Babbleon
The Age
Wednesday December 13, 2000
HANDY DANDY FACTS FILE
* Bridal designer Mariana Hardwick's way with exotic, lush surrounds - copious drapery, no skimping on the chandeliers, long tracts of polished timbers - is now available for hire in The Mariana Hardwick Emporium, 222 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. The obvious excuse for a booking would be a wedding, of course, but Ms Hardwick has also fielded inquiries for events that have nought to do with hitching. E-mail enquiries@marianahardwick.com.au
or Tel: 9415 1992.
* Swimwear label Seafolly celebrated its 25th year in business this summer by plumbing its archives for treasures like this: three glamor pussies modelling styles from Seafolly's first collection. The picture is a handy document that illustrates just how far we have hurtled forward in fashion history. Note the "Farrah flick" hairstyles on the left and right, the bead trims, floral hair ornament and, of course, the string bikini. Those were the days, eh?
* Barkly Street, St Kilda is cooling fast - in the best possible way - now that Fitzroy and Acland Streets are full to brimming with tourists and mainstreamers. Off-beat and spanking new operators tend to seek out less crowded strips just far enough away - but not too far - from the main drag. Hence, the rising popularity of the Windsor end of Chapel Street and the Acland end of Barkly. The Shrew boutique is one reason swelling numbers trek the extra steps along Barkly. It opened just two years ago and owner, Kate Bergin, stocks her own label, Shrew, a vintage-inspired mixture of fluid femininity with masculine tailoring aspects, as well as the cream of local and New Zealand ranges including Karen Walker, Kate Sylvester, Epiphet and Global 33.
Prices are at the grimace end of middling, current summer is a particularly good mix and worth a rummage before it is thoroughly excavated by Kate's regulars. Pictured, V-neck graphic-patterned dress. The Shrew label is also available now at Salt, Cactus Jam, Verve and Friscke, tel: 9534 7337.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATE
From London to Tokyo and all ports between, the fickle finger of fashion wags at a fresh crop of feckless pursuits and frivolous fripperies:
Ratcatcher (the film), ankle-length shearling coats (worn open and flapping),
Hot Sour Salty Sweet (the book - you cook with it), frilled-hem short-shorts, fringed-hem short-shorts, the turtle, the polo, the cowl and the roll (all necklines - on knits, on anything), rimless sunglasses (unless you have resided under a rock for half a season, you already know this. Some plum versions are available at places such as Witchery and Sportsgirl for comparatively pocket-money prices, or go the whole hog with these Christian Dior Ruthenium shields, (right) for $299, at OPSM. Look them up, or phone (02) 9334 2333 for your nearest shop), Carmela Rosso (the Spanish designer), zips (preferably unzipped so wherever you may be, your breasts swing free), velvet, edge-to-edge-tailored jackets (slim, shapely, or with an empire-line thin belt or leather tie), mohair (anything), that bag (Prada's two-tone chocolate and beige carry-all, pictured, with Prada's 1940s floral dress and peep-toe platforms), the culotte (eek! Creeping creepily back), The West Wing (the TV series), black pearls (any pearls, really, but especially exotic black and tinted pearls. Pictured, jeweller Jan Logan's extraordinarily pretty grey and white freshwater pearl choker $950, featured in her latest catalogue, tel: 1800 639 198 or go to www.janlogan.com for a copy), crocodile pants (crocodile anything), Nadio Ruiz (the Spanish designer, most notably this season for his glossy, business-card-sized paillettes, attach-ed and fluttering, like vivid green, orange or blue shingle scales, on patio pants, halter mini frocks and full-length gowns),
Les Mizrahi (the off-Broadway show; Isaac's phoenix-like resurrection since he left fashion's affectionate spotlight three years ago).
POPPET UPDATE
There comes a cataclysmic moment in every poppet's life when the accurate outward expression of personal style is suddenly more vital than breath, and its interpretation and execution, in terms of CLOTHES, is more complicated than the innards of a Swiss watch. Why is this so? Why is the perfectly fetching and fashionable pink floral slip frock of last week, not ACCEPTABLE any more?
What is wrong with these only-marginally-shorter-and-stupider-than-adult persons that is so frustratingly exacerbated by a few leaping hormones and the magic number 13? Adolescent, sorry, "tween" fashion labels that cater for the fickle feminine hordes, suspended achingly between childhood and Wonderbras, are thin on the ground and there are some mighty good reasons for that. Sanity, for one. Ratio of risk to investment for another. Who'd hang their fortune on the swift and sniffy upward tilt of a pert, pubescent nose? More and more fashion manufacturers and retailers, that's who. America is already bristling with them - girlie-girl retail destinations where the cash registers bleep and ping all day, everyday - and we're destined to go the same way.
This is because research says, what with pocket-money and doting boomer and Gen-X parents, these poppets can accumulate more cash than you can cram into a Hello-Kitty bubby-tote. Which brings me neatly to the point of this little reflection on the upshots of childbirth. Melbourne's Ark clothing stores, now have little "sub-shops" attached, stocking the morning, noon, and party wear, plus accessories, from the Ark Angel label, for girls aged 10 to 14. If you have one of those, this is all you need to know: 10A Claremont Avenue, Malvern, 116 Maling Road, Canterbury, and 474 Hampton Street, Hampton, tel: 9888 6750, or e-mail ozark@ihug.com.au. Pictured above, stretch cotton halter neck, $18, and
floral skirt, $39.
"There's a slew of ridiculous-looking women out there who have too much work done." -- Plastic surgeon Mark Berman, MD, on the dangerous and silly popularity of scalpel-beauty in the US. Elle, US, November.
© 2000 The Age
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