The Girl in the Red Coat

At lunchtime today I was flicking through the August 2012 issue of Australian Vogue, and was most astonished when I turned the page and was confronted by a replica of my vintage red cashmere coat! It was featured in a Planinsek ad. As soon as I returned to my desk I went to the website and tracked it down to the wraps and shawls category.

Planinsek ad from Australian Vogue, August 2012; click through to siteIt was not a coat after all, but it does bear a remarkable similarity to mine. My swing coat came from Germany; is longer and closes with buttons; and is actually 50% wool and 50% cashmere. But there was another distinct difference: the price. I paid only $300 for mine, and the Planinsek wrap is $1,695. Still this wrap is almost as dramatic as my coat, and it would certainly keep you very warm and cosy in winter.

If you choose to purchase and wear it, particularly at Christmastime, be prepared for all sorts of insidious comparisons to the jolly fat man.

You can see a full shot of my coat here.

Wrapped in Patterns

Rapt in patterns :: Loftus // DC // No flash

I was very excited when I made this Etsy purchase from Susie Q’s Vintage Shop. The 1950s navy saucer hat was just so irresistible. I could wear it on the beach, and the gingham pattern made it perfect for picnics too. When it finally arrived in the post, I was delighted by the packaging: the seller had wrapped the hat in old dress patterns. Quaint; a great little recycling tip; and photogenic as well. See me modelling it here.

I Am Not Amuse.d

Story by Wendy Squires, from Melbourne’s The Age newspaper, Nov 3, 2012I am thankful that I have never hankered to be a fashion model. I have always been much more interested in what goes on behind the camera, or in art direction or styling – the ideas. I’ve never wanted to personify someone else’s vision, or be someone else’s muse. Not only because that is such a transient status, and the daunting pressure to meet high expectations, but because it is so much more interesting to be the creator.

Of course here on SNAP I can exorcise any latent fantasies and personify my own stories … but the truth is I can’t afford to be paying models every other day anyway. I’m the one who’s available, on call any time.

Today I was clearing out some household stuff that had overstayed its welcome by a year or three – crockery I never used, bits and bobs in the storage room in the garage that had not seen the light of day for years – and I was wrapping the glassware in old newspapers I had cadged from MTC’s Publicity department last Friday.

Not very attractive working conditions, are they? Body fur? Stinky breath?

This story caught my eye, and I paused in my wrapping of a set of rose-coloured wine glasses to read it. Of course I had heard all the horror stories about the modelling industry, but this tale told by journalist/editor/author Wendy Squires early this month was an eye-opener. It was simply appalling to read how magazine staff spoke about the models on a casting call as though they were sub-human. There are too many horrifying paragraphs to quote, but here are a few:

I was open-mouthed with admiration and awe. Never had I seen girls so stunning, so flawless, so otherworldly exquisite. Then, I heard the comments from the team as each girl left. “Did you see her ankles?” “She was just awful. Who sent her?” … “Did you see what she was wearing? Was it Katies?” “All I know is I hatie.” “Fat.” “Haggard.” “Old.” Giggles all round.

Catwalk models are different to photographic models … their hips stick out like bony door handles, … you could grate cheese on their collarbones and how many are covered in a downy layer of hair – nature’s way of keeping the body warm when it’s starved.

I told her how I watched models ingest nothing but black coffee and Marlboros for days on end; how their breath smelt and they would routinely faint.

Not very attractive working conditions, are they? Body fur? Stinky breath? Of course there is a glamorous side to modelling, but there is much more to life than looking merely beautiful. Plus you get to eat.

Click the image for a larger version to read. 

Check Please

The Vintage Hat Series: 1950s navy straw saucer hat, covered with pleated gingham and trimmed with red velvet ribbon

Out of all the styles of hats the 1950s brought us, the saucer hat is my favourite shape. Flat as a pancake, it perches atop the head and creates such an elegant silhouette.

This dishy little number from Etsy store Susie Q’s Vintage Shop, is made from navy blue straw, covered with pleated gingham and trimmed with a narrow red velvet ribbon. The gingham makes me think of Gidget, which makes it perfect for the beach. It looks just as cute paired with a polka-dot vintage 80s blouse. 

What I Actually Wore #0066

Serial #: 0066
Date: 15/04/2012
Weather: a very warm 27°
Time Allowed: 15 minutes

It was a lovely Sunday, and I was visiting my mum and dad, along with my eldest sister Blossom and her husband. It was very easy to pick out a dress to wear, what with the sunshine and the fact that my new Maeve dress was hanging temptingly in my closet. The stripes on the dress are actually fine red peppermint pinstripes, rather than the candy pink and white it looks from a distance.

Time, however, was wasted searching out the right jacket. I had originally intended to wear the 80s puff-sleeve jacket but with it there was far too much cream in the entire outfit. I chose instead a red and white tweed jacket. It certainly looked very cute, but it transpired to be far too hot for it at all!

Both the tiered dress and the vanilla cream puff jacket were bought on eBay.

Even my mum was moved to approve of [the shoes], and she often snorts at the more outlandish of my vintage garments.

My wedges were also new, and I absolutely adored them. By Melbourne label Habbot, they were a splurge even on sale, but for once, expense did go hand-in-hand with quality (butter-soft Italian glove leather) and comfort. The shoes fit like an, ahem, glove.

Every time I wear them females around me exclaim in delight. Even my mum was moved to approve of them, and she often snorts at the more outlandish of my vintage garments. But then mum was wont – back in the old days in Yugoslavia – to take my older sisters (my not yet being born) on trips to Italy to purchase new shoes and winter coats, so of course she’d approve. 

Items:

Dress: Anthropologie 
Jackets: vintage
Jewellery: earrings handmade by me; silver ring, Roun; onyx ring, souvenir
Watch: Kenneth Cole
Sunglasses: Alessandro del Acqua
Shoes: Habbot