Shoe Inspiration

From the new Prada winter campaign. Can someone knocks these off please. And don't forget the buttons!

Here Comes Another Bride

I enjoyed another wedding this Saturday, this time for my friends Jessica and Pete. 'Tis the season to get married, or at very least the age group, and I thought this celebration felt similar in flavour to my own; they used the same celebrant and caterers that we did and their setting was equally as beautiful as ours, although the historical and architecturally magnificent grounds of an old mental hospital has a bit of a different flavour to a grungy old surf club. The result, however, was that it felt a little bit like experiencing my wedding from the other side, and I've got to say the ride was really fun. I relish any opportunity to dance and dance and dance, especially now that my nightclubbing days are behind me.

I've worn this 1960s shocking pink dress to a number of weddings before but up until Saturday I hadn't had it in rotation for a couple of years (I bought it around four years ago from Inta-Vintage in Narrabeen). I had a couple of other shortlisted dresses but for some reason, as I was getting my hair done earlier that day (thanks Desmond and Molly Jones) I thought about this frock, and when I mentioned it to the hubby he said YES YES YES.
So, it turns out he rather likes this dress.
The skirt is really stiff and I love the frill on the bottom, and I wore a corset with it to try and get the perfect fit. I don't know whether that was wholly successful, but it did prevent me from going overboard on the blue cheese (yes, they served blue cheese!). My shoes are new ones courtesy of Alex Alex and I found a cheap little belt to bring the whole look together.

It seems lots of hip brides are finding their dresses in far flung places now and Jess is no exception. Her wedding dress was from the 1970s via Ebay and she had it altered to modernise it a bit, and for fit. Hopefully, once she's back from her honeymoon, I'll be able to source some better pics. I was having so much fun most of the night, I kind of forgot to take them!

Style Crush: Charlotte Dellal

I think I've mentioned before that I have a bit of a style crush on shoe designer Charlotte Dellal. She has a great style pedigree, seeing as she's the daughter of Brazilian model Andrea Dellal, and I love how she always looks quite girly, even when she's wearing a suit or trousers. Her style is a little bit retro, without being too costumey. Charlotte is the February star of British Vogue's 'Today I'm Wearing' blog. There is still another fourteen days of sartorial goodness to go!

Also, her shoes are crazily expensive and crazily high but this doesn't stop me wanting them. I love, love, love these Carmen Miranda-esque heels. Snakeskin rocks, wooden platforms rock, and colour has me drooling.

And for something not quite so statuesque, she did just send out some kitten heels for Peter Som's 2011 Fall/Winter collection at New York Fashion Week. Pic care of the Charlotte Olympic Facebook page, and they are tres cute too.

The Colour Issue

I adore colour and so when I saw Aussie Vogue's new 'colour issue' hit the newsstands the other day, I knew I had to grab it. For the lead editorial Vogue travelled to Mexico, the flavour of the shoot dictated somewhat by Prada's lushly eccentric Spring 2011 collection (I love this collection so much). Miucci Prada just keeps setting the trends, doesn't she?

I love the embroidered Prada shift dress in the fourth pic, stylist Meg Gray has used a vintage dress to gorgeous effect in the fifth pic, and the Mulberry silk dress in the last image is to die for. Shot by Nicole Bentley, this pretty pictures give me some idea why everyone I know seems to be coming and going from Mexico at the moment.

Oh, and you know what I lust for most of all from the latest colour-tastic Prada collection? The shoes, oh golly gosh, the shoes. I'd quite like the blue and white pair, thanks.

She's Got Legs

I saw this Miu Miu A/W 2010 campaign ad in a magazine today and thought wow, I want a pair of those fabulous square toed patent shoes. With frilly bows and heels that you can actually walk in. And those stockings are awesome too.
All four pairs of legs could have belonged to Twiggy circa 1996. A nice segue into my post about 60s models perhaps?

Repurposed Pairs

They just don't make fabrics like they used too and one woman who knows all about this is UK shoe designer Kitty Cooper, who left a career in mass produced fashion to start her own label;
utilising vintage fabrics, Kitty's designs are inspired by past ages and are super glamorous to boot.
Many thanks to the lovely Tiz of Greetz From Tiz for the recommendation and check out Kitty's website for the complete collection.

