stella mccartney autumn/winter 2011

One of my fave designers, Stella McCartney, put on a beautiful show for her autumn/winter 2011 collection at Paris Fashion Week. All her four children were backstage with her, and model Natalia Vodianova arrived to see the show with her three children.

Natalia was wearing a Stella McCartney top with a Balenciaga mini.

Here are some of our favourite looks from Stella's show... highlights include 'polka dot' dresses in black and in white, oversized coats with minimalist detailing, slouchy jerseys, tailored pants, jumpsuits and balloon sleeve dresses.

Oh, and below is why Natalia looks so good. Running in the Paris half marathon, and then walking for Givenchy. Sigh...

 Pics via telegraph.co.uk

i could've had it all

Whether they chose the song on purpose or not, the words were pretty poignant. The models for the John Galliano's Dior show at Paris Fashion Week walked to Adele's 'Rolling in the Deep' during what was referred to as a 'low-key' showing last week.

The show must go on and it was definitely the one everyone had their eyes on after John Galliano made such an idiot of himself last week. It received reactions which ranged from 'brilliant' to 'surreal'. This collection included a mix of romantic dresses, a black vinyl trench and a draped mint coloured kimono. The bias cut gowns and oversized outerwear was described as pure 'old school Galliano'.

The truth is, it's a gorgeous collection. Even though we only got to see less than half of what was originally planned.

happy birthday to me

Today I turned 32. It was lovely to have my birthday fall on a Sunday, and I got super spoilt. While I slept in this morning, hubby and Bailey made me breakfast and coffee and brought it up to me to eat in bed, with a gorgeous homemade card made by the both of them. So cute. I still haven't decided what I want from hubby for my birthday, but I think it's going to be something to do with jewellery. Nice.

Later we went to Roundhouse in Camps Bay – fast becoming one of our favourite spots. There were roosters and mini pigs trotting about while we sat outside under umbrellas drinking champagne and eating yummy food.

Emily bought me this gorgeous wool hat, which she couldn't resist getting for herself either (love that!)... I still need to perfect the 'flop' on mine (like Emily's), but how gorgeous?

Bailey loved the mini pigs! 

Summer loved the mini pigs too, so she had to stay on her lead.

Does this look like trouble to you?

dkny on the rooftops of cape town

Last night we had the pleasure of attending the re-launch of the DKNY fragrance in SA. The venue was in an incredible apartment high up on the rooftops of Cape Town with, of course, the most breathtaking view. We know Capetonian's have a bit of a reputation for being arrogant about their city but seriously, can you blame us?







DKNY is launching a sexy new campaign for its women and men's fragrances, each with the edgy, vibrant energy of New York. The fragrance itself hasn't changed, just the campaign... real life couple Anja Rubik and Sasha Knezevic are the models who were chosen for the relaunch and it's pretty clear why. Just watch the ad and there isn't much doubt about how they feel about each other.

It pulsates with the energy of New York, which is what the brand is all about. I could hear Liza sighing next to me. She's been back a month and is missing it already...





We walked away with a bag of fabulous goodies, which included the new DKNY summer fragrances. Today I'm wearing Pure, tomorrow Be Delicious.... we're going to be smelling of DKNY forever. Happiness.

michelle obama looks awesome, all the time

Mrs O attended a reading in Washington DC to commemorate 107 years of Dr Suess on Read Across America Day. She looks utterly fabulous!

the vanity fair oscar party

I don't think I'm the only one that feels this way, but I get more excited about the behind-the-scenes and red-carpet photos of the annual Vanity Fair Oscar party, than the actual Academy Awards. Each year, the who's who of Hollywood flock to the after party looking their best and seemingly having the best time. Everyone just seems a little bit more relaxed. Here are some of our fave snaps...

Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber. Can we just say how incredibly grown-up and elegant she looked? Emily and I had this discussion the other day. How old is Selena, 16 or something? She carried herself so beautifully and put 30-something Cameron Diaz to shame who was trotting about in the tightest, shortest dress that did nothing for her – she even had to use her clutch to cover her bits when she sat down?! This time, the teenagers win.

