Scentual Quest.

I am on a quest for a new perfume for day, night and perhaps inbetween. As I search, I’ll keep you updated with my own opinions, and the sometimes very different opinions of those around me on various scents. I think other people’s opinions are important, because it’s often others who notice your perfume more throughout the day than you do, so in a way, smelling beautiful is a gift to others. How’s that for justification?

Yves Saint Laurent - Parisienne

If I’m going to wear a scent, I’d like to be able to smell it, if only at first. I sprayed it, could hardly smell it. Parisienne A L’extreme however, is stronger without being too strong and at first I liked it, however I found by the time I had gotten home, it didn’t smell quite the same- more like soap. As perfume reacts differently to everyone, I guess it just isn’t for me. 

Yves Saint Laurent - Belle D’Opium

This would be a night time perfume, and so far it is a major contender. I think it’s spicy and oriental, but my mother smelt florals, strangely enough. So far everyone I’ve asked has been in favour of it, including myself. Sexy, alluring and intriguing.

Dior - Miss Dior Cherie 

A beautiful daytime fragrance, slightly floral and very charming. Light, breezy and whimsical. Another winner among friends, family and myself alike. A serious contender for my day time fragrance.

Next time…Coco, Coco Mademoiselle and Dior Hypnotic Poison. 

I AM A LOVER OF STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM.

I know, aren’t we all? But at the kick off at Royal Australian Fashion Week yesterday, lovely label Lover amped up our appetites and presented a beautiful, delicate and glamorous collection in shades of strawberries and cream, with accents of taupe and black. 

Fluid and relaxed with serious glamour and delicate, neat details, the collection reminded me of poolside glamour and loungewear one minute, and summer picnics the next. Satin sashes and delicate peek-a-boo lace dresses over cotton body suits dotted the collection, making my longing for the return of summer return with a vengeance.

Somewhat heartbroken this collection isn’t available yet? Their current AW 2011 collection A Dance for One is sure to soothe your sorrows. Take a peek: http://www.loverthelabel.com/index1.html 

Photos courtesy of Lucas Dawson for Vogue Australia.

STYLOS DE STYLE.

As the new year fires up for a busy few months ahead, why not keep one thing in your busy and unpredictable work life classic, classy and always under control? It sounds simple, but there is nothing as elegant as a singular signature pen.

Simple, no? Rummaging through your oversized work or uni tote, satchel, briefcase, leather envelope or other bag of choice is so slapdash and pre-GFC excessive. You don’t need thirteen pens in your bag, three of which will lose their lids and leave lovely blue scribbles all over your wallet, notes, diary cover and lining of your bag, two of which are actual mechanical pencils ( or “pacers”) disguising as pens with no lead left and four of which have run out of ink. Why scramble for any old blue Bic when you can be cool, calm, collected as you whip out your favourite pen of choice. You don’t need seven pens, because your one pen works. It’s part of your style. Just one bespoke pen that conveys more about you than whatever it is you are about to write with it. It’s all in the details.

Be the Phoebe Philo of the stationery world. Go quality, not quantity. Be it understated or encrusted, it’s your pen that plays just as much of a part in signing your signature.

Stylos de style

Cheap & Chic

• Kikki K has a wide selection of pens such as the Linjer Ballpoint ($2.48), the classy red Komplett Dual  Tip Pen which features a hidden highlighter ($13.97, pictured) and the premium Stilig Fountain Pen ($49.95).
• For my fellow Brisbanites, pay a visit to the Gallery of Modern Art giftshop located at the entry to GoMA for something distinctive yet not serious-investment-expensive, or visit the gift shop inside of the current exhibition for something of the moment as a token of your favourite exhibition. To anyone with a nice pen from the Valentino exhibition, I am officially jealous. I’m hoping to find a nice pen when I am at the Annie Leibowitz exhibition in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney.

DDD (Divine, distinguished and distinctive)

• Specialist pen stores such as Pen Shoppe in the Brisbane arcade, carrying a range of Mont Blanc, Cartier, Faber Castell and Waterman or The Pen Shop in Sydney featuring the finest pens from Caran D’Arche, Lamy and Montegrappa.
• The Pens de Luxe Group. Visit their online store at http://www.pensdeluxe.net/. Personal favourites are from the precious MontBlanc Boheme Solitaire or Mozart ranges (both pictured) and the futuristic Lamy collections.

