August 2008

DRESS CODE: 29/8/08 FLOUNCE

by Amber on August 30, 2008 in Notebook

It’s nearly spring in the Southern Hemisphere, one more day or so! And for once, it actually feels like the season it’s meant to be. In celebration I’m flinging off my grey felted coat, neatly stacking my muddy boots to one side and breathing a little colour into my design agency uniform. Today it’s a aubergine purple that took my fancy, the shade of my new shoes.

Flounce, originally uploaded by Amber P*.

T-shirt: Crystal Castles, available from their myspace page.

Cardigan: Generic noir black cardy

Leggings: Supre

Skirt: The brand is Theatre – I bought this skirt in Bangkok in 2005 and I still adore it!

Shoes: Suede round toe mid-wedge from Witchery. They are lovely ❤

This outfit is perfect for: a) The girl scribbling lyrics out for a psychedelic folk rock band or b) the girl planning a day of antique hunting in small country towns surrounded by pastures or c) the girl prancing around the backyard kicking petals? Answer: All of the above!

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IT BEGAN IN AFRIKA

by Amber on August 29, 2008 in Notebook

It looks like the influence from the sunny land is finally bursting forth and hitting the mainstream… bodacious. I love these new Afrika prints from American Apparel. There’a also a headband and a boobtube, but no, I want sun frocks, I want colourways like emerald and a non apologetic yellow.

Need inspiration, or more context? Check out the Victoria & Albert Museum’s collection of African artifacts, in particular the trade bead and trinket collections. Or how about looking at the real life colours of Africa? Patterns meet strong colour and strong people.

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Code For Nom Nom Nom

by Amber on August 28, 2008 in Food

[A departure from our normal programming... However it is stylish to be well fed and stylish to impress people with your baking skills, so there you go!]

In the last 24 hours or so I have cooked about 150 pikelets. You may know them as drop scones or scotch pancakes, I understand the term “pikelet” is quite an Australian/New Zealand quirk. A design client at work was promised that we’d bring some treats to the next (large!) meeting and I was the lucky “volunteer”. Now I smell like them and my lovely Sportsgirl cardigan has been completely compromised by baking!

A slightly embellished pikelet recipe

About 3/4 cup of soy or normal milk
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 + 1/2 tsp baking powder for fluffy ones
25g butter – optional but I reckon it helps make them a bit moister
A few drops of vanilla essence, or almond if you are feeling sassy.

Beat the egg and sugar until thick and add with the milk to the sifted flour, salt and baking powder. Lastly add the melted butter. Mix until smooth and cook in spoonfuls on a hot greased girdle. Preferably cast iron for authenticity! Serve them hot, smeared with pip laden jam. I like strawberry.

Sadly, in my rush to complete the order I forgot to snap photos but I’m sure you get the idea. This recipe is highly recommended for charming clients, pacifying flat-mates and treating boyfriends. Go on, make someone’s day with baking delights – I dare you!

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NOT KEREN = NOT HALF BAD

by Amber on August 27, 2008 in Notebook

Resin-covered cut origami paper, on birch

Keren Richter: resin-covered cut origami paper, on birch

I’ve been a fan of Keren Richter‘s illustrations for ages! I kept up with all her latest developments on ye olde Livejournal – from her sassy work on Vans shoes to saucy animations. Her latest endeavor is a fun, nicely written blog. I particularly like the documentation of her bedroom and a run down of Swedish design finds.

Psychedelic graphics? Check! Ebay obsession? Check! Fresh work? Check! Yep, you’ll find all the coolest stuff here.

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SEMI PERMANENT 2008

by Amber on August 25, 2008 in Design

Last weekend I was lucky enough to attend Semi Permanent, a design and ideas conference held in Auckland. It was 2 coffee-fueled days of thought provoking speakers and inspirational stories. It was a real creative industry affair, with all sorts of people coming out of the woodwork to attend – cool friends, idols, old clients and members of the design family.

Semi Permanent 08

The name Semi-Permanent is apt, because yes, it’s a week later and all the inspiring goodness is slipping from my brain! To help me remember, and share the love with you, I’ve made a list of all the speaker links with a wee bit of an outtake.

