petit quelque chose

margherita missoni's kitchen: palatschinken with jam

2011-07-28T09:32:00.007+10:00

recipe by Margherita Missoni and images via AnOther Magazine

Jackie's Capri

2011-07-21T13:18:00.007+10:00

all iamges by Settimo Garritano via un mito nel mito

ladies of the canyon

2011-07-02T13:41:00.013+10:00

all images by Jean Sohn via Closet Visit

I'm utterly obsessed with Jeana Sohn's Closet Visit Project. The ladies she photographs embody the kind of cool and style that I wish I could posess. They make me want to wear mexican turquoise and marni necklaces, swathe myself in Moroccan textiles and recline on a 70s shag rug in my airy sun-drenched Californian bungalow! They embody the kind of refined bohemian glamour that seems so quintessentially LA. Oh, I crave sun and succulents and tumbling riotously from ceramic pots, diaphonous scarves, orange lips and laid-back LA glamour.

isn't she lovely?

2011-07-01T15:12:00.006+10:00

all images via the fashion spot

When I started watching Happy Thank You More Please today I knew I knew actress Zoe Kazan's face, but I just couldn't place where I'd seen her before. Turns out she's featured in a number of recent indie flicks, and perhaps most memorably in the noir-comedy televsion series Bored to Death as Jason Schwartzman's flirtatious pupil. I think she has refreshingly relaxed and quirky style as well as being pretty darn adorable. Aside from being lovely, she's also a Yale graduate and Elia Kazan's granddaughter. Looks like she's one to watch!

sleepy fawn

2011-06-20T19:58:00.008+10:00

all images via sleepy fawn

I'm a longtime fan of the talented and lovely Ashley Moe. Her simple line drawings, populated by little rabbits, chubby chickadees, and graceful fawns are utterly charming. Her blog is similarly dreamy, featuring photos of her simple, feminine style and sweetly decorated apartment. Ashley's recently reopened etsy store is offering a selection of her drawings, photographs and artist books, and is well worth a look.

charlotte gainsbourg

2010-08-29T22:24:00.007+10:00

via discothequeconfusion

Charlotte seems to be popping up in my life frequently lately. I have been listening to her collaboration with Beck from a while back, Irm, and I'm looking forward to seeing her new film The Tree when it's released on September 30. But the thing that enchants me most about Charlotte is hard to put into words. I think it must be that "French" thing that unimaginative magazines like to print a feature on every three months, attempting to tell us how to apply concealer and tie a scarf like a French girl. But the art of being charming commes les Francaises can't be conveyed in a thousand words. Charlotte's quietly unconventional beauty and her je ne sais quois cannot be taught or even analysed- they must simply be appreciated.

sleek, chic- 1970s style

2010-08-06T10:23:00.007+10:00

Anjelica Huston by Bob Richardson, for “Vogue Paris,” 1971, via tumblr

I'm convinced, high-waisted wide-legged 70's jeans are simply the epitome of chic. I just don't get tired of looking at them, and it's been a good three years since I've been on the bandwagon! Sleek, chic 1970's looks are wonderful in general. I think I would have been very sartorially fulfilled had I been alive in that decade! I have a black crepe floor -sweeping 1970's evening dress with a plunging neckline down to here and dozens of tiny crepe-covered buttons, that I just can't wait to wear. I think it could even work as a sundress. I love 70's style.

garlands

2010-07-17T18:57:00.005+10:00

images via leemawdsley.co.uk

i like 60's style

2010-07-11T12:59:00.008+10:00

images of the like via facebook

it's official!

2010-07-10T18:31:00.002+10:00

image via jennyandjohnny.com

Jenny and Johnny's album, 'I'm Having Fun Now' is out on August 31! EEEEEH! Can't wait!

south solitary

2010-07-08T07:43:00.011+10:00

South Solitary is an Australian film set in 1928 on the remote and windswept lighthouse island, South Solitary. This film looks so charming! A romantic lighthouse, untamed wilderness, moody skies and 1920s style sound like the perfect backdrop to a love story! It's coming out on the 28th of July, though I'm going to a preview a little earlier, and I can't wait!

i'm having fun now

2010-07-06T16:23:00.004+10:00

images via Jenny and Johnny

Jenny and Johnny are releasing an album together! The official release date hasn't yet been announced, though it's slated for late (US) summer and is currently available for pre-order. There's also a sneak peak at a very cute song called 'Scissor Runner' on their website, which you can download when you sign up to their mailing list!

sidney geubelle

2010-07-01T09:19:00.006+10:00

stylelikeu found via ringo have a banana

"I'm from a generation of kids that gets high, gets naked, skinny dips in mountain lakes, stares searchingly at ourselves in bathroom mirrors, giggles and hugs, shoplifts and pukes and crashes together on dingy mattresses on the floor, that are the cool giddy things who populate the pictorial worlds of photographers Ryan McGinley and his predecessors, Larry Clark, Nan Goldin, and Wolfgang Tillmans. That's the photography I love, that's what inspires me the most."

well aren't you just the cutest thing ever?

2010-06-30T22:00:00.005+10:00

via the fashion spot

That's it. I promise. I'm going to bed depressed. Thanks Kiki.

can the lady do no wrong?