Monsieur Macaroon

Today I was at the Jan Power Wednesday Markets held in Brisbane between the Treasury and the Library. They are beautiful markets, brimming with fresh and diverse produce and delicious bits and pieces. I was tempted by gluten free muesli that actually tasted better than ANY muesli I’ve ever tasted, shared a sweet little Imperial Cake from a Roman-inspired stall, where I also nibbled on Roman bread, which was very yummy, tried some creamy greek yogurt, eyed off the freshly smoked salmon, croc galouis, Moroccan spices and an abundance of fresh fruit. 

Amongst all of this glory however, my favourites were the macaroons from Monsieur Macaroon. Even the most flattering words would do it injustice, so I won’t attempt to describe how their sweer meringue centre melted in my mouth or how tasty their crispy shells were. They have nine flavours, so far I’ve tried lavender, raspberry, mango ( my personal favourite) and champagne ( pictured), which even had little flecks of gold dust all over it. I tried to take a picture, but you can’t really see how golden and sparkly they really looked.

I’ve just found my mid-week pick me up.

Four and a half stars.

Oh who am I kidding, I’m addicted and will be there every week.

Five stars.

It seems, rules were made to be broken.

For example, I’m not patient when it comes to queues, and I’d rather skip them. I’m also particularly averse to the cold. Given these two facts, you’d probably be wondering why I would be in an enormous queue, which had spilled out of the venue and was spiralling onto the streets - a friend and I being on the end of the queue, in the bitter cold.

The answer involves two words, a thousand fantasies fulfilled and a bald man.

EW. You people disgust me…

 I am of course referring to Max Brenner, master chocolatier who has revolutionised the way we look at chocolate. A true culinary craftsmen, he does not stop at mouth watering, heart stopping, mind blowing taste - he believes that chocolate is a symbol of contradicting emotions and sensations, is sexy, nostalgic and forever the object of fantasy of children and grown-up children. He humbly claims not to invent chocolate, but simply express the wishes of our hearts as he creates chocolate masterpieces the way we dream them to be.

His approach has been a result of passion. Max Brenner stores ( stores? More like heaven on Earth) have a chocolate bar where you can order chocolate to your hearts content to enjoy there, and a chocolate store, where chocolate is handled as if it is precious jewellery, displayed in glass cases. 

He is an innovator, introducing the Hug Mug for the optimum “chocolate drinking ceremony”. Highlights of his hot chocolate menu include Italian Thick Chocolate, Mexican Spicy Chocolate and Danish Toffee Chocolate. You can also purchase a Hug Mug online or in store to take part of the “chocolate drinking ceremony” home with you.

He developed the Alice Cup, inspired by the scene from Alice in Wonderland where Alice find the liquid labelled “Drink Me”, to enhance the enjoyment of drinking his Choctails - Whipped Chocolate Frappe, Peanut Butter Iced Chocolate and Cookieshake to name a few. The Alice Cup, could also be yours to own.

The Peanut Butter Iced Chocolate is deeeelish, but my absolute favourite is his signature Chocolate Souffle. I had it on my first visit, and on my third visit today I was tempted to try something different….but couldn’t resist the souffle. It’s undescribable. I was actually going to take a photo, but once I saw it, all thoughts about anything other than devouring it left my mind…

Myles had the brownie sundae, which I’ve included a picture of. It comes on it’s own wooden serving tray with a side dish of chocolate covered wafer balls and this amazing chocolate sauce which freezes much like ice magic when it has been drizzled over your icecream …but is slightly chewy to eat. Amazing!!!

Officially my new favourite haunt. Five Stars.

Photo credits: myfoododyssey, Max Brenner, and my own photo.

To Catch A Thief

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1955 ” mystery, thriller romance ” “To Catch A Thief” is a journey into a time most of us can only dream of. John Robie (Cary Grant), a retired cat burglar ( specialising in jewel thieving) is living the high life on the French Riviera, when he is accused of being behind a new spate of robberies, all bearing his signature. To prove his innocene, he sets out to find the true thief, trying to lure him with dazzling heiress Francie Steven’s (Grace Kelly) impressive collection of jewellery. The story line may be cheesy, but since when did we let a poor plot get in the way of a good story?

I’m talking about the costumes and the setting, mostly.

