Not Just a Pretty Face?

 

 

photo cynthia sciberras photography 2009

 

Is modelling really just about getting free clothes and your name on a designer clothing line?

 

In my capacity as regular Modelmanagement.com blogger, I went in front of the camera and discovered just how tough it can be…

 

http://www.modelmanagement.com/blog/2010/01/26/model-for-a-day-do-you-need-more-than-just-a-pretty-face/

You’ve got to take the Old with the New

Photo www.diarystar.com.au

The mere thought of New Year’s Eve fills many people with dread, although I always wonder whether this is because they hate being part of a drunken crowd of revellers, or if it’s out of a deeper fear of facing the year just gone and the one looming up ahead.

Spending the night alone can quite often be the best way to do it in fact – you really do have to be in the mood to head out to a party big or small, and some years it’s just not what you feel like. If that’s the case, then listen to yourself and don’t feel forced to do it!

If you have no time on the night, at least sit quietly at some stage during the lead up, reflect on your accomplishments and all the things you want to do next, acknowledging the lessons you have learnt and giving yourself licence to dream big.

I see it as the perfect opportunity to spend a few days taking stock and formulating an exciting new plan. Then, I give myself the night off to crack open the bubbly and celebrate life and what lies ahead!

Now, even though you may not be heading out to a big glitzy bash – and the style bar always prefers a more intimate and low-key event – I always feel it is nice to don a little something special. For me it’s actually a way of mentally preparing myself to be at my best as I get ready to mark the passing of another year and the start of a new and even more fabulous one!

If you are attending a party away from home, especially in a city like Sydney where most people prefer to spend it outside, there is bound to be some element of large crowds and lots of competition for transport to contend with. So of course, I have a personal Survival Guide for New Year’s Eve, put together after years of making the same mistakes over and over again, but finally learning how it should be done! A bit like making New Year’s Resolutions really…

So, to ensure you get the most out of your New Year’s Eve:

• Don’t forget about the weather, as it will make no attempt whatsoever to remember and accommodate you! It is not daggy to fill your clutch bag with a cardigan or wrap, small umbrella, nor to wear shoes you can walk 5 blocks in if you can’t find a cab or end up making an unscheduled move to another venue. Praying that it will be a warm clear night is USELESS and will only result in colds, blisters and hideous photographic evidence posted all over you-know-where…
• Dress properly – comfortable glamour does exist! And if you know you will be in the company of notoriously spontaneous friends, think about how your outfit may look should you find yourself staying out all night and having breakfast in a groovy inner-city café…
• Sunglasses – need I say more, we have all been caught before, and there is nothing worse than the cold light of New Year’s Day…

And don’t think it can’t happen to you – after all, that’s the beauty of New Year’s Eve and my favoured approach to 2010 – anything can and probably will happen, so be ready for anything!!

Prospero Año Nuevo!

Rubi

Clutch Me!!

Photo copyright the style bar 2009

If you haven’t acquired a fabulously stylish clutch over the past 18 months since they came back into vogue, then you just haven’t been looking hard enough! I have to say that my own retro piece came to me direct from the 80s, so I was spared the hunt for a new one but missed out on the thrill of the chase!

However, out on a vintage shopping expedition recently, I chanced upon not one, not two, but THREE OR FOUR FABULOUS and REASONABLY-PRICED retro clutches in SHAG (34 Oxford Street, Paddington, in Sydney). I am talking under $50 here for the ones I spied, so these are seriously good value and so well worth popping in for a look.

Now, as I cannot purchase any items on my Sydney tour that won’t fit into my suitcase for the return trip to Europe, could someone PLEASE go and satisfy my clutching urges and buy one from here! I recommend the rectangular blue, white and orange one with diagonal stripes – perfect for summer! Please if it’s still there, just buy it! And be sure to send me a photo so I can share the love with the peeps…

Happy clutching

rubi xxx

The Sartorialist Sydney Book Signing

Photo www.vogue.com.au

Style-conscious Australians were excited to welcome Scott Schuman, aka The Sartorialist, street fashion photographer and blogger extraordinaire, back to Australia this week for a quick round of book signings and street shoots in Sydney and Melbourne.

I popped along to get my copy signed and put together the inside scoop for my friends at Model Management back in Barcelona! So read on if you want to know who, what, where…

http://www.modelmanagement.com/blog/2009/12/14/sartorialist-book-signing-in-sydney/

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

You know you are really outsourcing your shopping when you don’t even have to be there. But are you missing out on all the fun?*

copyright lee harris photography 2009

Last week’s article by Natasha Silva-Jelly, Help, I need a Wardrobe Makeover, in the Sydney Morning Herald’s fabulous weekly lift out Essential, got me excited. What a great example of every stylist’s favourite fantasy, shopping with the client’s money but without the client!  

Please do not pretend that you are shocked to hear this. There isn’t a person alive who wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to do this, although for some of you the fantasy might involve being given a $1000 cash and being let loose in the David Jones Food Hall for the afternoon to buy food and booze for a dinner party.

But it also gives me the perfect opportunity to remind all you sceptics out there that no matter what your shopping or styling needs there is bound to be an alternative that suits you.

Because if you want new clothes or indeed a new look but simply haven’t the time or the inclination to schlep around the shops in the wake of your gung-ho styling expert, do you know what? You don’t actually have to be there at all.

I must admit I am constantly reminding myself that, in actual fact, NOT EVERYBODY LIKES TO GO SHOPPING. I love taking clients along with me on shopping expeditions for so many reasons: to show them firsthand how to pick which stores to go into; how to stick to their list and budget when they get there; having the pleasure of seeing them get excited when they pick something out themselves and then realise when they get it on that they now know how to choose the right thing; the debrief over a cup of coffee or glass of bubbly straight after the session where we get to congratulate ourselves on a successful trip and talk about all the ways the new haul can be worn.

But this is admittedly not everyone’s cup of tea, and as you know now from my earlier revelation, I am not just talking from the client’s perspective.

Kelly Smythe, for example, whose approach was covered in the article I am talking about, has built an incredibly successful styling business whereby she does all the shopping herself and then takes it back to the client at home. No one to coax into trying on something new, no running back and forth from the change room to the shop floor looking for different colours or sizes, no keeping eager-to-check-in-on-your-progress-or-spending husbands at bay; just you and the clothes, focused and free.

So if you are keen for a new style but want to be spared the trauma of finding it, perhaps letting the ones who love doing all the work for you (that’s us) get on and do it is just the approach for you.

And then you can be free to get on with planning that DJ’s dinner party. 

Happy (virtual) styling!

Rubi

*Yes, that’s me on the far right, out and about in Barcelona, shopping and styling with a group of gorgeous girls. Trust me, this is a fun way for us to do your shopping!!