Cute girls with cute horses

Samantha wears:
Cooper St kimono
Vinetti cutout leather top

Sarah wears:
Vinetti suede leather top
Provocator flare pants
Kobe Husk heels

Sarah wears
Neuw embroidered sundress

Samantha wears:
Ebony Eve skirt

Samantha wears:
Neuw cropped tee
White Suede lace shorts
Mister Zimi pony haired boots

Samantha wears:
Paper Skye sheer dress
W.E. by Whitney Eve necklace

Sarah wears:
Provocator lace dress
Provocator lace cardigan
Stylists shoes

Sarah wears:
Serpent and the Swan muslin dress
Vintage Alistair Tung cape

Samantha wears:
Therese Rawsthorne sheer button up

Sarah wears:
Serpent and the Swan dress with leather detail
Serpent and the Swan copper chain with signature bone

A little photoshoot I did with the talented Lucia Pang all the way in Penrith!

So what I originally wrote for this post  is going to be ignored, deleted and instead, I'm going to go on a little tangent, rant, passive aggressive post, life message that can be mildly linked back to the editorial that I styled.

Now I like to think that the two models represent me, because really, the amount of amazingness I am is equivalent to these two super hot babe models. Now you can see by the first few images that they are all like 

Hmmmm these cactus plants are dangerous but sadly they don't seem to be able to love me no matter how much I hug them. Why won't you lurveeeeeee me you stupid plants but honestly plants can't love you because they are plants and you can't make friends with salad let alone a lover so really all I'm doing is waiting to get pricked  but I like living life on the edge #YOLO

But then you come across this gorgeous white horse that accidentally dropped your knight in shinning armor at the wrong farm 3 blocks away but it doesn't matter because it loves you and wants you to be its best friend and won't stop following you even after you have your photo with it . 

So there you are forgetting about your stupid cactus loving escapade and just chilling on some farm with a horse that loves you and Oh life is so amazing with the nice weather and colour presets.

but then...

BAM

The horse backstabs you (the related photo was to gruesome to upload) and suddenly you are in some other weird run down farm clutching your body from the freezing cold. And it ain't just a physical cold sistah

Soon you are grabbing onto anything to support yourself and you are thinking that hmmmmm that cactus loving thing I had going on earlier was better because it would just prick me and not backstab me (because cactus can't backstab but horses can)

Soon you are just sitting down on some wall looking off into the distance thinking what if...

And then your life turns into a B&W photo

The end.

So if you are still with us, the point of the story is, if you had to play with a cactus or horse, pick the cactus guys. JUST DO IT.

*sponsored by the National Cactus Association*

The Hottest New Trend of 2013

Romance Was Born t-shirt (worn backwards)
Ksubi denim jacket
Edwin jeans
Timberland boots

Haven't you heard? The hottest trend hitting the streets next season is wearing your tops backwards. According to our insider source at Style.com*, all the big labels are preparing to shake up the fashion world with shirts worn the wrong way around. Yes, that's right, you heard it here first, Fashion Industry Confessions ain't got nothin' on me.

But can you guys imagine that? Collection after collection of models walking looking like they hurriedly got dressed in the dark. Imagine the stress of the poor little dressers back stage, putting the looks onto the models properly and then realising, no the right way around isn't actually the right way. Utter chaos, I tell you.

So I thought I would give it a shot, and I present to you my best Tyra Banks approved fierceness smize into your soul so you love me more when I look constipated lewk whilst wearing my Romance was Born top backwards. As you can see, the back of the Romance was Born top, which is worn in the front and not the back in the following picture, is simply divine. It's reminiscent of a really resplendently rendered Renaissance rartwork (+5 points for my alliteration).

werk, werk, werk it gurrrl

Honestly though, I actually prefer wearing the top this way around because the front image is a bit too feminine (even for me). But even so, whenever I do it I can't help but feel a little bit avant-garde.

*not really

Where Gelato collides with Fashion

My friend once recounted to me how she was overcome with gelato Messina cravings one day. Now anyone who's had Messina would know that such cravings are a natural part of life, like the sun rising or wanting to throw your naked body onto Ryan Gosling .But what was particularly funny about this story is that she had just woken up, and because she was no longer a child and by extension, wasn't restricted by the rules of her parents, decided

 "Yes. Yes I can have mother fucking gelato Messina for breakfast"

And off she went at 10:30am in the morning to the Messina store with a smile on her face to only be confronted with a closed sign. It turned out Messina doesn't cater for breakfast. Now you would presume that any respectable person would just go back home in defeat but no, not this girl. She was determined to stake it out and wait for Messina to open. That's real love.

