MAFW

A fashio-holics dream come true? Well, that's one way of putting it. There's really no limit to our excitement over our invites to the Mercedes Australian Fashion Week in Sydney; a venue which will be kicking off on Monday 2 May. The fashion week, celebrating its tenth year this year, will be holding a jam-packed schedule of glamorous shows, champers on ice, designer meetings and beautiful people. This will be a week with an astonishing presentation of high profile established designers, together with rising stars to look out for. 100 plus designers are displaying their collections, and all shows are held around the beautiful area at Circular Quay. Botox by the bucket load and Bolly darling! As much as the shows are exciting dos in themselves, we can't wait to find out more about the stories, or myths in the fashion world. Are all the models stick thin insects? Is the fashion world in the Southern Hemisphere different from the rest of the world? Will there be animal rights activists turning up to throw tofu pies at the media? Well, we'll soon find out. In the mean time, we've got our most sassy Manolos out, and notebooks at the ready. Dear Reader, are you ready for an orgy of fine Australian fashion?

Frocks That Rocks

Remember that day when coolchiq put our neck out, and guessed the selling price for Judy Garland’s dress from The Wizard of Oz? The estimated sales price on Bonham’s was £25,000-35,000, and our guess was that it would go for around £100,000… Well, ladies and gentlemen; it appears to have been sold for a mere £120,000 ex. Tax… Clearly, it’s true, that some people really do like their old frocks!

In M's We Trust

Don’t we just love designer news? This time, it’s about Marc Jacobs, the golden boy, who along with Phoebe Philo at Chloe can do no wrong in this world. And it seems that whatever Marc does turns out to be the perfect move. His amazing capability to design and present one beautiful clothes collection after another never ceases to impress us. Having recently released his delicious fragrance Blush, he’s now decided to broaden his work experience even further by bringing out a range of watches for us ladies. The watch line, as mentioned in Vogue, will be a co-operation with Fossil Inc, and said to feature oval faces, black grosgrain ribbon straps and diamond detailing. It all sounds pretty good to us! On this move, he’s letting colleague Matthew Williamson take a step into the fragrance field. Again, something we cannot wait to see – or smell – the result of. But whereas Jacobs has had a few years of experience in this already, Williamson will be delivering his first fragrance. Having said this, we’re totally confident that his first scent will be a big hit on the market. Matthew Williamson is famous for his impeccable style, and we were so charmed to hear that he bought a gorgeous vase from our internet colleague and Swedish designer Karin Eriksson. The man clearly has an eye for beautiful things, that’s for certain...

Short Stories The Sequel

The international autumn/winter 2005/06 runway shows presented a lot that caught our attention, but one trend we're particularly fond of is the cropped jacket. This is something that's been brought forward from the Northern Hemisphere's spring/summer trend, as the shows from last year presented them often. And they have certainly influenced the shops in Sydney -with autumn's fashion arrival. Cue and Witchery, two of the leading High Street boutiques (always carrying fresh, just off the catwalk-ranges) have some wonderful jackets; shorter, sweeter and more tailored than we've ever seen before. It's a real treat to go shopping for this type of item, and if you're willing to splurge a bit extra, you can get a really special jacket that fits like a glove and makes you look like a stunning super puma.

But back to the international podiums... We'd be fools to say that all of the coolest short jackets were presented by Chloe in the autumn/winter shows, but in our opinion they showed the most stylish range of all. Others that were fantastically cool, were Dsquared2 and Byblos. From the summer collection, Burberry's Prorsum and Maurizio Pecoraro have some sweet little numbers too - check them out!

Below: Chloe, Byblos and Dsquared2

Short Stories

This is something the coolchiqs over at I am Fashion have talked about, but we cannot stop ourselves from commenting on this; the shorts trend, that is. And if you, like us, spend most of your time in a suit in an office (when we're not in the shopping mall), it's brilliant to have this as an option. Provided that you're working in a relaxed office environment a 'suit' with longer shorts is the ultimate choice. Worn with a well tailored jacket and a fantastic pair of shoes, this will turn you in to the hottest babe in the office. The shorts trend for this season is the new length; slightly different than what we've seen in the past... It seems to have landed somewhere right in the middle of Capri trousers and Bermudas, and thankfully far, far away from hot pants. And if you're still not sure of this trend, well, we'll give you a few more reasons to justify this -

- It's cool for baking-hot summer days when you're going to the office.
- You can show off your fantastic legs.
- It's a great alternative to a suit with a skirt.
- Displaying your latest purchase of shoes has never been easier.

