Covetable Collette

Above: Highlights from Collette Dinnigan's 2012 Resort Collection 
All images: style.com

After 20 years in the fashion design business, Collette Dinnigan is still at the top of her game. Her resort 2012 collection was luscious, languid and of course, very lady-like. 

The designer - Collette Dinnigan

Source: Collette Dinnigan

Collette started off in her career making unique dry-clean only lingerie from delicate silks and vintage laces.  In 1990, the Collette Dinnigan label was born and in 1992 she opened her first store.  In 1995, Collette did her first show in Paris (the only Australian fashion designer to have ever shown in Paris).  Now with a $20 million dollar-plus fashion empire, Collette Dinnigan is a truly global brand with her clothes highly coveted by women the world over.

Divine De Gournay

Take me to the Orient - De Gournay wallpaper transports us to another time and place

Capturing in paint, delicate images of flora, fauna and landscapes of the East, french bespoke design firm De Gournay's chinoiserie wallpapers are mesmerising.  Handpainted and with the option to customise, these really are luxury finishings for your walls. 

De Gournay in gold
Source: De Gournay website

Painstakingly handcrafted a De Gournay flower comes to life
Source: alovelybeing

Source: De Gournay website

Europe's fascination with all things oriental originated from the East India Company's trading trips to China in the 17th Century. 

Now, even after centuries, it seems our love affair with chinoiserie still endures, and through De Gournay's magical work, handpainted wallpaper can still find a place in our digitised world.

Tea Time

source: Oriental Tea-house

A recent purchase from T2 has got me thinking about tea.  Tea is the most popular drink on the planet after water, with the tea plant being native to East and South Asian regions. The documented use of tea as a beverage dates back to China 10th Century BC. In the 16th Century AD, tea was imported to Europe during the Portuguese expansion and was referred to as 'cha'. By the 19th Century, the western world had adopted tea as it's own, formalising the ritual of drinking tea by serving it in the drawing room (for the 'drawing' of the tea) and enjoying high afternoon teas both at home and at high society engagements.

A little girls tea party: Source unknown

Fresh tea of course is still the best and T2 which have stores throughout Australia, have made selling tea the art form it deserves. Choose loose tea leaves or tea bags (note: they have nothing to do with your supermarket versions) and any herbal or black tea varietal you desire.  A box of their loose leaf tea also makes a nice thank-you gift too.

Above: With their bright, graphic packaging and variety of teas, T2 are taking tea into the now.

Photo Credit: Miss Silk for Especially Beautiful

Liberty London Love

Above: Colour, pattern and texture - Liberty has always loved fabric
Photo Credit: Stephen Vidler

I have unfinished business at the iconic Liberty London department store - and I am sure I'm not the only one. History, luxury, eclecticism and a passion for hand-crafted works have always been Liberty hallmarks and they continue to be so today. Liberty London was founded in 1875 by Arthur Lasenby Liberty. The store first began by selling ornaments, fabrics and objet's d'art sourced from Liberty's travels to Japan and the East. In 1924, the amazing tudor building that we know today was constructed, reflecting the love affair of tudor revival architecture at that time. With the building's interior, Liberty had wanted to create welcoming and intimate spaces so that it felt as if you were walking through the rooms of your own home. Welcoming? You will not want to leave once you walk through the entrance. Sadly Liberty passed away in 1917 before he got to see his building and his great plans come to life. No doubt he would be incredibly proud of his legacy; the magnificent British institution that Liberty London is today.

Above: That iconic tudor building constructed in 1924 by Edwin T. Hall
Photo credit: unknown

Inside the amazing Liberty London store - with persian rugs on display
Source: traveldk.com

Just one of the many beautiful installations inside Liberty's
Source: www.omdesign.co.uk

The magic of Molton Brown

'Unmistakebly english' states Molton Brown's website and their products absolutely are. Founded in London, in 1973, as a hair salon based at South Molton Street in London's Mayfair precinct, the company now sells their skin care, body and bath products in 70 countries world-wide. Molton Brown's products are plant-based, gently fragranced and their people just keep coming up with more delightful combinations to try. Their latest; paradisiac pink pepperpod bath and shower gel and matching body lotion. Bliss!

Above: Molton Brown's paradisiac pink pepperpod bath and body range

Photo Credit: Miss Silk for EspeciallyBeautiful

I first experienced the magic of Molton Brown as a teenager. I was in my friend's bathroom; her parents were English and so were their bathroom products.  There it stood, a bottle of Molton Brown shower gel. I can't remember the exact fragrance, but the packaging was so tantalising and when I took off the cap, the liquid just smelled divine - of course I had to try it. I am so glad I did!  From then, on I became a Molton Brown devotee.  Now, I even buy the men's shower gel for my man (how lucky can some men be?)


Molton Brown products also make lovely presents and their travel-size ranges are just brilliant.

Above: women's traveller pack 2011 range
Source: Molton Brown

Tell me, have you tried Molton Brown before?

