Saturday, October 30, 2010

Anne as Audrey

Actress Anne Hathaway is the cover girl for the November issue of US Vogue and the editorial has her wearing elegant evening wear as shot by Mario Testino. She's looking very Audrey in this shoot - a whole lot of My Fair Lady with a dash of Roman Holiday thrown in - and utterly gorgeous. Love the shot of her in the Oscar de la Renta polka dot.

It seems Audrey's unforgettable style and beauty will never cease to inspire. The November issue of Vanity Fair has also come over all Audrey, with a scene by scene tribute to Funny Face featuring the latest couture. The editorial sounds awesome in theory, but in practice doesn't quite work for me. I'm not sure whether it's the layout, the model or the particular choice of expensive clothes (come to think of it, that surely can't be it), but for me it comes across as a little bit budget and twee. Surprising, as Vanity Fair has featured some of my favourite classic Hollywood inspired shoots ever.
Let me know your opinion if you've picked up the November issue too.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

My New Party Dress & A Wedding

My dear friend Liana married her Irishman Mark last weekend in a beautiful garden ceremony in Berry. It was a beautiful, intimate wedding and thankfully the rain managed to hold out until they'd finished signing the register, after which the skies opened and didn't stop for a few days.
It was the perfect opportunity to wear my new vintage party dress care of Coco Repose. I love the little folds of fabric over the bust, and the skirt has a cute little bow on the front of the skirt. Plus its blue and floral and those are two elements I'm innately drawn too. I paired the dress with some pink satin shoes care of Gianna Meliani.

The bride wore a beautiful 30s inspired Collette Dinnigan dress. The pure white colour really suited her olive skin and the low scooped back was divine.
It was a truly joyous weekend.

Monday, October 25, 2010

The Early Days of Colour

The National Gallery of Australia in our nation's capital is currently hosting an exhibition of Australian-born photographer Anton Bruehl's work. Bruehl relocated from Melbourne to New York and from the 1920s through to the 1950s he was a top international photographer of magazine editorials and advertising campaigns. He is credited as one of the early pioneers of colour photography (I have a particular love for early colour photographs) and also pursued art photography alongside his more commercial work, publishing two books of travel inspired images.
Most of his magazine work was with the Conde Nast group for Vogue, Vanity Fair and House & Garden. You can see some more of his lovely cover shots here.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Coco Repose goes online

Jessica at Coco Repose has taken her gorgeous collection of vintage treasures online, which means that even if you don't live in Sydney you can now take home one of her pieces (the physical store has now completely relocated to the Sydney Antiques Centre in Surry Hills).
She's uploading more stock all the time, so its worth checking back often. At the moment she's got some lovely frocks up, including this 40s lace gown, two 50s party dresses and a sundress and this 70s day dress, as well as some jewellery. Her range of hats, separates and more are still to come.

My friends Liana and Mark are getting married this weekend in Berry on the NSW South Coast. Rather than being anxiously excited as I was with my own, I'm enjoying the anticipation without reserve (I can enjoy the spoils of the planning without the actual planning!). I picked up a gorgeous frock from Coco Repose a couple of weeks ago which I'll be wearing tomorrow. Photos to follow soon!

Monday, October 18, 2010

Some Marilyn for Monday

Reading Andrew O'Hagan's Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog and now the latest issue of Vanity Fair, with the lady herself on the cover, has got me thinking about the last couple of years of Marilyn's life. Vanity Fair has run the first extract from a new book, Fragments, in which never-seen-before diaries and notebooks of Marilyn's have been published. If ghosts were real Marilyn would most probably be mortified watching all us humans reading her innermost thoughts. It is sad to think she entrusted her most personal valuables to someone who would end up being mercenary with them (I wonder if Lee Strasberg made a fortune out of Marilyn's personal effects)?, although, come to think of it, I'm fueling the trade in feelings and thoughts by picking up the magazine with Marilyn's face on it (existential crisis ... help!).
Somethings Got to Give was the last movie Marilyn didn't make as she was fired from the set because of her continual absences, and shortly afterwards she passed away. At the time, though, she looked absolutely radiant and it is such a pity that the film was never completed. Check out this footage of a wardrobe and make-up test for the film; Marilyn looks beautiful and happy in it, and I adore that dress.
Marilyn was a big reader, so I thought I'd include some pictures of her enjoying one of her favourite pastimes too.



Sunday, October 17, 2010

Fair Time!

The bi-annual Love Vintage Fair is over again for another year and as per usual it was overwhelmingly awesome. So much gorgeous vintage in one place, and so many special and lovely sellers!
This year I went along on the opening Friday night with my mate Erin (who looked lovely in this vintage midi dress bought on Etsy) and got to enjoy first dibs on all the good stuff. Despite that, I was very restrained in my purchasing, not least because I actually ran out of time to try things on!

I did, however, pick up some lovely plastic hair-clips from the ladies at Sugared Accessories (see their lovingly laid-out stall above), as well as some new earrings that might get a run at my mate Liana's wedding next Saturday (so exciting). I was tempted to visit again over the weekend, but I restrained myself. Besides, the six months will surely go by in a flash (oh, and the Fair is now coming to Melbourne!).

