mrs press

Here comes the bride all dressed in...Mrs Press!

2012-01-29T15:00:00.000-08:00

Julia Carland knew exactly what she wanted to wear to walk down the aisle with her beau, Ryan last year: short, cream, cap sleeves, sweetheart neckline, nipped-in waist, slightly 1960s styling. Our 'Inez' dress to the rescue! We cut the skirt just above the knee and added a sweet fabric bow belt. Julia carried a simple bouquet of cream roses and sported classic pearls. She looked chic and elegant - and we are honoured to have made her dress!

Photographs ©Anna Warr 2011

SPORTS LUXE, INSTYLE & CAN YOU WEAR IT TO WORK?!

2012-01-24T22:33:00.000-08:00

Katherine Heigl from Instyle Feburary, styled by Katherine Green, photographed by David Gubert

J'adore the stunning new Katherine Heigl cover of Instyle, don't you? And even more the fab pic of her inside lounging about on that Cecil Beaton-esque striped divan in that jaunty cruise number.

Elsewhere in this issue, in my Ask Mrs Press column, I tackle a thorny question sent by a reader:

I like the sports-luxe look, but can it work in the office or is it too casual?

Hmm, can't imagine Ms Heigl in her zip up parka in the board room. In truth, being a dress girl, the whole sports-chic thing has me scratching my head. Mind you, if you ask me it has Mr Wang doing similar as I was hard pressed to find a sports-luxe look in his Pre-Fall 2012 collection which was more about school girl tailoring and textured grey lace. Anyway...

Here's my answer:

That rather depends on your definition of sports-luxe! Designer gym gear is clearly off the work menu, and my personal bugbear is wearing running shoes with your suit to walk to work in – what’s wrong with ballet flats? You’re not invisible on your way to the office, you know! But I digress. As for the sporty trend in high fashion, there are pieces that can work in the office - I like the idea of a deconstructed jersey blazer, for example, as a softer take on tailoring. But much of this trend is too casual for the corporate world – you won’t command much respect in your Monday meeting wearing dressed-up track pants, a racer back singlet or a cropped sweatshirt – even if they are Alexander Wang. Keep it chic at work and play at the weekend.

What does everyone else think?

Alexander Wang, Pre-Fall 2012

BLUE AT THE GOLDEN GLOBES

2012-01-15T22:51:00.000-08:00

No, not Ricky's jokes...the interesting fashion ensembles! Big trends: deep blue from teal to midnight, cornflower to cobalt. Structure, strapless bodices, Joan Crawford shoulders and fishtails. I'm inspired. You?

LETTER OF THE WEEK!

2012-01-10T23:52:00.000-08:00

Without doubt the nicest thing about writing a book is getting feedback from readers. I've had the most beautiful emails & notes from people who have bought, stumbled upon, been given or sought out The Dressing Table, and they have made my days. I hope Donna doesn't mind me sharing hers here - it's just so fabulous. I love the idea of her shopping for the green dress, not to mention the fact that her pets bought her the book - sounds like me!! THANK YOU DONNA, AND THANK YOU ALL MY REALLY RIDICULOUSLY WONDERFUL READERS. X

Amanda Ware shot by Cara Stricker

Hey Clare,
One morning a few weeks before Christmas I was shopping for gifts when I stumbled upon your book. The cover was beautiful so I flicked through it (I know, never judge a book by it's cover!). I was in a hurry so I put it back down to run off to an appointment. For the rest of the day I kept thinking about the beautiful pictures so I went back and bought a copy for my friend and one for myself.

I wrapped my copy and put it under the Christmas tree (with a tag indicating it was a Christmas gift for me from my pets; sad but true). I used all of my will power not to unwrap the book early and start reading it before Christmas morning and it was worth the wait.

I loved the photos and enjoyed every word written. I loved the message that it is okay to love beautiful things and wear them with confidence. The day after I finished the book (I could not go out anywhere during the first and second reading or really concentrate on conversations with Christmas visitors during this time) I put on some clothes, which normally would never see the light of day and went out shopping. I began with trying on hats and ended with buying a beautiful green dress.

Donna

HAPPY NEW YEAR! OUT WITH THE OLD

2012-01-06T12:43:00.000-08:00

The southern Italians have a pleasing custom for December 31^st: they “throw out the old year” to make way for the new, literally opening their windows and tossing out the crap that’s weighing them down: defenestrating broken chairs and pictures, faded curtains and scary clothes that make them look bananas. It’s safest not to hang about in the streets below houses on this night of the long knives for unwanted clutter. But in the morning the council comes and whisks it all away. The slate is clean.

My New Year’s Resolution is to take a leaf out of that particular Italian book. Sometimes, okay, oftentimes, I feel like my stuff is taking me over. That were I to die alone one night beneath an avalanche of junk from my closets, I’d be buried so deep I might not be found for days.

For years I worked at Vogue, regularly writing features on what to toss and what to keep to step smartly into the new season. Spring Clean Your Look! New Wardrobe, New You! So why do I not practice what I preached? Why not regularly clean out my cupboards and drawers, purge myself of this unwanted sartorial debris, and keep only the pieces I know make sense for the coming spring or summer, winter or fall? Because, to borrow shamelessly from Joni Mitchell, you never know what’s you’ve got till it’s gone! Because trends are cyclical and that stretch velveteen catsuit I wore when I was 19 might come back into fashion one day. Because I’ve forgotten what’s lurking in the dusty suitcases on top of the wardrobe, and you never know, it might be something marvelous.

Like mother, like daughter.

For nearly a decade my mother harboured a guilty – and grubby – secret. In a rarely considered corner of a spare bedroom in our family home, between the wall and the solid side of the Edwardian armoir my mother stored her winter woolens in, there lurked a sinister presence. I say sinister fully aware of the drama of such a statement; but sinister it was.

This presence was a linen basket, which not a soul had opened since my father had been on the scene. He ran off with the caterer after one of our parties when I was nine. By my 17^th year, the basket remained undisturbed – but not forgotten.

Every now and then the family would gang up on my mother and try and nag her into opening it, to washing and ironing its contents so that we might all move on – or to burning it.

“No fear!” would come my mother’s response as she dissolved into giggles. “Would you open that thing? It’s terrifying.”

“I dare you!” I’d say. “Or just throw it away. It’s beyond a joke.”

“I can’t,” she would counter. “What if there’s something wonderful in there?”

A forgotten frock by 1970s British design legend Bill Gibb? A 1930s silk chemise? An embroidered coat by Dior? Who knew? The linen bin was our fashion Narnia.

A look by Bill Gibb

When the day came for us to move house, the linen basket agreed to be tackled (truth was, I think it was fed up with being the butt of our jokes). Friends arrived from all over the country for the ceremonial removal of its lid. A brass band played, mother wore her Sunday best and I read a poem by Sigfrid Sassoon. Okay, that last bit is a lie. But I was present as my mother plumbed the linen bin’s frightful depths…to reveal…a forlorn pile of graying pillow slips, some denim shorts no one recognised and a pair of my father’s burgundy Farah trousers made of finest Terylene: 1983.

The linen bin, like most bogymen, turned out to be nothing especially scary after all. And as a fashion time capsule it was rubbish. No fancy Paris frocks. No vintage beaded silk. Just hoarding for hoarding’s sake.

Okay it was fun while it lasted, but the thing with dreams of other worlds, with fantasies of fashion possibilities not yet lived, is that they rarely amount to much. Far better to face reality head on, and throw away the clutter in our closets so we can, as Julie Gillard might put it, move forward, untrammeled, to the next outfit. You never know, perhaps it will be a Bill Gibb.

GREAT LENGTHS

2011-12-29T20:08:00.000-08:00

It was a seminal moment in my fashion life, like the year I got married in Edwardian lace, or the year I bought my first serious handbag (Mulberry; lots of hardware). Two-thousand-and-eleven: the year my legs let me down.

Perhaps I’d taken them for granted, but I truly thought my legs - those betrayers! Those sneaks! – and I were getting along fine. Only that winter, we’d merrily marched through a cold snap together, clad in flattering opaque hosiery and spike heeled Alaïa booties for all the world as if we shared the same goal (to look fabulous), and would be buddies for life. Except unbeknownst to me, my legs had given up. The buggers had started to wobble and show their age at the knee. And like the cuckholded husband of Shakespearean cliché, I was the last to know.

When I stepped out in the perky Chloé mini I’d adored the year before, my legs gave me a rude shock. “You’ve got to be kidding!” they called. (And I can tell you; I didn’t like their tone.) “Where do you think we’re going dressed like that?”

As the Duchess of Windsor once told US Harper’s Bazaar: “The length of a skirt does help separate age groups; older women simply cannot wear very short skirts. The whole figure - ending up with the face - must ‘go’ with the exposed knee.”

Alas, mine no longer “went” with the Chloé skirt. I had to face facts; I had to go shopping for new skirt options.

By happy accident Fashionland is now abuzz with talk of “the new long” – be it Alexander Wang’s bias-cut satin worn with a T-shirt to make it cool, or hot UK label Alessandra Rich – high necks plus long skirts = AMAZING. Gucci’s flow-y chiffon nod to the 70s is not for me, but Forte Forte’s elegantly draped sand-coloured georgette has my name on it. ALL HAIL THE NEW LONG!

Lovely long looks by Alessandra Rich.

www.alessandrarich.com

My Christmas In Pictures...

2011-12-26T22:39:00.000-08:00

Cookies baked by Madeleine

Beautiful fragrant pine tree

Most fab ever giant wreath from Seasonal Concepts

Owl-ness

Sparkle-ness

Roses from Mr. Press (merci)

Mr & Mrs Press? Er no, two reindeer. But if we were reindeer, this would be us. Clearly.

A rabbit with a bauble, of course

Decorating

Anna Dello Russo's Advent Calendar

2011-12-21T00:32:00.000-08:00

Every night on the way home I drive past this row of amazing Paddington terrace houses, each with an extravagant wreath on the front door. It's like one family did it, then another thought, "Hey, I can do better! Beat this!" and on it went until the last one is palest peach paper feathers worthy of a fashion show. It's crazy competitive Christmas wreath action gone mad! I kid you not. Keep meaning to take pics, but keep getting too busy. CHRISTMAS IS COMING LIKE A FREIGHT TRAIN! Time is running out my friends, come to my shop and buy yourself some stocking filler soap, quick smart!

