Spin me a Yarn

Lou & Ash

I have recently come across a new concept-'Slow Fashion'-preserving and promoting traditional methods and creating one-off and limited edition, hand-made pieces. I admire the philosophy and the beauty of such pieces. It's a philosophy we clean, green Kiwis can get on board with.

Alexandra Shulman, editor of British Vogue, says a lot of clothes now have all the "disposability of fast food" and a trip to a chain-store can be "as instantly fulfilling as a Big Mac and the thrill will last about as long".

Godfrey Deeney for Fashion Wire Daily, wrote after the last lot of menswear shows: "Just as slow-food fanatics enthuse about sustainable seafood, as the Paris season drew to a close last week designers were waxing lyrical about time-consuming production processes. The emphasis was on clothes made to last, which meant clothes that cost a lot and had a timeless yet quirky style: exceptional pieces where the craftsmanship, finish and quality are what counts, not the flashy first impression."

Check out local designers 'Lou and Ash' who adhere to the Slow Fashion movement. "Lou and Ash is a new knitwear label based in New Zealand, creating extraordinary one-off pieces made by hand over months. It's been said that wearing one is like bathing in a rainbow." Their Facebook Page is here.
Crochet seems to be having a resurgence and appearing all over the catwalk - check out Chanel, Paul Smith and Romance is Born,Top Shop and Helmut Lang.
The gorgeous Julia Restoin-Roitfeld (daughter of Vogue's uber-cool Editor in Chief Carine Roitfeld) wore this spectacular crochet Mark Fast dress to the ELLE Style Awards in London.
Crocheted quirkiness at Odd Molly.
Loving Madge's Dolce & Gabbana crochet bag here too.
I also found this wonderful exhibition, by a fellow Cook Islander, Ani O'Neill .
I'm drawn to dots and circles, a la Damian Hirst or Yayoi Kusama. Peter Alexander has jumped on the bandwagon with crocheted socks and scarves, and this tongue in cheek 'Faux-chet' (I just made that up, haha) 'Nana Blanket' nighty - very cute!
If this crochet lark piques your fancy, then do check out this website. My friend belongs to crochet club and they create the most amazing things: www.crochetclub.co.nz. The beautiful images below are from this fabulous site.

Maison Michel

Laetitia Crahay by Karl Lagerfeld for Maison Michel

I'M LOVING Maison Michel's Bunny ears!

It seems head-wear is back in vogue, having gone through a resurgence in the late 80's & 90's with Isabella Blow's championing of Philip Treacy. The trend in head-wear seemed to go through a lull in the noughties with a trend in Von Dutch & trucker caps - but now has swung back to the Avant Garde with a vengeance, the likes of Steven Jones and Philip Treacy (below for Alexander McQueen, Spring/Summer 2008) having a Renaissance, and new talents such as Nasir Mazhar and Laetitia Crahay.

Lady Gaga in Nasir Mazhar Orbital hat, V magazine July/August 2009

Laetitia Crahay is the Artistic Director for Maison Michel & Accessories Designer at Chanel. Maison Michel was a tiny millinery firm that Chanel invested in in 2006 as part of an effort to preserve traditional craftsmanship in Paris. Laetitia appears in her ears in the beautiful images below and at the top of this article.

Laetitia Crahay by Karl Lagerfeld for Maison Michel

Heidi Mount by Karl Lagerfeld for Maison Michel

Madonna first drew my attention to the ears when she caused quite the furor with her questionable LV outfit at the Model as Muse exhibition opening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art last year (which I was lucky enough to see in New York - utterly divine), as seen later in her Marc Jacobs LV campaign. Don't get me wrong, I love LV and did love the ears & the dress - just paired with PVC boots, it didn't quite gel for me pushing the look too close from edgy to exhibitionism on the tacky side.
I do love the ears though. Lady Gaga's cover is fab!

Ashley & MK jumped on the bunny-wagon too. Love this Lily Allen pic also.

Nude, dude

I'M LOVING nude at the moment. Honey beige swathes of fabric like that favourite Donna Karan dress I had in a previous post, that Jennifer Aniston wore.
I have also been banging on about these delicious Fendi heels, and have since seen an Olsen AND Jada Pinkett Mrs Will Smith wearing them. Jada wore the wood-soled version on Oprah ( -she was very impressed). Personally I prefer the lucite heel - natch! These babies must be the stylist's shoe du jour.

Also creamy nude lips with a devastatingly smokey eye - now I can rock a smoky eye but unfortunately, the nude lip does me no favours. But on some, it looks STUNNING! Miss Angelina is Queen of this look.
JLo is another who has totally perfected this look. A makeup artist in Barney's told me she is one of the few celebs he has seen sans makeup who is STILL stunning! (He wasn't a fan of Beyonce - eek!).

Also adoring Eve's look here pairing a stunning, shiney nude lip with MAC electric blue eyes.

But my latest FAVE is nude nails - and by nude I mean tan. Beige. Taupe. Latte. Putty. Creamy neutrals. I was hunting for a shade earlier this year but as things tend to crawl towards NZ at the rate of molten lava, hopefully the trend will hit our shores SOON! Check out some great shades recommended HERE at Beauty is a Religion Blog.

The beautiful Eva Mendes rocking a nude nail

Viva TK Store!

My favourite shop in Auckland is TK Store. A styley friend introduced this fabulous little mecca tucked away in Grey Lynn in 2007. Industrial, sleek design with concrete floors, a saddle in the window and Barcelona chairs to lounge on - I was in love!

It's so hard to find the perfect dress, but TK Store delivers every time. Whenever I need a party frock, I head here. And, the staff are friendly, cool & super helpful! Even better, there is now a second store in High St!

The very talented Turet Knuefermann's aesthetic is sexy, glam, tailored and cool - ideals I found hard to find in Kiwi fashion upon returning to NZ in 2007 from a seven year stint living in Sydney. I struggle with the ubiquitous Kiwi fashion look - dark, layered, shapeless. Designers like Turet understand that Kiwis want glamour too! Her inspirations include Tom Ford, Cavalli & Galliano, and their influence shines through in designs which have great names such as Dita, Hendrix and Nico.

I took my Mum to TK Store on my second visit, one morning after traipsing around Ponsonby & then getting caught in a pouring deluge, as Auckland does. We dashed into the store, soaking wet. I was on the hunt for a stylish LBD for a party, and a fabulous afternoon ensued, after we were greeted with a smile and a Flat White! I found racks of amazing dresses and tried on FOUR - ALL of which I loved and were cut to flatter my curvy figure - a refreshing experience. The salesgirls were uber helpful and suggested all sorts of styles I didn't think would work on me, but looked amazing. Check it out, at 50 Brown St in Ponsonby or the corner of Vulcan Lane & High St in Auckland City.