2010-06-30T21:54:00.004+10:00

via the fashion spot

love the shoes, love the bag, love everything

2010-06-30T21:45:00.003+10:00

via the fashion spot

(aka shameless kirsten dunst worship part #2)

let your hair down

2010-06-30T21:32:00.002+10:00

via the fashion spot

the in-between

2010-06-23T07:28:00.004+10:00

by Kimberly Sikyea, Joshua Whitelaw, Jess Gough and Rafe Castells via The Land Between Here and Mountains

the greatest

2010-06-08T17:25:00.012+10:00

via the fashion spot and carey-mulligan.net

Carey in Cannes for the Premiere of her new film, Wallstreet: Money Never Sleeps, wearing the most amazing dress I have ever seen! It's floor length, but I can't seem to find a full length picture of it that does her justice... I guess the photographers were sidetracked getting shots of her adorable waved pixie cut and that stunning beaded collar?

jumping on the clog bandwagon...

2010-06-05T09:48:00.005+10:00

available in the funkis online shop- most are around the $150 mark.

chloe

2010-05-14T14:51:00.002+10:00

via bust
I think I need a floppy felt hat.

arnsdorf for sportsgirl

2010-05-12T22:08:00.006+10:00

arnsdorf for sportsgirl via sportsgirl

For once we Australians are in the lucky position of being able to purchase a designer's chainstore collaboration locally instead of gazing wistfully at US and UK websites! Arnsdorf has collaborated with Sportsgirl to create a number of pieces that echo the understated yet quirky vibe that I love about the label's main collections. The retro pairing of blush and plum and that feeling of bookishly eccentric simplicity makes me think of the Upper West Side in the 1970s. I want to wear the above outfit with the collar upturned, a fabric rose pinned to my blazer lapel, and my hair piled on top of my head, while I pretend to be Meryl Streep or Diane Keaton in a Woody Allen movie! (I just bought the blush shirt so I expect to be living out this fantasy shortly)

stylish mums

2010-05-10T07:59:00.008+10:00

finalists from the Urban Outfitters My Mom the Style Icon competition

zac posen for target starring the like by gia coppola?

2010-05-09T07:53:00.005+10:00

Zac Posen for Target starring The Like by Gia Coppola? How did I miss this? The song is kind of cute, but as usual it's mostly about the hair, Tennessee Thomas and pretty outfits.

simplicity

2010-05-07T08:06:00.002+10:00

via something changed

a map of paris

2010-05-04T10:42:00.003+10:00

via map of the day

Lately I have been thinking back to my travels from about eighteen months ago... I feel so wistful about those two months we spent drifting through art galleries and adjusting our eyes to new sights and long-anticipated experiences... It almost didn't feel real. I'm ready to do it again and this time open my eyes even wider. I want to wander cobblestoned streets, photograph the decaying facades of forgotten buildings, eat ice-cream in the jardins des tuileries and lay out picnics of baguettes, brie and wine on a silk scarf, au bord de la Seine. I want to fill my eyes, my ears, my mind with Paris. Every vista, every nook, every cranny. I will know Paris like the back of my hand. And when I return, I will close my eyes and there she will be, ever-present in my memory.

fawn

2010-05-03T11:37:00.000+10:00

fawn, kiki smith, 2001

la vie en rose

2010-05-02T19:24:00.001+10:00

lula mag via the fashion spot

beautiful mess

2010-04-28T15:08:00.002+10:00

via fervor and measure

Something tells me the owner of this room and I could be friends.

les francaises

2010-04-17T07:36:00.003+10:00

Juliette Greco and Anouk Aimee by Cornel Lucas

leslie caron

2010-04-16T04:37:00.004+10:00

Leslie Caron by Cornel Lucas, 1964

the before time

2010-03-22T16:25:00.011+11:00

all images via the cobra snake

Around 2004-2005, before I discovered the voyeuristic sartorial fix of fashion-blogging, my guilty style-stalking pleasure was The Cobra Snake .

Now I know the mere mention of that site will illicit a cringe from many of you... but hey, it was the mid-noughties. I stand by some of the looks saved to my inspiration file at that time- shaggy fringes, navy blazers, layered beads, delicate dresses... Back then it was very different to what I was seeing in suburban shopping malls. The sartorial sensibilities of LA and New York hipsters seemed endlessly fascinating! It wasn't just the clothes- their lifestyles, their scene and the wild parties they attended seemed so enticingly far-removed from my own experiences in regional Australia. It makes me feel a little nostalgic for that time in my life when these pictures seemed so new, exciting and inspiring.

suzie bick

2010-03-19T13:16:00.002+11:00

(former model and wife of nick cave)

kiki on the cover

2010-03-18T21:31:00.002+11:00

ON SET: KIRSTEN DUNST BY MARIO TESTINO FOR V64 from V Magazine on Vimeo.

zooey

2010-03-16T15:07:00.004+11:00

at Big Trouble premiere, 2002
images via the fashion spot

how to be

2010-03-15T08:15:00.003+11:00

image by the sartorialist via fervor and measure

carey

2010-03-14T16:15:00.007+11:00

mia

2010-03-09T19:24:00.003+11:00

becoming jane

2010-03-08T08:25:00.004+11:00

liberty of london for target!

