Can I make a confession? I have absolutely no idea why these photos turned out so…blue. All I can tell you is that I took them early in the morning – around 7 or so – so maybe it was something to do with the dawn light. I doubt I could recreate it if I tried.
This is the outfit I wore to kick of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia. While the festival has not started proper, there are a handful of events happening off schedule – and this morning’s presentation from Melbourne-based label LIFEwithBIRD was one of them.
Held in the Utzon Room at the Sydney Opera House, the collection drew on elements of the Australian landscape translated into digital prints and rendered in dreamy, blown-out pastels. The palette reminded me of a sunset over a desert – when the sky turns cotton-candy shades of lilac, orange and pink, and the shadows lengthen into shades of muted navy. Check out the runway shots at Harper’s Bazaar.
Wearing: Aqua by Aqua leather-sleeved coat, Gary Bigeni dress, Alexander Wang Iman heels (available here), ManiaMania Immortals ring (in amethyst here and pyrite here).
This outfit strikes a balance between making a statement and being entirely comfortable – two things that rarely occur in the same ensemble. The leather leggings are soft and supple; the layers of black modal, filmy silk and a kimono-style loose knit are, to use a well-worn phrase, utterly effortless. The Rick Owens ankle boots have been in my closet for over three years and are still amongst my favourite possessions.
Wearing: top courtesy of Anhika, complexgeometries A/W ’10 sheer silk dress, knit by Sportsgirl, leather leggings by Zara, Rick Owens ankle boots.
Sometimes the simple act of painting your nails a new colour can radically change your style outlook. This morning, I tried out Illamasqua’s Nomad nailpolish from the new Human Fundamentalism range, and suddenly, nothing would do but an explosion of colour.
For me, that means the Rorschach blooms of Dion Lee, a well-cut basic from Gary Bigeni and a couple of tiny gold rings by Estelle Dévé. And fingers and toes adorned with vibrant jade green (I can’t get over the colour pay-off. The formulation goes on instantly opaque and dries within a minute or two).
Thanks to Illamasqua and Tailormaid for having me along to the Human Fundamentalism presentation.
Style versus style – Alicia of Sea of Ghosts sold me this black leather circle skirt last year because her extraordinarily long legs meant it was too short on her. My legs, on the other hand, don’t suffer from that problem.
While our sense of style is very often identical (I can’t tell you how many wardrobe items we both own), these photos are interesting because whilst we’re wearing the exact same skirt, we’ve put our outfits together so differently. I love Alicia’s sleek simplicity, while my own interpretation was all about the contrast of leather with full-blown florals.
It’s five weeks until Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia, which is to say, the next 35 days will be a rapid descent into madness and exquisite clothes.
Every year I say, I have nothing to wear, but this year – well, I have Benoit Missolin.
Wearing: leather leggings by Zara, tee courtesy of Anhika, scarf by Lover, leather rabbit ears by Benoit Missolin.
