Needle and Shred

One of the best things about working in the f@$shUn indU$try is that you meet heaps of young, passionate, dedicated people that love what they do and go after their dreams. That's why I was pretty stoked to be invited to the Spring/Summer 13 launch for Needle and Shred, an up and coming Australian surf and street wear label. What's even better is that they support the Australian fashion industry by producing all their garments in Australia.

Friends and fashionistas gathered at District 01 in Surry Hills where designer David Bangma released his new collection amidst live music, complimentary drinks and a live garment stand! Which is a pretty sick idea since I've never been to an event where you get to customise your own shirt before for FREE! Everyone loves free shit.

And now for the drunk luvos and other less interesting pictures that don't contain my face.

Ruffled Feathers

Fashion week is stressful. I thought I could handle it, I thought I was good with managing my time. But look what's happened. The stress has finally hit. I've sprouted feathers.

CUE feather shoulder pads
Thrifted shirt
Sass & Bide jeans
Thrifted brooch
Yves Saint Lauren Boots

My body went into survival mode and as a result I've grown these black feathers around my shoulders. Naturally, my body would think feathers would fix anything but I didn't even get colourful, sparkly, make you shit rainbows kind of feathers. I mean, if I had those, at least they would accurately reflect and enhance how flamboyantly gay I am. But no, I just get plain ole black.

Now, I know how Natalie Portman felt in Black Swan. Barring the whole being chased by your own shadow, having homoerotic dreams having erotic dreams about Mila Kunis, and stabbing my abdomen with a shard of glass, we are basically having the same psychotic episode. Now I'm a bit afraid to do anything resembling a twirl in case I transform into a full fledging bird.

Provocator hooded dress
ASOS gold cuff
Platform wedge boots from eBay

The problem started when Lola and I were lucky enough to be collectively invited to the Sasha-Rose début collection show, Phoenix Keating's tran-seasonal collection DE-SEX show and Fashion Palette's launch night. What wasn't lucky though, was that all events were half an hour apart from each other, on completely different ends of the city. That's where the stress began. We decided to not even attempt to try and make it to Fashion Palette's launch. They had this 'Spring Chic' theme which did not bode well with our outfits - we'd channelled our inner goths and looked more Hunchback of Notre Dame than Spring Fling queens.

The Sasha-Rose collection began first, held in a shabby-chic converted warehouse space in Chippendale. She showed some really lovely, feminine and versatile pieces, the stand out for me being the pale pink blazer stained with ink patterns. The contrast between the structured fitted jacket and the unpredictability of the ink worked well together.

As soon the show wrapped up, we were the first ones to dash out and flag down a cab to Paddington Uniting Church. Sad to say however, we still missed the Phoenix Keating show which I was incredibly disappointed about. Lady Gaga has performed in his clothes the last time she was in Australia, and could you blame her? Their collection is full of latex, leather and ropes, basically a BDSM wet dream but without the awkward wet bed sheet in the morning. We did manage to catch the designer backstage though and had a chat with the lovely Phoenix himself - can you believed how amazing and established he is at merely age 20? Talk about making me feel inadequate. Hopefully I'll get to see his work in the showroom soon, and that'll make up for all the time spent running around the city trying to find the obscure locations they hold fashion shows!

Backstage at DE-SEX

Shoes by Senso

Man of the hour, Phoenix Keating

Stylist Manuel Spiropoulos

Designer Rosanna de Couvreur and Tom Saint-Cyr

Rosanna's rad grandma

Photographs by Lola Li.

Village People

One of the most embarrassing moments to befall upon me recently was when I attended the launch party of new Potts Point bar and restaurant, The Village. The gut-wrenching moment when the hot door bitch girl says "ummmmm, you're not on the list?" "But I was invited! I even RSVP'd before the date!" I argued, and she looked down again at her clip-board, most likely holding a blank piece of paper and proclaims that my name is just not there. Oh, the embarrassment! The humiliation!

Luckily, with my persuasive powers over the female race she let me in anyway. I guess I'm just the male version of Samantha Brick. People can't help but bestow me with privileges and gifts because of my stunning appearance and pretty smile.

The similarities are uncanny. 

Anyway, I was actually really happy to be let in because it was one of the best launch parties I've attended. Probably due to the fire-spinning performers, cocktails and a tree made out of lights which made you feel like you were on LSD after a few too many drinks. However the food was the winning ingredient of the night, you could often spot me throughout the night loitering around entrance of the kitchen, snatching canapes before the waiters had a chance to serve everyone else. Classy? Who, me?

Seared scallops on saffron risotto, stuffed figs with goat's cheese and balsamic dressing

Check out that girl's amazing Josh Goot dress. Jealous.

