BLACK GARCIA GOWN FOR A SPECIAL OCCASION

Hello my dear readers, hope you are doing well.

I know it sounds like an old adage, but time does fly, wouldn’t you agree?  In April this year my dear husband is approaching one of those milestone birthdays that sounds a bit scary – he is turning 70.  I know it’s just a number but in Danny’s case, it means a lot considering his medical history  included a stroke, a quadruple by-pass and cancer.

Anyhow, birthday no matter the number, are meant to be celebrated and we are doing it in style.  To celebrate his actual birthday which is on Friday the 28 of April, just the two of us are going to a swanky restaurant called Oncore by ClaireSmyth, the first and only female chef to hold three Michelin Stars in the UK.  "Situated on level 26 of Crown Sydney and overlooking one of the most breath-taking views of Sydney Harbour, the outstanding delivery of fare has resulted in recognising Oncore as one of the top fitfty restaurants in the world from the prestigious La Liste Awards and has been awarded three Chef Hats from Good Food Guide Awards."

If you want to eat there, you have to book 3 months in advance and on the day when the site opens for booking, you have to be very quick as the places are snapped up with supersonic speed.

Then, on the following Saturday, we have invited our family and close friends, some of them Danny has known since his years living in Cape Town, all and all around thirty people, to celebrate his birthday at an award-winning restaurant called China Doll for dinner.  The restaurant resides on the historic Finger Warf where patrons are treated to delicious pan -Asian style food and are bedazzled by the sparkling views over CBD, Art Gallery of NSW and iconic Harbour Bridge.

Then in May we are we are thinking of visiting Bali for a week but so far it’s just an idea so  I will keep you informed when it, hopefully, will materialise. 

Now that we have a venue, all I need is an outfit that matches it.  Of course, I could’ve found something in my wardrobe that would do but I wanted to wear something fresh. 

I didn’t have a clear idea of what to look for, just went into Westfield Shopping Centre in hope that in one of the numerous clothing stores I will find something that I like.  As luck has it, it didn’t take me long to find it.  I was in the Myer department store browsing aimlessly between concession counters when at Pilgrims I saw a mannequin dressed in a very elegant looking black dress that looked exactly what I had in mind.

The first thing that attracted my attention was the shape of its plunging neckline and off the shoulder sleeves.  On closer examination I noticed that it also has a crossover detail around the bodice that visually makes your waist look slimmer and a tulip shaped skirt that allows you to show your legs without too much skin being exposed.  In other words, a perfect evening dress suited for a special occasion.  A quick trip to a fitting room and it was mine.

This dress speaks for itself and does not require heavy accessories to make a statement.  Just a string of white pearls, contrasting red shoes, an evening hand bag and a smear of red lipstick to match the shoes and I am ready to party.

Stay tuned for the follow up.

Until then,

Anna

xoxoxo

Outfit details:

Dress:  Pilgrim 

Shoes:  Edward Meller 

Handbag:  Chanel (old)

Sunglasses:  Prada (old)

 

WEEKENDS ARE PRECIOUS

Hello dear friends.  How are you all?

We in Sydney are so lucky with the weather despite the fact that our summer is officially over that we use every opportunity to spend time outdoors and last weekend was no exception.  The weather is exceptionally good, not as hot as it was in summer and definitely less humid, just a delight to be outside 🌞😎.

Weekends are precious and you want to make the most of it.  You have two glorious days devoid of responsibilities and full of possibilities.   Last Sunday blessed with the glorious weather, we drove to the beach suburb of Bundeena, about a one hour drive from our home which runs first along the coast, then through the Royal National Park.  Truth be told, neither my husband nor myself nor my friends had heard about this beachside suburb before and yet it is a lovely place situated between the coast on one side and by the Park on the other, so they have the best of both worlds.  This attracts a lot of visitors from other suburbs, especially on weekends but somehow it didn’t feel overcrowded.

When we arrived in the late morning, the local market was in full swing and we walked around sampling local delicacies, checking out the wares and just watching the crowd having a good time to the soft tune of a local band.

The other reason we went there was to follow the so called Art Trail where the local artists open their studios and invite the public to come in, browse through their art works and even make a purchase or two.  One of the artists even kindly allowed me to be photographed in her garden.

We had lunch at a lovely café and then took a stroll along the main drag and down to the water, then got in our car and went around for the drive.

My outfit for the day was a simple black spaghetti strap dress and espadrilles - comfortable, casual yet good enough to walk into a nice café and didn’t look out of place.  Lately, I took to liking to tie a nice scarf around my shoulder when I am wearing a sleeveless dress partly to protect my shoulders from the harsh Australian sun but mainly, I’ve become hugely attracted to them after watching a French TV show called Dix Pour Cent or Call My Agent in English on Netflix (which I would definitely recommend) where I noticed how men and women alike always have a scarf wrapped around the neck with everything they wear.  

And they do it with such a panache or as French call it je ne sais quoi.  I was also influenced by watching French movies during the Alliance-Francaise French Film Festival which is, to my delight, is in Sydney at the moment.   Both, my husband and I💖 love European cinematography. Last year we only managed to watch one movie and then everything went into lockdown.  So far, we saw Appearances, a modern day drama, Delicious, a recipe for sensory overload and 1968 remake of Breathless with Jean Paul Belmondo (does anyone else remember him?).  So far, three out of three, all were different but equally enjoyable 👍👍👍.

Seeing J P Belmondo on the the screen brought back memories of my childhood. We grew up watching Italian and French movies back in Russia.  Sadly, they are not on the list of the most popular to watch here in Australia that’s why when the Italian or French film festival arrives, I become extremely excited and we try to watch as many movies as humanly possible.

