Love Letters....and presents

I was very fortunate to receive a couple of very lovely gifts from my boyfriend this Christmas. My favourite is a book, Love Letters of Great Men by John C. Kirkland. This is the same book that Carrie read in the Sex and the City movie when she is in bed with Big. It is such a fascinating read, exploring the relationships between history figures and their loves. The letters are also accompanied with a summary about the fate of the couples.

I also received a movie that I have been trying to find for around ten years, Love Letter, directed by Shunji Iwai. Can you see a theme here? It is a really beautiful Japanese movie about a young woman who loses her husband suddenly and then spontaneously decides to write a letter to him only to receive a reply by a young woman by the same name.

Christmas Puddings

In a previous post I mentioned that I planned on making Christmas pudding rum balls as gifts for my family and friends. Here is the finished result....I'm very proud of my boyfriend and I, we slaved away like little elves in our kitchen.

The Ramen Girl

I mentioned in a previous post that I watched the Ramen Girl and had an instant craving to cook ramen for myself. This movie was really touching, normally I adore any movie that is set in Japan/Tokyo. The movie could have been set anywhere and it would have been just as mesmerising, I think watching Brittany Murphy's character become the best person she could was very inspiring and uplifting. If you have the chance to watch this you should, it's not your typical chick flick by any means.

Bag Lady

Although I love pretty things, I'm the type of person who only has one bag that they use consistently for years and then one day just decides to get a new one, usually when the old one is on its last legs. I'd like to think of myself as a bag monogamist.

Since July 2007 my day bag has been a tan Mimco button bag. Think what you will about the ubiquitous bag, it holds a lot of junk. It has a sizeable main section, a phone pocket, large side pocket, two compartments at the front of the bag behind the buttons andit can also expand a little on each side with the twist of a clasp. You would think that the number of compartments would lend to more organisation on my part, but it doesn't really. I just tend to stuff more junk into it, often losing things only for them to inexplicably return one day to the inside pocket of my bag. Next year I hope I can acquire for myself a slightly smaller bag and have some semblance of organisation about it. I dream of being this type of bag lady.....

photo: Leese Looks

Revenge of the Nerds

Lately I have taken to playing Starcraft with my boyfriend, I don't know how exactly this happened, in the past I downright refused to play. I think it was somewhere between starting my own website and knowing the password for our secret torrent site off by heart. He assures me that it is a national sport in Korea and it's really not that geeky. Perhaps he's right and I should just let the nerd flow? Speaking of nerdy I need new glasses and I was thinking of purchasing either of these two pairs with my magical money. I can't decide.

Ruby Slippers

From as long as I can remember I've had an obsession with acquiring the perfect ruby slippers. These were my first pair (age 5). My last pair were destroyed by my puppy around three months ago. For my next pair, perhaps I can hunt these down.....

Do you remember when Carrie loses her necklace in series six of Sex and the City? I was almost as devastated as her. Although I usually try to avoid trends as it is a sure fire way of wasting money in the long term, I gave in and purchased a my name necklace. This is what my lovely boyfriend calls me. It's become quite a sentimental nickname for me now.

My Interview with Poppy King

I'm so happy to share this with you, I think that Poppy is truly one of the most creative and inspiring people that I have ever come across. Hopefully this will be the first of many interviews with inspiring entrepreneurs! Enjoy.

What was the very first thing you did to carry out your idea when you began Poppy?
The first thing I did was look up “lipstick factories” in the Yellow Pages and as there was no listing for that I found instead “Cosmetic Manufacturers” and starting ringing the numbers to see which manufacturer made lipstick.

Your packaging has always been very unique, where do you get you inspiration for it?
Mainly from art movements, films and books as well as popular culture. I just love taking things from one context and placing them in another.

I remember when I was little running into David Jones and picking out pretty matte lipsticks with my Mum, back then matte wasn’t really in vogue. How did you market the different formulation to your customers?
By emphasizing the long lasting nature of matte lipstick and that my colors were so reminiscent of the 1940’s deep reds and browns. I knew that women would like these as an alternative to all the glittery pinky colors that existed.

What was your biggest challege as a young woman, starting a business?
Learning the financial language involved. It is a very male dominated language.

What would you tell other women who are conflicted about starting a business?
The same thing I would tell them about conflicted feelings regarding relationships...it is better to have tried than not tried. The most soul destroying thing in life is not to try. Once you make the decision just to try everything becomes clearer from there.

Finally, what is the fail proof way of applying the perfect red lip?
Apply lipstick straight from the tube, blot to set and then apply another second coat and voila!

You can also read about my review of her book here.

Breakfast Reading

As I mentioned in my last post, I am a person of habit. Each morning I like to start my day with a green tea and either bircher muesli or fruit and yoghurt.

