Hats Off ACMI & Mimi Wendell

No really, it's Hats Off at ACMI on Sun 3rd and Tues 5th Oct. My ACMI insider tipped me off on this one (yes fab fashion film programmer James strikes again), and although I'm slightly disconcerted about it featuring in the seniors film festival (is it senior because it's about someone with many years life experience, or because an audience with an Everest amount of acquired wisdom knows that hats rock, or maybe because the young are ignorant?), the beautiful upside of this is not only is it a bargainous $3 but carers get in free - time to get creative I say!

Anyway, on with the film.. it is directed by Jyll Johnston and stars 93 year old actress Mimi Wendell, who at the positively preschool age of 90 was named one the of 50 most beautiful people in New York, by none other than the New Yorker Magazine. (Yeah, suck on that botox, so redundant, oh and you shiny filler face and goldfish lips, so last week, here's the newsflash - having a life and a good hat wins!)  

Mimi is seemingly an inspirational powerhouse, who started acting age 65 following the death of her husband and now has weekly gymnastics and dance classes, a burgeoning career and charisma and vivacity by the bucketload.  During this time Mimi has been in ads for Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Juicy Couture, and Nike; in photo spreads for Vanity Fair and Vogue; on TV series including Sex and the City (Stanford's grandmother) and Law and Order; and in feature films such as: Across the Universe, Hitch, and The Purple Rose of Cairo. Wow, I am totally put to shame!

Oh, and to top all of this, she has an absolutely stupendous collection of hats. Yep this woman has it all going on. Go check her out at the Melbourne premier of the film at ACMI.

Australian Centre for the Moving Image: Sun 3 Oct 2010, 1.30pm, Tue 5 Oct 2010, 12.15pm

"If you're not tickled and stirred by the sight of her 95-pound frame kicking off sheets and leaping out of bed to answer a phone - a gig, maybe! - then shame on you" Los Angeles Times

http://twitter.com/jfnolen 

Something for the weekend

Just a quick little something for the weekend, it's Friday afternoon and I've pretty much given up on the ability to work and this just gave me a little heartwarming chuckle...
It's Melbourne, all quilted and pop-up and in a suitcase. I want a little city of my own as created by the obviously talented artist Yin Xiuzhen.
See the fanastically quirky blog Oddity Central for more details. Happy Friday! x

Flight of the Aviator

Oak Aviator modelled by air

Well I'm new to this whole blogging phenomenon (yes, I guess that makes me a late developer) and I'm not quite sure about the whole etiquette thing so I've probably royally ffffd up here, but if you chance upon something great, flatter the place you found it, tell the 3 readers you have where to get it and link link link the hell out of it, then it's ok to sneak a couple of their pictures to help in the promotion???? Ummm, I'm sure this is a blogging FAIL and tantamount to cybersuicide, but here goes...
The totally trend inspiring super smashing great fashion blog High Snobette, featured these totally like well cool aviator hats by Oak the other day and they are just all totally fantastic and I love them loads. No really I MEAN it, these hats have made me drool pools in a rather embarrassing manner and High Snobette provides me with a daily fashion fix of things that I absolutely NEED must have... and you will too.

When I saw them the other day, it reminded me of the slightly old and battered aviator hat I rescued from the archives of The Junk Company on Elizabeth Street (Melbourne) a few months ago. I've been fascinated by this hat every since I got it, I mean, who wore it? Where did they go? What adventures has it seen? That's the amazing thing for me about old things and why I love collecting what everyone else seems to call junk, it's all the wear and tear that gives it character and tells a story. It's all about the story. So here's my aviator modelled by my Danish friend, also old. 

My aviator modelled by Dansk Harry

Did I say you can get one here... http://www.oaknyc.com/women/new-items/black-leather-aviator-cap-pre-order.html?enlarged

Fly away!

She wore an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini

I just stumbled across these totally delicious swimsuits today and I think I'm in love in a 50's summers dream kind of a way. Swimsuit parades on Blackpool pier and hot rod boys on the back seat at the drive-in.  Unique Vintage is the place to go if you want a piece for yourself - I'm not sure I'm going to be able to resist placing an order when summer comes around, oooooohh which one to get?! And how completely perfect for hiding the post-winter lardy lady lumps, lets order two in that case... I'll just have to tone up the stumps and get my swimming heels polished!!

Don't forget the hats, the hats, the hats, just look at the swimming hats! Wasted in the swimming pool if you ask me - you don't see this kind of style unless you're in the slow lane of your local swimming baths at 10am on pension day.

