodies, from french toast to muesli to pancakes, just the thing to ward off those chilly New York winter mornings as we traipsed through snow and slush and all of that fun stuff on the walk to the subway station. By the time we arrived at school some 40 minutes later, red-cheeked from the walk we were bright-eyed and ready to learn. Now it takes more than just a good breakfast and a brisk shower to wake me up, which is sad. I yearn for those days when coffee was a grown-up treat and not eating breakfast was simply out of the question.

I really love the wake up call series on Sous Style. Sticky-beaking into other peoples' lives is part of human nature, and the raft of food, lifestyle and home blogs cropping up everywhere serves this purpose quite admirably. There have only been two entries for wake up call, but the other, with bag designer Wendy Nichol is also amazing, featuring a blow by blow of her morning routine (hit sleep on the alarm, fall in and out of sleep for the next 10 minutes, which is probably my favourite thing to do) and cute pictures of her, sleepy-eyed and putting on earrings. I know this is a rosy view and I certainly wouldn't want a photographer documenting my every move in the morning, but it's still nice. I like that Marla drinks a glass of water by the sink first thing and that she prefers a scrambled egg. These are nice details to know - and her ivory The Row dress is pretty amazing too, although I wouldn't be game to cook in it.

These photos are enough to make you a morning person!

winter wardrobe planning - 2012

2012-01-08T21:49:00.000+11:00

It's that time of year again, but, actually, I'm kind of excited. I've been planning these next season purchases for so long. I love winter, I really do. Coats and sweaters and boots oh my!

1. Oversized Navy Blue double-breasted pea coat

Isabel Marant Etoile Azuli Coat

So by the time I finally realised that I wanted this coat it had sold out on Net A Porter - such is life, right? I'm keeping fingers and toes crossed that I'll find this hanging out on a sale rack somewhere in Hong Kong or New York, lonesome and winsome, hoping that some scruffy-haired Australian girl is going to scoop it up and take it home. But, really, any oversized pea coat in a deep, dark marine-hued french navy will do. I have plenty of boxy, man-style coats and even a lovely swing number, but of pea coats I have none. The bracelet-length sleeves and the huge, novelty-sized pockets are a nice touch, but really the best thing about this topper is how bloody huge it is. It's not like it gets that cold in Sydney, but wouldn't it be something marvelous if, when it starts to get cool and the mornings are truly brisk you could grab the lapels of a pea coat and wrap them around you, hunching your shoulders up against the early chill. With a coat this big you could fit your favourite sweater or a shearling vest underneath for extra warmth if you needed it. And if it wasn't that cold you could leave it open, bulking down by your sides, with the sleeves pushed up real high. What's not to love?

How great is the way US store MNZ styles their product? The Azuli coat looks fantastic, bulking out at the front when open or buttoned up and sleek. Seeing the product on a real, live model, not just a mannequin, improves the appeal of the Azuli greatly indeed!

MNZ

2. Isabel Marant Dicker Boots

Isabel Marant Dicker Boots

Finally! Finally! I'm finally committing to an item that I've wanted for a very, very long time. Yes, there's a hype, and yes, there's a million different people (most of them in the blogosphere) who have these low-heeled suede booties, but some things are hyped for a reason. And these boots, with their wide ankle opening, low front and just best-western enough cowboy detailing, are amazing indeed. I'm definitely leaning towards tried-and-tested Khaki, a light neutral not dissimilar to my favourite shade; oatmeal. But, you know, for argument's sake, the milky chocolate brown Taupe is kind of lovely, as is the bruised slate of Anthracite. Imagine these, peeking out from underneath a fitted black midi skirt, or tapping away, a parisian full stop to tapered navy blue trousers or straight leg jeans and a boxy blouse. I'm not a heels girl, never really have been and never will. This stacked heels, short and sweet, is about as high as I will ever go, clicking away down the street feeling very tall and proud indeed, until I run back home to slip into comfy flats. Old habits die hard.

3. Celine Sunglasses

Seasonless and timeless, not really just for winter, but not really just for summer either. Everyone needs sunglasses, right? I love this oversized pair with a washed out blush-pink beige frame. I was first introduced to Celine eyewear through Decade Diary, and then I tried a couple on when I was in Hong Kong - a tangerine pair in a lovely resin or an opaque navy with a hard upper - and was totally charmed. There's something so right about the fusion of the vintage shapes and the gradiated lenses. There's something so right about perching a pair of these atop your head for a Christmas in July picnic. And I actually do need a new pair of sunglasses, since I've been wearing a broken pair of Karen Walkers for the past 8 months. How fortuitous!

4. Oversized colour-blocked and two-tone sweaters

Alexander Wang colour-blocked cardigan

Colour blocking was one of those trends I never whole-heartedly welcomed last season, but in murky autumnal shades of teal blue and grey and black I might have to rethink that. In fact, I'm feeling all kinds of oversized two-tone and colour-blocked sweaters - like the Thursday Sunday hand-knitted number I keep talking about, or an Amy Kaehne sweater, all grey wool with a contrast navy collar. I have a few pre-requisites when it comes to knitwear. Firstly, it has to be big. Really big. Hugely, insanely oversized big. I like my knitwear with a lot of room to breathe. Secondly, I like natural, simple, neutral tones. Oatmeal, beige, navy, khaki and grey will be my go-to colours for knitwear this season, and I'm hoping to pick up a couple of pieces that features some - or all! - of those colours, colour-blocking away. Thirdly, I like sleeves that can be pushed up and a longer length. I've done the whole cropped sweater thing, it was very 80s, very Pretty In Pink. I'm much more of a 90s girl at heart, really. The longer the sweater, the better. Like this one - raglan sleeves and a tunic-length hem, just like the good old days.

5. Navy blue printed midi skirt

Steven Alan Margot printed skirt

Midi skirts are my bread and butter, and so it seems odd that I only own a few. And they're almost all black. What I really want is a navy blue one with a small print on it so that it can provide that point of difference that I'm searching for this season - in colour blocked cardigans and oversized toppers - that will upgrade my wardrobe building blocks to seasonal variations. I have a lot of basics, this has always been true of my wardrobe, and a lot of simple pieces. I think a printed midi would slot into my wardrobe really nicely, and would work well with my raft of favourite pieces.

