RUBY and liam

I did some work for Wellington Fashion Week – here’s one of my pieces …

On day one of Wellington Fashion Week I got a few minutes worth of Wellington wisdom and style secrets from Deanna Didovich and Emily Miller-Sharma, the designers of RUBY and their new label, Liam. The duo was in town for Wellington Fashion Week and was hosting a celebration at their beautiful store in the Old Bank Arcade. Here’s what they had to say about their latest collection, their favourite aspects of the unique Wellington style, and about Wellington’s own Fashion Week.

Both agree that in Wellington there is a constant battle with less than ideal, windy, cold, weather conditions and a terrain of hills that makes dressing for each day an extra challenge.

“In Wellington it’s cold so there is a lot of knitwear and coats. The look is very practical, especially in winter, but always with a pop of colour or an interesting shape,” says Deanna.

“Everyone walks around here. When I lived here I always thought about footwear more; what was on your feet had to be able to be walked in,” says Emily.

RUBY is renown for the to-kill-for knits and dreamy coats and jackets. They are also now in their third season of footwear – a winter collection that caters perfectly for the Wellington conditions.

“The shoes are extremely comfortable and extremely Wellington,” says Deanna.
Each city has a unique expression of fashion and style and Wellington is no exception.

“There are a lot of really unique people here that have their own way of dressing. They tend to pick up on what’s going on around them but they make it their own. I really enjoy that about Wellington – it’s more of an individual decision making process,” explains Emily.

Deanna and Emily are both really excited to see Wellington celebrating its fashion designers and showcasing its style with Wellington Fashion Week – an event that Deanna and Emily and keeping in mind for the future.

“Leaving Wellington was really hard so it’s nice to come back whenever I can and to be involved in these kinds of things,” says Emily. (Agreed – I know how that feels!)

Thanks for taking time to talk to me, ladies!

xS

Photographs by Tamara

Wrangler AW12

In love. I’m in the love with the campaign images, the fact that they’re black and white, the fact that they contain one of my favourite NZ models, Vinnie Woolston, the idea behind the shoot, and of course the clothes. Wrangler campaigns are always gorgeous; gorgeous models, cheeky shots, and great clothes – this seasons campaign is no exception.

Life is rarely seen, lived, or presented in black and white. Instead it’s usually shades of grey; all smoke and mirrors. We spend more time second-guessing the seconds of our lives and what we stand for than simply being true to ourselves.
This season, Wrangler cuts the confusion and embraces a life of clarity, of telling it how it is. Celebrating realness and an attitude of aspiration theirs is an existence based on truth, bravery and authenticity. No fence sitting, no doubts – just certainty of action. A life lived in black and white….Where ordinary, everyday moments turn extraordinary.
Just the kind of moments captured by straight-shooter Boo George. Drawing heavily from the documentary spirit and aesthetic of mid-century American photography George’s work for the campaign fittingly puts the denim right out there on the line. Speaking for itself, without polish or premeditation, this is Wrangler A/W 2012. What you see is what you get.

See more of their campaigns on their website.

The Traveller

More marketing appreciation, folks!

This time it’s an amazing fashion film by Liam Gilmour for Australian clothing brand, Obus. As an added bonus, the brand appeals to my need to escape by stating on their website that “Obus is designed with modern travelling women in mind”. Thank you, Obus, for re-igniting my wanderlust.

Hope you like it as much as I do, especially when she gets into the bath… :)

xS

Meet Aaron Feaver

Aaron Feaver of is a favourite photographer of mine and hopefully soon to be a favourite of yours too. He was named as one of portable.tv’s best new photographers of 2011. Take a look at these beaut photographs – i’m sure you’ll agree. Much like a conventional fever makes you agitated and impatient, looking at these photographs makes agitated to take out my camera, replace its batteries and film, and take more photographs of my own – it’s been too long.

Last week I emailed Aaron a selection of questions and he finished a few sentences for me – here they are.

I started with photography when I was…20.
I started photography because…I liked the gadgets.
My first camera was…a Canon FTb
The kind of camera and film I use now is…Canon A2 with Portra
What I love most about photography is…the people.
When I’m not taking photos I’m…editing photos :(
My advise for aspiring photographers is…look at more photos!

I am currently…in Venice, California.
Home is…also in Venice.
My favourite place in the world is…Los Angeles.
My greatest fear is…spiders.
My biggest aspiration is…to make it.
Right now I’m listening to…Otis Redding

Be sure to stalk him down on the interwebs and steal a glance at some more of his work. This is only a very small selection.

Thanks Aaron!

Nothing is Original

Ever feel like it’s impossible to be original? Do you feel like everything has been done before, done again, and probably not even original to begin with? Do not fear Kirby is here with his four part series, Everything Is A Remix, he proves that all creation needs influence, everyone needs inspiration. Why vilify it? Is anything original anyway?

Everything is a Remix Part 1 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

Everything is a Remix Part 2 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

Everything is a Remix Part 3 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

Everything is a Remix Part 4 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

Check out more of his campaign on his website. Eye opening. Watch all four if you have the time.

Beautiful Rebels

Edun’s new campaign is all about unconventional beauty and free spirit. The campaign was shot by one of my favourite photographers, Ryan McGinley, and is absolutely stunning. It also features one of my favourite creatures – butterflies – the symbol of change, transformation, grace, and beauty. From a young age (and still now) I watch caterpillars transform into butterflies – a change that has always facinated me.

And now it’s featured beautifully in a campaign. My favourite model would have to be Charlotte, with her pastel pink hair and lips that match.

The use of video in this campaign is perfect. It’s not overly theatric and nor does it focus solely on the clothing. Check out the Video and the behind the scenes footage.

