Carey Mulligan in Vogue

I am certainly not a fan of her obsession with fur, nor her demands that people lose weight before they can grace the cover of American Vogue,  but I do think Anna Wintour has impeccable taste. Unquestionably, the

woman knows how to dress, and how to sell a particular look too. I love that she has selected Carey Mulligan, star of An Education, for the October cover, and that the wonderful Grace Coddington has styled her in a sweet, embellished Chanel dress adorned with paper carnations. "Grace sees in Mulligan what we all see: an astonishing talent as unerring and faultless and original in her fashion tastes as she is in her choice of movie roles," writes Wintour in her editor's letter. "After a long period of feeling that we were seeing the same, same girls again and again, her presence - here and in the culture at large - is very much welcome."  The fact that Wintour has thrown her support behind the young actress means further success is inevitable for Mulligan. Wintour is extraordinarily influential, and I think it is wonderful that she has decided to support an elegant, chic young actress rather than a tanned, bosomy IT girl who's always in a bikini.



Shameless self-promotion

Here's a link to my article in the Sydney Morning Herald about Australian artist Vincent Fantauzzo's latest project. I'm off to his New York exhibition tonight - Portrait artist gets into New York frame of mind

Cat's eyes

I've just discovered liquid eyeliner. I don't know why I hadn't found it earlier. The only thing I can attribute it to is the wonderful allure of New York's department stores, which buzz with an intensity David Jones could only dream of. I'm mostly wearing it in a subtle fashion, but can't wait for a night to break out the big, dramatic Diana Ross cat's eyes. Wasn't she foxy in the sixties?

Bat For Lashes - Daniel

I love this song, but think this video is a little bit Rock Eisteddford. What's with the freaky balls on their heads? I don't get it, but Natasha Khan's voice is incredible and the lyrics about love are terribly sweet.

White works

I have always loved white shirts, blouses, dresses and jackets, although I've never ventured into the treacherous territory of white jeans or trousers. High waisted, wide-legged white trousers looked supremely elegant on Katharine Hepburn, but most women are not Katharine Hepburn. I'm also a fan of minimalist dressing, which Stella McCartney has just shown quite a lot of in her very chic collection at Paris Fashion Week.

The Big O and Obama

I will be in Sydney on October 26, but if I was in the states, I'd be heading to Long Beach Convention Centre in California to see Michelle Obama speak at the annual Women's Conference organised by Californian First Lady Maria Shriver, wife of Arnie. Other speakers that day include everyone's favourite new-age guru Deepak Chopra and Oprah Winfrey. www.womensconference.org

Zac Freeman's art

I have just discovered the work of Zac Freeman, an American artist who uses junk to make impressive portraits. This is what he says on his website - "I started making assemblage artworks of this type in 1999. The artworks are made entirely out of collected junk, found objects, and general trash. I glue the bits of junk to a wooden substrate to form an image, usually faces, which only can be seen at a distance. I was interested in communicating through visual representation in apparent 2-dimensional space and through the actual objects used for the medium in 3-dimensional space. It is very important to me that I incorporate the actual objects into the art as opposed to a picture or rendition of it because it better expresses the intention of the artwork. I feel the junk is more powerful being present. It is an actual thing to be reckoned with that existed in this time and place and carries energy in and of itself."

Dancing In The Dark

Today was a glorious, sunny fall day in New York. I spent the day with a wonderful friend traipsing around the city. Now to top off a lovely day, a little dose of The Boss, with one of my all-time favourite songs. I reckon Springsteen is on par with Jagger when it comes to moves. Sunshine and one of the world's sexiest men - what more could a girl want on her weekend?

Micky Malthouse

Today is probably the most appropriate day to divulge my secret crush on Mick Malthouse, coach of the Collingwood AFL team, premiers of 2010. I'm not really into sports at all, but I reckon Malthouse is a bit of a silver fox!

Capturing the essence of someone



I'm currently writing about Melbourne artist Vincent Fantauzzo, who is also working in New York right now. I keep getting distracted from my words by staring at his paintings. I think this 2009 portrait of the actor Brandon Walters is astonishingly good.



Chocolate for breakfast

This is my new favourite chocolate bar, the Reese's Fast Break. Wikipedia has just taught me that it was actually intended to replace breakfast, as you do. Here's the Wiki entry - Reese's Fast Break (or, in Canada, Hershey Sidekick) is a candy bar similar to the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. It is coated with milk chocolate, and filled with peanut butter and soft nougat. While the bar initially had a blue and orange wrapper, the color scheme has since been inverted. Later formulations of Fast Break have a stronger peanut butter taste. This candy bar was intended to replace breakfast, hence the name "Fast Break", as in fast breakfast.