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

[demeulemeester]

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.

Also what you see here in New Zealand. I kind of die a little when I see tanorexic girls wearing denim cut-offs, crop tops, black hi-top chucks and the floppy country road tote.

I'm sure Australia is beyond better than what you would see here in New Zealand.

 

[Cicciolina]

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.

This is so true. The 'street style' bloggers here are infatuated with a certain look.

 

[dazzledbyedward]

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.

i really do agree with this to be honest, which saddens me. I think the last issue i truly loved of Russh was the one with tony ward and ieva laguna, and even some of the issues before that were a bit hit and miss... Stevie Dance and the team is awesome but i also agree it has become a bit hipster of late.

in terms of designers, and i feel really unpatriotic when i say this, but nowadays i don't really bother to look when new australian collections come out - i just feel a lot of it is a just recycled from the overseas collections shown only weeks before. Is this just me, i feel quite bad about this?

I do however have an appreciation for Wheels and Dollbaby, which i think is lovely [the 50's girl is coming out in me], and the brand was started in perth also which makes me happy, but honestly thats all really. Not that i can afford it however. These days i mainly tend to shop at Sportsgirl which i do really like, i do think you can find some good gems in there but sometimes i also think its a bit pricey. As for temt / valley girl - i do like these shops but seriously could the dresses be any shorter or the sizes be more out of whack?

Ahh anyway, i feel like i am winging [i was trying to be unbiased in this post] and i don't want to get started on the festival outfit trend / cotton bags and elmo shirts... but i seriously do love australia, i think its like "you want what you haven't got" kind of thing if this makes sense...

 

[inwhiterooms]

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.

Totally agree. I have no idea what the appeal is with Alannah Hill, it's really horrible..

But I do love Josh Goot and Dion Lee.

 

[Enkha]

I'm not overly excited about the Australian fashion industry. In my experience as a fashion blogger, I was (basically) ignored by them for years. I think unfortunately they have the 'too cool for school' attitude which is a real pity. Australians, in my opinion are too quick to rip you down. Not good. I find )generally speaking) that there aren't too many 'true' designers here, instead the institutions are spewing out production line designers who look like everyone else. How can this be rewarded? It makes my stomach turn. Europe nurtures creativity, Australia doesn't know what it is ...

 

[barbiestolemyDVN]

Totally agree. I have no idea what the appeal is with Alannah Hill, it's really horrible..

But I do love Josh Goot and Dion Lee.

YES! Dion lee is my australian fashion designer saving grace. I was watching short doco on him the other day and i love that he pretty much does everything himself, pattern making etc.

 

[misspistol]

Thought this was probably the best place to ask.
I have a friend who needs to interview 2 influential Australian fashion bloggers. Suggestions?

 

[bunburyist]

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.

This is a really good point, but as far as that sort of non-avant garde, classy street style goes, where I live in Adelaide and as far as menswear goes I still find it very hard to come by. Less so in, say, Melbourne definitely but Adelaide is a bit of a black hole of tastefully dressed men. Don't get me started on guys here that don't know how to buy or wear suits. button your jackets up when you stand guys it's a simple rule for god's sake.

 

[amour_amour363]

^ I too live in Adelaide and I find it so uninspiring. Perhaps I'm not looking hard enough, but it's very rare that I see a well dressed individual. They're either wearing those horrid high waisted denim short shorts with their cheeks hanging out, leggings or a "vintage" Sportsgirl dress.

 

[bunburyist]

yeah as far as women goes I think there's a distinct lack of interesting style here, though that usually means that well dressed women stand out so that's something to cling onto I guess. It's all a bit homogeneous and bland though, and people seem to jump on trend bandwagons and cling onto them for dear life and they just end up looking like lame caricatures.

 

[pavementfrippery]

Thought this was probably the best place to ask.
I have a friend who needs to interview 2 influential Australian fashion bloggers. Suggestions?

http://www.seaofghosts.com/ and http://autilia.blogspot.com/ are quite good, though to be honest I'm far more inclined to browse their international counterparts. I'm a bad Australian.

