The Diva's Wardrobe

IT'S FRIDAY YEAHHHHHHHH! Which means the weekend is upon us well almost and this
weekend holds a extra meaning to any lover of fashion in Brisbane. The Diva's wardrobe is the event that I'm talking about. It's a one-day only event on this Sunday from 12noon to 4pm. It's an event where you will have access to purchase items from Brisbane's fashion 'it' crowd's personal archives including items from their personal wardrobes, as well as samples from photoshoots and sale items from their shops.

Some of the Divas who will be selling their wares are:

Julie Sutherland - owner Jules & Roc
Lucia Arias-Martinez - stylist
Zina Sciacca - owner Red Cordial
Chaille Zahl - owner Vegas Agencies
Tracey Gillinder - blogger, Shoe Addict
Marnie Goss - owner Frockshop.com

I'll be there taking photos of the event and naturally do some shopping while I'm at it, so come and say hi if you see an Asian girl with a camera around her neck and a stack of clothes in her arms. See you there.

OK, so the details are:

WHEN? One Day Only, Sunday 27 March
WHERE? MIRRA, 86 Bridge Street, Fortitude Valley
TIME? 12pm - 4pm
COST? $10 presale $15on the door
TICKETS? STRICTLY LIMITED
ON SALE NOW at http://www.stickytickets.com.au/5360

The Reign of Cyan Reign

Iv always been fascinated by corsets. There’s just something about them, the way it shapes the body and even the process of making them, and trust me it’s really a process. I think the most sexiest piece of clothing a women can ever own is a corset.

Iv always kept my eye and ears open for a local corset maker and for a very long time I didn’t hear or read of any in Brisbane Until one day way back in the good old year of 2006, I saw a cover of 'Image Magazine" (A local street Press) with a corseted girl on the cover and naturally this caught my eye. Inside was a story of a Brisbane corset maker named Cyan Reign. Finally! We finally have our own corset maker!

She makes all types of Corsets, from the spiral steel boned corsets for both men and women, and she also makes waist-training and tight-lacing corsets to baby corsets (no, there not for babies). Baby corsets are made of plastic bones and are only intended for light wear.

Cyan herself is a corset wearer and has trained her body to do so, so she knows all the ins and outs of how a corset should be worn and how it should feel.

Since my 2006 discovery of her, Cyan has been busy. Not only does she just make corset now, but she also has a label that does made to measure garments for private clients as well as a ready to wear ranges, all under the same name. Earlier this year she has also opened up her own shop called ‘Thread n Bones’ which not only stocks her label exclusively in Brisbane but also that of other up and coming avant-garde labels as well.

The location of the shop is at

Thread n Bone
Lower Level
Shop 5
253 Wickham Street
Fortitude Valley, QLD, 4006

With her design lab on the upper level of the same address


"Amelia Earhart" was her muse for this ' Flight of the Aviator" outfit which she won the 2007 " Do It With Denim" competition for Jeans for genes day That Year.


This is a white Velvet hooded wedding dress. The peacock feathers are from dropped feathers so no peacocks were hurt or killed in the making of this dress.



These are some pieces from her ready to wear range ‘Delusions of Grandeur Collection” which she lunched at Melbourne Spring Fashion Week earlier this year.

All photo’s courtesy of Fashionising.com , Australian Edge, Cyan Reign Myspace

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Looking threw the glass of Venues

On my daily commute past the “Blond venues” shop in the valley I can’t help but to look at there window displays and whenever they change it I play a little game to myself call “Hit or miss” and in spite the reputation of the place sometimes it’s a miss for me. But the latest thing they have on there window is a definite Hit.

I find the current dress on display to be bold, original, clever and yet simple at the same time.

I was intrigued enough to actually do some research on who designed it, and this is what I found out.

It’s designed by a lady call “Mary Katrantzou” she was born in Greece, and first studied at Rhode Island School of Design before transferring to Central Saint Martins where she graduated with a distinction in MA Fashion.

For her graduate collection she featured dresses with oversize jewelery digitally printed on to silk (which would become her signature look) gave the illusion of wearing giant neck pieces. In turn she also created real jewelery pieces design as exact replicas of the prints. This collection made her an instant hit with the buyers and the press alike.

Due to the hit of her gradation collection she started her own label. She received a New Generation Sponsorship to produce a second collection for AW09/10 which was launched during London Fashion Week in February 2009.

Her hyper-real imagery of her graduate collection is further explored but this time the pictures of jewelery have been replaced by art deco style glass perfume bottles.

The print of the perfume bottles worn on a woman’s body creates the illusion of an hourglass silhouette which accentuates the female figure.

Mary Katrantzou’s range is only stocked in 2 places in Australia one at “Le Louvre” in Melbourne and the other being where I saw it, Blond Venus in Brisbane.

At over $1000 a Dress Ill just have to keep dreaming while looking at it behind glass but from now on I promise to keep a lookout for her work.

From Mary Katrantzou's Graduate collection



Some of her garments from her AW09/10 collection that is currently sold in Australia.



Mary’s latest collection for spring 2010 is inspired by the spiraling, fluid forms and colors of blown glass. She also commission British master of art glass-blowing, Peter Layton, to make neck pieces and cuffs to accompany the collection. This collection is not yet available in Australia.



All photo's courtesy of Style.com