Posted in fashion, sydney June 19th, 2008 by piablog
Ever wanted to try on a piece of haute couture?
Well, tomorrow night, you can!! One of my favourite craft + design galleries in Sydney called Object is opening an exhibition from this Saturday showcasing eight leading Australian fashion designers in an exhibition called How You Make It. This engaging exhibition invites people to experience the detail and process behind some of Australia’s most conceptual designers. Visitors will be given the unique chance to try on selected garments, some of which will never enter the marketplace. As a special one-off opportunity, the infamous outfit worn by Björk for her recent album tour will be on show for visitors to try on.
Tomorrow night (Friday, June 20) is the very exclusive opening to the exhibition, and I have been offered two tickets to attend. But as you all know, I am not in Sydney so guess what?! The lovely team at Object have given me the go ahead to offer my tickets to you! All you have to do is be the first to leave a comment with a “YES PLEASE!” and you and your guest are in.
The featured design practices include: Anthea van Kopplen, Ess. Laboratory, FORMALLYKNOWNAS, MATERIALBYPRODUCT, Paula Dunlop, Project, Simon Cooper and S!X.
I wish I was in Sydney to attend this incredible event but I am thrilled to offer this to you. Thank you, Object! Have a wonderful night and I’m looking forward to hearing all about it!
PS. I have to dash to a meeting but I’ll be back soon to check the results and will email the winner the details of where and when. see you soon! xx
Many mornings I wake up with pages and pages of some yet-to-be-conceived book being written in my head. Some mornings it is a script. and other mornings it is a series of images, most likely inspired by dreams. I look forward to waking. It is one of the most creative times of my day, and it the only time of the day that I just let it be. I nestle into the pillow, pull the covers around me and just let my mind play quietly.
In other news, apparently I do have one male reader. He emailed me yesterday to let me know. It was such a beautifully written email that I wanted to share it with you all and asked if I could write it as a comment to my post, but I had no reply. And I realised at that point, if he wanted to write a comment he would have. Silly girl. But hey, it’s not the first time I’ve scared a male away.
Speaking of males, the Dalai Lama is in town, but not this town. He has just landed in Sydney and will be giving a series of talks, check them out here. Of course I will not be attending since I am on the other side of the world, again. Happens every time he arrives in my part of town, somehow I am elsewhere, what is with that? My friends will be having some special private audiences with him and I hope to be able to share more about all that with you soon. There is also an awesome concert going on as well, this Sunday at the magnificent Angel Place recital hall. If you are in Sydney or near Sydney, do go, you won’t regret it.
In not so interesting news, my outfits du jour have been becoming a little crazy since I have put a ban on leaving the boat until I get my book finished. Yesterday I was wearing this peacock blue dress with gray tights and a cream aymara cardigan, with my hair shoved up on top of my head, dishevelled curls sticking out everywhere, a blue ribbon wrapped around it and one of Marie’s crochet pins in my hair. I was so tempted to show you, but I chickened out. Cooookooo.
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The above pic I took this morning, it is my little tea collection. Oh and a tin of Milo, it seems no one can take the aussie out of me.
I know I know, back to work already. I hear you.
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Well with Manda’s approval below, I am going to keep going, la pipelette is out of the box today. I suspect this could be another never-ending post.
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10:58am: We were all blown away when Australia finally said sorry. tears were shed. lost hearts were found and healing began. I was hoping with all my heart that it was going to be the beginning of a domino affect to spread across the globe. well guess what? it’s Canada’s turn. Go Canada!! I am so so pleased to hear this news, this is another momentous occasion for the survival of humanity.
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11:06am: I’m listening to him. And my favourite song is down the line.
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5:43pm: is 5:43pm too early to pour a glass of wine?
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6:54pm: yes, i’m still working. i think i can see a light at the end of the tunnel. i mean, i think it’s a light. oh wait a minute, ah yes, the brightness button on my screen has been bumped to full capacity. oops-a-daisy.
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7:12pm: i made this today with my dying peonies and astilbes (did I get it right this time? merci à tout!) - a bright little still life for a dreary weathered day…
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7:54pm: French Boy has gone out to hunt. straight to the local indian diner for takeaway. just to give you a clue of what is in the pantry: no bread. no cheese. that about means starvation for me.
and just in case you were wondering, there are now only four days left to send in your submission. just FOUR…
can you tell i cheated today? yep, i just erased the apple core via photoshop.
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and i promise this will be the last entry of the day. i bought jose’s album because it is just that good. and i’ve decided it is not enough to just send you to his myspace, so i have brought you the video of my latest favourite song right here. i advice to turn it up loud as i have been doing all day.
Have a lovely evening, and thank you sooo much for your awesome comments today, i shall respond tout de suite!
this is actually a bit fun. it’s like i am graffitti-ing on my own post. sometimes i do wish it was possible to pick up a computerized pen and scribble all over my work on the screen. and if i could, i would scribble quotes, and doodle all over some of my less-inspiring material. but look at this gorgeous white cotton paper that i heard screaming out my name today, awaiting precious words…
okay, maybe I am prepared to let go of this post now. i said maybe. well, let’s see how i feel by morning.
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second part of post:
update: I am heavily distracted today. I am suffering from l’angoisse de la page blanche. And worse still, I just realised that once I write a new post after this one, the My Heart Wanders: where it all began post will move to the second page, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that. I still find myself glancing over the images. And singing Jewel’s song outloud as I work.
So can’t I just keep updating this post instead of writing a new one? Will the blog police come after me?
I suggest we build a little fire by the sea side tonight and make some smores with them. What say you?