As you can see I have the new Frankie and SHOP magazines. Both are quite good, especially SHOP which doesn't have anything over $200 inside. Granted most things veer to the higher end of that spectrum, I'd say that's pretty impressive.

Beauty Essentials

Although I love acquiring pretty things, in terms of makeup and beauty products I am quite low maintenance. I think I am a true Cancer in that I love routine and hate change. With that said here are the few products that I have repurchased time and time again.

1. Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream- I keep this next to my bed and slather it on each night before I sleep.
2. OPI Big Apple- the quintessential red polish.
3. Lanolips in Apple- the most moisturising cherry lips you'll ever have.
4. Hot Mama, the Balm- apparently this is a dead ringer for Nars "Orgasm".
5. Mac "Petting Pink" balm- this is a lovely alternative for when I don't want something too bright.

I ♥ Frankie

These are some of my favourite photos from the new issue of Frankie magazine (Jan/Feb). I actually have the dress in the top right hand corner. But I haven't been able to bring myself to wear it yet, I just don't feel very good in it, it's probably because I'm a midget and it makes me look even more so :)

It's a small world after all...

Sometimes this world seems so very very small. Last night I sent an email asking for an interview with my idol. I had sent it to her on a whim as I was struggling to find some good information about her for the Wikifashion page I was creating. Obviously I didn't really think I would get a response, lo and behold this morning she sent me a really sweet letter to my inbox. I was a little star struck to say the least.

I can't wait to share this with you, as I think she is one of the most inspiring people I have ever come across. Particularly if you are someone who is considering starting your own business. I'll give you a hint...she is an expert in the field of lipsticks.....

The Ramen Girl

After watching The Ramen Girl I was inspired to make my own.

It's not the best looking ramen, but it tasted pretty good!

Karen Walker Pre Fall

This capsule collection by Karen Walker features four pieces from the label's popular "The Village" collection. Including sweatshirt style dresses, balloon sweatshirt and the boyfriend tee. Available in grey marle with teal print and a super sweet coral colourway.

いただきます

Japan is such a wonderful place, I have spent the most part of the last twelve years being obsessed with everything Japanese. I love the food, the language, the people, the architecture and even their crazy toilets. I have been fortunate enough to have traveled there twice. My first time was for an exchange where I stayed with a very traditional Japanese family. We ate rice morning and night, along with tofu, miso and raw fish. The only liquids we were allowed was green tea, except my host dad who drank copious amounts of warm sake when he thought no one was looking!

Because my host mother did not like a lot of sweets in the house, my host sister and I would stop off at the local shopping mart down the street everyday after school. Kieko often splurged on Tim Tams, while I bought strawberry pokky and grape mentos. It was no surprise that by the end of my exchange I had become rather chubby.

All I want for Christmas...

1.Bando Headband

2. Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment

3. Tiffany Luggage Tag

4. Philosophy's Cinnamon Buns

5. Tiffany Passport Cover

6. This girl can never have too many strawberries!

Lessons of a Lipstick Queen

Wikifashion really began the day I entered my local Borders bookstore. Usually when I ventured into the business section I would leave feeling disappointed at the lack of aesthetically pleasing books. Yes I know, don't judge a book by it's cover. However inherently I think it is almost impossible not to when I you are surrounded by rows and rows of books. This particular day I came across Poppy King's gold glossy autobiography beaming up at me from the top shelf. I scooped it up and read the book cover to cover in one day. If anyone is hesitant about trying to bring an idea to life, however unusual you think it may be, I encourage you to buy yourself a copy of this book, it retails for $22.50.

Lessons I learnt:

• No idea, no matter how silly you think it may be is too hard for you to accomplish.
• Never underestimate the amount of information that is already at your disposal. Poppy found out how to make her lipsticks by searching her phonebook. We now have Google search, you can find anything if you look hard enough.
• If you don't know something, ask someone who understands about the topic. You'd be surprised at the level of help people are willing to give.
• If you want a product or service that is not already available, chances are others will too.
• Be persistent and consistent in your branding approach, never lose sight of your message.

Summer Reading List

This afternoon we've had a lot of rain, which is quite unusual as of late. It got me thinking about the books I would like to read for the coming Summer holidays. Usually I like to have a selection of different genres at hand. This is my current wish list-

1. Beauty in Bloom (Natalie Bloom)

2. Eat Pray Love (Elizabeth Gilbert)

3. The Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell)

4. A Room of One's Own (Virginia Wolf)

Ruby Tuesday

Ruby is a sweet new label based in New Zealand. I would love this coat from their Autumn/Winter 2010 collection, except I doubt the weather will be cold enough in Brisbane next winter. C'est la vie

I think the weather might permit me to wear the gloria skirt and dress though... j'adore xo

Not a Stepford Wife

Let me preface this by saying that I adore cooking, I love finding new recipes to treat my loved ones with. The entire experience is quite enjoyable for me. However this sentiment does not extend to baking. Baking is a whole other story. I once had the urge to bake a batch of cupcakes for my lovely boyfriend. I was really excited and had planned to ice them pretty pink with decorations on top. When the buzzer finally went off, I could have cried, inside my dingy little oven lay one giant cake-like substance. That baking debacle was the last time I attempted to make cupcakes. Maybe I will try again someday, for now I will continue to blame my oven.