The beautiful, clean French Riviera has seduced my wanderlust and Grace Kelly’s costumes have captured my imagination. I’m also seriously envious of their deep, only-from-the-french-riviera tans, which had me lamenting to my sister, “If only tanning was still “safe” “

Grace looks like a goddess in almost every scene, and her first gown in particular, the soft blue one, was so amazingly gorgeous I could hardly take my eyes off it. I also liked her yellow beach ensemble, which was very chic. The costume ball was also fantastic - watch the way Grace’s gold gown looks like it is actually floating.

Even Grant manages to look quite chic, for a cat burglar, and his house overlooking the hills is just so perfect. There’s a clean, yet crumbly charm to these buildings that you just wouldn’t quite get in films today. Also, despite it being classified as a thriller, among other things, it still satisfies the “G” film rating. Despite being demure by today’s standards, it isn’t boring or without drama. I mean, J.Lo’s “The Back Up Plan” is rated M, and I don’t even have to watch it to know that it’s an embarrassment to the film industry.

Watch it, and enjoy it for the costumes and the set if not anything else. Truly beautiful.

Three and a half stars.

Sleeping Beauty awakes

And who is her Prince Charming, her knight in shining armour? None other than smitten young Parisian designer, Guillame Henry. The damsel awakened from her slumber was the Parisian fashion house, Carven, which has slowly drifted from sight since founder Madame Carven left the business some years ago.

Founded in 1945 by Madame Carven, Carven was a trendsetting haute couture house with a difference. At a time when most haute couture houses only dressed more mature clients, Carven balanced femininity and sportier fashions which appealed to women and girls alike. The House of Carven, also famous for it’s signature scent, Ma Griffe, was bold and at the time, very cool, much like it’s namesake and founder.

“She was the first to dress movie stars in France. She was cool at that time…she would have picnics overlooking the sea with her friends who were artists and movie stars”

Mme Carven is still alive at a grand 101 years old, however left the fashion business when she was in her 80s. 

Guillame (Which is the French equivalent to William, don’t you know) was born in a small village where his talent for drawing and designing was certainly unusual - at thirteen he wrote to Christian Lacroix because he was such a fan. After admiring so many of the great designers from afar, he himself is now being heralded as someone very special, with Natalie Massenent, founder of Net-A-Porter calling him “a young Saint Laurent”

At 18, he moved to Paris where he had his own flat and he recalls ” it was about not sleeping at all. It was about partying and walking during the night when everyone is sleeping. I adore Paris”

He worked at Givenchy and then Paule Ka, the brand which he describes as ” the ideal of the elegant French woman”.

It was in 2009 when he was at Paule Ka that he recieved an out of the blue phone call, asking his opinion on Carven. He simply responded that he thought that it should stop doing couture and dress real women instead. Carven’s owner like the answer, and in the same year, young Guillame was appointed Creative Director. The House of Carven became simply Carven, and moved from haute couture to ready to wear. Guillame explains the move, ” I wanted to create a look that was less evening, less cocktail, more girl next door; that’s the girl I know”.

Unlike many brands these days that focus on studying their brand heritage and adapting their original pieces, Guillame took a different approach. He explains, “the idea wasn’t to look at the archive. Carven is more about the mood, the atmosphere, the feeling. I thought about what it is like when a girl leaves a room. What is the smell that stays? What is her perfume?”

He also looked at photographs of Madame Carven herself. ” I was interested in who she was friends with and how modern she was in her private life. She was really good friends with Cocteau and Latigue “

But who is the Carvin woman? Rather than create an ideal customer or woman, Guillame designs for the women in his life. 

“The pieces can be worn all day, from early morning to late evening…Nothing is frozen. Everything can be mixed, it’s a puzzle for everyone.”

I have tried to create pieces with real honesty, pieces that focus on a woman’s needs…I want the woman who wears my clothing, regardless of her age, lifestyle or financial means, to feel beautiful and sexy but not deguisee (costumed).”

He also takes a mysterious and eternally chic approach to dressing, imploring “At Carven, we love to feel sexy by hiding as much as possible “ 

His first Winter collection for Carven was a huge success, leading the collection to be picked up by many new distributors, such as Opening Ceremony and Net-A-Porter.  As for the future direction of the brand, he intends to stay and focus on the quality and increasing creativity, but without rushing. ” I respect the brand so much and it has been a sleeping beauty for so long that I’d like to take it slowly.” The house and designer both seem to have a very rosy future ahead, with further praise from Massenet “I’m really looking forward to watching this man blossom and seeing what he becomes in 20 years time”.

And so do we.

Pictures courtesy of Opening Ceremony and Net-A-Porter.