2010-02-28T08:26:00.006+11:00

images via refinery 29

Liberty of London has collaborated with US Target to create a collection of dreamy floral dresses and accessories! What a perfect partnership! Now if only Target Australia would follow suit, I would snatch up the gumboots, the umbrella, a purse and maybe a shirt and tie for my boyfriend, who is impressively, though perhaps surprisingly, capable of appreciating a good floral!

the last picture show

2010-02-28T07:57:00.006+11:00

images via refinery 29

winona appreciation vol #2

2010-02-26T07:03:00.006+11:00

images via the fashion spot

Winona makes me want to cut my hair short again like I did in 1999.

authentic theft

2010-02-25T17:26:00.002+11:00

via on the corner of belleview

how to make an american quilt

2010-02-20T19:30:00.011+11:00

via the fashion spot

I miss Winona. I miss the 90s.

kirsten, jason and gia for opening ceremony

2010-02-20T07:14:00.005+11:00

non plus one final from Tracy ANTONOPOULOS on Vimeo.

via opening ceremony

want all of it, obviously

2010-02-17T21:49:00.007+11:00

Alexa Chung for Madewell via refinery 29

I'll also take Tennessee (she can be my best friend), the bike and the hair on the girl in the last photo. Thanks.

ewa aulin

2010-02-16T06:42:00.007+11:00

we must be over the rainbow

2010-02-12T10:22:00.003+11:00

elle decoration via vintage simple

Rainbow stairs in Wuppertal, Germany

sailor girl

2010-02-09T14:05:00.004+11:00

via sportgir l

colour-me-cute

2010-01-29T21:56:00.007+11:00

via matryoshka dolls

This pattern is really intended to give inspiration for painting these cute blank nesting dolls. I'd love to have a go at that. But their sweet shapes are also inspiring me to create felt appliques, wardrobe sachets, greeting card motifs... Well just about anything really. I know that babushkas are already adorning everything from measuring cups to manicure sets...but I still can't get enough!

tina chow

2010-01-28T14:37:00.006+11:00

images by andy warhol and david seidner via the fashion spot

how to be as cute as the shrimp

2010-01-27T14:12:00.002+11:00

image via the independent

Step one: tie on a jaunty polka dot scarf
Step two: flip out the ends of your bob
Step three: tuck a shaggy puppy under your arm (optional).

filippa invented swedish hippy chic, dontcha know?

2010-01-21T15:28:00.006+11:00

all images via backyard bill

"Who is your style icon?" asked Bill.

"Me." answered Filippa.

happiness is cute stationary

2010-01-07T09:39:00.015+11:00

all images via o-check design graphics

Choosing special back-to-school stationary and decorating it myself was always a ritual for me in the last weeks of the summer holidays. Each school year (which commences in January/February on this side of the world) I chose a new 'theme' for my school books. One year, following the fad at the time, it was suns, moons and the iconography of astrology, which I snipped from a big sheet of shiny wrapping paper and carefully pasted onto my folders and exercise books. Another year I covered them in comics and old newspapers, protecting the surface with clear adhesive plastic. I suppose it made french grammar lessons slightly more interesting to have a fun book cover to stare at. Whilst I am still an advocate of DIY, ready-made notebooks and other sweet back to school ephemera are no longer in short supply. I adore almost every product by O-Check Design Graphics, a Korean company that borrows the charm of the French language for its text labels, and nostalgic illustrations to adorn the covers of its notebooks and diaries. Best of all it's not too expensive. This year I will be going "back to school" for the first time in a few years, and once again, choosing pretty notebooks is a pleasant distraction from those new school year nerves!

jolies filles

2010-01-06T21:03:00.003+11:00

all images via the rather lovely Mr Newton

she & him's vol 2 is on it's way...

2009-12-09T08:25:00.007+11:00

image via ryan muir's flickr

...but we'll have to wait until March 23rd, 2010. The follow up to the duo's debut, Volume One includes eleven original tracks and two covers - "Ridin' In My Car" by NRBQ and Skeeter Davis' "Gonna Get Along Without You Now".

Here's the tracklist:

01 Thieves
02 In The Sun
03 Don't Look Back
04 Ridin' In My Car
05 Lingering Still
06 Me And You
07 Gonna Get Along With You Now
08 Home
09 I'm Gonna Make It Better
10 Sing
11 Over It Over Again
12 Brand New Shoes
13 If You Can't Sleep

Hurray! Hands up who can't wait?

ooh la la fancy pants

2009-12-02T08:25:00.004+11:00

Sonia Rykiel for H&M...Why do overseas shops get all the good stuff?! Apparently the H&M website will be streaming the fashion parade live from Paris in around half an hour. Mon Dieu! The media release reports that the collection will be available in Sonia Rykiel boutiques around the world as well as H&M stores. Jolly good, but I don't think we have one of those either...

nadinoo

2009-11-27T05:46:00.001+11:00

all images via nadinoo

Behold the Autumn/Winter collection from British label Nadinoo. It's a perfect mix of English rose prettiness and dapper eccentricity. Sequins and quirky satin pants add a hint of London edge. The styling is also irresistible- little hats, coloured ankle-socks and t-strap shoes. Can't you just see Zooey posing at a premiere in the red blouse and floral skirt ensemble, and Tennessee goofing around backstage in the dropped waist dress and knee socks?

forever tennessee!

2009-11-26T11:05:00.007+11:00

Tennessee Thomas is modelling for Forever 21! She also answered a few questions for the Forever 21 blog...