And this is it for today’s post.  Hope you enjoy reading it, do leave a comment to let me know.

Until then,

Anna

xoxo

 

WHAT I WORE TO A GALLERY OPENING

Hi there,

A couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail containing an invitation to view a new collection at the art gallery called .M Contemporary.  I had no idea of how they came in possession of my e-mail address but the invitation sounded rather nice, snippets of the artist’s work looked rather promising and even though we were not hunting for any art at the moment, we thought it would do us no harm to attend.

The work was of a South African artist, Michael Taylor, and my husband who is also from Cape Town was quite interested to see his painting and so we accepted.

I cannot say that I have been to many openings during my life and have never circulated in art circles but somehow I felt that some sort of an unwritten dress code was expected from the attendees. Due to my lack of exposure to this world, I was not quite sure what dress-code is required for such an occasion but I had a hunch that staying away from denim and sneakers would be a good idea.  I also didn’t want to look like I was trying too hard and so I opted for the world best known, all-time favourite, “cannot do wrong” every respectable woman’s staple – a black dress.

Ever since my daughter came from holiday in Europe and showed me some clothes she had bought from the store called Cos, I wanted to have some of it.  A quick visit to their web site revealed that unfortunately they were not shipping to Australia.  Until one day, they just came over to OZ and opened their store first in the Sydney CBD and later on in our local Westfield Shopping Centre.

Their clothes remind me a little bit of a Calvin Klein style:  minimalistic, monochromatic with clean simple lines and understated elegance.  And because of its “simplicity”, almost every piece on the rack is boundlessly versatile and with a little help from certain accessories can be easily transformed from the office attire into a night-out outfit.

My first purchase from them was the above mentioned black tunic dress. It looked quite simple when I picked it up off the rack with very little detailing except for two hidden side pockets and a thin white trim running along the seams but that is what attracted me to it.

Having such a simple silhouette as a blank canvas presents a lot of options on how this dress can be worn, depending on the occasion, the time of the day and the style of my look.  And once that is established, all it takes is to choose the right shoes, handbag and accessories.

ACCESSORIES HAVE THE POWER TO TRANSFORM YOUR LOOK DRASTICALLY WITH MINIMAL EFFORT

Going back to my story, I was after the style that could be described as subdued bohemian chic that I thought would quite suit the occasion and for that reason I chose a monochromatic black and white palette.   Using a scarf with huge black and white dots all over it as a necklace, I wrapped it around my neck so it looked like a collar and to match it, I put on an oversized cuff bracelet in white with a random black ink dots pattern (seen here).

Short blocked heel boots (seen here) added some edgy feel to my look and a long black coat completed the look but when I checked myself in the mirror, I felt that my outfit looked rather sombre for the occasion, so I decided to add an element of fun to it by mixing up different patterns and swapped the black coat for a knee high one in animal black and white print. 

Dress:  Cos

Boots:  Bianca Buccheri

Coat:  Jane Lamerton

Scarf:  High Tea with Mrs Woo

Cuff:  Dinosaur Designs

And so we went.  As quite often happens in life, when you don’t know what to expect, you end up having a great time.  We thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition, the hostess was most gracious, we met a bunch of interesting people and we felt like we belonged.   We also like a couple of artworks by the other artists on display and I have a feeling that my husband is planning to get one for our upcoming wedding anniversary.  Time will tell.  It is in July so I will keep you informed.

Have you experienced a similar situation when you were invited to an affair out of your usual environment?  And how did you handle it?

Until then.

LITTLE BLACK DRESS

I can feel that you are about to scream “Not another LBD!!!” and you would be right.  However, when talking about wardrobe essentials, it is mandatory to mention the importance of having a Little Black Dress in my wardrobe or what kind of stylista would I be without it.

A Little Black Dress from Valentino's "50th Anniversary" Exhibition

Dress:  Le'Elegante

Shoes:  Louis Vuitton

Cuff:  Hermes

As much as I try not to overburden my wardrobe with identical items, I ended up having two LBDs  - one with long sleeves for cold months and a short or sleeveless number for warm balmy nights.  Over the course of time, I came to realise that a black dress can last you a good few years before someone will notice that you wear the same dress time and time again.  Surely, if you have one of those elaborate ball gowns you bought for a very special occasion, I would be very careful not to wear it in the same crowd more then once. Case in point the dress I am wearing.  I wore three times:  once to the Italian National Ball and second time - to a wedding and the thirdt - to my 50th birthday party.  Since those three occasions involved almost everyone I know, there is a very slim chance me wearing this dress again. That's why my two other dresses are of a much version with almost no frills, bells and whistles and I wear them time and time again until I grow tired of them.

As I mentioned in my previous posts, accessories are the key to making a dress look different every time you wear it.  The possibilities are endless, as black is one of those colours that matches with every other possible hue, colour, pattern or fabric.  A black dress can easily be dressed up or down with an effortless transition from a regular daytime routine into a night of fun and adventure.

All you need to do is kick off your office flats and put on a pair of killer heels in black or contrasting colour (for a colour pop and more fun); and swap your modest necklace for a piece of eye catching jewelry. 

Dress:  Cue 

Shoes:  Manolo Blahnik

Bag:  Chanel

Necklace:  George Jensen

Dress:  Max Mara

Shoes:  Christian Louboutin

Bag:  Chanel

If your taste is on the more conservative side, pearls, real or fake, around your neck or in strands cascading down the front of your dress always speaks style and elegance.  Just think of Audrey Hepburn in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”.

And most importantly, never leave home without dressing your lips in glamorous red.