May 30, 2011

circa 1994


Little me among the flowers!

Photos like this one are too incredible not to post! 

This incredible creation was made by my Grandmother for my 6th birthday and is taken at Houghton Bay Road in Wellington overlooking the Cook Strait.

xx

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May 29, 2011

Go team BEAUTIFUL!

I am so excited to blog about the release of The Chess Countess' new album: Who is the Chess Countess?



I had the honour of working with The Chess Countess in creating her costume for this album. Ridiculous amounts of lace and silk with hand painted "CC" cards on the front of the corset. Fun with a capital F!


Five fans will win a copy of the new album for "liking" her sparkly new FB fan page by 4th of June *:-)

This young lady is insanely musically talented and her creativity expands to the visual production of her onstage persona. A real honour to work with someone so creative! XX



For info on collaborations/custom made pieces drop me a line: hannah@aychblog.com xx

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May 24, 2011

I'm physically crafted to be // As fitting as McQueen

I have been incredibly moved by Her Royal Highness Lady Gaga's new album "Born this Way"

She inspires me to live a life filled with glitter, big dreams and incredible kindness.  

Check out Fashion Of His Love, the song HRH Lady Gaga dedicated to Alexander McQueen:



This song made me quite teary. It has been a year since McQueen's suicide and I still can't believe he is dead. I remember vividly a workmate asking when I arrived in the office that sad morning if I knew of a fashion designer by the name of McQueen. Obviously I replied that McQueen was one of my greatest fashion heroes. My workmate didn't quite know how to tell me the sad news..

Alexander McQueen and Lady Gaga via fanpop

Let us continue to aspire to greatness xx

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May 22, 2011

You look good enough to eat....

I have CANDYFLOSS hair!

I was inspired by this picture of Lady Gaga and decided I wanted to play around with colour. The lovely Sarah and Jasmine at Tony and Guy (High Street) had some fun with this brief! Post bleach Sarah put the idea out there to do something that started at my roots and faded out to the silver I have been enjoying. I was sold! They are suuuch clever artists!

(((OOps, a false lash falling off in this last picture... focus on the hair!)))

xx

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May 17, 2011

Welcome to my dream apartment ♥


I took these photos at IKEA in Melbourne a few months ago of this super cute room! 

Photo quality is teeeeerible but can you see these pretty colours? Smooth surfaces and textile highlights? Amaze.


Everything is so clean!


And organised!

I am into storage solutions in a BIG way so you can imagine how IKEA makes me feel! We don't have one in New Zealand so when I realised I was in the same city as one a few months ago I HAD to visit. So much inspiration. The first purchases I made in Canada were at an IKEA in Toronto:  plate+ bowl + knife + fork + spoon + cup + towel + blanket = CHECK!

Great memories lugging everything home on the subway *:-)

XX

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May 14, 2011

Welcome to the weekend!


I've been terribly unwell this week so there has been a bit of blogger-fail happening at my end then blogger-failed yesterday so all in all I took this as a cosmic sign to just relax and get back onto the internet today *:-)

Do you have some nice things planned for the weekend? 
 


I hope some relaxation is on the cards!

xx

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May 10, 2011

GOTTA SHARE!



This clip brought a little sparkle to my sickness laden day. I'm a watch it again while making a lemsip drink *:-)

xx

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May 8, 2011

RAFW day 4


Bowie
The final day of shows at RAFW for 2011 brought to the catwalk a blond 'doo that I am dying to recreate! Bowie used the fierce look above on several models and created variations all incorporating crimping and circular shapes. Now that my hair is platinum (i.e I have striped it of all its natural goodness) I can style it upward with relatively little product. Win! 


Saint Augustine's Academy 

SAA presented a range that I have been drooling over! I wish the men in my life were as confident as these nomadic cowboys. Dropped crotch + buton down shirts = incredible. Hi five!


Christopher Esber
Orange in all of its many manifestations has made a significant impact on SS 11/12 collections this week. The tangerine Christopher Esber presented was a muted tangerine that usually sat well with the pink hues and sharp blacks/crisp whites (pictured above).

I am looking forward to stepping into a new relationship with colour!

xx

All images Zimbio (click to enlarge)

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May 6, 2011

Happy DIET FREE DAY!


Today is International Diet Free Day! To celebrate/think about body issues I thought it would be really interesting to see what Barbie would look like in real life... now I wish I hadn't googled her!

x
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RAFW day 4


Stolen Girlfriends Club

The team at Stolen Girlfriend's stole the show last night with their SS 11/12 show parading their latest collaboration with visual artist Karl Maughan. I love the slashed jersey in the image above (left) and the way the print has married with the beautiful chiffon pants pictured below (right). Seamless.

