the way she wears it

A beautiful early start with label Bowie this morning. Set outside with a backdrop of the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. Only the cute cupcakes and Nudie juices made it better. Oh and the goodie bag. I’ll admit I’ve never been a massive fan of Bowie but I loved this collection. I want to shoot a lot of it and am desperate to add the gold and black sequin waistcoat into my own wardrobe.

Cupcakes and hand massages whilst we waited for the show to start

Next was Ginger and Smart which was beautiful and Konstantina Mittas. I absolutely adored the blue dress below and can’t wait to shoot it.

Next was the Flamingo Sands show. Great seat (right behind Alex Perry, Charlotte Dawson and Jonathan Pease), great goodie bag and great show. Adored the pom poms on the shoes and in the hair. Pom Poms are going to be huge so keep an eye out for my upcoming jewellery collection.

After Flamingo Sands was The Protege Collections. This is the work of five young international designers all using Australian merino wool and were hand-picked and mentored by Donatella Versace, Karl Lagerfeld and Calvin Klein - what an honour.

My absolute favourite of The Proteges was Kristian Aadnevik, such beautiful dramatic colourful pieces.

I have to admit I was very naughty and skipped the RTW, Marnie Skillings, Stretis and Material Boy is favour of a bottle of plonk with some girlfriends and look around the New Zealand designers at the Billich Gallery. I made it back in time for Thurley and Melanie Cutfield though - which were both lovely. Next was Easton Pearson and it was INCREDIBLE. I want to shoot (and own) every single piece. It was my favourite set so far and the goody bag wasn’t bad either (loved the hand painted scarf, though I’m a fabulous daughter and gave it to my mother). The hair and makeup in this show was outstanding, The use of flowers and plants was ingenious and unique. See photos below.

Last  but not least was the Romance Was Born show at the Conservatorium of Music. It was running so late, my feet and arms were so sore and my boyfriend was waiting to go to dinner, I was almost out the door. But I’m glad I decided to stay as the clothes were fabulous. Great location too. Shame they couldn’t get the sound and timing right but c’est la vie. One of the strangest and creepiest shows I have seen but truly fantastic clothes and performance.

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Camilla and Marc, Lisa Ho, Zimmermann, Silence is Golden and Life With Bird started off the day. Then the RTW 2 parade consisting of Amar, Body, Leonard St, Nicolangela, Serdoun and Verduci-Smith. The afternoon was made up of Bec and Bridge, Kate Sylvester, Jessie Hill, Daniel Avakian (which was so over filled, I hardly saw anything - which is a shame because I liked the set- seebelow), Frisoni Finnetti, Alex Perry and Friedrich Gray. Highlight would be the Kate Sylvester show - despite the controversy over the use of Anzac medals.

Daniel Avakian set

Models at the Kate Sylvester show

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Kirrily Johnson opened fashion week - loved the jodphurs and tubal pants. Next up was Nicola Finetti, Lee Matthews and One Teaspoon. The first Ready To Wear show included Brooke Benson, Brigid McLaughlin, Dhini, George Wu and Leonardo Salinas. The afternoon saw Hotel Bondi Swim, Anna Thomas, Wayne Cooper and Trimapee take the catwalk.

Next up was my favourite show of the day - Ruth Tarvydas. I loved everything about her collection. The romantic fabrics, the vibrant colours and most of all the jewelled crowns that adorned their loose upstyles. The show was dramatic with fake paparazzi buzzing around the models, the Kardashian sisters in the front row and Jonathan Pease from Australia’s Next Supermodel interviewing guests as we waited for the show to start.

An example of the crowns I loved.

Jonathan Pease interviewing Ruby from MTV in the front row

Fake paps

Unfortunately I didn’t receive an invite to Michelle Jank so I met my boyfriend at Wildfire before heading off to the Ruth Tarvydas after party. It was at De Nom which I am now in love with. The toilets are amazing - and yes I always judge a place on its powder room.

Wildfire - the ‘Velvet Rose’ cocktail my boyfriend had - I just stuck to Champagne and Negroni’s.