What else can we say? It's Saturday, the shops are open. Go girls, go!!

(Below Dsquared2)

H&M Indulgence in Central Park

Central Park, New York is going to be a packed place tonight as H&M is launching their autumn/winter collection. Not only is it a launch of their new range, but a costly campaign named “H&M live from Central Park”. The venue, where 800 invites get to indulge in H&M’s autumn/winter collection, will offer a glam dinner party with cocktails, live music, and other shows. The venue is part of a huge promotion for H&M where the expected outcome is mass publicity to say the least. According to Dagens Nyheter, the collection is representing basic garments with a minimalist and a rococo touch - a lot of on uniforms and tons of inspiration from 80’s rock stars. So NY fashionistas, get your Blondie retro outfits on and head on down to Central Park immediately!

Gary Castles Shoes

If you're ever visiting Sydney - and we can give you a billion reasons why you should - whatever you do, be sure not to miss one of Gary Castles shops! Gary Castles is a very talented shoe designer, and definitely worth keeping an eye out for. The Sydney based shoe designer has 3 shops in Sydney and another 3 boutiques spread out in the rest of Australia. Visiting one of his shops, you're guaranteed an amazing assortment of ultra glam shoes; everything from snake-skin leather killer heels, romantic, soft 50's style peep toed shoes, to long, lean suede boots a la wedge style, or with stacked heels and traditional round toes. This label, along with so many other interesting fashion and shoe labels, is one of our favourites at the moment.

Beautiful Lace

Metalicus wonderfully charming range of cotton and lace garments are adorable and shouldn't be missed. The Southern Hemisphere is well into autumn now, so the ranges make perfect outfits to mix and match for days off and about in town. Their collections, all made from a stocking fabric in soft cotton and lace, send our minds to chick flicks like Flashdance and the likes. Metalicus has currently 4 collections in store; bodytight, cotton bods, maternity (before and after) and a very cute kids version called minibods. If nothing else; do check out the beautifully taken pictures on their website; unfortunately the label is not yet available outside Australia and New Zealand.

Romantic Vibes

This week, along with the romantic vibes from Gone With the Wind, we particularly want to
feature Carlos Santana's pink spiky heels, the delicate chiffon gypsy blouse from Dolce & Gabbana and Missoni's floral corset belt. Enjoy!

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Skechers and Guess must have been kicking themselves with the bad reviews they’ve received from the press on their tasteful adverts with Christina Aguilera and Paris Hilton. And to add insult to injury, the organisation “The Advertising Women of New York” have named the flesh-baring commercials as the worst advertisement of the year. Read the full story here. Their ‘Bad Award’ has been handed out to Skechers advertisement with Aguilera, whilst the winner of the ‘Ugly Award’ was no one less than Paris Hilton's appearance for Guess. Sometimes the world is full of surprises.

Al Fayed's Hand in Liz Hurley's Bikinis

As many of us fashion victims may know already, Elizabeth Hurley's beach collection [known as Elizabeth Hurley Beach] was promoted today at Harrods. Liz herself appeared at the super exclusive department store, promoting her own label. Her distributer has described her collection as ornate with "...the most beautiful handpicked semi-precious stones and fabrics for her inaugural line. The collection, which is being sold exclusively at Harrods in the UK, is a mix of beautiful kaftans adorned with amethyst and tiger's eye stones, and a range of bikinis, tops and skirts with beading handcrafted in India..." Clearly Mohamed Al Fayed, owner of Harrods, has had a hand in her bikinis. Read more about this here.

Ford + Facchinetti = Great News

Gossip Alert! Now that Gucci’s ex Creative Director Alessandra Facchinetti seems to be teaming up with Tom Ford, we’re all excited to see what the two designers have in store for us. If this is true, we can only imagine it’ll be a highly successful concept. Needless to say, both of them are extremely well recognized in their business by now, and with a shared history from the same employer, Gucci, there should be some fabulous creations coming up. Who knows, we could be entering an ‘anti-Gucci-era’? Combining Ford’s love for skin tight, doesn’t-leave-a-lot-to-the-imagination styles, and Facchinetti’s superb versions of casual, cool, and ultra fine quality, we’re surely in for a treat. And this is what we all want to hear, isn’t it!

