Get Frocked!

This year I had the opportunity to work as a subeditor and contributing writer for QUT’s annual fashion magazine: Frock Paper Scissors. The project meant collaborating with QUT’s “finest emerging creative minds” in bringing together a fun, flavoursome, fashion-filled result. The theme this year: Brisbane! Below are some previews of my published articles. Click to read more.

Scarlet fever

L-R: Hermés 1970's red blazer / Zimmerman 'Poppy Frill Bandeau' bikini / Lover 'Gallery' shorts / Neon Hart floral print maxi / Mac 'Lady Danger' matte lipstick / Diet Cherry Coke / YSL 'Arty Ovale' ring / Elle Macpherson Intimates 'Spree' bra / Urban Originals 'Aspen' wallet / Dr. Martens 'Diva Darcie 8-Eye' boot / Mimco 'Liliput Hip' bag / Ray Ban Clubmasters / Samantha Pleet low top suede oxfords / Marc Jacobs 'Daisy - Pop Art Edition' Eau de Parfum / Chanel nail polish in 'Dragon' / Nu + Nan red zip wedges

After recently lusting over the new ‘Raunchy Red’ collection at work, wearing Chanel’s ‘Dragon’ nail polish to death and gifting my sister Mac’s ‘Lady Danger’ lipstick, I’ve decided that the head turning hue is worthy of some appreciation. Besides, red is the colour of lust, the colour of love, of passion. From Marilyn Monroe’s show-stopping gowns to Rockabilly’s ruby lips, red has put a fiery mark on fashion history. And let’s not forget those flaming Chloé boots. With Christmas on the way, why not take a cue from Santa and embrace the red, be it a subtle or bold. I tend to stick to a neutral palette of black, navy, grey, nude, khaki and white, but sometimes an outfit needs a bit of fire, literally.

Ab Fab

As of late, snaps of Abbey Lee Kershaw are being slapped up around the blogosphere like there's no tomorrow. Yes, she is exceptionally beautiful indeed. But let us take a moment to worship the girl behind the scenes, the kooky free-spirit herself. I spotted her a few times around town when I lived in Bondi. Firstly, cruising through Gould Street in a shitbox car filled with her mates - windows down, tunes a'blaring. Secondly, perched at a table outside Brave Café on a sunny morning. Thirdly, wearing no shoes and chatting to some guy at a random doorstop.

I love that despite being constantly surrounded by glitz and glamour, she chooses to look like she's rampaged through a flea market and scored some cool finds along the way. Think seventies flower child meets nineties grunge goddess, where sheers, silks, florals, lace, velvet, ethnic patterns and animal print provide a foundation for Aztec style jewellery, piercings and tattoos, power shoulders, round sunglasses, fluffy jackets, boots boots boots, and, my fave, her new icy blonde crop.

 

 

 Images courtesy of The Fashion Spot

November

I kicked off the summer holidays with: snugly sleep ins, bar hangs, patchouli perfume, city lights, a contemporary dance show, "Bananarama" at Pancake Parlour, meeting the folks, 4:00 am bonfire chats, milky English Breakfast tea, falling asleep in the "West Side Story" musical, rampaging through IKEA and finally getting my mitts on a bed, drunken seedy pizza fests, lots of Thai food, sunny walks, poolside chats and related sunburn, flowing maxi skirts, a rather romantic dinner date, cheesy gossip mags alongside cafe brunches, inebriated taxi rides, "Into the Groove" by Madonna, birthday celebrations for a special friend, sushi train at Ginga, 3D flicks, iced lattes, warm weather and lots of love.

Fashion versus style

Here is a fashion piece I wrote for my Creative Nonfiction course last semester.

“Fashions fade, style is eternal.”
- Yves Saint Laurent

Exactly one year ago, my ex “hairdresser” attacked my head of mousy regrowth with a menacing slap of peroxide. After that, she forgot to rinse it off in time. My delicate (brittle) locks could not handle such a potent blow of chemicals, and eighty percent of them were subsequently destroyed. The result was reminiscent of the plot from nineties-spawned teen horror flick The Craft, in which Rochelle casts a spell on Laura “bully” Lizzie to make her hair fall out. Disturbingly, my “hairdresser” was also named Rochelle – I kid you not.

