Everything Old Is New Again

... Or at least that’s what the fabulous Belinda would have us believe. Being the founder of The Corner Shop, that we’ve raved about both here and here, Belinda is now expanding the business to roll out the Frock Exchange Shop at 497 Darling Street, Balmain. So what does this mean to us? Well, to quote Belinda herself, this is what we’re likely to come across. ”... If you like a designer bargain, you'll love The Frock Exchange due to open in mid September. One girl's trash is another's treasure, so why not snap up somebody else's Joseph, or give Marc Jacobs a second chance. Wear yourself out at The Frock Exchange...” OK, Belinda, you’re talking to us.

Liz For Oz

2005 will surely be a year for Liz Hurley to remember; she started renovating her multimillion dollar Gloucestershire farm, and has turned it into something of a top notch paradise. She carried on wearing those pure white, tight pants that gave ‘doesn’t-leave-much-to-the-imagination’ a new meaning. She turned 40, and organised a cosy birthday bash at her farm, for 150 of her closest friends. This year, she's come to the conclusion that children should have perfect, nutritious, unadulterated food, so the idea of a food brand is in process at the moment. But most importantly, she's made one of her career dreams come true and unveiled Liz Hurley Beachwear. This line was released at Harrods on 12 April, and has been a huge success since. And finally - and the reason why we’re on about this British uberbabe - on 30 August we’ll all be able to shop Liz’ beachwear at David Jones. Note for all Ozzie girls – Liz’ white signature trousers are part of this collection.

Seven Deadly Sins

It's almost as exciting to learn more about the designers themselves, as it is seeing their work at the end of the day (OK, almost as exciting). Who are they? What do they look like? And what do they wear? If you're anything like us, you'll enjoy reading the September issue of American Vogue where all of these questions are answered. Featured are Stefano Pilati, Marc Jacobs, Olivier Theyskens, Narciso Rodriguez, Miuccia Prada, Nicolas Ghesquiere, and Alber Elbaz.

Joey O Shoes

OK, a quick update on the most recent OMG-we'll-die-if-we-can't-have-these-shoes-now list. Fabulous Joey O shoes....

Rave

Seeing as we started on this subject yesterday, we might as well continue... Innovative fashion is something most people appreciate - unique jewellery is no exception. For those of us looking for something quite unique, quirky and stylish, we suggest you go and check out Rave’s excellent selection of jewellery. Their design of chunky, colourful bangles and kitschy Indian prints in the “Wearable Art” selection are adorable, and are our favorites out of the lot. But don’t miss the more subtle pieces from their “Timeless” selection; the ultimate stuff to jazz up that traditional office look.

Tokyo Recycle Project

We've mentioned The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney before. Their excellent itinerary never fails to impress us, and now they are putting up another extraordinary event we simply can't wait to attend. This time they're inviting all fashion-holics, who've ended up with all the gear but nothing to wear (...). So what's on the agenda for this? Well, the whole wonderful project is based on Masahiro Nakagawa's idea from 1999 of reusing and recycling clothing in a way that would have a new and fresh appeal. The project, named "Tokyo Recycle Project", has been a huge hit in New York, Hong Kong and throughout Japan, and has generated great excitement from the innovative clothing the team has created. The general idea is to use people's existing clothes, and transform them into something completely new. The result ends up in completely unique, one off pieces that'll surely put tons of inspiration back into our wardrobes. So do we like this idea? Ha - do bears shit in wood?
How: Enter online, and you will be contacted for consultation on the work, fitting, etc.
When: Between September 24 and October 9
Where: Powerhouse Museum, 500 Harris Street Ultimo (Near Darling Harbour)

Team Sad Bastards?

This is a phenomenen that is quite amazing. "Team Sienna", "Team Aniston" "Team Jolie", "Brad, I'll have your kids"? Clearly there's no limit to the un-superfantasticness.

Tagged

We’ve been tagged. Karin, a very talented designer/maker of functional ceramics and interior pieces, asked for below questions to be answered. So, are you ready? Here we go...

