Be There Or Be Square...

What: Fashioncurescancer
Why: A charity event, organised by KM6 Fashion Agency to raise money for cancer research
When: 6 July 2005 at 9.00pm til late
Where: Monastery Nightclub, 621 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane
How: Fashion shows will run throughout the evening, a fancy celebrity dinner auction will be held, kissing booths - where we believe you may be able to purchase a kiss from somebody famous (or at least somebody damn good looking), bid for a date with a hot celebrity, and $1000 worth of raffle prize packs... The list just goes on!
Who: Fashion/music victims, and celebrities wise enough to combine a fun night and donate to charity!

Milan's Moda Uomo Fashion Week

While we're waiting for the high sewing to get ready in Paris, in a few days time, Milan is going to be a busy place this week. 46 different brands, and a total of 118 collections are expected to run over the five days. The focus is men, and although we're delighted to see a complete homage to the other gender, most of the collections so far have been completely mad. While Jill Sander opened up the week with a typically German collection, Alexander McQueen suggests that feathers, sequins, and buttons are the key features for men next spring/summer. What Vivienne Westwood had been up to looses a lot in translation - go check it out yourselves! Christopher Bailey's charming country boy influences for Buberry Prorsum were nice enough, but when he brought in the 'car sales man' double sided dinner jacket from 1987, he'd clearly gone too far. (Below, one of Alexander McQueen's numbers).

Style And Sound: A Case for A Cause...

...was the name of the online charity and auction held yesterday. The organiser, (CFDA) hosted an online charity auction bidding for iPod cases and playlists, created by designing duos led by Marc Ecko and Carolina Herrera. The income from the auction, which was way over $20,000, will benefit Fashion Targets Breast Cancer charity. Along with Zandra Rhodes' event “My Favourite Dress Charity Ball”, which we reported on earlier, it’s good to see the change that influential fashion people can make.

Wear A Posh Crown

Victoria Beckham's move in the fashion world is a topic we've covered before, and although the career move from music to fashion seems as common as Guinness in Dublin, it's interesting to see the result. Posh's designer skill is something that many have been eager to knock, us included in all fairness. But who are we to judge a fashionista that clearly has a passion for beauty? The first set of denim is available now at E-Luxury.com. In conjunction with Rock & Republic, her "London Crown Jean - British Style", can be purchased for a mere $275. The style is described as "...low on the hips and fits slim through the leg for an undeniably sexy, of-the-moment look...". In other words, nothing new, nothing ground breaking, but will sell like a mad clear out sale simply because of the price tag, the image and the indications that tons of celebrities are queuing up for a pair.

For Brides To Be

Moda Barcelona, BCN Bridal Week, is not just a fashion week for brides to be, eager to check out the latest creations for their special day in glitz and glam... It’s also an event held in one of our favourite cities, and it’s on right now, if you're in the area and feel like a quick de-tour from Barcelona’s wonderful Diagonal. The wedding theme is not just limited to the amazing fabrics and different styles of the dresses, but shows an inspiring presentation of hair styles, locations, reception table layouts, and links to all the designers.

They're Back!

Remember our reviews from Sydney’s Fashion Week, and some of our comments on the 80s style mini shorts? Well, the shorts were one of the garments displayed that really brought us back to the days of super-sized shoulder pad jackets and miniature, tight bottoms. Dejà vú is all we can say, the shorts are back again, and this time they’re spotted on Jessica Simpson, a woman more commonly known for her daft behavior and absence of character, rather than her great sense of fashion. The mini shorts have been a frequent subject at other blogs too, both with great enthusiasm and negative views. It seems that ever since Kylie’s flesh baring appearance in those skimpy golden hot pants, worn in a video five years ago, the shorts business took on a new meaning. This season, longer shorts, virgin on Capri pants have been often spotted, and seen as sophisticated alternatives to Bermudas. The longer shorts have also been a version that’s nearly made mini shorts looking vulgar in comparison, an effect that surely will seem more diluted later on this year. Mini shorts are here again - on that note, we’re just going to climb the stairs to the attic and search for that dusty box marked “clothes 1984”...

