Chrysler Building

Looking at some of the styles of the shoes for next summer all we can say is - Good Luck to those of you who decide to go for this type of shoe (Well, we shouldn't really say 'Good Luck'. 'Break a Leg' is probably more appropriate). Isn't it funny to think that any one would have us led to believe it's even safe walking around in this sort of stuff?? Aoouch!

J3tlag

No, don’t let the subject fool you. We’re not jet lagged. We’re not planning to be. In fact, we haven’t even been on a long haule flight for quite some time now. No, the title relates to the website with the same name. And why do we mention this? Well, as you all fashionistas know, you usually end up doing a fair bit of preparation before you’re off travelling somewhere. Preparations that either may change the whole travelling experience, or just a brush up your knowledge of the place you’re about to visit. We’ve mentioned the Where To Wear collection, that’ll give you an interesting read of what the fashionistas in, say, Milan may look like. The many different streetwear sites are other entertaining sources (needless to say we’re not suggesting you should try to copy the styles, but use this information as guidelines).

Other brilliant reads are J3tlag that’ll give you very well covered information that would appeal to any vagabond wherever you may be. Delivered in an attractive shape, this site delivers great stuff, covering the areas News, Global, Domestic, Adventure, Business, and Fashion. It’s thanks to coolhunting that we got to hear about the move of Beneath (Swedish street wear shop now based on Kungsholmen, Stockholm), and the opening of the Ice Bar in London, etc. Definitely a coolchiq vagabond thing, if you were to ask us.

coolchiq Loves...

... Marc Jacobs' polkadot "mouse shoes". They're available at Net-a-porter and are just the cutest pair of shoes we've seen in ages.

After Shopping At Les Quatre Gats

Let’s be perfectly honest; Asia is fantastic for shopping, but... Europe is better. Sorry, that’s just the way it is. And in terms of shopping success out of all the countries we’ve visited, Spain takes the lead big time. The best and the most interesting “After Shopping” place in Barcelona, is with no doubt Les Quatre Gats (“4 Cats” translated to universal lingo). This cosy little pub/restaurant, was designed by Puig Cadafalch in neo-gothic style, and was a meeting place for famous artists like Pablo Picasso, Miguel Utrillo and Ramón Casas. The atmosphere, live piano music and decorations are fantastic, and the service is... ehhr, Barcelona-charming. You will have most likely spent most of your day/s 'doing' the Diagonal blocks, so jump in a cab down to the gothic quarters of the old town, and get ready for this place. Here you’ll bump into slightly eccentric artists, big Spanish family parties, tourists of course, or just romantic couples. But they all have one thing in common - appreciation of great atmosphere.
What: Les Quatre Gats
When: Open from early morning ‘til 2am, and anytime between this is just as lovely. It tends to get very busy in the evenings, so bookings (for dinner) are essential.
Where: Carrer Montsió 3-bis, Barcelona, Spain
Dresscode: To use an old cliché: smart-casual, but not too ‘dressy’ (in other words, leave your Blahniks at home). This isn’t a fancy cocktail bar, but an arty, wonderful, charismatic pub/restaurant, full of life and history. We felt perfectly comfortable in our Sass & Bide’s and a blazer.

Fashion on the Films: In the Mood for Love

If you haven't seen this film yet, all we can say is - get yourself a copy of "In the Mood For Love". It's beautifully illustrated, the acting is good, and the clothes are totally stunning. Nothing else needs to be said.

Scanlan & Theodore

Daffodil yellow, iris blue, poppy red and aqua are just some of the colours appearing in Scanlan & Theodore's most recent collection. Following their long time success on the Ozzie market, they've now recently opened an online shop where a good selection of this can be purchased. Expensive - yes, but stunning stuff. Oh, while we're at it... don't miss to check out what was shown in MAFW in Sydney, earlier this year.

Blahnik's A Lucky Guy

Any frequent reader of Vogue's newsletter, is probably up to date with the article about Manolo Blahnik and our lovely internet colleague Manolo... Ha - All we can say is; you may be one helluva shoe maker, Mr Blahnik, but you ain't got a sharp tongue like the Manolo.