WHAT KIND OF THINGS DO YOU COLLECT?
1960’s girl group 45's, small black dresses with white collars, polka dots, and hats!!!
WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
Playing music, drawing, dogs and cats.
IF YOU COULD DESIGN ANY TYPE OF CLOTHING OR ACCESSORIES, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
A line of baskets.
WHAT ERA INFLUENCES YOU MOST?
The 60’s.
WHAT TYPE OF MUSIC INFLUENCES YOUR STYLE?
60’s girl groups and beat-combos, and the punks.
DO YOU HAVE ANY STYLE ICONS?
Jane Banks from Mary Poppins.
WHERE ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE PLACES TO LOOK FOR INSPIRATION?
My idyllic English childhood, Portobello Road Antique Market, NYC picture library, and New York City in general.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT BOUTIQUE BY FOREVER 21?
I love how each piece feels lovely and special but not fussy. You can dress them up or layer them over more casual pieces for a truly unique feel.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE LIKE?
Our new album will be out in early 2010!!! Stay tuned... ILikeTheLike.com

Images and interview via Forever 21 blog

liberty love

2009-11-11T09:00:00.001+11:00

all images via liberty

Floral print fabrics by Liberty are a key part of the brand's heritage and pretty familiar to many of us. The design studio creates new and re-works classic prints every season, inspired by nature, architecture, the design archive and the store itself. Many of these prints have been around since the 1930s, and were themselves based on Victorian designs. Looking back through the design archive, I am reminded of patchwork quilts I've snuggled under, scraps of fabric from my mother's sewing box, party dresses and doll's clothes sewed by my grandmother. The recent fad for all things floral has seen Liberty patterns back in fashion, and the ubiquitous prints have been used in some unpredictable ways- like embellishing Nike Dunks for instance. But I think I'll take my liberty prints just the way they are: classic, pretty and and unapologetically girly.

les pretty plastiscines

2009-11-10T19:19:00.008+11:00

by rebecca thomas via her blog

I seem to recall making a mental note to check out French baby rockers Les Plastiscines after reading something in Nylon or Interview magazine earlier in the year... Pretty girls in matching outfits that sing? I'm sold. I caught them jumping about the stage at Jenny's cotillion on Gossip Girl last night and couldn't resist posting some pictures. La nouvelle Like with a French accent peut-être?

natalie wood

2009-11-09T09:10:00.000+11:00

a paper doll to call my own

2009-11-04T10:29:00.005+11:00

paper dolls via The Paper Collector

Since childhood I have had a fascination for paper dolls. When my mum would take me along to the supermarket I would linger in the magazine aisle, poring over the paper doll books- usually featuring Barbie or maybe Jem and the Rockers- and wish that I could take one home to press out all the little outfits, and prop the doll up on her little paper stand. Aren't you jealous of Kathy and Karen and their fantastic little paper dresses? I am so tempted to print these out right now and start snipping!

recent vintage finds

2009-11-03T15:23:00.009+11:00

Behold a selection of my semi-recent op-shopping bounty! These days if you want the good stuff you've got to go country. Although some of these rural grannies like to think that they are getting pretty discerning. The faintest waft of "collectibility" makes prices sky rocket, even in the middle of nowhere. I watched staff in a nearby St Vincent de Paul rubbing their hands together over a "collectible" cabbage patch doll with no clothes and a dirty face. At $20 I think I'll pass. Still, the occasional bargain slips through- I paid $2 for that 60s alarm clock, which escaped the eagle eye of the op shop lady, who was too busy brandishing her big red texta to mark up fake Louis Vuiton purses and kitschy chipped china. No, op-shopping aint what it used to be, but that just makes the bargains I do find all the sweeter.

vanishing america- michael eastman

2009-11-02T07:19:00.010+11:00

all images via dnj gallery and duane reed gallery

Michael Eastman has a book- Vanishing America: The End of Main Street Diners, Drive-Ins, Donut Shops, and Other Everyday Monuments.

plaintive and in exile

2009-11-01T11:36:00.000+11:00

"She's dressed in old European clothes, scraps of brocade, out-of-date old suits, old curtains, odd oddments, old models, moth-eaten old fox furs, old otterskins, that's her kind of beauty, tattered, chill, plaintive and in exile, everything's too big, and yet it looks marvellous. Her clothes are loose, she's too thin, nothing fits yet it looks marvellous. She's made in such a way, face and body, that anything that touches her shares immediately and infallibly in her beauty."

-The Lover, Marguerite Duras

missoni fall 2009

jazz age beauties

2009-10-29T10:25:00.000+11:00

all images via art deco blog

a peak inside jane campion's scrapbook

2009-10-27T10:49:00.022+11:00

all images from jane campion's production scrap book for her film, bright star

I'm so looking forward to seeing Jane Campion's newest film Bright Star, about John Keats and his brief love affair with his neighbour, Fanny Brawne. Apparently, the film emphasises Fanny's love of fashion and her talents at sewing and dressmaking. So I hope that means that we can expect to see a parade of lovely 19th century dresses. I think these snippets from Jane Campion's scrapbook- poems on parchment, intricately folded love letters, photographs of morning light through wintery trees and art department sketches are so romantic and tantalising. It looks as if the film will be beautiful but restrained- Slate has even described its visual style as "austere" - but I think that will just make these pretty little details seem all the lovelier.

ethereal kiki

2009-10-27T08:32:00.006+11:00

kirsten dunst by kevin lynch via the fashionspot

it's been six years

2009-10-21T07:00:00.000+11:00

all images by autumn de wilde

elliott smith- august 6th, 1979 - oct 21st, 2003

steichen's stars

2009-10-19T19:27:00.010+11:00

all images by edward steichen (1879-1973)

kat macleod exhibition opens tonight

2009-10-15T12:23:00.006+11:00

image by kat macleod via lamington drive

Melbournians take note: Kat Macleod's second solo show at Lamington Drive, Slight Inclusions opens tonight! Get in and grab a gorgeous drawing or print while you can- they're sure to sell like hotcakes. Or just enjoy taking in the beautiful work and beautiful people who will no doubt attend in abundance. The opening gets underway at 6pm until 9pm tonight, and the show runs until Nov 15 at Lamington Drive, 89 George St Fitztroy.

i still like the like, i guess...

