Homage to Her Royal Majesty

It was a sad day last August when iconic French fashion designer Sonia Rykiel passed away (from complications of Parkinson’s disease). She was a fashion legend, and was the inventor of the Poor Boy Sweater, which features high cut armholes and a shrunken fit that makes it cling to the body. It was her own solution to finding stylish clothes to wear during her pregnancy in 1962. Italian-made, and sold through her husband’s store, it was eventually featured on the cover of French Elle magazine. And so the Queen of Knits was born.

I own a few knits from her label – two with pom-poms – which have featured in this style journal over the years, but this striped sweater with the skinny necktie was my favourite. (You can see it better here.) Sadly it developed quite a few holes that I darned, and continued to wear until it looked just too sad. I think I eventually donated to charity, and now I wish I had kept it as a Comfort Sweater to wear around home.

In these photos from three years ago, I am wearing it with black wide-leg trousers and a red wool beret. (I love my hair here too!)

Photos: August, 2014

The Land of Summer-And-Autumn

There is a magical land where summer and autumn are mixed together for a while – like twilight – before autumn takes over completely. Melbourne produces this season beautifully. The calendar may say summer has ended, but my hometown does not know it.

These are the days when it’s still hot, hot, hot, but you know the weather could turn in a trice … that’s when a parasol-umbrella comes very handy. In the morning it could screen you from the burning sun, and in the afternoon it could provide shelter from the rain.

These are the days that are still gloriously golden at the same time the leaves are turning gold and orange and red. Slowly the heat will fade and we’ll feel a nip in the air, and that’s when fashion starts to get more fun as we begin to layer up, add an accessory or two. But for this week’s heatwave at least we’ll enjoy autumn in the skimpiest layers possible.

Fashion Notes

This photo is so old (my hair!) the silk blouse, tiered skirt – made from vintage kimonos and bought in Sintra, Portugal – and blue sandals have long since been retired from my closet. Now I rather wish I had kept the skirt, for it was rather fun. The daisy fabric layer was rather shattered though, and I had spent quite a long time mending a huge tear; but that wasn’t why I got rid of it: I had ruthlessly culled anything that was too girly or frilly! There are some things, though, that one should never throw away, and I think this was one of them.

Photo: March 2014

Whoops!

Oh no! I made a big boo-boo! I changed my blog titles, as you may have noticed, from Journal to Style, and Sketchbook to Scrapbook and changed the page urls… But I forgot that lots of you subscribers out there will no longer be able to automatically connect and will be receiving ‘page not found’ errors. I am so sorry!

I’m in the process of fixing this with some technical help from my host provider (it’s not so easy, because I’ve updated all the internal links over the whole blogs), so hopefully this will be sorted in the next day or two.

In the meantime, you could re-subscribe with the new url (just hit the subscribe button over on the right there under the first menu) which will fix the issue immediately, or just keep going back to the home page and clicking to the journal from there.

Booo! Sorry! Grovel, grovel.

Wartime Knit Kit

The 1940s is one of my favourite eras for clothing because I love the silhouette, and the mix of minimalist, military-inspired tailoring with soft draping fabrics – the wool suiting, the knits. It’s a pretty rare thing to find original 40s knits in Australia, however. Happily, the look of the era comes in and out of fashion, so it is relatively easy to find contemporary clothing with the same or similar silhouettes.

This short knit jacket is one such example showing a Forties influence: the collar and lapels, the puffed sleeves and the pockets are all telltale details. I really love the short sleeves too – they’re not often seen in modern jackets. Below are two original jackets from the era that show the details that inspired mine.

Tailored double-jersey mock rib jacket features wide reveres and a darted sleeve head, by John SmedleyThis jacket is cut along military lines, with metal-buttoned patch pockets and a high neckline; by John SmedleyOf course the Second World War had a huge influence on the types of clothing worn in the Forties, especially with hand-knitted garments, tailoring, and military styling. The War introduced a ‘previously unknown democratisation into fashion. Notions of class-based and elitist styles were overturned as civilians and the armed services dressed alike.’ [Vintage Fashion Knitwear, by Marnie Fogg, Lark Books, 2012)

The other key looks of the decade in knitted garments were knitted jackets, the Sweater Girl look, shoulder pads, American leisurewear, draped jersey and fitted styles.

By the end of the decade, the military influence and tailoring becomes more relaxed, shown below in an outfit I covet: a jersey shirt with an exaggerated collar and plunging, broad placket worn tied (with an awesome giant shoelace!) at the waist over a pleated black skirt, both by Carolyn Schnurer. It’s such an elegant look that would not seem out of place on today’s streets.

Photo: August 2016

Jersey shirt and pleated skirt by Carolyn Schnurer, 1949.

New Do

This week I went and got my hair cut! I finally had enough of long hair – or at least what I call long hair, around shoulder-length.

While I have had a pixie cut before, it was a long, long time ago, when I was still at art school. Back then I got a new style and/or colour every time I had my hair cut so it was no big deal; but this time I was so peeved with my long hair, which makes me so hot in summer, I decided it would ALL come off. That would teach it to grow so fast! As my hairstylist Alex (the Director at Lady Marmalade) likes seeing pictures, I did some Pinteresting and found pictures of Winona Ryder and Audrey Tatou that I liked.

It's a pretty dramatic change, and while I have no regrets about cutting it off (hair grows after all), I did have a few qualms whether it would make me look old, as long hair is after all softening. Happily everyone who has seen it has been bowled over, so that’s reassuring. I don’t know how long I’ll keep it this short, but my hair grows extra fast so it won’t be long until I have to make a decision!

Photo: Two days ago