"A New Yorker who goes by the name Manolo the Shoeblogger has been delighting the fashion pack this year with bitchy snippets about high-profile individuals, calling John Galliano, for instance, a "freaky little fashion troll" and Gerard Depardieu "slovenly and outwardly repulsive". Rather disappointingly, the cutting remarks haven't been coming from Manolo Blahnik himself, although the great man doesn't seem at all bothered by the gossip the cyber blog has generated..."

Alfredo Bouret in Sydney

Those with a genuine interest in fashion illustrations may have heard the name Alfredo Bouret before. This retrospective follows the artist’s illustrious career from the late ’40s through to the early ’60s, a time when photography didn’t have a strong hold over international fashion magazines and Alfredo’s amazing sketches of Balenciaga, Dior and Givenchy gowns graced their pages. Proving that life often imitate art, the exhibition also contains works from a Mexicana series of 1954, which inspired an early collection by Valentino.

Where? In the QVB, The Victoria Room, Level 3, Town Hall, Sydney. On until 23 October 2005.

After Shopping At The Equinox

We’ve mentioned "After Shopping" in Stockholm, Sydney and Rome. This time, we’re off somewhere slightly more exotic for a change... Singapore. And, any fashio-holic who’s visited this city will agree that it’s one of the best shopping cities in the world. Just like the many boutiques, there are plenty of fantastic bars/restaurants, in which you can rest your tired shopped-out feet. We could of course make it easy for ourselves, and send you straight down to The Raffles Hotel for a Singapore Sling... but let’s not go there. No, our place of choice – The Equinox – is much more interesting, and will no doubt leave you with a memory for life. Expect an absolutely breathtaking view from the 69^th floor (one of the best in the world we reckon), excellent cocktails, and outstanding service. Expect also a huge bill and Mr and Mrs Wealthy seated next to you. But hey, you only live once, so why not treat yourself as often as possible?
What: The Equinox
When: Come as early as you possibly can. Window seats get taken early, so try to get a seat for 5pm at the latest; otherwise you’ll end up somewhere overlooking Mr and Mrs Wealthy’s backs...
Where: 2 Stamford Road, Singapore
Dresscode: Singapore is just one of these cities where nothing's too fancy. Just like the last place we mentioned, Caffé Greco in Rome, no-one would bat an eyelid if you came here wearing a red carpet-esque outfit.

Allow Us This Much At Least

Let's play "Analyze This", coz we fear of loosing it out here in this big, hot, cowboy hat-loving-country. Yesterday we were going bananas over Chloe's sweet, angelic shirt-dresses, that were brought out in a variety of styles last Friday in Paris. In fact, we were so distracted about Chloe's God-sent collection that we were still awake at 4am last night, thinking out hundreds of different scenarios as to when, how and where any of these angel looking shirt-dresses could be worn. Note the description here, a "shirt-dress", which qualifies the garment for even more versatility. So that was Chloe. Today we're over-the-moon over Lacroix's colourful show. Some people have even suggested that we're going nuts, and need a break from anything shallow and shopping related what-so-ever. That's all very well. But wouldn't you agree with us if we'd say that these sweet, angelic, God-sent dresses are so right for us, coz they could be worn in just hundreds of different scenarios?

Chloe's Neckline

It's impossible not to make a comment about Chloe's beautiful necklines. Isn't this just suberb? In fact we love it so much, that we've decided to let Chloe beautify our website for a while.

After Shopping At Caffe Greco

When in Rome, do as the Romans, or whatever the saying is. Well, this would literally be true, if it wasn’t for all the Japanese, Spanish, French, and South American people you’re likely to meet here as well. But never mind the bollocks, eh sorry, cosmopolitan mix... if you’ve been shopping all day in Rome, and you’re desperate for a sit down and a drink, then the ultimate choice would be Caffe Greco. Situated right in middle of luxury-boutique-city-arizona-land (there’s no point even mentioning all the labels...), then this place has all we need after a hard day’s work on feet. BTW, Jennifer Saunders likes it here too, and she is much shorter in real life.
What: Caffe Greco
When: Anytime throughout the day
Where: Via Condotti 84, Piazza di Spagna, Rome
Dresscode: The sky is the limit - this is Rome, and we’re in the most glam part of the city, so why not take this excellent opportunity to really dress up. Oh, and do we need to remind you that Italians are the most well dressed nation in the world? Hardly dahlings. Come along wearing your little black dress and Ginas, or your Balenciaga blazer and stilettos, or how about...

