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.

A Bit of Winter, A Bit of Spring

Here's one of the outfits I've been living in this winter, sans the usual stockings and boots. I mentioned this vintage skirt before when I first picked it up from Twig Vintage on Etsy. It matches perfectly with the cropped periwinkle blue jumper I bought from John Macarthur at Purl Harbour in Bondi. There are some things I really miss about not living in Bondi anymore, and John's shop is one of them; he really does create the most divine knits, worth the investment. Plus this particular jumper I had imagined in my own mind before I event met it, and so when I did I was ecstatic. There are lots of over sized knits doing the rounds this winter but, for outside of the house wear, I much prefer something that doesn't disguise the waist.
In a nod to spring, which I'm willing on with all my might, yesterday I decided to pair this outfit with my new aqua blue Gorman clogs. Gorman always has some interesting pieces and I love the label's experiments with colour. How cute is this spotty outfit from their new Spring collection? Perfect with flats for a chic weekend away.

All I Want for Winter ...

Besides good health for me and my loved ones, some time and space to write and blog and *hopefully* a few successful author tours under my belt is a new wool coat (preferably camel), some ankle boots, and that perfect pair of pants that will work on weekends as well as at work. I'm quite taken with both of these from Arnsdorf's new A/W collection. What do you think?

Off to Melbourne tomorrow so fingers crossed I can squeeze in a trip to Alice Euphemia, one of my favourite locations for Aussie designers. I bought my last pair of Arnsdorf jeans there. Oh, and when I was in Brisbane last week I discovered a new vintage store in Fortitude Valley, right opposite my hotel. It is called The Purple Bedroom and the owner helped me discover a gorgeous pencil skirt in that exact same hue of blue seen on the pants above. It is definitely worth checking out her lovely little store.

Cate's New Collaboration

Cate has been photographed in Aussie label Romance Was Born for the May issue of Harper's Bazaar. I love what Luke Sales and Anna Plunkett do with their label; it might not always be practical, but their creations are never anything but mindblowingly original and gorgeously colourful. Cate has announced that Romance Was Born will be creating costumes for a new Sydney Theatre Company production, Edward Gant's Amazing Feats of Loneliness. You can read more about it here. I'm hoping that this frock is a sign of things to come, for both the play and the label, because, is it just me, or do the floral appliques on the bodice resemble the ones found on raffia bags and purses from the 1960s? And the skirt appears to be made of rosettes. My Cate looks lovely indeed.

My New Party Dress & A Wedding

My dear friend Liana married her Irishman Mark last weekend in a beautiful garden ceremony in Berry. It was a beautiful, intimate wedding and thankfully the rain managed to hold out until they'd finished signing the register, after which the skies opened and didn't stop for a few days.
It was the perfect opportunity to wear my new vintage party dress care of Coco Repose. I love the little folds of fabric over the bust, and the skirt has a cute little bow on the front of the skirt. Plus its blue and floral and those are two elements I'm innately drawn too. I paired the dress with some pink satin shoes care of Gianna Meliani.

The bride wore a beautiful 30s inspired Collette Dinnigan dress. The pure white colour really suited her olive skin and the low scooped back was divine.

It was a truly joyous weekend.

Swimsuit Lust

My Lover one piece swimsuit that I bought last year got a pretty good run on my recent trip to Fiji (please forgive the hat. I bought it at the resort because of terrible sunburn caused by exposing my wintry skin to the suns rays on a boat all day long). The quality and fit is so fantastic, and the style unique but simple (and just a little bit retro), that I think I'm going to have to invest in another item from their new swimwear collection. Want to help me pick out a new cossie?

Coat of the Week: Lady in Yellow

I'm currently fighting off a flu and while I spent the morning on the couch completely engrossed in the 24 hour media coverage of the labour leadership spill, our Governor Generals sartorial brilliance did not go unnoticed.

I've long admired Quentin Bryce's style (hooray she loves colour!) and she looked particularly gorgeous today in this long wool suit with a violet flower brooch.

Our first female Governor General swearing in our first female PM; all politics aside, today was a symbolically important one.

At RAFW my colleague Eliza and I spyed a woman wearing this Lisa Ho mustard coat and we've been in lust ever since. Alas Lisa Ho is a little out of my price range right now, so I just had a quick trawl of Etsy to check out some yellow-tastic vintage numbers which are a little more budget friendly.

