Knitwear & Leather

You will almost always find me wearing greys, blacks and whites as it is fair to say I am ‘that girl’ who know matter how much she will change her style, will always fall back to this trusty combo. As we are heading into the cooler month of winter, it’s time to say good bye to those cut off denim shorts, crop tops and playsuits and say hello to hats, knits and my absolute favourite, leather. After suffering a week of gastro I have learnt that this season I will definitely be going by quality over quantity and investing in simple pieces that can be paired with just about anything.

As I created my styledbyannie instagram account only four weeks ago, I have managed to discover many amazing unknown labels who provide amazing knitwear. My absolute favourite is adis & Co who are coming out with a gorgeous soft white knitwear cardigan that can be paired with anything (and looks A-mazing). Isabel Marant has also created amazing knitwear this season as you can see from the first image above. The pattern that you can see in the design is pure ‘major’ as it is enough detail to pair with black leather leggings and a pair of Tony Bianco boots and still looking a little above ‘casual’.

I believe that every girl needs a fabulous leather jackets as they are trusty and versatile with every outfit. I have been eyeing off a piece from Kookai. However, there are many are gorgeous leather jackets for a minimum price. Other leather jacket must haves include Elliot the label with a new leather jacket soon to be released on their website called ‘new moto jacket’ Saint Laurant and acne. (Boy I need to save up for these bad boys)
images courtesy of Mija_mija instagram

10 years of fashion with Alice McCall

Growing up in the country left me in complete admiration for the city of Melbourne. It was the restaurants, fine dining, city skyscrapers and most of all the fashion that pursued my attention. I remember walking in my first fashion show and having to stay in Melbourne for two weeks with my mum (my rock). We stayed at the Novatel on Collins (where I first discovered the beautiful exterior architecture of Tiffany & Co.) As I stayed in Melbourne, I discovered a label called Alice McCall by Alice McCall. Her unique take on her collections were like nothing I had seen, a creative and unique take on classy and elegant pieces.

It was an absolute honor to have worked on the night Alice McCall’s pieces were being featured at Virgin Australia Fashion Festival, with every piece being a stand out. The best thing about Alice McCall’s collections is that you can tell her pieces apart from the rest – like seeing a big yellow ‘M’ logo and knowing very well that it belongs to McDonalds – she has branded her label exceptionally well, which is what I believe is crucial within the fashion industry.

This year, during Mercedes Benz fashion week, Alice McCall celebrated her ten years in the fashion industry, with her pieces taking on a sense of maturity and growth through her new spring/summer collection called ‘flowerdrum’ and in her upcoming ‘In my dreams we were flying’ which is one of her most renowned collections yet.

There was an amazing energy backstage as I examined through her fun collection, which featured glittering shorts, statement clutches, futuristic prints and delightful pastels. Not to mention the beauty behind the look which featured timeless waves with sparkles and a seventies themed eye-make up.
It was truly a successful celebration of Alice’s fun, modern and timeless pieces and I look forward to another ten years of watching her collection blossom.

"I've always thought an amazing outfit comes down to the combination of the detail and the craft - with well-cut tailoring. It's about the balance" Alice McCall states in a recent interview with Broadsheet.

Emporium Opening

Day one at the grand Emporium kicked off on Wednesday the 9th of April, and what a day it was!
Walking inside the Emporium was like walking into the future with the ultra modern architectural design; It was next level brilliant.

As i arrived at the Emporium at 6.30am, their were plenty of last minute, rush-hour touch up's being done by the builders to ensure everything was perfect and ready to have the doors open by 9am for all shoppers to capture their first glimpse into the shopping centre. Once I arrived to where I needed to be, I arrived into what was an empty boutique store turned backstage-workspace, greeted by a few of the make-up artists and hairstylists who had been working all through the night to ensure all prep work was done for the event. The models arrived at 5.30am to be prepped for their first runway show presented at 9.30am.

Three catwalk shows were being held at the Emporium starting from 9am and finishing at 1.30. These runways were showcasing many of the different retailers collections that would be featured in-store such as Camilla, Zimmerman, Sass&Bide, the list goes on.
The runway event was not the only excitement for shoppers as many of the retailers were providing goodie bags such as Marcs, gifts upon purchases such as Bianca Spender and storewide discount such as Kookai (excluding leather apparel) while also stocking a mini breakfast in store.

It was an all round amazing event to be apart of backstage, and I highly recommend if you haven't already checked out the Emporium, it is well worth the visit.

