Bushfire inspires giving hearts..Inspiration Item #34

* GUTTED: A house in Bendigo, Victoria burns to the ground.

Australia is in shock at the moment. Over 173 people are dead and more than 700 homes destroyed in the biggest bushfires the nation has seen in recorded history.

The state of Victoria in the south of the country is still ablaze with 23 fires and the death toll is expected to rise.

* REUNITED: Jennifer Wood is reunited with her partner Mark who stayed to fight the fires while she evacuated with their son Jack.

Australians across the nation are opening their wallets to help people who've lost there homes and loved ones... over $30million has been given already.

* SURVIVAL: Anthony Sexton is reunited with his horse which managed to survive the blaze that burnt his house to the ground

If you can give please donate to the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire appeal.. anything will help:

Go to redcross.org.au. If you're in Victoria think about giving blood to help the huge amount of injured: http://www.donateblood.com.au/.

*ENGULFED: Fires blaze through Kingsvale National Park on Victoria's hottest day in history. Winds were at record speeds causing fires to cover thouands of hectares at 100kms an hour.

Inspiration Item#34

Lyell.. the result of flickr foraging .. Inspiration item#33

I was doing some flickr foraging in Grey's Anatomy ad breaks when I stumbled across Lyell. As you can see from the quantity of the photos I was impressed. Very impressed and slightly intoxicatingly in love.I discovered that Lyell is the lovechild of Emma Fletcher, an Australian designer (yes, I know yet again another brilliant child is spawned from our shores).
Apparently she was inspired by a childhood in Sydney where she was dragged by her mother to an inordinate number of flea markets and antique shops (ok, the article didn't say dragged but 8yr olds aren't that keen on antiques, even abnormally stylish ones).

These are shots from Fletcher's Fall 2008 collection... I love the fact that they've used a curly-haired model and a crazy 1920s art deco house, with a little Darajeeling thrown in (forget about non-intrusive minimalism).
Fletcher won the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation award last year and used it to fund this collection. Personally I'm also loving the Fall collection of the previous year which heavily dipped into 1920s 'I'm trimming the hedgerows' type elegance (will have to blog later down the track - can't use all the pretty images at once). But if you can't wait have a look at www.fabsugar.com/994358.Emma Fletcher also owns a small boutique in nyc where she stocks her own designs and rare vintage finds from European labels.

I'm not the only one who's in sweet love with Fletcher's designs. Apparently Michelle Williams has been shopping at the store since 2004. And quote: "Her fans also include like-minded, low-key beauties, such as Natalie Portman and Zooey Deschanel, who sports Lyell in her new movie Gigantic." (www.elle.com/Fashion/Fashion-Spotlight/Lyell).The label is going into its fifth year and can be found at www.lyellnyc.com.

Inspiration Item #33

The Lady Eve.. Inspiration Item #32

Charles: Are you an adventuress?

Jean: Of course I am. All women are. They have to be. If you waited for a man to propose to you from natural causes, you'd die of old maidenhood. That's why I let you try my slippers on. And then I put my cheek against yours. And then I made you put your arms around me. And then I, I fell in love with you, which wasn't in the cards.

____

I just finished watching The Lady Eve. The 1941 classic femme fatale, 'adam bites the apple again' movie. Barbara Stanwyck was fantastic. Unwittingly falling for the man she was trying to con a fortune from and then facing rejection.. what can she do but win him back?

Jean Harrington: I need him like the axe needs the turkey.

Deception, humiliation, for poor Henry Fonda, not Stanwyck, and the most awkard proposal scene ever (a horse keeps butting in), all combine into the movie which was number 1 on the New York Times Top Ten Movies list of 1941.

And did I mention the fashion? The highlight of the shoe-fitting scene.. seduction at its finest.. is Stanwyck's amazing black dress.

It's virtually a two piece bejewelled gown which breaks in the middle to show off a substantial amount of midriff (and this was 1941). I couldn't find any pictures to do it justice so you'll just have to watch the movie.

*All credit for the costumes goes to 8 times Oscar winner, Edith Head. As you can see below she was one stylish woman.

Jean: I'm terribly in love, and you seem to be too, so one of us has to think and try and keep things clear. And maybe I can do that better than you can. They say a moonlit deck is a woman's business office.

Inspiration Item #32

Library girl. + TZU (Aussie hip hop)... Inspiration Item #31

She's sitting right in front of me
I'm caught up in a fantasy
Yeah, she's sitting right in front of me
I can't believe her company
She's taking all my mind away
And she's sitting right in front of me

Chicks these days have a soft spot for hip hop. 4 hours ago I wouldn't have agreed, but Melbourne groupies TZU have converted me. Have a listen... it's all about a libarian named Kylie who works in a library and 'damn she's sexy'..