Why am I retelling this story? Well I feel like I can draw lots of parallels between her story and my own predicament. And no its not my constant craving for Messina. It is however my insatiable hunger for everything and anything Serpent and the Swan. Having recently gone to their press showings, I literally hashtag totes died at their hashtag totes ah-mazzzing collection. And this wasn't the first time.

Serpent and the Swan are one of those labels that no amount of high resolution photos could really reflect the quality of the garments. All the amazing things, the small, subtle details are easily missed when you can't feel the material and inspect the garments up close in person.

Serpent and the Swan North Sea Shirt

Take this amazing North Seas shirt. You might simply say "oh it's a cool print shirt" however you are wrong. Very very wrong. Like how those people in the olden days thought the world was flat. That's how wrong you are. It is more than just a very very incredibly cool print shirt.

It's a very very incredible cool print shirt that's on a raw silk that doesn't look or feel like silk but more like boiled wool or some other very rare ultra luxe material that you will never see in Supre.  

And if you are like "OMG IT'S SO NICE BUT IT'S A GUYS SHIRT I CAN NEVER WEAR IT" well its labelled as "unisex" so shut up and just wear it. Like I do! And there's a bag to match!

I actually still can't get over how amazing it is. I think I'm going to need a Messina to calm me down. Or two. 

Día de los Muertos

Therese Rawsthorne shirt
Edwin jeans
Thrifted shoes

One of the things that cemented my undying love for Lola is the fact that she happens to work in the food industry (can't you tell? She's so fat), and consequently, takes me to all her amazing food-related events. So when the opportunity arose to accompany her to one of her Secret Foodies pop-up dining events, I squealed a little too loud over the phone. This resulted in her giving me a solid ten minute lecture about not eating everything in sight. Like I eat anything anyways, it's three months to fashion week!

So fast-forward a week later and suddenly here I am wearing this slightly creepy, overly revealing sheer top and low cut singlet, surrounded by people with faces either done up like a Gothic banshee or without makeup. As seen below, Lola chose the later. She suits the clean, natural look, no?

MinkPink kimono
Cotton On Body corset
Love skirt
Kani rose crown
Diva earrings
Necklace from eBay

This particular event was Día de los Muertos, a Day of the Dead themed warehouse party for Halloween. Following a secret text message with directions leading me to a random parking lot in St Peters, I found Al Carbon (Sydney's latest Mexican food truck!) camped there, dishing out all you can eat tacos all night outside the party. The food was so fresh and mouth watering, I'm ashamed to say, I ate until I could physically eat no more. Aside from the food (most important), there was margaritas, Mexican decorations everywhere, Coronas, face painting, sangria, a Mariachi band and it gets blurry after the tequila...

Almost everyone was in costume, but I guess that someone also failed to mention to the girls that in Girl World, Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it. There was not one pair of mouse ears or skanky lingerie to be seen the whole night. I'm not sure whether to feel disappointed or relieved.

Photographs by Lola Li.

Real life Art in the Art Gallery

Anna is wearing
Ae'lkemi full feathered dress POA

Ae'lkemi Chartreuse mini, $1400
Tom Gunn Billie Black & Acid shoes, $369

What's one of the fastest ways to get yourself kicked out from the Art Gallery of New South Wales? Attempt to subtly sneak some drop dead, stunna of a model in a floor length, feathery, bridal couture dress and force her to walk up and down the aisles of the gallery. Nothing out of the ordinary, just your average day taking your model out for her daily dose of exercise*.

While we were leisurely walking around the Art Gallery, the beautiful, floor length Ae'lkemi dress would shed its white feathers, leaving a trail wherever we went. It was reminisce of the closing look of Alexander McQueen S/S07, the dress with fresh flowers on it that would scatter all around her. Combined with the architecture and renaissance paintings surrounding us, Anna became this ethereal  other worldly being who seemed to have descended from heaven and was walking on feathers. Or some other beautiful, poetic bullshit. She was just really pretty.

When it came down to working, we played it cool. Security didn't notice us whilst we staged our impromptu fashion photo shoot. It was all going smoothly, better than expected really** Too bad for us the subtle factor evaporated when hordes and hordes of tourists decided to join in on the "photoshoot", even posing with the model awkwardly. And then the wrath of multiple security guards questioning our every motive descended on us like seagulls finding a potato chip in Circular Quay. It wasn't nice and we ran out of the building like a bride second guessing her marriage to her sugar daddy.

