Things I’ve seen: Day 1 at Wellington Fashion Week.

Last night marked the start of the official Wellington Fashion Week shows. ‘Group Show A’ kicked off only about 15 minutes late (early, in comparison to your average fashion show). Here’s what I saw:

What’s good, Wellywood?

The Twenty-seven Names workroom.

Yesterday morning I touched down in our capital city and the first thing that struck me was the cold. No, actually, the very first thing that happened was I was notified of this (BEST NEWS EVER!) but the second thing was the cold. Jesus Christ it is freezing here in Wellington. (In comparison to Auckland, anyway.) Despite my adverse reaction to the ridiculous temperature and wind outside, I was determined to make a go of the day in Wellington, as opposed to spending the whole day in my hotel room.

I started with dropping my bags at my premier studio (balllllerrrrr) at the Museum Hotel. The room wasn’t ready but that was okay – I had plans. I walked more than 100 metres for the first time in months – 15 minutes to Floriditas -an all day eatery on Cuba Street. I was meeting Anjali and Rachel from Twenty-seven Names for breakfast. I had buttery scrambled eggs. They were good. For anyone who is visiting Wellington, I highly recommend them and the ginger loaf with caramel icing. The rest of the day was filled with a lemon honey ginger at Fidel’s, a mission to find a place that would get rid of my gel nails (Roisna at Classiquo came to the rescue – thanks Roisna!), a meeting with Louise Hatton – Wellington’s finest fashion photographer, a trip to the new(ish) Twenty-seven Names workspace, a trip to the Ruby store, two meet ups with friends, a quick wardrobe change, an attendance at the Wellington Fashion Week opening function where the Mayor of Wellington flashed her spanx/bike pants under her dress during her speech (on purpose) – no joke and I met a lollipop-toting Issy from Season 3 of New Zealand’s Next Top Model, a fashion-week-esque dinner of fried chicken and macaroni cheese at Sweet Mother’s Kitchen and drinks at Hawthorn. I got back to the hotel at 2:00am, dead. It’s surprising how productive one can be when they wake up at 7:30am.

Now it’s 11:55am the next day and I haven’t ventured outside. The first Wellington Fashion Week show is on tonight but I’ve got a good 6 hours until then – Wellingtonians! What’s good?! Hit me up!

Models I met and liked: Rosie Herdman.

Rosie Herdman.

Name: Rosie Herdman

Agency: Red 11
Age: 20
Height: 5’11″

Ethnicity: German/Polish/English, born in the U.K.

How did you get into modelling and how long have you been doing it for?
I was scouted in Wellington by the illustrator, Kelly Thompson. I was around 15 or 16 years old. I never really pursued it at the start but moved to Auckland and have been doing it over since.

The Juliette Hogan Maxwell trouser.

All Images/James K Lowe.

Everyone who knows me knows I’m partial to pants (as opposed to skirts and dresses) and although I have about 10 pairs my wardrobe right now, I’m always on the look out for the next great pair. My latest and greatest is this pair I picked up from Juliette Hogan a few weeks ago. They’re called the ‘Maxwell’ trouser. They’re a light, grey wool with a slight stretch and a great looking texture. The good thing about these pants is they’re cropped. For your average tall person (ie. not my short ass) they’d be a bit more ankle exposing, but for this dwarf they’re just that little bit longer – the perfect length to cuff. I feel like they’re the perfect fancy version of schoolboy pants. All I need is a short-sleeve white shirt, some tortoiseshell round glasses and a rucksack and I’ll have the look down. You can grab your very own pair, here.

New week, new things.

My 2.5 week old Colour Gloss nails, by Leah Light. Image/James K Lowe.