Oldies But Goldies

We recently heard that the blue and white gingham dress, worn by Judy Garland in 1939 when she played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, is due to be auctioned at Bonhams, London on April 27. The dress is estimated to come on the market with bids starting at £25,000-35,000. We don't have a particular hankering for this type of dress code, but it's always fascinating to see how much money people are ready to spend on such things. Would anyone wear it, or would it be put into a museum (and if so, why isn't it already in a museum?). Bonhams is an auction house well established in England, Australia and the US, so they should know their price ranges but it'll be interesting to see how much the dress is worth. We'll put our coolchiq neck out & guess it goes for around £100,000. And if Judy Garland's old frock doesn't come across interesting enough, this will be sold along with other film related material. In their "Rock and Film Memorabilia" collection, they're also selling framed original posters from the good old days. Like one of our favourite films Gone With The Wind. Ahh yes - posters - not a lot to do with fashion, but "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn". Shame Bonhams aren't auctioning off the Vivienne Leigh (Scarlet O'Hara) blood red velvet dress. Now THAT would have been worth bidding for!

Chloe Can Do No Wrong

Chloe's banana and pineapple manoeuvre may have been a huge success all around the world, but if we were given the choice, we wouldn't go for that stuff. The t-shirts were fun, but there are so many other fantastic things we'd rather wear. But that's neither here or there. The fact is that Chloe's Creative Director Phoebe Philo has delivered so many wonderful creations since her start in 1997, that any fruit print garment could be forgiven. With names like Karl Lagerfeld and Stella McCartney showing a history in the design team, Chloe as a top design house, is as solid as a rock. Last year, sales rose by 60% and if this is a trend to go by, then their Tax Office must be laughing. We adore Chloe, and what we particularly like of the most recent collections, are the high-necked apron dresses, and some of the romantic chiffon pieces in whimsical prints. The knee high, stack-heeled boots in combination with slouchy leather handbags and long scarves works extremely well. The dress shown here is unmistakably Chloe, and our solid wish list item number one at the moment. We just need to re-mortgage the house, that's the only problem.

Jet Set Hippies

Ozzie label Jets’ swimwear is something we’ve raved about before. Their deluxe collections – White Label and Black Label, are likely to stir people’s imagination, in countries where summer’s soon coming. Unfortunately most of us won’t be able to get hold of these ranges as they are limited editions. But don’t miss their swimwear through their website. The good news is that the label is unveiling “Hippies”. As the name suggests, it’s a very casual selection of t-shirts, draw string pants, lingerie, wrap skirts and kaftans, in amazing materials such as sand washed silk and silk velvet. And if their previous deliveries are anything to go by, Hippies should be absolutely superb. This collection will be presented at the Mercedes Australian Fashion Week in Sydney, between 1 and 8 May. We will of course publish the earliest and most up-to-date reports on this, directly from the shows… Watch this space!

Not Square At All

Dsquared2 is the Italian fashion label of Canadian twins Dean and Dan Caten who relocated to Milan in 1995 to further their dreams of fashion design. Dsquared2 has been successful because of their inventive and radical approach to fashion. Described as 'haute couture casual', another way of talking about their collections is the untapped divide between high and low fashion. Their range flirts appealingly between street and catwalk, with an artistic edge difficult to obtain. Dean and Dan Caten talk about their own selection as "...Design that we'd like to wear ourselves. We want people to look cool, not dressed up".

This style is something you may see in any fashion capital, but as far as the Sydney street wear's concerned, we're just hitting a new era. The big department store David Jones is now launching Dsquared2, and we can't wait to check out what the fabulous twins have in store for us. Their Milan autumn/winter 2005-6 collection is very cool, as can be seen below. Well-worn leathers, cropped pencil trousers and soft, floppy borsalino hats mixed with a refined selection of accessories, such as our favourite, the silk scarf. With the great use of colours, layers and accessories, we simply love this selection. Though we shudder to think how we'd get through the piles of snow in Europe in those fabulous open toed high heels... View the full collection here.

Hunter's and Collections

One exhibition we're going to make sure not to miss is the National Gallery of Victoria's presentation of Hunter's & Collections. This museum is based in Melbourne, and has specialised over the years in exhibiting personal wardrobes of clothes from designers' seasonal ranges. Encased within the exhibition is an abundance of designer fashion including two Yves Saint Laurent ranges featuring (mostly) his work from 1980s and 1990s. Fashion enthusiast Neil Taylor (also an artist) kindly lends his selection of the worlds end couture - a label by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren - and the late Mavis collection of classic Chanel suits from the 60s and 80s is also showcased. Read more about the exhibition here.

Below: Yves Saint Laurent. Blouse from 1966 and skirt and sash from 1984.