much love monday

photo from muchlove

Happy much love monday!

I love Hel Looks, its the first street style blog I ever came across and my long time favourite even next to The Sartorialist and NZ's local Street and City Photos. Its based in Helsinski, and is the sole reason I often wish I could run away/elope to/live in Finland.



What do you love today?


aps xx

in loving memory of marion

She often had a necklace of pearls on and loved to smell good and look good.



Almost every week she went to the hair salon to get her hair plaited. Just before she passed she had her hair up in two little pigtails tied with ribbons. It was the sweetest thing to see and brought tears to my eyes.



She loved her television and scandal and gossip. Her favourite TV adventure was, of course, Coronation Street. It kept her giggling and reminded her of her home in England.



This is not her but I know she and Grandpa loved tennis. They played at their tennis club until quite old. If I was addicted to tennis a big part of that would be bcause of the cute uniforms in white and how great they look with tanned legs and arms.



Grandma was English and I think always had a connection with it. She was always on the phone or writing letters to family in friends there. I liked to write letters to Grandma while being in Dunedin. It's so charming.



She had a dedication to ribbons. They were always the final touch to her look.



I am not sure if she adored lemonade or fizzy drinks but their fridge always was stock full of drinks. Such a treat.

 

Their house was always neat and quiet and their garden filled with hydrangeas. Peaceful and quaint.  

 

Marion loved, loved her food. And she loved her family.

Rest in Peace my darling Grandma.
xx
Lou

much love monday

Happy much love monday (It's been a while since I last did one!) 

photo from muchlove-anna

 Wallace Chapman is one of those multi-talented Kiwis, in front of the camera he's the host of the programme Back Benches, but he's also the behind the camera with his blog Street and City Photos. I visit his blog a bit, and I'm pretty sure Lou does too. The shots from the streets of Wellington and Auckland are different from average street style blogs as they're not just of 'fashions' on the street, but are of street 'style'. It's real and honest to the city life that is New Zealand's. Or maybe I'm just biased towards Wellington and the streets of the wonderful city (which I probably rave too much about to the south-islanders down here). I get super excited when I recognize the location of the photos. 

Anyway - here are some of my favourite shots from his blog for today's much love monday:

 

What do you love today?

aps xx

much love monday: great dames

In New Zealand we seem to be living in the time of choice so why do we limit our outfits to clothing that will blend into a crowd? Why do girls enjoy oversized off the shoulder knits with black tights; why do boys save up for their Lower jeans and black tshirts and that’s it? It seems that there is such a thing as too much freedom. Perhaps we are lost. Thank goodness there’s a solution. When the little sheep are lost and frightened who can they look to but the wise fashion shepherds?

These shepherds are NOT the quick to come quick to go IT girls - no. They are the old dames who dress because they love art, they love style and most of all they love wearing what they can dream of. Vivienne Westwood is one of the greatest designers of our time but it’s not solely for her fashion label she created, it’s not just because she clothed the punk sub cultural wave, it’s because all she creates, she is herself. We see a now 70 year old diva with a tangle of orange hair, painted lips, laughing in an advertisement with her good friend Pamela Anderson. She slaps judgment in it’s pink flushed face but she also sets a style standard that many of us crave or obsesses over.

The website and my visual shrine ‘Nowness’ recently posted a short video of alive and beautifully aged woman who the fashion world bow down to. When my friend and I watched it we fell in love with their way of being, how they costumed their day to day performance.

There is Iris Apfel who’s eyes blink at you behind her famous huge owl spectacles. There is artist Ilona Royce Smithkin looking charmingly eccentric with extended orange eyelashes. I think what is central to these women’s layered, elaborate and beautiful dress is that each piece is stitched into them with its own little stories. Their outfits are creative certainly but what is most important is that they are wearing their lives AND they are consistently doing so every day.