This week:

• Okay, I have to admit I’m not really a nail girl – the foils and the sparkles and all that stuff that’s so in right now is not really my thing. It just seems like way too much admin, you know? Despite the fact I’m not a nail polish fanatic, I was given the opportunity a couple of weeks ago to have my nails done by Leah Light at a Glassons event. I’ve never tried gel polish before and because it was free and I had time I thought I’d give it a go. Have any of you tried it? This stuff is ridiculous! I don’t know what they do to keep it on there but I have had mine for almost three weeks (on Wednesday it’ll be three weeks) and this is how it looks (see above) – no chips, no nothing. The stuff is staying hard and fast. Highly recommend for those who are into nail art.

Highs and Low(e)s.

Kathryn Briggs - Thugged Out Since Cub Scouts (on a mountain). Image/Seth Coates-Chitty.

Highs:

1. I got surprisingly few negative comments on the ‘Call Me Maybe’ video I posted last week. Only about eight, which is really low, considering. In lieu of those negative comments, I have received overwhelmingly positive feedback. Who would’ve thought?! Not me, that’s for sure. It’s been almost a week since the video has been live, and it’s already been played on TVNZ U’s U Live, had over 3500 views on YouTube and next week there’ll be a little (unsolicited) write up on it in Volume magazine, by non other than Duncan Greive! Amazing!
2. Eat Here Now < Click There Now.
3. I joined Rdio (as introduced to me by Vice magazine) a couple of days ago. I’ve only played with it a little bit but so far I’ve put a few songs into my playlist, downloaded the iPhone app, and listened to Drake’s ‘Make Me Proud’ about three times. It is awesome! If you like music, you’ll love it. You can chuck songs on, share songs, follow people with cool playlists, listen to them at home and then go out and listen to them on your iPhone (offline too!). Magic. If you already have it, let me know!
4. Hey! I’m a legitimate magazine contributor! A few of my Little Brother photos and a some words (that I wrote!) were published! I know, right?! You can check them out (and some other photos I took) in the latest issue of the Barkers 1972 magazine.
5. This afternoon I spent a lazy Sunday at Mexico, a new(ish) Mexican (duh) bar/eatery down in Britomart. I was there for the Revolution Wine Co. launch. (Anyone for wine in a keg?!) Because I’m still a bit under the weather I decided I was only going to drive over, stop in to show my face, say hello and leave. After half a pretty tasty wine cocktail (I may be ill but I’m not irresponsible), a few bites of a zucchini and cheese quesadilla and some spicy fried chicken and some hilarious conversations with a well-intoxicated-person-who-shan’t-be-named (and by hilarious, I mean I was literally crying with laughter), I was down to stay. I’m glad I did. It was a great end to the week. Shout outs to Imogen O’Neill of The Creators for putting on and inviting me the event of the week.

MBFWA: Blogger Central.

Bryan Boy backstage at Burberry last year.

I’m still sick in bed which sucks, but there is an upside to this. Firstly, I haven’t been wearing contact lenses which means I’m saving money, and secondly I have had a lot of time to browse the internet and I have just, just come across this list of people due to attend Australian Fashion Week in a couple of weeks:

1. Bryan Boy! The last time I saw the guy was over a year ago in New York and we ate asian food. I don’t usually crave asian food but after a good 6 weeks tripping around with Isaac eating bread and well, non-asian food, I was el desperado for some bloody rice by the time we met up with Bryan. As well as loving the fact that he loves to eat asian food as much as I do, he’s literally the funnest person to be around. Can’t wait to see him again.
2. Susie Bubble of Style Bubble is back again.
3. Tommy Ton of Jak + Jil is also back again.
4. Yvan Rodic of The Facehunter is also, also back again.
5. Pretty sure I saw on Fashion Toast‘s Rumi Neely’s twitter that she was also going to be in Sydney for the week.
6. All the usual Sydney style bloggers, including the nicest girl around, Nicole Warne of Gary Pepper Vintage – who is turning model for the week and walking the Talulah show.

Other rumored bloggers to attend? Leandra Medine of The Man Repeller and Imran Ahmed of The Business of Fashion.