"But we haven't even gotten into third looks yet?!!?"

*Anna is actually a long distance track athlete and has won multiple medals. Her daily dose of exercise is probably the equivalent of three years of exercise for me.

**We called the Museum ahead of the shoot and apparently its illegal to shoot there, "heavy fines are imposed"

Thankyou to Anna @ The Agency and Lola Li for photographing

The closing dress of Alexander McQueen's S/S07 show
by Steven Meisel, Vogue US May

The struggles of beach attire

Jack London Coat
Jack London pussy blouse
Sass and Bide Jeans
Aldo brogues

I have a problem. A major sartorial, life threatening problem, and no it isn't my credit card bouncing. It's the fact that I am incapable of dressing for fun* times at the beach. This inability to pick out my 3/4 boardies from Lowes, Havaiana flip-flops and Australian flag towel from among a mainly beach redundant wardrobe has led many beach goers and friends giving me confused looks. This might also be related to the fact that I am incapable of deciphering how hot it is even when I load the weather app. You would think that with all these problems in my life I would have qualified for the government doll or something.

But here I am, doll-less wearing jeans, leather shoes and a coat to the beach all the while having people in various states of undress walking past me and staring. Though a part of me likes to believe that they kept staring because they had not seen such perfection before.

* There's nothing fun in burning your feet on hot sand and coming out of the water looking like a drowned rat

A Bigger Splash

Autonomy shirt
Edwin Jeans
Sperry Top-Sider boat shoes

Do you need more time?

I've always been a big believer in keeping busy. I’m not quite sure if it’s because I’m constantly surrounded by talented and hardworking peers or if it stems from my crazy Asian culture of work ethic, but everyday I try to do something fulfilling and productive. I detest staying at home and doing nothing.

In saying this, and having recently acquired another job, I am now balancing three different workloads. Ironically, only two of the jobs are directly beneficial to my career, and these happen to be ones that pay the least. My friends have advised to cut one of them out, but how will I ever decide which one? I want to maximise my career prospects but I can’t possibly go back to shopping in the clearance section of ASOS now that I've stepped into Net-a-Porter’s death grip. 

The quote, “jumping around and splashing in the water doesn’t mean you’re swimming” by Michael LeBoeuf really resonates with me. There is a big difference between simply being active, and really accomplishing something worthwhile. But is it really worth it? My income has significantly increased, my resume is looking solid but I am finding that I have no time to enjoy the little things now that I am working seven days a week.

I tell myself that this is all temporary. Eventually, life will slow down when I’m successful, and I will have time to focus on the things that really matter – those that enrich my life, such as having fun and spending quality time with family and friends, and not worrying about the price tag on clothes. But when? When you look at all the successful people working in fashion you realise that there is no such thing as a break, they are constantly working all the time.

"Let me know when your personal life is falling apart. That means it's time for a pay-rise".

Realistically, the fashion industry and the world in general is unlikely to slow down. But do I really want to be that crazy fashion gal that just lives and breathes fashion?

One of the biggest regrets of those dying is that they wish they 'didn't work so hard'. I would love to take this advice but I never want to live a mediocre life. I’d like to believe my clothes lovingly embrace  me at the end of each day, the same way I’d like to think that I’m a size 4. But let’s be honest people, I doubt that’s going to realistically happen any time soon...

My computer committed fashion suicide

So my computer exploded. A KA--BOOM kind of explosion, with sparks and fire and smoke. This naturally led many neighbors to call the local police station to report suspicious behavior. I think some of the reports said we were making homemade bombs. Considering the ghetto suburb in which I inhabit. this was no surprise at all. 

I kid, I kid. My life isn't that interesting and my computer didn't explode on itself. It did however crash and die on me. I can’t load it up for more than thirty seconds before it crashes. I even got it to start on safe mode and then it crashed again! 

CRASHED ON SAFE MODE!
IT HAS THE WORD SAFE IN IT AND IT STILL CRASHES!!!
WHAT IS THIS?!

And it ain't even a blue screen of death. It’s this fuzzy plaid pattern in a rainbow of color.

How very fitting right? Even in its final days, my computer will stay true to its owner and reflect his overly flamboyant gayness.

So what to do now? The next course of action seems to get an Apple Macbook, which will complete my total hipster look and off course, provide me with a working computer. But they are so god damn expensive.

But the first thought to go through my head was “I rather spend this money on clothes”. I could get one of those cheaper MacBook Airs, but it isn't very hipster is it?

So really, lets see what $2,499 AUD would get you.