Emma Stone, Taylor Swift and Gwyneth Paltrow. I like Taylor's dress the most. That's all.

More of Taylor's outfit.

Steven and Liv Tyler. She is magnificent and we don't see enough of her out and about.

The gorgeous Zooey Deschanel. Love the chic red nails.

Rita Wilson, L'Wren Scott, Mick Jagger, Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez.

Benjamin Millepied and Best Actress winner Natalie Portman. We love you Nats but we didn't love your dress so much. Boo.

Hailee Steinfeld, who did the coolest switch of the night by swopping her heels for Converse. Nice.

Sigh. Mr Darcy. Oh, sorry... Colin Firth who won Best Actor and gave the most wonderful speech.

Shannon Woodward and Andrew Garfield aka Spiderman.

Pics via vanityfair.com

good feet, naughty feet

When I was small, like all little girls, I went to ballet classes. I remember the excitement of wrapping the hand-knitted pink cardigan around my as yet unformed waist and trying to stand still while my mum scraped my curly, misbehaving hair into a bun. The memories were distant, but pleasant... until I asked my mum why I had stopped and she told me that she removed me from the class when she discovered the teacher would slap me around the calves for having 'naughty feet'.

Shattered my ballet memories into pieces, but that doesn't mean I'm not taken with the new ballet inspiration that Black Swan has bought to fashion. Blake Lively took the trend up a notch last night when she attended a dinner in New York, which Chanel threw in her honour. Her Christian Louboutin, prima ballerina pointe shoes, complete with square block toe, deserved a pirouette I thought.

queen of the curve

If I were Christina Hendricks I'd be annoyed that I'm always referred to as curvy, womanly, full-bodied etc, it's worn a little thin now (excuse the pun). That said, we couldn't resist the headline... however we will never again refer to her as curvy, she is merely gorgeous. That opinion of her will only be increased when you see these pics of her as the face of Vivienne Westwood's 'Get A Life' Palladium jewellery collection. She looks mighty fine.

The collection is crafted from Palladium, which is a natural, white metal. Vivienne says that she was inspired by nature and symbols of paganism, which explains the leaves and the heart worn in these shots. We love their bold, feminine statement.

happy birthday to the letterbox

Today was a special day for Emily and I. One year ago, we ventured out and started our freelance business, The Letterbox. It was while we were sitting at Empire Cafe this afternoon, working together, that we realised it.

There have been so many moments that we've shared in our 20 years of friendship, and the fact that we're now running a business together, is super special. We have big plans this year, for our blog, for our business and for our lives... So watch this space!

what we'll be wearing in 2012

On Saturday, courtesy of Woolworths, I went to the Design Indaba to hear world-renowned trend forecaster Li Edelkoort give us insight into what we'll be wearing in 2012/2013.


I've never heard her speak before and I was eager to lap up anything that she had to say so I made copious notes. The problem now is how to translate those notes into something that actually makes sense and might be useful...

She spoke about the inspiration from the earth. Her focus was on eco (which her Dutch accent pronounced 'echo', causing me at least 10 minutes confusion). I loved what she said about retail spaces reverting back to selling single items. No longer having stores where you can buy your food, underwear and maybe a lamp for your lounge all at the same time, but stores where you go to buy one, exquisitely-made shirt for example.

David West shirts

Major items for 2012? The shirt is going to be in the forefront and Li says take budget from the T-shirt and invest in shirts, both men and women. Scarves as well. 'It's amazing how this little piece of cloth has now become an icon of luxury and high society,' she said. Am so with her on that. We're also going to be turning our attention more to DIY clothing, with fabric being sold alongside clothing in the same stores...

Basically, it's a return from the over-indulgent era of excess, back to simplicity and quality. 'Less variation and more focus,' says Li. 'Too much choice will no longer be contemporary. It's time to rekindle our relationship with the earth.'