One thing I've noticed already from the outset is how expensive this winter list is. Even if I can get the Azuli coat on sale in New York (and i'm keeping all fingers and toes crossed, believe you me!), there are still three big ticket items on this list - four if I can't get the midi from an obliging chain store. Normally in my seasonal shopping lists there are one or two big ticket items, but three, possibly four? A lot of careful planning and budgeting will be occurring, as well as a pinch of restraint on my behalf. Luckily this wardrobe plan also serves, somewhat, as a shopping list for my trip in two weeks time. The coat, the boots, the sunglasses and the cardigan (money permitting) are the items at the top of my very short list, along with a scant few pieces of jewellery from Catbird and Me and Ro. Since I've got some money saved up already, I think this will help with the budgeting issues that I'm foreseeing... I think for various reasons this season is going to be a really interesting one for my wardrobe and my shopping habits. If I do cross off most of my list in the next month or so then that leaves most of this season with no shopping, which will be an interesting experiment and one that I think will help me a lot. If I don't cross off most of my list while away and I come back I know that it will be difficult to keep shopping and find these items here, and therefore will be an exercise in perseverence if I'm going to stick to my list - as I have in seasons past. And I also think that this is the first season where I've been so clear in what I want. I can see all of these things in my wardrobe. These are all items that I'm certain I will cherish and adore for many seasons to come, which is surely the point of the french wardrobe, no?

styling

2012-01-05T15:27:00.001+11:00

style.com/print, the new Style Me Romy magazine and, well, one stylin' coat from the new Isabel Marant Etoile spring collection at The Corner Shop.

keeping cool

2012-01-04T22:16:00.000+11:00

Snippets of hot weather coping mechanisms - a loose, silk hand-knit by Amy Kaehne, which, despite being quite heavy, is actually the perfect thing for balmy summer nights because of its open weave. Many a lukewarm breeze has drifted through its silky forest-green depths in the past couple of days. I love it best belted over some tapered trousers with the ends hanging loose. An Isabel Marant scarf, another silk item, this time raw as anything, providing chic when I wrap it around my neck and shade when I hold it over my head. My favourite sandals at the moment. I just love sandals, so damn much. And nectarines. Where would summer be without stone fruit? My friends parents arrived back from their farm the other day with a bushel of peaches fresh from their trees and we sat by her pool eating them and letting the juice drip down our legs.

shopping list

2012-01-04T19:43:00.002+11:00

fashion toast

Remember when I was so excited after seeing this season's Isabel Marant show that I earmarked a couple of pieces that I had on a wish list? Well, I'm still dreaming of them. I'm hoping that they've dropped into stores by the time I'm in Hong Kong or New York so I can check them out in person, especially that oversized short-sleeved parka and that oatmeal sweater with technicolour embroidery. It's like a more wearable version of the fringed navajo sweater from last season, I think. The first little hits of Etoile have started to drop into Sydney stores, and I can safely affirm that the blue pyjama pants are just as amazing in person as they are in the campaign. There is some amazing shirting in this pre collection as well - she's redone my favourite ever shirt in a beautiful poppy red printd cotton poplin with a drawstring waist!!!! it's amazing!!!!! - all in beautiful washed out blues, reds and charcoals blacks for a life-filled summer. I know it's the wrong season for where we're headed, but at the moment it's so perfect, especially considering the sunny weather we've been having in Sydney!

footloose and fancy free

2012-01-03T10:33:00.000+11:00

la garconne blog

Having said all of that, there is one remnant of the Australian summer that I'll be sad to leave behind, and that is (or, really, are) sandals. I love going bare-legged, whether in summer or winter, and sandals are the great enabler of this tic. I love them paired with tapered trousers and a loose tee shirt, leaning back in a deck chair and I love them equally as much with a fitted midi-skirt, oversized sweater and a woolly coat in the Australian cold, which can allow for such inappropriate footwear choices as sandals in winter. One of my guilty pleasures indeed. In this sense Ashley Olsen and I are style sisters, both fearlessly proclaiming the joys of sandals - even in winter - in leaving your feet footloose and fancy free. I like to think that Ashley Olsen and I are, actually, very similar indeed.

K.Jacques are one of my favourite sandal brands. I love the hard sole and the soft leather straps which mold to your feet each time you strap them in. I've got a couple of pairs, one caramel-hued that has mellowed to a rich tobacco over time, and the other is a bright fire-engine red, which go perfectly with all the various shades of neutrals that litter my wardrobe. At the moment I've been wearing them every day, with navy blue trousers and my new Vanessa Bruno blouse - which is actually quite sheer and therefore kind of perfect for hot weather - and feeling very parisian indeed. Still, I don't think I have enough sandals. Well, can you ever have enough sandals? Can you ever have enough of strappy leather goodness that complete every outfit with a dollop of insouciance and an air of laidback elegance? I didn't think so. The next pair might have to be khaki, methinks...

cosy

2012-01-03T09:56:00.002+11:00

one. caroline's mode, two. columbine smile, three. afterDRK

No matter how happy I am - and trust me, I am very, very happy - and no matter how content, and no matter how many mangoes I eat, there always comes a point in this restless, toe-curling three month summer holiday when I long to stray. I am, by nature and by nurture, quite restless and quite impatient. I need to keep moving and keep trying new things and keep walking forward in all aspects of my life, but nowhere more than travel. I love being on the road. I definitely have a case of wanderlust something real bad. So now, fresh in the new year and ready for change, seems as good a time as any to share that I'm heading away, first to Hong Kong for Chinese New Year and after that to New York for a blissful three weeks in the winter chill. I'll be wrapped up and cosy in Isabel wool and Carly Hunter shearling and Benah cashmere and heading to all of my favourite places in New York and hopefully crossing some new ones off the never-ending list of must-visit restaurants, bars and shops. I'm open to suggestions and hints and tips, but I'm also excited to spend time in my old neighbourhood in Brooklyn, visiting the cafes I spent many a waking hour finishing history homework in and popping in and out of the gorgeous boutiques that dot the brownstone-lined streets.

Even though the sun is shining in sydney today, and later - later - I'll be heading over to a friend's place who has a pool, for now I'm taking some tips from the swedes, and dreaming of the few short weeks till I can get rugged up and cosy in New York!!!!!!!

the other day

2011-12-29T22:28:00.001+11:00

I bought flowers, and made a ginger cake, and had tea with Talisa, and window shopped at bloodorange, and played with my cousin, and bought birthday presents for some friends, and made a lobster, prawn and butter lettuce salad from Sophie Dahl's from season to season, and had a glass of champagne and went to bed.

hard working

2011-12-29T09:52:00.000+11:00

one to four: Thursday Sunday's Melbourne studio, mood boards and knitting details from Portable // five and six: Where They Create details from Badlands // seven and eight: Bernadette Pasqua and Andrew Stinton's apartment on Design Sponge // nine and ten: my room, photographs by me

I love looking at pictures of the studios of young, hip creatives. It's semi of a guilty pleasure, considering how many Selby-esque bookmarks litter my laptop (freunde von freunden, work place and other people's houses to name but a very, very few) or how excited I've been to follow the "working girl" posts on Garance's blog. It's partly the desire to take inspiration, being somewhat of a young creative myself (not hip though, oh no), to see how other people do it, how they inspire themselves to do work with flowers, or cups of tea, or clean, white walls. My creative space is equal parts my bed, or leaning against my wardrobe sitting on my floor or - if the house is empty - my glorious dining room table. This table comes from an English boarding school - it's an old rec from their mess hall, and it has the nicks and scratches to prove it. I love how long it is, it can fit loud, noisy groups of 12 people or more, crowded around its edges, sharing food and drink and smiles. But I love it more when it's just me, and I've got books and notes spread out across its wide expanse, and a tall glass of water or maybe a steaming mug of tea and I lean back in my chair and I get ready to write. It's not glamorous - there's no Philippe Starck ghost chairs - but it works, it really does.