Pastel Positano

I'm dreaming of summer and of Italy. Together.  Maybe it's because my calendar keeps reminding me each time I check a date...

Source: Calendar image by Alfredo Lalia, 1951

or the painting of Positano in my hallway which keeps calling out to me?

Above: Painting by Artist Tracey Creighton " Gelato shades of Positano"

So I'm off to Positano (still dreaming) and you can come with me! First a little about the place. Positano is a village situated on the Amalfi Coast, Italy just south of Naples. It belongs to Italy's Campagnia region.  Under the Republic of Amalfi, in the 16th and 17th centuries, Positano was a wealthy seaport. In the early 20th Century, the town fell on hard times, existing as a small fishing village, but was later then revitalised by artists and writers who moved there in the 1950's. Now of course tourism is Positano's main industry. 

Above: Positano gleaming at night

Source: traveladventure.com

The main beach at Positano: those mediterranean colours of citrus orange and azure blue

Source: capriservice.com

Above: Dreamy views: Looking out from a balcony at Hotel Salerno

Source: achievehotels.com

Positano is like a great, tiered cake; it's pastel-coloured terraces, stacked in layers are built vertically into the cliffs, providing dramatic coastal views. It's a pedestrian town with one main road, Via Pasitea, which winds it's way from the top down through each layer to the beach below, and then back around the other side of the cliff and back up again to the top. Be warned, Positano is steep with lots of stairs and laneways to navigate, so you will need some quality, flat sandals, which is fine as Positano is famous for it's custom-made shoes.

Sandals any way you like them...

Source: jackieathome.com

Vintage Bally Prints

Above: The print that started  it all:  'Bally Legs'  by French graphic designer, Bernard Villemot

Source: Letitia Morris Gallery

I am soon to be the lucky owner of an original Bally print. The print as shown above, is called 'Bally Legs' and was created by Bernard Villemot, a French graphic designer in 1967 in Paris. Villemot (1911-1989) is considered to be one of France's best graphic designers from the post World War II period. His 'Legs' image for Bally, the Swiss luxury design house, won him the 'Martini Prize Gold Medal' and helped forge a partnership between Villemot and Bally which lasted for 22 years.  What is just amazing is how modern these images still are even though they were created over 40 years ago.  Great work and great design endures.

Here are some more Bally prints by Villemot:

'Bally Kick'

'Bally Tango'

'Bally Lotus' 

'Bally Blonde'

All of these prints are available from the Letitia Morris Gallery

Shoe-manship

Photo Credit: Stephan Gladieu
Source: The Design Issue, GoodWeekend Magazine, August, 2011

Above: The amazing work of  Mr Louboutin
Photo Credit: unknown

Christian Louboutin, the world-famous shoe designer clearly is passionate about what he does and so of course, are his well-heeled customers. Good Weekend in their Design Issue recently did a great article about him and reading it brought back a vivid memory of mine; the very first time I came eye to eye with a real, live Louboutin shoe. It was New York 2006, in the Manhattan Saks department store. I had held the object of desire in my hand; so perfectly balanced and light with the gorgeous flourish of the designer's name on the instep. But the timing was all wrong; I was travelling around the world with already out of control luggage levels. We met back up again a few years later, this time on home soil at David Jones. This time I tried the shoe on; but alas no luck. Like a Cinderella story gone bad, the french design was too tight across the width of my foot. I was, and guess will be, forever forsaken.

Tell me do you find them too small?

Artist Crush: Ms. Kerrie Hess

Above: Just one of the beautiful illustrations by Kerrie Hess in her book "Shoe String Chic."

Kerrie Hess is a leading fashion illustrator who can call department store chain Neiman Marcus and luxury site Net-a Porter her clients. Her illustrations are gorgeous and girly and now she has authored a book called "Shoe String Chic", (rrp $24.95) which details 101 ways to live a luxe life for less. Her stylish tips and anecdotes in the book are lovely, but it's her illustrations that hooked me in; she is pure drawing talent. You can view more of her work here.

The ZARA Zeitgeist

Above:  ZARA is now in 78 countries with another 80 new stores planned to open in China this year
Source: Marketing Magazine, August 2011

Above: One of ZARA's girls: Lara Stone models one of the Spanish retailing giant's summer collections

The Spanish are coming! Or should I say they are already here and with the number of dark blue shopping bags sighted on the streets recently, are already firmly entrenched in the minds and wallets of Australian women. Interestingly the fashion retailing giant that is ZARA defies all standard retailing marketing practices. They do not advertise but choose to invest in prime retailing real estate such as Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne and Pitt Street in Sydney. They let their windows and their clothes do the talking and let their customers be their brand ambassadors. ZARA also supply their customers with a regular fashion fix of new stock delivered to their stores every 2 weeks. You can read more about the ZARA brand and their strategy in a fascinating article by Marketing Magazine in their August issue (hard copy).