Bold Over

Chunky Move :: Watts // Big Up // No flashI attended a family wedding at the end of March, and my eye was immediately drawn to this cool chunky necklace my cousin Amelia-Jane was wearing. Its bold and uncompromising graphic shapes and limited colour palette are reminiscent of Art Deco.

We had been looking forward to a rather bleak weekend weather-wise, so Amelia-Jane had decided against wearing the summery dress she had originally planned. Instead, she wore this pale gold Lurex knit with a pair of taupe trousers. Such a statement necklace, she said, lifted the outfit out of the ordinary – and she was right. Never underestimate the power of an accessory!

Shoo-Shoo Baby!

Click on image for larger version

Oh, I had such fun doing this ANZAC day shoot! I put on a cd and sang away to Rum and Coca Cola, Shoo-Shoo Baby, Hold Tight, Hold Tight (Want Some Sea Food Mama), and of course Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree. There’s just so much joie de vivre in their singing – no surprise they were sent off to cheer up the troops during the war. These photos made me laugh so much I had to pick out my favourites to share. 

What I Actually Wore #0057

Serial #: 0057
Date: 25/01/2011
Weather: forecast 27°, warm
Time Allowed: 2 minutes

I had a lunch date with a friend to go to, and to save time I wore an outfit I used in a photoshoot that morning. It was a story about mercerised cotton. The Kookaï top features cute balloon-puff sleeves, which are complemented by the gathered insert in an old favourite black and white skirt by Obüs.

When it came time to leave, I quickly picked out a pair of colourful shoes: Alice-blue, low-heeled, vintage Eighties courts that I had bought on Etsy last year. As it was sunny outside I decided to take an umbrella and foil the burning sun. This posed an unexpected problem.

I own so many umbrellas, yet few are usable. A red and orange one with a leafy pattern was coming undone along one of the seams. The tasselled lilac was all frayed along the ends; I had not yet got round to trimming it with some braid I’d sourced. (Mending is so dull.) The beige I knew was impossible: its frill had unravelled and I had botched the mending; it had to be redone before I could use it again. (Did I mention mending is dull work?)

I don’t even like to think about the tragedy that occurred to render the quaint white parasol, lined with black lace, utterly unusable. The Lucite handle was snapped off when a speeding tram driver braked suddenly and it fell against the door.

As for the magenta parasol with black pom-pom trim – it was out of the question: pink with my blue shoes would be foul. Neither the Chinese paper parasol, nor Battenberg lace matched; and I cordially disliked the brown umbrella. I’ve never liked the colour brown, and don’t know what possessed me to buy this one in the first place.

That left the blue umbrella. This was annoying, because it was the exact same shade of blue as my shoes. But at least my buffalo bag was not matchy-matchy.

Items:

Top: Kookaï
Skirt: Obüs
Earrings: from Zari
Ring: Autore
Watch: Kenneth Cole
Bag: from Stanley Market in Hong Kong
Shoes: vintage, Together!

Keep Your Shirt On!

Click for a history lessonI know that just the other day I panned the white shirt and cast it into outer darkness, but today let us pay homage to a special white shirt of recent history: the ruffled pirate shirt of Jerry Seinfeld infamy. Once you have finished dwelling over that precious memory, cast your eyes over this wonderful editorial on duelling fashion from the Australian magazine Follow Me Gentlemen (Sep/Nov 1989).

The gentlemen are sultry and the lady is sulky; passion and tempers run high. The introduction is full of delicious puns. These shirts are worn relaxed and open – no getting hot under the collar for these guys!

Click on images for larger versions.

Tropical Punch

Although I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, a while back I had strange hankering for a vintage candy-pink cane handbag. This seems very specific, I know. At the time, I also had a desperate desire for a holiday in the tropics (only partially assuaged by a week in Noosa, which is not quite Far North Queensland). Somehow, a candy-pink cane handbag seemed to epitomise all those lovely summertime things: cotton candy, Mai Tais, flamingoes, hibiscus flowers and brilliant sunshine. Miraculously, I struck gold in my first search on Etsy. How often does that happen? Now I just have to book that tropical beach holiday …