The Glamour & Grace of Vintage Bathers

A few weeks ago I made one of those serendipitous discoveries that makes your afternoon a little brighter. I stumbled over a new website devoted to one of my favourite photographers, Dare Wright (below).Dare was one of those astonishingly brilliant, gifted and incredibly stunning women who seemed to be able to do anything, from modelling for top magazines to writing bestselling books, to

The Unexpected Elegance of Orange

If there was one colour that kept peeking its cheeky head above the Manhattan monochromes in New York last week, it was orange. Orange is everywhere over there. Everywhere. Blame it on the northern hemisphere summer. Blame it on the Pantone hype. Or just blame the fabulous whimsicality of the colour, but I saw more orange in Manhattan than at Marrakech market.Furthermore, it seems to be ripening?

Chanel and the Little Black Jacket

Wherever I went in New York last week, I saw publicity for this exhibition...Chanel and the Little Black JacketSadly, I missed it as I was getting ready to fly out of JFK just as it was getting ready to open, but the website and associated media have more than compensated for my bad timing. I adore black jackets – I think I have a 10 of them in the wardrobe (which I rarely use now I'm freelancing

The Glamour of New York (In 10 Easy Lessons)

Rule No 1: Wear good shoes. Unlike their Parisian cousins who prefer flats, New York woman are serious heel girls. They prefer their shoes like their architecture: high-rise and dripping with glamour. The only flats around here are those packed for the beaches in the Hamptons.(NB No, I don't know how they do it, either. One day in this pair and I was ready for a week with my feet up. I don't

The Return Of The Hat...

Downton Abbey started it, don't you think? The hats on that show were so gorgeous they could have inspired their own spin off series. I don't know about you but I would have trampled over Mr Bates for some of the ones that Lady Sybil wore. (And I adored Mr Bates.) Even the Countess of Grantham made a hat look hot.Then again, perhaps it's the elegant poise of the outfits at the world's most famous

Sheila Scotter: A Life in Black and White (An Obituary)

Sheila Scotter was the original Anna Wintour. The first editor-in-chief of Vogue Australia, she was one of the most formidable, influential, frightening and famously fastidious and stylish women in fashion. She was also one of the most observant. I know tough-spined gay designers who would shake with nerves and change three times before they presented themselves at her impeccable front door. And