mwah

 

I recently bought my first red lipstick; it was a reluctant purchase as I have always been a little afraid to wear it, for a couple of reasons. One because there is a fine line between looking like Marilyn Monroe or Courtney Love, and two, there can be certain connotations connected to red lipstick - we all remember Julia Roberts in Pretty Women standing on Hollywood Boulevard. But after seeing this cover the evidence is clear, when worn the right way a luscious red lip can portray effortless style. Thank you Vogue Germany, my Chanel Rouge purchase is sold.

Alex x

street style

Model Annika Kaban spotted just after a casting on Sydney's Crown St in Surry Hills. She's wearing a Willow jacket, Paul Smith skirt, Bassike t-shirt and Givenchy bag.

x Olivia

man up

My man friends have been saying we don't write about enough men's stuff. Maybe that's because women’s collections so often become enveloped in a front-row commotion and a paparazzi free-for-all, that they're much more exciting to talk about - the showing of men’s clothes remains a much more sedate and systematic affair.

We get plenty of men's samples into the cupboard, but nothing has really sparked our interest enough to actually say something about it. And that's not because the clothing is bad - we get beautiful Pierre Cardin suits, Ben Sherman shirts, Hugo Boss shoes and Ralph Lauren blazers - but it's harder to get excited over a cool bow-tie, than it is, say, a cool necklace.  That is unless we find something we would love to wear ourselves. Enter Paris Vogue with these man-style editorials that make you want to dress-up in just about everything your boyfriend's owns

x Olivia

chronicles of marina didovich

Stylist extraordinaire Marina Didovich is one of my closest friends, a mentor and my sometimes therapist. She arrived in Sydney (from our home town of Auckland) a week after I did, and over the past year has helped me navigate this city like no-one else. After six years as the Fashion Editor of CLEO back home, she followed her heart, packed everything up and headed for Sydney's sunny shores where she now works as a freelance stylist with DLM.

How did you end up becoming New Zealand’s youngest fashion editor at 21?

I studied photography at university and had to do a work experience module in the industry. I loved fashion photography and being slack I left my placement to the very last minute, meaning all the fashion photographers had already been approached. I figured the next best thing was to work alongside a fashion editor guessing they worked with photographers (I had no idea what a fashion editor actually did). I looked up the phone number of Fashion Quarterly [New Zealand's only real equilvent to Vogue] at the front of the mag, and ended up starting an internship with Cleo the following week (the Fashion Editor at Fashion Quarterly was on annual leave, so they passed on details of Cleo's fashion department). The internship was only meant to be two weeks, but I loved it so much I stayed for four and realised I had found my calling. After finishing uni I returned to ACP interning for Cleo and SHE magazines unpaid for about a year. I then applied for the role of Fashion Stylist at Cleo (age 20), got the position and at 21 was promoted to Fashion Editor.

 Marina (above) on location in America; with photographer Steven Chee and his assistants Duncan and Tobias (below).

What is your best bit of fashion industry advice?

It might sound a bit corny, but you have to believe in yourself. When I first started, I was told countless times that I was too young to do what I wanted to do. I was even told once that I was 'aiming too high'. If you don't believe in yourself it becomes contagious and soon enough, no one else will either. You become what you manifest.

new york, i love you

Photos by Olivia

This time last year I was living in New York and was lucky enough to go to a few shows during Fashion Week.  The Fall 2010 shows started two days ago over there, so I thought I'd post some pictures I took at last year's Donna Karan show in the West Village, as a sort of remembrance.  The Voguettes were out in force, as were bloggers (that's Scott Schuman talking to my good friend Molly, and Garance snapping Hanneli), stylists and a few supers including Lily Donaldson - I made no attempt to hide my ogling, especially with Anna Wintour's bob that close.

x Olivia

on our radar: APC

 

 

Winter collections start arriving in stores this week, and although it's 33 degrees outside, I'm really excited. Coats! Cardigans! Wool jumpers! Stockings! Layers!

