Sizing some new rings

Luckily I have a next-door neighbour (and friend) who doesn't mind trying on a new ring or two for me. I wanted to check sizing and shape and basically to see the reaction of someone else to these new ones :)

Thanks Marta :)

Sizing some new rings

Something's in the air!

Very excited that yesterday we had nearly a whole day of complete sunshine! Yes it was a tragedy that I spent almost three hours in a salon in the middle of it, but I promise the real tragedy that was my rampant regrowth has been averted. I could then safely swan off to the park and lounge around with my lovely friends, two cute dogs and one adorable bebe. It was awesome to be out there! YAY HERE COMES SPRING FINALLY! Well it was here for a brief instant anyway. Back to cold and rain today, but I'm sure there's more awesome weather on the way. Ahhhh :)

Pics of inspiration for upcoming shoots and the like, thanks to yesterday's sunshine & various things:

Image credits, top to bottom:
Pic 1: Harper's Bazaar Indonesia
Photographer: Davy Linggar
Fashion editor: Michael Pondaag
Model: Julia Jamil (JIM)
Makeup & hair: Qiqi Franky & team menggunakan Makeup Store & L'Oreal Professionnel
Assistant stylist: Milla Mudijana, Veronica Arviana, Raden Prisya
Pic 2: Vogue Germany, October 2010
Model: Bianca Balti
Photographer: Paola Kudacki
Styling: Claudia Englmann
Pic 3: Mirage Issue #2
Shake dreams from your hair
Photographer: Nicole Nodland
Pic 4: Guess by Marciano
Models: Evandro Soldati & Heide Lindgren
Photographer: Alix Malka
Pic 5:  L'Officiel Ukraine Sep 2010
Model: Megan Hind
Photographer: Raphael Delorme & Thierno Sy
Pic 6:  Tess Van Ghert Autumn/Winter 2010/2011 campaign
Model: Kristina Pokrovskaya
Photographer: Yulia Lebedeva
Pic 7: Celestial Spring
Photographer: Carmen Rose
Hair and Make up: Mae Taylor
Stylist: Tessa O'Connor
Model: Lasca Dry @ Giant

Thanks to fashionising for all images :)

Something's in the air!

Why our great-grandparents were so cheerful

I got sent this by email yesterday and thought it was pretty amazing just how differently we view these drugs now. I did a little bit of googling in case it was unverified, but this information seems to have been lifted directly from a Patents Medicines article online. I promise to return to my normal fashiony blogging next time!

Why Our Great-Grandparents Have Such Fond Memories Of Their Youth...

I'm surprised that they remember anything!!

 A bottle of Bayer's 'Heroin'.

Between 1890 and 1910 heroin was sold as a non-addictive substitute for morphine.

It was also used to treat children suffering with a strong cough.

Coca Wine, anyone?

Metcalf's Coca Wine was one of a huge variety of wines with cocaine on the market.

Everybody used to say that it would make you happy and it would also work as a medicinal treatment.

Mariani Wine

 Mariani wine (1875) was the most famous Coca wine of it's time.

Pope Leo XIII used to carry one bottle with him all the time.

He awarded Angelo Mariani (the producer) with a Vaticangold medal.

Maltine

 Produced by the Maltine Manufacturing Company of NewYork.

 It was suggested that you should take a full glass with or after every meal.

Children should only take half a glass.

A paper weight:

 A paper weight promoting C.F. Boehringer & Soehne ( Mannheim, Germany).

 They were proud of being the biggest producers in the world

of products containing Quinine and Cocaine.

Opium for Asthma:

 At 40% alcohol plus 3 grams of opium per tablet,

 it didn't cure you, but you didn't care...

Cocaine Tablets (1900)

 All stage actors, singers, teachers and preachers had to have them for a maximum performance. Great to 'smooth' the voice.

Cocaine drops for toothache

 Very popular for children in 1885.

Not only did they relieve the pain, they made the children very happy!

