HM shirt, Mother Denim jeans, Isabel Marant flats, J.Crew bag
I recently discovered a blog called Theyallhateus.com - the duo behind it, Elle Ferguson and Tash Sefton are two impossibly cool Australian ladies that wear little more than denim, shirts and lace up shoes, and they are hold the responsibility for my latest obsession with all of the above. If you don't follow them on Instagram, you might want to refrain from doing so as I've spent a small fortune since pouring their buys! We asked my dear friend and fashion photographer Julie Adams to visit Tash's home in Sydney and take a closer look at her wardrobe.
Behind the scenes - Julie and Tash on the day of our shoot
It goes without saying Petro and I have been pouring over each photo ever since and we are so excited to bring you the full article today in The ICONS Update. To celebrate the issue, I'm wearing all of my Tash inspired buys at once ;-)
Back in January I got an itch for a new
handbag. I realised that it had been years since my last investment purchase (a
black YSL Muse in 2007 and a Chanel Jumbo as my 30th birthday present), so
I decided I was in the market for something new. I started researching
and soon realised that this could be good homework for a feature in The ICONS
Update, because let's face it: where does one start with so much choice?
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Personally, I wasn't after a forever
buy, I wanted something a little bit "in fashion" actually, so I
ended up buying a Chloe Drew, which despite loving very much, is a bit small
and will probably get sold on Vestiaire Collective in a few years time. However,
going back to my search - I happened to walk across the Louis Vuitton
concession in Selfridges and was astonished by the amazing, grownup,
iconic selection of handbags they held. How could I have missed this? Could it
be because I am a little intimidated by designer boutiques, so never really set
foot in there? But everyone was so nice, and helpful!? I tried on a Lockit, an Alma, the Palais Chain (in red in navy and in blue) and then realised
that if I was making an investment buy today (damn Chloe Drew), it would
hands-down-no-doubt be a Louis Vuitton handbag. Why? Well, I faced my fears,
put on a frock and went to New Bond Street to tell you a story... Read it in
this week's issue of The ICONS Update.
These Coast culottes I bought last season have been such a great buy - there is something so easy and comfortable about trousers that don't cling to your leg. I have days where I just want clothes to hang on me and culottes totally do that. I know many of you are still unsure about them but here are a few tips on how to wear them from last year's "Unexpected Hero" page we did in The ICONS Update.
I haven't bought a new designer handbag since my 30th,
and when my friend DB (you might remember her from our ICONS Update
feature in her mesmerising wardrobe) showed me her birthday purchase (a black Chloe Elsie) it got me thinking that I would quite like a new everyday
hand bag too.
My
birthday is (sort of) coming up so I thought I would cheer myself up by
starting to research early (any excuse to trawl the Internet really!).
In terms of iconic bags I'm doing pretty well and have all the ones I've
always wanted: a black YSL Muse, a Chanel Jumbo 2.55 (they don't sell
them online but Vestiaire Collective always has them on their website) and smaller evening number like the Anya Valorie.and the classic black Jil Sander oversize clutch. I was flicking through Vogue at the weekend I saw this bag... and I immediately wanted to be that girl!
I'm funny with handbags - I was telling my mum as we were shopping in Selfridges (they
have a fabulous and extensive selection of bags all under one roof)
that a bag really needs to speak to me. There is no rhyme or reason as to why I
fall in love with a bag, I just do. I love Smythson, Chanel, YSL and
recently two bags did speak to me... one is from Louis Vuitton and it's called Pallais Chain, the other is the Chloé Drew. Either would be a
big purchase so I'm sitting on it for the time being but I am really
considering it... they both keep on calling me...
I've had a bit of a sale trawl myself this weekend and despite not allowing myself to buy anything, I couldn't help but make a wish list of amazing items that, given the chance... My favourite J.Crew T-shirts and an Etoile Isabel Marant top I've been eyeing up are all at 50% off. Then there's Tabitha Simmons shoes... Paula Cademartori bag... and even an amazing tweed Isabel Marant jacket that would be such a forever wardrobe staple.. I don't know how I managed to resist! I also noticed that quite a few things that I own are now on sale, including the J.Crew trousers I wore back in September at the store opening (and today) and the chunky knit ribbed green sweater I bought before Christmas. Here's what made my top 12 wish list..