As you can imagine, there were showers of tears involved – mine, my mother’s and, to my delight, Rochelle’s. Fortunately, I was left with some long, straggly wisps. Unfortunately, my new hairstyle resembled that of a balding, elderly man. I was stripped bare from the comfort of my long, blonde tresses and forced to endure an Agyness-Deyn-circa-2007 pixie crop, complete with a buzzed undercut. Without the creamy complexion, lean limbs and becoming bone structure of said supermodel, I felt stark naked (and super unsexy whilst at it).

Surrounded by gal-pals with waist-length waves, shoulder-skimming bobs and high-piled buns, I felt I no longer blended in with my uber-femme friends. However, my seemingly petty experience transformed into a profound personal learning curve, earning me a newfound respect for those who embrace that unfamiliar notion referred to as individuality. When Huey Lewis sang “it’s hip to be square,” he was lying. In a tedious tide awash with Ray Ban shades, stampedes of Dr. Martens, “it bags” perched atop “power shoulders”, denim cut-offs flaunting pin-thin pins, ironic geek-chic spectacles and the latest crop of designer must-haves, sporting anything that varies from the norm can earn a fashionista a silver star.

However, overlooked are those with gold star quality: the endangered species of modern day Mad Hatters. Let’s think of them as stylistas. Instead of turning a blind eye to the freaks and geeks of the fashion underworld, I’ve started ogling them with starry-eyed appreciation. Style is their art, and they are the masters of it. Instead of dressing like everybody else, they choose to dress like no one else. I’m referring to the breed of fashion extremists who refuse to let the industry enslave them, and break the rules set forth by their conformist contemporaries.

Stylistas take seasonal trends like grains of salt, thrusting the lackluster ones over the shoulder and retaining the exciting ones for shaking up. They burst through the rigid boundaries of the fashion world hierarchy with a powerful sense of rebellion, like naughty school children who gain satisfaction by wearing their uniform incorrectly. Their wardrobes are guided by limitless imagination; outlandish garb is purely a means of self-expression, and they get a kick out of the shock value it creates (think Isabella Blow). Stylistas get through life fueled by an uninhibited obsession with fashion experimentation.

In today’s appearance-obsessed world we all know that fashion parades have transcended runways and scurried from street sidewalks onto cyberspace destinations, such as the two leading and distinctly different street fashion photography websites of Yvan Rodic and Scott Schuman. “The Sartorialist” faces an inevitable backlash for its elitist approach, often featuring high profile fashion-somebodies dressed to the nines in prim and proper designer wear.

Conversely, online audiences have warmed to the more whimsical ways of the “Face Hunter”, who prefers to wow his watchers with a web-world of weird, wonderful wildcats. Sure, obviously Rodic has a penchant for hot model types. However, a quick scroll through his website also reveals a human-engulfing feathered neckpiece, a coat hem lined with ox-tails, blinding blue lipstick, socks and sandal combos, danger-hazard headwear, a belt made of bullets and a lady who forgot to wear pants.

Today’s digital era also allows any Tom, Dick or Harriet to label oneself with “fashion blogger” status. All they require is a reliable blogging platform, an attention-grabbing layout, a few solid references to the latest industry trends, well practiced self-timer skills, a reasonable amount of worshipping “followers” and, most popularly, regurgitated images from the most recent spawn of fashion spreads. Bonus points for being super skinny, particularly pretty or ridiculously rich. Triple points for all of the above.

However, if one sifts carefully through blog after blog, one is most likely to stumble upon bona fide gold. Blogging platforms have provided die-hard fashion oddballs with the opportunity to express their style in a medium that is accessible; one where it is not compulsory to have a prestigious fashion education or an unlimited bank account balance. What they require is a genuine desire to experiment with fashion – the good, the bad and, more often than not, the ugly.