2009-10-14T09:09:00.017+11:00

all images via myspace

Well, it's been four years since The Like's last album. Although, when it comes to The Like, I'm inclined to feel that their albums are hardly point- it's more about the outfits. Nonetheless, they have recently announced a change in lineup, as well as a new record in the works. As Buzz Bands reports: "frontwoman Z Berg and drummer Tennessee Thomas remain from the original lineup; bassist Laena Geronimo has replaced Charlotte Froom, who departed to work on other projects; and Reni Lane joins to play keyboards. The Like’s new Mark Ronson-produced album will be released in early 2010."

So I wonder why Charlotte left? It's certainly sad to see her go, but new keyboard player Reni is almost as cute, and from a distance pretty much indistinguishable from Charlotte anyway. Charlotte's replacement on bass, Laena Geronimo, has extremely red hair. I would usually consider this to be a good thing, but in her case I'm not so sure. Perhaps some toner is in order? But the band still appear to enjoy taking lots of photos of themselves in cute outfits.* And Tennessee is still freaking adorable. So provided this continues, I'm okay with the change. I probably won't be buying the new album anyway...

*although someone needs to have a quiet word to Z about the pitfalls of pleather.

yes, i do know what you're talking about...

2009-10-12T11:11:00.005+11:00

'are you the favourite person of anybody?' by miranda july (2005)

checkout more of miranda july's playful, sad and whimsically beautiful work on her website.

liv ullman

2009-10-08T13:59:00.008+11:00

two-wheeled outlaw

2009-10-06T21:15:00.013+11:00

I am the girl that the boys in bike shops hate. With their curiously hairless brown 'cycling legs' and their sun-kissed blonde locks (no doubt highlighted 'naturally' from weekends snowboarding at Perisher, or taking part in other similarly out-doorsy and adventurous adrenalin sports), they take one look at me in my wedge-heels and the condescension sets in. As I caress the plush saddles of the retro red Schwinn bikes with their shiny mud guards and 1950s appeal, it's plain that my enthusiasm for bikes is purely aesthetic. "Fashion victim," I can practically hear them thinking.

Clearly, I am no authentic lycra-clad cyclist. I'm not even a weekend mountain biker or a bmx bandit. I also have no intention of submitting to the humiliation of helmet hair 0r sweaty nether regions from too much peddling. My bike has but one gear, and I can't really ride it anywhere that isn't a perfectly flat plane or a gentle downward slope (just don't expect me to ride it back up again).

Yes, the features of my shiny new bicycle that I am most excited about are its jaunty upright handlebars, adorable wicker basket and perfect shade of baby blue. Yes, I had a little trouble remembering how to ride it, considering that my last encounter with a two-wheeler was more than 10 years ago. And yes, I admit it, I have been completely seduced by all those pictures of glamorous girls in New York and Amsterdam on stylish bikes, thanks to Scott and Garance.

But nevertheless, bikes are my new obsession. And it's not just because of the trend, I promise. Beautiful bikes now hold over me a lustful irresistability which I imagine can only be analogous to what other women feel about shoes. Who would have thought!? And now I find that there's quite an art to it, this practice of liking bikes that look pretty. There are even scores of blogs dedicated to the subject, where authoritative-sounding phrases like "dutch bikes are the new fixies" are bandied about with ease.

I have to admit that all the posh talk about the sublime lines of vintage velos has me feeling a little insecure about my own baby-blue Big W beauty. But as I walk around the city and the university campus, my eyes are glued to the bike racks as I admire bikes great and small. Hipster "fixies," revamped vintage cruisers and shiny town bikes- I just can't not look! And best of all I can revel in the pleasure of guilt-free gawking- I don't even have to worry about the bikes catching me- like when I have to avert the withering glare of fashionistas as I try as discreetly as possible to ogle their designer handbags. The bikes never glare back, rather their proud chrome handlebars seem to give me a flirtatious wink as they twinkle in the sunshine.

my new bike (before I bought the wicker basket)

william eggleston

2009-10-05T09:09:00.010+11:00

all images via new york times and eggleston trust

kiki in fine form, front row at rodarte

2009-09-22T12:31:00.005+10:00

all images via the fashion spot

frankie mag's photo album

2009-09-14T20:12:00.002+10:00

image via flickr

There's going to be a frankie photo book! But it won't be available until Oct 14, so we'll just have to be patient. In the meantime, here's a sneak peak at the cover featuring the photography of Jasmine Rubio.

chloe sevigny for opening ceremony, fall 2009

2009-09-10T19:36:00.013+10:00

all images via opening ceremony

what i like most about chloe sevigny's new fall collection for opening ceremony is the way it seems to hover somewhere between downtown cool and conservatively preppy. some of these pieces could almost have been worn by your mother circa 1975... except that they are infinitely cooler. it's an effect that's underscored by the cutely cheesy his 'n' hers retro knitting pattern effect of posing the female and male models together in their matching ensembles... yet somehow the result is clean, understated and sophisticated. interestingly, the pieces are made in a single gender neutral size run, ranging from xxs to large. it seems to work for these models, but I wonder how those androgynous cuts cope with curves? it doesn't make much difference to me. seeing as a cotton button down is the cheapest piece at US $335, i won't be purchasing! nevertheless, i'm a fan.