Europe For Myer

Myer is famous for its strong focus on domestic labels, and a real treat for that reason too. Holding a rather extensive selection of Australian labels, department stores like Myer or David Jones, are usually the introduction spots to an addictive shopping spree. And although there is really fabulous fashion creativity here, it’s great to hear that in a few weeks time, the department store will expand its fine international section, and bring in some new labels from Europe and overseas. British labels Georgina Goodman and Rupert Sanderson will be found on the shoe shelves, from next month. And while we’ve been able to buy Manolo Blahnik and Chloe shoes at David Jones for some time, Myers are now taking up the trend to bring in a super luxurious collection of Blahniks. Clearly, Sydney retailers are becoming a little more open minded in their promotion and sales of new labels, to complement their standard domestic collections. This will give new inspiration and competition, that could only mean that the horrid “ugh” boot, will finally meet its maker.

Mad Shopaholic Award?

Seeing as one of our readers asked us to publish a shopping report, the following break down can now be presented...

Numbers Of Shoes and Bags Owned Currently
The current shoe capacity comes down to 28 pairs of shoes. The number of handbags is currently 16.

Most Recent Item Purchased
Two pairs of jeans - a pair of black skinny jeans, made by Mavi, and another pair of dark blue, skinny Nobody jeans. Both of the pairs look great worn stuck inside some knee-high boots, ballet flats or even super-high, round toed 40s style shoes. Both pairs of jeans were purchased this weekend (just gone), and go brilliantly well with a new knee length, black velvet coat from Shona Joy. This was a bargain find at David Jones, and a perfect coat for the mild, albeit windy Sydney winter climate.

Best Ever Purchase
This title easily brings to mind the classic Jackie-bag from Gucci, purchased in Rome 2002. The bag, which is black with a hematite metallic clutch, is commonly used, and even to date still looks brand new. Soon after the purchase, a matching purse in exact pattern became an obvious sought after item; today, this is a purse that fits like a glove in the darling handbag. Other brilliant purchases have been a denim jacket from Sass & Bide; quite an unusual style, a very feminine bask model, ornate with a ruff detailed back, and civil war-influenced with lots of buttons. The album "Stand and Deliver" always feels relevant when sliding into the jacket, and even Adam Ant would have turned green with envy. It’s the kind of jacket that has been subject to many compliments, and in addition is extremely comfortable too... On a more serious business note, the tailored, made to measure suits from Narry’s in Bangkok are well worn, and deserve a big comment in this context. The fabrics are impeccable, and the tailoring cut to perfection. Needless to say, Narry’s are well worth the visit if a Bangkok trip is in order.

Worst Ever Purchase
A very touchy subject, as there’s no such thing as a bad purchase really. Having said this, (and quoting Manolo), an ‘un-super fantastic’ buy was a pair of black, over sized boots that were so 1997, and also so very Helsinki, Finland, where they were purchased. The boots were far too wide round the calves, and gave a sort of “Three musketeers impression”. To add insult to injury, The Spice Girls, at the time were seen to wear similar boots...

Now, all you coolchiqs out there; go ahead and publish the same reports on your websites, or in the comments field below - we’d love to see the results of this, and to see who’s the maddest shopaholic online! And who knows, you may even get the award for the title “The Maddest Shopaholic Online”...! Clearly we’re far from Imelda Marcos’ shoe collection, so there’s no chance that we’ll qualify for this award...

Back Online

We won’t bore you with the details, but to cut a long story short, a serious computer crash, and having to spend ridiculously long hours at work, has got in the way of keeping up to date with any website work whatsoever. But now we’re finally back online again, and keen to be part of the world of fashion. It’s always impressive to come back after a break like this and see names like Bryan Ferry, and the guys from Madness on the attendance list at events like the “Graduate Fashion Week”. Not only is it entertaining and quite fascinating to see their genuine involvement in fashion, but it’s also refreshing to see their choice of event. Clearly ditching the real runway parades due to kick off in a few weeks time; these gentlemen are cool enough to attend low profile parties such as this. But seeing as we’re not even close to their level of coolness, we’re really excited to see the collections of next year’s spring/summer shows coming soon. Until then, we have an assignment to complete; Swedish coolchiq Britta asked for a thorough presentation of our shopping lives, including everything from best purchases to numbers of hand bags owned and big shopping failures. Stay tuned – an interesting report on this will follow shortly...