Monday Street Style

Start your week with a burst of colour - it is the middle of summer after all! Even if you're sticking with neutrals, greys or whites, add something in a bold hue to perk up your look (bag, bracelet, shoes, scarf, nail colour...). Go on. I dare you.

Pics: The Sartorialist; Stylesightings; Imnotobsessed; JakandJil; Lookbook.nu; Chictopia

Haiti Earthquake - Please Give

Sometimes things so horribly unthinkable happen and make you sit back and count your blessings. The Haiti earthquake toll looks set to pass 100,000. Even though we're so far away, we can still do our bit to help - the Australian government have already pledged $10 million in aid, and you can add your donation at any of the following sites:

Medecins Sans Frontieres Australia
Red Cross Australia
UNICEF
Oxfam Australia
World Vision Australia

or by calling 1800 760 011. The go and hug someone you love.

10 Ways To Help My World

The coolest little book arrived in the mail today from Book Depository - 10 Things I Can Do To Help My World, by  Melanie Walsh. A gorgeously illustrated hardback, each eco-tip that even kids can do is presented in a simple lift-the-flap format. My daughter was most concerned about the eighteen glasses of water one can waste by leaving the tap running while brushing your teeth, and demanded a trip outside to the recycling bins to make sure we were separating our rubbish properly.

FYI: we are. Promise.

Munster. Seriously Hip.

One of my all-time favourite kid's labels, Munster designs are ridiculously cool. So cool, that we've had enquiries as to whether they come in adult sizes. With a huge range for boys (think original printed tees, skinny jeans, streetwise hoodies), they also now have a range for girls - Missie Munster, which has slouchy tops, cute jumpsuits, skinny pants and rockstar tees. Mini Munster caters for littl'uns, with fresh twists on prints (dinosaurs, owls, guitars all get a Munster-makeover), rad rompers and skinny jersey pants.

We've just had a new shipment arrive and here are just some of the wicked designs:

Check Mate Tee, $44.95 I love the grungy vibe of this tee - with skinny jeans or long denim shorts it would look utterly awesome!

Commute Tee, $44.95 another street-cool tee with a print little boys will love but still looks totally rad!

Missie Munster Seeing Stars Top, $39.95 Charlotte pounced on this little number when she saw it - quite frankly, if it came in Mummy sizes I would too! Slouchy, off the shoulder, model-off-duty vibe, especially teamed with skinny jeans and Chucks.

Mini Minster Rockstar Pants, $39.95 $40 is a small price to pay for such utter coolness. The flying guitar print covers a hip slim fitting grey jersey - but it's still super comfy for bub!

Mini Munster Dino Tee, $34.95 See what I mean about traditional baby prints with a new twist? Plus, it's bright yellow. And yellow is code for awesome.

10 Places You Can't Go

Here's a list of places that most of us can't get to. The point of such a list, is, of course, to incite one's curiousity even more; though I'm not 100% confident that North Korea's Department of Tourism had a hand in this one. Or even exists.

At number 9 is the Vatican Secret Archives - you can't go into the archives but you can view any document over 75 years old. With 84km of shelving, it makes Robert Langdon's ability to find centuries-old texts in the space of a few tense seconds seem even more remarkable. Or is that, "ridiculous"?

Number 8 is Club 33 at Disneyland, the only place within the whole joyous park with a full liquor licence. And if you have a spare $10,000 - $30,000, you too can join. After being on the waiting list for 14 years. Leave all strollers at the door.

White's Gentleman's Club is at number 6. Founded in 1693 to sell hot chocolate, it became an exclusive gentlemen's club - not of the stripper variety, but of the Eccentric British Variety which involves bizarre betting. 3000pounds on a raindrop race, anyone? Needless to say, if you have that much change in your back pocket, are male, well connected and slightly inbred you too can possibly join the club. Maybe.

Room 39 comes in at number 4 (gosh I feel like Bert Newton on 20-to-1. B-grade celebrity comment, anyone?). All sorts of lovely goings-on apparently occur here, deep in the heart of North Korea's capital, Pyongyang. Money laundering, drug smuggling, counterfeiting...all in a day's work for Kim Jong-il's regime. Charming.

The not-really-inconspicuous RAF Menwith Hill British Military Base ranks at number 1. Apparently, not only does the communications intercept and missile warnings site search for terrorist plots, political intelligence, drug schemes through the Echelon system (allegedly, mind you); but can also get a hold of your telephone and radio communications. They won't, however, do anything about telemarketing.