Other people to stalk? Taylor Tomasi-Hill (style and accessories director for US Marie Claire), Candice Lake and Whitney Port. Yes, that Whitney. Of ‘The Hills’ fame. Also it must be noted that a few Kiwi girls are over to cast for the shows – one of my favourite girls of all time and someone seen on this blog a lot: Olivia Lefebre (62 Models) and Brigette Thomas – also of 62 models and winner of New Zealand’s Next Top Model season 3.

Going to be a bit of an exciting week huh?!

I’m sick, can’t have my photo taken, look at these links instead.

Me over Easter weekend, at 100% health and in 100% sun. A huge contrast to today where I am at 40% health and in 10% sun and 90% rain. Image/Maddy Budd.

Today I had planned to post some kind of outfit post of some of the new clothes I’ve acquired recently, but then on Tuesday night at precisely 8:22pm, the darkness hit. I swear to god I have never caught a cold so quickly. It’s like, one minute (at 8:21pm) I was feeling right chipper and the next I had that gross feeling in the back of my throat and my brain was pounding the inside of my skull. Anyway, fast forward a couple of days and I am currently in bed still (it’s 12:47pm) – which is not really much of a difference to my usual day if I’m being completely honest – but this time I am surrounded in tissues and teacups and empty packets of Panadol. What happened? I don’t know, but it feels like this is some kind of karma. I knew I shouldn’t have parked in that loading zone the other day, damnit.

So, because I am not looking or feeling anywhere near good enough to have my picture taken, I am bringing you a list of things of other interesting things to look at instead:

Models I met and liked: Ariel Urlich.

Ariel Urlich.

Name: Ariel Urlich

Agency: Red 11
Age: 20
Height: 5’11.5″

Ethnicity: New Zealand Maori

How did you get into modelling and how long have you been doing it for?
I was discovered by August Models originally at a race car rally derby track. I was just chilling there with my friends watching the cars. One of the bookers approached me, and asked if I wanted to be a model. I said ‘not really’ but I ended up going into the agency anyway. This was back in 2010. 

New week, new things.

Yuketen Backpack. Image/tresbienshop.com

This week:

• As much as I like a handbag or a satchel, everyone needs a backpack. They’re just so much more comfortable and easy to carry. I know I wrote about backpacks last week, but this is not a cheap and easy Baggu purchase – this is a real backpack. Something sturdy,  with pockets, and big enough and solid enough to store your precious goods. And at €360 (which is roughly around NZ$575.00…) it’s a solid investment. But if you’re going to invest in a backpack, this is definitely a good option. It’s no knitted wool Junya Watanabe backpack but I bet it would last a lot longer and be a lot more practical. The cotton is waxed water resistant, the leather trims make it less ‘sports’ and more ‘street’ and finally, the print is amazing. What are you waiting for?! Get it here.

Hey I don’t know you and this is crazy but I made this video – watch it, maybe?

If you’re good at the internet, you’ll know where I’m going already by reading the title of this post. If not, get with the programme! Long story short, a good few weeks back I saw the original parody of Carly Rae Jepsen’s music video for her single, ‘Call Me Maybe’ (starring tween heart-throbs Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez and Ashley Tisdale) and I was immediately obsessed. Then and there I vowed to make a parody video of the parody video.

I promised myself I would remake the video as part of promotion for Isaac and my ‘Thugged Out Since Cub Scouts‘ tees back in February, but life got in the way and it didn’t get done in time. Nevertheless, a solid month later I did manage to truck on with the project and finally last Thursday night (and Friday night, and Saturday night) I (and a whole host of friends and models*) got together to create what I like to think is nothing short of a masterpiece.

I do realise there are a lot of people who won’t appreciate this at all, but screw them, it was ridiculously fun to make (aside from the 20 hours of editing using iMovie when I don’t know how to operate it). I mean, how often do you ever get to just let loose and act like a 15 year old girl and have it all documented? Exactly! Hardly ever. It was the best time I’ve had in a long time. So with all that in mind, I hope you enjoy.