Pretty Please?

I would love to purchase a blush pink Poppy bicycle by Pashley, unfortunately I think it might give a few too many people reason to believe that I have gone insane. Sometimes I really have to try and reign in my love of pastels and pretty things, it's a very fine line between being girly and being a girl.

I wouldn't mind being a little crazy for this though, It's like a grown up girl's bike, all it needs is a basket and a little dog to pop in the front. I'm sure Delilah wouldn't mind?

Pretty Parcels

I love Christmas mostly because I can buy lovely things for people and engage in one of my favourite pastimes- giftwrapping. I don't know what it is about wrapping, but I adore it, from choosing the colour schemes, the gift tags, what materials to use to decorate the cards. I love the entire experience, since I was a little girl I always made handmade cards for everyone, each year was a different theme and colour.

This year I have decided to make Christmas pudding rumballs for everyone and package them in Kikki K bags and swing tags. I feel a little lazy about not creating my own tags, but since Kikki K came along I have found the gift wrapping experience all a little too breezy.

Tuesday's List

To do....

One of the most important things for someone in public relations or anyone running their own business is organisation. It is imperative that you start off the new year with a clean slate and a fresh diary, preferably one that has one page for each day. I find this way you will always have enough space to jot down everything from grocery lists to meetings and little ideas you have during the day.

Another thing to look for in a diary is one that is visually appealing, yes I know this may not be as important as the space issue, but I think it is a good idea to choose a diary that you like, after all it will be with you for the next 365 days. I like to think of it as organisational feng shui.

Although I love to keep a diary, I am not always the best at using it to its maximum potential. I'll often go for days without writing anything down and will haphazardly jot down notes here and there that I don't really follow through with. I think this is because there is no clear structure to what I am writing down.

In order to keep myself on a more organisational track this year, I am going to write down my ideas, shopping lists, meetings and things to do in their own section each day and go back through the lists and cross them off. Hopefully this will help with keeping on track with tasks and not push me into the obsessive compulsive basket.

When the student becomes the master

Tavi Gevinson, with her Mia Farrow-esque hair and diminutive stature is the fashion industry's current obsession. Since the inception of her blog in March of 2008, Tavi has traveled to New York for fashion shows, worn custom clothing by Rodarte and interviewed the likes of Kirsten Dunst and Amy Astley.

Just when her I thought the pixie dust had settled, Harper's Bazaar invited the thirteen year old to contribute a column to their magazine. People often question the genuineness of her talent, stumbling over the sheer size of her fashion knowledge. I think it is wonderful that someone so young can focus themselves so well and challenge the perceptions of an insidiously difficult industry.

Home Office

When I first started my site, I would use my bed as an office. This is not really practical but is quite comfortable. Soon enough I upgraded to a desk, although not as comfortable it is just as pretty.

The Finishing Touches

Every office needs a vase of fresh flowers. I always try to have a bouquet arrangement on my desk. I think it's really important to have some pretty things to give you a boost of inspiration.

Alongside my flowers I keep a teapot of freshly brewed green tea and a matching tea cup. What are your office essentials?

Tea and Cupcakes

As I type, a much needed rainstorm passed by my house. The sudden drop in temperature made me reach for my cherry blossom green tea and wish I was near a cupcake parlour so I could devour one of these gorgeous concoctions.

Green Apple Cupcake

Hey Frankie

When I started Wikifashion, it began as a lovely little hobby to distract myself from the endless nights of studying and days locked in lecture halls. Never did I stop to think that others would embrace my project like their own. I think this embrace by the fashion community has been fantastic, as that is how wikis thrive, by constant nurturing and collective input.

We were fortunate enough to have featured in this month's Frankie magazine, a gorgeous collection of quirky fashion, interesting reads and pretty photography. When I was told about our mention in the magazine, or rather a little birdy tweeted me, I literally squealed and ran hysterically to the newsagency. Don't you just love the feeling of your dreams coming true?

'Tis the season to be girly

The festive season is a fantastic time to be a girl. So many opportunities to frock up and be feminine. I attended a Christmas gathering last night and had planned to wear this beautifully floaty Country Road dress, alas being a girl I changed at the last minute. This image is so Lola....lilac, frills and effortlessly chic.