Right there in front of me I think her name's Kylie
Real intellectual she works in a library
Damn she's sexy
'Man your Keen'
What should I say?
'I don't know , tell her you read'
I'ma tell her that I rap in the hope that she likes me
'She'll think your a freak'
Nah, she'll think I'm exciting
Chicks these days have a soft spot for hiphop
'Nah , she only likes alt country and prog rock'
I'll tell her I'm a balladeer with a career
a guitar and a car and I breathe clean air
'She'll only want you for your money'
That's funny, I'm as broke as a third world economy buddy
'It doesn't matter mr. rapper you connect like hippies do'
What she likes the inner me?
'Yeah, she likes the inner you'

*Turn the song up LOUD for best affect but I advise starting the song 20secs in... for some UNKNOWN + STOOPID reason they've overlaid the song over Play School!?!?! oh well, guess its not too bad.. I have to admit I was/am a big fan (my mum taped the show in Aus so we could watch it growing up in the UK).

** images courtesy of lafemmecatherine from Brasil.. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lafemmecatherine/ .. unfortunately no details on what mag they came from.

Inspiration Item #31

Ferrari Daytona.. Inspiration Item #30

Wish this was my first car. So hot it could almost burn. I saw a blue version on Top Gear (I know it's sad, but I get all my limited knowledge of cars from that show).

Roughly I'm guessing it'll set me back 200,000 British pounds and with the exchange rate throwing a wobbly guess I could be doing a lot more stocktake shifts at work (all I did today, fun I know).

But for the moment who cares about the money, I want the car. Ferrari Daytona, you're mine.. V12 engine, 40year old history and all, mwahhhh!

Why would I carry such a weight on my shoulders ? The Dø... Inspiration Item #29

*Awesome duo, The Dø, who according to their myspace hail from two music meccas, Paris and Helsinki. Love the beat of this song. Have a listen to track, Playground Hustle, http://www.myspace.com/thedoband, it's good too.

ON MY SHOULDERS
Why would I carry such a weight on my shoulders ?
Why do I always help you carry your boulders ?
You wonder why I carry such a weight on my shoulders
And why would I tttts such a load

Cos someday you'll see
Next time I'll try it another way

Why would you try to make me friends with them soldiers ?
When you know that I've never been familiar with orders
When you know that my heart is in a pretty disorder
And you should know that in my heart you fill every corner

And someday you'll see that all I want is to please
Next time I'll try it another way

How long will I sit and wait like a soldier ?
How many summers will it take ?
How many summers will I wait ?
How many shoulders will I break ?

Why would I carry such a weight on my shoulders ?
Why am I always by your side when you're down ?
Why did I help you build a beautiful house ?
And why did I break my back for you in the cold ?

Cos someday you'll see
Next time I'll try it another way

Why would I have to quit if time makes me older ?
Why do they wonder why I never get bored ?
How could I tell them that I'll never let go
But hey, you're my man but they just won't understand

And someday you'll see that all I want is to please
Next time I'll try it another way

How long will I sit and wait like a soldier ?
How many summers will it take ?
How many summers will I wait ?
How many shoulders will I break ?

Why would I carry such a weight on my shoulders ?
Why do I always help you carry your boulders ?
You wonder why I carry such a weight on my shoulders
And why would I tttts such a load

And someday you'll see that all I want is to please
Next time I'll try it another way

How long will I sit and wait like a soldier ?
How many summers will it take ?
How many summers will I wait ?
How many summers will I wait ? P.S. They're coming to V-festival on the Gold Coast really soon, should I go?

Inspiration Item #29

Lost my train of thought.. Inspiration Item #28

Time to go to bed... starting to feel like this. Just wish I looked like it too.

Sigh, bed is the only option when you've lost your train of thought.

Inspiration Item #28

Monopoly + Jeremy Clarkson.. Inspiration Item #27

In his recent column for the Times Online, Jeremy Clarkson - the big man off Top Gear, not the little one or slow one with long hair - says sales of board games in the UK are dangerously on the increase.

Maybe it's the economic crisis with people cutting back on big family holidays, but sales of Trivial Pursuit have tripled, Monopoly is 13% up and Scrabble is 23 times more popular than it was in 2007.

This, according to Clarkson, is a dangerous state of affairs... because board games, he says, don't bring the family closer together at all. Instead "...they rip out its heart in a seething cauldron of rage, hysteria, accusations and hate."

