Imagining The Oscars

Only one more sleep until the Academy Awards! And what better way to while away a lazy Sunday afternoon when I'm not feeling well than to fantasise about what I would wear if the world went all topsy turvy and I got my own invite to the red-carpet event of the year.
Cate Blanchett is presenting this year Anne Hathaway is hosting and Nicole Kidman, Michelle Williams and Natalie Portman are all nominated for Best Actress, so I've got my fingers crossed for plenty of glamour. I'm sure Dior, Elie Saab and Versace will put in plenty of appearances, but some 1960s shocking pink Oscar de la Renta like the dress above, would make me very happy too.

Over at 1st dibs Stephanie LaCava has selected vintage frocks, jewellery and accessories for the five Best Actress nominees. It is a fun little fantasy, so to continue the trend, here are a few other gowns on the site.

The latest offerings over at Kerry Taylor Auctions includes some mid-century Givenchy, Lanvin-Castillo and Balenciaga. Pretty hard to go wrong with any of these methinks.

And The Frock still has one of the best selections of vintage designer duds I've seen on the web. With my invite in hand I could be pretty in pink in 70s Balenciaga, confounding the fashion critics in Norman Norell, making a nod to one of the grand dames of couture in Madame Gres, rocking classic Hollywood chic in Jacques Fath or swathed in pastels courtesy of Hattie Carnegie. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Meanwhile I'm looking forward to hosting my regular Oscars party at my place tomorrow night where, thanks to TIVO, we can fast forward through the boring bits. Its fun to banter over outfits and winners and losers and favourite films of the year with some of my dearest friends. So far it looks like we are all tipping The King's Speech to be the big winner.

Pink Cotton + Embroidery + The 1960s = the perfect dress for a garden wedding

Last week on Valentines Day my parents and I were lucky enough to attend the wedding of a very old family friend, and one of the lovely Vintage All Sorts girls who helped organise my wedding. Annette and her husband Ross had just a little less time to turn their day around than me and my hubby did. They were engaged on Christmas Eve and won a wedding on 14 Feb followed by a honeymoon in Vegas, all thanks to a competition run by Las Vegas Tourism (hence the showgirls hovering in the background).
It was a champagne breakfast by Sydney Harbour and the dress code was garden party. What a perfect occasion to wear this baby pink cotton embroidered dress that I picked up in Brisbane last year. In the midst of a busy work day, I managed to sneak a spare half an hour to dash over to the Paddington Antique Centre which houses a number of lovingly tended vintage clothing stalls as well as lots of great antiques too. And they are all live in a 1920s era picture palace!

Here I am with my Dad and I had to include a pic of my Mum too, as she made this lovely floral dress from a Vintage Vogue Pattern. Doesn't she look gorgeous? And isn't she clever?

The groom looked dashing in a Givenchy suit and the bride wore a mod-tastic white lace 1960s shift dress. Her bouffant hair-do was divine and had me green with envy. The only way I could ever get that much volume in my hair is if I wore a wig.

Cleopatra & Liz

At US$194,800, Elizabeth Taylor's costume budget on Cleopatra was the biggest ever for a single actor, and the designer Renie must have been kept very busy as she had to come up with 64 outfit changes! The costumes, while not necessarily authentic to the period, were lavish and beautiful and set trends in the early 60s. Its not hard to see why they won an Oscar.

The latest issue of US Harper's Bazaar has reality TV star Kim Kardashian trying to replicate Elizabeth's glamorous turn as Cleopatra. I must be getting old as I open the gossip mags these days and I don't know who half the people are, Kim and her sisters included. She's certainly beautiful, but I'm not sure why she is famous?

Anyway, I digress. Not only does Kim actually wear one of the original costumes from Cleopatra, she also engages in a Q&A with the one and only Dame herself. She is all class, as per usual, and she says that, apart from her Cleopatra duds, her favourite frock of all time is the lavender Edith Head gown she wore to the Oscars in 1970.

Dame Elizabeth is currently in hospital struggling with congestive heart failure. I hope she gets better and makes it home to her friends and family and jewels soon. I don't think any other actress could ever look as ravishing draped in genuine gold.

Frock of the Week: Back to Her Best?

It has been a while since I've done a Frock of the Week post (maybe I should rename it The Occasional Frock?), but there were so many lovely at the Grammy's and BAFTA's this week (hooray for awards season), that I couldn't resist posting my favourite: Nicole Kidman in Jean Paul Gaultier.

Spectacular!

Remember when Nicole, in the late 90s and early noughties, was setting trends on the red-carpet and rarely put a foot wrong? This look harks back to those halcyon Nicole days for me. The woman has a figure made for drama, but lately she's been playing it quite samey and safe. I've got my fingers and toes crossed this is a sign she'll pull something amazing out Oscar night. Couture please?

And now for a little trip down memory lane ...

Nicole married Keith Urban in 2006 and her Balenciaga wedding gown totally brought the drama. I love, love, love this dress (although don't you agree Nicole looks better as a redhead than as a blonde?).

Nicole apparently pocketed $2 million to wear John Galliano for Dior couture throughout the awards season in 1997. The lucky lady was not only rolling in cash, but the alliance seriously upped her profile in the style stakes too. This chartreuse is still remembered as an Oscars fashion highlight 14 years later.

And for some Cinderella out there who has access to more credit than me, I just spied this John Galliano for Dior gown over at 1stDibs. From the same collection methinks? Regardless, it is lovely.

Ten more sleeps til Oscar night!

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.

Happy Holidays

You might have noticed that I went off the air for a little while recently, and that was because hubby and I ventured up Far North to a little place called Mission Beach. It was the second time we've holidayed there in the last 18 months, and this time we stayed at a divine house called Sejala, which is owned by one of the hubby's clients. It was a real treat, not only because the house was luxurious, the beach and rainforest beautiful, and the Great Barrier Reef was on our doorstep, but also because I got to wear swimsuits everyday! I think on the first day I went swimming about ten times!
Here I'm wearing a 60s cotton bikini I purchased from Fraulein Marlene over on Etsy. I had been longing for a vintage swimsuit for some time, and the cute pattern on this one really caught my eye. I was a bit worried about how it would hold up when actually wet, but it was actually more durable that I thought it would be, though I can see why the invention of lycra was so revolutionary.

And now for something completely urelated to style, here are some holiday snaps ...

A few days after we came home, Mission Beach was devastated when it was hit with the eye of Cyclone Yasi. The hubby is now back up there, helping to put Sejala back together; the beach has disappeared, trees and debris litter every property, and many people in Mission and surrounding areas have completely lost their homes. It is heartbreaking, but it makes me even more determined to visit this special part of Australia again.

If you want to help the victims of the cyclone, you can donate to the QLD Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal here.

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.