Fashion

The fashion world was abuzz as word spread we were going to see rather buxom models in the Prada show (one of the most influential shows in the entire fashion spectrum) during Milan Fashion Week and really solidify the trend that bums were back, hips were big, curvy bodies were the next big thing.

So the fashion press waited with baited breath to see what dizzying beauties Miuccia Prada had flown in to prove to the world that she was all for promoting voluptuous women.

Who came down the catwalk? Victoria’s Secret models. You know, the ones with the ridiculously tiny thin bodies who also happened to be blessed with a B-cup (‘cause on a superslim body, a B-cup can look quite large. Most models have zero in the breast department.

Continue reading "The non-return of curvy models to the catwalk" »

Congratulations Haley Bracken, you’ve made it. You’ve gone to a sporting awards night basically topless and now your photo is in all the papers. Your parents must be so proud.

What next? Attending the 2011 Allan Border medal with no pants on?

Someone needs to explain to me the point of this race to the bottom of the scrap fabric bin that we’re exposed to twice a year: once at cricket’s “night of nights” and then at the other end of the year at AFL’s Brownlows.

Continue reading "Does this even qualify as a “dress”?" »

It’s a sad sad day in fashion. One of the most brilliant designers of our time, Alexander McQueen has committed suicide and left behind a style world in mourning. For those of you who aren’t in fashion, this probably doesn’t mean a lot. Big deal, another poncy designer bites the dust.

But this is a big deal. It reminds me of when Gianni Versace was killed, though I was probably too young to be sad then. This time round, when one of the greats is and it has left an empty hole on the catwalk.

See, there aren’t many greats in the fashion world. That’s why they’re revered. Sure, there are lots of people who call themselves designers, but as Kate Moss said recently, rebuffing the remark that she was a designer to UK Harper’s Bazaar journalist Glenn O’Brien: “Um . . . I’m not really a fashion designer, I just love clothes. I’ve never been to design school. I can’t sketch. I can’t cut patterns and things. I can shorten things. I can make a dress out of a scarf.”

Continue reading "Alexander McQueen’s death leaves a hole on the catwalk" »

Talk about a grand marketing plan!

Last weekend, Love magazine, run by former Pop! Magazine Editor (and fashion industry icon) Katie Grand, started releasing their Issue #3 covers. The nude shots of Lara Stone, Kristen McMenamy, Daria Werbowy and Jeneil Williams were let loose on the internet, and didn’t the bloggers have a field day.

I blogged about it. I got emails from friends to blog about it. I saw it on at least three other websites all marvelling over how we were getting to see these girls practically in their birthday suits. Fashion blogging land was in an excitable hoo hah. Naked supermodel? You’ve got to be kidding me! I’ve never seen that before.

Continue reading "The logical end of fashion - naked clothes horses" »

The Punch’s fashion queen and all-round style guru Nedahl Stelio made a shocking announcement this morning. 

The clog she tweeted is making a comeback.

That’s right ‘clog’. That funny looking shoe made with open backs and closed toes.

Continue reading "Punch list: Fashion items that shouldn’t come back" »

The first thing that came to mind on seeing pictures of Apple boss Steve Jobs with his new iPad device this morning was Trigger Happy TV, the British skit show whose signature sketch involved the star taking hysterically loud phone calls at inappropriate times on a three-foot telephone.

“Hello?” he’d suddenly shout in a full cinema, brandishing the prop. “No, I’m at a movie. It’s rubbish.”

Let’s not kid ourselves. The iPad is a laptop computer that doesn’t fold. But its appeal – or potential – lies in the content you’ll be able to access from it at a touch, once you hand over your $560 for the basic model when it ships worldwide two months from now.

Continue reading "The future of media is a comically oversized iPhone?" »

Gosh, I wish Lady GaGa had gone to the Golden Globes, then at least there would have been something to look at.

The red-carpet at this year’s ceremony was beige, botoxed and booooring. Now, I love a fabulous couture frock more than most. Tulle, corsets and vintage diamonds are enough to make me swoon but after a decade of vanilla, almost earnest choices in award-show dressing, I’m nostalgic for some of the fashion mavericks of old.

Who can forget Bjork wearing a taxidermied swan as a dress? Or Celine Dion in a white tuxedo worn backwards. With a hat. Demi Moore in a bedspread complete with built-in bike shorts.

Continue reading "Golden Globes glamour, glitz, but no guts" »

Handbags. They can do a lot for us girls.

