In the cookies of life, sisters are the chocolate chips...

And I sure do L O V E my sisters!

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Look what arrived in the mail today (uhm...that is not why I love them so much, honest)!

I still cannot believe it...

I loved so many things about Burberry Prorsum's 'Garden Girls' SS'09 collection: the dip dyed coats, ribboned pieces, beautiful prints, rumpled straw hats, linen trench coats...but most of all, I fell hard for the 'flower accessories' that featured so prominently on the runway. So romantic yet tough at the same time; necklaces, pendants, bracelets & rings comprised of metallic or acrylic flowers. The metallic-flower pieces (ie. like mine) were hand-sprayed brass traditional British flowers, including daffodils, crocuses, lilies of the valley and snowdrops (and yes, before you ask, it is heavy!).

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via tfs

Following on from the 'Garden' theme...I played around with a new 'toy' hubby gave me for my birthday, taking it for a test-run around my garden...

click to enlarge

I had a magical (spoiled!) birthday weekend, look forward to sharing more about it in the next post...

Recent Buy: Complex Geometries

Hailing from Canada, Clayton Evans studied art & architecture, and debuted his label Complex Geometries in Fall 2005. With monochromatic fabrics, striking shapes to create minimalist pieces that can be worn a variety of ways, its intricate draping & distinctive cuts, Clayton creates clothes that focus on "the clean, the smart, and the soft". The concept behind Complex Geometries is very minimalist, yet designed in an intricate and interesting way; as Evans puts it “the line itself is a balance between challenging and comfortable”. The simple lines of the pieces, usually made of silk and jersey, play off the different geometrical shapes used by Evans resulting in a line of clothes that is cool and fresh without trying too hard.

The SS09 collection played around with the notions of travel (the clothes are light & pack well) and unconventional cuts, CG's signature look. I have been coveting this Silk Split Square dress for a year or so.

When Mathilde generously shared that CG was offering 40% off for one day only (which I fortuitously read just before I was heading to bed), I swiftly pounced on the opportunity to finally acquire this dress.

A reversible black asymmetrical silk column dress with a slight cowl and a silk chiffon lining that hangs longer than the satin outer layer. This dress is a prime example of CG's wonderfully utopian formula: garments that have several permutations, allowing the wearer to choose front or back, inside out or outside in. I am afraid this post is mostly gratuitous, as I scoured the internet to find some of these "permutation's" in which this dress can be worn, and have collated them in this one post for my own reference.

As a fan of garments that can be worn in a variety of ways, it is often the case that after purchasing such an item, I only remember a handful (at most) of ways I can wear it, and forget the rest. Case in point: I have a Dries Van Noten large wool 'wrap' that has five holes in it, and like a CG piece, could be worn in 1001 different ways, which looked cool on the mannequin, but when I took it home, I was dumbfounded as to how to wear it, I wish it had come with instructions. but that is another post altogether...

www.complexgeometries.com

www.oaknyc.com

www.reborn.com.ws

www.complexgeometries.com

Power shoulders: my Costume National jacket

Power shoulders seem to have crept back into fashion for the last year or two, starting with Martin Margiela sending out sharp and very wide shoulders for his Fall/Winter 2007 collection, and most noticeably, Christopher Decarnin's amazing SS09 & FW09 collections.

Spring/Summer 2009

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Fall/Winter 2009

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I love my Costume National jacket, from Ennio Capasa's Fall/Winter 2001 collection, which has worn so well in the last 7 or so years. I love its beautifully tailored thick wool, and it's nice to see that the design does not seem to have dated:



I dug up these pictures after I wore my outfit, and laughed when I saw the lace top worn on the runway looked so similar to the top I picked to wear under my Nathan Jenden dress, which in turn was worn under the same Costume National jacket above, haha...great minds think alike?



Alannah Hill 'I like it I'll take it' French Lace top
Nathan Jenden Suejogi black wool pleated dress (better pics HERE)
Costume National black wool jacket
Leona Edmiston Pins leggings in Onyx
Gucci patent studded stiletto heels (I took THESE close-up pics last year)

Shame black is so hard to photograph...oh, and please excuse my solemn face, someone walked past my driveway and I froze, haha...

Recent Buy: Roksanda Ilincic silk draped dress

I am so incredibly excited about my latest purchase, which should arrive in time for my birthday next week (not that I have any idea what I am doing on the day, except that I will not be working, woo hoo!)

LOVE the draped hem, nude/peach + black colour combination, and the Swarovski-crystal embellishments on the front of this Roksanda Ilincic silk dress...

www.swarovski.com (click to enlarge pics below)

Roksanda Ilincic is another designer I absolutely love, since her first collection in 2006 (her debut collection being one of my top 3 faves), with beautiful draping and roses made of silk. With a penchant for large bows, roses and amazing 'construction/structure/shape/drape', there is so much to love about Roksanda's stunning designs. Ilincic's dresses bring out the romantic in a girl. 'There's a personality that's not just Serbian but Eastern European,' she says, 'That culture is quite nostalgic, romantic in a way. You can see it in my work.' Her mother always had these silk roses in different colours, which she would change according to her outfit'. Roses are now motif for Roksanda in all of her collections. I had so much fun sharing my favourite pieces of Nathan Jenden's to date, I thought I'd do the same for Roksanda...

Fall/Winter 2009

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Spring/Summer 2009

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Fall 2008 is my favourite collection of Roksanda's (also loved SS09 above), and on researching a little on what inspired her, it was easy to see why. Roksanda Ilincic went to Brasília (capital of Brasil) one Christmas, and returned with a memory full of Oscar Niemeyer's amazing architectural shapes, vistas of waterfalls, and brilliant flashes of tropical color. On her return, Ilincic experimented with new kinds of structure, contrasting soft with hard, splashes of green, pink, and orange that she saw in Brazil. The arching shapes came through in soaring shoulders and the faceted standout panels that jutted from the hips or contained color-blocked zones of satin in bodices; the flashes of neon were in contrasting sashes, or a pouf of bright ostrich feather.

(www.style.com)

Fall/Winter 2008

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Spring/Summer 2008

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Fall/Winter 2007

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Spring/Summer 2007

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Fall/Winter 2006

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Spring/Summer 2006

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