Powdered wings trace the outline of tattoos, tiny legs balance on fingers and shoulders; nature and skin become one in these transformative scenes of passion, playfulness and poetic contemplation.

Behind The Scenes Spring 2012 Campaign from edun on Vimeo.

Edun is a for-profit business with the aim of creating a global fashion brand, making beautiful clothing whilst committing to developing trade with Africa and encouraging others to do the same.

View their website here.

No butterflies were harmed in the making of this campaign.

All Apologies

I’ve been MIA for too long and I’m here to apologise sincerely. Can you forgive me? Life hasn’t been easy lately but I’m trying to get back on top of things. You can look forward to new, exciting, and interesting content with extra effort on my part. I’m brainstorming ideas and seeking inspiration for my website (and my life) so watch this space.

PS you look lovely today!

xS

gil-scott-heron

Running

Because I always feel like running

Not away, because there is no such place

Because, if there was I would have found it by now

Because it’s easier to run,

Easier than staying and finding out you’re the only one… who didn’t run

Because running will be the way your life and mine will be described

As in “the long run”

Or as in having given someone a “run for his money”

Or as in “running out of time”

Because running makes me look like everyone else,

Though I hope there will ever be cause for that

Because I will be running in the other direction,

Not running for cover

Because if I knew where cover was,

I would stay there and never have to run for it

Not running for my life,

Because I have to be running for something of more value

To be running and not in fear

Because the thing I fear cannot be escaped, eluded, avoided,

Hidden from, protected from, gotten away from,

Not without showing the fear as I see it now

Because closer, clearer, no sir, nearer

Because of you and because of that nice

That you quietly, quickly be causing

And because you’re going to see me run soon

And because you’re going to know why I’m running then

You’ll know then

Because I’m not going to tell you now

The man known for his american jazz and soul poetry, the spoken word performer, known on his own term as a “Bluesologist” concerned with the science and the origin of blues. The man who helped populirise and engender music such as rap and hip hop. Please take a minute or more to listen to some of his incredible words. His lyrics blow me away every day. This is one of my favourites. So powerful. RIP.

Here

We sit in your room, catching up on missed moments, laughing at misfortunes, crying at losses, and cursing at our missed opportunities.

We sit in your room, contemplating where to pin up our posters that remind us that ‘life is short’, ‘don’t miss out’, that making a mess is ok, and to always roam free.

We sit in your room, filling in our wall planners, working out our timetables, realizing that days would soon turn into weeks, and that those weeks would be the months that completed the year.

We sit in your room, enjoying the warmth as the sun pours in through the windows; the breeze plays with the curtains and the dust dances, disrupted.

We sit in your room, eating a fresh roast vegetable salad, watching the latest romantic comedy and laughing between mouthfuls of food and Hollywood clichés.

We sit in your room, listening to music, listening intently to the lyrics of our favourite songs, and writing them down in our notebooks full of inspiration for another day.

We sit in your room, the wind outside shaking the pane of glass within its frame, the rain beating down on the deck outside.

We sit in your room, drinking hot cups of coffee, looking at blogs, updating our tumblr accounts, and checking facebook notifications, amused with the intangibility and triviality of our daily activities.

We sit in your room, discussing the ideologies and traits of postmodernism versus the contemporary era, wondering how we’ll be defined by the next generation.

We sit in your room, checking our phones and computers have changed the time for daylight savings, kissing goodbye the last pieces of summer, aware that time is passing too quickly.

We sit in your room, together, everyday, discovering everything that we know and love, everything that we will learn and someday hate.

We sit in your room, the snow falling outside, the light fading, the street lamps causing an orange glow behind the curtain, wishing that ‘cold’ didn’t have to have anything to do with ‘flu’.

We sit in your room, aware of the drizzle that seemed to be our lives, doing what our assignments briefs said, wishing that our lives were more like a hurricane, doing what we wanted and could only dream of doing.

We sit in your room, contemplating, dreaming, wondering, and counting down the days and weeks until what-we-think-life-is-meant-to-be arrives.

We sit in your room, listening to John Lennon telling us that life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.

We sit in your room, realizing that this is life, that this is real, that this is happening and while we don’t think it matters now, one day it will.

We sit in your room, taking photos and creating proof of these days, knowing that it’s the absence of photos that we’ll regret – not the state of our fashion sense, number of kilograms we’ve gained, or our lack of makeup and dignity.

We sit in your room, feeling out of our depth, unsure, inadequate, insignificant, but willing to try for something anyway.

We sit in your room, because here we’ve created a home, a nest, a place to grow together, a place we can relax, be ourselves and continue to create something – a life – of our own.

We sit in your room, knowing that we won’t always be here, in this place, in this moment, at this time in our lives, ever again.

We sit in your room, aware of reality.

Nothing is forever.

Not even here, in your room.

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Heraclitus

Ηράκλειτος (Herakleitos; Heraclitus) of Ephesus was a Greek philosopher, known for his doctrine of change being central to the universe, and for establishing the term Logos (λόγος) in Western philosophy as meaning both the source and fundamental order of the Cosmos. He regarded himself as self-taught and a pioneer of wisdom. He was called “The Obscure” and the “Weeping Philosopher”.(cheers Wikipedia!)

This mans theories have inspired me . . .

Everything flows, nothing stands still.

Variant translations:
Everything flows and nothing stays.
Everything flows and nothing abides.
Everything gives way and nothing stays fixed.
Everything flows; nothing remains.
All is flux, nothing is stationary.
All is flux, nothing stays still.
All flows, nothing stays.

Nothing endures but change.

Variant translations:
There is nothing permanent except change.
Nothing is permanent except change.
The only constant is change.
Change is the only constant.
Change alone is unchanging.