Big, small, clutch, tote, sleek, patent leather, tasselled and bedazzled. If you can dream it up, you can probably find it and you’ll probably enjoy the experience.

And while never as coveted as a great pair of shoes, handbags come a close second in the ever-expanding bevy of things considered essential to being ‘us’.

Continue reading "It’s all in the bag" »

“Shoes make me happy. I’m superficial. Whatever.”

I pass this sign, plastered in the window of a cheap shoe store in Bondi, at least once a week.

Whether it’s meant to be funny or represent the views of its customers, I’m not sure. But the marketing manager behind this cringe-worthy sign has tapped into a solid gold business concept: selling ignorance.

Continue reading "Shoes are fine for feet, they just don’t fit the brain" »

Yes, there have been some corkers in the fashion world this past ten years – thigh high rubber boots usually worn to wade in alligator-infested swamps anyone? – but there have also been some winners. Pieces that women have been thankful to add on high rotation in their wardrobe. Here’s a round up of the best and worst trends of the decade.

WORST

The 80’s revival
Those who are old enough to have gone through it once are also old enough to remember how horrifically unfashionable the 80’s were. All you have to do is look at Sarah-Jessica Parker then, and Sarah-Jessica Parker now to know that the 80’s should not be revisted.

Continue reading "The best and worst fashion of the decade" »

Enough with Tiger’s mistresses and their predictable push-up bras and mini skirts. Give me Mrs Woods!

While others have been marvelling at The Big T’s ability to juggle so many, many, many extra marital affairs, I’ve been sweating on what Elin is going to wear at her first public appearance.

After all, it’s The Wife’s post-scandal outfit that sets the post-scandal agenda. It lets the world know exactly what kind of woman she is. Wants to be. Will be. At least in the press.

Continue reading "Fashion for the jilted: the post-adultery dress" »

When did everyone suddenly get tattoos? And marginally more sinister, why do I want some? I’m in my early forties, married with three children, and suddenly I have a yearning for three hours worth of ink-work on my upper arms. What gives?

Maybe I’ve watched too much rugby league. Perhaps it was being surprised at what nice lads those brothers from Good Charlotte were on their recent visit (and they’re covered in the stuff). Or maybe the constraints of my fortysomething life have lead me to believe that defiling myself would be some sort of rebellious act. Whatever the catalyst, I’ve had a paradigm shift in my view on tattoos. In particular with reference to whether they should appear on my body somewhere. 
I grew up in England in the working class, naval City of Portsmouth, where tattoo parlours were plentiful and usually sheltered menacingly under railway arches; their windows covered in wire mesh.

Continue reading "A wife and 2.4 tattoos" »

So - members of the sporting community think its sacrilege for women to swan about in fashionable attire as horses race in the background (for in the background they most definitely are), do they? Well, I for one, think it’s cool.

Australia is a sporting nation but with almost every other sport, women get cast aside -  shunted to a cheerleader’s outfit or a cold seat on the sidelines. But with the races, we practically have complete run of the place.

Spring Carnival! Fashions on the Field!  Lawn parties! Make-up tents! Champagne! Vegetarian pies! Could it be any more female oriented?

Continue reading "Racing’s unrivalled appeal to both men and women" »

The spring racing carnival has been hijacked by fashonistas. And a motley assortment of B-listers, C-listers, gibberers, attention-seekers, hangers-on, creeps, drunks, wankers and wannabes.

I’ve never seen the fawning fashion media interrupt a Collete Dinnigan catwalk show to report the result of the fifth from Flemington. Why, then, should a racing carnival as short as an English summer share airtime with the frou-frou set?

When Jean Shrimpton shocked conservative Melbourne with her mini skirt in 1965 (the year Bart Cummings won his first Cup), fair enough. That, at least, was something approaching a real story.

Continue reading "It’s about racing, not fashion" »

This is pop star Miley Cyrus’s little sister Noah at a Halloween party last weekend. It’s not the first time little Noah has been sent out on the red carpet in an outfit that is, ahem, a little old for her.

And not surprisingly it drew a pretty quick knee-jerk response from commentators right around the world. OUTRAGE! But is it really that bad?

The Punch decided to ask the people at the coal face of the battle against the growing sexualistion of children, mothers with young daughters, what an image like this did to their efforts to stop their little girls growing up too fast.

Don’t miss our body image special on The Punch tomorrow morning. You won’t believe your eyes.

Continue reading "What mothers say about a 9-year-old dressed like this" »

Yesterday on The Punch, Tory argued that Karl Lagerfeld’s rather out there recent comments were right - “sort of”.