Five (+) albums we can’t live without:
Bona Drag - Morrissey
The World Won’t Listen - Smiths
Retro and/or Transformer - Lou Reed
Sheik Yerbouty and/or Joey’s Garage 1, 2 & 3 - Frank Zappa
Stop Making Sence - Talking Heads

Five movies seen recently:
The war of the worlds – Steven Spielberg
Star Wars – Return of the Sith – George Lucas
Rear Window – Alfred Hitchcock
West Side Story – Jerome Robbins
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid – George Roy Hill

Five things that put a big smile on our face:
Announcement of Swedish rellies due to visit the Southern Hemisphere soon
Payday
Parrots going bananas in the park today
Bargain Purchase of Seafolly bikini
City to Surf race completion

Rising High

It’s true what they say: what goes down must come up (or whatever the saying is). High rise jeans are the hottest stuff, and we’re excited to see the change in style. Chloe - who else - was first delivering the high waisted jeans as early as 2003. Kiwi designer Karen Walker hasn’t been knocking this trend; her high-waisted jeans are simply divine and a number one on our wish list. The fit is superb, particularly if you feel that the full on skinny-legged version is too much. Other contributors are Lee, which are now launching their own anti-low-rise style, called appropriately "High Rize". The High Rize model is their second skinny-legged style after the "Supa Tube", a model that we’ve loved to bits. The high rise jeans come in a vintage blue wash stretch denim and have a substantially higher waistline than most low-rise jeans. Available in Ozzie shops next month, this is something to look out for. In the meantime all we want - but ironically can't get hold of - is a pair of Acne....

Kate - You Look Great

She’s the queen of cool, a global fashion guru, admired and well respected in her business. Her career within the fashion has made her financially independent (for the rest of her life). She’s a chain smoker and a real party coolchiq, and she’s never been caught doing a work out. On the other hand, she can do Portobello Road like no other shopping athlete, and at the end of the day she still manages to look superb. She hangs out with the bad guys, whom her mother (surely) must have warned her about. She’s clearly no fool, but she’s no Einstein either. This year, being the proud mother of Lola and turning 31, we’ve never seen her more radiant. Is she going to look back on this picture and say “hey, didn’t I look great”. Well, of course she will. But why wait to hear it til you’re an old hog, we say? So, here it is Kate, we’ll give it to you: Kate - you look great!

Very Un-Wellies

For as long as we can remember we've always had a Wellington fobia. OK, technically it may not actually be diagnosed as a fobia, but let's at least call it a serious dislike. This God forsaken garment, ugly to the extreme, which in its right element really only serves the purpose of one thing, i.e. keeping the owner/wearer of the wellies dry. Up until a few years ago, there has been little or no selection of wellies, but since then the market seems to have gone stir crazy with all sorts of labels and models. Pucci have delivered at least one pair, Marc Jacobs have given it a go, and we've seen celebrities like Kate Moss picking up the cartoon-printed wellies such as the ones featured at ASOS. The most recent contribution to this business is the king of kitten heels, Sigerson Morrison. In his latest collection we get to choose between the most vibrant colours and full boot wellies, or even the ones pictured below; the flat "Orange Rain or Shine Skimmer-model". Somehow the concept of a pair of rubber flats just doesn't quite appeal to us, no matter how nice they are.

City To Surf

Well, as the observant reader will have noticed we haven’t been updating the fashion site quite as often as we’d normally do. This is simply because of the challenge we’re in for. Sydney’s City to Surf run is due to kick off on Sunday 14 August at 9.30am. Not only are we in the city itself at the time when this is due, but we’re running the full race of 14km. A mad training schedule has been our best mate over the past weeks. OK, a race, what the hell does this have to do with fashion you might wonder (and quite rightly so)... Tons, is the answer. Here are a few arguments that we find highly appropriate –
- 40,000 participants will be running this race and an estimated 60,000 viewers will be there. That makes at least 100,000 people to look cool in front of. In other words, signing up for something like this is not just a race, it’s an investment, and a perfectly good time to get that sought after Stella McCartney gear.
- The race finishes off on the beach, which means that a purchase of a new bikini is on the agenda.
- The race is a great inspiration to keep fit, to make you stronger and more able to persevere in the shopping mall. After all, shopping is hard work, as you all know.
- Treating yourself after completion of the race is compulsory, and will work as a carrot throughout the race. Think at least a hand bag treat, or a pair of shoes... Both will undoubtedly work more efficiently as a carrot.
- What race is complete without champers, dahling? Sod the boring stiff habits of Sebastian Coe and the likes. And who said that we shouldn’t take lessons from the Formula One business?

Now if all this doesn’t argue for itself [which we find it hard to believe], then you should check out the rest of our check list for inspiration to fitness. OK, enough of this - it's time to get back on tread mill again.