I am wearing
Jack London blouse
Vintage brooch

Lola wears:
Paprika chiffon playsuit

Sorry for the lack of outfit photos! There comes a point in the night where the combination of alcohol and photography just don't work so well together, and there's only so much Photoshop can do. As always, photographs are by Lola at Figs & Brie.

P.S How good does Lola look in that photo? Dayum.

P.P.S I finally jumped on Twitter :) So if you wanna be like my fourth follower, come follow me: @ColourMeDang!

Kinky Cocktails by the Sea

Ksubi Sunglasses
Joe Bananas paisley sheer top
Sass and Bide jeans
Timberland boat shoes
Polo Ralph Lauren bucket bag 

Paisley?! Again? You would think someone would have given me an intervention by now. And I know many of you may be bored with the whole me and paisley love situation going on, so I thought I do something a bit unconventional just to add some excitement in your life! And voila! The pelvic thrust. In all its glory. Yes, I know you love it. If you guys play nice I'll feature another one in my next post, just for you <3

So Lola took me to the launch of a new cocktail menu at Helm Bar in Darling Harbour and I decided to wear this sheer blouse with boat shoes to channel the seaside vibes. We were pampered with cocktails and a fabulous lunch amongst lovely company and an amazing view. It was such an enjoyable experience that I probably consumed my whole weeks worth of food in one sitting... food baby + sheer top = maybe not such a good idea. Lola on the other hand, came prepared and wore her special 'eating dress', which I'm pretty sure is actually a maternity gown (much like Joey from Friends' Thanksgiving pants).

Lioness blazer
Vintage maxi dress
Freelance cream wedges
Sunglasses from eBay

Our Saturday morning consisted of a cocktail tasting (we 'tasted' quite a bit, muahaha) courtesy of resident shaker Matt, who shimmied up these beautiful cocktails from their new menu. An espresso martini kicked off our morning and injected some life back into our hangover-weary minds, followed by a 'Sexy Saint', 'Senorita Margarita', 'Red Hot Mexican', 'Ginny Hendricks', 'Oriental Sweet Tart' and finished with a lush, still-unnamed passionfruit concoction. Kinky. Yum.

Sexy Saint. This one was a fiery little bitch.

Beautiful endless platters of food - antipasti, duck pancakes, mini chicken chimichangas, tempura prawns, 

deep-fried squid, seared salmon

Photographs by Lola at Figs & Brie.

Eastpak Launch Party

The torrential rain didn't do much to deter us or anyone else from hitting up the Eastpak launch party in Alexandria last week, held in a warehouse that was beautifully refurbished from a ship construction site into this cosy space. Eastpak established themselves in 1960 designing US military gear and then soon migrated into the more commercial and profitable territory of college backpacks and messenger bags. Known for being durable, each item comes with a thirty year warranty. Thirty years, I kid you not. Talk about a sound investment. The preview displayed pieces from the SS12/13 collection, featuring collaborations with Kris Van Assche (artistic director for Dior Homme), Kenzo and WoodWood.

Saint Augustine Academy shirt
Brent Wilson bow tie
Wrangler skinny jeans
Yves Saint Laurent boots

Brooke wears:
 American Apparel Dress
Therapy Heels

Lola wears:
Stylestalker blouse
Kate Moss for Topshop shorts

Holly wears:
Romance was Born dress

Since Eastpak is more of an urban street label I thought it would be fitting to wear a ghetto thug outfit, however sadly my wardrobe does not accommodate for such dope items so I wasn't left with many options. I decided to don my Brent Wilson bow tie and though it is hardly "street", my justification is that the pattern is achieved through spray paint stencils and you can't get much more ghetto than spray painting. I teamed it up with my Saint Augustine academy shirt - it brandishes these pleather shoulder panels which I think are a-mazing little details that differentiates it from being just another white shirt. Sadly, I recently learnt that Saint Augustine Academy has since gone out of business :(

What is even more unfortunate though, is that while I was being all charming and cute with the security guard, I leant back on the roller door hinges at the entrance and received a fat mould stain on the back of the shirt :( :(

Major crime against fashion

The party however, was fabulous; dishing out Peroni, Chateau Du Faucon and MOTIF wine, and Jameson scotch and dry cocktails as well as delicious, delicious free food - a stunning spread of French cheeses, cured meats, olives, fruit, and bread by Luxe. Did I mention it was all free? I think this is my fourth post declaring my absolute love for free things. Even better when the free things are being served too you by attractive bartenders... free food, drinks and attractive men at the same time? Yes please. Thank you to Lola at Figs & Brie for these photos, you can blame her for the gratuitous amount of food pornography. And human pornography: