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Ode to an Italian Dress

October 1st 2007 01:52
DOlce and Gabbana Summer 08 PAINTED BLACK DRESS
All images from http://eng.dolcegabbana.it


Flamboyant and theatrical, Dolce and Gabbana’s Summer 2008 collection is indeed replete with works of art. From the hand-painted fabrics, the obsession with intricate embellishments and details to the matte velvet lips, D & G invoke a Keats-ian realm - instead of a Grecian urn, this is my ode to an Italian dress.

Dolce and Gabbana Summer 08 grey dress
Delicate but commanding.


In nearly each of the ensembles that traversed the runway the accessories near clashed with the colour and the style of dress. But instead of conflicting, the juxtaposition enriched the overall vision, the brocade on this bag is entirely different in tone, texture and connotation to the delicate silk and painted flowers on this geisha-like dress but through the symbiotic contrast a fascination arises.

Dolce and Gabbana Summer 08 lady in grey dress
Beauty through contrast


Again with this dress the fabric is delicate, the cut lady-like but the size and genre of the bag, the suggestion of gentlemen in the shoes balance the style and save it from being too feminine or frivolous.

Dolce and Gabbana Summer 08 lily donaldson
Never has dainty Lily looked so spectacular


But the real highlight of the show were these spectacular gowns for the finale which really conjure notions of walking art. Their sheer scale and massive meter-age of fabric are not simply opulent but create beauty of the kind to which haute couture should aspire.

dolce and Gabbana Summer 08 purple and yellow painted dress
The grandest of finales


For some action shots see Style.com, the video of the collection is certainly worth a look (despite the occasional vapidity of the interviews). I also highly recommend Dolce and Gabbana's website, which reflects the attention to detail in their garments
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Melbourne Cup Carnival Fever 2008

September 10th 2007 15:35
Whilst Sydney's spring carnival racing may have been bought to a standstill, the Stylist whose Celebrity was voted one 1 of 9 best dressed at the Melbourne Cup, this very blogger shares her tips as she prepares the 2008 VRC Ambassadors wardrobes for this years Melbourne Cup Racing Carnival...

What’s In


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Who's Hot for Summer 2008

September 7th 2007 16:15
Who's Hot for Summer 08

Forget the unwearable items you see strutting down some fashion runways, european fashion speaks to the sillhouette and moves us back to the real aim of fashion - expressing ourselves AND flattering our body shape


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Silver Springs

August 17th 2007 03:42
Initially metallic fashion appeared to me to be something of a transient trend. For some reason to me, if something is shiny and popular, then it will fade fast. It seems however, that silvers and golds may one day be the epitome of noughties fashion. It has survived several seasons now, and continues to make an appearance on the catwalk. In a decade’s time, will we look back and cringe at how much glimmer made its way into our wardrobe at the start of the 21st century?

For now, there are a plethora of options available to those who can carry off some glam metal. For the more formal wear, for cocktail parties and nights out clubbing, Filippa K amongst many, have created some very cute mini dresses in shiny fabrics like the one below.

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J'adore Dior

July 20th 2007 08:20
I realise I’m running a little behind the couture shows but I am grasping the moment because, as the title indicates, my infatuation with Dior continues, exacerbated by Galliano’s recent designs for their couture show.

Couture is the aesthetic height of the fashion industry epitomising Oscar Wilde’s motto: “art for art’s sake”. Certainly some of the dresses are sold but couture is a millstone round the ankle of fashion houses as far as profit is concerned. The hours and effort spend to make each dress are Herculean, the expense of fabric and beading utterly Olympian (as in the Mount not the games


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Romance Was Born

July 18th 2007 00:21
There really was a rebirth of romance in the Australian Fashion scene, and this time it came in the form of the most delicious sparkly candy-coloured clothing line! Trust me though when I say that they're not just another luvy cutesy sparkly clothing brand, because they actually produce cool clothes! I'm just a little concerned.. as this is the second time for me to use the word delicious to describe clothes I see. And believe me, I've never eaten someone's outfit nor have I ever planned to.

Romance Was Born girl
"See candy anywhere?"

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Jakaan logo
From Jakaan.com.au


Up and coming Melbourne label Jaakan has only been around for a few seasons but already their favouring of beautiful fabrics and playful attention to detail has made me quite a fan. And yes, their logo is of a little boy peeing - a satirical contrast to their clothes which, despite a cheeky sense of humour are still not quite so crude. There is no mention of the inspiration for this logo on their website but luckily for the conscience of the average inner-city pinko leftie (guilty as charged) they refuse to use sweatshop labour


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In my habitual internet trawlings I came across quite a feat on the Prada website. Admittedly I didn’t much like this season’s collection but the means by which it is represented is a true cultural document. Prada demonstrates wit, self-reflexivity and pastiche in a way that many other ‘postmodernists’ should envy. As a European luxury brand, descended from a grand tradition to a commercial reality, Prada is a modern day icon but the self-representation offers an entirely new perspective on the brand.

Prada sunglasses
From Prada.com

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VivienneWestwood.com
From Viviennewestwood.com


After visiting the Victoria and Albert exhibition which travelled to the National Gallery in Canberra a few years ago, I’ve been obsessed with Vivienne Westwood. It’s not just that she’s sixty and has a beautiful thirty-year-old Italian lover, although that does impress me, and it’s not just that she’s been an inspiration for generations of fashionistas, mostly it’s because for Westwood, fashion is thought


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One of the most striking models of the contemporary brat pack is Jessica Stam, a statuesque Canadian who has the kind of natural physique required for catwalk shows. She is indeed long and slender but there is nothing painful about the proportions of her legs or the position of her clavicle. My general rule is that if the knee is wider than the thigh there’s a problem but Stam is in proportion as you can see from the Stella McCartney show.

Jessica Stam in McCartney
From Style.com

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Black is invariably the new black

June 5th 2007 23:49
Audrey Hepburn in Givenchy
From photobucket.com


Although Coco Chanel was really the first to bring the black dress into the everyday wardrobe of the modern woman, its place was indeed cemented with Hepburn’s appearance in Givenchy during Breakfast at Tiffany (see Sisi's post) last year for more on that dress


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Ethical Fashion: Oxy-moron?

June 5th 2007 02:43
In this environmentally conscious age the preoccupation with organics and ethics has even spread to fashion. Ideally the result would be greater choice for the morally minded style maven but that is not the case just yet. These shoes are from a UK site called Bourgeois Boheme, servicing the vegan party shoe market and doing rather well although their contradictory name confuses me a little.

Vegan shoes
From bboheme.com

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Maggie Gyllenhaal, Style Maverick

May 28th 2007 00:57
Gyllenhaal in Secretary
From Filmweb.no


From her first appearance alongside brother Jake in Donnie Darko, enjoyably quirky as the impatient older sister to her role as a masochist in the Secretary (pictured above) Gyllenhaal has, on the whole, chosen film roles and fashion wisely


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Bottega Veneta

May 23rd 2007 23:48
Bottega Veneta jacket
Exquisitely detailed leather jacket


This is a brand to which I was largely indifferent before stumbling across some of their pieces on net-a-porter.com which is incidentally where these images come from. Their recent string of advertisements in British and American Vogue also helped. A certain wistful nostalgia resonates through the garments while an accompanying attention to detail and quirk of cut pulls them out of the average everyday


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