Happy Easter Monday folks. We up in here.

Highs and Low(e)s.

Photo/James K Lowe.

Highs:

1. Alexi Wasser does it again, this time with a story about a pick-up artist convention and a not-particularly-revealing-yet-incredibly-interesting-video-interview with Tyler, the Creator. Both make for excellent Easter entertainment. You can thank me later.
2. Three new clothing acquisitions, none of which I had to pay full price for (if at all)!
3. Took a few photos for The Caker… Something a little different to last time – keep your eyes peeled over the next few weeks.
4. The Auckland weather this weekend – I think I got a bit of a tan on. I know, right?! It’s actually amazing out there, who would’ve thought Summer would arrive so late in the game? I kind of hate it when people use French phrases in the middle of their English, but now just seems like an appropriate time: C’est Incroyable!
5. This – one of the funniest things I’ve read all year, let alone this week. Literal lols, LITERALLY. Also, ‘Single Ladies’ will hype me up and make me want to dance no matter how many times I hear it. So good.
6. Speaking of catchy songs and dancing around, Thursday night (and some of Saturday night) was spent putting together a little something I spoke about a while back but never actually ended up doing. Let’s just say be prepared to be entertained – check back tomorrow morning.
7. The revamped Glassons store on Queen Street. I never go into Glassons, just because I never really go out shopping, but I was pleasantly surprised when visiting on Wednesday. The store has improved ten fold since I last set foot in it (over a year ago) and is full of super cheap, super on trend stuff. Yeah, a lot of it is ‘inspired’ by other designers, but you know what? It’s fast fashion and not everyone can afford the higher end. Fake it ’till you make it.

A week in my shoes.

Photo/Brad Franklin.

Not this week just been, but the week before, I was asked to visually document my goings on for Shop What’s New. When I was first approached to do the ‘week in my life’ I was worried – I mean, what do I actually do? I get that question all the time and I’m never quite sure how to answer it. I don’t have a ‘real’ job, I spend hours and hours at the computer, and a hell of a lot of the time in the car driving from place to place.

Surprising, documenting my week was pretty easy. Too easy. I did so many things it was hard to narrow it down to a maximum of 12 events. But I did, and it’s a good summary of the types of things I get up to. So if you’re interested in what I was doing last, last week, you can check it out here!

3 reasons to shop the Opening Ceremony sale section.

Opening Ceremony Embroidered Yarn Wool Dress. All Images/openingceremony.us

I’ve been thinking a lot about online shopping. While I am a big advocate of browsing the racks from the comforts of your own home, I have come to realise that I don’t actually do that much of it. I go through phases of it. Right now, I’m in what I like to call the ‘broke’ phase:

‘money in’ does not quite seem to equate to ‘money out’.

In fact, let’s be honest here, I’m in the ‘debt’ phase, which is one worse than the ‘broke’ phase:

‘money in’ is equal to half the amount of ‘money already owing’, which doesn’t even touch on ‘money out’.

But sometimes I’m in neither of these phases. Sometimes I’ve got ‘money in’ equal to ‘money out’. It’s times like those where I browse the online stores, and when I do I head straight to my top five – one of which being Opening Ceremony. Now, because I’m feeling the lack of income, I’ve decided to bring you some things from the sale section of the store. Usually when I hear sale, I think terrible things, but you know what? Opening Ceremony’s sale section is actually quite good at the moment. So good, that I have three things in my (wish list) shopping cart right now:

Models I met and liked: Esther Cronin.

Esther Cronin.

Name: Esther Cronin

Agency: Nova
Age: 18
Height: 5’9″

How did you get into modelling and how long have you been doing it for?
My mom is with Nova. I went into the agency with her one day when she was going to get digis taken and was scouted. I booked my first job a week later – it was for Girlfriend magazine. That was three years ago. I’ve been lucky, I’ve worked quite a lot ever since.