 

[irresistable_loz]

For the most part I get a little bored of Australian design... many of the designer seem to get 'stuck in a rut' for the most part, you know exactly what the collection will look like before it comes out.. always the same thing. I.e. Alex Perry and his corset dresses, Collette Dinnigan and the besparkled numbers, Lisa Ho and her flowy resort evening wear, Sass and Bide and lots of leather straps..

I understand that this is what they specialise in but when you think designer I think at least collections.. and it really isn't collections, its just product (lovely product most times, but product nevertheless).

Dion Lee, Romance Was Born, Josh Goot, Toni Maticevski are all shaking this up a bit, as well as Michael Angel (an Australian.. think he shows in New York). I think we'll gradually find more creativity coming through.. the industry really is starting to develop quite quickly at the moment..

 

[rox_yr_sox]

I really need some help guys.

I will be going for job interviews (mostly corporate stuff) in the next month or so, and I need a smart suit. I'd prefer pants rather than a skirt on the bottom. I'm absolutely in love with Stella McCartney's suits from SS11, see below (particularly Anja's). I love the cut, but probably would be looking for darker colours for more versatlitity (and I do live in Melbourne).

Sadly, I certainly can't afford Stella. Where can I buy fairly inexpensive suits in Melbourne that look like Stella's? (online shopping is out as I need to try it on to see if I like it)

I wouldn't really want to spend anything over about $450 for jacket and pants at the maximum (and it would have to be perfect for me to spend that much. Ideally, it'd be less than that, but I've been looking at some shops online and I can't believe how much they're charging for an ugly suit with a dated cut.

 

[hmmm]

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.

Such a great point. It's all about who is young and hip. I would love to see blogs with more classic fashion in Australia.

 

[lalaboyz]

I like toni maticevski, not the Myer range thought thats just....
I dont think that the fashion industry in australia is boring because of the people, its boring because of the buyers. The buyers set the styles in store. So even if you wanna dress nicely there is nothing you can wear. its not the only reason, but its part of it. i think.

Thats why i buy alot of things off the internet.

 

[blondegypsy]

Dion Lee and Josh Goot are definitely amazing but I think some of the best stuff coming from Australia at the moment is from the newer up and coming labels.

Australia still seems to have this stigma that we are backward in terms of style, etc but I think we are quickly catching up. The biggest problem that I encounter is the climate. It's so hard to look really stylish when you're sweltering away in the heat!

 

[sambatsas]

i think there is a real gap in the market for mid-priced australian designers. We have high end like goot, lee and the likes who retail for upwards of $1000 whilst low end would be comparable to our stores like sportsgirl (its like a crappy topshop). Now that zara has opened in syd its only a matter of time before this type of styling - more tailored and classic will take over our shores. However, it would be nice to have a reliable aust designer that we can go to ($50 - 200$) and know we are buying quality. Not to mention the fact that in most of our traditional retail stores clothes and shoes are marked up 142%. That is ridiculous and a whole issue in itself. Australian's would dress more fashionably if they could afford it!

 

[bunburyist]

Country Road sort of slots into that category doesn't it? not high end but a cut above the likes of sportsgirl, supre etc.

we do need more like that though.

 

[fivehundred]

I think we have a handful of good designers (Lover, Karla Spetic, uh... can't think of too many more off the top of my head). Shakuhachi does some nice stuff but it's very influenced by overseas designers, as are most other brands.

I actually dig NZ designers a lot more. Lonely Hearts, Karen Walker, Deadly Ponies, Twenty Seven Names...

 

[rox_yr_sox]

I just went to Cue in Melbourne today to buy a business suit. In case anyone is interested, they're having sales right now and much of the Dion Lee stuff (yes, many of the nice pieces) are 50% off.