loyalty

Are you loyal to one or two brands? Do you keep going back to them again and again, for years?

I am loyal to shops. I have about half a dozen or so shops that I visit everytime I go to the city/chapel st/brunswick st. I always visit them to see if they have anything new and interesting that I might like. These include Genki, Zomp, Shag, Target, and usually Retrostar in the city, Pets Wonderland, the Salvos, Kit, Fat and JB Hifi on Chapel St, and a few others around the traps.

I have other shops too that I dont go to every time but instead leave it a bit longer between visits (usually in the hope that they've suddenly got their act together). This category includes the ground floor womens fashion of David Jones, Sportsgirl, Sussan, Wittners, David Lawrence. Shops in this category are usually not there for long, often being upgraded for a while (Ojay) or banished forever (Portmans).

But as for labels, I dont really do it. My mum has been loyal to Laura Ashley for most of her life- this includes her wedding dress (it was the late 70s, after all). She has Laura Ashley clothes from most eras of her life, including now. She often hunts out other labels too, cos she "likes them" or "they fit" or some such.

Perhaps brand loyalty will come later.... I am yet to find a brand that will consistently suit me, fit me and like me, as well as me liking it, all the time. Maybe my taste is a bit too random to stay with one brand. I have bought three things from Witchery lately, but that doesnt really make me want to go back.

If weather and money were no object I think I would be consistently loyal to Chanel and probably Gucci. But that is a whole nother league,

In other news, I finally worked up the courage to go out and buy a brand new laptop. Its shiny and black and does everything I want it to (except reformat my ipod without losing all my songs), and I can barely remember how I coped with my old one (I didnt, in the end). This means for you hopefully more posting, and for me means I can watch youtube, upload photos on facebook within the space of less than half an hour, bluetooth pics straight to ya, and FINALLY watch my videos of the Rufus Wainwright concert. Its like a dream come true.

Not it anymore....

Have "it" bags died? Not THAT long ago I pined for a Dior Gaucho bag (above) and then a Mulberry Elgin, but now its all disappeared..... There used to be so many! They all had names and they were all fabulous, but where have they gone?

I think the fact that there were so many and always new ones or new colours or new fabrics, it was impossible for normal (meaning non-massively-rich) people to either keep up or buy the Right One. And unless you were lucky enough to really LOVE one, how could you choose?

But these days it seems to have all just faded away.... you can still buy a lot of the bags in new colours etc, but no one talks about them anymore. Is it fashion death to be seen with an old It Bag? Or have we just moved on?

I personally dont want my bag to have any form of signage on it. I dont want anyone to know where I got it, what brand it is, how old it is, etc. I just want to carry it and love it and have it go with what I want. I couldnt carry a Gaucho, what would people think? SHE'S carrying a DIOR bag. It Bags seem to define you and your outfit, without you really getting a say. They are carrying you, really. I dont want people to judge me on my bag. My outfit, yes, but my bag cant speak for all of us! It has to fit in, go with the other choices of dress, shoe, hairstyle.

Maybe its too difficult to carry an It bag these days. Plus theres the fakes.... so many fakes. I dont have anything against fakes, but its gotten to the point where every "designer" bag you see is subject to great scrutiny- is it fake? she doesnt look like it would be REAL etc, and all of a sudden the gorgeous bag doesnt look so good- it might be FAKE. I do own a few fakes, but they pretty much never see daylight for fear someone will know better and point and giggle at me from across the street, before striding off with their original vintage Chanel 2.55....... I am not made to be carried by an It Bag, or vice versa.