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back to the original post:
Today’s special My Heart Wanders sneak peek is from fashion designer Riley Salyards, a subtle heart made with the help of her baby boy. A newbie fellow Amsterdammer like myself, Riley is the co-founder of this fabulous label in North America. Go ahead, click away, you know you want to! Have a look at the collections as I know you will find some serious inspiration there like I have. Um, Riley, any chance I can have a little fitting sometime?!
And check out the curtain…
It was her grandmothers, isn’t it stunning. So this is it, only six apples left now…
if you are in sydney, you must not miss this sale tomorrow in newtown! I used to stock Gaia organic baby wear in my store, and the designer Annette and I became good friends. Her designs are so gorgeous, she set a new trend in baby wear with her little kimono style outfits and i always purchase a few of her items for the newborns in my life (um, oops, speaking of which I owe little elliott and sahraa some gaia outfits! coming soon my little cherubs!) Let Annette and her team know I sent you, say hello from me, and tell her I’ll be placing my order very soon!
If you are in some other part of the world and can’t make the sale, then check out the Gaia website here. Be warned that you will want to purchase everything you see, so go for it! And stay tuned for more about Gaia as I will be giving you an ‘interior inspiration’ exclusive of Annette’s home in coming days.
I fell in love just the other day: the moment I laid eyes on this range my heart skipped a beat, and I completely went weak in the knees when I touched the garments. The more I found out about the designs and company profile, the more my heart fluttered. This Danish fashion designer gets the enhance the everyday hallmark for being everything we want in a fashion label.
“in this modern, transient world, everything is quickly discarded. i wanted to create a product that endures, not just in time, but also in people’s hearts”. Maria Høgh Heilmann, fashion designer AYMARA
AYMARA is named after the original Bolivian people and their language, Aymará. This exclusive fashion company meets our demands as the modern, conscientious consumer with their stunning, high quality garments wrapped in good conscience.
”The vision for our collections for women, infants and home is to create original, but classic designs in such authentic and durable materials so they can last many seasons. When we combine this vision with fair trade principles, the result is authentic sustainability.” Trine Fyhr for AYMARA
AYMARA is part of a developing project in Bolivia - the first Danish fashion label to introduce the Llama fibre (called cashlama) and to create awareness of Bolivia and their exclusive products. Read more about AYMARA right here.
My wardrobe has been in serious need of refreshing and this is exactly what I was looking for - I am going for the wrap cardigans, and that top in the first image has my name on it. Oh who am I kidding, I cannot take a favourite item here, I mean, look at those long johns! I also want the entire homeware range you see above. AYMARA, I’m so glad I found you.
Posted in fashion, film January 29th, 2008 by piablog
I was a pubescent 14 year old living in a foreign land when this show premiered on my only english-speaking tv channel, the fabulous BBC (nicknamed my ’sanity savior’). It can be said that after the first episode I was hooked. It encompassed all my passions of life back then - fashion, fabrics, sewing, art, paris, travel, love, boutiques… and all set in my favourite era of the 1920’s, London. This show set the groundwork for much of my inspiration as the essence of it has stayed with me all these years. To my absolute delight, the BBC recently released the entire series on DVD and when my mother read this news she was quick to get hold of it for me, knowing how much this series meant to me some 15 years ago. So what on earth am I talking about you ask?
The House of Eliott is based on the journey of two sisters, Bea and Evie, who embark on opening their very own fashion house amongst the haute couture of London and Paris boutiques, starring the brilliant actress Stella Gonet (as Bea) as well as Louise Lombard (recognise her in CSI?). This classic drama series takes you through all of the ups and downs of running such a boutique, including the scandals that befall them from jealous competitors, and the opportunities that come from the most humble of gestures. All this while giving a fantastic rendition of the political turmoil of England at that time, and post-war life.
These stills give you a very minimal peak at what this series has to offer visually - the sets, props, fashion and style is to-die-for, and for those of you Paris lovers, the series takes you there a number of times, with a complete look at Paris 1920’s fashion. What astounded me the most when I watched the series this many years on, was the resemblance of events within my own life. I remembered exactly how I was feeling when I watched the show at 14 years old, the sketches I started making from being inspired by Evie’s sketches, my imagination was really on an indescribable high. Now, at 30, thinking back to my 14 year old self, little I knew back then that I would have opened my own store only 7 years later and go through all the ups and downs expressed in the House Of Eliott. I was amazed to realise how times haven’t changed for small business, how the struggles are the same, and how all over the world, time after time there are still those people who try to sabotage you, bring you down, make yourself doubt your work and abilities. And then there are those people who stick by you, believe in you and support you through thick and thin. Watching the House of Eliott again brought tears to my eyes regularly and sparked that 14 year old imagination in me again. I won’t be running out and opening another store, but I certainly will not give up on my vision.
Enhance the Everyday review for House of Eliott: 5 outta 5.
I implore you to get hold of this complete series (there are 3 in total, click here for all 3), you will really love it. You will find the first series a little slow but it is essential to understand the whole story and you will not regret it. I just finished watching the whole series at Christmas and I am keen to start it again in a couple of months, I miss it already. Enjoy.
Incredible non?! I met the lovely Dutch photographer Maria at Frank Visser’s studio a couple of months back, and beside captivating me by being a beautiful person to chat with, she then handed me her business card: a seemingly tiny little square piece of card that i needed to look closely at, reading ‘the glove theatre’ and then the card popped open accordion style, presenting me with the full story of shots that you see below. It brought a smile from my heart straight to me face. Check out more of her work here. I predict we have a star in the making my dears…
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