the cult of obento

2009-09-10T08:21:00.007+10:00

all images via the new york times

bento boxes are an increasingly widespread craze for lunch, according to the new york times. apparently mums, students and dieters are taking advantage of the health and cost-saving benefits of this japanese style of presenting colourful, varied and fun food in portion-conscious bento boxes. whilst i can't say i picture myself carving flowers out of cheese or moulding sticky rice into baby pandas each morning, it's hard not to be impressed by the creativity and commitment of some of these budding bento-chefs! ideas for lunch beyond takeaway and salad sandwiches are always welcome.

boy by band of outsiders

2009-09-06T19:59:00.008+10:00

all images via style.com

according to style.com, this collection was inspired by the chic french student revolutionaries in godard's la chinoise. if i were a good little hipster, industriously spending my evenings working my way through my french new wave boxed set, i probably could have told you that. but all hip cinematic references aside, the angry student rebel look is really appealing to my current cranky mood. ironically enough, what I like most about this collection is the almost anti-fashion sentiment. the timeless, androgynous shapes and sombre colours are utilitarian and unpretentious. it speaks to the part of me that would like to wear nothing but blue jeans and plain black t-shirts for the rest of my life, spurn trends and put a match to anything feminine or fussy. and yet these looks are undeniably chic and adorable. do i contradict myself? very well then, i contradict myself (i am large, i contain multitudes).

springtime reverie

2009-09-03T07:51:00.007+10:00

all images by olive cotton (1911-2003)

pear and polenta cake with lemon syrup

2009-09-02T16:20:00.016+10:00

most of my kitchen adventures involve chocolate, so using pears and polenta in this recipe was a new experience for me! i was quite pleased with it- for a relatively minimal effort, this recipe produces a rather impressive result. the caramelised brown sugar glaze on the pears is delicious, and the cake itself is really rich and moist. served warm, it's dense texture makes it a decadent desert- just top with double cream. or serve it chilled with coffee for afternoon tea.

cake
3 pears
4 eggs
380g brown sugar
2tsp vanilla essence
250mls white wine
250mls sunflower oil
310g plain flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
120g fine polenta

syrup
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
120mls lemon juice

method
prepare the tin by buttering it generously and dusting with brown sugar

peel, core and slice pears. arrange in a circular pattern on the base of the tin.

beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla until light and creamy. add the wine and oil and mix in gently. sift together the flour and baking powder, then fold in gently. then add the polenta and mix gently again.

pour the cake mix carefully over the pears and bake in a 160C oven for about 80 minutes or until the cake is firm in the middle.

while the cake is baking bring syrup ingredients to boil then allow to cool.

when the cake comes out of the oven tip it upside down onto a serving plate, lightly prick the cake and pour over the warm syrup.

pretty bird

2009-08-19T07:00:00.000+10:00

jenny lewis images, from top: under the radar rabbit fur coat promo, bust, american songwriter and nylon

life in soft focus

2009-08-18T07:00:00.004+10:00

images via myspace

sébastien mazière is a 29 year old photographer living and working in paris. he makes such dreamy images with their pensive heroines, softly diffused light and yellow-toned nostalgia. i love the way he has captured the girl in the fourth photo as the wind blows through her hair, her eyebrows raised and lips parted as though she is just about to speak. she looks so french and haphazardly chic. i ran across some of these images in some magazine or other a year or two ago, and promptly cut out them out to stick in my little scrapbook of inspirations. they have stayed with me, because this is just the sort of mood i want to capture in my own photographs.

what a beautiful day for a picnic

2009-08-16T08:55:00.013+10:00

images via ebay, etsy, antique helper and vintage life network

"what a beautiful day for a picnic,
what a picnical day for a lark!
we will frolic all day
in the happiest way,
and we won't get back home until dark!"
(mickey mouse's picnic, 1950)

one of my favourite little golden books as a child was 'mickey mouse's picnic'. since hearing about minnie and mickey's carefully prepared picnic, which from memory involved pink lemonade and a chocolate cake (with a knife taped to the bottom), i have been rather fixated on the preparation of the perfect picnic. but it is only recently that i have become fascinated by vintage picnic cases. my attention was drawn to these kinds of sets a while back when my friend opened a totally unassuming suitcase left to her by her grandfather, to reveal brightly colour melamine cups, plates, bowls, spoons, salt and pepper shakers and little containers all neatly stacked inside. what a lovely surprise! my fingers are crossed that one day i'll open a case at the op-shop to reveal just such a treasure.

vintage coats via paris, 1960

2009-08-12T11:32:00.009+10:00

i know that most of my fellow southern hemisphereans are looking forward to spring and would rather not dwell on warm and woollies any longer. nonetheless, i thought I would post these pictures from the 'cahiers bleus' autumn-winter 1960-61 lookbook, which i was lucky enough to find hidden in a box of papers at an antique store a while back, before coat weather is well and truly over. i love the stately glamour of these oversized vintage coats. i adore the way the fabric falls voluminously from the middle of the back, and the tulip shape it forms as it tapers to skim the hips. i love the swingy flared hems, the bracelet length sleeves, chunky jeweled buttons and luxurious fur collars. when out and about in cold weather, opportunities to expose the outfit underneath one's coat seem rare. dressing for winter can feel so repetitive when you only have one or two coats in rotation, therefore an extensive collection of wonderful outerwear is essential! my plan is to have some of these lovely illustrations framed, but in the meantime, here they are to inspire you.

