Spotted at Fashion Week...Yours Truly

Snapped by StyleSightings, I am noted as one of Mr Newton's muses. For more pics and story see http://www.stylesightings.com/index.php/2009/05/12/kanga-bangas/

Know what to buy before everyone else does

My first little article went up on the Mix It Up magazine website, a trend report from Fashion Week:

http://www.mixitup.co.nz/v2_thenews_3.php?task=news

The Week That Was...The Best of Thursday and Friday

Best dressed designer of the week - Gail Sorronda. Captured by The Sartorialist

Romance Was Born for best sets and outfits

Romance Was Born - the octopus

Best Makeup - The Cassette Society for disco eyebrows

Best hair at Sara Phillips

Best shoe - Romance Was Born takes title again with their shell adorned footwear

Best displays of idiocy - Bron and Caroline in the Rosemount Wine Bar

Catwalk photographs thanks to Getty Images

The Week That Was...The Best of Wednesday

Best hair makeovers at Redken - Caroline and I go wild with volume

Electric eyelids at Marnie Skillings

Hair at Kirrily Johnston. (Model Myf told me afterwards that the hairdressers actually put glue in their hair - the models were told only after the show. Cruel.)

Body/swimsuits at TV. We must get our hands on some of those mesh cut-outs.

Accessories by Zakie.D at White Sands in the Ready To Wear Swimsuit Collection. The leather wings are absolute winners, a quirky take on the current big shoulder trend.

Shoe of the day. Marni wood and leather. Simple, classic, classy, crafty and clever.

Catwalk and backstage pictures thanks to Getty Images

The Week That Was...The Best of Tuesday

My favourite model of the day - Madeline an Illionare, what a spunk.

Hair at Ellery

The "No makeup" makeup look at Manning Cartel

And shoe of the day? Pip Edwards' Balenciaga beauties won the title by far.

Catwalk images by Getty Images

The week that was...The best of Monday

Gold Balmain inspired jacket at Camilla and Marc. Gold is the colour of summer.

Fringed cuffs at Bec and Bridge

Body jewellery at Ginger and Smart

Feather vest at Nicola Finetti

Shoe of the day - spotted on front row. Louis Vuitton Spring/summer 09

Images thanks to Getty Images

You'll be Wanting Kate Sylvester

Drawing inspiration from hiking in the wilderness - the Routeburn, to be precise - Kate Sylvester's summer collection was en route to adventure and discovery.

While the clothing was all gorgeous and very wearable, the accessories were what we were all crowing about. Explorer backpacks glowed vibrantly in primary coloured silks, and Doc Martin boots were customised with car paint in matte blue, red, green and yellow, and glossy grey. Fimo toy necklaces displayed the trophies of prehistoric excursions in the form of dinosaur teeth and mini bones. The most statement accessories however, were Sylvester's many different takes on the tramping gaiter. The gaiters were long, short, in modern MacPac style and in raw linen army chap form. Also in raw linen were full brim explorer hats, perfect for fighting off those summer rays. As for the menswear, expect your boyfriends to all be sporting dinosaur motifs this summer.

Ellery Wins the Pageant

Held off site in a cavernous warehouse in Waterloo, Ellery had us waiting outside in the cold and crowding the street for an hour and a half. Thoughtfully, handsome waiters were sent out bearing trays of Absolut vodka cocktails to keep us entertained.

The collection was full of detail and featured near knicker exposing skirt lengths, strong Balmain inspired military shoulders, nipped in waists decorated with thin patent belts, and masses of fine gold chain tasselling adorning pockets, shoulders and breasts. Heavy upholstery cloth was used to create volume and sculpture, contrasted with sheer fabrics in chiffon and surprisingly sexy blue lace.

The hair was beautifully done in a mock Alice Dellal style, with a french plait running from one ear around the back of the head to give the illusion of it being short on one side. The makeup was exciting, with beautiful peach toned lips and Cleopatra eyes.

The jodphur/harem trend was inescapable, but Ellery gave the feminine folds a tough-girl twist with light chains and heavy gold zips.

In an ironic move due to the timing of the recent Miss Universe New Zealand , the show had a pageant theme running through. The final models came out in sashes and bearing bouquets.

The Shoes were worth mentioning, and adding to your wardrobe. My favourite was the clear perspex booties, extra sassy with its gold block heel detail, and looking suspiciously like a lipstick in its case.

Zambesi

While elements of the Zambesi collection were their tried and true style, there was a lot that was new and interesting. The injections of bold colour are sure to shake up the die hard Gothic Kiwi fans, while the innovative re-presentation of classics will have them itching with excitement. There was a balancing act of sheer, shiny and matt fabrics, right down to the two-tones patent and matt leather brogues. Shirts were worn loose, and the pants were slouchy with a slightly dropped crotch.

And wait for it...

His and hers matching suits. Brilliant.

Photographs courtesy of Getty Images

Dramatic As Only Fashion Can Be - Powerless at Zimmerman

A city wide power outage occurred as we were filing in for the Zimmerman show. All fashion week shows were then postponed until the power came back on. Luckily the shortage lasted only an hour, long enough to have a drink or three in the Rosemount Wine Bar. The collection that was finally shown was well worth the wait.

Zimmerman's summer colour palate was a refreshing change from the jarring brights we have seen from them in the past. What was presented felt more grown up, more refined, and very classy. We saw Grecian folds of fabric in warm creams and light earth tones, muted Nana-inspired florals, and a brilliantly refined version of their flesh exposing strapping that was noticeable on their bikinis last year.

Although I loved almost all from this collection, my wish list features these pants. The origami folding to expose the the legs is beautiful. I wonder if they do them in black?

Images thanks to Getty Images

All Snapped Up

In the line for Illionare I was accosted by the lovely Eddie from Style Sightings, and dragged off to the waterfront for an impromptu photo shoot. What fun! I was wearing one of my outfits by Kilt - perfection. Keep an eye out on www.stylesightings.com for me, he also shoots Tallulah Morton and Paris Hilton!

There is Treasure

This is the pile of presents gathered from my travels today. And it's only the first day! If it goes on like this I may have to bring home another suitcase!