In the meantime, trust my favourite Vogue style icon Anna Dello Russo to make her own super-cal-fashion-listic advent calendar. I love you Anna!

http://www.annadellorusso.com/

SARAH JESSICA PARKER, IRIS APFEL & LOOKING YOUR AGE

2011-12-12T22:57:00.000-08:00

I just saw the movie, I Don't Know How She Does It, and my friend ways saying afterwards how she'd clocked Sarah Jessica Parker when she was here for Oakes Day: “Her outfit was great, but I find it so depressing to watch her aging in front of us. She just looks so old…” Say what? Old? She is precisely ten years older than my friend. SJP looks fabulous, and I’d say she looks her age, which is 46.

What she doesn’t look is oddly frozen in time thanks to a face full of dermal fillers – I’m not saying she doesn’t have them, because I don’t know, but whatever her beauty routine, it’s not one hell-bent on turning back time, Cher-style. Not one that makes her look like a creepy, waxen, wrinkle-free surgery addict poised forever in her mid-20s.

And yet because that’s a pretty reasonable description of so many Hollywood leading ladies and TV stars these days, turns out it’s SJP who’s the one who looks unusual. The more we see something, the more normalized it becomes. And right now we’re riding the crest of the “youth = beauty” wave that’s been building for the past 10 years. We’ve seen so many artfully frozen faces we’ve forgotten what a natural one looks like. I think this wave might be about to break. I hope it is, not least because I’m no spring chicken myself; what I am is too chicken and conflicted to sign up for surgery myself. I also find it depressing to judge beauty and glamour by smooth skin alone. In August, actors Kate Winslet, Rachel Weisz and Emma Thompson gave a press conference in the UK about their newly formed Anti Cosmetic Surgery League, which saw Winslet, 35, proclaiming: “I will never give in!”

So will you? Will I? I reckon it’s pretty hard to say. I kind of like the idea of looking my age, because my age correlates with personal history, my wisdom, my experience. I kind of like it, but then there’s the other bit of me that says, That’s fine in theory, but you’re only 35! What are you going to feel like at 45? At 55? And who are you to come over all judgemental about a woman’s right to look her best, and do whatever she damn well likes to make that happen? No-one really relishes wrinkles any ore than they do grey hairs. I admit that I obsess over the latter. In theory, I’m cheering the Iris Apfel approach – grey and great and utterly fashion fabulous? Bring it on! In practice, I’m at the salon every month bleaching it blonde.

Apfel shot for The New York Times

So like I said, it’s complicated.

On my pinboard, I have cutting of a fabulous story written by British Vogue editor Alexandra Schulman for UK newspaper The Daily Mail a couple of years back. In it she reveals her reasons for personally rejecting cosmetic surgery despite working in an industry that drives it. She writes: “We want to look younger because we remember youthful vigour. We want to be sexually attractive, we fear our bosses might think we are getting past it, and, basically, we don't want to be old and physically decaying. But while we want to look younger, we are emphatically not going to get any younger. And while we can a do a great deal about the kind of clothes we wear, and the food we eat, and the holidays we take, and the colour we paint our bathroom, we can't do a damn thing about the fact that we are going to get older.” So Schulman says she’d rather spend her downtime doing something useful- learning a language, reading a French novel – than injecting expensive goop into her face in a doomed bid to win a battle that, ultimately, cannot be won. Doesn’t that just make marvellous sense? I wonder if SJP read it? Whatever. I think she looks bloody brilliant.

CATS LIKE CHRISTMAS TOO

2011-12-09T23:47:00.000-08:00

Our Cat Mamma loves Christmas. She nests in the tree when we're not looking like a weird chicken. If Mamma were a woman rather than a cat-chook, I reckon she'd look like this fabulously festive 50s model....

This isn't Mamma, but a cat off the internet. She will have to suffice until next week. We're getting our tree tomorrow and you can bet I'll have a snap of the Chicken in situ before next weekend.

In the meantime, is it not very funny indeed that this black beauty from The Catorialist website looks like the cat version of my book?....

SEPARATED AT BIRTH...

Meow.

Happy weekend. x

TWO-TONE TERRIFIC

2011-12-07T23:59:00.000-08:00

So today, for the first time, seriously, ever, someone told me my hair looked "amazing" Hurrah! Double hurrah! Fact is, I went to have my roots bleached yesterday at the fabulous Suki in Paddington, and was told be careful of the old stick-a-sleek-high-pony-in-the-same-spot-every-day, because you will break these poor bleached stressed-out strands in a nanosecond. Whoah Suki! Be kind! So...today I wore my extra-marbled super-long (seriously it's to my waist) blonde hair in a wild, messy low side bunch, with the dark caramel underneath bits on show and the very white-blonde top bits on show, and it looked, though I say so myself, kinda fabulous. I have always loved my two-tone hair, so why do I hide it? Hello? I'm letting it flow this week. Rapunzel, Rapunzel...

More two-tone marble heads for inspiration:

SJP, like mine but upside-down, with dark on top

Nicole, actually a lot like mine but with a fringe & mine's more white-blonde than gold

Okay so I wish I was Lily Aldridge. Who doesn't?

Fern Cotton + Me. Sisters

Drew doing the Two


Gaga! I am HATING the bandwagon pink thing right now, but love this kooky canary 'do

OBSESSION: Mulberry autumn/winter 2011/12 campaign video by Tim Walker

2011-12-06T16:56:00.000-08:00

ANGRY BIRDS DAY

2011-12-04T16:24:00.000-08:00

I'M HAVING AN ANGRY BIRDS KIND OF DAY. And it's only just gone 11am. Yikes. Honestly, sometimes I think if I don't get some time to myself I will explode. Or implode. Or like those naughty rogue i-Phone4s, spontaneously combust.
I do hold graciousness very dear, plus I've just written a book about being gracious and elegant and delightful as possible at all times. So it's really super bad to be grumping and harrumphing about the place, simply because someone calls or comes by to collect something or drop something off. But this morning I am literally blowing dragon-like smoke out of my nostrils so stroppy and tired and desperate for a holiday am I.
I am dreaming so hard of an entire day spent sipping cups of herbal tea lolling in a swing seat surrounded by lupins and hollyhocks and a gentle but-not-too-cold-please breeze that I can almost taste it. Except not quite because I have to struggle with a load of dumb-ass tangled hangers that insist on falling on the floor and catching silks and thumbing their hanger-y noses up at me. And I have to do the banking, and write at least three overdue stories and take the hem up on a silver gown. And I have to sweep the shop because I'm on my own today. And I have to answer the phone at least seven times to tell some poor bugger in India that I don't want a new phone provider. Thank you, though, Thank you so much for thinking of me.
There is a scene I always remember in The September Issue where Nuclear Wintour (who is actually kind of warm in this movie, and in fact has been getting warmer ever since; the editorial ice caps are melting) says the reason she will stop being the boss, if in fact she ever does, will most likely be the same reason her father stopped being a journo: THE ANGER. "He got very angry. I do see that tendency in myself. Perhaps, when I start getting too angry, it might be time to give up.”
Well I'm not quite ready to give up, but I might just throw my phone.

FEELING BLUE? BEAUTIFUL HYDRANGEAS IN A ROSE PRINT JUG. HAPPY FRIDAY XXX

2011-12-01T23:22:00.000-08:00

Mrs Press in Mx

2011-11-30T18:08:00.000-08:00

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...

2011-11-29T23:54:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-28T04:05:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-25T23:10:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-23T16:47:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-20T14:52:00.000-08:00

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

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS POUR MOI!

2011-11-13T23:50:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-10T22:59:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-06T20:00:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-05T18:48:00.000-07:00

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

2011-11-02T01:20:00.000-07:00

BRILLIANT BILL CUNNINGMAN

2011-10-30T23:27:00.000-07:00

Goodness Richard Press's doco about the irrepressible octogenarian NYT street snapper Bill Cunningham is good. So good in fact that I haven't stopped thinking about it since I watched it at the Verona in Sydney's Paddington on Saturday.

Why? The characters that Cunningham photographs are fabulous and fascinating - from Anna Piaggi to Iris Apfel to OTT milliner Patrick McDonald - but then so is his own.

Anna Piaggi

It's almost unbelievable how entirely without ego Cunningham is. We are left wondering what exactly led him to live this life of contrasts - between his monastic personal life, sleeping in what's essentially a tiny office filled with filing cabinets of his negatives, caring not a jot for fancy clothes or food, cycling up and down town from event to event all in pursuits of his grand passion THE CLOTHES - and the razzle dazzle of the fashion world.

Iris Apfel & Bill

There's a fab scene in which the paparazzi flock to snap Catherine Deneuve as she alights from a car outside a show in Paris. Cunningham ignores her. "They ask me, why not photograph Catherine? Well, she wasn't wearing anything interesting," he says, or words to that effect. Cunningham is not interested in celebrity - he is interested only in the art of fashion.

A true original and - when you think about the street snapping phenomenon that's been gripping fashion land and the blogosphere for the past few years, it's all nothing on this. The original - the source. Go Bill!

A Cunningham shot from his NYT page

Hat man Patrick McDonald

A still of Apfel from the movie

STOP THE WORLD I WANT TO GET OFF

2011-10-28T00:27:00.000-07:00

Whether it’s just me getting old or whether in fact the pace of life has quickened exponentially, it does seem that trends swoop in and out so terribly fast these days. You have to be extremely dedicated to stay on top of what’s in and out, and who the latest muse of the moment might be (androgynous rock chick or Stepford wife? And that’s in the same season!).

All this is partly to do with the sheer number of collections, what with the swelling ranks at fashion weeks and the addition of pre-collections and Cruise. Add to that the likes of Burberry and Louis Vuitton live-streaming their shows and you get craziness squared. We’re all desperate to press fast-forward to get our mitts on the next, newest bit of catwalk kit way earlier than we used to be. But fast-forward means time sped up. Sometimes it feels right to slow it down.