These blog-extraordinaires vary in age, gender, race and, most importantly, style. You’ve probably heard of Tavi Gevinson, the cute kid who started her blog at eleven, and has since taken the fashion world by thunderstorm. With her pale blue ‘do, nanna-esque style, penchant for oversized hats, prolific fashion knowledge and alarmingly articulate writing ability, the now thirteen-year-old has scored a readership of four million, along with one and a half million hits a month. She has also received an abundance of media coverage, which includes the pages of the New York Times.

When she’s not blogging, or “wearing out crayons and watching Arthur,” Gevinson is “taking a rest now and then to try out the latest Margiela DIY”. Lately she’s gracing front row runway seats, not to mention being cited by forward-thinking designers as the inspiration for their collections. Spanning various nations, Susanna Lau, "Brianboy", Ji Kim, Hayley Hughes and Cami James and Nadia Napreychikov are each examples of fearless style warriors kicking arse in cyberspace and beyond.

Furthermore, the slowly increasing sense of respect for fashion rebels is trickling into popular culture. The “Alice Dellal shave” has been adopted so prolifically that it can no longer be considered rebellious. Teenyboppers around the globe have embraced the kookiness of pop megastar Lady Gaga, along with her space-age style and cutting-edge costumes. Unconventionally beautiful Beth Ditto (of GOSSIP fame) has disrupted thin-is-in fashion stereotypes and proved that true style comes in all sizes. Readers are turning a cold shoulder on safe-playing mainstream fashion magazines in favour of audacious, avant-garde alternatives.

In day-to-day life, I’ve gained admiration for my less conventional comrades, such as my housemate, with her short 1950s-style bangs and penchant for Lycra bike shorts, and my fanciful friend with the fondness for fastening objects in her nest of gnarly curls (a few weeks ago it was a miniature bicycle). In high school, I was good pals with a Wapanese (white girl who wishes she is Japanese) punk who dyed her hair a different hue each week, designed jewellery out of Diet Coke lids and fashioned dresses out of newspaper; I won’t forget her. As Diane Vreeland famously declared: “Too much good taste can be boring”.

As for my once-treasured tresses, they are beginning to skim my shoulders and I’m starting to feel like an average Jane again. While I typically should be feeling relief at such hair follicle fruition, I feel dull and dissatisfied. Yesterday I took the sewing scissors to my mane and cut a blunt, full fringe, but it didn’t hit the spot. While I won’t be sporting socks and sandals any time soon, I think a trip to the hair salon for a drastic chop is what I need to get my blood racing again. I may even ask the hairdresser to throw in a buzzed undercut for kicks.

Images courtesy of Face Hunter

The Brisbane Blogger Brigade: A fashionable uprising

Winter was an exciting year for fashion enthusiasts residing in Brisbane. The Valentino Retrospective at GOMA and its glittering garments drew spellbound spectators from all over the country. Meanwhile, the coinciding Mercedes Benz Brisbane Fashion Festival proved that its native soil is overflowing with fashion flair.It is safe to say Brisbane is finally disproving its “cultural desert” cliché and forging a name for itself in the fashion world. And when a city gains a place on the fashion map, the fashion police allocate more attention to its fashion community.

Who would they look to in Brisbane? There are the local designers, store owners, fashion students, social page somebodies, street style photographers and, subsequently, their stylish subjects. But also drawing attention is the city’s fashion blogger brigade.Unlike its Sydney and Melbourne counterparts, the Brisbane blogging community is not overpopulated. Yet Brisbane has given birth to a budding offspring of brilliant bloggers, and style spectators are starting to salute them.

The wonderful thing about blogging is that it provides a platform for die-hard fashion lovers with the opportunity to express their style in a medium that is accessible; one where it is not compulsory to have a prestigious fashion education or an unlimited bank account balance.This means viewers are able to attain a true perspective of fashion world, and not just the repetitive information being spoon fed to them by fash-mag authorities.