Exceptions to this rule obviously include serious heavyweight bags like the above mentioned Chanel or a Birkin...... you can clearly tell the fakes, which I think means a lot to the real ones, and they are timeless and quite versatile, although I suppose if you took your Birkin to Coles on sunday morning you would still scream "I'm dressed casually but I am STYLISH, JUST LOOK AT THIS BAG"...... fashion is so fickle! A year ago I would have loved to have had that look at the supermarket.... but time has moved on.

sometimes i wish i could wear a giant onesie overall thing during the day like i was a painter or a scientist, and then i could wear whatever i wanted underneath and no one would know! wonder what that means..... but it kinda is an awesome idea, you'd be comfortable, warm, wouldnt get dirty, have an air of mystery while still being able to DO stuff, like bend over without pants showing any butt crack or your top riding up etc.

anyway. i digress. Here are my favourite pics this week:

Christian Lacroix Haute Couture, stunning colours.




Keeps with NGVs art deco theme..... makes me wanna bow on my coat.... from Face Hunter

this dress and shoes.... so simple and stylish.... from Face Hunter

i'm sorry, but i just love it!!

elle.com is conducting a personal style poll- the link is in our link list- the choices are

Agyness Deyn
Amy Winehouse
Angelina Jolie
Beyonce
Chelsea Clinton
Jenna Bush
Jennifer Aniston
Mary-Kate Olsen
Oprah
Sarah Jessica Parker
Victoria Beckham

who would you vote for? In terms of personal style.... I wonder how many of them dont use stylists. I think Agyness and MK Olsen dont, and I would put money on Amy Winehouse and Angelina not using one either, but I'm not too sure about the others. I do love Posh Spice though! I dont think she would use a stylist, but maybe I am biased.

I think they are all stylish, but I think Amy and MK are my favourites on this list. Closely followed by Angelina and Agyness. SJP plays it pretty safe or "classic", which always reminds me she is NOT Carrie Bradshaw, Oprah, Jennifer Aniston, Chelsea and Jenna, all pretty boring, really. Beyonce I think.... i dont know what i think. I've never really liked anything she wears, but I;ve always appreciated the glitter.

Did you wear a school uniform?

Or do you, now? If your school was particularly strict, did it have an affect on what your style is like now?

I know that for years after high school I couldnt wear nail polish for more than about 5 minutes before feeling compelled to remove it before i had to go anywhere, a definite hangover from high school where it was banned. When I was at school I knew I was into fashion, but I had neither the money or the opportunity to do much about it. Living in the country where surf shops and having the latest Billabong skirt/hoodie/jumper was the golden ticket to being popular there was not a lot of room for high fashion. Instead I went the opposite direction- I never bothered. I even wore my uniform on out-of-uniform days, claiming to have forgotten (yet clearly leaving the house with my very un-uniformed brother) but really just not game to wear my other clothes out. My parents are very big on looking "smart" which has stood me well, but its not much chop on the playground.

When I finished school I almost literally had nothing to wear. I really only owned tracksuits, white school socks, and a couple of rather dressy things that were useless for day wear. It has taken years to build up a wardrobe of basics and yummy things starting from scratch. Add to that trying to find some style and there were plenty of mistake purchases (still are). My wardrobe at my parents house is full of this sort of stuff. Dresses with sheer overlays (heehehee), hilarious pun tshirts, bad jeans, old bathers, all sorts of awful items I would never wear in real life but somehow think I might regress to if I needed to go out for dinner in my hometown. I have actually done this a couple of times, and then wondered why I felt so dowdy, dated and ugly.....

Nowadays I would love to have a week back in high school, with all the others, to see whats what now. Will the popular kids still be popular? Will the slim beautiful girls still be slim and enviable? Will the cute boys still stir your heart? Better (or is that worse?) yet, how will I fit in?

Do you have any post-school uniform tales? Have you had a reunion where everything has changed? Are you still at school- whats your story?!

Love Art Deco

I cannot wait to get to the Art Deco exhibition at the National Gallery! Art Deco is my favourite style era and this exhibit is going to send me into a frenzy, I just know it.

Its on until October so theres plenty of time and you can also buy Unlimited tickets which are $55 for adults (less for concession etc), total bargain.