I love the look of Thursday Sunday 's Melbourne studio, timber floors and tall windows and natural fibres. I love the two tins of tomatoes and the packet of spaghetti resting on top of them - important elements to a successful studio indeed. I can't wait to ha ve a studio of my own where I can stick up moodboards with uneven pieces of masking tape and sit at a big wooden desk with a bunch of fresh flowers and put pen to paper. I really want to get my hands on a copy of Where They Create for that reason. A whole book of creative inspiration? Talisa has it and I've leafed through her copy briefly but I definitely need one of my own. And Bernadette Pasqua of Decade Diary's apartment? Well that's been quite firmly filed under inspiration for the future. Oh, to have an apartment in New York and fill it with all your things, your favourite things, your special things, special by virtue of the fact that they are all your own. That is truly a dream work space.

little things

2011-12-28T12:42:00.002+11:00

one: Isabel Marant jewellery bags // two: hand-stamped wrapping paper // three: a box of Aesop goodies // four: 2012 Moleskine diary // five: Aesop rosehip seed lip balm // six: Isabel Marant beaded bracelets // seven: Short and Sweet by Dan Lepard // eight and nine: "Small Things" chapter and detail of Me and Ro citrine necklace // ten: Vanessa Bruno silk blouse

It's my first real day off in about two weeks - Christmas doesn't count as a day off, does it? - and I'm making today all about the small things. The little things that make big days, as it were. I've always loved the little things. I revel in Christmas traditions, like spending whole nights wrapping thumb-sized chunks of home-made nougat with pieces of turkish delight gems throughout in squares of cellophane. Or in the niceties of downtime, of recorded episodes of Lewis on the TV and a steaming plate of spaghetti with butter and cheese for dinner. Or in just lying in bed, with a nice necklace on, looking at my ceiling and thinking of tomorrow.

A couple of little things that are charming my life at the moment. Rosehip seed lip balm from Aesop, which is so rose-y that it makes me smile, and reminds me of my childhood nickname (Rosebud. haw haw haw). The Isabel Marant dustbags, with their little scribbles and hand-writing that could not fail to delight. A gorgeous Vanessa Bruno blouse that my mum picked up for me in the Boxing Day sales, a chic Navy Blue covered in the most beautiful, tiniest of tiny white stars. Dan Lepard's amazing cook book which was in my stocking on Christmas Day, an incredible pastel-hued tome that tells me exactly why butter and sugar needs to be creamed so, and why egg whites must be firm but not stiff, and why baking is so precise, questions I've always pestered mum the masterchef about and now have all the answers to. Each chapters has a cutesy title ("small things" for candies, "crusty" for pies, etc) has a gorgeous printed end paper, my favourite is this green, pink and lemon yellow number. And oh! How could I forget? Resting on that chapter is the Me and Ro necklace my parents gave me for Christmas, the littlest gold pendant with a citrine stone in the middle. I have loved this necklace for so long and was in despair when I turned up at bloodorange and saw that it was gone. Little did I know (although others did! and they kept the secret so well) that my parents had nipped in to get it for me as the most generous and thoughtful gift. It goes so well with the other me and ro necklaces I've received for my birthday, the yellow stone winking when it catches the sunlight. I'm in love! And I think my small, but perfectly formed delicate jewellery collection is pretty much complete.

opposites attract

2011-12-26T17:44:00.000+11:00

one to four: bambi in bergdorf's campaign, from fashion gone rogue, five and six: my photos

From the sublime to the ridiculous. Today is boxing day and I've just gotten home from a mammoth shift at the store that I work at, starting at a quarter to five this morning and wading my way through crazed shoppers hunting for a deal. It was truly madness in the city today, brave are those that battled the crowds (I'm looking at you, Sophia, whom I saw bursting through the doors bright and early at 5 am!) to find the best deals. In truth, I'd rather be bare-shouldered on a beach, like the one where I spent Christmas morning, flinging aside my Benah sandals and loose dress to dive headfirst into the water. I'd rather be holding up a hand to my face and squinting into the sunlight, I'd rather be eating mangoes by the barrelful and dripping sauce onto terracotta tiles on the wide balcony of the house we stay at there, all palm springs bungalow, retro decor and a view of the ocean, silent and still. I've talked about that wonderful stretch of sun and sand and surf before, and it was amazing to be back there this Christmas, even for a whirlwind tour of two days, which really wasn't long enough.

Having said this, I found these pictures I had taken in the cold snap a couple of weeks ago. I'm still not sure which extreme - sun-kissed, sun-drenched, sun-loving or wrapped up, tucked in and turned out - I love the best. I'm lucky to live somewhere with temperate summers and winters, meaning that I truly do get the best of both worlds. It doesn't stop me longing for a white Christmas or an Indian Summer, though, but I have to say I'm quite happy with my standard Aussie Christmas prawn-and-oyster entree and my flaxen-hued sunlit days, though. I like having my cake and eating it too!

ps. I know this is flogging a dead horse, but MAN bambi has good eyebrows!

pps. thanks for all the birthday wishes guys! I had a fantastic, fantastic, never-gonna-forget-it day.

mood

2011-12-22T13:00:00.001+11:00

Languidly stretching in Amy Kaehne knits // millions and millions of double rings like Jess // being completely surrounded by technology at all times // bright Celine totes from the coveteur // Brigitte Bardot's thick headband in Le Mepris via Badlands

I'm listening to this and, I'm not going to lie, I wish it would never stop raining.

five winter wants...

2011-12-19T09:54:00.000+11:00

A.W 2012

one. Thursday Sunday two-tone bamboo knit sweater

two. Maille charcoal knit cardigan with belt

three. Dress Up navy blue boxy knit sweater

four. Carly Hunter black shearling vest

Five. Carly Hunter black shearling and wool coat

Knitwear and shearling for winter - what else? Man it's getting hard to narrow down this next season wishlist...

sidekicks

2011-12-18T09:30:00.000+11:00

'"In best friend couples one always thinks the other is a sidekick," said my sidekick.'

Alexa Chung in Vogue UK January 2012

vogue uk january 2012, scanned by Luella Luella at TFS

I really want to go on a holiday with my friends, somewhere happy and sunshine-y if at all possible, where we can be alone by the pool drinking dangerous cocktails and alone on the sand reading dangerous books and alone on a boat somewhere fishing and sleeping and sleeping and fishing. I know that Alexa Chung is a bit frustrating, polarising gal that she is, but this article about her time at the Turks and Caicos with her BFF was kind of charming. Putting on a full face of makeup for the beach, making collages out of World of Interiors cut outs, fighting over banana fritters and not having to explain anything to anyone are the kinds of behaviours I can whole-heartedly get behind. If I went away somewhere beachy with my sidekicks we'd fight ever day - about the music to play, the food to eat, the movies to watch, the cocktails to drink - because that's how we are, totally, irrevocably different to the core. But that would be fine with me, as long as we were all there together.