Opium for new-borns

 I'm sure this would make them sleep well (not only the Opium, but also 46% alcohol)!

It's no wonder they were called, 'The Good Old Days'!!

From cradle to grave...

Everyone was stoned!!!

Why our great-grandparents were so cheerful

Cider-tasting with Wendy

Have you noticed how fashionable cider has become lately? At more than one event during Spring Fashion Week I found cider being served, and it appears at all my favourite drinking haunts now. I've been quite a fan for a number of years. I decided that beer was not for me about eight years ago, and cider became my summery beverage-beer replacement.

Whilst on a Sunday morning brunch stroll, I discovered Purvis Cellars had just opened a beer shop at 292 Bridge Road, Richmond. Given that my brunch companion is quite a fan of beer, we popped in for a look. Imagine my delight to discover they had a whole section dedicated to local and international ciders, including some I'd never seen before!

I decided that Sunday afternoon would become an impromptu cider-tasting. I rang my friend Wendy who loves a good cider as much as I do, got out some little tasting cups (if you're being serious about this, there's no point sampling a whole bottle of cider and then moving on to try the next - some of those brews are mighty strong!), chilled my new purchases, put out pen and paper for tasting notes, and off we went. Much fun was had comparing notes as we sipped at each tasting cup in turn - seems that Wendy & I agree wholeheartedly on certain types of cider.

The results of our discoveries are reported below. I've included the Purvis and/or part of the brand's own description first (which we didn't read prior to writing our own so as to give an honest, personal response), followed by our little scribbles about each one in italics. I've listed them in order of our favourites first, and our least favourite last:
 

1) Punt Road Wines Napoleone and Co Cider NV (Australia)
This delicious full-strength, dry cider has been hand-crafted using a variety of apples sourced from the Napoleone family orchards - established in 1948. It displays subtle apple aromas leading into a crisp, clean, elegant style with a notably refreshing finish.
Price: $4.95  Bottle size: 330 ml  Alcohol: 5.5%
Light straw colour. Delicious apple-y flavour without being overpowering. Crisp & dry. Pretty damn fabulous.

2) Aspall Draught Suffolk Cyder (UK)
Made with the fresh pressed juice of a blend of different apples to capture the best that each apple provides – Cox for sweetness, Bramley for acidity and apple aroma, and finally, a combination of bittersweet apples to give a heady perfume, body and a depth of finish. Has a mid straw colour with a floral/appley aroma especially of Russetts. It has a lovely mouth filling mousse and a delicate flavour of fresh pressed apples. Ideal as an aperitif. Slightly sweeter savoury dishes, such as pork, are beautifully complimented by this cyder.
Price: $8.99  Bottle size: 500 ml  Alcohol: 5.5%
Good apple flavour. Nice carbonation. Pale straw yellow colour. Excellent quaffing cider, you can drink quite a few and not get either overpowered or bored with the flavour.

3) Celtic Cider by Douglas (Belgium)
Celtic is an authentic Dry Cider that combines a subtle woody tone with the well-rounded flavour of the best apples. Celtic Cider by Douglas, a superb yellow gown with hints of rosé, suggestive of the great champagne vintages.
Price: $5.50  Bottle size: 500 ml Alcohol: 4.5%
Our first (and only today) cider with a pink blush. Very foamy/bubbly. 'Yeasty', seems most like champagne of the ciders we've tried today. Very drinkable. Not an overly powerful flavour. Balm to the tongue after tasting No. 5.

4) Old Mout Scrumpy (NZ)
Old Mout Scrumpy’s sweet apple aroma is touched with a hint of  honey, yet the flavour belies this aromatic delicacy, being  rich and fruity with a good length.
Price: $5.50  Bottle size: 330 ml  Alcohol: 8%
Tastes a bit like wine cooler to me. Not my favourite. Light & sweet - wouldn't drink more than a bottle. At least its not cloyingly sweet.

