Aurelio Costarella Private Showing

The Collection
My wonderful friend Sonia
My friend Paul O Connor, Public Relation and Marketing for Aurelio Costarella
Sonia's waist in the new collections corset


The man himself Aurelio Costarella





A few weeks ago I was invited by my friend and amazing designer/couturier, Aurelio Costarella to view his Autumn Winter 2010 collection. I've known Ray for probably 18 years and have followed his career and watched as he has expanded his brand worldwide. He now shows in New York regularly and sells his beautiful creations around the globe.
As a stylist who dresses Actresses that grace the red carpet these showings are a regular feature of my working week but I always look forward to seeing the latest Aurelio Costarella collection and went to this one with my close friend Sonia Audino who is now their representative in Melbourne and a fantastic designer herself, she also has worn the label in its many forms for more than 20 years and by the way has a very tiny waist( as you can see in the photo!)
I hope you enjoy another look into my work, and an amazing collection that you wont see in store til next year!!! Thank you to Ray Costarella and Paul O Connor.

Styling Daniela Farinacci for Caulfield Cup

All Hats by Kerrie Stanley and dresses by Madam Virtue
The final result, my publicist Dean Drieberg, Actress Gracie Otto, Daniela Farinacci and me!


This last Saturday I was asked to attend Melbourne's Caulfield Cup by my wonderful friend and client, the actress Daniela Farinacci (star of such movies as 'Lantana', 'Little Fish' and 'Look Both Ways', and currently appearing in the SBS drama 'East West 101') as her date, also if I could find just the right outfit for Daniela to wear to this prestigious horse race and her attendance to the 'David Jones' Marquee with Australia's A-list.
I asked Daniela if I may photograph and blog the process and she was gracious enough to allow me to take you the reader into the inner sanctum of dressing an actress for a special event!
It is a very similar process to sourcing for a photo shoot but with one big difference, it's more personal than working with a model for editorial, as I have worked with Daniela for quite a few years now and got to know her as a person and friend I believe our relationship has changed and a lot more trust has come into it and for me as a stylist dressing well known people the most important thing is that the client wears the clothing, not the clothing wear them. Meaning that each individual must reflect who they are not the fashion dictate their look and public profile. So for me the process of fitting, talking to, getting to know my celebrity clients is the most important part of my continuing relationship with them.

Behind the Scenes of a Magazine Cover shoot!

My Agency 'Miss Bossy Boots', Veronica, Dean & Andrea
Designer Teresa Liano from T.L Wood
Dean from Madam Virtue & Co
'House Model' Maude from Madam Virtue & Co
Marc Jacobs bags exclusive to Madam Virtue & Co
Madam Virtue & Co
Milliner Kerrie Stanley in her showroom
Kerrie Stanley's Millinery
Jan Breen Burns Fashion Editor 'The Age'
Hair and Make up artist Narelle Hall working her magic on model Lucy McIntosh
Lucy from Chadwick Models
Lucy on location
The training yard, our location
Narelle and Lucy
Cover of M Magazine, 'The Sunday Age'