1) Alexander f*cking McQueen
to sit next to the Supre clothes in your wardrobe

Alexander McQueen Intarsia wool-blend dress $2,559

2) Liposuction on my chin

while the rest of my body remains fat

                                                            

Aesthetic Surgery Centre chin lipo $2,500
If I wanted to get my stomach it'll double in price :(

3) Rent a Friend for a week to make you look popular
but does not include sex

Rent a $50 p/h friend for a week 

The options are endless! But what I think I'm going to do is just cancel hiring Lola to be my friend for a week and use that money on a laptop.

Done.

Emotionally eating Alex's Wang

Alexander Wang dress that should be burnt
Siren heels
ASOS cuff

What do you do when your partner* wears a 600 pound Alexander Wang dress that is completely, and utterly JIZZ worthy? You eat copious amounts of orgasmic food to make yourself feel better.

Yes that’s right, as Lola strutted around looking a hundred million times better than me, I tended to my wounds by loitering near the kitchen and helping myself to plate after plate of free canapés. And these weren't your average canapés. No these were the best canapés that have ever graced my sweet mouth. Ughhhhhh my mouth is watering thinking about the beautifully cooked lamb, and the fresh sashimi, ohhh and even lobster*, all washed down with sweet, alcoholic poison.  UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH it was so good that I attempted to eat my foodstagram photos the next morning. 

I don’t advise eating to make yourself feel better though. I just ended up looking worse due to the massive food baby protruding my body. When you reach the point where it is hard to swallow your food because there is no room left in your stomach you know you should probably put down that plate. And no, do not pick up the other plates waiting for you either.

I’ve actually hypothesised that I might have a tapeworm in me because I can just eat so much food. The problem with this little theory though, is that I failed to have gained one of the main benefits of having a parasite use your body as a host, weight loss. Lola concluded however, that I've failed to lose weight because I actually just eat too much food for the both of us.

A valid point.          

So what can we conclude from this little rambling? If you are with someone who is wearing an Alexander Wang dress tear it off them and burn it or you will emotionally eat yourself into a bigger pants size. And that ain’t very chic.

*Yes me and Lola are officially married and went on our honeymoon and that’s why I haven’t blogged in a while.

** I was later informed that what I was eating was not a lobster but a Decapodian named Zoidberg

May Day Market shirt
Random asian store necklace
Giles & Brother bracelet
Random stolen bracelet found in my boyfriends room 
Edwin Jeans
Thrifted shoes

Provocator's PR bitch

Last Thursday night, in a small Newtown shop filled with nails and concrete cutters I gave birth. There, next to wooden crates and tied up models, a little baby with which I carried in my womb for the past two months popped out. That little baby was my first ever project as a publicist. And damn was it good to have that baby out.

Conception

While brainstorming ideas to create more awareness for the brand, I briefly mentioned to Arthur, the designer behind Provocator, that we should organise a collection launch for the new range coming out. I wasn't that serious. It was one of those ideas you throw out that you don’t think will happen. 

But “Sure, organise it” was his answer.

The Morning After 

When they talk about morning sickness they ain’t kidding. I was nauseous and dizzy. Delirious with excitement and scared shit less at the same time. I was even vomiting all my food up but not losing any weight. It was a cruel cruel world. Am I really organising a collection launch all by myself? How was I supposed to do such a thing? I had no idea where to begin. 

Who’s your Daddy? 

I enlisted the help of the most masculine person in my life, Lola Li, a slut in the food and alcohol industry and surrogate father to baby. I needed her help with getting alcohol sponsors so that I could get all the fashion people deliriously drunk on the night. Fashion people drunk is the only measurable way to find out if your event is a success.

The Nursery Room

Organising the models and set-up for the event was probably one of the most fun things about making the event. Doing model castings was a great experience since I've never done that before. It was kinda like I was the popular kid in primary picking all the cool kids to be on my team. You can tell I was never the cool kid ): 

Labour 

This was the time where all the stress, tears and emotions ran wild. At first I was dealing with it okay, but as time ticked by the stress levels started to kick in and the contractions came closer together. Soon I was red faced from all the huffing and puffing, and maybe a few too many glasses of wine. But we were running late and I couldn't get these bitches into their outfits fast enough. We even had one of the press people come in whilst I was tying one of the models up to the infrastructure. 

And suddenly, in a flash it was all over. The event had finished, stylists were drunk, models had started to drink and I was still trying to figure if we were going to pull it off. 

