Life & Style Blog - Featured
16 May 2013, by Rachael Ciccarelli
If there’s any time your feet need protection against the elements, it’s right now: it’s cold and wet and ugly out there. But apparently you haven’t all got the memo: and I’ve got to tell you, every time I see someone in the city walking around in havaianas, I have to my stop my inner-old crochety Italian woman from asking them if they want to “catch death in those bloody things” before wrapping them in a cashmere shawl. So let’s be clear: this winter, we’re looking at ankle boots and sneaker-eqsue designs as our main feet protectors, and you’ll find plenty of both kicking about in stores.
Sneakers are fabulous for casual wear – they afford an easy, edgy cool to your look and they’re EVERYWHERE. Ankle boots are probably a bit more versatile in that you can wear them day and night, dressed up or down or even to work – but buy a pair of each and you’ll be set (and if you wear those thongs out again I’m going to hit you with a wooden spoon).
Sneakers
Image sources: (1)Hanson, $59.95, Novo; (2)Buckle creeper hi-top, $59.95, Sportsgirl; (3)Goldie hi top, $39.95, Sportsgirl; (4)Hippie, $69.95, Novo; (5)Converse one star DX ox, $49.95, Myer.
Boots
Image sources: (1)Dean cowboy boot, $79.95, Novo; (2)Victoria Boot, $129.95, Sportsgirl; (3)Mel by Melissa red ankle boot, $52.46, Myer; (4)Sosie ankle boot, $149.95, Nine West; (5)Selena boot in soft gold, $199.95, Witchery.
What do you think? Comment here
Category: Featured
Tags: Fashion, Myer, Sportsgirl, Trends, Witchery
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10 May 2013, by Rachael Ciccarelli
Image source: Grace Coddington bang on re: The Met Ball, and pretty much everything else in life from thevine.com.au
Of all the opportunities to ogle celebrities on the red carpet, The Met Ball has a special place in that burning black hole where my heart is supposed to be. Why? Well, probably because I am a terrible person who revels in the misfortunes of others – but inherent evils aside, I love The Met Ball because it’s a perfect storm of couture and costume: an annual attempt for celebrities and fashion industry big wigs to straddle the divide between red carpet couture and whatever theme Anna Wintour throws at them (I like to imagine that she sends millions of minions in Wintour wigs and Prada sunglasses out into the stratosphere to literally throw the invites at people before laughing, and leaving with a swish of their cape). This year, the theme was punk (from chaos to couture) – and, well, wow. After digesting the red carpet looks, I wondered if any of these people or their stylists had even seen a punk who didn’t rhyme “sk8r boi” with “later boi”. 95% of the attempts were SO off the mark, it was laughable. And we love that.
Heavy eye makeup does not a punk make
Image sources: Lena Dunham from, justjared.com, Ginnifer Goodwin from justjared.com, Emmy Rossum from justjared.com.
Hollywood types reading this, take note: you can’t just bang any old black lace dress, load up on eyeliner, get some braids and call it anarchy. Dig a bit deeper, please. And Ginnifer? I’d check around to see whether your makeup artist has a vendetta against you. Maybe ask one of your P.As.
Literally infuriating
Image sources: Miley Cyrus from, justjared.com, Madonna from huffingtonpost.co.uk , Tommy and Dee Hilfiger from hauteliving.com.
Going all literal on the theme is not what we’re after, MILEY. Gosh. Way to ruin what could have been a passable dress with that Dragonball – Z nightmare of a ‘do. Did you guys just front up to your local costume shop and ask them for all the studs they had? And MADONNA. PLEASE. I expected more than this from you (like, literally more. You are too old for me to give a tick of approval to your wax job on the red carpet).
Downton Abbey called…
Image sources: Linda Evangelista from, dailymail.co.uk, Katy Perry from justjared.com, Tabitha Simmons from vogue.com.au.
Dame Maggie Smith is FURIOUS that you stole her season finale look, Linda. There was a surprising amount of celebrities dressed like they thought “historical drama” and “punk” are interchangeable – and to be fair, when you take a good look at Vivienne Westwood… maybe they got confused.
Did you not get the same invitation as us?
Image sources: Zooey Deschanel from, justjared.com, Kate Upton from instyle.com, Heidi Klum from justjared.com.
I can only assume all of these people hired a stretch hummer and gatecrashed The Met on their way to a convention called “Clothes and your sleep disorder: helping cure insomnia with black tie dress.”
Ahahahahahahhaha
Image sources: Beyonce from justjared.com, Kimye from kimkardashian.celebuzz.com, Elizabeth Banks from justjared.com.
I would like to thank Queen Bey and her humble servant Kim Kardashian for this hilarious, be-gloved prank. You two and your new best friend and jazzy-showgirl Elizabeth Banks really know how to cheer a girl up.
Poor unfortunate souls
Image sources: Allison Williams from justjared.com, Florence Welch from justjared.com, Taylor Swift from justjared.com.
