Victorian Brides

The most famous brides in the world are choosing Victorian inspired wedding dresses. Lace, long sleeves, full skirts, buttons. Like Lauren Bush (pictured above) who married Ralph Lauren's son David. It's no surprise that the bride wore RL.
Bella Swan (from Breaking Dawn in the Twilight series) also chose a demure dress by Carolina Herrera. I liked the back of this dress better than the front.
I wonder why we're referencing a past era? Perhaps, in uncertain economic times we yearn for simpler times.
Or did the Duchess of Cambridge simply start a trend on her wedding day? It seems the strapless wedding dress, like the one in those "Beautiful" perfume ads, is passe.

This trend for more demure dressing is also influencing evening wear. Princess Mary's ice blue gown was perfect for her recent visit to Australia.

Catherine again amazed in this lilac coloured gown by Alexander McQueen when she visited the US recently. I love the longer frocks the only problem is, where would I wear them?

(Photo 1 from vogue.com; Photo 2 & 3 from the dailymail uk; Photo 4 from smh.com.au; Photo 5 from myroyalsblog; photo 6 from dailymail uk)

Colour

With my last two renovations I've chosen white walls as a backdrop and then added colour through my furniture, cushions, wallpaper and accessories. But after seeing this apartment, I might be persuaded to paint our walls a colour in our latest renovation.
The lady whipping up a cake is fashion designer Veronica Swanson Beard and this is her apartment in New York. Her label is called Veronica Beard.
Mmmmm, those dark floors and aqua walls are striking.
Do you like leopard print? It's not my cup of tea. But it looks great here.

I love the master bedroom too. The pattern on the rug looks great with the pattern on the doors.
Black and white stripe walls always look so chic.
And a chartreuse lounge. This is the lounge I'd like when the kids are grown up! Which do you prefer - white walls or colour?

(All photos via harpersbazaar.com)

Cane

I'm a big fan of cane furniture. Although it was daggy for many years, I sense a comeback. Aerin Lauder has lots of cane in her pool house (photo above).
I like cane on a veranda too. It looks great here in white.
Although, I like the natural look too. Isn't that green fabric fabulous? It reminds me of Babe Paley's villa at Round Hill in Jamaica.
In this new House Beautiful cover, they've mixed up the cane with a traditional lounge and coffee table. I like things mixed up a bit.
And finally, a formal dining room with cane chairs. It makes the room seem more inviting, less formal. I have lots of cane at home, I find it's perfect for our climate. Do you have any cane at your house?

(Photo 1 via Vogue.com; Photo 2 unknown; Photo 3 unknown; Photo 4 via House Beautiful; Photo 5 Angie Hranowsky via Chinoiserie Chic. If you know where photo 2 &3 are from, let me know so I can credit them. Thank you.)

Colin Cowie

If there's one person I'd like to follow around for a day it's Colin Cowie. He's a party planner to the stars and is Oprah's go to guy for major events. He also has great ideas for entertaining and decorating, so with Christmas around the corner, I thought it would be fun to copy his flower balls. He's used mainly silk flowers with just a few real ones here and there.

Kate Spade

My husband is not usually one to take photos of handbags (and for that I'm thankful), but he did ask me recently if I liked this one from Kate Spade. Reader, I think you know my answer. I'm now counting the days until Christmas on the advent calendar with the children.
So whilst we're talking about Kate Spade, I thought I'd take a look around her apartment. Love this wallpaper in the hallway.
I realised that the reason I like her apartment so much is that it reflects her personality. There's nothing trendy about it. It's just her. And it's perfect. To see more of her place, see the latest issue of Matchbook.

PS. A few people have had trouble leaving comments on my blog, I'm pleased to report the glitch has been fixed.

(Photo 1 by Mr N-S-H for spotsandstripes; photos 2 & 3 from matchbook).

Kate - Duchess of Cambridge

Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, is my style crush. She looked amazing in this silver dress over the weekend. It's from Jenny Packham.
Angelina wore the same dress earlier this year in red.

Rainbow Cake @ Carnival

This week we had a birthday party for our 2 year old daughter at a special kids party place called Carnival in Bulimba. Carnival created a fairies garden for the children with lots of green and pink. The children loved everthing - they made treasure boxes, danced, played games and had pass the parcel. As well as lovely things to eat. But Mum and Dad loved it even more as we avoided the usual frantic party preparation routine of cleaning / cooking / mowing / gardening / cooling drinks / heating up food.
I did choose to make the cake, although if you short of time, patience, energy or decorating skills, Carnival will arrange one for you.
After being inspired by the rainbow cakes made by both Anna and Meredith, I decided to tackle the six layer cake. I ordered my gel colours online from Baking Pleasures. And then the marathon began. It was the first time I'd made this cake so it took me four hours. Although, it was worth every sweaty minute when I saw the excitement on the kids faces when they realised there was a rainbow inside. I chose to use sorbet colours for a more girly look.
After successfully making the six layer rainbow cake, I felt quite the Domestic Goddess. So I made these love heart biscuits as well using Nigella's recipe. Thanks Carnival for doing the rest!

(Photos by AJ Hawkins for spotsandstripes.com.au)

Front Fence

I've been thinking about our front fence for some time as it's a large part of the front of the house. The choices are: paling fence, hedge fence, stone fence or wrought iron fence or a combination. I'm probably going to choose a combination. My inspiration is the Moreton Club in New Farm.
The sandstone entrance is lovely too.

The fence posts are the largest I've ever seen. Hedge, wrought iron, stone - it's all here. I'll take the lot. Have you seen any great fences lately?

(Photos by AJ Hawkins for spotsandstripes.com.au)

Pip Boydell @ Black And Spiro

Last night I attended Pip Boydell's Treasure exhibition at Black and Spiro. This necklace was the inspiration for one of the watercolours.

Each picture captures the beauty of the small things in our life like a bottle of perfume or a the perfect shade of pink lipstick. I think that nearly every painting was snapped up on the night. I'm glad I arrived on time, so I could lay claim to a small watercolour of a pair of emerald earrings (pictured above). They reminded of the type of emerald that Liz Taylor would have worn back in the day.

My friend Belinda bought a lovely bee painting as well as a butterfly.

To see the inspiration for Pip Boydell's work, you can follow her on pinteret here. One last thing, I met Faux Fuchsia. She's a girl who loves a bit of sparkle and who has (truly) superior hair. Great meeting you FF!

(Pictures 1, 3 & 4 from pip boydell's pinterest board; Photo 2 from absolutely beautiful things)

Melbourne Cup - Fashions on the Field

The fashion at the Melbourne Cup this year was anything goes. The fashion ran the gauntlet from colour blocking to florals and to neutrals. (The lady in orange won the fashions on the field last year, see her outfit here.)
This gorgeous gal, Sarah Schofield, won the Fashions on the Field this year. She's from Geelong in Victoria but currently resides in Paris. I like her hat very much and the outfit is well put together, even if it feels a little austere.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Myer Ambassadors (Jennifer Hawkins and Rebecca Twiggley) were a riot of colour in Sass and Bide.
Call me old fashioned but I like the classics. Here's Emma Freedman on Derby Day looking so chic. She gets my vote for best dressed.
Another classic look. What was your favourite outfit?