Just ask Marc Jacobs. His S/S'12 collection for Louis Vuittion was almost balletic in its slow grace. His models perched elegantly on a ice-white carousel spinning ever so slowly, their candy-coloured crocodile handbags swinging as they stepped so prettily on and off. The whole thing screamed “Walk, don’t run.” Or it would have if it wasn’t whispering and taking its sweet, elegant time.

“Elegance is refusal.” That, of course, is a famous quote by Diana Vreeland, which in fact I think she appropriated from Chanel, but she made it her own adding an explanatory prefix: “elegance is innate. It has nothing to do with being well dressed” and dusting the whole in that uber glamorous magic that gave her style edicts such staying power. Anyway, it’s marvellous isn’t it? And so true! This idea that to be elegant you must not be too much. Being de trop rather cancels out the concept of being elegant. You can’t YELL elegance. You must WHISPER it. And I don’t reckon you can fast-forward elegance. You need to savour it, let it percolate. So slow down ladies. For a second at least.

Slow stuff I’m into:

1. A stroll through the park

2. Taking the train overland from somewhere or other to Istambul

3. Reading, and savouring, a chapter at a time each night before bed

4. Writing and posting letters

5. Dinner parties with 5 courses, and lots of lovely drinks beforehand

6. Ageing (sorry, couldn’t resist. But if there is a recipe for slowing this shit down, kindly pass it on)

7. Lolling in bed for breakfast

8. Lolling on the beach under a ginormous umbrella

9. Lolling on your back in the pool

10. Lolling in general

La-di-da on a shoestring anyone?

2011-10-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

Last night I launched my new book The Dressing Table, and it was a dream come true. I've been fantasizing about just such an occasion since I was about 12; Where would my book launch be? Who would come? What would I wear? What would they wear? What would I say? What would we drink? Would there be balloons? (Surely!) Very soon I will post pics, but in the meantime: this is a cute mini extract from the book that ran in The Examiner alongside a story about the Queen's visit. How to be posh! On the cheap! Funny.

THIS JUST IN...Lovely piece from Polkadotbride.com

2011-10-23T18:06:00.000-07:00

What Would They Know? Clare Press of Mrs Press

by Polka Dot Bride

With the launch of her new bridesmaid collection under her label Mrs Press and her ever growing passion for all things vintage, feminine and stylish, Clare Press has a soft spot in my heart! So I am delighted to have Clare join us today on Polka Dot Wisdom sharing the thoughts behind her very successful label.
Would you tell us a little about yourself? Were you always a creative person, even when growing up?
I was always writing. I used to start these epic novels, and get about half way through before moving onto the next one. I was about 11! Writing is in my bones, my soul. I still write as well as design. I write the Ask Mrs. Press column for Instyle magazine, and my new book, The Dressing Table (Lantern, $45) comes out on October 31^st.
I started my career in magazines – I was at Australian Vogue for five years – and it was through writing about fashion that I started to dream about designing it.

How did you become interested in fashion design?
I have always loved clothes and style, always had an eye on the runway and on vintage pieces. My mother bought me my first very old dress when I was about 14 – a homemade 1920s dress made from intricate panels of crepe de chine. I have taught myself about patterns by looking at vintage dresses, trying to figure out how they were sewn. I unpicked a lot of old dresses from markets and eBay to study them. I still do it.
What inspired you decide to pursue this creative endeavour, rather than pursue a more ‘conventional’ career?
Goodness knows! Sometimes I think I am completely crazy. I used to have salary and holidays! Running your own business is very hard. But it’s also rewarding to be your own boss.
Do you have a mentor?
I have several. I am enormously inspired by my fashion friends Jenny Kee, Fleur Wood and Fernando Frisoni. I’ve just stared working with a new business mentor who used to be at Victoria’s Secret.

Do you have a ‘design philosophy’?
Elegance.
How do you keep on learning? What keeps you ‘fresh’ and wanting to go to work every day?
My customers. When you are having a rubbish day, say it’s raining and you have bills to pay, or your hair looks bad or whatever it is, someone will come into the store and say how beautiful it is and that keeps you going. I get super-excited when people react positively to my work. Plus I really adore fashion, and this world I have created. It’s inspiring. I am surrounded by beautiful things. I suspect that’s what we all dream of.
What was the catalyst for creating a bridesmaids’ range?
The idea grew out of demand – we had so many girls come to our Paddington, Sydney store asking us to custom-make. The new collection allows this, you can choose variations on styles (for example longer skirts, caps sleeves, bow details etc) as well as fabrics and colours. Prices start from $475 and go up to $850.

What do you love about creating these pieces for bridesmaids?
I’m a romantic! I started my label after I customised my wedding dress out of a vintage piece. And I love, love, love the concept of surrounding yourself with you best girlfriends and sisters, cousins etc. on your wedding day and getting gloriously dressed up!
How do you see the bride using your dresses?
The idea of the new collection is that you choose from our basic shapes and then add your own take on it. Typically you can book an appointment to see me and we will take you through the samples and show you fabric swatches and we can discuss the details. I want to start serving high tea, and making it a treat you can share with your maids. But so far we’ve been so busy we haven’t gotten round to that yet! It’s really taken off. We now have a wait list for next year.
What style of wedding would they best suit?
I don’t think of it that way. I think for us it’s more about people liking our aesthetic. We’ve made dresses for bridesmaids at garden weddings, beach weddings, great big weddings, small ones. One of my customers bought our ‘Sophie’ silk faille dress in black and wore it with little ankle boots to her registry office wedding – she’s a rock star! If you love Mrs. Press, and you are getting married, now you can come to us for your bridesmaids too. It’s personal. It’s what you make it.
Do your designs suit most figure types?
Yes, the idea of the collection is to provide different shapes that suit different girls, moods and body types. The tulle ‘Lola’ dress for example is good for skinny girls who want something frivolous and festive; the beautiful draped neckline on the ‘Sophie’ style is great for bigger busts; ‘Michelle’ is very glamorous and would work for black tie weddings, and the ‘Jean’ dress is super flattering for pretty much everyone! You can also customize your skirt lengths, add or take away sleeves.

Can bridesmaids choose your bridesmaids dresses off the rack, or do you only make them to order?
We make to order. That said, there are dresses we have in our ready-to-wear collections that would work well for bridesmaids. If we don’t have enough in stock in the right sizes, we can always make them. It’s about being responsive – because we are small and our studios are above our store, we can do that.
Can bridesmaids order your dresses from your online store (by supplying you with their measurements for example) if they can’t get to any of your stores or stockists?
Absolutely. We can easily send out fabric swatches and make dresses to order in standard sizes. All you need if you are not in Sydney is access to a local seamstress for minor fit alterations.

Thanks for joining us this Monday, Clare! Check out the Mrs Press website for more information on the Mrs Press brand.

THANK YOU MS POLKDA DOT

TOMBOLA TIME!

2011-10-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

I have 2 copies of my new book to give away. So I am going to get a big old hat & put names in and ask a boutique customer to rummage about and drawn them. Village fate style! Yay! Next Friday. Fun!

To be in it? Follow @mrspress on Twitter, follow this blog, or "like" Mrs Press on Facebook this week. Or do all three. Go on, you know you want to!

JUST BECAUSE

2011-10-19T23:20:00.000-07:00

Sometimes life can be very nice, can't it? A friend, who is in my new book, popped by to say hello. She'd been in NY on holidays and, there, caught the Daphne Guinness exhibition at the FIT. Jealous? Just a bit. Only now I don't have to be because she bought me the wonderful book of the show. It came wrapped in ribbons with a homemade gift tag, and an amazing vintage 1950s polished cotton curtain. Because my friend knows I love fabrics, and basically just because.

SMART BEAUTY

2011-10-18T23:58:00.000-07:00

When Ines de la Fressange was asked by one of my favourite online magazines, Nowness (www.nowness.com) What piece in your closet means the most to you?
She said:
"None: clothes are made to disappear. They lose their magic with time, and one shouldn’t treat any object with devotion—which doesn't mean that you don't appreciate quality, beauty, rarity, refinement and talent."
It's not my view (I'm a hoarder) but isn't that the best quote? Ines = AH-MAZE. Here she is on the cover of French Elle last year.

PARTIES ON MY MIND

2011-10-17T00:45:00.000-07:00

Cecil Beaton's classic shot is my all-time fave inspiration. Gown up!!

So why am I in the party mood? #1 Because it's rolling on summer. #2 Because I just went to the 90th birthday bash of one of my favouite men in the world (my grandfather-in-law). 90! And it was rocking. #3 Because I'm about to launch my book, The Dressing Table, in which there is an entire chapter about parties, and for which I will be throwing one. Or two. In fact as many as I can get away with.
Herewith, classic party dressing inspiration:

Invite fun guests...

Grayson Perry, Serpentine

Marchesa Luisa Casati lighting up 1920s Venice

Giddy up Bianca

Dress to the nines...


Daphne Guinness at the McQueen launch at the Met

Don't forget your furry guests might wish to dress up too...

Norman Parkinson's ultra chic take

Speed Date With...Eden from Lovers Electric

2011-10-14T19:05:00.000-07:00

Lovers Electric is ...

"Eden Boucher & David Turley, pop duo from Adelaide, London & currently Berlin. We also have a mascot 'The Bandit', he's quite a mystery."

We sing about...

"Hmmm.... you'll need to figure that out, as we even have different opinions in the band about what song means what. I'd like to hope whatever the topic is, people find it inspiring."

In my dreams I am wearing...

"Well, to be honest I'm usually naked in my dreams (not sure what that means!). But quite often it's also elaborate ball gowns too, like in Gone With the Wind."

And something from your new collection? You make the dresses yourself, right?

"I've always made my own clothes. Now I've designed styles for sale through my website (www.edenhoneydew.com). I make them all myself currently, so they are a very limited edition as I put alot of love in. But it's actually kind of nice to sew again... in such a computer driven world it's great to use my hands."

A dress I can't live without...

"At the moment I have a retro 70s fluorescent day dress I love wearing, and teaming it with a bright cardigan, it's definitely something that makes it safe to walk around at night!"

My first fashion love was...

