Any Australian members?? How do you feel about Australia's fashion?

[misspistol]

I can't handle the street style, if I see another teen in denim cutoffs, a cropped tshirt and a cotton tote bag I will have to keep my eyes closed for the next few months,

 

[rox_yr_sox]

^The whole denim cutoffs thing is really starting to annoy me. Last week, a girl walked past me in cutoffs that were so small that they were riding up and her a*s cheeks were hanging out.

I can sympathise to a certain extent. The hot weather in late summer is so unpleasant, so you really want to wear as little clothing as possible. My answer to this to avoid direct sunlight as much as possible and spend much of my time indoors, but hey, I'm a pale-skinned redhead, so I have more to fear than most.

 

[Mocha_Love]

I really like Sass and Bide; but it looks good only on the runway ~ not on me haha
Collette Dinnigan is another great designer; don't have any of her pieces but I certainly enjoy looking at them everytime I visit the shops.

One designer that I dislike is Alannah Hill....for many, many reasons.

 

[chanelslungbags]

Sass and bide is amazing. But you need an X body to suit the clothes. Street wear is bad, 1 in 2 woman on the Gold Coast wear short shorts, anyone else noticed that? Also Sydney and Melbourne are really the only places with the "High end" fashion stores, Brisbane and most of the other c.c miss out unless you're lucky or are willing to pay much more. I really dislike the fact you should live in Syd or Melb to get a great start in the fashion industry.

 

[therawpower]

Alannah Hill ahhhhh
it kills me......i cant even walk into the store....
you people really have great opinions on australia fashion....
im going to melbourne in 10 days time....so...lets see what they wear....im excited, although its not my first time visiting melb.

 

[1999]

I think Australia is getting a lot better. There is a more relaxed style to European cities that means we layer a bit less. I see many great outfits on the street on a day to day basis.

The bad trends at the moment include el cheapo printed maxi dresses that make everyone look like pregnant pilgrims. These dresses run rampant on the streets of Melbourne and Sydney.

We don't have as many choices here but I think that means a lot of fashion lovers have to think out of the box a little more.

 

[dior_me_not]

If you think Australian fashion is bad, try living in New Zealand.

I actually really like a lot of the Australian designers. Sass & Bide is great, but too many people wear their clothes these days and they're so recognisable. Alice McCall is nice too.

Plus, you guys have way better street style than us. I guess it depends where you live, but people in Melbourne and Sydney tend to dress a lot better than the people in Auckland.

 

[Cicciolina]

I really dislike the fact you should live in Syd or Melb to get a great start in the fashion industry.

It's like that in lots of other countries though. For the USA, it's really New York - the other 'big' cities in the US like San Fran and LA are hardly considered the places to go for fashion.

 

[Cicciolina]

I used to love Russh, but their current issues are so too-cool-for-school. I have a whole heap of their old issues which I still love to flick through.

The fact is that Australia does not rate in terms of fashion. You've got the big fashion week cities - Sydney is probably on par with like, LA fashion week.

Even the majority of Australian designers all do kind of the same thing because they're influenced by international trends.

I think the reason why magazines like Russh do well is that the Australian lifestyle and approach to dressing is a selling point. The whole undone, effortless look is quite nice here.

I still remember a thread about an issue of Harper's Bazaar Australia - I think it was for the December issue with Bambi, where some people was lamenting that she was all dolled up in Chanel for a summer issue, and how seasonally inappropriate it was, when the year before Jennifer Hawkins - former Miss Universe beauty queen, was in a bikini and a Balmain jacket on a beach for a summer issue and it was being derided for being cliched. In the end, they were both striking images, but people are too quick to point out the flaws.

 

[misspistol]

Russh has turned into such a hipster magazine, it used to be quite endearing but now it's as though they're talking down to the reader.

 

[misstarshine]

It is very sad about Russh I used to love it so much and I haven't liked the last three issues at all

 

[Santana]

Thank you all for the valuable information discussed/ mentioned in this thread.
We are relocating to Brisbane soon and after reading this thread, most of my
questions were answered.

