Tripping the Light Fantastic

photo the style bar 2011

Transeasonal travel is a peculiar animal. One the one hand you still need some kind of jacket, scarf and covered shoes to keep your extremities warm – but not too warm – but on the other you don’t want to find yourself sweltering in jumpers by day or shivering in sundresses by night.

When travel is added to the mix that’s when it really gets interesting. You can’t just throw in a few extra ‘in-case-of-emergency’ items because you simply don’t have the space, but at the same time you don’t want to rely on good weather to get by with a few light tops & the famous – yet highly optimistic – sundress & strappy sandals combination. After all, when the sun goes down you want to be shivering with delight at the company & surrounds, not because you haven’t brought enough to wear.

So as I strolled the European high streets recently (with enough buds on trees and sea air wafting by on the breeze to lull one into a completely false sense of spring security), I was quite pleased to see that my picks for spring started to form themselves quite nicely into exactly the sort of smart, stylish, practical yet fun capsule wardrobe that would be perfect for a weekend away.

photo the style bar 2012

Herewith my choices for the perfect spring overnight bag:

1. BRIGHTLY COLOURED AMERICANO – no, not a long black coffee (although that is actually what it’s called in Spain!) but Spanish fashion-speak for a single-breasted blazer. This old favourite has made a comeback this year in fun, look-at-me colours like red, turquoise, fuschia pink, white – even spots and pin-striped! Okay, and the ubiquitous black or navy for the colour or pattern-shy…

Travel-worthy because: A smart option for in-between temperatures and equally at home by day or night. And because it’s not bulky you can take it on and off with ease as the need dictates – stick it into your overhead locker en route to your destination or pop it on if it gets cool in the car/train/cabin. Then, once at your destination, you can sling it over your arm or the back of your chair as you walk around or enjoy an alfresco lunch, or pop it over your shoulders when you feel a chill in the air…

2. WEDGES – of course no wishlist of mine would be complete without a pair of new season wedges! But they are well and truly with us for the long-haul, and there are tons of options about in everything from pastel suedes to primary patents. For me, I am going for a raffia-trimmed slingback  in colour-blocked cream, navy and orangey-red.

Travel-worthy because: Totally comfortable, easy to slip on and off, and perfect for an afternoon spent walking about on cobblestoned streets or for strolling along the beachfront at sunset…

3. SOMETHING SPOTTY, FLORAL or STRIPED – to add some pop to your weekend outfit that will work for day or night, go for big or small polka-dots in a blouse, a striped tee or floral dress. Whatever works for your style and shape and colouring – but make it colourful!

Travel-worthy because: you are only away for a day or two so won’t get sick of something with a pattern, and this smartens up a plain blazer/pant or skirt combo nicely whilst boosting the spirits at the same time…

4. PENCIL SKIRT – Mad Men is back & these sexy babies from winter have luckily not gone away. Great for just about any shape, by day they work really well with flats or wedges, and at night you simply swap the more casual shoe option for a pair of pumps or high-heeled boots – smart and stylish!

Travel-worthy because: very smart & figure-flattering and the perfect ‘what-the-hell’ item – & just because you are away from home doesn’t mean you have to be sensible or casual! And surprisingly easy to mix & match…

5. METALLIC BANDOLERA – this is simply Spanish for a small shoulder bag with a strap that fits across your body. The new season metallics, python and croc prints and studded leather mean there is something out there for just about every taste and budget.

Travel-worthy because: not only stylish and compact but pretty much mugger-proof! And leaves your hands free for almost any short-break activity eg. rummaging through market stalls, balancing a drink and some cheese in each hand in a local bar or whilst wine-tasting, or should you decide to hit the dance floor at night!!

photo the style bar 2012

So there you have it – the perfect transeasonal travel capsule wardrobe. Add to this a few trusty basics – a plain tee, a singlet top, your favourite pair of jeans (coloured denim is HUGE this season too!) or denim skirt, a pair of ballet flats or lace-up sneakers (Bensimon-style) & a trusty scarf et voila!!! – baggage handler proof! Will all fit into carry-on or on your person or into the boot of the car…

Happy (travel) styling!

Rubi

I Dream of Deco

photo www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr

Ladies and gentleman, I have found my dream apartment.

Well, okay, it’s not just any apartment, but the show-stopping private apartments of super stylish French couturier Jeanne Lanvin.

It was designed for her at the height of the Art Deco period in 1924-25 by French designer & architect Armand-Albert Rateau, and presently sits lock, stock and magnificent barrel in the Musée de les Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

It all happened quite by accident (or not, depending on your philosophical view of the world) one sunny winter’s day in Paris.

photo the style bar 2012

I had just taken in the delightful ‘Les Histoires de Babar’ (the super cute elephant) exhibition at the Museum (on until Sept 2012!), and had some time to kill before meeting a friend for lunch.