I really do practice what I preach and this week I've dug deep into my wardrobe to take out all my favourite winter coats. I bought this faux fur number last year and still love it today - as soon as I put it on it completely transforms my outfit with a little bit of "coolness" to it. I have a busy day of press days so will be out and about all day, I might not even take my coat off so it's great that it really makes my outfit! This week's Star Buys are all about faux fur numbers as is my Winter Edit on Wardrobe ICONS so take your pick because faux fun fur is huge this season but I reckon it's one of those trends that will come back again and again...
Before leaving Red I filmed a few videos for www.redonline.co.uk that will run in the next few months to go with my magazine edit (my last issue was the September issue... grab it before it goes!) and the first trend up is one of my favourites: tomato red.
I have a red Zara coat that I bought years ago that I still love and take out every winter. I also like to clash red with a deep burgundy and of course it looks amazing with soft greys, leopard print and denim. It an easy colour to incorporate in your wardrobe, nonetheless because you can always just wear a coat of red lipstick, my all time favourite (and the one I'm wearing in the video) is Nars Red Square.
I've been in Sicily for two week now and I've really come to realise where Dolce e Gabbana get all their inspiration from. Everywhere I look it looks like a Dolce add campiagn: the little winding roads, the old ladies in the small towns sitting on the streets chatting in their black dresses all look like they could be cast for a photo shoot!
Whilst you will have to wait until August for my collaboration with www.anaffairwithitaly.com for a detailed Sicily travel post, this week I was inspired by Dolce e Gabbana for a bit of a Sicily-inpsired shopping post.
I loved the Dolce e Gabbana S/S collection with low leg cut swimsuits, short tunics and a lot of lace, much of what I packed resembeles bits and pieces from their catwalk show even some of my beach finds.
The August issue of Red is out on the newstands with the second to last edit of my Shopping section. When I was producing it I already knew it was going to be one of my last issues so I remember feeling a little bit emotional on the day of our sweatshirts shoot (above) with the rest of the team! Here's a little peek inside the issue, some video footage I recorded and some behind the scenes treats too...
For the Shops Opener I selected some fabulous printed accessories from
Oasis where I often find some terrific little gems. I love a printed
court and I particularly loved this 60's style print that you can wear
with jeans or even clash with a stripe or another floral.
The Trend Report I compile for the section is always one of my favourite
parts of the magazine. Here I report on what you should be buying in
August that will see you through winter too. July is such a funny
month in stores with all the sales that I thought you would need some
help on what to buy from the early drops of new season stock, that you
can then adapt for winter too.
For Style Essay I asked my friend Deborah Brett (who always has a tip/heads up/answer for everything) to explain how she puts together a stylish summer suitcase for her and for her three children - read her fabulous article because it's totally worth it and as fabulous as she is.
For my Weekend Style section we interviewed three fabulous women on what
to pack for their chosen holiday destinations: Heidi Gosman from my beach go-to shop Heidi Klein, Chloe Londsdale from one of my fav denim brands MiH Jeans and Deborah Lloyd from Kate Spade - they are all such
inspirational women I absolutely loved nosing into their lives and holiday buys.
For the August issue I also did an accessories story for the main
fashion section. I shot it with one of my favourite photographers,
Colette de Barros who flew directly from the US especially for it. I've
worked with Colette many times before and we always have a fantastic
time together. To shoot this story we had to hire a big van where our model could get
changed and where we could get her nails done - if you were around
Piccadilly Circus you couldn't miss us!
Inside the van it's just like a mini home: I had a changing room with all the clothes carefully layed out and my tear sheets and mood boards displayed to brief the team. Here are some behind the scenes shots we took on the day...
Here we are on the street shooting the opener...
There's a lot of work going into each shot and sometimes what you see as the final result is fruit of hours of careful styling...
The concept behind the theme of the shoot was "The Supermarket"
(inspired by the A/W14 Chanel show which was all set in a fake
supermarket - brilliant!). For my six page story I shot three still
lives propped on fake supermarket shelves and the other three on the
streets of London - every product that I selected has an ironic nod to
the supermarket theme.
My sweatshirts shoot - again shot by Colette but this time
in a studio in North London. The sweatshirt has become an absolute must
have in every woman's
wardrobe so with this shoot I wanted to celebrate how different women
wear it in lots of winter ways - I asked the fashion team to choose a
style and wear it their own way.
Here I am with Emily, Executive Fashion and Beauty Director and Polly, Shopping Assistant chatting away on set...
I loved my hair on the shoot done by Heath Massi one of my favourite London hair stylists
The final result. But you will have to by Red to see the whole feature!
And finally, here's a short video I filmed for the website to help you pick your perfect sweatshirt.
I hope you enjoyed this little peek inside the issue see you next Monday and lots of love from Italy!
