Unlikely Inspiration and China Glaze 'Pelican Gray'

I asked my science-obssessed, chemist boyfriend if he liked my new China Glaze "Pelican Gray" manicure.

He replied that he did, and that it "looks like you left a leaky blue pen in a glass of milk, and then painted your nails with said milk."

China Glaze in Pelican Gray and a gratuitous Prada shot / photo: me

If I can remember to be as succint, accurate and creative in my writing as he was in that off-the-cuff statement, I will be doing a great job.

Writing inspiration from the most unlikely source.

Milky / photo: me

By The Industry Baby with 5 comments

Shock of the Week: Kirstie Clements No Longer Editor of Vogue Australia

Even though the print industry has been flailing for a while now, this still came from way out of left field.

After 10 years perfectly perched at the top spot of Vogue Australia, Editor in Chief Kirstie Clements has been dismissed. Say what?

Kirstie Clements a Voguette no more / photo: heraldsun.com.au

The decision to drop Australia’s most influential fashion icon came from Nicole Sheffield, the new Chief Executive Officer of the News Ltd magazine group, NewsMediaLife.

If that wasn’t surprising enough, it has already been announced that (now ex) Harper’s Bazaar EIC Edwina McCann will replace Clements.

To be honest, I’m still reeling. While it is true that Vogue’s sales have been lagging behind those of the other major Australian fashion titles (think Marie Claire, Harper’s, Madison and InStyle) many never suspected that the solution would be so ruthless.

But, such is the state of the industry.

Selfishly, I am quite sad. I’ve dreamed of writing for Vogue under Kirstie Clements; she was a real inspiration.

Not only is her work ethic infallible and her vision precise, but she is a fearless woman. Clements is a clever and sharp writer, and has boldly spoken her mind when it was called for.

She scathingly criticised the presence of the fashion blog “style-set” at major shows; urged Australian designers to “lift their game,” questioned the authority of Australian Fashion Week; and, perhaps most infamously, defended the place of thin, willowy models on the pages of Vogue.

I admire her for all of that.  But most of all, Clements deserves veneration because she is self-aware enough to acknowledge and examine the impact of her role on society.



Kirstie Clements in photo that accompanied the article below / photo: vogue.com.au

This is an excerpt from my favourite article by the industry hero:

The Night of the Prom

“The first girl arrived, a beautiful blonde trying to pull her skin-tight mini dress down over her thighs as she wriggled over to say hello. Giant platform shoes. The next girl arrived. Same thing.

Same shoes actually, in a different colour.

Soon the lounge room was full of drop-dead gorgeous girls with perfect figures trying to pull their tiny dresses down, keep their bosoms in, and walk in their heels. To no avail.

…

I was talking to some mothers of teen girls the next day and we were puzzling the origin of the little dress/ big shoe trend.

“It's our fault,” I said, meaning fashion magazines. “In fact Carine Roitfeld (ex editor-in-chief of French Vogue) started it, getting around the RTW shows in those enormous Givenchy shoes.” I think I'll go back to the office and get the fashion editors to stamp it out. Then at next year's dance, they might be a little warmer.”

Edwina McCann certainly has big Louboutins to fill.

Were you as shocked as I by this news? What did you think of Kirstie Clements' decade at Vogue?

By The Industry Baby with No comments

Determined Steps

Every writer has their idol. A genius scribe whose work you adore and style you’d die to emulate.

For me, when it comes to fiction (I’ve had a novel on the backburner for a while now,) that literature pin-up is Truman Capote.

To me, his work was never less than brilliant. And I don’t even question the lengths he went to for In Cold Blood. Yeah, yeah, I’m so controversial.



$9.95 well spent / photo: me



Regardless of whether you think he is evil or just committed, this excerpt from Breakfast at Tiffany’s is wonderful. Pure magic, word wizardry:

“Watching her, I remembered a girl I’d known in school, a grind, Mildred Grossman. Mildred: with her moist hair and greasy spectacles, her stained fingers that dissected frogs and carried coffee to picket lines, her flat eyes that only turned towards the stars to estimate their chemical tonnage. Earth and air could not be more opposite than Mildred and Holly, yet in my head they acquired a Siamese twinship, and the thread of thought that had sewn them together ran like this: the average personality reshapes frequently, every few years even our bodies undergo a complete overhaul – desirable or not, it is a natural thing that we should change. All right, here were two people who never would. That is what Mildred Grossman had in common with Holly Golightly. They would never change because they’d been given their character too soon; which, like sudden riches, leads to a lack of proportion: the one had splurged herself into a top heavy realist, the other a lopsided romantic. I imagined them in a restaurant of the future, Mildred still studying the menu for its nutritional value, Holly still gluttonous for everything on it. It would never be different. They would walk through life and out of it with the same determined step that took small notice of those cliffs at the left.”

