The Rachel Zoe Collection

Whether you love her or hate her, Rachel Zoe sure knows what she's doing in the world of fashion. The long time stylist to the stars has FINALLY designed her own collection and it's fabulous!

First things first, if you don't know who Rachel Zoe is, here's a little background...
1. She is primarily a stylist for celebrities such as Cameron Diaz, Anne Hathaway, Nicole Richie and Demi Moore...to name a few.
2. She is the co-writer of the New York Times' Best Seller: Style A to Zoe: The Art of Fashion, Beauty and Everything Glamour.
3. She has her own reality T.V. show, The Rachel Zoe Project. Up to it's 3rd season, the show follows Rachel and her team as she styles celebrities and colaberates with different desigers.
4. She has just designed her first collection The Rachel Zoe Collection available this coming season.
5. She has her own website The Zoe Report where she advises on everything stylish from fashion and accessories to lifestyle.

If you want to know what's 'in' and fashionable, follow Zoe. She has certainly proven she knows what she's doing as her career grows with every new project she has. She has no formal fashion training so it is even more impressive that she has done so well. Her new collection comes to light just as she reaches the end of her first pregnancy with her husband of 15 years, Rodger Berman.

I'm so glad that she has designed her own range. We can now benefit from her talents!

Her new collection is very fashion forward but also very wearable. Zoe has designed pieces that are very versatile. You could wear one of her outfits to the office or out to dinner and then one of her cute dresses out at night to a stylish event. I would love to spend a fortune and replace my whole wardrobe with her gorgeous collection.

Here are some pieces that I have selected as my favs.

 

And this years colour is...

 

  http://ow.ly/3XYXi

According to the big guns at Pantone the new 'it' colour of 2011 is Honey Suckle. I'm not too sure about this one but knowing me, the more I see it around, the more I like it. For some reason the colour gives me a flash back to the 90's! (In my opinion one of the worst decades for fashion). But, if you are in the fashion industry you need to take note of colour trends as much as style trends, they are just as important.

This colour is certainly out there and not for the shy at heart. It has already been seen on the red carpet this year on the likes of  Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Bosworth, Rachel Bilson, Kim Kardashion and Claire Danes.

http://ow.ly/3XZKM http://ow.ly/3XZPy http://ow.ly/3XZT7 http://ow.ly/3XZV6 http://ow.ly/3XZZe 

Keep in mind that Honey Suckle is not the only trend this season and has to be matched with other colours! Pantone has created this chart of the other colour trends this Spring (northern hemisphere). You won't have to search far to find these colours as most stores follow these charts. The general rule is - the cheaper the store products, the longer you'll wait for trends to find their way into the store. If you live in New Zealand like myself, you probably won't see these colours in stores until Spring at the end of the year as we follow the northern hemisphere in terms of fashion.

http://ow.ly/3XZsz  

If you (like most of us) can't afford a new wardrobe every season, find accessories to modernize your outfits. Wear a black dress with Honey Suckle earrings, belts, headband or lipstick. Nail polish is also a great, cheap alturnative to buying a new wardrobe.

Animal Obsession

The fashion world is fully obsessed with animals at the moment and I think I might just jump on this bandwagon! Every runway show or spread in magazines has animal prints or fur splashed across their models. Not only are animals appearing in clothing but also in accessories and home deco. Things like leopard print bracelets and fur throw rugs are making their way into every stylish household. Here are some of my favourite animal print items.

1. Cosabella Anouck Soft Bra    

http://shop.cosabella.com/Anouck%20Soft%20Bra.html

2. Fendi Vertigo leopard-print leather bootie 

http://awomanandhershoes.com/shoe-designers/fendi/fendi-vertigo-leopard-print-leather-bootie/

3. Jimmy Choo animal print sunglasses
http://www.jimmychoo.com/sunglasses/casss/invt/250825zs761bi/

These are some of the big names and if you're like me, you don't have a spare $1000 to spend on a new pair of designer shoes! Watch out for bargains at your local mall because they will be following these treads too this season.

Argh Laptops!

My laptop is dying!

I didn't realize how essential my computer was until I couldn't use it. For about two weeks now it has been nothing but a pain. It doesn't stay on if it's not in safe mode and even then, some days it crashes after 5 minutes. Andy (the boyfriend) has run every anti-virus/registry cleaner under the sun but nothing has worked. So now the decision is to wipe the whole laptop. All my files have been moved to our new external hard drive so hopefully I won't lose anything.