Last I checked, Ursula was more of a deep-sea octopus witch bent on claiming the voices of the innocent than a punk icon. (And a big, deep belly laugh at any attempt by Taylor Swift toward punk. That stylist knew they could never win, so apparently they just gave up).
What do you think? Comment here
Category: Featured
Tags: Fashion, Trends
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02 May 2013, by Rachael Ciccarelli
Image sources: 1. McQ Griffin lace scarf, $119.00 from Myer, 2. Signature bangle, $89 from Fossil, 3. Pyramid Deco drop earring, $57.50 from Cue, 4. Shawl collar textured cardi, $169.95 from Witchery, 5. Vintage style perfume bottles, $48.95 from Laura Ashley.
Image sources: 6. Jacquard coral fleece gown, $20 from Millers, 7. Vividly wallet, $49.95 from Nine West, 8. Sorbet dream parfait candle, $12.95 from Noni B, 9. All the love in the world book, $16.95 from Portmans, 10. Prada sunglasses, $370 from Sunglass Hut.
It’s mother’s day next Sunday, so let’s stop stalling and get down to brass tacks:
Where your mum is concerned, the key to a great gift lies in the little luxuries. It doesn’t necessarily have to be some big name brand thing or come from the carefully extracted eggs of an endangered fish – it’s just about buying a special little something (be it a $12 candle or a $280 scarf) that she would never buy for herself. Mums love it when you tell them your thought process behind the gift, ie: “I thought you could put little posies of flowers in those perfume bottles and put them on your coffee table,” or “Those earrings would be perfect for this dress of yours”, or in the case of the wallet: “Mum, nobody needs four expired Dymocks Book Lover cards – let’s re-organise.” Don’t just stand there and say “Do you like them?”… Because you know how all those TV commercials told you it’s the thought that counts? They were talking about your mum. Mums are ALL ABOUT the thoughts. That’s why she hit you over the back of the head so many times as a teen for being thoughtless. So don’t forget to actually tell her yours (and a well written card wouldn’t go astray, either).
What do you think? Comment here
Category: Featured
Tags: Fashion, Mum, Myer
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24 April 2013, by Rachael Ciccarelli
Image source: Diana Vreeland’s iconic red living room from stylebeat.blogspot.com.au.
OK. Considering my never-ending quest for the aesthetically appealing, I know you’re not exactly going to be blown away by the revelation that I like living spaces as pretty as I like my outfits. BUT I DO, SO DEAL WITH IT. And don’t you think it’s fair enough? I don’t know about you guys, but I feel totally uncomfortable when I’m surrounded by disorganised clutter – things that don’t sit well together, hideous colour combinations. My magazines are stacked by date and my books are colour blocked. I get itchy when I see laminated posters outside of a teenager’s bedroom. You can only imagine how happy I was to learn that our insane landlady had painted our entire house in blue and yellow by hand (including cabinetry). My roommate likened me to an arctic fox when I declined several apartments on the basis that they had bad light in the living spaces. You get it: I feel calm when things look nice. I am the personification of that emoji with the streaming face of tears and open weeping jaw when my house is ugly. Living spaces affect your day to day life. They change the way you function. It’s just how things are.
As part of my aesthetic-dependency, I often find myself in a never-ending trawl through inspiring homes throughout the world. Hours have been lost, eyes glazed, dreaming about impossibly white light-filled spaces with just the right amount of eclectic bits of décor grouped in varying sizes (and in odd numbers). Sometimes the daydreams are about rich, wallpaper flocked rooms in warm colours and often the daydreams are about walls full of books and fat couches from the eat-you-half-alive family – but within the daydream, I always try to take little tips from each to employ now or at a later date, funds pending. Let’s take a walk through some dream rooms, shall we?
Image source: Dining space from Elle Décor.
While that awesome raked ceiling and what looks like a reclaimed industrial light fitting are doing most of the work here, I love the indoor ferns in dark pots on the dining room table. I’m also partial to that little old soapbox propped up on the sideboard with a statue in it – a great way to frame anything 3D.
Image source: Living room from imactoy.com.
Once I can convince my chippy-brother to build me a house for free (and that house is somewhere with a cold climate totally unlike ours so I won’t be burned to hell while I watch TV), this is definitely what my house is going to look like. But anyway, how great are those sneakers on a cake plate? I love bringing more sculptural bits of wardrobe out into my living spaces. I think that masking tape rug is hilarious and clever, I thoroughly enjoy the three-tiered glass bedside table used as a coffee table, and I think the daybed with the coffee table using stacked magazines as legs to prop it up is great.
Image sources: Hastings day bed, $1746; Milton sideboard, $1995; Glass frill edge cake stand, $119.00; all from Laura Ashley.
And in a very similar vein, we have pieces from Laura Ashley to get the look from these two rooms – homewares shops are always the best place to begin whenever your house needs a little lift.
What do you think? Comment here
Category: Featured
Tags: Homewares, Trends
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