X

oatmeal

2011-12-18T00:01:00.002+11:00

into the gloss

I found the most perfect piece in my wardrobe in the bargain bin of a no-name Australian high street store that I only wandered into because I was lost and I needed directions. It's embarrassing being lost in your own city, and I chickened out, instead choosing to fish around in a big black tray that had been strategically placed close to the cash register. There it was, slightly crumpled at the bottom underneath some heinous velvet leggings and a ludicrously yellow tank top. It had bracelet length sleeves, the best sleeve length in my opinion, and a wide, oversized drape with tiny pockets and a chic row of buttons down the back. A reverse cardigan, if you will. It had a boat neck with a tiny rib hem and larger ribbed cufs which you could push up easily, past your forearms, past your elbows, ready for getting down to business. And it was the most delicious, delectable shade of warm porridge fresh from the stove.

I love that jumper, I really do. It makes me want to pout and pose just like hanne gaby whenever I wear it. I've worn it probably at least once every three days for the past year, summer and winter, and barring the inevitable wear and tear of something that isn't meant to last longer than a season it's held up pretty well. I wish it hadn't pilled as much as it has, but it cost next to nothing and I'm not surprised. And I still love it. It has a worn in feeling to it that reminds me of my roly-poly house, and incredible, mind-blowing lectures, and late nights that turned into early mornings at Parisian bars. It makes me feel comfortable which is no mean feat, and probably the most important thing really. When you read style advice tomes in the vein of Ines' one, they inevitably proffer the same tidbits of wisdom. One which has always stuck with me has been the old adage of sticking to what works for you. When you find something that makes you happy and looks good and is functional, hold on to it with both hands and a firm grip. Well, I've found my perfect sweater. I mean, this Opening Ceremony one reminds me of it, if a little fancier, but, well... I kind of like my no-name Australian high-street sweater the best! It could be fashion laziness and an unwillingness to break out of the box and try new things, or it could also just be because I've been lucky enough to find something so perfect that it kind of defies any description at all, and to give it all up for something with a designer label and a fancy detachable scarf would be nothing short of madness.

The day I get rid of that jumper I reckon some old hag will appear to boo me, declaring that "I had true sweater perfection in my hands, and I wore another..."

softly, softly

2011-12-17T21:51:00.001+11:00

apc

I'm steadily building up a list of things that I want to purchase in January and February when I head overseas, with a strong Australian dollar and the promise of international sales my imagination is running just the teensiest, smallest of a bit wild. I'm hoping to pick up some jewellery from Catbird and BRVTVS, both for myself and friends who have placed a personal order (it's kind of fun shopping with other people's money!), something from Isabel Marant, some cozy, oversized sweaters from Margaret Howell or Opening Ceremony or something like that - on sale, of course, Byredo Blanche perfume and a pair or two of these. I've only heard good things about Porselli ballet flats, beloved of Audrey Hepburn and Brigitte Bardot (even though she infamously had a pair of Repettos named after her), who adored the softly, softly leather upper and the discreet nailed soles. Garance Dore even loves them. I know that when it comes to ballet flats it's a case of same same but different, but I really like the brushed nubuck leather and the wide, flat, simple layout of porsellis. I think they seem a little bit more relaxed than Repettos, which while beautiful, have a very turned out feel to them. Like most things French they seem to demand ironed shirts and clean hair and perfect manicures, which I never, ever have.

On the surface it seems a little odd that the as-french-as-you-come label A.P.C would collaborate with Porselli and not Repetto, but I'm glad they did. The fruits of their labour - an edited version seen above - are so perfect in their simplicity they can't help but make me smile. I love that the bulk of the collection, in place since last spring/summer, is made up of beautiful shades of tan, running the gamut from a milky cream through oatmeal to caramel and tobacco - my favourite colours. From thence there is a short romance with mustard yellow and a leafy, philosykos pale green and then firmly onto navy blue. Ultimately the A.P.C sanctioned spectrum of colours; tan and navy. Fine by me! I love the middle pair, a delicious oatmeal colour that would be perfect with bare legs and midi skirts, and the navy blue pair, which would fill a wardrobe void against my tapered trousers and jeans. Has anyone here had porselli ballet flats before? What are the reviews, and how do they shape up against repettos?

found!

2011-12-17T12:07:00.000+11:00

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

atelier

2011-12-16T16:12:00.000+11:00

garance dore

When I'm all grown up and very busy and important I'm going to give it all up to freelance and work from home and I'm going to refer to my light-filled, white-walled, high-ceilinged apartment as my "atelier" even though I'll just be writing bits and pieces and not making delicate, dainty, slip-of-a-thing rings and bracelets and I'll eat bushels of peaches and drink cups of tea every single day and be completely, unashamedly, irrevocably happy.

ps. more beautiful double rings! definitely my favourite thing at the moment.

the art of giving: part three

2011-12-15T10:28:00.000+11:00

Part one: Luxury, Part two: Jewellery

Part Three: Culture

We are always told that when it comes togifting it’s the thought that counts, and there’s no greater present than onethat makes you think. A set of Penguin Great Loves will remind youabout what’s important in the world, of broken hearts, and bareness and roughocean seas. Carine Roitfeld’s Irreverentwill remind you about what’s not important, but still amazing all the same,like a rosy-lipped Gemma Ward, poised with scissors over her curled eyelashes,or a Le Smoking, caught by Helmut Newton in an endless Parisian street. Poolside with Slim Aarons is the presentfor summer babies, with their permanently bronzed limbs and their sunflower-liketendency to chase the golden rays.

Keep track of next year’s important dateswith a Moleskine 2012 Diary. ErnestHemingway used to scribble in one over black coffee at Harry’s Bar, watchingthe Gondolas go by. That’s a gift of real promise. Or, if you want to inspire,try Guy Bourdin Polaroids. Featuring98 never-published images, Bourdin’s trademark surreal sartorial imagery iscaptured in that signature, saturated Polaroid colour-scheme, revealing aneerie, broody sexuality and an undercurrent of danger throughout. For thephotography buff and the fashion fan alike.

And for when it all gets too much, when thefashion is too cerebral, the stories too tragic, the Roitfeld imagery too,well, French, then it’s time to wrapup The O.C Box Set and tie a bigyellow ribbon around the whole thing and call it a day. Give it to the peoplewho watched it with you the first time round, and had a little crush on Sethand an even bigger crush on Marissa’s wardrobe. It might not be that beautifulbaby pink 2.55 that she swung from her perfectly manicured fingers, but it’salmost as good. That must be in the next gift guide.