Stolen Girlfriends Club

There are so many incredible colour relationships emerging out of RAFW that I feel are taking the global fashion industry into a new era. As we step away from a global recession and into unstable years ahead who knows who the new trend setters of these turbulent teen years will be? There is SO much hope!

Of these fabulous colour way relationships that have emerged this week the image below of Ellery's SS 11/12 range made my soul sparkle! Such a precious partnership:


 Ellery

I hope this week of fresh fashion is bringing sparkle to your world *:-)

All Images: Zimbio (click to enlarge)

xx

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Still in love with Judas baby!



Mother monster released her new video Judas a couple of hours ago. Thoughts? 

I think this is an incredible piece of work! I am writing a paper at the moment for my Sociology of Popular Culture class on Lady Gaga and I can't wait to do a close reading of this clip!

*geek for gaga*

xx

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RAFW day 3

Talulah 

I am loving these bias cut triangular tops emerging as a trend for SS 11/12! (As pictured above left from Talula's SS 11/12 collection) A total winner on every body. 


Dhini 

Dhini's SS 11/12 presented some strong silhouettes across the range with this fiery orange dominating the catwalk. I dream of having legs like these models... goodness, so fierce!


Lisa Ho

When I am reading a collection (Yes, I just said read..) there are several elements that I am analysing: cohesion, silhouettes, style lines, colour relationships, textual relationships and styling. It is basic 101 stuff but often a designer or design team is so engrossed in the details of the collection that they loose sight of the overall story.

Lisa Ho's SS 112 range at RAFW has been one that I feel ticks SO many boxes! Clean lines, innovative use of reinvented classic silhouettes and an unusual yet consistent colour ways that melded well to the textiles explored. I am a fan!

Designer Gary Bigeni 
And how could I not mention my AUSTRALIAN STYLE CRUSH (ASC) Gary Bigeni? (pictured above) This man expresses everything I am attracted to in a man. Colour and  personality mixed with nutty professor and fierce diva. In love.


Gary Bigeni

In related news, his SS 11/12 collection brought to life colour ways that I feel are so crisp and rich. Major winners in retail and on the runway. I love designers who explore the harsh lines of tailored garments and who don't feel the need to add a frill to "make it feminine". Embrace the boyishness!


All images Zimbio (click to enlarge)

xx

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May 5, 2011

RAFW Day 2


Kate Sylvester

Based on the narrative of moth collector meets jockey, Kate Sylvester's SS 11/12 collection presents her trademark story book motifs mixed with bad ass attitude. My fave four looks from the collection:


I think I have a new favourite label in Melbourne based duo Amber & Thomas!  There were some very clever fabric and colour choices in this collection. The massive wide leg powder blue pants (pictured below) are incredible.

Amber & Thomas

I hope you fashionistas are getting enough sleep, food and snuggles!


All images by Zembio (click to enlarge)

xx

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May 3, 2011

RAFW Day 1

Lover

I have been lustfully stalking the internet and drooling over collections from Day One of RAFW!

My favorite collection from the day is without a doubt LOVER. With Catherine Middleton's wedding only days ago I'm sure that this design team were relieved to find lace feature heavily in her McQueen dress understanding the influence such an iconic piece of formal wear will have on the fashion pack's purchasing decisions over the next couple of seasons.

Lover

Another collection of note was Alex Perry's use of floor length hemlines and bold colour blocking. The angular square necklines on many of the dresses caught my eye although fans like myself who are larger than a c-cup may feel uncomfortable in some of the high necklines of this collection.

Alex Perry 

Gail Sorronda's white highlights caught my eye with her pleated chiffon moving off the catwalk and onto my "lust-have"  list for Spring/Summer 11/12. Beautiful proportions!

 Gail Sorronda

Congratulations to everyone who makes this week happen. 

For those designers still to show I'm sending you glitter and keeping my fingers crossed that the fashion pack discovers some hidden treasures this week.

xx

All images: Zimbio

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May 2, 2011

On the eve of RAFW

 
 Image: Best Candy Store in Sydney
(Only a 3 minute walk from RAFW on George St)

Ello little ones!

It is with great sadness that I write this post to tell you that I will not be attending Rosemount Australian Fashion Week this year. BUT I am excited to follow all of the adventures and collections on the internet and I will be blogging away as collections catch my eye. 

Be sure to be following these glittertastic friends of mine who are on the ground ready to run: Patty Huntington, Isaac Hindin-Miller, Katherine Lowe and Helen Lee.

Some international bloggy types are also on the ground at RAFW. Keep an eye out for Susie Bubble, Tommy Ton, Phil Oh, and Imran Amed.

Much love and glitter,

xx

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