The Coolest Idea Ever

I was bemoaning to the hip young things at my office yesterday that my search for the perfect winter shoe has thus far been unsuccessful. Not a single worthy shoe have I been able to find; I'm not feeling the masculine styles that are in vogue and the colour palette is pretty bland. Too much black and brown when all I want is a splash of colour to add sunshine on a grey day. The only pairs that have caught my eye have either been ridiculously expensive or outrageously high. Or my size is not available.
Then my colleague Jess suggested I check out Shoes of Prey and now shoe hope reigns again.
The brainchild of three Aussie's, Shoes of Prey allows you to create your own shoes from a huge range of templates. You can pick fabrics, colours, heel sizes, peep toes, round toes, booties and more. I haven't had this much fun in yonks!
I know where my new winter shoes will be coming from. Suede, snakeskin or patent dear helpers?

The Wedding Photos Are In: The Details

The hubby and I collected our wedding photos from Sebastian T Photography yesterday. Such a happy occasion ... it almost makes up for the fact that I am battling a horrible cold.

I have the opportunity now to plug all the wonderful people/organisations that helped to create the bridal party outfits. It was so much fun pulling everything together that I can't help continuing the search for beautiful pieces. I hope I'm not driving my engaged friends mad!

Rebecca's bejewelled purse was discovered by my mother-in-law at the Rozelle markets.

And mine was discovered at the Sydney Antique Centre. It is 1970s, but in my eyes it is timeless.

The floral arrangements Naomi Jones created for the bridal part were divine. I provided her with a colour chart and asked her to stick to the "vintage Hawaiian" theme and then gave her free reign. The results were spectacular.

The hair clips, earrings and brooch that Rebecca and I wore were found at this fabulous site called Accessories of Old. Based out of Maryland in the US, they have a huge collection of new old costume jewellery, and all the items I bought were from the Czech Republic circa 1950s. They all arrived on their original cards, and my wedding was their first ever outing.

Rebecca's dress is a vintage reproduction we picked up at Sandie Bizy's in Annandale. She looks utterly gorgeous in peach and she wore a crinoline underneath the frock to give it that beautiful volume.

My dress was an Etsy purchase from Timeless Vixen Vintage's store. I've just noticed that they've uploaded another 1950s Ceil Chapman, and for fans of the designer, I can assure you I was completely happy with mine. I also think I got it for a pretty reasonable price. I've seen some Ceil's for sale at $1,500 ... my dress cost less than the hubby's suit! And I've yet to see another one like it.

A look at my hair clip, earrings and brooch. I tried my best to stick with a pastel theme for my whole outfit, and chose colours that complemented the silvery blue of my frock's sash.

I bought my delicate baby blue gloves the week before the wedding from Sandie Bizy's. I think they gave my outfit that final element of ladylike polish, plus made me feel special.

Rebecca and I wore the same fabric covered shoes from Wittner. The bows provided a nice synergy with the bow on my dress.

A big thanks again to Sebastian and Lee for the photos. What a tremendous wedding gift. I will never forget the generosity of our friends.

Prints to Cherish

Miuccia Prada apparently has a textile library that is the envy of fashion types the world over. I fantasise that it is housed in a gilt edged dungeon hidden behind multiple heavy oak doors.
The gifted Miuccia has drawn on this library for a new limited edition Print Collection. Comprised of a 50s inspired sun-dress, a shoulder bag and ballet flats, each item is identical apart from the pretty prints. Lovely, right?

Grazia Daily is ecstatic that the frocks are all priced under 500GBP, which is mighty cheap for Prada, but at around 800 Aussie dollars, is still a tad too expensive for me. And it is possible to find unique vintage prints on quality fabric for a fraction of that cost.

I found all these cotton frocks over at Clever Vintage on Etsy. Priced between $80 and $150, I reckon these pieces are mighty collectible too. The half Dutch in me loves the tulip prints on the first two.