Just a little inspiration for the day, and an apology for letting the end of MBFWA slip by with no posts. I will rectify that as soon as these university assignments find a spot to quietly die.

In the meantime, who is your favourite writer? Do you think Capote was a Deity, or a ruthless, slightly crazed little man?

By The Industry Baby with 5 comments

MBFWA: Day Three

It speaks volumes of the Australian fashion industry that each day of MBFWA is better than the last. And the increasing attention from international correspondents is proof that the world is taking notice, too.

Based on the photos, stories and roaring praise flooding in from the shows on Day Three, you have to wonder how they can keep upping the ante.

TOP RUNWAY LOOKS

Once again, there was no way it could be narrowed down to just one. It would have been oh so easy to pick at least four entire shows. Although, after much agonising…

Lisa ‘Ho my God!’ Have you ever seen Australiana look so good? Lisa Ho always creates beautiful garments that are the epitome of luxurious, feminine beauty. But this is bold and unusual. It’s not often that the unlikely concepts of “bush flora” and “glamour” are so happily married. Yet, here it is.



Australian dream / photo: vogue.com.au



The dress looks as if it has been poured on to the model, thanks to those long, slinky nude panels. They create a lithe, flowing hourglass shape which hits the womanly element that Lisa Ho is so good at. Such a fluid cut is akin to the elegant gowns Elie Saab is famous for, but with a unique print grounding the dress as distinctly Aussie.

And then there was Ellery. In what was being heralded early as the best show of the week, Kym Ellery brought tough-girl cool by the metric shitload*.

*Yes, this is a scientific unit of measurement.



tough-girl cool / photo: vogue.com.au



I love this because a) Kym is a fellow West Aussie girl done good, and b) she has achieved draping that is not being tagged as sensual, opulent or soft.

No. While definitely masterful, these tinfoil silver swathes are far from soft. A tough, streetwise edge is a better way to describe it.

Whether this is something that the average woman could wear (read: probably not) is irrelevant.  It is a pure statement, an unapologetic demonstration of skill, and a damn good way to close a collection.

TOP STREET STYLE LOOK

Of course, it’s Yasmin Sewell, the Aussie expat of infinite style.

wrap it up / photo: harpersbazaar.com.au

The headscarf is where it is at. It is so, unbelievably cool, especially with hair as chic as hers. Colour me envious.

And if you didn’t think a plain, white tee could be very 'fashion' (as Rachel Zoe would say) – think again. Regimentally starch and structured as opposed to the comfy, slouch tee you would wear on a casual occasion. After all, she is dressed for the Ellery show, and MBFWA’s best show calls for a ‘very fashion’ tee.

By The Industry Baby with 2 comments

MBFWA: Day Two

Personally, I found Day Two of MBFWA much more inspiring than Day One. Perennial Australian favourite Zimmermann delivered yet another collection of perfection. Is there a girl out there who doesn’t love Zimmermann’s eternal-summer pieces? If there is, I haven’t met her.

However, the top runway looks* of the day came from elsewhere.

*Multiple because I was torn between them, so decided to just roll with it.

TOP RUNWAY LOOK(S)

At Bowie, the devil was in the detail. Or, perhaps more appropriately, an angel.



Celestial butterflies / photo: vogue.com.au

Just look at those fragile, wispy butterflies emerging delicately from their transparent cocoon. They seem almost alive, drying freshly wet wings and ready to soar into sartorial freedom. The regal, soft shell of white butterflies creates suspense, but not drama. It is as if, in only a moment, they could take off and all be gone.

Exquisite detail / photo: vogue.com.au

The texture in this gown is surreal. That lush, full coverage of delicate petals lend a Mother Nature softness to the sharp, precise shoulders and cut. And yet, as a solid block of white it provides an emphatic statement against the flimsy translucency of the neck, shoulders and chest. Bowie is taking us away on a dream with this Garden of Eden detail; one which I don’t want to wake up from.

wear me! / photo: vogue.com.au

 Michael Lo Sordo offered an ensemble with more spunk. If it wasn’t already blindingly obvious, an assorted paintbox of prints is going to be fundamental to Spring/Summer 2012/2013. Unless you are an Alt (Emmanuelle, that is), there is no escaping it.