///

Clockwise from top, Penguin Great Loves, from $6.89 at TheBook Depository, Moleskine WeeklyNotebook, €14 (EUR) from Moleskine, Pool Side with Slim Aarons,$58.36 from TheBook Depository, The O.C Season2, $47.99 from JBHi-fi, Guy Bourdin Polaroids,$39.04 from TheBook Depository, Irreverent byCarine Roitfeld, $139.95 from ArielBooks.

As before, Collage by Talisa, Words by Me

X

the art of giving: part two

2011-12-14T17:26:00.000+11:00

Talisa and I have scarily similar taste - seen through our shared love of bloodorange, Benah, Acne and all things Isabel (among other things). So it's only natural that we collaborated on a gift guide for Christmas, featuring all the things we would both love to be wrapped up and presented to us, or from us, on Christmas day. She's already got the first installment up on her blog, 'Luxury'. Here's the second. Jewellery. And stay tuned for the next two!

Thin and dainty and fine as a morning inFebruary, the only jewellery you should be giving (and receiving, of course)this Christmas should be delicate. Like a PetiteGrand bracelet fromMychameleon, twin hearts melded together to show your sister, in silver chainand clasp form, that you really do love her, or to say thank you to your bestfriend for all the late nights this year – and all the ones still to come – orfor yourself from a lover to say here is mine, and yours, together.

Help a forgetful friend by gifting her a Memoryring from Catbird, Brooklyn. Slotted gently onto the first knuckle an index ormiddle finger, it’s top-hand presence will always remind her of you, andChristmas. A star ring from Catbird isperfect for the supernovas in your life – like the girl who always answers yourcalls or the one who buys you a flat white when you’re really skint. A littlegift for a big person.

If you’re gifting a Satomi Kawakita BlackDiamond ring and matching studs you must surely have a heart of gold. Theseare, actually, the kinds of things you will want for your own jewellery box,the kinds of things that will make your heart soar if they magically find theirway under you tree come Christmas morn’. A tiny hint of a diamond set perfectlyin an endless circle of flaxen-hued gold. What’s that saying again? Always givepresents you’d like to receive yourself? We think anything from Satomi Kawakita fits firmly into this category.

There is nothing that says, ‘merryChristmas, I love you’, quite like something handmade. Each BRVTVS piece ismade to order, each link on a dainty golden chain hammered to perfection in aChelsea studio before being sent out to you via priority post and all thatentails. Opening this present will prove your love, because even if you didn’tmake that Servilia necklace, all curved pipe-pendant and thin-as-a-dandelionchain, yourself, someone else did, and that’s what matters.

///

Clockwise from top, PetiteGrand DoubleHeart Bracelet, $132 from MyChameleon, Catbird Gold Memory Ring, $58 (US) from Catbird,Catbird Silver Star Ring, $52 (US) from Catbird,Satomi Kawakita Black Diamond Solitaire Ring, $190 (US) from LaGarconne, Satomi Kawakita Black Diamond studs, $150 (US) from LaGarconne, BRVTVS Servilia Necklace, $150 (US) from BRVTVS, BRVTVSClaudia Bracelet, $110 (US) from BRVTVS.

Collage by Talisa, Words by me

all for one

2011-12-13T10:12:00.003+11:00

Isabel Marant Etoile Atea Jacket, Dress Up Square Shoulder Tee from My Chameleon, Me and Ro necklace, Hope Granny Sweater from La Garconne, The Row Aligator Backpack from Net a Porter, Van Rycke bracelet from My Chameleon, Isabel Marant bracelet from Net a Porter, Hope News Trousers from La Garconne, Michael Kors watch, Prism New York glasses, Ileana Makri for the Row anklets from Net a Porter, Benah Ryder sandals

one: olsen anonymous, two: refinery 29, three: afingo

He got onto the bus at the foot of Wentworth Street in Point Piper, which was always a good sign, and his shirt sleeves were rolled up, and his pants slung low, and his tie hung limply around his neck, a sad vestige of former Windsor-knot greatness, as if he had been tugging absent-mindedly at it all day. He had one hand in his pockets and the other holding onto the strap of his backpack, which hung precariously, nonchalantly, beautifully from one shoulder. That's it. Never would I carry my too-big backpack crammed full of Australian Civics and Citizenship textbooks and Hello Kitty notebooks with two straps again. The next day, much to my parent's chiropractic-familiar horror, I slung my backpack over one arm and triumphantly strode off to school. All year it seemed like everyone carried their bags this way, everyone competing for who could have the lowest, droopiest heap of canvas pooling around the small of their back (the trick was to adjust the strap as long as it would go and carry heavy things). This went on for some time until a friend of mine, having stuffed her bag with all her Year 9 science exam notes on currents and volume and such things, slung her bag up onto her back and completely threw her back out. Whether it was the sheer weight of the bag, or the habit she had of almost tossing it up into the air to be caught across one shoulder, or the fact that, maybe the reason backpacks have two straps is so that they can distribute the weight equally across both arms we'll never know... But after that it was against school rules to carry your bag on one arm. We still did it anyway, but now we had concrete, front-of-diary black-and-white proof that it was wrong.

I wouldn't mind carrying a The Row backpack over one shoulder, though. I wouldn't stuff it with my packed lunch, my bottle of water, my sports uniform, my hockey mouthguard, my books and leaky pens and all that. I wouldn't dare. I'd delicately, gently place my Moleskine diary, my wallet, my phone and keys, maybe a book - not John Grisham, oh no, something like The Virgin Suicides or Possession - maybe a pair of chic, cats-eye sunglasses from somewhere like, oh, I don't know, Celine. I'd wear straight leg jeans and a big old shirt with twin anklets, or a long black skirt and an oversized sweater with a huge scarf wrapped twice, thrice around my neck and ballet flats. You know, though, it really wouldn't matter that much what I wore, because with a bag like this everything would come out looking like Ashley Olsen. And it wouldn't matter if you were very busy and important off to business meetings or if you were just running up the road to catch the 352 to Uni, it wouldn't matter one bit, because this bag, slung over one shoulder like that boy on the bus, would make everything alright.