I decided to use the time to peruse some of the other floors where the permanent exhibitions are housed – after all, it’s the fine arts museum and well known for its Art Deco and Art Nouveau furniture and homewares – as it happens, my favourite design periods.

photo www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr

Little did I know the wonderful surprise in store for me until I arrived at the level where the rooms are currently ‘housed’.

photo www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr

And there they were, in all their glory. The colour palette is breathtakingly simple: gold, white and black with touches of white and sand, all underpinned by the famous shade of ‘Lanvin Blue’, chosen by the designer after being inspired by the ‘quattrocento’ blue of Italian art and nature.

photo www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr

Everything has been chosen and executed with exquisite, spare but incredibly complex detail – the bird, animal and marine life motifs that finish off the black lamps, mirrors and bathroom fittings; the silk drapes that fall silently but sumptuously to the floor; the tiles and rolling screens that speak volumes about the sheer decadence – but at the same time spectacular simplicity – of the Art Deco period.

photo www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr

The rooms used to reside in all their glory in Lanvin’s hotel particulier on the Rue de Barbet-de Jouy. When the building was sold by her descendants they were donated to the Museum and moved to the Art Deco floor where they remain today, testament to the talent and vision of both the designer and the couturier.

photo www.victorianweb.org

I can honestly say that for me it was one of those rare occasions that changes you forever, blowing your mind and leaving you with a fresh perspective on all the creative possibilities out there, just waiting to be unleashed and experienced.

I don’t know how long I spent peering through the glass windows, going from one room to the next and back again, each time picking up some new gorgeous detail I had not spotted before, a grin from ear to ear at the thought that I had found such joy by chance in a yet another small but fabulous corner of the world.

photo www.coletterie.com

Needless to say I came away totally inspired to learn how to create spaces like that myself as soon as possible, and almost ended up being late for lunch! But well worth the excited rush that followed (and I made it on time )

Happy (interior) styling!!

Rubi

Wishful Thinking

photo the style bar 2011

If my recent forays up and down the high streets of Barcelona in the name of fashion research are anything to go by, this is shaping up to be one of those rare seasons where I think I already have the basics covered. Because pretty much all the key pieces I am seeing in stores I find I already have a version of in my wardrobe.

I have to say the accessories are proving to be the most interesting thing so far…

photo the style bar 2011

Rather than drawing attention to the fact that I may possibly have too many clothes if I have already got it sorted, I would prefer to think it of it as a happy confirmation of a combination of serendipity and savvy wardrobe building over past few seasons. Either that or retailers are playing it so GFC-safe right now that one can hardly tell the difference between this year’s racks and the last…

So, what are the things I have already got under my belt (or, hanging up, as it were)? Well, interestingly, some things are quite classic and others the kinds of things that come and go:

• Ballet flats
• Trenches
• Metallic/lurex tops
• Sequins
• Lace up shoes with chunky wooden heels
• Tailored pants
• Clutches
• Stripes
• Knits with elbow patches
• Long, loop around the neck scarves

photo the style bar 2011

Things that I don’t have but are very tempting*:

• Polka dots on bigger pieces like dresses & blazers
• Flat lace up shoes & loafers – or (my preferred) wedged or high-heeled versions…
• Python print  – on boots, pumps, clutches, everything! Too funky
• 40s-style dresses
• Huge rose prints
• Brown
• Tangerine

*the theory here is that these items will ‘inject some freshness into your wardrobe’ as they like to say in the fashion mags – aka things you can waste your money on because they need you to buy at least something new this season!!

Crazy things I am NOT going to be taken in by this year, having resisted them last season – or am I…?? This may refresh your memory:

Mango Pdg Nov 2010 - photo the style bar 2010

• Shaggy jackets & vests – the rock chick within never dies *rolls eyes*
• Triangular shaped (read: shapeless) mini tunics with big sleeves – in that Mary Quant/Pierre Cardin/Mondrian-inspired vein
• Feather plumed dresses & skirts – sounds crazy I know, but this year the irony factor is amped up in lol Elmo pink & Cookie Monster blue – so much fun!!

So go on and have a look out there for yourself and see how you fare in the got it covered vs. still so many gaps to fill stakes – and remember: if you have to think about it, then you probably don’t need it!! But it’s always fun to look…

photo the style bar 2011

Happy styling,

Rubi

Style vs Substance

photo courtesy of www.lespecs.com.au

What do you look for in a pair of sunglasses?

A shape that suits your face, a colour that goes with your complexion and blends in with – or nattily contrasts – your general wardrobe palette? Or just something to protect your eyes from the sun and glare?

Or you could be swayed by the latest styling, the designer brand name, a high level of quality or tons of street cred, or perhaps a bit of all these things?

photo www.rayban.com.au

The particular dilemma of style versus substance was one I was intrigued to face recently when trying to decide between what, at first glance, appeared to be two very similar styles of sunglasses: both back-in-fashion – but still classic – aviator shapes, both metal frames, both within $50 of each other; in short, not much between them. So what was I to do – flip a coin?