** My thoughts and prayers for the people of Queensland.

 

[Cicciolina]

<3 Queensland.

Australia fashion is very into the hipster look.

 

[makeitawful]

<3 Queensland.

Australia fashion is very into the hipster look.

It is. To be honest, I'm kind of over seeing camel toes while walking around. I went out the other weekend and I was hoping to see some cool style but that didn't happen. The guys that were mildly stylish were just wearing shirts with buttons done all the way up and girls... well, I was either flashed or they looked like they had been reading Russh.

 

[wanticecream]

I'm finding everyone's comments really funny - everyone in Australia has such a negative view on ourselves. I am Australian but have lived in London for 5 years, and travel to NY, Paris, etc for work often. It's only once you remove yourself you realise actually Australia does a lot of things very well.

I miss not only the labels, but also the independent boutiques. Perhaps because it is a smaller market, and we are physically isolated, but I think there is more creativity and smaller labels and boutiques have the opportunity to thrive.

I get pretty sick of mass-market, mass-produced high street fashion, and independent stores and brands just aren't as accessible - if they even survive at all (here in the UK). And everyone here does 'look the same', it's just its a different 'same' to the 'same' in Australia. I think you'll find you get that in any country! In London it's all Topshop-fashion-victim look.

Like Cicciolina said, sure perhaps NY or London has a reputation of stylishness, but you don't hear about how fashionable Texas or Birmingham is! And does it really matter if you don't have a Balenciaga shop near you, how many people were -really- going to buy it anyway? I'd trade that for having access to Claude Maus, Willow or anyone else!

And to everyone who thinks Aust. is 6 months behind, I know of many ppl who work at big labels and forecasters who actually look to the catwalk and street style in Aust and Brazil in the southern hemisphere to get 'inspiration' for their collections. I definitely saw cycling shorts in Aust. long before the catwalks over here.

The sooner Australia gets over its inferiority complex, the better! The grass isn't always greener. Inevitably the high street chain-stores will take over and squeeze out all the creativity of the independent labels and boutiques, but until that happens I urge anyone living in Australia to savour every good moment you have!

 

[TheKiwi]

I'm not from Australia, but I like a few Aussie brands a lot... LOVER, Willow, Milk from a Thistle, etc. Not highly original but perfectly wearable and fun!

 

[senorgemma]

Everyone here walks around in full length leggings with white socks pulled up over them and white canvas shoes/sneakers with a cropped top and leather jacket D= really ugly... and then you see those girls in Sportsgirl dresses thinking they love vintage *sigghhh*
Do you think the arrival of Zara to Melbourne and Sydney will improve streetstyle? (And slowly and hopefully the arrival of H&M Topshop etc...)

 

[misspistol]

We have some incredible designers, an absolute wealth of creativity, but our streetstyle is painful. Especially now it's school holidays and every little girl is out wearing a cropped tshirt and carrying a Country Road tote bag. It's like you really have to hunt down people who make you look twice.

 

[chanelslungbags]

^ you do indeed. Sydney is not as bad as Melbourne and Brisbane in my opinion. But there are some people with incredible style who catch your eye twice, sometimes!

 

[helmut.newton]

In terms of "street style", I think there are some incredibly stylish women and men in Australia but we never get to see them because their style is not necessarily attention grabbing if you know what I mean. A lot of what we see of Australian street style is awful because the photographers seek out a very edgy, young and "avant-garde" style. We need someone with a The Sartorialist-like classicism. I see people that are impeccabley dressed every day, but they are not trendy, hence not being noticed by the fashion set.

In terms of designers, I think that the stand outs (for me) are Josh Goot and Dion Lee. I'm not too convinced by designers like Willow and Sass&Bide etc. For me, the latter group of designers are more trendy and prepared to cut costs in order to make profit. The former group is more focused on pure design aesthetic (even though Josh Goot has a diffusion line) and on creating a vocabulary between the local and international design aesthetic (if that makes sense).