My kingdom, such as it is, but my kingdom nonetheless, for this backpack!

ps. people have been asking for links to the items I use in my sets, so I'll start doing that now where I can. Sometimes the items are sold out, but I've linked anyway just for fun!

blue period

2011-12-11T23:33:00.001+11:00

Isabel Marant Etoile jacket, Margarent Howell long sleeved tee shirt, COS navy blue sweater, Isabel Marant necklace, Proenza Schouler PS1, Isabel Marant bracelet, Hope News trousers, VPL bra, Michael Kors watch, Bodas knickers, Isabel Marant Dicker boots, Byredo Blanche perfume

All I want to do at the moment is wear blue. All different shades of blue. Cornflower, forget-me-not, pretty as a periwinkle blue. Dark and broody, stormy and moody navy blue. Pale, perfect, clear-skies kind-of-a-blue. Even sea-green, tiffany box blue. It rained today, so it probably has something to do with that. And I'm obsessed with the Isabel Marant Atea jacket (thanks to Dead Fleurette) and it's dark, dark, dark blue boiled-wool folds, and the Benah Ryder sandals with their perfect combination of murky navy leather and brushed gold hardware. Why does Blue look so good with gold? Why does it look so good with other colours? And why does it look so good with other shades of blue? Navy with aqua, pastel with royal, marine with sky. With all that endless, infinite depth it's much more exciting than three-dimensional than grey and certainly more exciting than black. Why would you wear any other colour? Except for oatmeal of course. A girl's gotta have oatmeal.

Dress Up

2011-12-10T23:40:00.001+11:00

Miss Moss

Thanks to My Chameleon I happened upon pictures of the new Dress Up look book on Miss Moss' blog. I'd seen the new collection in person at Under the Wing with Talisa, but last winter's collection is just as good (and some of it is even on sale on the Dress Up website!). My goodness it's beautiful! It captures so perfectly that Dress Up kind of mood - intelligent yet simple, bookish and reserved, quiet, unnasuming. I love that slouchy grey sweatshirt - and I mean I love it - and the mossy green boxy shirt is just lovely (and even better in person). There's something quite romantic about the many folds of that midi skirt, don't you think? It's exactly the kind of skirt I used to long to find in vintage stores and op-shops when I was going through my 1940s phase, reading only Nancy Mitford and drinking lots of tea. A skirt like that would have fulfilled my dreams of finding a garment that would fan around me as I sat down, and would ripple, yes, ripple, as I walked. I love Summer - really, I do - but looking at all this cashmere, and dark colours, and pale, un-blemished skin has me in raptures. This Winter I'm going to wear my hair out and tucked behind one ear, and give high-waisted tailored slacks a go, and wear red lipstick and shove my hands into my pockets at all times.

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

2011-12-08T09:10:00.001+11:00

mini christmas trees at the columbia road flower market // tinsel and decorations from peony lim // the white house's display of christmas cookies // one festive-spirit dog from sous style

It's so cold in sydney we might as well be drinking mulled wine and making gingerbread and having a white christmas. Is this what it feels like to have all those seasonal festive favourites in the right climate? At any rate, I'm thinking Shearling for christmas day... And I'm listening to this.

on robert redford

2011-12-07T21:10:00.001+11:00

I once made this guy I liked watch Out of Africa with me. Partly because I really, really love that movie and partly because I thought it would be a quasi-romantic thing to do (I used to wear exclusively 1930s pleated skirts from Shag and read lots of Housman so can you blame me?). This boy had sandy blonde hair and blue eyes and freckles all over his nose and he was bad, he was so bad, and he once showed me how to blow smoke rings in my garden and I should have realised that he wouldn't want to watch Out of Africa of all things. He used to wear white tee shirts and blue jeans and he had a big poster of Buffy the Vampire Slayer above his bed because, he told me, Sarah Michelle Gellar was his number one girl. Where did I fit into this? I guess I was the girl who made him watch Out of Africa (why did I do that? why?). I wanted to be the girl who flung her arms around his neck while they danced, or the girl who cooked him carbonara, or the girl who sat in the front seat of his car with the windows down and the music turned up as high as it would go.

I've always loved Robert Redford who - as I so often muse as I shake my head in complete confusion - is in fact older than my grandfather, but still has a full head of hair and oh, was just so lovely when he was younger. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't good either, he had charm like no other, and a perfect smile, and kind hands, and even when he was wrong you still loved him. He was that guy with the great hair, and the absurdly white turtleneck sweater, and the college sweats and the easy smile. He'd call you chief, just between the two of you. The popular guy, the American all-star, the one who'd dance real slow with you at the end of the ball just when you thought he didn't care. That, there is the real American Dream. Average girl bags the beautiful boy? It's Circle of Friends, but with better weather and less catholicism. It never works like that in real life, but that's why we have the movies, right?

I love that bit of RUSSH where they do flat lays around a particular person. I always love the male ones best, they did Jack Nicholson in a recent issue, and it was spot on perfect; "He's the class clown, the son of a showgirl, and the kind of man who called Hunter S Thompson a friend. The kind you want to make a family man.... But you know you never could (make him a family man, that is). Anjelica Huston didn't. Couldn't. But you can't blame her. He's just too damn slick to pin down". Whoever writes these is amazing. There's one on Robert Redford this month and it just brings it all back, the longing glances over a chintz-y couch during Out of Africa, the desire to push back this boy's sandy blonde hair, the yen to wear camel coats with big, turned-up collars and not bring an iron within an inch of my hair. I think the most compelling thing about Robert Redford (and yes I do realise I keep referring to him by his full name...) is that he is an everyman. Him - and his characteristics - are easily transmutable, and yet he plays similar characters. Strong but silent, kind and caring, yet sometimes cruel, just because of the way he was, who prayeth well that loveth well both man and bird and beast. Everyone and no-one, all at once. Gatsby and Hubbell, Denys Finch-Hatton and John Booker and Bob Woodward. He's a white tee shirt, and blue jeans, and someone you can dance real slow with.

double trouble

2011-12-07T20:01:00.002+11:00

one - garance dore, two - me

I've been wearing double rings lately and feeling pretty good about the situation. Not as fancy as Lara Melchior's number, but in the same vein, and somewhat recalling that amazing repossi ring. Somewhat. For someone who's not a big ring person, and who really only wears this YSL ring - the complete antithesis to this delicate double up number - this has been a definite adjustment. I used to take my ring off whenever I did anything, went on the computer, ate a sandwich, sliced a mango, washed my hands, sat down on a chair. I know, I know, kind of ridiculous. But once it became force of habit I did it subconsciously and it was hard to get out of it. I began leaving my ring behind - in public bathrooms, in restaurants, on shop counters. Every time I realised about 20 seconds later that I wasn't wearing my beautiful, beautiful ring and I rushed back to said bathroom, resto or shop to retrieve it and everytime I was lucky enough to encounter kind, honest people who had handed it in. Of course, it's easier to find a big hulk of jade when it's lost than it is a tiny delicate sliver of silver, or a whisper of gold. So I've taught myself to be more careful of these little guys and leave them on my hands most of the time. It's kind of touching to have jewellery that never leaves me, something that is slowly yet ever so surely becoming a part of me. I like it a lot.

A few people have been asking what the rings are. They go so well together they might as well be a pair, but they're actually two separate rings (and I love the mixed silver and gold together, oooh). The first ring is a tiny flower ring from Me & Ro. It was a gift from the lovely Talisa and Rohan and I love it so! The gold ring is the Catbird threadbare ring, and my brother's girlfriend gave it to me. The description on the site says "Thin as a whisper... shiny as flaxen hair. Barely there... glimmering and delicate." Isn't that just wonderful? I would love to get a job writing copy for a website like Catbird or La Garconne. Brand writing in general is appealing to me at the moment, ever since finding the careers tab at Net a Porter and finding out that Natalie from Canned Fashion has a job there as a fashion writer. What is this mysterious world of fashion writing outside of magazines that no-one has told me about? And when can I get a job doing it?