While Hayley has a stripe obsession; I on the other hand don't own anything striped, so it has become my main mission for the season ahead.  For their winter collection, APC have done stripes galore with jumpers, t-shirts, knits and long sleeve tops in thick stripes, skinny stripes, black stripes, navy stripes - whatever, there will definitely be a stripe for everyone's tastes. This little number should arrive in Incu any time now, and I think it will have to be my very first stripe purchase.

x Olivia

pretty women

 

A lot of you have been asking how we afford some of the nice things we wear. While sometimes it is all very glamorous (many fashion editors, even the Aussie ones, are gifted with the beautiful things they're seen around town in), we just work very hard and have a bit of luck on our side - the economy for one.

Window shopping on sites like Opening Ceremony (you never know what magical finds they have in their sale section), and The Outnet are our secrets to extremely cheap but beautiful buys - when the dollar is so strong, anyway. I'm also lucky enough to have a model for a boyfriend who is over in Europe a few times a year walking the men's shows - so he brings me back lovely gifts that cost a third of the price that they would in Australia. For my birthday last year, a pair of Chloe heels came back with him that cost 350 euros (on sale in Milan); and that same week I saw them in a magazine on this side of the Pacific for AU$1200. This is why I get so frustrated walking into stores like Cosmopolitan Shoes, where they constantly sell last season's shoes at full price.

More than anything we save up, we never buy things that are on sale for the sake of something being a bit cheaper, and we're picky. We know what we like and we stick to it. Trust me, if you stopped buying a pair of Witchery pants here ($150), a French Connection top there ($90), maybe a few Wittner heels ($350), those Marni platforms on The Outnet become so much more accessable. It's like magazines have been trying to tell us for decades - investment pieces are where it's at.

x Olivia

job of the day

 

An assistant job at Vogue is viewed as one of the best entry-level jobs you can get. A badge of honor. A stamp across your forehead that says "I'm good enough for Vogue and probably lots of other things, too."  Well, Harper's Bazaar is the next best thing, in the world of fashion publishing anyway (I personally like Harper's a teensy bit better), and they're currently looking for an executive assistant to Glenda Bailey, the Editor-in-Chief.

If I were still in New York, I would have applied for this already ten times over. Have a look at the job description (I think it should really read 'needs to be smart, well-educated, calm, doesn't mind taking abuse on a daily basis...') and see if you think you could hack the premature ageing after all the stress, then click here to apply. Good luck!

Executive Assistant to the Editor-in-Chief, Harper's Bazaar Magazine:

Job Description -

Provide executive level administrative support to the Editor-in-Chief of Harper's Bazaar. Duties include managing schedule and daily calendar, overseeing all correspondence in and out of office, organizing travel, writing, research, liaising with Bazaar staff on behalf of editor.

Required Skills -

Strong administrative skills and ability to work in fast paced environment critical. Must be able to take dictation. Fashion and magazine experience helpful.

x Olivia

braided bunch

 

 

 Is it just me, or is there a braid phenomenon going on?  Every season the plait surfaces in one form or another, but it seems the side braid is taking centre stage at the moment just about everywhere. 

First Alexander Wang and Miu Miu on the runway, then American Vogue, Elle Canada and now even Australia's Harper's Bazaar has followed suit in their latest issue. For me, this is already too over saturated - I can't help but roll my eyes and think 'how original, not another one'; but I'm sure we can expect to see much, much more of the Alexander braid in months to come. What do you think?

x Olivia

the girls of land's end

Photos by Olivia

Entering the Land's End boutique in Five Ways (a little shopping spot hidden behind Oxford St in Paddington) is like walking into your own little New York - Balmain, Richard Nicoll, Preen, Opening Ceremony, Proenza Schouler... who needs Soho?

