Style Crush: Ulyana Sergeenko

The April issue of Vogue UK has a fabulous story on fashion taste makers - you know, the non-celebrity types who fashion bloggers are enamoured with, snapping away at for street style blogs - and amongst the many fabulous ladies featured (hooray for colour) is Russian designer Ulyana Sergeenko. Her style is a little bit 1940s, a little bit House of Romanov, and I love it.
Her eponymous label is gorgeous too. All sweeping skirts, cinched waists and luxurious fabrics. Here are some examples from her latest look book.

And Ulyana on the street looking pretty as a peach. She really is the best advertisement for her own clothes.

Down Mexico Way

Next year I'm going to Mexico for the first time and so my eyes were drawn to these summery campaign images for Paule Ka. Photographed by Venetia Scott, Jessica Stam models outfits that wouldn't look out of place on Megan Draper circa Mad Men series 5 (have you been watching?). And sure, maybe these photos were taken in Acapulco and maybe I'm visiting the East Coast rather than the West Coast, but I can dream, can't I? And in my dreams I'll be carrying a bamboo and leather purse and shading my eyes behind big red sunglasses.

Swimwear, 1963

These sultry images are from a swimwear shoot for the December 1963 issue of US Vogue photographed by well-known NY based music photographer Art Kane. The theme is the bandeau swimsuit, very much back in vogue again now, although perhaps it never really went away. After all there's nothing quite like a strapless swimsuit to create a nice even tan.
Starting this minute down south, coming north with a splash this summer: the bandeau bathing suit, slashed straight across the top, showing marvellous shoulders, cut shifty or bare through the middle.
The bikini featured in the last photograph (bright green according to Vogue) looks very similar to my own bright pink bikini, care of Zimmermann. Here is a pic of me wearing it on my most recent trip to Mission Beach in Far North QLD two weeks ago. The husband and I spent a lot of time exploring the area and we found a few gorgeous swimming holes at the foot of the mountains with the clearest freshwater imaginable. The other photo is of me wearing my favourite new vintage shorts care of Grandma Takes a Trip. The top is from The Vintage Drawer, the sunglasses are a second-hand market find and the handbag is Marc by Marc Jacobs.

Frock of the Week: Vegetable Prints

I loved Kirsten Dunst in Dolce & Gabbana so much this week that I've had to resurrect Frock of the Week. From Dolce & Gabbana's latest ready-to-wear collection, the theme is Italian in the extreme, with vegetable prints (in Kirsten's case it is tomatoes) appearing on fit and flare and wiggle dresses as well as skirts and crop tops. I had to go back to the collection ... see below. Love the eggplant print!
Kirsten has really been back on form lately. A new stylist maybe, or perhaps she's just got her fashion mojo back.

Photos courtesy of Style.Com.

London, Paris, Milan

A picture heavy post to follow of a few of my favourites from the Spring/Summer 2012 collections, starting with the always influential Prada. Inspired by mid-century hot rod culture, Miucci Prada's pieces are always left of centre but never boring. I loved the pleated skirts, bare midriffs and clutches in this collection. And what vintage loving girl isn't partial to a novelty print?

Piccioli and Chiuri's latest ready-to-wear collection from Valentino was beyond dreamy. If I had money to spare and somewhere to wear, I'd be acquiring these frocks, for sure.

There is nothing like colourful clothing to brighten my day and I love the colourfulness and Parisian chicness of Carven.

In London Jonathan Saunders went all retro, providing a wardrobe suitably for a weekend away at Frank Sinatra's Palm Beach House in the 1950s.

Erdem's collection was as blue as blue could be, and in my book, that can only be a good thing.

And Christopher Kane's embellished and appliqued frocks had all the fashion editors sighing with delight.

And my favourite: Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton. Sure, I'm partial to colours that remind me of candy or pills, but the laser cut outs and the experiments with volume make every piece GORGEOUS. A final audition for the Dior gig? if that's the case, having Kate Moss close the show in white ostrich feathers certainly can't harm his chances.

Photos from Style.Com.

Designer Profile: Jacques Fath

I was excited to see the other day that actress Jennifer Morrison from House wore a vintage Jacques Fath dress to a film premiere the other day. And then I realised that I've never really blogged about Jacques Fath who, along with Christian Dior and Pierre Balmain, was one of the great French couturiers of the Golden Age. He started his small couture business in 1937 but it soon grew to be a large one after his creations proved so popular. In 1949 he signed an agreement with American manufacturer Joseph Halpert to design two ready-to-wear collections, which was one of the first such licensing deals (something that Dior would go in for in a big way).
Jacques was known for his hourglass designs and his genius with pleats, but alas he died young in 1954. His very chic wife, former model Genevieve Boucher de la Bruyere (see second from last pic) took over the running of the house until 1957, after which time it was closed. The label was reincarnated later as a perfume house, for a time it produced apparel again, and these days it makes luxury leather goods only, which is why the name doesn't have quite the same ring to it as the continuously run couture houses like Chanel and Dior. But Jacques creations were truly wow. Here are just a few examples ...

There is a great clip of a Fath show from 1956 on You Tube. The embedding function has been disabled, but you can check it out here. Oh that final gold evening gown.