ONLY THE LONELY

I stumbled across Only the Lonely on Facebook and had a quick chat to designer Angela Sterchele. I was not only taken back by the gorgeous, feminine designs but the 

photography was also beautiful, and recently a few pieces from the latest collection were featured in Oyster Magazine.

From Oyster Magazine

Can you give us all a little bit of your background?

My background is based strongly on following my dad around to art galleries and antique shops as a child. He is a freelance artist and that has been my biggest inspiration to follow my passion. I have studied at melbourne school of fashion in design and also business and knew from childhood I wanted to be in fashion and designing was always my passion and now I share my passion between design and styling.

Tell all of us a little about Only the Lonely.

Only the Lonely is named after an amazing and meaningful song by Roy Orbison that I listened to as a child. I wanted to create accessories by hand as I love making things from scratch. I began with my floral pieces before moving onto feathers, crystals, studs etc, which are going to be out in my new High Summer look book soon. I just simply wanted to create beautiful pieces that I would love to wear.

What kind of woman wears Only the Lonely?

The only the lonely girl is feminine, daring and loves a bit of attention and taking fashion risks. She can be a chamelion and wear what ever she feels.

What inspires you when you’re designing?

When I'm designing I try to use beautiful materials in a slightly edgy way to create something fresh. I like to create something dreamy and almost wearable costume pieces.

How would you define your personal style?

My personal style is totally eclectic. I love the crazy pieces that not many people would actually wear but i style them in my own wearable way. I dress for my mood and have to feel right or I will be late due to wardrobe changes. My car is a wardrobe on wheels which is handy.

What is the next step for Only the Lonely?

Only the Lonely is about to shoot it's first campaign which will showcase the Festival Collection '12' and is the first time that all the various styles will be shot together as a collection. I hope to pick up some more stockists this year and continue to stock at one of my favorite stores Hutch. The label is available through it's facebook page and often appears at Melbourne markets also.

You can find more of Only the Lonely here.

 

 

 

KILLEN FALLS

Wearing Zimmermann bikini

Sometimes it's nice to forget about the things that get us down in life and experience the true beauty of nature. This small series was shot by my boyfriend when we went for a swim at a place called Killen Falls while we were visiting Byron Bay. I researched a few waterfalls and this was one of the only ones that you could swim in. It was a bit of a treacherous walk off the beaten track but was so worth it once there, as you can tell from my frolicking pictures.

BYRON BAY

For the past few days I've been soaking up the hot sun at Byron Bay. The boy and I were staying at this beautiful 300 acre farm stay property about 5 minutes out of Byron (with very bad reception as well) and I often forgot that's where we were. It was an amazing and peaceful place with rolling green hills, private lake, views, cows, goats and tranquility.

I couldn't pass up the chance to get a sneaky outfit post in while I was carefully strolling barefoot along the property.

Wearing: Shakuhachi lace jumpsuit, thrifted gold watch, friendship bracelets (tutorial coming in a few days)

DIY [SASS & BIDE] DRAPED FABRIC DRESS

New Years Eve is fast approaching and I have nothing to wear. Well, not nothing per se, but most girls know what I mean when I say that. I was wondering what I could do about my outfit since my plans are still not yet decided and Sydney isn't seeming so desirable this New Years with drinking bans in certain areas and loads of pubs closing early. I was browsing the internet when I came across a dress on the Sass and Bide website that I saw a few months ago that got my DIY juices pumping and decided that it would be my next project and my NYE outfit.

I love the simplicity of this dress from the Sass & Bide 'Seekerstate' collection. I love its sweeping, ethereal and modern look and the way the dress has been styled in the second picture with the fabric bunched closely together and I think that is how I will end up styling my piece.

At the fabric store I wanted to find a nice, sheer, sweeping neon material like the kind used on the dress. I couldn't find anything neon but would you believe what I found instead? A pink and purple ombre chiffon fabric on special for $11.50 per metre? In case you haven't been following my ombre endeavours of late I recently did a how-to on ombre denim here and a few days ago I did a balayage/ombre experiment on my hair, which you can find here. Clearly ombre is a theme for me at the moment, and I had a little chuckle when I saw the fabric at the store while thinking 'what are the odds?'. So in keeping with my ombre obsession I thought it might be a nice interpretation of the Sass and Bide dress, which any of you can easily throw together as well. Follow me...

You'll need:
- 2 metres sheer draping fabric - mine is polyester but silk would also be nice
- Pins
- Sewing machine/needle and thread
- Scissors
- A white dress with a higher neckline would work better than low-cuts

How to:
1. Hem both selvedges (edge of a fabric that is woven tightly so that it will not fray) of your fabric by folding it once, ironing and folding again, ironing and stitching with your needle and thread or sewing machine.