"Unfortunately I grew up in the 90s, so I'd have to say crochet, anything crochet. I always dreamed of a crocheted wedding dress, I'm glad I changed my mind..."

I love to shop at...
"Obscure vintage stores. I change cities so much at the moment I find it hard to find a shop and stick to it. But London is a great place for buying clothes, really love it."

My style icons are..."Audrey Hepburn... and ah so many older actresses, so classy and sexy retaining all the mystery."

The fashion magazine I am reading right now is...

"Some trashy magazine in the airport, pretending I wasn't... "

To me, style means...

"Imagination and confidence."

Lovers Electric's new album, Impossible Dreams, is out now.

www.loverselectric.com

Gratuitous Picture of Me, by Excellent Snapper Luisa Brimble

2011-10-12T00:28:00.000-07:00

I don't generally post pics of myself on this here blog but when a portrait is a fab as this one by Luisa Brimble, I feel justified. A bit. I just never like myself much in photos but in this one, I do. Luisa was making me laugh and her cute-as-a-button baby daughter Poppy was in on it too.
What if I said what I was wearing?! Would that make it more worthy of a post?
Clare wears vintage 1920s ostrich feather boas and Mrs Press dress.

Thank you Luisa x

NOT-SO-SECRET ONLINE SALE....

2011-10-11T01:13:00.000-07:00

If you came round to my house and snuck a look in my closets, you'd get quite a shock. "Whoaa lady!" you'd say. "That is too many camisoles for one girl!" But you know what I'd say? I'd say: YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY CAMISOLES!

mrspress.com

GARDENING

2011-10-06T01:23:00.000-07:00

So I've been dreaming about gardening recently. I think for its potentially soothing qualities. I have always loved the idea of roaming around my Capability Brown grounds in trailing chiffon with a flat basket to collect my peonies in. Which is probably why I've never gotten round to greening my thumb. Grounds?! As if! I'd be lucky to manage a window box. So how about, to use a very silly PR term I was fed the other day, I "manage my expectations"? News reader most marvellous Indira Naidoo's new book is about cultivating mini veggie gardens on balconies. And these kitsch cuties (a deer planter? fabulous!) are from ace new Sydney design store, Follow in Surry Hills. Here's hoping I don't kill my tomatoes first go.

KANYE & CHRISTINE

2011-10-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

Harper's Bazaar Australia's fashion editor Christine Centenera has been consulting for the maestro and we've all been dying to see the results. Well, the show on Sunday night revealed a deft hand. While Style.com's Tim Blanks was snooty - "It's kind of a cheap shot to go the trying-too-hard route with someone who is so undoubtedly passionate about what he is doing, but at the same time, it's frustrating that someone who seems to almost effortlessly realize his vaulting musical ambitions comes up short elsewhere, at least on the first attempt." - but I think it looks fantastic. How about you?
Images Style.com

AMANDA AUSTIN FOR FALLEN MAGAZINE

2011-09-26T01:05:00.000-07:00

Just found this stunning story styled by Emily Yee for Fallen magazine issue #8. For sure my favourite shot ever of our lace body suit. Thank you Emily. x

HAT INSPIRATION

2011-09-25T19:33:00.000-07:00

Now I don't want to go dying on a beach covered in fake tan and arousing the suspicions of Hercule Poirot. But I certainly do want a hat like this crazy red number worn by Diana Rigg's character in the 1981 film version of Agatha Christie's Evil Under the Sun, don't you? In fact all Ms Rigg's headgear in the movie is lust-worthy. Just don't get me started on Poirot/Peter Ustinov's swimming get up - he looks like a demented baker.

2011-09-23T01:23:00.000-07:00

This morning getting coffee I was transfixed by this couple dressed very carefully-carelessly unlike anyone else. Well okay unlike anyone else since Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. She was long and lanky with paper-white gazelle legs, heavy long hair the colour of corn with a centre part. Her dress was a vintage crushed turquoise velvet baby doll with long sleeves and so many holes it had a Mark Fast kind of appeal, held together at the side with saftey pins.

She wore tan sandals that looked like my Chloe ones but weren't and she'd painted her lips an incongruous poppy pink. Her pale arms were intertwined with the wool clad ones of her beau, a neo-Dylaner, with a great puff of frizzy beard and a wild mop of hair to match. Even though the sun was pelting down on us, he looked pretty comfy in his three-piece suit. His boots were great clompy leather lace ups just right for hitching down Route 66. They were gooey-eyed over one another and didn't notice me staring but I did stare, because I loved how they seemed so comfortable in their gear, and how that gear really made them stand out. That gear required some major self belief, and I guess subsrcription to a scene that's passing most of us by, but mainly the major self belief.

I went to the park to drink my coffee and there another couple strolled past me. She was wearing opshop brown suede high heels and a strange sundress and red lippy and a man's black fedora. He too was in a mothy-looking suit, with a skinny western string tie like the ones Gram Parsons used to wear. What was happening? Where did all these kooks come from? Were they with the band? Were they the band? It didn't matter.

What mattered was how alive they looked and how marvellous and how free. But also how purposeful. And it got me thinking about self belief and how intrinsic it is to personal style. You really do need a good dose of it to carry off something extraordinary it the get-up department. Without it you just dress like everyone else, or dress to fit in, or to be invisible, or dress like you don't mean it.

So you see self belief is a fantastic thing. And remembering this gave me a bit of mine back.

EXTREME CUTENESS ALERT...

2011-09-20T16:35:00.000-07:00

This little girl loved Kimbra's Mrs Press dress so much she told her mamma she was going to ask Kimbra to give it to her at Splendor. So her mamma made her a copy!!!!!!!

Sunday Magazine cover...Zoe Ventoura in our yellow silk "Nancy" dress, woo hoo!

2011-09-17T20:29:00.000-07:00

Want one? This baby is made to order. Email us on shop@mrspress.com to place. $770 available in sunset yellow, coral, black or cream. xxx

Something to Smile About

2011-09-16T01:46:00.000-07:00

Lovely to see Ruby-Jean Wilson from Priscilla's walk the Marchesa runway, okay axeminster, in NYC last week. Isn't she super-beautiful? Not much of a smiler though. But really who cares? Why smile when you look this fabbo straight-faced. RG pulls off hot-grump better than anyone, I reckon. The 3rd pic is Ruby-Jean in our installation show a couple of years ago. It was one of her first jobs. I am loving how she carries that second Marchesa confection of tulle. Divine. Look at those collar bones! She is destined for big things.

OH MY GOD IS THIS NOT THE BEST DRESS FOR A CAT PERSON YOU HAVE EVER SEEN???

2011-09-14T00:46:00.000-07:00

It's Victoria by Victoria Beckham SS'12, and (relatively) cheap as well as seriously cheerful...

Meooooow

My Cat Mamma is going for it

SUNDAY LIFE STYLE QUEENS STORY

2011-09-11T23:41:00.000-07:00

In case you didn't catch my story in this weekend's Sunday Life (photographs by Chris Colls), here it is:

"Fashion fades, style is eternal." This oft-quoted sound bite from the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent has never rung truer. We live in the age of the rapid-fire trend, with designers at leading houses churning out more and more collections each year. According to British Vogue, John Galliano, the scandal-beset former creative director of Dior, was producing 32 ranges a year before his contract abruptly came to a halt (after an anti-Semitic tirade in a Paris cafe). With so much fashion, so fast, style becomes more important than ever. For style, although slippery to define, is different from simply wearing what is "in fashion".
Style is the way we put our outfits together, but it's also the way we hold ourselves, the way we deal with others, the way we talk, walk, dance, fight. Those who possess style exude personal flair, panache, that certain je ne sais quoi. Or to quote another famed couturier, Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel: "Fashion is not simply a matter of clothes; fashion is in the air, borne upon the wind; one intuits it ... it comes from ideas, manners, events."
While we might struggle to define it, we certainly know style when we see it. It could be the red lip on a groomed-to-the-hilt Lauren Bacall lookalike, the jaunty tilt of a fedora, or a scarf knotted just so. Some people have style so abundant that it fairly shines out of them; they could wear an Australia Post sack and get away with it. And yet style is not beauty. Indeed some first-class style mavens aren't conventionally beautiful at all – the famed US fashion editor Diana Vreeland had more style in her little finger than the much prettier models she worked with on her photo shoots.

I interviewed four Australian fashion players, with very different personal aesthetics, about what style means to them, and why it is worth celebrating. Clockwise from top: Eva Galambos, Kym Ellery, Zanita Whittington, Terry Schwamberg.

Read the interviews here: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/flair-over-fashion-20110912-1k4z6.html#ixzz1XialNnho

FLOWER POWER, BECAUSE SPRING HAS SPRUNG

2011-09-11T23:25:00.000-07:00

Cliche overload? So what. This picture has been my screensaver for ages and now I've forgotten where I found it. It's so inspiring.

It's by London-based photographer Natalie Watts. Check out more of her beautiful work here:
http://www.nataliejwatts.com

FAIR ENOUGH

2011-09-09T20:01:00.000-07:00

I just worked out that you can buy limited edition prints of drawings by one of my favourite fashion illustrators Kelly Smith. My pick? Eliza from My Fair Lady in Cecil Beaton's iconic costume. Visit Kelly's Etsy store here http://www.etsy.com/listing/78003881/eliza-original-illustration
P.S Love the idea of Cecil matching his characters in that striped pullover.

MRS PRESS BY APPOINTMENT COLLECTION

2011-09-08T01:08:00.000-07:00

Sunny floral? Check. Ultra-flattering silk organza cap sleeve? Check. Nipped in waist? Perfectly formed pencil skirt? Check mate, ladies!
Our By Appointment Collection of very special dresses is made to order. Just the thing for bridesmaids, racewear and parties in general we say!

Full look book coming soon to www.mrspress.com
Email us for more info or to book your appointment. Shop@mrspress.com

Photographed by Luisa Brimble, model Bronte Cincotta, styling Clare Press, hair & makeup Dee Tran

THANK YOU...