Fashionable older ladies adorned with glorious brooches, tailored coats, ironic prints, token glasses are the people that we should pause, consider and be influenced by. We don’t necessarily have to worry about dressing as near to the oddball line as we can without crossing it, it’s not about that balance. But it is about being bold and slightly more eccentric when dressing and being slightly more individual. Avoid splurging on cheap nothings and wear outfits that carry your stories within them.

xx
Lou

much love monday: blue oyster gallery and fashion week

Last week in Dunedin was ID fashion week which meant lots of promotional and fashion related events. Yay. Unfortunately because of university we could only check out a few during the weekend. It was only an ID appetizer...but it certainly was one delicious compact bite.

On Sunday afternoon was a fashion photography 4 person panel at the small and hip Blue Oyster Gallery (opposite Rialto cinema).  By referring to photos set up in a slide they discussed elements of this very very broad topic. There were some terrifyingly educated people in the small, white washed room. There were also people who obviously had very pent up views on art and were anxious to release them hence the occasional 'what is YOUR definition of art?'. My eyes rolled, rolled, rolled. But generally it was interesting and very much linked into my visual culture paper.References were made to 'September Issue', the brilliant 60s film 'Blow-up' (interested in photography/fashion/art films? MUST SEE), famous photographers and people in the New Zealand art world. The sugary Dilmah ice tea (which was a giveaway) perked up our mood but after the discussion my friends and I were decidedly concerned about the lack of mention of the model's purpose in fashion photography. We also came to a general conclusion that it's impossible to have a focused one hour talk on such a HUGE topic (especially one that trips over ideas about the subconscious, philosophy and everything transparent).

We ended the afternoon sipping gingerbread lattes and listening to Lykke Li. There is a lot to love on this much love Monday.

P.S. Realisation! My old school friend Zoe was the front model for ID fashion week. Yay for the gorgeous thing!

xx

Lou

much love monday: socks!

This photo (courtesy of Zane P.) is of me wearing socks and looking ferocious. The Arthur Barnett's bag only adds to the appeal. HA. So this weeks Much Love Monday object is SOCKS! How cute are these little items of clothing that everyone mocks when received as a Christmas present? I am especially loving the brand 'Happy Socks' which make me feel playful when I am wearing them. I demand everyone ask me what type of socks I have on and yell 'HAPPY SOCKS' then I proceed to run at the question asker like a bull of glee. HA. Check out their website here. It's SO EXCITING.

Keep on lovin'

xx

Lou

much love monday: sunday flickr finds

Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

What I love about Monday? That it's not about Monday at all. Haaa. I hope you liked the photos I hunted out. BTW don't try to get punk on me and question that gickr. It's a heart. It took coordination.

xx
Lou

much love monday: the farmer's market and video stores

On Saturday Aps and I and a few other kids trooped around the Dunedin Farmer's Market tasting things that were made of happiness and butter. Mmmmmm. We loved the little caravan that had been built as a cafe with little crochet flags adorning it. We loved the sunniness and cool breeze which constitutes ideal South Island weather. And we loved the food (especially the fresh cream, organic butter and chocolate crepes made by a true French man).

Across the road from the market place was a cluster of cafes which you walk through to get to this wonderland of a place called 'Mint Videos'. It's quiet but that only adds to sheer coolness of the place. Out the front in a big white room is a series of contemporary, creative and predominantly colourful art pieces. They hang and stand so naturally together that you simply WANT them all and you can tell someone with a good eye has put them together. Attached to this open white room is a little DVD store filled with ONLY the best (alternative and/or brilliant) films and other cool bits and pieces. At the desk is a bowl of mints and minties which you can help yourself to while you sign up to the store (you can choose to be called 'Miss' 'Mrs' 'Goddess' or 'Queen' if you're a girl and obviously the male equivalents if you're a boy). The fairly reserved but friendly shop keeper chatted to me and offered me two free documentaries which made me terribly excited. If you live in Dunedin I THOROUGHLY recommend a visit to this place and permanently signing up there.

Later we sat in a tiny cinema room at the Rialto and watched the French film, 'Certified Copy'. The theatre was empty apart from us so we chatted about the film all throughout and wallowed in our liberty. The day ended with coffee and chai lattes at Modaks which is a MUST for hot-drink-chill-out time.

So what do we love about Monday? Remembering Saturday. Ha.

xx
Lou

<3 <3 these are pictures of hearts