I'd love to write copy about Isabel coats and me & ro jewellery and repetto ballet flats all day long. And get staff discount and whatever lovely store I happened to find myself at. Where can I sign up for that job?

flower girl

2011-12-07T20:01:00.000+11:00

one. vogue us' "hot-house" november 2011
two. flower arrangements on style me romy
three. detail of my me & ro stamped flower pendant
four and seven. park and cube's trip to the columbia road flower market
five. sophie dahl's from season to season
six. samantha wills box and catbird fleurs de nuit candle, described as "breaths before the fall". beautiful. live living in a greenhouse.
eight. details of my floral print shirt from seed. It's a perfect icy blue and it goes so well with navy and it's so darn pretty with all those teeny tiny flowers all over it!
nine. amazing, amazing peonies on the flower drum. My favourite flower!

All the times I have given flowers: for countless birthdays and endless thank yous, for getting better and for getting older, for doing me a favour, for saving me from a bad date, for having me over for a dinner that ended up becoming breakfast, and once, when I was very, very, very much in the wrong, to say sorry for being such a bad daughter.

All the times I have received flowers: daisies when I was sick, sunflowers when I was happy, spray carnations when I graduated, tulips when I had success, sweet peas when I didn't, peonies when it was my birthday, hydrangeas when I was being thanked, gardenias in a pot when I thought I was leaving home, freesias in brown paper when it never happened, lilies and all of that when I was a bridesmaid, a single african violet from a kid I used to babysit, roses when I was in love.

It's raining and I'm listening to this.

late night outfits

2011-12-05T19:24:00.000+11:00

This outfit occurred to me right before I closed my eyes and fell asleep the other night. I was musing on this Isabel shirt, which is quite oversized and drapey but runs the risk of looking a bit farm-y when left to its own devices. How could I jazz up my simple shirt-and-skirt outfit formula? Why, add a vest, of course! And not just any vest (well, it actually should read "only vest" since I don't own any others), but my Carly Hunter shearling vest! It's a bit farm-y too, in the best kind of way, and since Isabel has a thing for shearling it seemed kind of perfect. Flat sandals and my favourite delicate jewellery pieces completed the outfit. All Saturday I wore it and I loved myself - what a perfect combination! How have I NEVER done this before? Is this how Archimedes felt, leaping out of the bath and realising that water displaces volume in direct relation to the objects submerged in it? Is this my Eureka moment???

mood

2011-12-04T16:51:00.001+11:00

mustard yellow chairs from the byredo website // meredith melling burke's simple perfection, one necklace and shades of grey // a classic celine box bag in bottle green on jou jou villeroy // bare nails and silver and gold rings // miu miu noir sunglasses from we the people // cos jeans and a yellow turtleneck from laisse tomber les filles

It's all about classics with a twist, isn't it?

stockholm syndrome

2011-12-04T16:28:00.001+11:00

one and three - discotheque confusion

two and four - vanessa jackman

five and six - yvan rodic

For a long time now I've been desperate to go to Sweden. Not just for Acne, and Monki, and Weekday and all of that. But because Stockholm looks like the most fascinating city - the perfect mix of greenery and industrial grey, full of girls with yellow hair and masculine-tailored clothes. Seeing that I've never really got further inland in Europe than Italy, I think next time I'm that-a-way I'd love to spend a good deal of time in Stockholm, eating at bakeries and delis with white-washed walls, and sampling a tonne of local seafood, and spending all my krona in Byredo and COS. There was an article in one of the recent Vogue UK's about the rise of swedish high-street fashion, and how it is slowly yet ever so surely moving to replace the precedence that French high street fashion has previously held. Sandro, Maje, The Kooples et al have challengers in the rise of a Swedish aesthetic, undoubtedly personified in the very stylish wardrobes of bloggers like Ytligheter (in fact the communications manager at Monki), Columbine Smile, and, of course, the super-bogger herself, Elin Kling.

While that classic French style - bretons and Isabel and trenches galore - gets a lot of airplay on blogs, I think that one of the most compelling style messages that have emerged recently from the blogging medium has been this swedish style - all oversized, long lines, interesting yet unexpected design details (side splits, keyhole cut outs and raw hems) and a serious love of all things Acne. It's a more powerful look than the French one in many ways - and I don't mean more powerful in terms of more significant, or more resonant, I mean powerful kind of in terms of the strength of the look. The Swedish look is not soft, which the French look, with its florals, and Vanessa Bruno and ballet flats undoubtedly, unashamedly is. The Swedish look has that touch of iceberg to it - and I kind of love that. It's a strong look. It means business.

ps. lame title, right? It's like ANY fashion article about pleats uses the headline "pleats please" and ANY fashion article about trenches uses the headline "in the trenches" or "trench warfare' haha.

je suis un peu une grande affaire

2011-12-04T15:30:00.000+11:00

"Serge sweetly doesn't know how to dance but we go to Regine's, then to a Russian club, and Serge pushes 100-franc notes into the musicians' violins so they will play the "Valse triste" of Sibelius as we get into a taxi; after that we went to an amazing place where Mexican singers Serge knew were playing with Joe Turner, the great jazz man; from there to Madame Arthur, a transvestite club, where Serge's father played the piano before the war. These gentlemen dressed up as ladies, who I had never seen the like of, come and sit on Serge's knee; after that, at dawn, we went to have a croissant on the Pigalle and all the prostitutes said hello to Serge. I just thought, "Wow." He had the keys to the city, or to all of the cities of Paris."

Jane Birkin, on her first date with Serge Gainsbourg, from this interview with the guardian

one. Isabel Marant Idea coat in charcoal grey.
two. a cute little note book from my friend as a birthday present. translation: "I am a little bit of a big deal".
three. a trio of fantastic French rom-coms which are better than normal rom-coms because they're French.
four. APC feuille de figuier and toumbac candles.
five and six. a snippet of the Jerome Dreyfuss
seven and eight. bits and pieces from the Rue Des Martyrs address of the Rose Bakery.
nine. Tati Cotliar so frenchy so chic in trench coat and denim in the first issue of Stonefox magazine. photo: Benah Blog
ten. k.jacques red sandals - a birthday gift from my lovely uni friends!