And when it comes to Brisbane, its fashion bloggers easily contradict the common misconception that Queensland is brimming with a tedious tide awash with peroxide-drenched tresses, carroty tans and tattered denim cut-offs. One of these bloggers is the gorgeous Sara Donaldson of Harper and Harley, who shared some of her thoughts on blogging and Brisbane with me.

Introduce yourself in a few sentences.
I am a 21 year old who is trying to find herself... and ended up falling into the land of bloggerville.

Describe your blog a little for readers who may not be familiar with it.
Harper and Harley is a collection of fashion, style icons, illustration and beautiful photography. I also try to focus on Australian talent in my subjects, however I also really love the Swedish aesthetic and I tend to link back to a lot of Swedish blogs as well.

Why did you start blogging?
I began blogging after getting hooked on them and just wanted an outlet and a place for me to compile what I'm influenced by. It's also a great way to meet likeminded people and I have gained some amazing friends that I wouldn't have had the chance to otherwise.

How does the city of Brisbane influence you and your personal style?
My favourite fashion hub in Brisbane is definitely James Street in the Valley. Being surrounding by ladies of leisure, coffee shops, fashion designers, buyers and stylish sales assistants... what's not to love?

What opportunities has blogging given you?
My biggest accomplishment I feel was being invited to some of the shows at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week earlier this year. I would have never in my wildest dreams thought I would be watching a Zimmermann runway show in the flesh absorbing the first taste of the new season at the same time as the whose who of the fashion industry are.

Where in Brisbane would we find you in your free time – what are your favourite hangout spots?
You'll find me where ever there is good sushi, chai lattes and/or cupcakes. James Street, Ginga at Southbank, Oxford Street, Bulimba and Cupcake Palour at West End.

What’s your trend forecast for the ULTRA-hot summer of Brisbane?
High waisted A-line shorts and a well cut blazer... just in case it drops a few degrees.

Do you think the Brisbane fashion blogger presence will grow?
Absolutely, Brisbane already has a few well known bloggers and there are hundreds of smaller ones as well. It just takes some smart PR skills, consistency and focus to generate a following.

Images courtesy of Harper and Harley

From Reverb to Rolling Stone

Here is an old profile piece I wrote about music journalist Nick Milligan when I was briefly living in Newcastle, NSW.

NICHOLAS Milligan and I meet for an interview at The Last Drop, a café on the east end of Hunter Street.

Milligan doesn’t order anything – he’s still buzzing from the coffee he drank earlier.

When asked about the things he couldn’t live without, Milligan hesitantly answers: “Ummm, I shouldn’t say coffee but I’m thinking coffee.

“I think I’m addicted to coffee,” he says. “Couldn’t live without it.”

The staff don’t seem to mind. Seemingly, the triple-strength-long-black [no milk, no sugar] drinker is a frequent customer.

The Last Drop is conveniently located below the Reverb Magazine office, where Milligan is the Editor.

Reverb Magazine, Newcastle’s number one entertainment, culture and lifestyle street press, has provided Milligan, the self confessed music lover, with countless opportunities to meet prominent artists within the music scene.

Combined with his position as music and film Editor at YEN Magazine, an Australian women’s lifestyle magazine, Milligan enjoys a job any journalist would boast.

As described on the Yen Magazine website: “This guy is seriously obsessed with film and music.

“As YEN’s Music and Film Editor, you’ll find him nursing a beer at most live gigs.

“Milligan’s weaknesses are free food [he gets greedy] and the manipulating curve of his girlfriend’s pout.”

Milligan graduated from the University of Newcastle in 2006, having completed a Bachelor of Communication majoring in Media Production.

“It was never meant to be journalism,” he says.

“I, for a while, wanted to be a lawyer, and I wanted to be an anesthetist because I had an uncle who was … and he made a lot of money so I thought that’d be great!

“Journalism had never occurred to me and it wasn’t until the first orientation lecture for Communications in 2003 when the editor of (campus magazine) Opus came and basically told us about Opus and that we could contribute…

“I got in touch with him and he started passing me on things to write – the second interview I did was with the drummer from The Butterfly Effect,” he says.

