Mrs Press in Mx

Doesn't Emilie look pretty in this pic? Her hot coral silk tee & "Gypsy" skirt in black are available on our e-shop now. Blog readers get a sneaky 1st day of summer discount today. Woo hoo! Use the code FIRST! to claim 20% off the tee, and SUMMER! to claim it off the skirt. Thursday December 1 only, ladies. So get in quick! First come, best dressed.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like CHRISTMAS...

Party dress time is nigh! I was one of the judges for Instyle's Best Dressed 2011

... and they reviewed my book, too. The LOVES - thank you Instyle; you rock xx

And Shop Til You Drop!

I also helped Shop get dream up some fun stocking fillers. My pick? Fab thank you notes from Paper2

the ULTIMATE gift guide belongs to Harper's Bazaar & The Dressing Table made it!

I also talk dancing, dressing and festive fun in Bazaar's December issue

The Dressing Table is in New Idea's lovely list of ideas...

Brisbane's B mag hearts The Dressing Table

What Goes Around Comes Around

I can't believe it's nearly Christmas again.It feels like only five munites ago it was last December and I was packing gift boxes myself with as many friends as I could bribe in a dusty airless warehouse under the gun and generally freaking out because deadline was looming and if we missed it we'd miss our chance to be successful and blah blah blah. And all this on the back of the busiest November imaginable, during which I'd styled more than 60 photographic setups for my book in less than 3 weeks while trying to design a summer collection and run a storewith a duplicitous assistant, and pay the bills with no money. Last year my cleaner sacked me because my house was too messy. Last year I was frazzled.

This time last year; life was bloody hard. But the one thing you can rely on in life is that it goes on and if you don't fall apart you get on with it, and then one day you wake up and the sun is shining and  someone says somehting sweet to you and everything seems very lovely after all.

I hope my dear friend C. will feel this way one day soon. Because last year after I'd gotten through all the hard work, when finally the holidays came,  I remembered how lucky I am to have any of this. To have friends, and a business and love and opportunity and health. And my friend and I were planning our New Year's Eve outfits and drinking champagne and dancing and laughing and feeling blessed, and all was right with the world. But then this year there was a terrible car accident and her darling little boy died and now none of the little things seem to matter one iota.

So much can change in a year, can't it? I'm not sure what all this means, except that it's important to make the most of things and do your best and be as kind to people as you can, every day. Which I know isn't easy. But it will be my New Years Resolution for 2012. Be as kind as you can. Make the most of every minute. Don't sweat the small stuff. Be happy when the sun shines. Ignore the mean people; celebrate the good ones. As Joni Mitchell sang so eloquently, you don't know what you've got till it's gone.

SUMMER PARTY DRESS INSPIRATION

 
OKAY SO IT’S BEEN RAINING. BOO!

Drape silk dress, $330

BUT NOW THE SUNSHINE’S COMING. YAY! 

Juliet silk shift, $440

AND I FOR ONE WILL BE PLANNING MY PARTY WARDROBE. DECEMBER’S JUST AROUND THE CORNER…WHICH MEANS… COCKTAILS AND CHRISTMAS LUNCHES, BBQS, PICNICS AND LOVELY LONG SUMMER DAYS FILED WITH SOIREES. 

Melissa cotton jersey & silk dress, $170
WHAT TO WEAR? A NEW SEASON MRS PRESS DRESS OF COURSE. WE’VE JUST UPLOADED LOTS MORE LOVELIES ONTO OUR E-SHOP. WHICH ONE WILL YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH?

Alarna party dress, $370

Lilac cotton maxi, $75

Juliet party dress with beaded panels, $585

Juliet silk & cotton/metal dress, $530

Jean dress, $550

Michelle dress, $575

www.mrspress.com

OUTFIT POST

Soft caramel cotton trenchcoat...

I JUST GAVE A TALK AT THE FAB POTTS POINT BOOK SHOP, HOSTED BY STYLE WHIZZ GLYNS TRAILL-NASH. STYLE, ELEGANCE, THE DRAMA OF A GREAT DRESS AND THE ALL-ROUND EXCELLENCE OF A CUP OF TEA IN A REAL CHINA CUP WERE ALL TOPICS ON THE MENU. BUT MY PICK FOR THE TALK OF THE TOWN? THE INCREDIBLY CHIC ACCESSORIES & FASHION ACCENTS OF THE FABULOUS WOMEN WHO CAME ALONG…

With headscarf and...

Swoon-worthy Mullberry mini bag

Meow! Leopard stilettos

Pearls please girls!

Nude lace or tangerine brocade? I love both

Black is always chic

PHOTOGRAPHS BY LUISA BRIMBLE

SWOONABLE

Our 'Gypsy' dress in The Knot, styled by Alex Thompson. We LOVE.

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS POUR MOI!

How great is the fashion inspiration in the new Woody Allen movie Midnight in Paris? Not only do I always adore a drop-waisted flapper style, beaded to boot, but I couldn't stop staring at Rachel McAdams's character Ines's crisp white, denim and caramel-toned uptown NY get-ups. The costume designer was Sonia Grande (she also did Vicky, Christina, Barcelona) and the 20s frocks were all originals. Who do you feel like channeling today?