2011-09-06T01:01:00.000-07:00

Two such modest little words really. But delightful aren't they? One of the best things you can do with "thank you" is to write it on a pretty card and post it - with a real stamp, snail mail style - to the person who deserves your gratitude. When I was a kid I hated writing thank you notes, but my mother made me. Snaps to mum! Because these days I am thank you note woman. Love to get them, love to send them.
So which ones to buy? This boxed postcard set of vintage advertisements for shops will do for starters. It comes from the State Library of New South Wales gift shop. Grab some quick.

SACKED IN

2011-09-02T01:27:00.000-07:00

What is it about women and handbags? Put 200 glamazons in a room, okay on the bloom-clad terrace of Government House at Kirribili, with 20 luxe leather objects of desire, artfully displayed on plinths festooned with blooms by fab artist James Gordon (he did the delicious invite too), to be auctioned off for charity and what do you get? A guilt-free excuse to outbid one another! Genius!

The lovely Ellie Aitken, Sophie Baker, Alina Barlow, Cindy Blencke, Kirsten Carriol, Kirsten Dale, Monica Saunders–Weinberg, Rachael Ruddick and Emma van Haandel put on this fab event on Thursday to raise money for The Sydney Children's Hospital. Style Me Romy shot a gorgeous magazine to showcase the bags by such luminaries as Chloe, DVF and Christian Louboutin. A beautiful idea and a beautiful day, all for a good cause too. Yay to that.

Yours truly and Cindy pretending Kirribili is our pad

Prada dress & Chloe bag styled by Romy

IT'S ME I'M CATHY...

2011-08-30T04:44:00.000-07:00

Why I'm With The Band. FASHION & MUSIC...

2011-08-30T04:26:00.000-07:00

...Used to be such a hit combination. Some of my major style idols are musos and their muses. So why am I left so cold by the get-ups seen at the Virgin Music Awards? I don't want to dress like Katy Perry with bad pink hair and a scary pastel cheogsam. I want to dress like ... well, these, my Top Ten Rockin' Style Icons of All Time.
To my left, queen of the Velvet Underground scene, #1 Nico...

#3 St Joan? Why not. Baez rocks

#2 Anita Pallenberg, in the Keith years

#4 Stevie! Stevie gotta love Stevie

Material Girl, #5 Mads of course

#6 Marianne...As tears go by...

#7 the only Kate that counts, Ms Bush

#8 Sweet Jane Birkin

# 9 Cher, once was wonderful

#10 Legend lady, Patti Smith

ASK MRS PRESS

2011-08-27T21:41:00.000-07:00

Question: I heard Jack White and Karen Elson threw a divorce party. Is this now acceptable?

Answer: This rock star-supermodel couple has always done things differently – the venue for their 2005 wedding was the Amazon jungle; the ceremony was conducted by a shaman priest in a canoe. News broke in June that they were celebrating their sixth anniversary by…getting a divorce. But they weren't going to let a little thing like that stand in the way of a good party. Friends were invited to a bash "to celebrate their upcoming divorce with a positive swing bang hum dinger" in Nashville. Drinking and dancing! Fun!

Although this was the first I'd heard of it, the divorce party is not a new concept. Laura Dave's novel, The Divorce Party (Penguin) came out in 2009 and the film version is currently in production with Jennifer Aniston's Echo Films. According to Wikipedia, Las Vegas is the divorce party capital of America. Who knew?!

Whether you think it's cool or cruel, it is certainly happening. The million-dollar question is how to navigate this potential minefield, either as a guest or as the hostess? The first thing you will need is tact. Even if the splitting couple remains the best of friends, and feels positive about a party to celebrate what has passed, tempers may fray. Social life plus heartbreak plus a few drinks is the fastest way I know to tears. So tread carefully. If you're a guest, watch what you say. Avoid making statements such as "I never did like the two of you together". If you're the host, summons all your grace, charm and restraint – you've got your whole life ahead of you to flirt with new love interests.

Should guests bring gifts? Ask first. If in doubt, opt for a simple treat designed to lift the spirits – a facial at your favourite spa for the bride-not-to-be; a bottle of wine for him. One of the best gifts you can give your friend is a shoulder to cry on, and the genuine offer to be there when they need you. I think you can leave the toasters for the next wedding.

QUICK TIPS
Dress code: Black!
Plus ones: Providing you check first, why not? I doubt it's a sit-down dinner.
Gifts: Please tell me there's no present table
Photography: Best avoided

Send your questions to instyle@pacificmags.com.au.

THE 'D' WORD

2011-08-25T01:04:00.000-07:00

There is a scene in Grey Gardens, the HBO movie about Jackie Kennedy’s eccentric Beale cousins, in which Drew Barrymore, who is utterly fabulous as Little Edie, faces off the sanitation police, who’ve been sent to inspect the squalor of the Beale’s once-grand Hamptons pad.

“We have our warrant, Miss Beale. We’re coming in!” calls the law, intent on evicting if not the bonkers mother and daughter at least their resident menagerie of cats and racoons.

“Just you wait a minute!” calls Little Edie. “I’ll be down as soon as I put my lipstick on.”

Because in the face of a challenge you want to look your best. Like Edie Beale, Ginette Spanier knew that looking one’s best is directly related to feeling confident and strong.

Spanier, who was Directrice of the Paris couture house of Balmain in the 1950s, was on the run in Nazi occupied France during WWII. Jewish with false papers, her memoirs tell of a daily fear of being arrested, but keeping up appearances was never far from her mind.

To cycle from Limoges to liberated Paris in 1944, she packed two special outfits donated by a friend “so that I wouldn’t look a mess when I greeted my first Englishman, my first American. At the time [the outfits] seemed the summit of luxury – a black silk town suit, in case they came in daytime. A flowery nightdress, in case they came at night. For months I dreamt of myself in one or other of these garments welcoming the Allies.”

In her book The Thoughtful Dresser, Linda Grant also writes of the importance in wartime of dressing up: “The famous poster of the ATS warden reapplying her lipstick in the blitz was one of the iconic images of the Second World War: it said that fashion and beauty transcended death and horror…Trying to put together a fashionable outfit and make up your face was part of the war effort.”

So I wonder why in easier times we so often let things slide on the fashion front, schlepping about in baggy track pants and old T-shirts. The obvious answer, the one I give when I show up to work in old black trousers that make me look like a Womble, is that there is not enough time to fritter it away on the pursuit of gorgeousness. And hello, I work in fashion!

The frenetic pace of life is such that by the time we’ve packed the kids’ lunches and taken the rubbish out there really aren’t enough minutes left to manicure our nails or hold up our stockings to the light to see if they are the exact right shade black to match our tulle skirt. I’m lucky if I can get out the door without cat hair all over my coat.

So what’s the obvious answer to that? It is of course the dreaded “D” word: discipline. We must make the time for style. There is no such thing as a free fashion lunch. As my ultra chic friend Sue Pritchard puts it: “I might not always feel like it, but I make the effort to look groomed – I always enjoy the results.”

As for me, I wear the Womble trousers because they are comfy and they are there on the shelf (or more often, the floor). And because they don’t look nice with anything I don’t have to think too much about the rest of my outfit, or at least only enough to accept that it will not be chic. How’s that for logic? Thus, the Womble trousers are easy. But since when was anything worth having easy to acquire? Looking stylish takes effort. But it comes with rewards. I think if I had to meet my first American, I’d pack my black silk suit, wouldn’t you?

IN THE PINK

2011-08-23T02:26:00.000-07:00

Pink dogs and cats! Surely not. But I do like the idea of matching accessories. I have this smashing pink rabbit fur; it'd be cute with matching pooch. Before you judge me, I'm only talking drab days, when the rain is threatening and my spirits are in the doldrums (great word, "doldrums"). So anyway, do not dye your pets pink! Unless you're Joan Collins. It's too cruel.

IT'S D.V ALL THE WAY FOR ME

2011-08-17T00:23:00.000-07:00

"Elegance is refusal," said Diana Vreeland.

She also said: "What do I think about the way most people dress? Most people are not something one thinks about," which as you may know as it was my Quote of the Week for about 10 weeks (lazy blogger, eek). Oh and "Pink is the navy blue of India."

DV was "too much".

Here, some inspiring pics of her to get you through this drizzly day.

THE SHOPS + FROCKS + THE LIBRARY + A DRINK = STUFF I LIKE...

2011-08-12T17:29:00.000-07:00

Therefore 'tis fabulous indeed to be talking on this pannel on Tuesday with SMH fashion ed Georgina Safe and Romance Was Born designer Anna Plunkett. Hope to see you there.

Unfashionable Times Indeed

2011-08-09T02:17:00.001-07:00

God, and I always thought London was a fashion capital. Reading about the half-witted thuggery gripping the UK I feel so disappointed. London's burning as "ordinary" people grab whatever they can get while a bunch of ridiculous disaffected halfwits in hoodies loot stores and chuck stuff. I would go so far as to say I am ashamed to be English. What has happened to this once great centre of culture and civilisation? I just watched some video footage and it made me cry. It strikes to the very heart of what it used to mean, to me anyway, to be English - a privileged, culture-rich upbringing, roots in a place defined by neighbourliness and the village bloody green, by fish and chips wrapped in newspaper, by Miss Marple and The Beatles, by mini skirts and Dickens and Vivienne Westwood and the Queen and getting excited come Christmas about the Boots catalogue. By London Fashion Week and To Sir With Love, by The Two Ronnies, and terriers and wellington boots and hacking jackets, by fondant fancies and soft rain and watching Coronation Street. Well now they're looting Boots!
It's so very sad, isn't it? That people with so much - because at the end of the day these numbskulls aren't begging on the streets of Calcutta are they? They're all wearing designer trainers - value it so little.

This from the Guardian website, about Clapham, where I once lived:

"Dozens of youths started the night's violence on Northcote Road at just after nine o'clock when they ransacked a Curry's electronic store in Northcote Road. They were joined by dozens of others, many with black hoods and scarves after a small number of riot police left the scene half an hour earlier when they came under light bombardment from projectiles.

Onlookers and locals identified many of those present as "blues, yellows and reds", members of local gangs who they said had called a truce for the evening. Along Northcote Road the windows of other stores in including Starbucks were smashed.