Milligan says that his approach to journalism is generally just the opportunity to chat to people he admires incredibly.

“I interviewed one of my favourite songwriters James Mercer from The Shins down in Sydney,” he says. “That’s been one of the best interviews I’ve done.

“It was down in Sydney and we just got coffee and went to his hotel where we did this thing where I played him a bunch of songs by Australian artists he’d never heard before and got him to give his immediate opinion – that was a fantastic thing.

“He basically loved everything I played him and I gave him the CD to take with him,” he says.

Milligan’s enthusiastic interest in music can be traced back to his early teenage years.

When he wasn’t out “causing mischief”, he was listening to artists like Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and The Doors.

“When I was in high school I was into a lot of old music. I got teased a bit about it!” He says.

After contributing to Opus during the three years he was at university, Milligan has now written for Uturn, Hotpress, Riot, Frankie and Smash Hits.

Not many twenty-four-year-olds have had the opportunity to share phone conversations with the likes of Marilyn Manson and Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon.

Milligan has interviewed “hundreds of bands” and a diverse collection of personalities, from Australian musical comedian and television host Paul McDermott, to Gnarls Barkley’s Danger Mouse, to Hollywood star Matt Damon, to Spearhead’s Michael Franti, to Irish boy band Westlife, to Aussie musos Daniel Johns, Luke Steele and The Grates.

Milligan says there is a “shortlist” of people he would “really, really love to interview face-to-face,” with musician Dave Grohl as number one.

“He’s probably the biggest rock star in the world and it’s very difficult to get an interview with him.” Milligan says. “I only really interview people that I’m a big fan of.”

Milligan says he is “emotionally invested” in Reverb Magazine and considers his involvement with it to be “satisfying”.

“I really believe in Reverb and I think Newcastle is hugely benefited in having a street press,” he says. “A lot of them have come and gone over the years… But we’ve found a way to make it work.”

Having been editor for close to a year, Milligan has incorporated features and fashion sections into the monthly publication.

He says that people seem to be acknowledging that it’s very different to what it was and the feedback has generally been great.

“Everyone I speak to loves it,” he says.

Today, while balancing his positions at Reverb Magazine and Yen Magazine, Milligan also pursues his interest in creative writing, claiming: “that’s what I hope to end up doing.”

The Bret Easton Ellis fan has “a novel half-finished sitting on the shelf” based somewhat on his personal experiences as a teenager living in Newcastle.

“But there’s a bit of a darker element to it!” He says.

In twenty years, Milligan aspires to be “a well-respected novelist and screen play writer,” he says. “And someone who gets asked by Rolling Stone to write features for them [laughs].”

On top of his music and writing pursuits, Milligan is admittedly a cinema buff, sharing a love for “some of the really obvious film nerd things” and listing directors Robert Rodriguez, Stanley Kubrick and David Fincher as his favourites.

He also enjoys short stories and poetry, declaring: “[Edgar Allan] Poe is a genius, as is Oscar Wilde” on his MySpace site.

On a typical weekend, Milligan can be found wherever the best live band is playing.

“I spend a lot of money of concert tickets, that’s for sure!” He says, listing Supergrass, Daft Punk and Paul McCartney as his all-time favourite live performances.

“I don’t think that being a journalist is a very strict job,” he says. “[Often] journalists are out there doing interviews or writing on a laptop in a café or a pub.

“Usually you’re your own boss,” he says.

If he’s not in the Reverb office, Milligan can be found inside Newcastle’s cafés feeding his penchant for the “continental breakfast” and coffee.

He also balances his editorial positions with casual work as a bartender at The Civic Theatre.

Regularly pub-hopping with various bands until the early hours of the morning, Milligan says: “I drink a lot more than I should!”

Milligan’s bag contains all of the quintessential journalist necessities.

“My diary, CDs I’ve gotta review, my Dictaphone and pens,” he says.

Describing his personal style as “very down the line”, Milligan is wearing chic Morrissey glasses and a neat, v-neck sweater combined with blue, baggy jeans and thongs.