A HAT THAT'S SHAPED LIKE A SHOE?! YES PLEASE. THE UTTERLY FABULOUS DEBORAH QUINN IN STEPHEN JONES HAT, HUSSEIN CHALAYAN WAISTCOAT AND MAD MOUSTACHE BROOCH. MY HAT IS BY MAISON MICHELE, PARIS. IT TOOK 5 DAYS TO MAKE. WE'RE AT THE BRISBANE LAUNCH OF THE DRESSING TABLE AT JEAN BROWN'S DELICIOUS ACCESSORIES STORE, WHICH JUST SO HAPPENS TO BE HEAVEN ON EARTH

IN THE PERTH PRESS...THE DRESSING TABLE IN THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN

A NEW BOOK BY DESIGNER CLARE PRESS CELEBRATES THE ART OF THE GLAMOROUSLY LIVED LIFE. PIP CHRISTMASS REPORTS.

In recent years, there has been a spate of new publications on vintage dressing, the lost art of etiquette and how to entertain stylishly at home. We are, it seems, nostalgic for an earlier time, when manners were important, women got dressed up to go out, and men could open doors for women without worrying if they were about to get a slap in the face for being sexist.

Fashion journalist and designer Clare Press is one of those who craves the return of glamour, good manners and polite society. She has just released The Dressing Table, a delightful compendium of tips and thoughts on how to live life stylishly that includes chapters on how to have a memorable — not messy — party, travel elegantly, host an afternoon tea, dress up to reflect your individuality or emulate your favourite style icons.

Press started out writing for publications such as The Australian, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar before taking time out to launch her vintage-inspired fashion label Mrs Press. It was during this time that the author decided to write a book summing up all the insights she had garnered over the years on fashion, style, etiquette and glamour.

“It’s part memoir, part style scrapbook of inspirations,” Press says. “I wanted to write about some fabulous fashion icons, some of whom are famous, and some of whom are my own friends and not famous, but are amazing and have inspired me in some way. It was something I’ve always wanted to do. I’ve always loved women like Diana Vreeland, Marchesa Luisa Casati, or Louise Brooks, but I also wanted to bring things back down to earth with an amusing and accessible take on what style means today.”

Hence there are contributions by fashion journalist Glynis Traill-Nash (on hosting book club soirees), artist Mary Shackmanon dressing to lift your mood through colour, and designer and stylist Michelle Jank on new ways to wear jewellery. The sense of certain things having been “lost” in contemporary society — good manners, primarily — is one that Press admits to feeling very strongly about. “It’s one of the reasons why I was inspired to write this book and a lot of it has to do with my grandmother, who informs all of the reasons why I wanted to work in fashion,” Press admits.

“She always placed so much importance on entertaining beautifully, of having lovely manners, of dressing appropriately for the occasion. The idea of reviving style secrets of the past is something that’s very close to my heart, from wearing gloves and hats to posting out handwritten thank-you notes. Some of those tendencies have fallen by the wayside and I think that’s a real shame.”

Press believes it is possible to be nostalgic for the past and to take cues from it, without being regressive or prescriptive about the way certain things should be done. She doesn’t see The Dressing Table as a “manual” or an assertion that everything was better in “the old days”. “I don’t think we need to be completely harking back to the social customs of the past because some of them are definitely outmoded,” Press says.

“I quite enjoy being a modern, liberated woman, and nobody wants to go back to a past where in social or economic terms, for example, women and men were not on a level playing field. The book isn’t saying ‘You must do this’ or ‘You must do that’. Really, it’s more a case of couldn’t we gain some joy out of going back to this way of doing things?”

And what about that old chestnut, then — a man opening a door for a woman? “I think of myself as modern and a feminist but I still think it’s delightful for a man to open a door for a woman and I don’t think there’s any disconnect between those two things,” Press laughs.

“I mean it really is as simple as good manners making the world a better place, and thinking about how your behaviour impacts on the people around you.”

SUNNY SATURDAY SPRING CLEAN

Recently the amount of stuff I have has been invading my dreams. In one REM adventure the mammoth "sewing pile" of vintage garments I bought intending to tweak collapsed on top of me burying me alive. My dream self screamed but no-one heard. I woke up in a sweaty mess of fear and loathing only to see the washing basket o overflowing onto the moonlit bedroom floor. Why do I have so very much stuff? Was it breeding? Would I end up like Margaret Olley, engulfed by a studio filled with 80 years' worth of horded junk? Was it inspiring, or just wierd?
And so...today as the summer bursts into its first fullness, and the sunlight illuminates the dust motes and shines its spotlight on the peculiar piles of bags of goodness knows what - is that an antique iron I once bought thinking it would make a good doorstop? so that's where it went! - which cover most every chair in our dining room I decided: EVERYHING MUST GO!
The rules:
1. If an item in your wardrobe makes you look ugly and feel unconfident, CHUCK IT
2. If you have more than one ancient T-shirt in your drawer "because you might need painting clothes" - CHUCK IT
3. If it doesn't fit, you will not diet into it, so CHUCK IT
4. If it's full of holes, CHUCK IT
5. If a scary dress has been languishing in your sewing pile since 2006 because it has a nice collar, and maybe you could cut it into a top, CHUCK IT
6. If there are 7 pairs of unflattering jeans in your closet, CHUCK THEM ALL
7. You know those several score old lipsticks in colours that don't suit you that you got free at fashion week five years ago? The ones in  your bathroom drawer making it hard to find the cotton wool? GOODBYE

"THE DRESSING TABLE" BOOK LAUNCH