Firstly, the sessions I attended:

JOEL GETHIN LEWIS – Interaction designer. JGL has had an astounding career trajectory, shifting from writing at Dazed & Confused to becoming an interaction designer at UVA and beyond.

COLLIDER – Creative collective. Some beautiful photography here – lots of very glossy fashion face work.

TOXI – Interaction designer. Karsten does some interesting things with code, such as mathematically creating new typefaces.

DEREK HENDERSON – photographer. Successfully mixing professional work for the world’s best magazines with deeply personal essays shot on large format. Love, love, love all of his work – especially this hydrangea photo!

SEA DESIGN – graphic design. I loved Sea Design’s hot pink, triple layered screen prints splashed with diamond dust <3

DUMBO FEATHER – magazine. Dumbo Feather interviews 5 amazing people in depth every issue. It’s inspiring and the design is drool worthy. I’m off to get a subscription! DF has to be held to be believed.

DANNY YOUNT – motion graphics. Danny designed (conjured?) the opening credits for Six Feet Under. The way he marries music and motion is awe inspiring.

DEBASER – graphic design. These two dudes are a) cool, b) have good taste in music and c) create some clever “in camera” pieces of design.

STEFAN SAGMEISTER – design rockstar. My god, this man is a hilarious enfant terrible of sorts! The things he has learned in his life so far are well applicable to both your life and mine. My favourite? “Complaining is silly – either act or forget.”

Unfortunately, I missed the speakers below (boo, sniffle) but their sites and work are still well worth checking out anyway!

MARIAN BANTJES – Illustrator. Unconventionally beautiful work with type; sugar and glitter as mediums, yes please!

DESIGN BY PIDGEON – Designers. Great variety with some tight packaging work. Straight out of Melbourne of course.

THE WILDERNESS – Graphic design. Local kids do good!

Phew… that’s it, what a line up! Conferences are great value – the currency of exposure to fantastic ideas can’t really be measured. I will definitely try to make Semi Permanent next year if they continue to offer this incredible calibre of speakers. I definitely recommend a browse of all the sites – if you can handle that much inspiration at once. Enjoy!

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CHECK THE TIME-TABLE

by Amber on August 25, 2008 in Design

I have been dreaming recently about those tiny portable scratch pads, like the Pacemaker – which got me pondering: “Wouldn’t a turntable on a watch be great?”. Obviously a working one ain’t possible (yet) but the are some wee replicas out there. Delving into the search engines, I found a few!

Tokidoki means ‘sometimes’ in Japanese… and dokidoki is an Japanese onomatopoeia for a rapidly beating heart. Pretty much, it means I’m having a fainting fit over this striking turntable watch. It’s made by Tokidoki – an LA based, Italian native designer who specialises in cute and playful products that rock the world in the positive way.

If I was to somehow acquire this, it would be promptly slapped on my wrist and worn while I sat in on my friend Jerm’s radio show. We would drink beers and sit in this amazing graffiti scrawled booth while he played Biggie. Occasionally I would let him look at THE watch, to let his listeners where the time’s at.

Moving on from that; Flud Watches sells a more masculine one, a mini replica of the much loved Technics 1200. They also make a pared down version that record geeks would completely fawn over. The details include the record’s grooves and the dots of the platter. Swoon.

If you’re into the decks but you’re looking for more subtlety, the Turntable Ring by DarkCloud Silver would be fantastic. It’s made of silver, and a real little circle of vinyl that can be rotated!

It’s an elegant solution, perfect for your nearest and dearest girl that spins. Or perhaps the matching pendant would work for you? However, despite the class of this lovely ring and the pedantic attention to detail lavished on the Flud watches… my heart still belongs to the orange monster, the Tokidoki watch. Watch out wrist, you’re about to get dressed!

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WHAM BAM THANK YOU ZAM

by Amber on August 21, 2008 in Notebook

While it is still way too cold for me to consider wearing any sort of skirt without thick tights, the days are getting lighter! Which means, yes, it is time for the summer collections to be released. Awesome! Here are my picks of the perennially intellectual Zambesi’s 2009 summer collection.