5) Rekorderlig Premium Apple Cider (Sweden)
Made from the purest spring water that runs under our family brewery in Vimmerby Sweden, Rekorderlig Apple Cider is a semi-sweet Cider that uses only the finest apples to produce a truly delicious Cider bursting with freshness. Freshly cut apple nose, Semi-sweet palate with strong fresh apple notes finishing with almost no acidity. Serve over ice to reduce sweetness.
Price: $6.29  Bottle size: 500 ml  Alcohol: 4.5%
Super-sweet, and comes in a big bottle. My teeth are crying. I couldn't do this one again. Perhaps a good one for cooking?

6) Crumpton Oak's Farmhouse Dry Cider (UK)
A real cider, for the real cider drinker. This fruity light cider is achieved by using the finest apples to produce a crisp and refreshing drink.
Price: $7.99  Can size: 500 ml  Alcohol: 5% 
This was a semi-sweet cider, the only canned version we tried in this sampling. We had originally placed it at about middle of the road. However it lost all the points we'd given it when we discovered it is sweetened with phenylalanine. Won't be drinking it again.

And so ends our cider sampling for this time. Do you drink cider? Do you have a favourite, or do you like to sample different types of cider? As you can see, Wendy and I both prefer a crisp & dry version of cider, whereas perhaps you like it sweet!

Cider-tasting with Wendy

Stylin'

Its been a busy fashiony time recently. Melbourne Spring Fashion Week kept me out and about for the first week of September, and I've been styling shoots quite a bit too. Can't share lots about some of these shoots as we have to wait until the magazines come out before I can show you anything. Really looking forward to seeing them though! The wait is keeeelling me! Damn virtuous patience!

What I can share with you is the blog entry from my lovely stylist assistant for the day, Sarah! She was such a pleasure to work with - so positive, so interested, and so proactive. And she took some snaps too! I only managed one on that particular day, so glad someone else was out there taking pics. I love having 'behind the scenes' shots for some reason, who knows why. There are also some great ones from another shoot (which I've included here) from our fab makeup artist, Jacinta.

Have to get to bed early tonight, as tomorrow's shoot includes a three hour drive to get out there. It will be worth it though! Can't wait! My house is full of the most stunning fashion to shoot out there tomorrow. Some of it is straight from the catwalk at MSFW - truly beautiful designs. Ahhh... bliss :)

Stylin'

MSFW 2010 Designer Series 1 - my favourite things

Loved these leggings at Therese Rawsthorne

MSFW kicked off the Designer Series runway shows last night, so out into the cold and rain I went to Melbourne Town Hall to check out what's coming up for some of our Aussie designers for Spring/Summer 2010/2011.

I had scored a front row seat to watch proceedings, which is great for getting a close look at the hair & makeup and accessories as well as the clothes - perfect for a girl who's seriously into accessories and styling!

Here are my faves from the night, with thanks to Fashionising for the images.

Oversized sweater dress from Gary Bigeni. Perfect for those of us celebrating a Spring that hasn't quite 'sprung' as yet.

Blingin cats-eye sunglasses from Alice Euphemia

Chunky resin collars from Alice Euphemia

Wild boots - Alice Euphemia

Super-pretty sheer lace frock from Flannel. Such a vintage feel!

Loved the patterning, colour and draping in this outfit from Dhini

Fab dress from Alistair Trung.

Great fringed jacket from Flannel.

The stand-out accessories for the entire show came from Alistair Trung.

Loved this top from Alistair Trung too.

This romper from Kuwaii was cool.

Great feather shawl collar & dress from Alistair Trung.

Lovely Lucy looked spectacular in the sculpted padding of Arnsdorf.

BEAUTIFUL dress from Lui Hon

I NEED this capelet from Lui Hon!

Thought this coat from MaterialByProduct, modelled by Face of MSFW Lucy McIntosh, had really great detailing.

You can see lots more MSFW images at Fashionising. Which are your favourites?

MSFW 2010 Designer Series 1 - my favourite things