If you want to get one for yourself go to http://www.unique-vintage.com/separates-vintage-inspired-bathing-suits-c-227_272.html

Tally-ho old boy!

For the last few weeks I've been lusting after a rather luscious and totally impractical green velvet, old school riding hat. You know the kind from the days of National Velvet, gymkhanas and Pony Club?

I've been having a quick perve on it every time I've been in my favourite Aladdin's den of vintage joy, Chapel Street Bazaar (if you've never been you really should - it's ace) and trying to find a reason why I should buy it other than for an irrational desire to return to childhood innocence, but not quite finding sufficient justification.

Well this weekend I gave into my inner retail devil and bought it... and don't I just love it! So green, so soft, so classic, so prim and proper... Hmmmm, now I just have to find a place to wear it.


Mummy I want a pony!

Green velvet with my birds

Ralph Rucci – Haute Couture Renegade

To accompany Melbourne Fashion Week, ACMI (that’s the Australian Centre for the Moving Image for the uninitiated) have programmed a season of fabulous fashion flicks “Fashion Icons on Film”, covering fashion heavyweights such as 70’s legend Halston, 60’s uber legend Barbara Hulanicki of Biba (responsible for making fashion accessible to Londoners of the swinging decade - all modern high street stores can thank her for that!), oooober oooober legend Yves Saint Laurent and high-end American haute couturier Ralph Rucci. And who can the Melbourne fashionati thank for this educational silver screen fest, yes, our friend James. (Thank you James :o)). And who do I have to thank for taking me to see this documentary, the super lovely and super talented Rosie.


Ok, so I confess I had absolutely no idea who Ralph Rucci was before I watched this documentary (shame on me, I know), but having watched it at least I now have a partial excuse for this faux pas… I just don’t travel in the right cashed-up circles!

So why is Rucci an haute couture renegade? Well, he’s the first American couturier to have shown in Paris in 60 years, which in the elitist world of haute couture is quite an accolade. Per Wikipedia (god bless it) Haute Couture, (like Champagne) is a term protected by law and to call yourself Haute Couture as well as making to order, you need to have an atelier in Paris employing at least 15 people full time, and each season present a collection in Paris consisting of at least 35 outfits….So if it ain't made in Paris, you've been ripped off! The documentary didn’t quite explain how the American Ralph got round all of this as he made all of his clothes in the US, but he did seem to have hired an atelier in Paris for finishing and he had presented in Paris a few years before the documentary took place.

This film was a total eye opener as (obviously) a junk shop dweller such as myself has never been exposed to this exclusive world, but it was incredible to see just how much work goes into these amazing pieces. From the original designs, the sourcing of the fabrics, designing of the prints and then the needlework itself, wow, it was just a little overwhelming. One dress shown had over 140m of fabric in it, and another had seamstresses individually hand stitching an ocean of sequins and beading. Apparently each dress can take up to 1000 hours work and the mental arithmetic whirring round my head at this stage on the $$$$ never got answered, but I reckon you’re looking at six figures plus per dress. Yes, it’s an exclusive circle!

So go check it out for yourself sometime or the other excellent films at what’s left of ACMI’s fashion week.

Ralph Rucci's beautiful clothes

A book about a lot of hats

Hats An Anthology by Stephen Jones

In a minor surge of excitement I ordered "Hats - An Anthology" today by the O so fabulous, world famous milliner, Stephen Jones. 
It accompanied the exhibition of the same name last year at London's showroom of historic cool, the Victoria & Albert Museum. Gawd dangit I wish I could have seen it... and just to further the blow I also found out the exhibition toured Australia earlier this year at Queensland Art Gallery... Ouch - nothing worse than hearing about these things after the event... oh well, I will make do with second best and read the book. I'm looking forward to a juicy feast of hat facts, sumptuous pictures and gorgeous designs, the pictures I have seen so far are totally devine. I will post a review when said hat book drops through the mail.

Yours excited x

P.S. copies are available from the V&A themselves (see link above), Amazon (on offer!) and as always, ebay!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hats-Anthology-Stephen-Jones/dp/1851775579

The Deluxe Edition

And if you want to splash out, there's always the extravagant super special limited edition in luxurious silk and with a signed illustration by Stephen Jones himself. I would love this, but alas, must.save.funds. 

http://www.vandashop.com/product.php?xProd=3445&navlock=1