The gist of Karl nobody-wants-to-see-a-round-woman Lagerfeld’s contribution was that the fashion world was all about fantasy so it shouldn’t be criticised if it chooses to use only skinny models with protruding bones on their catwalks, or photos that are digitally altered to make a models’ waist the size of her neck. It’s all fantasy, silly. What’s the harm?

Tory’s semi-agreement seemed rather more based on personal preference and a dislike of a recent magazine’s choice of “plus size” models.

Continue reading "Counterpunch: Body image problems are far from fantasy" »

Fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld was off the mark when he said only “fat mummies” object to skinny models on the catwalk, but his point about the growing pressure to put “real” women in magazines and fashion shows wasn’t so crazy.

Ladies if you want to look at a “real” woman, stand in front of the bathroom mirror, then ask yourself “do I belong on the pages of a fashion magazine?” I’d hazard a guess the answer is “No!”

That doesn’t mean you’re not gorgeous, beautiful, very sexy even. It just means that on the odd occasion we fork out $10 for a glossy, if we’re stuck looking at people just like us we’ve done our dough.

Continue reading "Karl Lagerfeld’s right, sort of" »

Remember Buck Rogers and the 25th Century, where the women all wore space age silver outfits and zipped around in metallic all-in-ones with sharp shoulders, bubbles on hips and weird shoe contraptions?

Well it appears the 25th century has come early, and I’m not entirely sure I’m happy about it.

It started last year with Balmain and The Shoulder, as it’s now referred to in fashion circles, which became an accessory all on its own. The Balmain jacket which featured The Shoulder, cost over $11,000 sold out in one week.

Continue reading "Is the future of fashion here?" »

Editor’s note: Patrick Johnson is an Australian tailor and features in the 10th birthday edition of GQ magazine, which went on sale this week.

Top 10 suit crimes

1. Eyewear
Avoid wearing sports sunglasses with a suit. It doesn’t make you look like a blues brother, it makes you look like a PE teacher at a wedding.

Continue reading "The 10 worst things Aussie men do with their suits" »

Here we go again, another sob story for the saddest, loneliest woman who ever lived. Ugh. I’m sick of Jennifer Aniston being crucified by every glossip mag on the planet for her “not-good-enough” love life. Not good enough for who?

Just imagine that every time a story appeared about you or your work, your ex and his new wife were also mentioned, as though you’re inextricably attached and can never hope to move on with the amount of horrendous diatribe spouting about him, and her, and you.

You’re not involved anymore – doesn’t anyone get it?

Continue reading "If Jennifer Aniston is sad and lonely then I want in" »

There was so much fanfare when The September Issue first came out, with everyone caught up in the hype of “Anna, the Ice Queen” and “Anna, the Bitch” and “Anna, the Hardcore Alien” it was hard to assess the movie objectively because as usual, all the hype pointed in one direction. I, for one, definitely wanted to see it for the sole reason of judging what Anna was actually like in, you know, almost-real-life.

I wanted to see her cut-throat ways and watch her spiking staff with her whiplash tongue first hand. I wanted the camera to be in an elevator when Anna stepped in and watch the look of fear on the faces of those cowering out of her way.

This is the Anna I was expecting. Like Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada. Someone vicious and uncaring and completely insensitive of other people’s feelings.

Continue reading "Is Anna Wintour really a bitch, or just doing her job?" »

In the September 2009 issue of US Harper’s BAZAAR, an interview appeared with Karl Lagerfeld, creative director of the Chanel fashion house, answering interview questions in the persona of legendary designer Coco Chanel.

When asked the question “Your clothing liberated women in the 1920s. Are you still a feminist?” Lagerfield ‘channeling’ Coco said “I was never a feminist because I was never ugly enough for that.”

But why is it that feminism and fashion seem to be mutually exclusive?

Continue reading "You can still be a feminist in four-inch heels" »

Before indulging in a teeny-weeny bit of sympathy for celebrities whose private lives are flayed open for the public to feast on, spare a thought for what global leaders and their spouses have to endure.

If it’s not the Italian stallion, Silvio Berlusconi having flings with escorts, or holding frivolous parties, prompting calls he should be put out to pasture (from everyone and everywhere but his actual Italian constituents), or Vladamir Putin rising out the water, James Bond-esque, in budgie smugglers and with a well-toned body that defies his age, making world headlines, then it’s what the partners of these leaders are wearing.