He recently underwent his annual haircut.

“I used to have really long hair, down to my shoulders almost,” he says. “I sort of have a routine – I get a haircut every year. I always let it grow back.”

Having come a long way from the days of being a “cheeky”, “pretty nerdy” and “probably frustrating” student, Milligan says that he is really, really happy at the moment.

When asked about his inspirations, he says: “I suppose other people who are doing what they’re doing for the right reasons, particularly within the music industry.

“I’m inspired when someone picks up a copy of Reverb and tells me they heard about a gig through it, feedback is always good, especially if people are enjoying it.”

When asked about his plans for the rest of the day, Milligan says: “I’ve got a lot of articles due!”

Having recently been published in Rolling Stone for an interview with Pete Townshend and The Who, Nick Milligan is certainly "Gettin' in Tune".

Peny Lane

Lauren Burvill, founder of the Penylane enterprise and newly appointed fashion editor of The Vine, puts the faux fur, feathers, flowers and, most importantly, fun into fashion. With her striking style and fearlessly flamboyant get-ups, a skim through Penylane reveals Burvill decked out in various clothing concoctions: a Mickey Mouse hat matched to skin-tight tartan stovepipes, a daisy headband teamed with a so-tacky-it’s-terrific unicorn top, and a velvet dress with colouring to rival that of a jar of mustard, just to name a few.

Introduce yourself in a few sentences..

My name is Lauren but I go by the name Peny Lane. When I was at schoolies and sleazy boys used to come up to me I'd tell them my name was Peny - which was a code name for my friends to rescue me. Then one of those sleazy boys ended up becoming one of my best friends so the name stuck. I am the editor and founder of Penylane.com and am also the newly appointed fashion editor of The Vine. I like writing articles, attending fashion shows and playing dress ups with my friends. Fashion for me is how I express myself, it gives me energy, inspires me and opens my mind up to new possibilities and concepts.

How does the city of Brisbane influence you and your personal style?

I never really thought Brisbane influenced me until this year when I travelled to Japan, Sydney and now Melbourne. I love to dress quite loudly in bold colours, clashing prints and metallics. In Brisbane I sort of fit in but here in Melbourne, and even in Japan and Sydney, I stand out as a Queenslander. It'd say its probably a lot to do with the sunshine. My wardrobe is full of little dresses that I could wear all year round in Brisbane, but in Melbourne I think I'll only be able to wear them for a few months here.

What's your trend forecast for the ULTRA-hot summer of Brisbane? 

I'm not really one for trends. I like to think that the people who read my (work) already have an idea of their own style and don't need me to dictate fashion to them. We simply write about things that we love and are inspired by and people are free to make their own minds up about it. For me personally? An ultra-hot summer in Brisbane would be all about my Zimmerman once piece swim suit during the day and one of my strapless dresses at night.

Where in Brisbane would we find you in your free time - what are your favourite hangout spots?

As the website would indicate we go out A LOT! When I want a good cocktail I head to The Bowery. When I want a deliciously seedy BYO dinner I go to Superbowl. And when I want a night of drinking and dancing (which is almost every night) I go to Clubhouse, or the club nights FANS and Lambda when they are on. Always guaranteed good fun at the time, and full of regrets the day after.

Images courtesy of Penylane

Bonjour!

Hello world. My name is Sonya, it’s lovely to meet you. I’m a 21-year-old journalism/public relations graduate, freelance writer, photography enthusiast, fashion lover, magazine junkie, vegetarian and typical Virgo hailing from the Sunshine State of Australia, otherwise known as Queensland. I’m currently residing in the city of Brisbane, but I call Sydney home too.

For the past three years I've been cramming my brain with journalism and public relations content at the Queensland University of Technology. In one year I will be freeing myself from the reigns of tertiary education and entering reality, with a BA Mass Communication (International Journalism/PR) and BA Journalism under my belt. This place will serve as an online chronicle of my various writings, photographs, projects and inspirations in the meantime.

Don't be a stranger!

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