From LizsVintageSoffita there is this delicious 40s coat; from TractorDog you can buy a very mod 60s number; and FabGabs camel mohair 60s suit is all kinds of woolly goodness.

I'm loving sunny yellow as the perfect antidote to winter blues.

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?

Fashion Week

Rosemount Australian Fashion Week has just finished for another year, and I was lucky enough to see two shows this week: the MCA Group Collection & Art Installation Show on Thursday night and the Ksubi show last night, which closed the whole shebang. On Thursday night lingerie label Ku Shu Shu made its Fashion Week debut, which was very exciting for me as I helped out with their PR.

The Ksubi show was a veritable who's who of the Aussie fashion scene and provided great people watching. Sydney's hipsters were out in force; I did find it a little amusing that people were waiting in line for 2 hours to watch super skinny, glum looking teenagers rocking distressed denim for all of 15 minutes, but I guess the ultimate reward was the free flowing complimentary drinks.

My highlight of RAFW- in terms of my taste and overall wearability- was Jayson Brunsdon's S/S showing, which was heavily influenced by mid century European resort wear. The salmon and baby blue chenille dress would work a treat in my wardrobe.

I'm also rather enamoured of Zimmermann's digital print swimsuits. The whole collection was a colour explosion, with pretty pastels that don't have to work hard to catch my eye. And it looks like high-waisted will be all the rage next summer.

Thanks to Harper's Bazaar for the pics.

More gorgeous vintage inspired swimwear

So I know it isn't summer anymore and I keep harping on about swimwear, but many of my moments of calm and reflective happiness have occurred in or on the ocean. I just adore it. And funnily enough, swimwear is just about the best thing to wear in the water.
Today I was excited to read about another Aussie vintage inspired swimwear collection in the Sydney Morning Herald (part of their RAFW coverage).
The designer is Karen Neilsen and her latest collection of cotton bikini's and one pieces will be shown this Friday. Here are some examples from her first cotton collection.

I am going to Fiji in July (hooray!). The perfect excuse?

Crushing on vintage lingerie

Doesn't MTV VJ and sometime model Ruby Rose look gorgeous in this vintage bra, courtesy of Sydney's The Vintage Clothing Shop. She appears in an editorial, photographed by Todd Barry, in the April issue of Aussie Vogue.

I honed in on this image immediately as my interest in vintage lingerie has been piqued, just as underwear as outerwear has exploded on the international catwalks.

Some months ago I purchased a brand new corset to wear under my wedding dress but - thankfully for my ribs - I've managed to lose a few kilos in recent months and, provided I can avoid too many cakes over the next fortnight - I think I can discard the corset and spare my frame.

But during my dress rehearsal last weekend I noticed there was still something not quite right about my silhouette. The reality is that vintage clothes often call for vintage lingerie and the bust on my beloved dress is somewhat torpedo in shape, in line with 1950s fashion. So at the eleventh hour I went hunting for a bullet bra, which aren't that easy to find.

Here is the one I did find however, and have ordered from Ballyhoo Vintage. The one saving grace is that it is relatively easy to find small sizes in vintage because, despite all genetic evidence to the contrary, I have grown up with nary a bosom in sight.

Nothing screams 1940s or 1950s quite like the bullet bra as by the 1960s the style was well and truly on the out. Fingers crossed this fairly subdued example gives me oomph in all the right places. Ballyhoo Vintage stocks a heap of new old stock, so if you are a little bit squeamish about wearing someones discarded smalls but like vintage styles, they are worth checking out. I absolutely adore the classic peach pink colour of vintage lingerie, which you can see in these examples from the 30s and 40s.

And this blue satin teddy looks like it would feel absolutely luxurious between sheets.

Slips are having a renaissance this season, the likes of which hasn't been seen since the 1990s. To me a classic negligee or cami never goes out of style, and the no fuss lingerie of the past appeals for its femininity and simplicity. Well, except for some of those pelvis crunching girdles.

One modern label that has caught my fancy with its retro sensibility is Lonely by Lonely Hearts. Lonely Hearts is a quirky fashion line from New Zealand, and their second collection of yummy silk lingerie has me salivating. Their bras are very 1930s in look and come in pastel ice cream shades that would look great under a sheer blouse.

Check out these great editorials from Oyster, 1am and Harper's Bazaar.

Meanwhile I'll keep you updated on my bullet bra experiment. I'm not expecting to look like Jane Russell or Jayne Mansfield. Maybe just Lana Turner lite ... with a breast reduction.