Street coolchiqs

Dress codes on the streets, around the world are subjects that Britta, Anna and other coolchiqs have talked about before. And this is really inspiring, coz there's nothing more fun to check out what we're likely to see on the streets globally (especially if we're planning a trip somewhere). To check out London street wear, a site called Catwalk City is really good. This section through Vogue leads us to what the very chic girls at Sloane Street look like when off and about. Fashion in the streets of Japan (Tokyo mainly) could be viewed at Fashionjapan, and is really good fun. Beautiful, eccentric Helsinki is contributing to this with Hel-looks, a more arty fashion site than street wear. And for us, being torn between two of the most beautiful countries in the world, we like to keep an eye on -

1.) Sthlmstil.se for an update on what city slick Stockhomers are wearing these days.
2.) Vogue.com.au for cool, laid back, Aussie girls fashion. This site is far from brilliant, as it deserves an update, but still good fun to check out.

Now, we do realise that were missing out big parts of the rest of the world, so if you know of other cool sites worth mentioning we'd looove to hear from ya! UPDATE: We were kindly recommended to check out Elle's section, that holds photos of fashionistas from New York - awesome!

PS. Isn't this bloody typical - because of all this, we're off to look for a cape now...

Suits You Madam!

Remember how we went on-and-on about Balenciaga's winter 05 collection? Well, déjà vu... It's time to raise our praises to Nicholas Ghesquiere again. What we've loved about his previous collections, has been his excellent repertoire of super fine cuts, retro-influenced fine details, and of course the amazing fabrics. And here's to Mr Ghesquiere again; he's not letting us down this season either. This collection presents an inspiring selection of dresses, fitted jackets and pencil trousers that we can easily see ourselves wearing. It's not just the cuts or the fabrics this time, it's the combination of ruffled frilly collars, and stripy black-white trousers. This stuff's got so much attitude that you'd be happy to wear this at the office, or at a Marilyn Manson concert. And seeing as we always love versatile two-piece suits, then this should be an ideal choice.

Fashion on The Films: The Graduate

Well, the high street shops in Sydney are definitely focusing on one trend at the moment; 60's inspired fashion, that is. Tons of bright, bold colours, short jackets and skinny trousers are available, and of course, geometric patterns. But don't forget to check out some of the films from this era to get a real flavour of how, what and where all of this stuff was worn. The Graduate is a prefect example, where Katherine Ross does the character Elaine, played against Dustin Hoffman. Needless to say, Katherine Ross looks superb in this film, not just by her stunning looks (bitch), but her excellent clothes selection that features the era perfectly. All we can say is; go see this film (again).

Coloured Opinion

The amazing colour scheme represented on the runway recently has been quite overwhelming. Black is definitely not the new black anymore. Thank goodness, as we were beginning to wonder if we'd have to look like we've just come from our own funeral next season too! It's great to see so many collections full of creativity and strong vibrant colours (though far from all shows fit into this description). Veronice Etro, the woman behind Etro, presented a fabulous, strong collection full of whimsy, feminine summer dresses - one of them show below. Another designer, who'd taken the full colour palette into consideration, was Roberto Cavalli. Even Gucci, the fashion house you'd normally associate with safe black, sandy/beige numbers (neutrals basically), had given Frida Giannani the authority to play up the colour combos. Looks like the summer of 2006 should be a pretty bright season.

coolchiq Loves...

... tons of the accessories shown in Milan. Take for instance Alessandro Dell Acqua's show; far from glamorous, one could almost say virgin on trash and savvy. But that's the brilliant thing about these accessories - worn with the right clothes (in the right place), combined with cool attitude, any true coolchiq would look super-gorgeous in this ornate "lips" belt. Oh, and don't forget to check out the strappy, black high heels, with strawberries by the looks of things - ooh- la-la! Doesn't get much more cheeky than this though, does it?