gia coppola

2009-08-11T07:25:00.008+10:00

images via the skullset

22-year old photographer gia coppola is francis ford coppola's granddaughter and sofia coppola's niece. she studied photography at bard college in upstate new york. i like the disjointed noirish narratives of this series, with its looming shadows and moody tones of black and white. like shuffled film stills, they hint at an uneasy story about a threatening presence that is always just off-camera. i'm interested to hear about her creative plans after graduating. in a family like that there's certainly a lot to live up to!

the art of the scarf

2009-08-10T18:22:00.000+10:00

it is the source of no small sartorial embarrassment, that the more determinedly i strive for the casual elegance of a well-tied scarf, the more it eludes me. i have plenty of practice with the neck-warming winter variety. cold days call for folds of fabric looped generously around the neck twice and tied in front. no problem. but summer scarves, that seemingly simple and foolproof recipe for parisian chic, are impossible. i can spend a good 15 minutes, untying and retying, only to yank the thing off in frustration before i've even made it out the door. i think that the dimensions and quality of the fabric play an important role in making a scarf look 'right'. cheap silk and nylon don't drape well. too much fabric and the scarf resembles a neck-brace. too little risks strangulation. but most important, it would seem, is the correct attitude. one must try as hard as one can to make it look as though one isn't really trying.

i'll keep working on it.

being kiki

2009-08-09T07:00:00.001+10:00

all images via the fashion spot

just what is it about kirsten? is it the milky white skin, the nonchalant hair, the seemingly endless parade of chanel purses? as she runs about LA in well-cut coats, easy-to-mix neutrals, striped t-shirts and flat boots, she seems like the kind of girl i could relate to. her everyday style translates to real life so perfectly. she keeps it simple and it works.

red velvet cupcakes

2009-08-08T08:00:00.002+10:00

my first ever red velvet cupcake was an embarrassingly touristy and nutritionally questionable breakfast at the magnolia bakery in new york city. (which I sneakily tried to photograph under the table, away from the withering glance of a local drinking her morning latte) their fame had preceded them, and they certainly lived up to the promise. i bought the magnolia bakery cookbook that day, but for the past few months it has been sitting prettily on my bookshelf, the pressure to replicate cupcake perfection seeming too great. but one night last week, when the usual hankering for something sweet hit, i decided to have a stab at the recipe. here is a video about how to make them right from the source, bobbie lloyd of magnolia bakery:

(obviously, no normal person actually has buttermilk in their fridge (apologies to those that do- obviously i'm jealous). so the good news is that you can substitute regular milk mixed with an extra splash of vinegar- leave it on the bench for a few moments to thicken.)

i also devised a far more basic recipe for buttercream icing, which is quite a breakthrough for me. my freestyle icing attempts usually involve seemingly endless amounts of icing mixture, sticky fingers and a crappy result. this time, however, i did this:

you will need

1.5 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 tablespoons milk/ (or whipping cream for those people who have it on hand)

method
mix together sugar and butter on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

add vanilla and milk/cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more milk/cream if needed for spreading consistency.

those more ambitious types can follow bobbie's fancy recipe for more involved, complicated, and probably superior icing:

enjoy!

juliette hogan summer o9

2009-08-07T07:00:00.002+10:00

all images via juliette hogan

can it be true that juliette hogan is not stocked outside new zealand? if the website is to be believed, some discerning australian and international boutique owners need to rectify this situation quickly. i love this collection. apparently the label has been described as "quietly sophisticated clothes that well mannered girls want to wear." i'm not sure if i am always as well-mannered as i'd like to be, but i have a feeling i'd get away with it if i was wearing any of these beautiful pieces. the hint of black bodysuit beneath the sheer flesh pink folds of fabric on the ballet dress makes the model look like a ballerina in quiet repose. and the elegantly floor-sweeping length on the pink skirt is so refreshing. i love the way pearls are worn with every outfit- juliette's clothes are obviously for the kind of girl for whom grandmother's pearls are a signature accessory. can you tell that's the kind of girl i'd like to be?

kat macleod, i love you

2009-08-06T07:00:00.002+10:00

all images via the jacky winter group

i want to live inside one of kat macleod's pictures. i can't get enough of her charming little illustrations that combine dreamy watercolours with quirky collage. the stylish and charismatic characters that inhabit her pictures are the girl i want to be. or maybe i'd rather be the talented and beautiful kat herself? if you want more kat, you can read a wonderful interview at the design files, see more of her work at the jacky winter group, and buy a limited edition print of one of these beauties via lamington drive. if i do not possess a framed print of rummage before long, i will expire.

the last debutantes

2009-08-05T07:00:00.003+10:00

many of the debs wore couture- the black and blue gowns christian dior gowns were worn by margaret mckay and her mother at margaret's coming out dance, and the brown and cream tulle gown is by balmain, worn by elizabeth hyde parker at london dances.
images via kensington palace

i have a strange fascination with old-school debutantes. i can trace it to a mixed bag of early influences: the photos of my mum looking pained at her suburban sydney coming out in the 1960s (complete with helmet hair, a homemade dress, and an escort that looked like elvis); the slightly more glamorous social pictures taken at the crillon ball, and repeated viewings of 'andy hardy meets debutante'. it's logical that i should be interested in the phenomenon, combining as it does my fascinations for rich people, vintage dresses and upper class frippery.