My mum is renowned in our family and her circle of friends for being an intense francophile - the biggest one there is. She will read any book written about or in Paris, even the weird murder mysteries set in Montmartre, even the horrible chick-lit about British couples opening "auberges" in the South of France. She'll watch any French film and adore it. She can cook anything French with her eyes closed (and we love her for it). For her 50th birthday we went to France to celebrate her in her favourite city in the world, and it was lovely to see it through her eyes. Meals at the restaurants of her choice, visits to her favourite chateaux, sips of her beloved Billecart-Salmon champagne (but not too many sips, mind). It's endearing how much she loves France, simply because. Not because of any over-hyped, rose-tinted, Eiffel-tower filled dream scenarios (she doesn't even like the Eiffel Tower, but, actually, she does really, by sheer virtue of the fact that it is in Paris). But because she thinks France is beautiful. And it is.

My mum and I have completely different perspective when it comes to France. I love the Marais, she prefers Saint Germaine. I love eating at poky little cafes and hipster hangouts, she prefers innovative chefs or traditional french fare (or both, together, like Joel Robuchon). I spend most of my time in Paris on Isabel Marant pilgrimages or rifling through racks at le Bon Marche. She would happily spend her days hunting down knitting or button or cooking shops. But we can converge, hours later, laden with parcels or ebullient and well-fed, worn off our feet from all the walking, to talk about our Paris, our experiences, our discoveries, as if Paris belonged to us alone, and no-one else, and not each other. It's so funny how we can have such very different experiences of the very same city. We do cross over (it was her, after all, that introduced me to the Rose Bakery, much to my delight), but on the whole we can be there at the same time and want to do very different things. She has a Paris all of her own, and so do I (and so does Jane Birkin, and so does Serge Gainsbourg) and they can co-exist harmoniously indefinitely.

That's why it was so nice that last trip to make it all about her. Doing the things she wanted or seeing the things she saw broke up my incessant desire to hunt down a certain boutique or a certain cafe, and it was nice. One of the nicest moments of the last trip was when we sat down together in the shade of the Place des Vosges on our first day in Paris with a great friend of ours and just talked about nothing. There was a hilarious group of French university students filming a mockumentary, with each student dressed up as a different country competing in the Olympics. We had a good chuckle at the Australian delegate, gamely baring skin in some too-short speedos (I believe the Australian terminology is "budgy smugler", no?) and a green and yellow singlet that stubbornly refused to stay put. I had wanted to go to COS that day, but instead ended up sitting on a bench with a box of macarons with my mum and our friend and watching Parisians go about their lives. Her Paris and my Paris collided spectacularly and for one brilliant moment we shared the city that she loves so much.

Because of my mum's great love for France there are always bits and pieces of francophilia littering our house - a block mazet chocolate here, a Julia Child cook book there. My room has started to take on that feeling too, something that I hadn't noticed until recently. Even the quilt I shot these pictures on is by a french bedding company (and mighty chic it is too!). I've always loved Jerome Dreyfuss bags and bemoan the fact that I started working at the store I work at literally days after they stopped stocking Jerome Dreyfuss and I never got the chance to use my staff discount on any of those bad boys. I think the Billy bag in a nice supple khaki leather would do me well. There are worse things in life than having a little bit of Paris in your life, no?

X

ps. anyone else having Paris fever must watch Midnight In Paris. The opening sequence set to Sidney Bechet's si tu vois ma mere alone will be enough to send you off to STA to book a one way ticket.

pps. anyone else having Paris fever and who is just a little bit of a pervert check out this video of the sexiest man alive speaking fluent french. It's all kinds of amazing.

sale time

2011-12-03T13:31:00.001+11:00

It's that time of year again! Sample sales are popping up everywhere, and now my favourite boutiques are getting in on the action as well. I checked out the Corner Shop and Belinda in paddington today and they've got some great stuff on sale - Isabel Marant, Vanessa Bruno, Helmut Lang, T by Alex Wang... Not bad at all!

just smile

2011-12-03T08:58:00.001+11:00

vanessa jackman

I love my weekends off. I feel like I can either pack a million things in one day, do the stuff that I just can't do because I work in retail and every other weekend I'm chained to a cash register, helping people buy stuff, or I can flip to the other end of the spectrum, lazing about, doing absolutely nothing, nothing at all. This weekend is going to be a busy weekend, I can already feel it. But I have a smile on my face because it means that I'll be seeing friend I haven't seen in ages, and doing thing I haven't done in ages like have fish and chips for dinner at Watson's Bay, and watch the Bill Cunningham documentary, squeeze in a quick visit to my favourite shop, babysit my cute cousins that I never see anymore tonight, and finally get through that stack of magazines piling up dangerously by my bed. This is a lovely photo of Stevie Dance. It makes me excited to spend a whole weekend smiling.

apples

2011-12-02T17:23:00.000+11:00

“She liked Victorian novels. They were the only kind of novel you could read while eating an apple.”

Stella Gibbons, Cold Comfort Farm

turned out

For some reason this quote always reminds me of Stevie. I know she loves Cold Comfort Farm, and I love Cold Comfort Farm too. What a great book. The kind you can read an apple with.

cold snap

2011-12-02T16:54:00.001+11:00

I'm very happy because the weather is cold. I hated it when it was the week of my party because rain and cold and parties don't mix well, but when I have nothing better to do than swan around with a big scarf and a tweedy coat and drink coffee and read paperback novels then it's quite glorious. Even better when it's surprise cold weather and you can dig up your winter weather favourites for one last hurrah. In fact, it just might be my favourite thing ever.

ps. this just might be my favourite outfit ever too. It's an oldie but a goodie - oversized oatmeal sweater, long black skirt, tweedy coat, big scarf, ballet flats. (yes, you read that right, ballet flats not sandals). This stripey scarf by Fouta is HUGE, which is kind of fun, especially when you just leave it hanging from your neck with the tassels going everywhere. And i do love my tweedy coats. This one is grey with some flecks of white in it - still boxy, still awesome. I think I have a "type" when it comes to coats.

sent to print

2011-11-29T20:26:00.001+11:00

RUSSH at large

"I spend a lot of nights watching our magazine come off the press. It’s a different world out there. Intoxicating ink and enormous machines. I spend most of my time there shouting over the noise and trying to resist the Tim Tams they keep stocked for me. But in the end, it’s always worth it."

Christine Thornton

I love this quote that just went up on the RUSSH blog from their creative director Christine Thornton (incidentally featured in the first issue of new magazine Stonefox, which is amazing, as Talisa will tell you). I'm the same. It's a true media-nerd that takes some kind of bizarre pleasure from the smell of glossy paper, the way that text is centred in a page, the changes across a masthead, the thickness of a bound spine. I think I would love to work at a publication that is small and tightly knit, like RUSSH, where, when the magazine is finally sent to print, that comforting whirr of big machines would start up and get about its business of putting everything together while you, with mere hands and eyes and thoughts, sat back to watch it all go by. I think I've spent most of my life shouting over noise, such as it is. The noise of my family, the noise of my friends, the noise of loud restaurants and big trucks and beat-laden music. I think I'd like to spend the rest of it shouting over the noise of enormous machines and eating tim tams and sending things to print.

X