Prep school

'Preppy' (short for 'preparatory') style originated during the 1960s from those elite New England schools of America and it's never really gone away since. Countless fashion tribes, labels and socio-economic demographic groups the world over have adopted and created their own versions, or simply subverted preppy.

When I first visited Paris almost a decade ago, I was surprised that preppy (from casual to luxe and any other degree in between) was the style of choice for most of the city's dwellers. Why was the flamboyance of the haute couture shows not reflected on the streets? When I got to know some Parisians, I began to understand that the city, where France's political and economic power lie, was, for the most part, quite conservative. But the French, even while garbed simply, express their individuality, their taste, with little flourishes - an unexpected scarf fabric, a surprisingly heeled boot, a contrasting jacket detail. Minimalism is king in Paris, but minimalism with a subtle twist.

Shortly after, I discovered Parisian brand APC and its simple, beautifully constructed pieces.

It was love at first sight.

From Autumn/Winter 2009/10:

I'm an Amish kindergarten lumberjack and I'm okay...

APC Madras Autumn/Winter 2009/10. Part Scandinavian lumberjack. Part 1970's kindergarten mum. A little bit Amish. And French insouciance all through and through. So much more lovely than Madras Spring/Summer 2009/10 which was all primary colours, monkey prints and romper suits. This season is truer to the main APC line.

Excitingly, I've discovered a lovely Melbourne store which stocks Madras. Now all I have to do is work out my budget...

Method to their Madness

Mad Men kills me.  The frocks.  The repression.  The surreptitious glances.  The oh-so-very-proper enunciation.  The things left unsaid.  The fabulous 1960s interiors.  How the boys of Sterling Cooper always hand whiskies to colleagues popping around for a chat.  The constant smoking.  The ambiguity of the characters - is Betty totally bonkers or just acting out?  How one can despise Don in an episode, yet cheer him on in the next?  The sometimes uncomfortable depiction of 1960s American mores.  The manly maleness of Don Draper. The little, maddening clues which creator Matthew Weiner leaves, which transform each episode beyond soap, beyond pure drama, into an intricate jigsaw puzzle of emotion and motive pulled apart each week by the ravenous hordes populating a host of Mad Men blogs.  Oh, and did I mention the frocks (and suits)?

Here are a few, taken from here.

Life Lesson #218: Don't do a Tantalus

No matter how much you covet, desire, lust after, fall in love with what you perceive as the most beauteous, the most perfect, the most glorious of footwear, if the shoes don't fit, leave them be.

In a irrational fit of longing and befuddled by the animal print, the velvety touch of pony skin, the artfully dishevelled leather bow, the delicate curves of the shoe which make the wearer feel simultaneously like a ballet dancer with tiny, delicate footsies, Audrey Hepburn and leftbank Parisian (not mutually exclusive things, admittedly), I purchased these lovelies. Which are half a size too small and give me huge blisters on my heels and my toes within an hour of traipsing about in them.

I've tried stuffing them with wet newspaper, placing plastic bags filled with water in them before putting them in the freezer and even paid for them to be professionally stretched. All for naught. Pony skin, it would seem, does not stretch like leather does.

And now they sit in my wardrobe, tantalising out of wear. As happened to Tantalus, the rather nasty ancient Greek king whose eternal punishment was to stand below vines and their bounty of grapes which receded from his grasp each time he reached towards them to quench his thirst and hunger.

I wonder if there was any way to encourage one's feet to shrink?

Toasty Spaces

Huzzah! Toast's Autumn/Winter 2009 homewares catalogue is out!  Dare I say it?  Dare I say that the rustic, pastoral, boho interiors and dilapidated luxe furniture outglam the homewares in more than a few shots? The fish swimming up the stairwell is particularly lovely.

Mr Morris

Have nothing in your houses which you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.

- William Morris (1834-1896)

Clean.  Clear.  Declutter.  Edit.  Re-edit.  Recycle.  Amalgamate.  Store.

Spring cleans always provide a nostalgic, sometimes horrifying (I wore that?!) ride.  Even more so when the clutter dates back decades to childhood.  Mr Morris' quote sets out useful criteria for a sentimental hoarder such as myself.  Additionally, I'm holding onto the creed that your things should reflect who you are.  Things not doing so and claiming space in your home (and your life!) should be let go.

It was a stocktake that began in the months before I left London; a stressful, sometimes haphazard, frantic process to reduce seven years' of clutter to things encapsulating my time in London for shipment to Melbourne.  Interestingly, a London friend, La Finch, decluttered whenever she could.  She's a minimalist gal, and given the space constraints in her London flat, it was a necessarily constant activity.  I don't think I could ever do it on a frequent basis.  I like letting things lie, and seeing how and where my feelings for them develop.

There are a number of things I got rid off in London which I regret.  But still, precious space is a fair exchange.  Most of my current Melbourne detritus is hitting charity shops and ebay.  But a few items - long-forgotten but happily rediscovered - have made the cut.

[caption id="attachment_394" align="aligncenter" width="246" caption="An intricately beaded cardigan which belonged to my mother."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_396" align="aligncenter" width="246" caption="A Hello Kitty table mirror."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_399" align="aligncenter" width="246" caption="A set of small chinese crocheted dolls."][/caption]

Spring and Liberté

Thunderstorms, sudden hail showers and bursts of brilliant sunshine.  It's spring as usual, in Melbourne town.  And a young filly's thoughts turn to fields, frolics, flowers and... frocks!  And there's nothing like a new frock to make a girl feel light on her toes, a spring song trilling in her heart, even as it's pouring outside.

It will be a Liberty print frock for me this year.  Liberty prints are always perfect for spring - pretty but not country kitsch and evokes childhood memories of Ladybird books, school fêtes, tea parties, cupcakes and all things crafty.

APC came out with a few stunning creations earlier this year, for the Northern Hemisphere Spring/Summer 2009.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Tatum Liberty Print Summer Dress, A.P.C."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Poppy and Daisy Print Summer Smock Dress, A.P.C."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Bourton Liberty Print Crochet Dress, A.P.C."][/caption]

Cacharel also celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in April 2009 with a re-edited collection of its original Liberty print collaboration of the 1960s.

[caption id="attachment_373" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Green Liberty Print Apron Dress, Cacharel."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_375" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Halterneck Summer Dress, Cacharel."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_377" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Green Floral Button Through 70s Dress, Cacharel."][/caption]

But I've found a couple of other lovely Liberty print dresses at Nadinoo, a British designer based in Germany.





Or, maybe a frock won't do.  Perhaps a scarf.  Hermés has jumped into the Liberty love-in with a range of Liberty print scarves which will be available soon.

[caption id="attachment_331" align="aligncenter" width="371" caption="(Image taken from the Guardian)"][/caption]

Honestly! What's a girl to do?

Toasty

Ephemeral summer is about to flit by in the Northern Hemisphere and it's all about Autumn/Winter 2009.  But winter - the wild and woolly, stormy, windy part of it - is clinging on tenaciously in the Southern Hemisphere.  Which means the AW09 Toast clothing catalogue makes the ten thousand kilometre transition nicely.  The catalogue always features gorgeous, lush photography evoking the company's vision of luxurious, English living - bluestockings, Bloomsbury, Oxbridge, the Jazz Age and wild, isolated country life in sparse, weathered rooms of rambling, dilapidated mansions.  This season, there are nods to the Roma and Fairisle and the Far East.  And not a bodycon dress or high-heeled platform shoe in sight.  Just beautiful, comfortable clothing which slightly bookish (moody!) women leading busy lives can throw on and look lovely in.

(Images below taken from Toast)