obviously the original premise of a debutante ball pretty is pretty much repulsive to a modern sensibility: parading young women in front of an audience to announce their readiness for marriage? it's certainly an anachronistic tradition; but the dresses, the parties, the manners and the excitement all set my heart a-flutter nonetheless.

so naturally whilst in london recently, i was very keen to catch 'the last debutantes' exhibition at kensington palace (on display until 31st jan 2010). the exhibition focuses on the 1958 crop of debs- the last year that eligible young ladies were presented to the queen. although the exhibition space (the late princess margaret's apartments) is something of a confusing rabbit warren, the exhibition features a lovely collection of objects, including diaries, invitations, photographs, dresses, evening bags and other ephemera saved by the girls. it sets the glamour , charm and indulgence of this disappearing world against the backdrop of the social unrest, political activism and teenage culture that set the scene of change in britain during the summer of 1958.

i must admit i thoroughly enjoyed it. if i squint my eyes to see past the snobbery, sexism and excess of the debutante's world, there is really something quite lovely about it.

godard's girl

2009-08-04T07:00:00.000+10:00

reuse, recycle

2009-08-03T07:00:00.001+10:00

the other man's treasures via poetic home

is this not the cutest idea ever? this is a d.i.y. i can see myself attempting (or perhaps directing my boyfriend to attempt). i have often seen nests of cheap tables with those retro legs in op-shops, but these days, a vintage suitcase with character at a reasonable price is hard to find. and i must say that if i ever found a vintage suitcase as cute as that green hat box, i would be reluctant to risk ruining it! my grandmother used to keep old letters and photographs in a lovely plaid zip-up hatbox like that. i wish i knew where it was now.

zooey does the charleston

2009-08-02T17:53:00.013+10:00

zooey deschanel by autumn de wilde via her portfolio

i love this shoot. the colour is wonderful, and hasn't autumn captured zooey's kooky playfulness perfectly?

the whispertown2000

2009-08-01T07:00:00.002+10:00

myspace, the whispertown2000's tour tumblr, lullabyes blog

"once upon a time, in a far away land, where the rivers and creeks begin, above the clouds where the sun doesn't burn, and the snow doesn't freeze, where the stories you hear are easy to believe, where nothing is thought and everything just is, and all of the takes turn into gives, and at night with the moon through the trees you can see, an irish lad, a man of the sea, a mexican princess, and then there's me. the irishman, colt maloney, on melodic bass, high and then low and keeping the pace; the man from the ocean, tod adrien wisenbaker, twisting and pulling his guitar and his harp, as if all the notes were there from the start; and born in tijuana, a voice so pure it can haunt, vanesa corbala, in harmonic taunt; and me I came from the oregon coast, morgan nagler they called me as I followed the road, past the buildings and the lights, past the signs and the pavement, till everything was dirt, it was brown, blue and green, and the songs they were born living in a dream. and we put them on tape and we cant hardly wait, to play them and sing them we can't hardly wait."

-morgan nagler of the whispertown2000 via livin in a dream

download a recording of the whispertown2000 performing live at SXSW 2009 at lullabyes blog.

cabinet of curiosities

2009-07-31T20:16:00.017+10:00

all images via the new york times except 'musei wormiani historia' depicting ole worm's seventeenth century cabinet of curiosities, via wikipedia

this article in the new york times profiles "the new antiquarians"- young brooklynites whose decorating style involves "exhuming the accouterments of the turn-of-the-19th-century leisure class". this aesthetic seems to incorporate some of the interior trends i've been loving in the work of stylists like sibella court and nicole page for a while, such as museological displays of shells, botanical prints and scientific specimens mixed with antique luggage, and the eclectic ephemera associated with romantic travels to distant locales. this style, which centres on the cluttered display of disparate objects, appeals to my bowerbird mindset- no longer must i hide my junk in the name of minimalism! but the new antiquarians seem to take it a step further, reveling in moody interiors that can be more than a little macabre. i'm not sure i fancy sharing my living room with a taxidermied sheep or wall-mounted cow skull, but i'm very keen to acquire the victorian bell jar (though i'll pass on the taxidermied birds and rodent inside); the collection of hats and the wonderful shadow box, with each nook housing a tiny treasure.

whilst some of the adherents of this style interviewed by the times want to describe their impulses as a yearning to recapture the authentic vestiges of a time passed, interestingly, curator valerie steele says that their "deep spelunking into the past (is) not aspirational and it’s not nostalgic. it’s a fantasy world that is almost entirely a visual collage. it’s a stitched-together, bricolage world, an alternative world. authenticity is such a fed-up idea. but collecting these old things, it’s like there is an aura attached to them. it’s not some prepackaged product being foisted on you by a big corporation."

i adore the way she describes their vintage collecting practice as one of 'visual collage' or 'bricolage'. and i don't think it's limited to the new antiquarian's specific mode of collecting and display. when i collect eclectic and unrelated objects from disparate eras i am not trying to tap into the 'authentic' experience of a fifties housewife, a flapper or a victorian lady. what i am doing, just as valerie suggests, is stitching together my own fantasy world, populated by the wild and wonderful objects of my choosing. i am also intrigued by her mention of the 'aura' that vintage objects really do seem to retain... there are of course literal traces of history that reside in objects- stains on a dress, scratches on an ornament, a name written inside a secondhand book. but there is also the aura that is the imagined past lives of objects- the stories they might tell about bygone eras- which for me is is definitely the source of their magic