The gangs ran along the road and at one point a middle-aged man and his wife pointed in the direction of a jewellers further up the road and other potential targets.
Less than 30 metres away dozens of revellers stood outside a local pub drinking beer and looking on.
As it became apparent after 20 minutes of looting that the police were not coming back the looters were joined by many more."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/blog/2011/aug/08/london-riots-third-night-live

ASK MRS PRESS

2011-08-03T16:14:00.000-07:00

From my latest Instyle column, answering your style dilemmas!

Question: I seem to be always buying new clothes, but I never have a thing to wear! Any advice?

Answer: This is a common problem. We've all stared hopelessly into the depths of our wardrobes and wondered what on earth there is to wear in there. The best solution is a ruthless edit. If your closet is crammed, you can't see the Hollywood gowns for the tees.

Don't let a decent dress get lost behind lesser garments. De-clutter! Remove the rubbish they use as camouflage – those ancient work pants shiny from over-ironing; that coat with the hole in the back; the daggy dress with the print that's so 2006. Once they are gone, your good pieces will be easier to spot and work with.

V&A Publishing has just reprinted American designer Anne Fogarty's 1959 style guide, the quaintly titled A Well Dressed Wife. While her advice for getting a husband to buy you a mink seems pretty dated now, her words on culling an unwieldy wardrobe stand the test of time. Writes Fogarty: "Be relentless! Don't hang onto things that may someday come back into style, you think might look okay if you change your hairstyle…[or are] good enough for the rain or wearing round the house."

A small but carefully considered wardrobe gives you way more options than an overcrowded one. If you're stumbling over parting with an old fabric friend, remind yourself this: if you haven't worn it in a year, chances are you're not going to. So sell it, give it away or cut it up and use if for dusters.

Send your questions to instyle@pacificmags.com.au

DEVENDRA, VALI, MANIA MANIA & MEL

2011-07-27T21:49:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to see Devendra Banhart play and even though he's cut all his hair off, he was still dreamy and funny and fabulous. I saw Mania Mania designer Mel Kamlser there in a long wine-coloured velvet 1930s dress. She showed me her new ring. "The stone belonged to Vali," she said. She was talking about Vali Myers, the subject of a feature I wrote in the new issue of Harper's Bazaar Australia. What you think mostly when you hear about expatriate Australian artist Vali Myers is: what a character! And then you think: Where have all the characters gone?

It is tricky to categorise this painter, diarist, dancer, eccentric, animal magnet and vagabond muse, although she was all these things and more. Myers was one in a million back when that meant something, before everyone got so busy referencing hipster this and bohemian that without really meaning it. You want boho? Myers will give you boho! She spent three decades living in an Italian ravine with 30 dogs and a donkey. Her best friend of 14 years was a fox – a real one, which she carried over her shoulder like a living, breathing stole.

Vali is the inspiration behind Mania Mania's Reve collection. It's divine. Oh, and Devendra loves it too - Mel gave him a Mania Mania Lightening Bolt ring. I think Vali would approved.

Pics, above: Mania Mania's Tamila Purvis and (on the right) Mel Kamsler; Mel & Devendra, Devendra pre-chop. Pics, below: Vali and jewellery from the Reve collection.

www.maniamania.com

PUSHING 40S

2011-07-20T00:59:00.000-07:00

Am feeling all 40s. No, not like I'm pushing 40, you cheeky sods. I mean 1940s. How beautiful of the August Mrs. Hinze cover of UK Vogue? And YSL's giving us the film noir treatment. And as for Miu Miu - wooooo hoooo. I do so love a statement sleeve. You?

Pics: Etsy has the answers; Miu Miu; Vogue, Lauren Bacall; Miu Miu; YSL twice, Babe Paley; & Lauren again because she is double-brilliant

INSPIRATION FILES #24 GREAT GATSBY

2011-07-12T19:58:00.000-07:00

Oh, the highs and lows. I've always adored this novel, and its unparalleled evocation of 1920s glamour; the romance, the tea dresses, the whole idea of Daisy dancing in the moonlight on the beach. Thus I am A) gutted that the original house said to have inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald has been torn down (why, why, WHY let them? They are going to build five horrid modern houses on the land - cretins!) and B) thrilled that Catherine Martin is set on recreating the movie magic here in Sydney.
Bring on the flapper styling.

Pics: Grace Coddington's divine extravaganza pulled from The September Issue; Mrs. Press 'Gypsy' dress from S/S'11/'12; goodbye beautiful house.

FASHION'S NEW MOOD - SHORT WITH A TAIL?

2011-07-08T20:02:00.000-07:00

So there was I thinking Franca Sozzani had done more to encourage designers to embrace the idea of body diversity by designing delicious duds for the fuller figure, than anyone else in fashion. That's thanks to the recent cover of Italian Vogue celebrating curvacious beauties, including our own Aussie girl of the plus size moment, Robyn Lawley. Then along comes Marc Jacobs to turn all that on its head. Talk about changing the shape of things to come. He of the high octane glamour has turned his talents to custom creating a wardrobe for a voluptuous three-foot high fashion editor with a tail - Miss Piggy, who plays a Frogue editor in the upcoming Muppet Movie. Who says glamour must be six-foot tall with a skinny ass? Now what would you dress Miss Piggy in?

OBSESSED WITH...www.annadellorusso.com

2011-07-05T00:17:00.000-07:00

Clearly Anna Della Russo is a genius fashion icon marvel.
Her blog makes me laugh and sends my sartorial spirits soaring.
I stole these pics off it - in which she places her super-brilliant head on catwalk looks she likes ( I hope she doesn't mind this thievery - she shouldn't because I am her major fan). I don't know why all the pics are surrounded by bananas - but I know I love them. Is this not the stuff fabulosity is made of?? Be inspired.
Merci Anna

INTO THE TRENCHES

2011-06-24T17:34:00.000-07:00

I am sad that Columbo has died, because I used to watch that show when I was supposed to be studying in the middle of the day. And because, unlikely as it may sound, Peter Falk in his crumply trench coat with his wonky glass eye, spoke to me from a style perspective. I know, I know, weird man in a mack, what's fashion about that? But think about it...the trench is a style staple beloved of all sorts. It's not all splendid royals and Kate Moss in sleek Burberry lines. No, the mack is a great leveller. The queen wears one; my mum wears one. The guy at the corner shop wears one too. Some are very posh indeed; some come from Gap. Some of my faves, like Jane Birkin and Catherine Deneuve's iconic 60s Frenchy versions, are soft, and yes, close to Columbo's almost-duster-coat-like vibe. Rumpled chic!

The best mack story is a rumply one; it's about the writer Norman Mailer showing up to Truman Capote's Black & White Ball in trench coat in dire need of ironing only to have Womens Wear Daily write it up the next day. The shame! Or should that be fame?

I reckon most of the best stuff has a lived-in look. I'm sure Leonard Cohen's famous Blue Raincoat was creased like a bastard (pardon my French). Anyway, life's too short to iron. Goodbye Columbo. May your trench coat look live on.

OUR BIGGEST SAMPLE SALE EVER WITH CRAZY CHEAPNESS HAPPENING OFF CLEARANCE - COME & VISIT US THIS FRIDAY & SATURDAY IN SYDNEY!

2011-06-20T00:40:00.000-07:00

NEW ISSUE OF INSTYLE WITH BEAUTIFUL CATE

2011-06-15T20:44:00.000-07:00

Questions answered in my column this month? "I've wasted years waiting for change rooms - some people take so long! Is there an elegant way to complain?

"Is is it acceptable to sell unwanted gifts online?"

And...

"My friend is style stalking me. Can I tell her to stop?"

If you have a style etiquette conundrums, I'd love to hear from you. Comment on this post or email me - clare@mrspress.com

THE FUTURE IS HERE. NEARLY

2011-06-14T00:56:00.000-07:00

On Saturday at the Sydney Film Festival, I saw fab indie filmmaker Miranda July's latest, The Future, a kooky tale about inertia, mid-thirties angst and what happens when a sudden, uncharacteristic choice takes you away from everything you know.

The smart dialogue is what makes this film a joy - “We’re 35 now ... by the time the cat dies, we’ll be 40 ... and 40 might as well be 50 ... and after that, spare change” - that and July's oddities. I love her dancing. And her outfits. And how she wears peculiar geeky shorts with tiny singlets and has an old-fashioned face, like she's washed up in the wrong time and the wrong place. But best of all I love how this film is narrated by a cat. Even if that cat is sad. We only see his paw, which is injured. He is waiting for his new life to begin, when Sophie and Jason get their shit together and come and claim him. I won't give the end away but...poor kitty.

The Future will hit the regular cinema circuit sometime in the future. I guess.

FRIDAY MUSE ON MY MIND

2011-06-10T00:45:00.000-07:00

Glory be to Gloria, no? So enjoying reading book about the Vanderbilt clan. The strength of Alva, the high wattage socialite glam of Conseulo, but my fave's still Gloria. She of the jeans. She of the genes! Check out that pout...now that's what I call nuclear. And now she writes erotic fiction. At 80-odd! I adore her. Please, Gloria, won't you be my friend??
Happy Friday

P.S. Glo, you don't mind me calling you that, do you, not now that we are friends and all, but HELLO! are those sparklers on the T&C cover real? Eff me, I think they bloomin' well are. Sorry G, I swear like a sailor when I'm excited.
x

#TodayI'mWearing...

2011-06-09T01:35:00.000-07:00

I just had a bright idea! Hold your horses, I know they don't come too often. Okay so they do but generally all at the same time like buses. Anyway, back to my idea. I hate how everyone's always posting pics of themselves in hot labels looking model-y and tweeting #TodayI'mWearing @Chanel and @Burberry with...blah blah whatever...Because I know some of them actually are wearing said gear and most certainly look uber smashing while they're at it, I just really reckon some of them are not. That some of them are wearing an old t-shirt and a weird belt they can't remember the origins of. And so, for the merry month of June, I shall be tweeting each day exactly what I am wearing in all its mismatched vintage-y glory.I hope it will make you smile.