In fact, when it comes to powerful women and/or the female spouses of Presidents and Prime Ministers, the fashion police are criminally biased.

Continue reading "Why spouses of the powerful get such short shrift" »

Oh the horror. If I could have slapped myself across the chops without it hurting, I would. Lord knows I deserved to.

Instead, I slammed the wardrobe doors in disgust, sat down on the bed littered with shoes, dresses, bags, belts and other crap I don’t need, and had a long, hard think about where it all went wrong – how I had found myself in a global economic crisis with what could have been a year off my mortgage in bits of fabric and leather tat.

I had not always been a label queen, nor had I ever aspired to be. As a young cadet journalist on newspapers, designer clothes were never a consideration or a possibility – not if I wanted to actually eat regularly.

Continue reading "More money than sense: go broke on fashion in the GFC" »

It’s that time of year, isn’t it? When the intention to eat healthily just doesn’t result in the same. Puritanical thoughts of eating only soup for dinner somehow morph into soup plus half a loaf of buttery toast. Steamed fish and vegies ends up as steak with cheesy potato bake.

A roast with all the trimmings is a regular occurrence and apple crumble is, somehow, always okay. Yes, the winter weather is dictating my diet and I have no choice, do I? It’s rather impossible not to put on the “winter two”. Or three, or four.

And as we reach August, this means I’m stuck wearing what fits. One, my fat jeans, or two, my leggings - marvellous creations with lots of stretch. But of course, I’m sick of both. (See boys, when we say “I don’t have anything to wear”, we often mean “I can’t fit into anything in my wardrobe”). I’m afraid that looking great in winter is only achievable if you’re Gwyneth Paltrow. Aka, Wonder Woman.

Continue reading "“Detox” the new code word for dangerous dieting" »

So, British tourist hot-spot Alton Towers has put the kybosh on budgie-smugglers. Well done the Poms, I say.

The reason behind the ban on Speedo’s and ‘other tight swimwear’, the fun park says, is to ‘prevent embarrassment among fellow members of the public and to maintain the family friendly atmosphere of the resort’.

This being so, I can’t think of a more apt time to call on the Rudd government to roll-out a similar kind of initiative.

Continue reading "One thing the Poms have got right: a budgie smuggler ban" »

Who dresses their age anymore? A question on my fashion website last week…

“Dear Nedahl, I was just looking at Kylie in a mini. Is the mini appropriate for all women over 40 or only those who are pop stars/actors? As a 41 year old I’ve been wondering about this for a while. Christina.”

Personally, I think the whole issue of dressing age appropriately is past its use by date, but I’m sure others disagree. With a phrase like mutton dressed as lamb part of everyday vernacular, and a quick google search revealing a click through that said “see Gretel Killeen from Australia’s Big Brother” as their example, it’s fairly clear that people still believe in dressing for one’s age.

Continue reading "Fashion over 40 - who dresses their age anymore?" »

So Fat-shionistas (their word, not mine) have come together for the launch of Full Figured Fashion Week in New York, and larger women all over Manhattan are excitedly gathering in anticipation of clothing that is actually on trend and made in big-girl-friendly sizes.

It seems too good to be true after the recent too-small-clothing debate, with UK Vogue Editor Alexandra Shulman calling for designers to up their sample sizes.

Five years in the making, the event organizer Gwen De Voe is hoping to get the attention of fashion designers globally.

“The main objective is to show the consumers and buyers that there are other designers out there.”

She’s expecting 1500 people to attend including retail buyers and plus sized customers all looking for a solution to their what to wear dilemmas.

Continue reading "Fatshionistas are hip, but can they fit into the dress?" »

Is the GFC turning out to be as good for you as it is for me?

Save for any poor souls who invested with a bloke named Bernie or used to turn up for work at Macquarie every day, the GFC is a gift horse we are looking plum in the mouth.

For one thing, the GFC, with one elegant swoop, does away with the pretense of sociability or politeness or even basic hygiene.

The GFC has undone years, decades, of social mores and replaced it with a brave new world, one where we now have the perfect cover to embrace that indolent, indulgent, trackpants-clad life we have always yearned for.

Continue reading "GFC is coming up roses for us non-material girls" »

Nothing screams erectile dysfunction as loudly as a diamond encrusted Rolex.

In my vast experience of travelling the globe, participating in royal activities, grand soirees, and through my exposure to the well heeled, I have come to the conclusion that it takes a certain type of man to sport a watch the value of which would feed several villages in the Sudan for years. As well, one would perhaps think that in light of the Global Financial Cock-up, those with fat wallets pillaged from haemorrhaging shareholders would catch on that discretion is the better part of valour – or at least, prudent during our Bernie Madoff days.