It's very hard to write a blog when your computer's running so slow you can't do any research or upload pictures. I can't do anything but design clothing which is all fine and dandy but the things I need to learn are all computer based. Things like researching current designers, trends, how to build a website, tax and registering a business in New Zealand. So you can see my little predicament. Anyone who has had computer problems and isn't a technical expert knows it can be very expensive to get one fixed (or buy a new one) so I'm really hoping that I don't have to buy a new laptop and this wiping thing works!

My normal weekly blog may suffer a little but bare with me, all will be back to normal soon (crossing fingers and toes)!

Fur Fur Fur

Since moving into a new house on the Gold coast I have been watching a lot of Fashion T.V. I have never had paid channels before so to me this is very exciting. Seriously, I have been glued to the T.V screen for countless hours documenting all that I love and sketching the beginnings of my first collection. The main aspect that is dominating the runways is FUR! You can’t get away from it. It is in every up and coming collection from Dolce & Gabbana to Chanel and soon, you will see it everywhere. I recently went into Forever New (a young woman’s fashion store) where they have faux fur vests, and it’s the middle of summer!

One bit of advice when adding a fur piece to your wardrobe is make sure it looks real. I don’t condone the killing of animals for fashion but if you don’t have it, fake it. Badly made fake fur I liken to a sheepskin my mother has on her couch. It is old and raggedy and pills like crazy. There is nothing lush about it. There is absolutely no point in following this trend if you’re not going to do it properly so invest in your fur jacket or scarf and look after it properly. Here are some examples on how to wear fur this coming winter.

Note: Fur bag in the centre!

 

Snake in the house!

Since moving to Australia in December, I have come across many animals and insects I would definitely not see in New Zealand. There have been lizards, bats and spiders all roaming (or flying) around the main city. I have since had to move to the suburb of Helensvale. A little north of Surfers Paradise, it is not too far from the city lights. When my boyfriend and I moved in with some Australian friends, we were told a story about a poisonous toad that had been found in our flat mates bedroom. It had come in through a hole in the screen door. I asked about snakes but they said that just doesn’t happen. A few nights later I was woken at 2am to my flat mates yelling to close my bedroom door (so that I didn’t get freaked out). A snake had slithered in through the hole in the screen door and eaten her 2 pet mice and left a third petrified to death in the mouse wheel. It turned out to be a carpet python which don’t bite but strangle their victims to death. This one was quite small and pretty harmless to humans, thank god!  Quite an experience for a little New Zealand girl but I got a photo and now might even put it in my ‘like book’. Doing a little research got me thinking about incorporating snake skin patterns into my designs. Some of the big names are using snakes for inspiration for their 2011 collections.

         Christian Dior snake skin pumps                                 Stella McCartney python print dress

Fashion Inspiration

I have been on my feet all day. Starting work at 7.30 isn’t all that bad but when you’re up all night buzzing with ideas for your new business it’s not all dandy! However, I get to finish the day early, at 3…time for shopping! And no, not so predictably for clothing. Today I was looking for a ‘like book’. A journal I can put all the things I love in. Pictures, quotes, magazine articles, colours, fabric, designs…INSPIRATION! It is from my ‘like book’ that I will design my first clothing range. I looked for hours to no prevail. There was nothing that I liked out there. Nothing screamed DESIGN IN ME or I’M YOUR MUSE! I need to love this book if everything I design is going to stem from the pages. I will keep looking for mine, but in the mean time I have a task for you…YES, YOU!

I encourage you to find your own Like Book. If you’re a creative type, like myself, you know that ideas come to you at the weirdest times. Carry it everywhere you go. Write down EVERYTHING you like or catches your interest in a unique way, you never know what idea will turn into your next creative piece! Most of my ideas come to me as I’m falling asleep. I will keep my Like Book with me at all times, even on my bed side table. Every two weeks, look back at your progress. Find an idea you are still inspired by and expand! Build on this idea and find you’re own unique spin. In my case I might think of a new way to fold my fabric (from origami) or use a colour combination that I saw on a beautiful bird. If you find the things that inspire you, design will naturally follow.