an invitation

Would you like to come to Juliette Hogan's show at New Zealand Fashion Week? Juliette has kindly given us two double passes to the show to giveaway, which is rather exciting as she is one of our favourite designers - and the collection that she will show looks like it is going to be beautiful!

If you (and a friend) would like to come along (and will be in Auckland on the day of the show), email us with your name and address before September 8th. We'll select the two winners at random, and notify them the next day. Good luck!

Juliette Hogan spring/summer 2010

Photo by Guy Coombes

perfect

From here.

jazz hands

What do you listen to while you work? Sometimes I listen to Motorhead, sometimes I stream the Rose Quartz blog, but most of the time I listen to Sam Cooke, or jazz. I am listening to Chet Baker and it's breaking my heart.

that's all there is, there isn't any more

Young NZ designer Celine Chapman has been on my radar for a while, with her cute label Celine Rita. Last week she launched her latest collection, named after and inspired by my favourite childhood fictional character, Madeline (everyone who knows me knows that when I decide to have a baby, it will be one perfect girl child called Madeline). Think schoolgirl, think French, think, yup, cute. Oh yes, and I have to have that stripey blazer. See more, buy pieces and watch a video of the collection here.

mood board

Russ Flatt / Twenty-seven Names / Alexa Chung for Madewell / Catherine Deneuve / Georgia Jagger in W

This Spring I'm into exactly what I was into last year: pretty pastels, collars, dresses, beehives and flat shoes.

it's britney, bitch

Britney covers Pop's special "blonde issue", with Hillary Clinton, Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg girls inside. I am obsessed with these covers; can't wait for the magazine to come out.

covered up

Sweaters are sexy.

US Vogue September 2010

less is more, and other cliches

Have you noticed something lately? An obsession with minimalism is permeating everything in fashion - from my UK Vogue to the blogs I read and the collections I admire. I want to clean up, start again, sell almost everything I own and aspire to own a small, carefully curated selection of 'just the right things'. It might be attributed to the onset of spring, and that my disposable income is currently nil, which, as always, makes me irresistibly driven to refresh and spring clean.

It is almost fetishistic, an anorexia of the wardrobe, an obsessive, control exerting exercise in a bid to appear pulled together, clear, mature, level-headed. It's nice to not shop, not that I do anyway. This girl seems quite enamoured with the idea - a careful, slowly built wardrobe to keep forever. Capsule wardrobe! The suitcase wardrobe! I don't want to be boring, but your material obsessions are freaking me out! I don't want any more wedges or handbags or anything! It makes my brain feel fuzzy - I want to keep space and money for thinking about books and music and doing stuff.

sprung

we love gillian and gillian loves...

Gillian Tennant recently launched her new, eponymous collection of sweet, calm and vintage-inspired pieces. She is based in Sydney, and I really like what she is doing. You can see the collection here, and I suggest you do take the time to take a look. It's simple, pared back but pretty and I would quite happily wear all of it this summer, particularly this lovely top, and this and this... the list goes on. Here are her very harmonious top ten favourite things...

1. Doggies
I love dogs. In particular, I love my dog, Molly. I adopted Molly from the RSPCA five years ago and she's my little soul mate. Molly and I are a package deal - you don't get one without the other!

2. Gelato
My all-time favourite food. When I was travelling through Italy last year, I ate two cones a day. In Sydney, I can highly recommend Dolcissimo in Haberfield - the staff are a bit snippy but the gelato... oh so yummy!

3. Bloomers
How cute are bloomers? I'm looking forward to breaking these ones out from my collection as soon as summer hits.

4. Liberty prints
When I was a little girl my mum used to create the prettiest little liberty print dresses for me. Since then, my love for liberty has never wavered. I especially liked the Merci for Liberty range that came out a little while ago - so gorgeous! I'm in the process of developing a few liberty pieces for my next range.

5. Hand-made jewellery
My boyfriend learnt how to work with silver a little while back and made me the sweetest, most delicate little ring – I never take it off.

6. Washed Out and Worn In
I'm always attracted to a soft, washed out colour palette - even in winter. And I love my clothes to look worn in - aged fabric (especially natural fibres such as cotton, linen, silk and denim) is just so beautiful.