After Delivery

I read somewhere that when you finish giving birth your brain releases chemicals which calm you, make you forget how painful childbirth is and make you want to continue popping them out. That's what happened and for some sick twisted reason I want to do it all over again. Planning this event has probably been the most stressful thing I have ever done but Oh my god I want to give birth to another event. Maybe a full scale runway show. Next Fashion Week. Here's hoping.

I was also very fortunate to work alongside such a great designer who trusted my judgement and gave me heaps of control over the event. I would also love to thank all the mid wives, aka hair/makeup/people that helped, couldn't of done it without them.

Models Models Models

Models Models Models

Some backstage pictures I took of models doing what models do best, looking beautiful.

Charlotte Lohmann looking radiant as always

Rachel Grosso practising her blue steel pose

Kailah Ng sending me love messages

Alice Burdeu being like "why are you taking pictures of me?"

Rachel Rutt in some kind of meditation

Jennifer Hawkins is so excited to meet me that she has to clutch her hands to stop them trembling

The Attack of Babes

I was lucky enough to attend the Bendon Lingerie runway show which opened up Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival Sydney. All seemed well at the start of the show, women in various states of undress came parading down the catwalk. Nothing out of the ordinary there, just your typical runway show. 

Pretty girl with pretty underwear with a pretty basket full of pretty flowers

At first it was just one girl after the other. 

But then...

 ...there was TWO!

OMG what sorcery is this?

The girl on the right is the same girl from above but in totally different clothing?! 

The various shades of red in their clothing should have foreshadowed what was about to happen. Alarm bells would have been ringing in any normal persons head. But silly me was too distracted by their luscious bouncy hair. 

Oh good she's gone. But wait, now there's FIVE! The girls trippled minus one in number by some form of mitosis! Who would have known Year 12 Biology would come in handy. I was suddenly overwhelmed by the amount of beauty surrounding me. And all those vibrant pop colours just seemed to mesmerise the crowd like some form of hypnosis. And then, when we were all under their spell, they threw balls at us!

WE WERE BEING ATTACKED BY HOT GIRLS IN LINGERIE

An army of lingerie models. I think this is the closest I've been to so many semi-neked woman.

But it wasn't over. Those five models suddenly exploded into an army, they conjured confectionery to rain from the skies even though we were indoors and made everyone clap their hands violently together. 

Then, when all seemed lost, this dashing young chap came to the rescue, freeing me from the clutches of these sexy women.

Thank god for half naked men.

Werk It

I once had a good friend come to me proclaiming that she felt lost because she hadn’t figured out her style. She said that she felt like a fraud, a try-hard and didn’t understand how people just fit so naturally into particular style niches. She felt that she was studying trends and rote learning outfits but not really possessing it internally. She wondered how does a Ksubi customer become a Ksubi customer? Did they just pop out of the womb in some slick ass jeans, tees and that beachy long hair?

Moschino vintage jacket
We Rob Banks shirt
Ksubi jeans
Dr Martens boots
Romance Was Born backpack

I found this really interesting because I think that this applies to the majority of people. How does anyone figure out their own personal style if they don’t experiment with trends, look for guidance in style icons or generally fake it till they make it? I mean, I constantly look back on my outfits two/three years ago and cringe, and I will most likely again, in two years cringe at what I wore today. It’s a learning process where you find out what works for you, makes you feel good and you are comfortable with.

Finding your own unique style is never set in stone, it constantly changes and adapts as you grow in life. I like to look at life as one big catwalk, most likely because I like to think of myself as a model. But in any catwalk there are multiple change overs and looks. Maybe you get lucky and you are booked exclusively for one designer for your whole catwalk life. So the next 10 years you end up wearing drapey outfits in fifty shades of black (not grey). But I think most people fall into the average model life. They get booked for a wide range of clients and end up wearing everything from bold colours to florals to nothing but black. 

Awesome bomber jacket don't ya think?

When  I wore this outfit one of my friends said,

“I love that jacket but im not sure about the floral shirt underneath”

To which my other friend rebutted,

“But it’s so Dang!”

It was interesting to see that people have a better idea of what my style is than I do. When I get asked to describe my style I always stumble and don’t know what to say. It’s a tricky question. I don’t really have a style icon, I don’t have a particular aesthetic which I can pigeon hole myself into, and I don’t shop exclusively at a few shops/designers. To be honest I would actually describe myself as a little of everything.

Even drag... (refer to picture below)

An Ode to No One blazer
Sportsgirl shirt
Sass & Bide draped pants
Wittner velvet boots

Photographs by Lola.