And from my personal, and very recent observations, I have to assert this to be true. My sister played monopoly with her boyfriend the other day and he CHEATED.

I mean who cheats at monopoly??? What type of person? She forgave him though, but not before she'd had an insight into the icky darkness of what he's capable of. He's just lucky she let him off easily.. if it was me he'd be out on his ear.

But then again board games don't always bring out the best in people.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/jeremy_clarkson/article5488548.ece

Inspiration Item #27

This made me think.. Inspiration Item #26

"If Jesus had never lived, we would not have been able to invent him" Walter Wink

I have no idea who Walter Wink is but I came across this quote and I have to agree with this stranger. The man who divided history into A.D. and B.C. is a contradictory riddle. Wish I could understand him more. Maybe then I'd understand the world better.

Inspiration Item #26

Crystal Castles.. Inspiration Item #25

Loving getting ready to go out while listening to this duo. Then I found out they're coming to Brisbane.. this FRIDAY!!!

Yay.. have to see if I've got any mates who are fans.

hmm.. hope the tickets are still on sale.

Inspiration Item #25

In honour of the BOGAN.. Inspiration Item #24

The Bogan... is a man, woman or child who has been honoured with a title reaching folkloric proportions in the Australian psyche.

The Bogan is an individual proud of being Aussie, proud of their Ute, proud of their beer and proud of their mates.

They love their sport and are fiercely loyal to their home team, NRL or AFL depending on the state.

*If the bogan in question is from Queensland or NSW it'll be NRL (national rugby league) or possibly if they're Victorian imports, AFL. If they're from Victoria it'll DEFINITELY - no question about it mate - be AFL or Australian football league. Cricket, tennis or any other sport will also be frequently tuned in on the telly.

Bogans can usually be found in the Burbs, or suburbs. Older men will usually have a beer gut (generated by XXXX beer or Victorian bitters) and quite possibly a mullet (hair cutting being abhorrent to the Bogan).

The young male bogan can often be found at festivals wearing short footy/tradie shorts, thongs (the foot type), plastic aviator sunnies and a flanalette shirt or alternately a tshirt saying 'BRING BACK THE BIFF.

This stylish ensemble would not be complete without being smashed on Tooheys or whatever beer is readily on tap at said festival (Big Day Out, Splendor in the Grass being favourites among Bogans). The Australian flag will be used as a cloak if Bogan decides to go shirtless.

Female bogans are harder to spot stylistically and are a rarer species. However they can be recognised by speech and in younger females, a love of fluro clothing/accessories and tshirts with large block letter slogans.

*WARNING* within the confines of Australia and New Zealand (another bogan nation) the term BOGAN is not necessarily offensive. The term is one of honour.

For future reference:

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogan - full definition, appropriate links etc

www.bogan.com.au/definition/index.php - best website around, join if you like

Inspiration Item #24

Emmanuelle Alt + Boganism.. Inspiration Item #23

It's nice to know while we were celebrating Australia Day by being proud bogans, with XXXX beer and Triple J's hottest 100 playing in the background... on the other side of the world Paris Fashion Week was well under way, revering style and 'unboganism' (made up word, but appropriate I feel).

For those who don't know a Bogan - is someone who is proudly un-fashionable or 'rough around the edges' (this defn is courteousy of Wikipedia and somehow isn't doing the term justice.. think I'll have to come back and do a whole post in honour of bogans).

Anyway getting to the point.. On Australia day blogger Jak & Jil posted an image he'd taken of fr vogue's revered Emmanuelle Alt... to see the post and outfit details click here http://jakandjil.com/blog/?p=1182.

p.s. wish I was so unconciously stylish (hmm.. just thought about that, she's not really unconciously stylish, it's more like an inbuilt 'of course I couldn't put a foot wrong I'm French and called Emmanuelle' style).

Inspiration Item #22

Tavi.. Inspiration Item#22

French Vogue has just done a beautiful article/interview with Tavi, the 12 year old blogger who has taken the fashion blogging world by storm (yes, I did say 12). I'm still trying to find out where she's from, because the place she grew up in should certainly get some credit for raising such a style prodigy. My only clue is that it snows abundantly.

Anyway, this jeune blogueuse is 4.6ft and has the ability to construct her own fashion shoot using A Streetcar of Desire as a prop. Sometimes I feel so far behind *sigh*.

You can see the whole article here: http://www.vogue.fr/mode/en_vogue/090127-tavi-teen-fashion-bloggeuse.aspx

Or more importantly just view Tavi's blog Style Rookie for yourself.

Inspiration Item #21