Wild Flower

Wearing: Meadham Kirchhoff X Topshop sweater, Cue skirt, Shrimps fur clutch and Lipstik jelly sandals.

Orange used to be my favourite colour as a child but it's not something that I really wear on a daily basis. This problem is confounded by having to wear gross or grubby clothes when I am conducting lab work which is basically Monday- Friday at the moment. The real reason is that this skirt and sweater are just about the only orange things I have in my wardrobe. I'd like to change that, but first I have to have a huge wardrobe clean out (which is slowly happening you guys!). It's also been lots of fun to really look at everything in my wardrobe and challenge myself to wear pieces which don't get enough love. I've also been exploring make up a little bit more, but in very unconventional ways since I know next to nothing about how to cosmetics in general. While wearing body glitter as eye shadow proved to be slightly hazardous, the good thing about wearing highlighter on your face is that it comes off easily with water.

Fendi Resort 2015

The silhouettes so often employed by the trendiest fashion bloggers and editors meets colour and imagination, finally. Fendi has created the embodiment of twenty-first century chic while simultaneously injecting colour and substance, as the continuation some of their more successful motifs from Spring/ Summer. The familiar alligator tails in leather can be seen on some of the bags, as well as the owl bag charms alongside some of Fendi's signature totes. Accessories aside, this collection had a greater emphasis on the tailoring of the pants and aforementioned silhouettes exaggerated by the slightly unnatural poses of the model. Don't get me wrong I love being sold on the idea of transcending all human capabilities and never feeling awkward or uncomfortable but when attempting some of these slouchy gravity-bending poses, in reality, they look far less spectacular.  Jibes aside I was intrigued by those statement jackets and long skirts combining the best of troupe-like obsessions with the splendor of high fashion.

Although it's only a short collection, I feel like Fendi were able to curate a number of different ideas and execute them well. Each outfit was holistic in its approach, but lacked cohesion necessary for either Spring or Fall. In many ways it was a composite of some of the house's more decadent, as well as their more well-received pieces all rolled into one. There was also some tentative experimentation with texture in addition to those spectacular colorways. On a completely unrelated note, after staring transfixed at the mysterious floating model, as well as circular designs featured on a number of shoes that there are explicit mod references within this collection. Of course, it's all so subtle and with the pseudo-uppercut featured in a number of different looks it all feels so modern. In reality the collection does not belong to a particular decade or heavily borrow from a specific place- it exists across all time and outside it. Fashion collections have that kind of mind-altering affect on me, especially after I have spend hours staring at coal or have had very little sleep. Floating models don't help that either.

Emily Giles Graduate Collection

I accidentally stumbled upon Emily Giles when she posted a pair of shoes from her graduate collection entitled 'Ride Away' on a Facebook group I'm on. That lead me to her profile on Not Just a Label and the rest as they say is history. I was particularly interested in Giles as a newly graduated fashion student from the Queensland University of Technology and having grown up in a small rural town. While it's not uncommon for me to discuss graduate collections there has been a notable absence from the class of 2014 (I hope to rectify this). It would seem that isolation nourished her creativity rather than stamped it out and in response to a lack of commercially available clothing she focuses on traditional handy crafts. The kind which are passed down from generation to generation. As a result many pieces within her collection feature a cacophony of embroidery, knitting, weaving, beading and quilting. I've always been rather jealous of anyone who could knit and was taught by a relative and felt like it was something missing from my own life. However, these techniques are far from gentrified and instead reinvigorated by an experimental veil of colour and mystique. 

'Ride Away' was heavily influenced by the 1953 film, 'The Wild One', hence the interplay between masculine and feminine elements as explored through over sized proportions and dropped shoulders. This idea of identity shifting through time was also emphasized with the number of different coloured wigs used throughout the photo shoot. The large coats and cigarette motif reminded me of espionage films and the film noir genre re-imagined with generous colours and layered outfits. I loved how the subtleties of the details on this coat in particular were highlighted using metallic thread and draped across the shoulder but the pink jacket was what captured my imagination and fueled my passions. All the pieces were made using natural fibers including wool, silk and fur. From afar the texture of these pieces is indeterminate but on closer inspection different materials have been so well matched one element blends seamlessly against another. One can only imagine the wonders Giles will go on to achieve and what joys her next collection may bring, whatever that may be.