Hats

Hats. A must have accessory for the wintery season ahead is a fabulous hat. Hats have made a remarkable comeback as a key accessory to have this winter and the best part? There are no rules to styling an outfit with a hat. Rather so, it will compliment your hair tones and facial features (and save you from a bad hair day)

Lack of colour are my favourite must have label this coming season, providing beautiful premium Australian Wool Fedora hats in a range of colours. Fedora hats are gorgeous. They have the ability to create more width and/or length to your face.

When purchasing a hat, you need to ensure it is correctly suited for the shape of your head - it's all about mix and matching until you find the right one (you will know when you see it) Another wintery must-have hat is a wide-brimmed wool felt hat purchased from the launch of H+M which also came in a maroon colour. Below is an image I put together of the winter hats I am loving right now. (my poor boyfriend. Our wardrobe space is covered with my hats)

From left to right: Lack of colour 'Haze'| Janess Leon 'Vera' Fedora | Floppy wool fedora hat by TOPSHOP | Lack of colour

sass&Bide

Sass&Bide is my absolute favourite Australian label designed by Heidi Middleton and Sarah-Jane Clarke who deliver the highest quality pieces with every collection. With their pre-fall 2014 collection release we can see a lot of party-ready pieces, metallic and lots of shimmer. I was fortunate to capture a glimpse of these wonderful pieces when i was working at the opening for Emporium shopping centre located in Melbourne CBD. Their gorgeous shop front is a simple white contemporary base with an elegant set up for their pieces.

What really caught my eye in their was this beautiful black & gold clutch titled out of the woods which is featured below. My recent purchase is this gorgeous 'between ordinary' knitwear also featured in the top last photo above, paired with the 'open book printed denim shorts. The best thing about Sass&Bide is most pieces can be paired with anything, it's all about mix and matching.

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Virgin Australia Fashion Week

Where can I begin to explain the madness behind backstage fashion week? It was next level brilliant! The madness of fast paced fashion changes, last minute shoe taping and quick beauty touch up’s as the models begin to queue as the lights go down and the show begins. The media involving PR and photographers cringed at every opportunity to be let in behind the scenes to capture the winning images in hopes to be featured on ‘thetrendspotter.net’. Picture well over three thousand fashion inspired women in one location ready to witness the fashion event of year, previewing up and coming collections designed by current, well known designers. As festivalgoers had accumulated to the name ‘L’Oreal Fashion Week’ we welcomed the new sponsors ‘Virgin Australia Fashion Week’.

What inspired me about the event were not just the outfits styled on the models, but admiring the street style of women outside the events section (We can all admit we do this). Black and white has always been well liked and was exceptionally well used this year from chic to edgy, a very strong looked that looked great paired with a new season print which was also featured throughout many of Thurley’s new collection. I think it’s important to mix up classic black and white with different textures.

The show itself was an amazing experience, especially Miss Vogue’s premier runway; it made me fall in love with Vogue even more then I already do. Designers featuring Matickevski, Christopher Esber, scanlan and Theodore who are known for their class and quality, and Josh Goot who proved again why he is one of my favorite designers. An all around amazing event to be apart of.

Images above courtesy of my lovely friend from VAMFF

Meet Annie!

Hi & welcome to my new blog page. Before I begin explaining my concept of this blog, let me first introduce you to Annie. Annie is a country girl who recently moved to the big city to pursue her mark in fashion industry. Sounds a little Cliché right? I thought so too. What could honestly make Annie so different to the rest of the other fashion bloggers out there? I'll let you decide.

Her love for fashion grew when she made her mark at sixteen years old modeling for sound Australian designers and gracing the magazine pages, featuring in a two page spread in Fjorde magazine on timeless fashion, followed by the cover of Biscuit fashion magazine with a three page spread on spring fashion, lead Annie to also be featured in Madison Magazine and in-style. The madness behind the scenes in the fashion industry left Annie knowing that this was the area she was made to be in. Having valuable knowledge in the areas of fashion and studying public relations this year, Annie became apart of assisting backstage for this years Virgin Australia Fashion Week and assisting backstage for the fashion shows presented at the Emporium for their opening launch, allowing to possess excellent communication skills in a fast paced environment and the ability to interact with individuals at all levels of technical understanding.

The reasons behind this blog is to showcase the latest trending fashion through the eyes of Annie who has a keen eye for detail, with latest trending event updates and posts while at the same time meeting other wonderful bloggers. I hope that this blog post may inspire you, and see fashion through the eyes of Annie. Welcome to Styledbyannie.