Cover me

Oooh, my new obsession is a site I found on my sister's Blog, banana meet-cute. I've long been obsessed with mags. My Mum used to get British Vogue & ELLE when I was a kid and I ate them up. I knew what days they were delivered to the local shop and I still get excited when I pick up a latest issue, all shiny and smelling all papery. Then as a teen I got a subscription to Cleo mag for my birthday, which was fantastic. And I loved Dolly. But pretty soon it was back to Vogue & ELLE.
So as that I can pay my rent, I had to cull a lot of the mags so now the only regular ones I get are British Vogue & ELLE, Grazia, NW, Who, LOVE magazine and NO magazine, plus the sadly defunct Pavement. Although I recently wanted to buy a NO mag sub for a friend so emailed the editor of NO - who'd I'd met in passing years ago, and passed on my praise of this fab local mag - to a big NO reply! Very disappointing. Anyway....I digress. I keep my eye out for any spesh issues of W, V, Another Magazine, Nylon, Interview, ID, Details, GQ, Frankie, Russh, Remix and other country's Vogue & ELLEs - mainly Australian Vogue.
Sooo many covers are still etched into my brain and through these glossy little portals, I discovered a world of glossy, glitter-laden glamour. Dolly introduced me to Wheels and Dollbaby at age 13, and I'm still a fan and visit their store every time I visit Sydney. Shots by luminaries such as Mario Testino, David LaChapelle, Stephen MiseselEllen Von Unwerth, Steven Meisel, Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott and Sante D'Orazio adorned my walls and goddesses such as Helena Christensen, Kate Moss, Linda Evangelista, Nadja Auermann, Carla Bruni, Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford bore down on me. For almost the last 18 years, I've kept a file of crumpled favorite pictures ripped from fashion mags that have adorned my bedrooms in Auckland, London, Sydney, then back again. I still have them. I still get excited when pick up a new fashion mag, it's an obsession. An addiction. It's intoxicating! I could go on and on about my love of the mags, but shall cut myself off now here and share with you but a few of my fave past & present mag covers!
For your mag fix, check out Mag Nation!

Eric Daman rocking Gossip Girl Season 4

Gossip Girl Season Four, my guilty pleasure has been absolutely fantastic in terms of fashion eye-candy! Eric Daman has got his mojo back. Episode 3 ('The Undergraduates') was particularly spectacular with one utterly fabulous outfit after another. Here are some of my faves...

New character Juliet is rocking an exquisite tight & tailored wardrobe. This grey wool zippered McQueen is to die for. Adore that cut - I love a shift dress. Victoria Beckham, Roland Mouret, Marc Jacobs and McQueen cut them so well. VB should be proud to be in that category!

Am in love with this Yigal Azrouel dress with it’s immaculate contours and sexy cut out back, very Victoria Beckham-esque. And with denim Dolce & Gabbana pumps – amazing!

Speaking of VB, Gossip Girl use her designs a lot and this creamy camel drapey dress from Fall 2010 is stunning.

Serena in a billowing Jenny Packham dress strides into the DVF Fashion's night Out event echoing Christy, Cindy, Noami and Linda at the height of the 90's, storming Versace's runway to 'Freedom' in 1991 in full Amazon glory. This scene is shot at DVF's store in the Meatpacking District, an amazing space. The bold print dress, which almost looks like zebra, with a slash of sequined blue belt & neckline looks amazing on Blake Lively's killer curves.

Blair at the same event in iridescent pewter Valentino dress.

I love leopard. I love colour. I love sequins. So how cute are these Betsey Johnson dresses on Blair's minions?!

So pretty, fashion confection. I'm looking forward to what what Eric has in store for the rest of the season! XOXO

Things I'm loving in October

Things that I am loving in October, my birthday month! Tom Ford Private Blend Lipsticks. What's not to like about this picture? Tres Helmut Newton.
A Single Man. Yes I know I'm slow off the mark, but didn't manage to see it at the movies so finally rented it on DVD. Beautiful story that manages to capture the heart and the pathos and of the book, shot through the gorgeously luxe lens of Mr Tom Ford. Beautiful sets, clothes, and people - mise en scene to die for!
Robert Mapplethorpe. I just finished reading Just Kids and I cried. Robert was a beautiful talented angel with raggedy wings whose photographs draw you in to their endless inky pools of liquid black, which captures me in a way that Caravaggio's paintings with their striking use of chiaroscuro. You can get lost in that darkness.
Alison Mosshart & Jamie Hince for Zadig & Volatire. Fabulous shots by Olivier Zahm.
Victoria Beckham eye wear. Need I elaborate?!
Julianne Moore for Bulgari. Luxe-a-licious.
Stevie Nicks, and Fleetwood Mac. Having just watched the doco on the making of Rumours again, am totally entranced by the music, the harmonies and the raw emotion of the band during this time. And of course, Stevie is the quintessential rock chick. (Gee, she looks like Rachel Zoe here!)

Dark Angel Patti Smith

I began reading this fantastic book a few weeks ago, Just Kids by Patti Smith which tracks her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe, he of the scandalous R18 Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition at Wellington’s City Gallery in the 90’s. Am halfway through and can’t get enough of her mellifluous tale of two boho kids with dreams of becoming famous artists, negotiating the streets of New York in the late 60’s living on little more than coffee, grilled cheese sandwiches and their passion for art. Often forgoing food for a new pencil or paint brush, the two collide in Tompkins Square Park 1967 and strike up an intense relationship.
Their era is that of the Beat poets, Vietnam and Bob Dylan. Andy Warhol rules the factory and Brian Jones has just been found dead. Downtown New York is a seething mass of burgeoning artists and musos, where the likes of Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Salvador Dali and Allen Ginsberg hold court at the Chelsea Hotel. Both have a voracious appetite for art and spend their days and nights sketching, painting, writing poetry and listening to their favourite albums such as Blonde on Blonde in the dilapidated dives that they frequent, decorating their salubrious surroundings in trinkets and curios they pick up on their travels through the streets of Brooklyn and Chelsea.

Patti Smith by Robert Mapplethorpe, 1973

You know how sometimes, when you hear a word or read about a certain person, you then often keep seeing that word or person everywhere?? I was playing on Polyvore the other day, inspired by this book, and decided to do a collage dedicated to the style of Patti Smith. So I thought for a minute about what clothes best suited this lanky, pale rock goddess and immediately thought Hedi Slimane for Dior and Ann Demeulemeester. Then subsequently I found out that Ann Demeulemeester is indeed Patti’s favourite designer!

Patti Smith style by LoulouBlue

Then, I was flicking through my latest Vogue magazine and the pages fell across a striking image that captured my attention – a black & white shot of a lanky Patti-esque rock chick, legs forever and a shock of black hair. And lo and behold, on reading the blurb at the beginning of the editorial , found out it was shot by Hedi Slimane who was channeling Patti Smith through singer Jamie Bochert – who was introduced by Bochert by... Ann Demeulemeester! So there you go. And Bochert’s makeup by Lauder’s Tom Pecheux, who I mentioned in my first October Blog.
Jamie Bochert by Hedi Slimane in Dark Angel, Vogue UK September 2010
Blondie was always my fave of the era, with her sassy punk bombshell looks & attitude, but I feel like I've missed something by not being aware of Patti Smith. Her writing, her music, her fashion sense and her art pique my interest and something resonates with me as I read her book. Patti sounds fascinating and I love the way she expresses herself. Her writing is very inspiring, so I am embarking on an exercise to find out more about Patti Smith - starting with pulling out my copy of Horses, then watching this documentary, Patti Smith - Dream of Life.

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