First up we have the Blouson shirt featuring some thigh sweeping ties. It’s an outfit for two-coffee-brunches in the sun, big sunglasses and braids. A pair of bone coloured Low Riders completes the casual summer day look.

What’s interesting about the second ensemble of note (Vocal t-shirt, Pumpkin skirt) is that it has the same colour scheme of a vintage Zambesi silk suit I own, from circa 1986! I like the look of the boots with this skirt, adding edge and grit to something that could be entirely ‘tea-party-esque’.

Here are my favourites out of the latest accessory range – a fringed purse and some zip belts and cuffs. The purse definitely has my name on it, it looks like the perfect Scorpio girl coin holder!

Finally, the darker shade of the range; the cute and functional Pouch top with Low Riders shorts in black. I really love how these shorts fall in different ways (back in the first photo they are very voluminous). While the neutral coloured ones are pretty sweet conceptually, I imagine I’d have a hard time wearing them in public due to the nappy factor. I’m just not that brave, but are you?

Of the lot, I would be most likely to buy the purse and the Pouch top; I can see myself rocking them both over a series of seasons. I love Zambesi and judging by the fair amount of vintage pieces I’ve come across, it’s timeless.

Seeing as this is only the first local collection, of many, to be examined – it gives me a feeling that this summer’s shopping list might be diabolical! Ah! Excitement or fear?

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PAW PAW PLEASE

by Amber on August 18, 2008 in Notebook

Lucas’ Papaw Ointment has a frightfully ugly site, but what comes out of the little red tubes is magic! An ointment made of fermented paw paw, made in Australia. It smells delicious and works wonders on lips, chapped skin – even the blisters I get after scrawling madly in my journal for hours. The price is right (cheap!) and I appreciate the simple red & black packaging. Yep, it’s my new favourite beauty all rounder, it’s not leaving my bag, ever!

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SALIVATING OVER THE SELBY

by Amber on August 18, 2008 in Design

Perchance you haven’t skipped across to The Selby yet? Possibly you have missed the shouts of glee from across the internet as people exclaim over the latest in shelter porn? Prepare yourself for some serious envy then…

Todd Selby has been hooking up with all sorts of creative wunderkinds, then taking photographs that detail the people and the places they live their lives. Take for example, Chrissie Miller, designer of sophomore. Selby shoots her at home in NYC.

Selby then rounds out his photographic spreads with a handwritten and answered questionnaire for his subject. It’s an incredibly intimate peek into the lives of some interesting folk. My favourite shoots so far include: Matt Creed, Georgie Greville (her aesthetic is awesome!) and Adam Wallacavage. It seems to be updated every few days, so I’m looking forward to regularly discovering new beautiful details.

It reminds me of a project I’ve been plotting for the last little while; documenting my life, my bedroom, my sacred daily touch points. In a while this life might change – I want to remember how my books were arranged just so, bookended with a dusty Pentax and how the light always seeps in through my curtains. I would also love to photograph my friends and their treasures – other people’s “stuff” is always fascinating to me. If you could photograph someone right now, with all access, who would you choose?

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WORDS OF WISDOM: AGNES MARTIN

by Amber on August 15, 2008 in Notebook

To progress in life you must give up the things you do not like. Give up doing the things that you do not like to do. You must find the things that you do like. The things that are acceptable to your mind.”

Agnes Martin – painter, lady of pleasure.

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VIEWFINDER: OLYMPIC SPECIAL EDITION

by Amber on August 15, 2008 in Notebook

This past week I’ve been watching loads of Olympic highlights, as we all do every four years. My favourite sports by far are diving and gymnastics. Tiny robin like creatures, floating through the air, moving their bodies in phenomenal ways. It makes me want to take up tumbling! But the original amazing little bird, who surely inspired all of today’s gymnasts, must be Nadia Comaneci. She was the first person to receive a perfect 10 score in gym at the games,which she achieved in 1976 at Montreal. Look at her dismount flourish – simply a bend of the knee then she skips away. Lovely and amazing.