Friday, October 15, 2010

Dress of the Week: Chanel Couture

I haven't loved everything Lagerfeld has done for Chanel over the last couple of seasons, but when the man gets it right, by God does he get it right.
The ever gorgeous Keira Knightley - and the face of one of Chanel's perfumes - wore Chanel couture to the London premiere of Never Let Me Go. The details on this dress are utterly exquisite, and the well placed cut-outs and impeccable fit make the dress both beautiful and sexy.
I finally read Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go while I was in Fiji. Like most of Ishiguro's novels it has a quiet sadness that creeps up on you stealthily. He is a master of teasing out suppressed suffering and unrequited love.
I'm really looking forward to the movie now and I can't wait to see Carey Mulligan in the leading role.
And I always love seeing both Carey and Keira on the red-carpet.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Swimsuit Lust

My Lover one piece swimsuit that I bought last year got a pretty good run on my recent trip to Fiji (please forgive the hat. I bought it at the resort because of terrible sunburn caused by exposing my wintry skin to the suns rays on a boat all day long). The quality and fit is so fantastic, and the style unique but simple (and just a little bit retro), that I think I'm going to have to invest in another item from their new swimwear collection. Want to help me pick out a new cossie?

Friday, October 8, 2010

Style Crush: Liz Goldwyn

When I saw this pic of stylist/author/film-maker/fashion journalist/devoted vintage collected Liz Goldwyn in the front row at the Sonia Rykiel S/S 2011 show, I was reminded of my serious style crush on this woman.
Liz wears a mixture of vintage (she was one of the founders of Sotheby New York's fashion dept.) and cutting edge designers like Rykiel, Erdem and Rodarte. She does great jewellery, effortless but modern hair and knows the value of a perfect pout. She's also friends with Dita Von Teese and Chloe Sevigny; I wouldn't mind being part of that BFF circle.
While scrolling about for new pics of stylish Liz, I discovered her most recent blog posts for Vogue UK chronicling her adventures at London Fashion Week. You can check them out here, or enjoy some of her outfit posts below. You can't go wrong with a beautiful forties print dress or a fifties Mexican circle skirt. I'm seriously crushing.

Monday, October 4, 2010

If I Were a Rich Woman ...

and I could afford to buy designer clothes direct from the international runways, Erdem is a label I would be heavily investing in. The Spring/Summer 2011 collection was recently shown in London and it is my favourite of the season. I would be happy to wear any of these pieces tomorrow. Well, provided Spring makes a much desired for return. This rainy long weekend was very uninspiring.

Photos courtesy of Style.Com

And the winner is ...

The lovely Brooke from Sweet Bee Finds has won a copy of the Breakfast at Tiffany's 50th Anniversary companion book. Congratulations lovely lady! Not only does Brooke blog, she also sells her gorgeous vintage wares in her own Etsy shop. Definitely worth checking out ... here's the lady herself looking very Hollywood glam in an outfit you can head on over and buy right now.


The almost as lucky runner up is Steph from Tart Deco. Steph can expect a small surprise gift in the post soon.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Some Like It Hot

Over at What They Are Wearing Now, I was introduced to this LA Times interview with seminal stylist Freddie Leiba, where he talks passionately about the movie costumes that have shaped celluloid, and fashion, history. Of course Audrey appears no less than three times (and I will be drawing the winner for the Breakfast at Tiffany's book comp on Sunday), but that other 20th Century movie goddess Marilyn Monroe ties for equal first. Is it possible to blog too much about Marilyn Monroe? Considering her face can still sell magazines today, perhaps not.

Leiba selected this risque Orry Kelly creation which created a storm in its day when Some Like it Hot was released. The beauty of this dress is that ut appears more revealing than it is; even as a kid I was mesmerised by Marilyn's beauteous figure in this frock.

Another risque dress for its time (there's nothing like a keyhole cut-out to drive men wild!), this shocking pink frock was worn by Marilyn in one of her early roles, Niagara.

Pink was the colour of the 1950s, and of course the strapless column dress with the matching gloves (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) was included on the list too.

The cut down to there red sequin dress from Gentlemen as well as the iconic white halter from The Seven Year Itch and the fantastic green corset from Bus Stop didn't make the cut but they are all pretty darn memorable. Audrey might be an enduring fashion darling but both on-screen and off, Marilyn's influence on what women wear and have worn, can't be denied.

For today my favourite Marilyn costume pick is the purple evening dress from How to Marry a Millionaire. It's a style that is still being emulated by starlets on red-carpets everywhere.


I was sad to hear this morning that Tony Curtis, who starred alongside Marilyn in arguably her best ever performance as Sugar in Some Like it Hot, just passed away. I'll never forget his brilliant Cary Grant parody in that film, nor that beautiful face. Wasn't he handsome when he was young? I also found this lovely pic of him and former wife Janet Leigh. LOVE her ice blue dress and his perfect tux.