2. Pin both sewn selvedges to the top of the collar line and do your gathering from this section so you can see how much needs to be gathered as you're doing it.

Run a needle and knotted thread across from one side to the other, doing stitches about 2-3cm apart. When you reach the end rehang your dress on a hanger and gather by pulling the end of the thread through. When you think the fabric has been gathered enough tie a knot in the thread and then unpin fabric.

Needle and thread through from one side to the other; gather by pulling.

3. Lay the dress flat on a table (normal side out) and then lay your fabric with the wrong side facing up and place it upside down with the gathers at the bottom (like picture). Lay the corners of the gathered fabric around the neckline and pin it down. Make sure that if you have used a thread that is visible that you pin ABOVE it so that when you flip the fabric after stitching it down it won't be seen. Flip the fabric and check it to see how it looks (picture 3). Stitch as close to the hem of the collar so that the fabric looks like it is sewn from the very top.

Step 3

4. Flip your fabric over and make sure to sew up any loose little sections that may be hanging out and to also cut any visible extra fabric from the part underneath.
5. Finally hem the bottom of the fabric either by hand or sewing machine.

Done! You'll need to fiddle around with how it sits when you place a belt on. So that's my NYE outfit sorted now. Word for the wise: anyone who is wanting to try this I feel it's necessary to say that this project took a few hours as it was fiddly. But the end result was worth it. I'll be doing a proper outfit post of my look tomorrow.

DIY INSPIRATION [PROENZA SCHOULER] NEON STRIPE BAG

When I first sighted the Proenza Schouler neon stripe handbags a few months back in a magazine I was having one of those days where I'd left my phone at home and therefore felt naked. I felt a little shaken and unsure because if I found a picture of something I loved I'd quickly take a photo of it on my iPhone. At the time, all I had was my notebook and a pen so I quickly doodled a picture of it (and when I say quickly I mean in about 1 minute). I actually quite like the doodling of items I find inspiring. I guess it makes me feel a little less guilty about not drawing as often as I used to.

Being a photography graduate one of the big discussions among students and teachers was how with the changing technology of mobile photography that everybody is capable of being a 'photographer' and how we are all becoming a bit reliant on our mobiles when there is something we just HAVE to capture. There is this idea that we now take a photo so the mind can forget the memory. I made a pledge to myself that day when I forgot my phone to doodle down my inspirations, whatever they may be. I think it will get my creative juices flowing better, aid my memory and will help when I'm trying to plan out how to do a DIY.

With all that said I am planning on recreating this bag with some spray paint and some fabric. Stay tuned.

My drawing - with some Photoshop colouring in

Quite clearly the real deal

PATERSON'S CURSE

Here is a bit of inspiration for Friday. In the latest issue of Russh I came across a shoot featuring Aussie Top Model Runner-Up Cassi Van Den Dungen (who had a baby recently, would you believe?). Considering she has now become infamous for wanting to 'stay at home with her boyfriend' I'm not surprised how well she has pulled this spread off. The girl is a natural talent. The spread is rough, dry, raw and uber-cool. The mixture of roughed-up suits, neutral colour palette, wind-blown dresses and natural wind-in-the-hair style is perfectly suited to the country outback setting. And lord knows, I'm a sucker for ranch style fashion shoots. The spread makes me think of the video clip for 'Longest Road' by Deadmau5 featuring Lissie, which you can see here.

ANGLE DIAMOND DOT.

A friend of mine owns a shop in Sydney's awesome and quirky fashion suburb of Surry Hills, right on Crown St. Estate of Mind's concept is to launch and support underground Australian (and now international) designers trying to make a break into the competitive and difficult Australian fashion industry. My friend will often send me look book's of new brands she has found and this one in particular caught my eye.

Angle Diamond Dot. The current collection Follow the Sun is a beautiful array of jewellery pieces designed by Courtney Harris. Each piece is an eye-popping feast featuring semi-precious stones in their raw form, meaning that each item is slightly different and unique from the other and set in sterling silver or plated gold. Another thing I love about this brand? Everything is hand-crafted.

Prepare to be delighted. A warning to jewellery lovers: sunglasses may be needed, as you could very well be blinded by their sheer beauty. I placed my order for the earrings in the first picture a few weeks ago as I've been looking for a pair of drop earrings and fell head over heels instantly. Other personal favourites are the sexy 'Linked In' chunky gold necklace and pretty much all of the massive show-stopping rings. The photo shoot alone is enough to fall in love with this beautiful brand.

For more information go to the Angle Diamond Dot website. Enjoy!

Four Corners of the World earrings, RRP $360 - mine in a few days!

'Linked In' chunky necklace

So bright!

Perfect jewels for summer