But the clothes aren't really the best bit of Land's End, the girls that work there are pretty spectacular themselves.  From the top, Jane (owner and the brains behind it all), Greta and Mia are what makes the store such a special place to visit - even if it is just to perv at what they're wearing.

x Olivia

the hand book of all hand books

 The Teen Vogue staff shot by The Sartorialist

"Ask yourself, are you sure this world is for you? And are you sure you are the right person to survive in this world – the world of fashion, a world with no rules, no laws?” - Karl Lagerfeld

So I just received my copy of the The Teen Vogue Handbook in the mail today - I know this may seem like an uncanny choice for some leisurely reading - but honestly I can't put it down. With amazing interviews by everyone from Amy Astley, Marc Jacobs, Patrick Demarchelier and Karl Lagerfeld... it makes for some fascinating fashion reading.

x Hayley

shirting around

 

 Collage by Olivia - images from The Sartorialist and Turned Out

I've always loved the idea of wearing a shirt, but that's all it has ever been - an idea that I mostly thought I could never pull off.

Well, I bought my first shirt yesterday from the Herringbone Warehouse Sale in Surry Hills and I love it. At first I was scared I'd look a bit like a 'corporate' in the finance department (you know, the ones that buy their work outfits from Portmans with the bad, bad stretch fabric - not that there's anything wrong with Portmans, but you get the jist); but after turning to a few magazines and street style blogs I now have plenty of visual references to inspire completely different ways of making a shirt look absolutely, totally cool.

Whether your wear it loose in an ode to boyfriend dressing, buttoned up and tucked in for a more polished look, paired with a tuxedo jacket à la Helmut Newton, or with bold jewellery to add edge and a feminine touch - the shirt is definitely a must-have staple in every girls wardrobe. I had no idea what I was missing out on.

x Olivia

monday

Vintage blouse, Denim and Thread jeans, Steve Madden heels, Deadly Ponies satchel

x Olivia

friends

Living in a city that's not your own means your friends are usually scattared all over the world.  My best friends live in Auckland (where I was born), in Melbourne (where I went to high school) and one is about to move to France.

Yes, there's always the new friends you meet along the way (and in my choice of career, I think I'd go mental daily without Hayley and Alex), but these are girls I've grown up with and known for over 10 years - I haven't seen them in over six months and I am constantly missing them. This photo by The Sartorialist makes me nostaligic for the times when we were all together, having sporadic coffees in the middle of the day, talking about boys, even getting ready to move to New York together.... I'm forever trying to convince them to move to Sydney. One can only hope.

x Olivia

chop

I chopped all my hair off yesterday. I've spent the last 11 months trying to grow it into long luscious locks, but yesterday I'd had enough - it wasn't growing fast enough, and it just looked dull and dry. It's taking a bit of getting used to...I can't tie it up and I feel like none of my clothes suit me anymore, but then I look at these pictures and I remember why I took the plunge in the first place - plus I feel so much more polished when I step outside, no more scruffy hair!

x Olivia

thursday

                                                

Vintage tee, vintage pants from her mother’s wardrobe, Nine West shoes and Givenchy Nightingale bag. 

Meet Angela, she's our incredible intern.

my first cover

'Summer Holiday'

Styling: Alex Wilson (me). Photography: Jon Attenborough

Ok so it's not Vogue but it's a start. My friend Jon and I have been working hard on the weekends, well more like playing really, with a few different shoots and this is the first of our submissions to be printed. It's a new magazine called Northside that's distributed weekly throughout the North Shore so be sure to pick up a copy if you're around there!

x Alex

bargin hunter

BEC&BRIDGE at up to 80% off... is there a better way to spend a Friday?  Apparently prices start at just $10 so you better get in quick!

DATE: 5th Feb

WHERE: Unit 4, 20-22 William Street, Alexandria

TIME: 12pm - 8pm

And then there's...

Enjoy!

x Olivia

inspiration of the day

I think behind-the-scenes images are so much more inspiring than plain old runway shots. As weird as it is to say, I much prefer to see the clothes interacting - rather than looking posed and stiff on a very serious (and usually bored) looking model.

x Olivia