This pic is not of me in today's get up: gum boots and a weird old velvet dress with puffy sleeves in ode to Helena Bonham Carter (ze new face of Marc Jacobs, don't you know?) because I am on my own at work with no camera, but of some summer getup, to remind me that it doesn't always have to be this cold. ThatDayIWasWearing a very old kaftan given to me by Viva Vayspap, too much scary fuchsia lipstick and a plastic flower my hair, 70s-barmaid style. I may take pics of self tomorrow, if outfit is worthy.
A bientot, fashion fans xxx

2011-06-07T22:22:00.000-07:00

Last night we kicked up our heels at our good friend Eva Galambos's 10th birthday store bash. There was champers and cute food and Grandiflora butterflies and branches where once clothes were displayed. But best of all was the limited edition silk scarf Eva commissioned the fab Del Kathryn Barton (painter extraordinaire, Archibald winner, Romance Was Born collaborator) to create for charity. Proceeds go to Ian Thorpe Fountain for Youth initiative. Go Eva!
Get yours at www.parlourx.com.au

Pics: Eva Galambos in her Sydney store, Parlour X, still going strong 10 years on (from SMH); Samantha Harris models the scarf' Del Kathryn Barton's design.

FRIDAY MUSE ON MY MIND

2011-06-03T00:45:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's Natasha Khan of Bat For Lashes. I have been designing a coat today with her in mind. I interviewed her once for a magazine and we talked about wolves and birds; owls and peacocks. She looks kinda grumpy in these pictures, but I found her delightful and really funny. I love how she most always rocks an animal and a headband into her look...Style 101, fig.1 find your thing and stick to it.
Natasha is most marvellous methinks. You?

WIDE WORLD

2011-05-31T23:10:00.000-07:00

If you are in Sydney, you will have noticed it is unseasonably wet and glum right now (the coldest May in 41 years!). If you're in Europe, you probably don't believe me. But it's true! Bleeding freezing, I tell you. No sun and surf for us.
Anyway, creative genius to the rescue...the sight of Mary Katrantzou's glorious mini lampshade skirts for SS11 blew the clouds away for me - temporarily at least.

Volume rocks really doesn't it? Add wire, and you're away. I know it must have been crap to be strapped into an S-Bend corset with a bustle padding your arse, but it sure looked grand. And as for a giant crinoline? The bomb, no? I love Paul Poiret's revolutionary lampshade skirts of the 1910s (2nd and 3rd pic), and I even love the Studibaker Hawk wired taffeta prom dresses from the 80s. In fact, I've got one. But best of all must be Alexander McQueen's wooden fan dress, seen below in a shoot for US Vogue and currently part of the Savage Beauty show at the Met. Who cares if I can't get through a standard doorway in it? Pas moi!

SMART THINKING

2011-05-29T23:57:00.000-07:00

I spend a lot of time trying to explain why style is important, why it is possible to be a sensible person and still care what shoes you wear. Why the way we dress is important, why, as an extension of ourselves, it is powerful. Anyway, I jumped for joy when I read Alexandra Shulman's insightful words on this very subject for her ed's letter of the June issue of British Vogue. Shulman is by far my favourite Vogue editor, and her magazine is always full of new thinking and brilliantly written features, as well as magical pictures.

Here, she makes perfect sense of the reasons why skirt lengths and the season's hot new colours still matter when we are bombing Libya and there's a nuclear power station leaking in Japan. "It can seem, at times," she writes, "as if the task of putting together a fashion magazine might appear like Nero's proverbial fiddling while Rome burns.
"Yet when you look back through the past 95 years of British Vogue, you can see that fashion does not exist in a vacuum; like all culture, it grows out of the general mood and events of the time...
"Fashion is one of the great pleasures in life and it clear that, no matter how difficult the times, the urge, for many of us, to make the most of how we look is primal. You need only think of the elaborate jewellery and costumes among impoverished tribal peoples to see that fashion and style are not about money but a demonstration of self, a way of sending a message about who you are. It is this that will continue to drive fashion in the same way wonderful art and literature thrive in adversity.
"As countries struggle to right themselves in this period of extreme turmoil, I hope Vogue provides a welcome does of escapism and inspiration - while also being, like fashion, a product of the age."
Hear, hear!

RAMBLING ROSE

2011-05-27T01:29:00.000-07:00

If you haven’t heard of the wonderful, wacky Rose Cumming before, you’re about to: her niece Sarah Cecil, a New York-based designer, is working on a book with Architectural Digest’s Jeffrey Simpson about Cumming’s extraordinary talents, while US deign firm Dessin Fournir has launched a series of her classic designs, including her ‘Zebrine’ zebra print wallpaper.

Rose Cumming was one of three sisters born on a sheep station, each possessed of a hardy ambition and wanderlust which saw them up sticks and reinvent themselves in the US. They never returned to Australia, although they retained sentimental ties, organizing the annual Anzac Ball in New York during Wolrd War II.

“These three terrific young sisters got off the sheep ranch in Australia, came to America and made it in New York and Hollywood,” says Cecil. “My grandmother was an advertising whiz, the baby sister Dorrie was a silent film star.”

Rose fell in with the Manhattan fashion crowd of the roaring 20s, gadding about with the likes of Vanity Fair’s first editor Frank Crowninshield. It was he that suggested that Cumming translate her innate flair into a career in interior design. So the story goes, her response was to whoop, “What on earth is that?”

She soon learnt. “Rose pioneered ‘eclectic’ interiors,” says Cecil, who recalls a childhood spent in her aunt’s Upper East Side shop, a cluttered corner that attracted a starry clientele including Andy Warhol, Nureyev and Jackie Onassis. By the 1930s Cumming, garbed in exotic oriental robes, gowns by Worth and elaborate horse-hair brimmed hats by society milliner Adrian, was dressing rooms for the likes of the Duchess of Windsor. She had developed a fabric line, and was designing furniture, which she produced and sold out of her shop.

“Prior to Aunt Rose, Elsie DeWolfe was on that track, but Rose took it to another level,” says Cecil. “She had a dramatic sense of colour, often mixing colours like lavender and blue, which was new. Her rooms glowed and were filled with stunning antiques of diverse provenance, and yet there was a simplicity to them that makes them timeless.”

Perhaps, but in her own home simplicity often took a back seat in favour riotous experimentalism and a wild sense of fun. Her ‘Ugly Room’ was a style zoo lit by black candles and showcasing her more outlandish finds rejected by her clients: stuffed birds of prey, art works depicting animals in traps and an elaborate coil of serpents climbing around the fireplace.

The house and shop are now gone, but the Cummings legacy lives, on a macro level via the new thrill her work is causing in design circles, and on the micro, in Cecil’s house. “Her Audubon quatrepeds from the great “Ugly Room” climb the walls of my dining room, keeping company with the Russian child’s sleigh from her old dining room. Our cat sleeps in it.”

I wrote this for Vogue Living a while back but thought I'd share it here. I keep thinking about Rose lately for some reason. Isn't she fabulous?

FAN FUN

2011-05-23T23:12:00.000-07:00

I love a fan. I mean the pleated paper number, not the crazed one. Ho ho. Anyay, fabulous fan moments: Kaiser Karl peeping out from behind his signature fans back in the day. The coquettish splendour of the Chinese fan dance. Her hotness Scarlet Johansson in Lady Windermere's Fan.

The other night I was lucky enough to be a guest at the Chandon Supper Club event at Guillaume at Bennelong. I dined on scallops and fillet mignon and a whisper-light passion fruit souffle with the uber glamorous Elisabeth Drysdale and my new favourite woman Miss Chu. Anyway, at the end of all this feasting and boozing and carousing, we stepped out to the afterparty on the terrace in front of the opera house, with wonderful views and...fans. What a fab gift. So here's a gratuitous pic of me, avec said instrument of chic. Must get me a Louis Vuitton fan, me thinks.

Museworthy: PENELOPE TREE

2011-05-21T23:14:00.000-07:00

Today's chic challenge? To experiment with eyeliner & falsies so I look fashion-sad like Penny. Don't cry, baby. Just swoon...

POP-UP FABRIC FUN SUNDAY MAY 29!

2011-05-19T01:07:00.000-07:00

MRS PRESS S/S '11/'12 SHOW

2011-05-16T00:32:00.000-07:00

Mrs Press 'Pineapple Princess' from Alice Wesley-Smith on Vimeo.

ENEMY OF THE STYLE STATE

2011-05-13T19:16:00.000-07:00

The other day I caught Hitchcock’s Rear Window on the telly, which was fabulous for many reasons, not least the chance to
ogle Grace Kelly’s outfits. In one scene, she slips off a ladylike green jacket
with bracelet length sleeves to reveal a backless white halter-top and a sexy
expanse of Rivera-tanned skin. Then she nips into the kitchen to warm some brandy. Now that’s style to admire.

But it’s not all plane fashion sailing. The film’s final scene loses the
costume plot. The drama is over; the murderous neighbour has been caught,
and Grace’s character Lisa is at last able to relax at home with her man,
Jimmy Stewart (who, as wheelchair bound photographer L.B. Jeffries, spends
the whole picture in his striped pajamas). It is time to regroup, calm down,
or in contemporary parlance: chillax. But what to wear to do so? PJs, like our
Jimmy? Not Grace.

A peignoir perhaps? With a marabou trim? Or a couture evening gown, but with
her high heels kicked elegantly under the sofa? Grace/Lisa is reading a copy
of Harper’s Bazaar, which seems absolutely believable. She is reclining regally
in a window seat (believable too - for this was 1954 and within a year she
would be Her Serene Highness Princess Grace of Monaco). She is wearing a red
shirt and jeans. JEANS! Outrageous! Implausible! Frankly it’s just plain silly.

Now I know Grace is acting, and that as an actor it is her job to pretend, but
it all ended with me feeling rather duped. Grace would no more don denim than
she would burlap. Grace represents supreme chic – as denim is its sworn enemy.

Jeans can be many things: tough, rebellious, comfortable, the appropriate attire
for cowboys at rodeos, the favoured attire of middle-aged women doing the garden,
the dressed down choice of marketing managers and art directors. These days jeans
are ubiquitous, but they are not chic.

I know because I’ve tried every shape of jean known to womankind, and I’ve never looked like Grace in Rear Window. Jeans are evil. There, I’ve said it. Laugh!
Heckle! Write to complain. I don’t care. I speak the truth.