But these men are of a sad, and certain age, needy of ego and (I suspect) with erections propped up by Viagra and carbon based stones. Some have emerged from communist China with newly found capitalist bank accounts and they want everyone to know it. Occasionally, they are Hip Hop gangsta rappers who believe that extra bling will function as a light source if ever marooned in the wilderness. Certain Queensland property developers have also been known to sport the links of time & tack, co-coordinating their ensembles with white shoes.

Continue reading "An open letter to men with fast cars and fancy watches" »

I’m a slave to fashion, I admit. Working in the industry has let me indulge my unhealthy obsession up till now, but because of the GFC, I, like most other women, have had the incredibly boring task of cutting back.

Cue recession dressing. Or if you want to get technical, dressing like a Recessionista (noun: a resourceful woman who’s great at updating her look while spending a minimal amount of money).

There are many ways to do this. Inventive and fun ways. Cheap ways. Exciting ways. The best ways for most women of course, involve spending money on stuff we don’t need so we can justify it by saying we’re actually saving money in the long run. “Sure, they were $300, but I’m going to wear them 50 times, so that’s only $6 per wear. Cheaper than the op shop.”

But my new fave has to be that women, out of sheer necessity and financial conundrum, have created an entirely different category of clothing to add to our fashion arsenal: Leggings.

Continue reading "Recession dressing: who needs pants anyway?" »

If one’s face can’t register an orgasm, is the climax still as good?

Startling as it may seem, I feel liberated by the decay of beauty.  It’s a bold statement, but in this era, when the glorification of all that is youthful is paramount, I hope that I look like the mother of my eldest daughter, (who for the record is almost 24,) and not at all like her sister. I don’t want to be in competition with her, or my younger girl, who is only eight. I want them to take up the mantle of their own prime years and have me cheering them on from the proper place - as the more senior female of the clan.

Our society so abhors the discussion of ageing and death, that we have embraced a whole new industry of psychological touchstones involving chemicals and knives and a race to look 10 years younger in 10 days. I don’t castigate or object to anyone making personal choices regarding cosmetic procedures, nor do I rule them out for myself if I feel I want them. But I am concerned that so many of my friends, acquaintances and even other people in the media are beginning to relinquish their unique expressions of emotion and life experience at the point of a needle.

Continue reading "Cosmetic work can make you mistake chit-chat for orgasm" »

At last, the emaciated pink elephant in fashion’s corner has been acknowledged.

UK Vogue editor Alexandra Schulman recently sent a letter to the top designers in the business imploring them to make their sample sizes larger so she doesn’t have to hire models who are dangerously thin to just fit their garments.

It was a brave move at a time where advertisers are not only king in the magazine industry but omnipresent dictators, which took me back to my own fashion moment where I decided enough was enough.

I was working on an up-market glossy at the time and somehow managed to wrangle myself a seat beside a colleague at parade in Paris. Watching the models strut their spindly stuff on the catwalk, I was appalled to see their legs were only slightly thicker than the torturous spikes they teetered on.

Continue reading "A modest proposal: dial all dress sizes up in one day" »

The other week I got hit on, rather aggressively, by a woman. So what, right? I thought so too, but when I relayed the story to my male friends, their response was uniform: “Were you wearing this purple nailpolish at the time? Of course you got hit on by a woman! Those nails are screaming out that you like it kinky!”

Excuse me? Really? And here I was thinking I was just being fashionable. On further investigation (read: insightful office polling and questioning others via email), turns out that you can, indeed, give off the wrong message with your clothing. Tight white jeans? You want some. Florals? You’re a prude. Yellow? It scares men away.

To allay any confusion and make sure you don’t leave the house broadcasting unintentional signals, I’ve had a go at translating what celebrities are saying with their outfits. Shouting, in most cases. Here, let me demonstrate:

Ashley Tisdale

“I’m so ridiculously young, famous and good looking that it doesn’t matter if I’m wearing something that looks like I nicked it from Maria Sharapova’s wardrobe. I’m allowed to wear a tennis outfit with fringed, slashed, suede ankle boots if I want to. You know why? ‘Cause I’m the best thing to come out of the most publicized movie of 2009 and as long as my hair is done and I have all this arm jewellery, you’ll still love me. And 15-year-old girls will copy me.”

Continue reading "If clothes could talk, here’s what they’d say about you" »