You can view the whole list here, and impress your friends with your newfound knowledge.

Monday Street Style

This week's edition of Street Style encompasses one shiny gold bag, one gorgeous hooded cape, Megan Fox in a purple coat, um - heeled hiking boots that look ridiculously fabulous, a sweet lacey frock with a sharp shoulder, and a man with an umbrella.

Pics from StillinBerlin; Chictopia; Stylesightings; Streetstyle London; Lookbook.nu; JustJared

YouAreBeautiful.

You know how sometimes the most random, unexpected things can startle, amuse, annoy or perhaps even spread a smile across your face?  Check out these installations by a group called YouAreBeautiful. If you came across that in a tram stop after a shitty day at work, surely the world would suddenly become a whole lot brighter? Aw!

pics from You-Are-Beautiful.com

Spotted at insideout

Marie Claire's Cover Isn't Perfect

Seriously, we are a big ol' bunch of whingers aren't we? One thing I've learnt in running my own business is that you can't please all the people all the time, though of course you can give it a darned good try. It seems Marie Claire editor Jackie Frank is copping both high praise and a heck of alot of flak for publishing an 'untouched' nude pic of Jennifer Hawkins on the front cover of the Feb issue, out Jan 6th.  

It's simultaneously a "PR stunt", "positive step forward", "unfair example"....and everybody has an opinion. Do you look at the picture of Ms Hawkins and feel a little thrill at noticing some thigh dimples? Or do you think it's an unfair example because she was Miss Universe and therefore, genetically blessed and completely unrelatable?

According to the article, Jennifer works hard to look as great as she does, photoshop or not, by exercising and maintaining a healthy diet. Surely we can all realise that we're not ever really going to look like her, but we can at least try to follow her example of healthy living?

Body image is, of course, an important social issue that needs to be highlighted. Marie Claire have at least brought the issue back into the spotlight once again. We shouldn't be demeaning the article and images because "of course she looks good untouched, she's naturally stunning"; nor should we assume it's a radical development in the way magazines will continue to portray women - publicists and A-List celebs will see to that.

Frank states that the Government needs to "get more serious" about addressing the body image issue, saying it's Proposed National Strategy on Body Image had no impact on the images, and better public health funding for the treatment of eating disorders and obesity is what's really needed. True - but magazines and the media do have an awful lot of power when it comes to the images women see everyday. We are so used to seeing blemish- and wrinkle-free, impossibly thin, toned and tanned bodies that our collective consciousness assumes that is what we are meant to look like. If we begin to see more 'real' women (and heck, they don't even have to be nude) on the pages of our magazines, slowly but surely the tide will begin to turn. It's not up to just the media or just the Government to address the issue - imagine if the government could adequately provide help, advice and treatment for those with eating and body image disorders, which was reinforced by a media who didn't bombard us with ridiculously unnattainable images.

Marie Claire's cover isn't a giant leap forward, but it is a small step. One small step for women...

AW10 Sneak Peek!

To be honest, most of the FrockYou stockroom is full of empty hangers after our mega Christmas sale and huge post-Christmas reductions. This however leaves me a bit tingly - it means tehre is lots of room for the fabulous Autumn/Winter '10 ranges due instore from the end of Jan. I think every season every salesperson/magazine/PR gal pushes the whole 'best season ever' even if it's pretty average (they have to, it's their jobs). But this season is actually, genuinely, truly, one of my favourites. Lots of embellishments, lots of black (yes, Melbourne, I hear your joy) lots of draping, lots of very chic looks that are very easy to wear. Here's a few looks you can expect to see instore very shortly!

Motel Sabine Dress $115

Honey & Beau Precini Coat $229

Blue Juice Lovin LA Stud Tee $49.95

Nude Rosalie Button Shootie $189.95

ediT Cameron Crop Tux $149

Mimosa Showgirl Dress $179.95

Blue Juice Baroque Rock Coat $139.95

Monday Street Style

So all the cool kids in the northern hemisphere are freezing their bollocks off while we're sweltering away in plus-30 degree heat, dreaming of cooler weather and awesome coats. (Ok, maybe we're thoroughly enjoying the sunshine, but still, next season's wardrobe is never far from one's mind, right?)

Sources: StillinBerlin, Stylesightings.com, Lookbook.nu, Streetpeeper,  Streetstylelondon