This is one of the cleaner, clearer prints used by any designer – most others tend towards the busier, blended styles favoured by Zimmermann and last season Camilla and Marc.

But the clincher for this outfit is that sporty red bralet worn unabashedly under the open blazer. It is the sexy quirk that turns an otherwise demure silhouette on its head. It's true, this is not a new concept. But the prints and colour let you see the idea with new eyes and a fresh angle.

TOP STREET STYLE LOOK

Soon-to-be reality TV star Lara Bingle got ragged for this outfit on the Madison Australia website. Ouch.

At the Toni Maticevski show / photo: madisonmag.com.au

A simple boat stripe has never failed in my books, and it does not fail Lara either. It is simple and effortless in that very French way; while that sounds completely unoriginal, it really is true.

Ms. Bingle is a case in point. She has fashion ease about her in this jumpsuit, like she barely had to try to look so chic.

But my favourite element? The way her red lipstick picks up the little brooch at her chest and those Louboutin soles at her feet. Such panache.

By The Industry Baby with 2 comments

MBFWA: Day One

If the fantastical and sometimes unwearable creations of MBFWA opener Romance Was Born are not for you – rest assured, you are not alone. Their boldness is always inspiring, but an RWB piece will only hang in a particular kind of wardrobe. As Tim Blanks so succinctly wrote for Vogue Australia, “discipline a superpower, and you'll usually get more from less."

TOP RUNWAY LOOK

So white / photo: vogue.com.au

It was the dual subtlety and power of this Ginger & Smart ensemble that made me look twice.

All the attitude of a technicolour superhero effortlessly rendered in lush, monochromatic tailoring.

From its sixties origins, the shift dress has never had a bigger moment than right now. And the brocade pattern seems instantly fresh in white on white.



photo: vogue.com.au


But the blazer is the truly swoon-worthy piece here. As we have come to expect from Ginger & Smart, the fabric falls just so. Also, please note: refusing to put your arms through the sleeves is the way to wear a jacket. Don’t let boyfriends or mothers tell you otherwise. #chictothemax. (Get the reference?)



watch me walk away / photo: vogue.com.au


As for the phat blue hoops and stack of bangles – you can take it or leave it. As long as I can have the shoes (an ankle and toe strap is all I need); a lesson in modern simplicity.


TOP STREET STYLE LOOK

Zanita Morgan of fellt.com/zanita

Firstly, Zanita is clearly stunning. Blessed genetics aside, this outfit is not only simple and stylish, but also honest.

Zanita Morgan / photo: Candice Lake from candicelake.com

Leather panels make that jacket deliciously luxe, but what I love most is that she is wearing Kmart boyfriend jeans. Yes, that’s honest.

If it looks great (which it does), then off to fashion week you strut.

By The Industry Baby with 4 comments

Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia 2012: Intentions

Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia kicked off to a stylish start in Sydney on Monday, and I’ve been left positively green-eyed by the photos flooding through on instagram.  True, the lead-up to the event was not without some drama – major names such as Dion Lee, Josh Goot and the ever-vocal Alex Perry pulling out of MBFWA, citing a misalignment with the international fashion schedule. But the production values of the fashion week shows seem to sharpen each year, which is exciting to watch (even from afar!)



Pre-show caffeine fix / photo: fashionweekuncut.com



For the rest of this fabulous week, I will be keeping it simple. My one favourite runway look, and my one favourite ‘street-style’ look. Although, let’s be honest. If it were me, my outfit would be less “spontaneous-street-style” and more “highly-styled-and-agonised-over.”

In fact, the very witty Vogue Australia editor Kirstie Clements took a tongue-in-cheek stab at street style while writing about MBFWA here:

"There are a few tricks for the uninitiated visitor should one feel the burning desire to be snapped and posted on websites.

Wearing bright, clashing colours head-to-toe will generally work. Add a huge must-have “It'' shoe that is extremely difficult to navigate. (In years past it used to be an “It'' bag, but that disappeared. Too easy for the masses I guess.) Incorporate garments from Alexander Wang or Givenchy. Or sport a weird headpiece. That might do it.

In fact, wear anything you like. The shows have become a fashion safari – if it moves, someone will photograph it.

Make sure you're always on the mobile though, so it looks like you have a proper job."

It almost sounds like a journos vs. bloggers jibe. Clements has, in my opinion, been downright fearless in commenting on some sticky issues recently. And I admire it.

By The Industry Baby with No comments