The urinal (yes it is a painting - strangely enough the original is housed at The Wallice Collection - a museum on my old street in London) and the ladies toilet at De Nom.

Me at the party and walking towards Haymarket Chinese at 2am (eek)

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Last night I had an intimate drinks night at my studio. Most of my friends hadn’t been there yet and my mum was in town from London so what more of an excuse could I need. My boyfriends mum and step mum also attended which was great. As per usual I totally over catered. Highlights were cupcakes from My Little Cupcake and the wine from Di Lusso - including small bottles of Prosseco with straws. When in Mudgee recently I fell in love with this vineyard. Luckily there is a cellar door in Glebe too. If you ever go, make sure you ask for Roberto - the guy is a godsend. Few piccies below.

The Guest of Honour - my mum !!

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Had some great news today. A shoot I did with photographer, Claire Letitia Reynolds, is to be published by Cream Magazine, an Australian mag I love.

Yesterday I shot with photographer Kent Mathews as a submission for 125 magazine. Kent has featured in the last few issues of 125 so fingers (and toes) crossed it gets placed. The shoot was set at North Bondi and lets just say we all got a tad wet - check out the photos.

Team:

Photographer: Kent Mathews

Photographer’s assistant: Dean

MUA: Amanda Ramsay

Model: Amy @ Chic

My assistant: The fabulous Elise

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God, it is a task I absolutely hate. Luckily this time I had my agent Mari to do the hard part – choosing. I just did the order. Is any creative ever satisfied with their book? Probably not, or why would we bother to keep pushing ourselves.

Getting it all sorted and laid out in order.

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Yesterday I had the fortune to work with Rae Morris on an advertising shoot recently. Rae is considered one of Australia’s top make up artists, if not THE best. I remember seeing her work many years ago when I was an assistant and thinking one day I would love to work with her – and now I have. She has just launched a new book Make Up - The Ultimate Guide. I haven’t had a chance to purchase it yet but I will. All photography is by Stephen Chee (a photographer I would love to work with also) and features a few models I have worked with. What amazed me most about Rae was how lovely and down to earth she is. This is her, Nigel and assistants sorting out her kit – and what an amazing (and massive) kit it is.

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So, I have moved into a new studio/work space in Surry Hills on Marlborough Street. It is the building known as the Tsubi building as they take up the ground floor. The space is fantastic and I couldn’t be happier there. Lots of great companies like Fuzzy (Musical festivals), Agent25, Lemonsoup and labels like Sabatini. I have a feeling it is going to be a fun place to work !! (Excuse the mess, but hell, it is never going to be tidy)

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I’m back. And boy have things changed. Well, first up, I have fallen head over heels with a very gorgeous man and as a result I am living back in Sydney. (I must admit we all suspected it would happen since meeting Darryn at a friends wedding earlier last year) The holiday I took in October to see him extended to December, then to January and then he convinced me to stay for good. I gave him a three month trial and he passed with flying colours (well pretty much). I also scored myself a fabulous new agent and it seemed like I couldn’t argue with fate and so I stayed.

I’ve now been back in Sydney for a few months and know I have made the right choice. At least I hope so because I bought a new “soccer mum” car (well new to me anyway) and signed a 2 year lease on a fabulous work space in Surry Hills. I miss my London friends, my London family, my London flat, London weather (yes yes I know, I’m odd) and London shopping. Oh how much I miss London shopping. I don’t however miss the tube, not one little bit.

The agent I signed with is Mari Vendrame Management www.vendrame.com and so far so good. Mari is an amazing woman, as is Francis, her right hand lady. They have some fabulous people on their books (hello, Patrick Demarchelier, Markus Kinko and famed local photographer Anna Bertalli) and I feel honoured to be amongst them. I am still finding my feet with them and am busy shooting whilst running around on go sees.

I won’t rattle on too much about each job I’ve done so far but like I said so good so far. I’ve done all sorts, from editorial to advertising.

* go sees are where creatives such as photographer, stylist, MUA etc show their book and meet art directors, magazine editors, photographic agents etc in the hope of working with them in the future.

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I’m off to Sydney tomorrow to spend some time out with friends and a gorgeous new man so will post when I am back (in December).

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