Boot cut jeans make me look like an escapee from a 1990s sitcom. Skinnies, like a
baby seal. Boyfriend jeans make me look like a sack of potatoes.
Or a potato farmer. Or, worst of all, a woman who has eaten too many potatoes, most of them smothered with mayonnaise, and now packing that most unwelcome accessory: the muffin top. Jeans are the enemy. And no amount of ironing them down the middle will render them a valid alternative to tailored pants.

Deep down we all know this, just as we known the calamity of stepping out with
frayed hems, or worse still paying extra for them. Those carefully distressed
designer jeans from Japan serve only one purpose: to make skateboarders laugh at
us in parks.

If you’re 18 with a hot body, go for your life. Cut off your denims and wear them
with a bikini top. Giggle at the mums squeezed into Sass and Bides and the dads trying to look cool in their slogan-strewn Ksubis. Enjoy it while it lasts. But
if you’re a grown up, perhaps it’s time to consider growing up, and buying a smart frock. Grace Kelly no more wore jeans than she washed up those brandy balloons when Hitchcock called “Cut!”

KEEPSAKES

2011-05-07T20:24:00.001-07:00

I just bought this de-lovely book, Keepsakes, by Frances Hansen (Hardie Grant). Frances is Fleur Wood's sister and this book grew out of the wedding present scrapbook Frances gave Fleur. It's inspiring and fab - full of handwritten notes and recipes passed down through the family. And look at their mum on her wedding day...doesn't she look divine? I'm off home to make their Hokey Pokey Biscuits.

RAfW HIGHLIGHTS

2011-05-06T01:05:00.000-07:00

Toni Maticeveski show = gorgeous.

AN EXTREMELY FABULOUS HAT (or two)

2011-05-03T15:50:00.000-07:00

The divine Suzy O'Rourke has been sharing our studio these past few weeks. She is extremely inspriring. The things she can do with a salad bowl! These lacy beauties are from her made-to-measure winter collection. AH-mazing.

Visit www.suzyorourke.com.au

MRS PRESS S/S '11'12 COLLECTION SHOW TODAY

2011-04-29T01:09:00.000-07:00

Jess Cove just sent me these super cute backstage shots...

WATCH THIS...

2011-04-23T22:00:00.001-07:00

Kimbra - Cameo Lover (Official Music Video) from Kimbra on Vimeo.

EXQUISITE INDEED

2011-04-21T20:50:00.001-07:00

I've been dipping in and out of Jessica Kerwin Jenkins's Encyclopedia of the Exquisite, An Anecdotal History of Elegant Delights (Doubleday), since my husband bought it for me a couple of
months ago - it's delicious in name and nature.

This morning, as I ate porridge with brown sugar - a leisurely breakfast for
once - I read Jessica's musings on the history of the glove. I love this
because I've just written a whole chapter about gloves for my new book - but
I knew barely any of the fabulous facts Jessica knows. That, for instance,
"striking a medieval knight with a glove was an invitation to brawl" and
"the rich gave their servants gloves with money inside", and Queen
Elizabeth I's admirers hoarded her gloves likes talismans - one guy
wore one of queenie's jewelled gloves affixed to his helmet, as if to
protect him in battle.

The softest gloves were most prized. Glovers used kid skin of course, but
who knew they used chicken skin too, and mouse skin?! Writes Jessica: "An 18th
Century French naturalist managed to succeed in making a pair [of gloves]
from woven spider's milk." Cripes! Make mine from velvet please. Actually sod
it, make them mittens. Not dainty, but cute, you've got to admit.

Anyway, Jessica, who used to European editor at W magazine, is a superb writer and her book is fab.

Happy Easter!

COUNTDOWN BEGINS

2011-04-20T03:23:00.000-07:00

Kimbra's new video clip for Cameo Lover is out so so soon.
She just posted this pic on her Myspace site. Yes, that's our Mrs. Press pompom dress made especially for her. Can you guess what's coming for summer?!

FRUIT LOOP

2011-04-19T01:59:00.000-07:00

Emily found this inspirational fruit table on a website called My Nigerian Wedding.
Who knew?

STREETS LIFE

2011-04-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

These beautiful images are from the Santa Monica Dreaming story now live on
the On the Streets of Sydney site. Hello Mrs. Press 'Annie' cape and 'Madeleine skirt'...
Every bit as good as a print mag editorial, don't you think? Bloggers are
taking over the world. Two of our faves are behind these shots: photographer
Zanita Whittington, and stylist Rachel Yablsey. Congrats ladies - gorgeous.

www.onthestreetsofsydney.com

GARAGE SALE MAJOR JOY SUNDAY

2011-04-09T01:09:00.000-07:00

I've got beautiful fabric offcuts and dress making lengths as well as vintage treats galore. And Madeleine's been baking all night. See you there!

SPRING FROGUE FLING

2011-04-01T00:47:00.001-07:00

Just been dreaming (drooling) over Feb '11 issue of French Vogue. I'm
usually a British Vogue girl, often finding Frogue too sexy-ugly-on-purpose
for my tastes. I get that's it's unreal, but mostly I don't want to live inside
the pictures, or I don't when they are designed to shock as well as awe, but Emmanuelle Art and Carine Roitfeld's take on the SS'11 collections is so
devastatingly beautiful I wish myself inhabiting every shot. Especially the
one of Yamamoto's blow-up lilo skirt. And all the ones of Lara in Orientalist
Dior. And every single Frejha moment (please reincarnation Buddhist type God,
can I die and come back as her hair??). And goodness aren't the colours
wonderful. And hello, how hot are those daisies?

2011-03-30T15:50:00.001-07:00

My friend Madeliene found this on Etsy, and it made me smile. You can buy them as cards...

http://www.etsy.com/listing/69766747/dear-fork-letterpress-card

ICON: THE INIMITABLE JENNY KEE

2011-03-28T23:32:00.000-07:00

J'adore Jenny Kee. I interviewed her when she'd just published her autobiography, A Big Life (Penguin) and stayed all day. Jenny is full of wit and wisdom, and wonderful stories about hanging out with fashion's great and good. No, scratch that. About being one of fashion's great and good. Her prints have been used by Lagerfeld at Chanel and her designs, many of them designed in cahoots with the fascinating Linda Jackson, helped shape the Aussie fashion landscape. Jenny is AMAZING. Look at her here with Linda and Romance Was Born's Luke Sales and Anna Plunkett. Are you in love yet? Check out her new website. I'm writing to Santa right now with a request for one of her limited edition silk scarves.
You should be too!

www.jennykee.com

Pics: Jenny in 1960s London; Jenny's Nature of Oz scarf print; Jenny being Jenny; Jenny, Linda & the RWB-wers.

V-8 ACTION & ICY INSPIRATION

2011-03-26T22:31:00.000-07:00

My brother in law's sensational birthday dinner the other day was finished off with the vanilla V-8 cake from Adriano Zumbo. This cult confection was ordered by my BIL's delightful girlfriend, Khemeny. Talk about devotion. We're talking 8 sugar-loaded layers (and yes, I cribbed this off Zumbo's website) of Vanilla Crème Chantilly, Toasted Vanilla Brûlee, Vanilla Water Gel, Vanilla Ganache, Brown Sugar Crumble, Vanilla Macaron, Vanilla Dacquoise, Vanilla Chiffon Cake and Vanilla Almond Crunch, and, assembled, it kind of looked like the Alexander McQueen A/W '11/'12 collection. Plus it was almost as hard to get hold off - the V8 is only available during certain weeks of the year, and there's a crazy wait-list. Trust me to see fashion in a bloody cake...

ZANITA, WOW

2011-03-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

Wondrous snapper Zanita borrowed a Mrs. Press vintage beaded number to photograph fellow model blogger Anina. The dress belonged to a nightclub singer in Hong Kong in the 1940s, but it's styled so 30s - the dealer I bought of from told me that was because the city was a few years behind Paris at the time, lucky for said singer, I say; the dress is so beautiful it makes my brain hurt. This is the result.

http://zanitazanita.blogspot.com

http://anina.360fashion.net

CARNIVALE

2011-03-23T23:47:00.000-07:00

You know what I love? I love it when the leaves turn brown. And I love it when you can wear a camel cashmere cape and a leopard print trilby and dash off to the Autumn Racing Carnival looking ze knees of ze bee. Bring it on!
Last week we hosted a soiree to celebrate the above with our dear friends Suzy O' Rourke and Jess Cove. My, aren't they clever! Order one of Suzy's hats today...I'm getting that leather eyelet number Terry Biviano had on. Too good.
www.suzyorourke.com.au

GRATUITOUS PICTURE OF MY CAT MAKING PATTERNS

2011-03-18T00:25:00.001-07:00

THE ICE QUEEN COMETH...

2011-03-11T15:27:00.000-08:00

Oh I do hope Kate Middleton proves the rumour mongers right and trots down the aisle in Alexander McQueen. You've got to love the Daily Tele reporting today that McQueen's designer Sarah Burton eschews the spotlight in her private sphere, preferring to "stay at home working on her needlepoint" than swan about at celebrity parties. Did you see her wearing those old jeans and down-at-heel hush puppies on her runway last week? She can wear what she likes really, can't she? Because she is very clever indeed. Let's play Guess Which Frock From The A/W '11/'12 Runway Katie's Got Her Beady On...

Images from Style.com

STYLE FILES...

2011-03-04T17:13:00.000-08:00

In which, the Mrs. Press Winter '11 collection gets a wardrobe workout courtesy of some of our fave bloggers
Pics by Xiaohan Shen. Event produced by Brooke Hart (thank you ladies!).

Xiaohan wears... Sparkle Collar in Smoke
Tania wears... hand-knitted wool Chunky Cardi in BlackMargaret wears...silk Tee in Smudge, 'Madeliene' skirt in Print
Emily wears...silk 'Brooke' dress in Black
Carmen wears 'Stella' cashmere short in Camel
Mrs Press wears silk organza 'Mia' blouse in Black
Brooke wears sequined silk 'Arlene' tank in Sparkles
Darren wears... 'Annie' Cape in black
Emily wears... 'Bella' ribbon skirt
Capes a-go-go!!