7. Sisters
I have three of them and I’m so lucky. Nobody gets me like my sisters do!

8. Chie Mihara shoes
Incredibly comfortable, affordable and very, very cute!

9. Sessun
Have you heard of this beautiful French label? I'm a big fan - www.sessun.com

10. Saying 'I love you'!
I probably say this too much, but I don’t care! I want the people close to me to know.

boys as girls as boys

ceo

It's hard to resist a band whose biography reads thus. Go on, listen...

ceo arises in 1981 and 1891. in 3064 and tomorrow. after ibrahimovic and before nectanebo II. before the dark ages and after spring break. before time was, ceo is. ceo arises in miami, hell, holzschlag, the andes, sparta, chianti and wall street. in the antennae galaxies, kungsmässan, flushing meadows and the mariana trench. before space was, ceo is. you may call me sophia, yukio, fanta, eric, kiki and krishna. and wii and whitney. ceo is the photosynthesis and an aria, it is silence and virginity lost in a gang bang. ceo is a bird in space and ceo is the space in a bird. ceo is saliva, patrón, november rain and panic. it is a relief, a citrine and it is broken dreams. ceo is the harlot, the prince the snake and the shaman. in a spyker c8 laviolette. and on a mirage. ceo is raspberries and chlamydia, it is the shadow and it is a clapping game. ceo is auroras and charlotte casiraghi. it is laser beams and a home by the ocean. ceo is a lost love and rihanna's voice. it is hibernation, the spectacle and every breath you take. ceo is platinum and it is valium, it is a quasar and it is a lie. ceo is a breech forest and a slamdunk. ceo is the ashanti and ceo is seinfeld. it is eucalyptus, neon and a smile. ceo is a war zone and a sanctuary. it is dukkha, dilla and the body of light. ceo is cashmere, sweat, zooxanthellae and a stiletto. it is implosion technology and it is the match point. ceo is you and you are me and i am ceo. in eternity.

library trip

It's currently Library Week in New Zealand. I remember when I first met Natalie, I dropped her to the library to return some books; I knew then that we would be very good friends. Libraries are an incredible, and often underused, resource - so much knowledge and so many stories in one place.

My Mum works at a library, and I get so frustrated when she tells me stories about some of the things that happen there. Please don't dump cigarette butts on the couches, don't wee on the toilet floor, don't use the computer catalogue to check your Bebo. Respect your library! And be nice to the librarians; it might be my Mum.
Photos from weheartit.com

you're a winner

We had such an incredible response to the Lonely by Lonely Hearts competition, from the sweet to the funny to the...interesting. Thank you to all who entered; for your lovely words and in some cases, photos!

But there can only be 3 winners - and they are Shanti Murugan, Sarah Clinton-Baker and Melody Hogan. Congratulations! Keep an eye on the letterbox for your lovely lingerie set.

this artist

Caris Reid from thisartist on Vimeo.

I watched this video through Dossier Journal, which is a wonderful portal of interesting ideas, creative people and events. It is full of things that I don't see anywhere else on the internet. I really like the site that it comes from, This Artist. Although it is in its infancy, it has a great potential. I have to admit I don't often watch videos I see on blogs all the way through, but I have slowly become accustomed (and have acquired a faster internet connection, which helps) to sitting, watching and listening. It's a nice way to absorb information - and such an insight into minds and inspirations and influences. I particularly enjoyed Caris' unique work and perspective. It reminded me a lot of my friend Alexi, who is also a talented painter. They are both calm, thoughtful women, who work in a particularly delicate, feminine aesthetic, employing fragility without being brittle.

do you know how to pony?

I always write about Patti Smith, but I will make no apologies. Simple, strong, searingly intelligent. Are you bored, uninspired, in a rut? Listen to Horses. I love this image.

TBA

Zoe wrote about the label TBA a while back, but I don't think I took full notice because I was in one of my motorcycle boots - black jeans - Bassike teeshirt phases. Now, I am out of that, and balls out frilly, so I am really, really into this cute, sixties-style, Peter Pan collared, poufy skirted collection. It is Lula magazine, it is date night, it is sweet, it is girl band, it is divine.

Best of all, it is ...inspired by Chytilová’s characters Marie I and Marie II from the banned 1966 dadaist feminist film “Sedmikrasky”. In order to add the timeless TBA signature look, the collection imagines how they might have dressed to attend an Edwardian children’s tea party....

You can buy it here.