Fashion in the City

This just in from one of my favourite daily alerts for all things fabulous, DAILY ADDICT:

The MLC Centre in the Sydney CBD is having a fashion moment with a photography exhibition featuring works by 21 top fashion photographers including Derek Henderson, Carlotta Moye and Simon Lekias. From Barely There to Wondrous Exhibition until Wed 8 Apr, MLC Centre, Sydney CBD. Free.

The exhibition embraces everything from Miranda Kerr floating on a duck to Eva Mendes bringing true glamour to Bondi. Although entry to the exhibition is free you can spend a pretty penny on buying up some of the fabulous limited-edition prints which are signed, beautifully mounted and framed (85 x 65cm), for price of $750.

The best bit? All the profits will go straight to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. That should have you racing into town for a sticky beak surely?

Vintage Fashions Arriving This Week

I've been busy over the last couple of weeks travelling around the country picking up lovely new vintage pieces for the shop. I've also had the good fortune to collect some amazing garments straight from private collectors or sellers which is fantastic.

I love the stock trips. Not only do I get to travel to some gorgeous places but I get to meet lots of happy vintage aficionado's who are as enthusiastic about old clothes as I am!

The difficult part starts when I get back to Sydney and everything has to be dry cleaned, measured, styled, photographed and written up on the Bowerbird site.

Oh, and I have a paper due this week at university. Hectic days ahead...
xo

Plenty of dresses...

coats & jackets...and other vintage goodies will be avaialbe toward the end of this week at BOWERBIRD

Vintage Paris

The French Film Festival hits Sydney tomorrow and is promising its usual spectacular line up of French fabulousness featuring "the dernier cris of French talent including Juliette Binoche, Vincent Cassel, Virginie Ledoyen, Catherine Deneuve, Daniel Auteuil, Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Beart, Gerard Depardieu, Gérard Jugnot, Ludivine Sagnier, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi".

Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing the cabaret style musical Paris 36 which kicks off opening night. Set in a working class suburb of Paris in 1936 (funnily enough!) it's been nominated for 5 Cesar awards (kind of like the French Oscars) including costume design, which I am especially interested in. All those fantastic vintage dresses and 1930's showbiz gowns!

From what I can gather the film is a loving tip of the hat to studio-bound French pictures of the World War II period that's both entertaining and fabulously over the top. Although I'm generally not a lover of musicals, the French really know how to put on a show (Ever been to Moulin Rouge???) and the reviews have been excellent so I'm sure I won't be disappointed.

There are some 30 films playing over the next couple of weeks at the Verona and the Palace Academy in Paddington as well as Norton Street Cinema in Leichardt. The festival is also on around the rest of the country throughout March in capital cities. Click HERE for screenings and session times.

Another Great Website Alert...

I love an online magazine. Partly because it's free...and also because I'm an Internet junkie. I get a kick out of finding really cool websites bursting with fresh idea's and talented people doing amazing things with graphics and layouts. So, an online mag is right up my alley. Especially if it's a fashion magazine that is promoting local designers, fashions and celebrities.

My Lookbook is a fantastic visual journal of designers and e-boutiques that showcases what's hot right now and what is currently in stores and online. Each fashion spread links directly to a website or e-boutique so you can purchase your favourite outfit immediately after drooling over it on the site (while at your desk pretending your working really hard). There's also plenty of celebrity inspiration, catwalk talk and insider interviews.

Visit http://www.mylookbook.com.au/ and Subscribe (I just did!)

New Fashion Length

It is a widely held belief that in times of financial crisis there are certain things in the world of fashion that also come crashing down. Despite the trend in recent years to show off as much skin as possible there now appearing to be an overwhelming trend towards longer hemlines. It seems the world economic downturn has inspired a more conservative approach to dressing and being overtly sexy and revealing is a little passé these days.

Personally, Ive always loved a demure hemline and I'm thrilled to see the 1920's and 1940's style calf length skirts returning to the run ways. A well cut calf length pencil skirt or Galaxy style dress worn with the right pair of heels is far more captivating and dramatic than a mini skirt any day of the week (unless of course, you have Miranda Kerr's body measurements).

Our current attitude of fashion austerity is definitely not new. The Skirt Length theory has been around for years in fact. The hypothesis generally speaking is that skirts get much shorter in times when general consumer confidence is high, and when things start to look a tad depressing and gloomy like they do now, hemlines fall and skirts are worn longer.

