Seconds of Style #47: Adoring Alice

I am in love with Alice McCall's SS11 collection. I am certain this collection was designed with me in mind. The powdery colours and delicate doily like cut outs mixed with romantic florals pretty much sums up fashion heaven for me. Some favorites below.

Seconds of Style #42: Karen Walker Raises the Flag

The flagship store has been a standard concept in international retail for years. For me, Topshop on Oxford St in Central London is the epitome of flagship - the collections are the most current, there is more to shop than just own brand and the retail experience is interactive.With the recent opening of Glassons' Flagship on Broadway and Karen Walkers fresh new Flagship store, Playpark, on Nuffield St, I am thrilled that this concept is being explored in NZ. Karen Walker opened her extended Newmarket space yesterday, it houses Karen Walker label of course, a selection of Topshop clothing, footwear and cosmetics, Hunter Wellington Boots and more. The feel is a bit boutique and a bit department store. There is plenty for the eye to wander across and although it's not quite Topshop flagship a leap has been made and for an Auckland girl, it's exciting!

My favorite Karen Walker collection to date

Seconds of Style #39: Hoss Intropia SS11

It is clear that Spanish label, Hoss Intropia takes influence from the arts. Founded by Paloma Vázquez de Castro, ex-designer for the National Ballet of Spain, Hoss is a lively mixture of classic femininity, costume artistry and subtle embellishment. Hoss prints are all unique to the label with embroidery and beading still done by hand. The summer 11 collection has a wide reach - subtle classic pieces pair back seamlessly with stand out prints and embellishments synonymous with the brand. I fell in love with Hoss when I worked with London Boutique Question Air and we stocked the label, not only the clothes themselves but the story behind the brand and the visual imagery.

Seconds of Style #38: Green with Envy

It's a little bit bold, a little bit edgy and a little bit 80's - it's official, green is the new 'it' colour. It takes a front row seat this season along with other rich and regal colours like Maroon, Camel, Burnt Orange and Navy - a veritable feast of visceral hues. Bottle, mint, sage or lime - whatever hue you choose it's assured to be a hit this winter. The rich bottle greens are definitely my pick and I am just totally in love with Ruby's sheer trousers.

Blouse by Ingrid Starnes, Jumper by Arabella Ramsay, Jumpsuit by Camilla & Marc, Trousers by Ruby

Seconds of Style #36 & #37: Shes so EFfortless

Yes, yes, I'm cheating here. two letters in one post. When we suffer setbacks we must do anything to get back on the horse mustn't we?

The past few seasons, have in many ways been about 'cleaning up' fashion. Stripping it back somewhat. Bringing back the sophistication of past era's, bringing down the hemlengths, increasing the cut size - generally making way for an 'effortless' aesthetic. Whether it be the demureness of the 50's, a-la rising star Ingrid Starnes, the over-sized draping of Moochi and Miss Crabb or the architectural lines of cult label Nyne - the prevailing theme is no fuss fashion. I am through and through a non fuss fashion girl. I'm as dedicated to monochrome as a biker is to leather, use and abuse the term 'oversized' and cower away from fussy details, but for all those who think the more frills, jewels, beads and trims the better - put down the bedazzler and get on board this trend, it's definitely here to stay!

Seconds of Style #33: Blak is the new Black

Cult New Zealand label Blak goes from strength to strength each season with their signature 'Basics' range and more designed collection 'Luxe'. Known for easy to wear shapes, and urban bohemian feel, Theresa Hodges is well on her way to carving a space for herself in NZ fashion royalty. Her Summer 2011 Collection (images borrowed from the lovely blog over on le-faire.com) is modern and graceful. Shapes move from wistful to strong and colours evoke hazy days of a 70's summer. Highlights are definitely the dip dyed shirt dress, bright lace shirts and girly ditsy prints.

Photo's by Olivia Hemus

Seconds of Style #32: The Alphabet Begins with the Letter A

Since I have been so neglectful of this blog for the last few months I have issued myself a challenge, 26 posts in 26 days - one day for each letter of the alphabet. I know this is not reinventing the wheel but I think it might be fun! I will mostly focus on NZ and AU fashion/design/ but some international gems and other bits and pieces might slip in. So here we go...

A is for Andrea Moore

Andrea Moore is a bit of a dark horse. With a firmly established and respected presence in NZ fashion, she goes under the radar somewhat. There is less of the 'loud advertising' approach and more of the 'educated, sophisticated and meticulously constructed collections' approach. I popped into her Ponsonby boutique last week and was carried away by the deep, rich colours, intricate construction details and clean cuts. I particularly loved her Camel Coats.

Seconds of Style #12: Clay Pallet

 

I had a lovely chat with Julie from Apparel HR the other day and got all excited about summer fashion. We were talking about what had just been happening in the UK, as it has been my home for the last 18 months. Clay tones and neutrals were a huge focus for Winter 2010 in the UK, both on the high street and catwalks, which I was thrilled about - being a neutrals girl myself. I really loved the warm rust tones and rich caramels which I feel give an air of easy sophistication. Now we all know how quickly colour trends change so I was a bit nervous the industry would move away from these dreamy clay tones as quickly as they found them, but I am delighted to say they have been carried over for summer. I've pulled together a little sample of the clay pallet from SS11 ready to wear. My absolute favourite is Chloé creamy turtle-neck and wispy silk pleated cappuccino skirt. The pairing of the ruby red shoes and bag put this look at the top of my list.

Shop Chloe

Shop DVF

Shop Rebecca Taylor

Shop Topshop Unique

Shop Lanvin

Seconds of Style #10: Semi Precious Tones

I am absolutely loving the opulence of summer's gem stone tones. They all compliment each other perfectly so are great for colour blocking or for a more understated approach, choose one colour to make an otherwise monochromatic look pop. All the items on this board can be purchased in or shipped to NZ. Semi precious is top of my list for summer.

Alice McCall (available at mycatwalk.com.au), Stolen Girlfriends Club (available at stolengirlfriendsclub.com), Asos (available at asos.com), Topshop (available at topshop.com), Shakuhachi (available at mycatwalk.com.au), Storm (available at stormnz.com), Hi There by Karen Walker (available from The Department Store)