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NEW SHOES

by Amber on August 14, 2008 in Notebook

Voila, my new (vintage) boots from Inzivil, braving the dreadfully soggy streets of Auckland! They’re incredibly comfortable and were cheap – a definite score. I look forward to wearing them with this season’s floral printed tea dresses, as well as black skinny jeans and oversized shirts.

Inzivil is a new online store featuring the fine work of Australian and New Zealand designers (and some vintage to round out the selection). It was founded on the thought that there is simply not enough fashion from that geographic locale available online. It’s a great idea, I can imagine the homesick Kiwi girls of London checking out fresh new designs from their hometowns, snapping them up and flouncing along in style to the Portobello Market.

The name Inzivil really works for their offering too, a definition from their site:
“Inzivil (a German word literally translated to English) means ‘not in uniform’. At inzivil we think fashion should be spontaneous, fun, individual. The last thing it should be is a uniform.”

Designers sold include: Two White Buddies, Ellery, twentysevenames, CHIP CHOP! and shoe designer Kathryn Wilson.

The NZ Herald has an interview with Anna Hayes, site owner on her style & obsessions. It’s really nice to see New Zealand ecommerce finally starting to develop, and I love my new boots!

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Dress Code: 13/8/08 Threadless

by Amber on August 13, 2008 in Design

Salutations and celebrations, a package addressed to me from Threadless has finally arrived. These are the first two I’ve ever bought, despite all the hype. To mark the occasion I’ve done a little shirt review, in the form of a pros and cons list.

This is t-shirt number 1, a jaunty wee day-glo number entitled the King of Clubs:

AWESOME POINTS…

+ Discovering new artists. Threadless lets you mine through a thousand new illustrators and designers.

+ People do win, and get something out of it for their efforts! In fact a guy I work with has won with two t-shirt designs (he’s a professional designer but nonetheless).

+ Colourful tees, oh yeah! Threadless shirts seem to be rather bright all round. I love the King of Clubs shirt for it’s poppingly bright yella and the pink highlights – which match perfectly with my magenta sneakers.

+ The prices. While that Marc Jacobs tee may be perfect in every possible way, it’s still priced in the stratosphere! Threadless lets you buy five for the price of one, so it’s an easy way to pick up some limited edition garments.

Napoleon in War Paint, one of two Bonaparte themed shirts available there:

NOT SO GOOD POINTS…

- For a relatively busty lady such as myself, I found the shirt cuts really tight and clingy. Which is fine at the beach but not if I want to wear them to work – Monday mornings aren’t the best days to make cleavage statements! I recommend you go a size up, just in case.

- A lot of the shirts are along the same vein and style. You can only wear so many visual pun shirts. Thankfully I haven’t seen any ‘Corn Star’ (use your imagination) ones yet, so far so good.

- In my experience the shipping was rather slow. It took around a month or so for the package to get from the Threadless-universe to my sphere in the South.

AND IN CONCLUSION…

While the sizing thing is annoying, it may have been a one off experience. I understand that different prints come on different shirts; if all that tightness bothers you, one solution could be buying something in the hoodie format.

Overall the good outweighs the bad, and if they’re on sale, a Threadless tee is a good bargain maketh. And considering all the compliments I’ve had, Threadless tees are a good casually sartorial move too! What are your thoughts? Any excellent Threadless enabled discoveries (designers, new buddies united over fashion, crazy outfits)?

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ALL IN THE FAMILY

by Amber on August 12, 2008 in Notebook

The Ronson family takes on the Tenenbaums courtesy of Harper’s Bazaar. I think it’s brilliant and I only wish there were more pictures to look at!

If you haven’t already, take the time to watch Wes Anderson’s movies; they are screamingly neurotic. The Royal Tenenbaums caused me so much joy I called myself Margot for months as a teenager, while The Darjeeling Ltd has inspired me to embark on a great train trip. Up next for Mr. Anderson is an animation of The Fantastic Mr. Fox – the idea of another Roald Dahl film version makes me positively giddy with excitement!

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