Well, I did flip a coin in the end (after phoning a friend and doing a lap of the shopping centre in an effort to calmly come to a decision); but before that there were several days of um-ing and ah-ing and in-depth discussions with anyone who would listen until eventually their eyes would glaze over from a mixture of disbelief and disinterest…

So why was I so indecisive about what was, after all, ‘just’ a routine and relatively inexpensive purchase of a new pair of sunglasses?

Well. You see, despite what you may tell yourself, not all sunglasses are created equal. And as one of my patient gf’s pointed out, once you get out of the $20 price range it starts to become what I remember from my university days is known as a high-involvement purchase i.e. one that will take a bit longer than the usual oh-I-can’t-decide-between-these-two-funky-H&M-five-euro-styles-so-I-will-just-buy-both! type of scenario.

photo courtesy of www.lespecs.com.au

So there I was: on the one hand (well, in one surf shop) the super cool, retro Aussie brand Le Specs, with a beachside vibe & a very sexed-up, cheeky ad campaign (don’t believe me? then go check out the website – oh la LA!!! But don’t forget to come back when you are done ;-P)

http://www.lespecs.com.au/#/campaign/

On the other, the more established, mega-brand juggernaut Ray-Ban, recently back in global favour courting the young crowd and the choice of fighter pilots and rock stars everywhere. Oh yeah, and with the added bonus of being reduced by almost half.

You see my friends, that’s actually what had me wavering. I had decided on the Le Specs style over a week before, already imagining myself on the beach in Barcelona in them, attracting the approving stares & offers of cold cervezas from hombres like young Monsieur Le Buff in the catalogue.

But that was before I saw the ‘Bans’ in what was now within reach of my price range.

photo www.rayban.com.au

The other thing that stopped me from simply snapping up this bargain of the season? Well, although Ray-Bans have always been for me the wise buyer’s choice – good quality, using ‘high precision optical lenses’ (read: scientific & geeky cool & guaranteed to sway a spectacle and all-year-round sunnies wearer like yours truly with this implied gravitas), every second person in Barcelona – no, make that practically EVERY person in Barcelona, if not the whole of Europe – has a pair. And who wants to look like everyone else?

Pfff…but enough with the thinking, I had to make a decision.

So which pair won out at the end of the day? Well, let’s just say that in the end I learnt the long way that there is no substitute for quality, sometimes the head should rule the heart, and you should always have the sense to snap up an incredible bargain when you see one.

Which one do you think it was?

photo www.lespecs.com.au

Happy (sunglasses!) styling

Rubi

Tying it On

photo the style bar

The cooler weather that swept across Sydney last week had us all reaching for something a little more substantial to wrap around our suddenly bare and chilly necks.

And I don’t know about you, but along with it came another, somewhat less cosy feeling – how to wear my scarves and shawls with confidence and not in the same old boring way I always do.

How serendipitous then that Sophie and her team of lovely ladies at Mr Rose in Sydney’s Paddington had already pre-empted this annual arrival of style paranoia, and were ready to provide me with all the answers and more (and by that I mean champagne, home-made cheesy bits & crunchy chocolate sweeties – yum!).

photo the style bar

Last week they hosted a wonderful scarf tying evening in collaboration with the fabulous online store Hanker, who currently have a pop-up store on the premises until the end of May.

Whilst they have a fabulous range of neckwear themselves and Hanker is a scarf lover’s paradise (they stock Missoni, say no more), I took along my own beloved silk scarf from Spanish luxury mega-brand Loewe to get some tips on how to wear it with aplomb – well, to be honest, how to wear it at all…

photo the style bar

It is an old favourite of mine, bought about 15 years ago from the Loewe store when it was tucked discreetly in next door to the Louis Vuitton store in Castlereagh St (my very first stylish place of work).

If you look closely at the label you can see it comes from the ‘Ceramica Sevillana’ collection – although it was purchased about ten years before I actually visited Sevilla and fell in love with this art form of wonderfully, colourfully painted tiles & ceramics – and so I always consider it a nice sort of synchronicity that I was attracted to this particular design, with its rich blues and Andalusian fruits that represent Seville so well.

But enough of its beauty, for I must confess that I had worn it less than half a dozen times (yes, that’s less than six, not a good track record for such a fabulous piece!)

And so I seized the opportunity to change all this with some instruction on how to wear it with flair. Turns out I was folding it the wrong way and this was what was making it unravel and feel so thick and cloying around my neck.

But no more! I am now excited to try out my new folds and tying methods, and I even came away with three ideas for wearing it in my hair – which will be just perfect for the Spanish summer, and a fitting way to properly show off this gorgeous but terribly under-appreciated friend.

So thank you Mr Rose, because now I can get scarf styling! And of course if you have the same dilemmas don’t hesitate to pop in for some advice yourself – or just ask yours truly, their latest scarf disciple…

photo the style bar

Happy scarf & shawl tying!!

Rubi