When asked 'What do you do?'at dinner parties, special events or anywhere I feel that when I answer 'I'm a stylist' (for those not involved in the fashion industry) they have no idea what this means, (and I'm sure to this day, after 12 years as a stylist with some success my Father has no idea exactly what I do!) so I thought I would blog the whole process of a recent shoot for the cover of M Magazine in Sunday's 'The Age' newspaper just so it may inform a little of what I actually do!
It starts with a fashion editor(such as the gorgeous Rachel Wells, Fashion Editor of M Magazine) calling my agent (www.missbossyboots.com.au) to check my availability and then express a short brief on what style the shoot will take, this is then relayed to me and then hopefully the ideas flow on what clothing, designers, accessories and overall feel I will work on and source.
As you digest what direction a shoot will take your ideas formulate and I picture in my head
which designer will work best with which publication and brief, of course this has come after many years in the business, I'm lucky to have worked with so many great people and particularly designers that I am so grateful to work with. If there is one piece of advice I can give to up and coming stylists, is treat your suppliers and designers with respect and gratitude for without them and their support you have nothing! As an ex designer myself I can say that a stylist who is professional and easy to work with, will have a long and successful career.
So as this shoot was centered around a Spring Racing Carnival theme I decided to take myself to the ever stylish Teresa Liano the designer of T.L Wood (www.tlwoodaustralia.com) and was lucky that the lady herself was able to show me the range, (which was familiar as I had styled her Look Book for that season) I chose a fantastic grey suit and a watermelon dress that I thought fitted our theme.
Next I went onto the store Madam Virtue & Co where the fabulous Dean took me through the latest designs from Europe and America that the store is known for and Madam Virtue & Co's own label. A trip to Madam Virtue & Co is always an eccentric and fun filled excursion and I thoroughly recommend that you treat yourself and pop in (Madam Virtue & Co 5 Crossley Street Melbourne) where you'll meet house model and mascot Maude the Shar Pei dog! So after discovering an amazing 1950's inspired dress, a Comme De Garcon shift, leather bag, Nina Ricci bracelet and the most gigantic hat I had ever seen I bid Dean farewell and made a phone call and lined up my next appointment with 'Milliner to the Stars' Kerrie Stanley.
Kerrie has 'Hatted' among other celebrities Jennifer Hawkins and her millinery is sold all over the country, she is the milliner of choice during Spring Racing Carnival and I can say I always look first to her when I need to dress an actress during Carnival, as I will be this season!
As you can see in the photos Kerrie's work is unique, stylish and always ahead of the trends, everything I look for in a designer. Kerrie showed me through the current collection at her showroom(388 High Street Prahran) and I chose the hats I needed which were collected just before our shoot later that week. I then headed off to collect a selection of shoes from Zomp Melbourne.
So shoot day came, I was picked up from my apartment by my wonderful friend and talented Make Up Artist Narelle Hall and we headed off to 'The Age' office in the city to prepare our model Lucy McIntosh from Chadwick Models for our cover shoot. Lucy has the most amazing eyes and when she arrived Narelle and I work shopped the make up and hair look that would best work for the theme and Lucy's look, by the way Lucy was suffering from a bout of pleurisy and was far from well but as the professional model she is she soldiered on! While make up was done I bumped into the fab Jan Breen Burns Fashion Editor of 'The Age' and we chatted about this blog and Twitter, we both think Fashion has to embrace the new social media and move with the times. It was good to see Jan, I usually only see her front row at fashion shows!
So off we went to our location, that day it was a horse trainers yard in Flemington close to the Racecourse where we were shooting Lucy with a racehorse! Both of whom would grace the cover of M Magazine, both of whom would hopefully look fantastic and both of whom had never met each other!!! Charlie (the horse) didn't like posing too much and Lucy didn't like posing too much with a horse that decided he would eat her left breast! Suffice to say it took a little coaxing from both to come together and get our shot which you will see in the final out come that is the cover of M Magazine, the shot chosen featured dress and hat by Madam Virtue & Co.
I do hope this gives you a little(or not so little blog post) insight into just one of the projects that makes up a stylist's, such as myself, week!
M Magazine cover
Photographer Simon Schluter
Stylist Philip Boon
Make up and Hair Narelle Hall
Model Lucy from Chadwick
www.tlwoodaustralia.com
www.madamvirtue.com.au
www.kerriestanley.com

Home, be it oh so tiny!

I'm constantly asked what my home is like, well let me just say that I have been lucky to have a few beautiful homes in my time, from my wonderful 'white' country house 'La Colina' to my 'moody chocolate' Melbourne apartment in Prahran, to my 'Sex in the City' South Yarra apartment, but at the moment I am living in an incredibly tiny 1960's blonde brick apartment in the Melbourne inner city suburb of Windsor. I originally bought this apartment as an investment to renovate and rent out but have found that life moves in mysterious ways and I am still here 22 months later! Of course I still wish to rent this apartment out and buy something a little larger but wanted to blog that the most amazing thing has happened, I have found that I, a stylist that loves to acquire more and more things, can actually live with (and in) an incredibly small space and actually enjoy it!!! Its really quite liberating. So this a glimpse into my home, small and stylish and a little different than you would expect!