To be perfectly honest, I don't really have a whole lot of faith in this notion as trends move so fast these days that calf length is already so "5 minutes ago" according to the latest NY runway reports... but I am definitely happy to see a lean toward a more decorous and womanly aesthetic this season anyway - My knobbly knee's and I rejoice in the knowledge that they're not getting any shorter!




Victoria Beckham's debut collection was all about the calf length skirt

Our hearts are breaking for you Victoria...

If tears could build a stairway,
And memories a lane,
I'd walk right up to Heaven
And bring you home again

Currently there are 181 men, women and children known to have perished in the fires in Victoria. There are still many listed as missing.

donate online at:
https://www.redcross.org.au/Donations/onlineDonations.asp

Shoes Glorious Shoes

Now, I realise that they possibly look a little like a pair of shoes that say, Elizabeth Berkely might have worn in Showgirls (or Demi Moore in Striptease?)...And of course they are totally impractical, look like they might do some permanent damage to your Achilles and are the kind of shoes that everybody will remember which means you can wear them maybe twice before your friends start to wonder if you have other shoes.

But my, aren't they sublime? I adore the colour and I have just purchased a beautiful vintage 1950's navy blue party dress that would look absolutely heavenly paired with them.

Actually, I bought the frock as part of a stock haul for Bowerbird last week but I've fallen in love with it and can't stand the thought of selling it on the web site. Plus, it fit's me like it was made especially for me so that must be a sign right?
...And quite frankly it's been such a long time since I actually purchased vintage just for me that I'm working through the guilt associated with keeping something I purchased for the shop.

Oh, to buy or not to buy?

The problem is that Peeptoe Shoes have an enormous range of amazing heels at really reasonable prices. The most expensive is $249.00 and they regularly have half price sales. The last time I bought shoes online from Peeptoe I layed out a whooping $350.00...Justified away entirely by the fact that all three pairs were on sale. Of course that was a year ago and I still haven't worn one pair and another is a half size too small (they didn't have an 8 so I figured I'd be able to squeeze into the 7.5 - consequently I've worn them once and I could barely walk for a full 48hrs afterwards). On the bright side though, all three make my customised shoe closet look extra colourful and spectacular!

The other wonderful thing about Peeptoe's is that the shoes (as well as being very well made, high quality leather and super high heels) have a lovely bright red sole. So, even though I don't own a pair of Christian Louboutin's I can pretend I do and therefore I strut better, feel thinner and stand taller in them.

That's a good reason right there to buy them. Sold!

Fun in the Sun

Yesterday morning I woke up feeling a bit blah. The heat, I think, is finally getting to me and January, my favouite month of the year has slipped away in a blur of activity leaving boring old February to mark my journey back into the realms of serious business enterprise and the long hours of post grad studies. Not that I'm really complaining - by the time Feb rolls around I am always ready for new challenges and antsy to get started on new projects.

January in Sydney is my favourite time of the year because there is so much going on. The Sydney festival is in full swing with lots of free concerts, art exhibitions and and movies under the stars. The weather is glorious (perhaps a a tad too warm at times this year?), there are always visitors to entertain and everyone I know seems to have a birthday in Jan. Throw in a wedding or two and bunch of amazing gigs such as Leonard Cohen last week at the Ent Centre (Be still my beating heart!) and Glen Hansard (accompanied by his brilliant band The Frames) and Marieke Irglova performing songs from their little Indy flick "Once" at the Opera House. Yes, January is a hard month to beat.

...And then February brings me back to earth. I'm feeling a bit guilty that I 've had too much fun and a little panicked about the need to get my behind into gear and make a start on the infinite number of bright idea's and new projects I want to get off the ground this year.

So, yesterday did not begin well. Overwhelmed with what to do first and how I might go about making my budget stretch to incorporate so many things on my list, I found myself feeling a little flat. Fortunately, we had a photoshoot organised for the late afternoon and as soon as lunch was over I was completely absorded in dresses, locations, props and camera equipment. There is nothing like launching yourself into inspired activity to lift to the spirits.

Now I'm ready to roll ;->

Some of the photo's we took from yesterday's shoot...Lots of fun and the dresses turned out spectacularly!