ruby boutique

As you will all know by now, I love New Zealand fashion. Many people complain about the poor choice of clothes choice in the country - which I agree to a certain level (there is a real lack of good high street stores, for example H&M and Topshop) - but when it comes to designer clothing or boutiques, New Zealand scores pretty highly.

A good example of this is Ruby Boutique; located in an array of stores around the country (my favourite being the Wellington branch, set in an old bank arcade). 

Ruby oozes cuteness, quirkiness and appears effortlessly cool. I adore their use of colour, shapes and attention to detail:

birdman trench

penelope PJ set blouse

barney runners

The styling is great too, so simple, yet so effective; the relaxed, loose clothing mixed with the chunky brown heels = love. I want to wear this outfit whilst exploring Paris on a spring afternoon... A girl can dream.

Here are a couple more of my favourite Ruby ensembles taken from their Spring/Summer 10/11 collection:

billy swimmers

top cat hat

rosie dress

I don't know about you - but I want to be a Ruby girl.

Become as obsessed as I am and follow them on twitter, facebook and check out their beautiful blog for more inspiring finds.

catherine campbell

Firstly, I apologise for the lack of blog posts in the last month. My 21st birthday, uni deadlines and the days rounding up to Christmas have taken my time. (Not to mention preparing to fly to New Zealand, which is where I am now). 

Being back home on the other side of the world has rekindled my love for many things: kiwi television programmes, shops, bars, friends, food, family - but one muse sticks out in particular; Catherine Campbell. She isn't actually a kiwi, but I found out about her when I first moved to New Zealand and opened my first copy of Frankie Magazine (where her work is often found and loved).
Campbell is an illustrator from Melbourne, Australia. I adore her drawings for her attention to detail and wild imagination. Her pieces of art are mostly of women and creatures; if you're anything like me you'll find yourself staring at them for hours, wanting to know more about the girl inside the painting. In the past, her work has inspired me to draw and I once painted a giant canvas of a woman, which still sits in my parents house today.


Explore Catherine Campbell's work for yourself, hopefully you too will feel inspired to get out your sketch pad and start drawing.


Find her on twitter, facebook, flickr and visit her website, I hope you find her work as enjoyable as I do.

d_luxurious

I thought I would share with you some more iconic kiwi designs. The fashion scene is massive in New Zealand, just look at these gorgeous photos.
The clothes are by twenty seven names founders Anjali Stewart and Rachel Easting. Their new collection is amazing, so simple, well cut and effortlessly cool (which I why I love them.) 


And then there's the jewellery - d_luxe - a brand well-known and loved on the other side of the world. Their new collection (featured above) is called Costumes & Crystal. I adore the chunky pieces and how easily you can layer them up. Probably one of my favourite jewellery collections that I have seen in a while - I want it all.




www.d-luxe.co.nz
www.twentysevennames.co.nz

new zealand welcomes topshop

After living In New Zealand for 3 years, pining for Topshop, it finally arrives. (Just as I’m about to leave I might add). Carefully picked items, chosen by Karen Walker herself, shall be available in the store, as well as Unique, Kate Moss’ collection and a handful of other labels under the Topshop name.

Karen has made it clear that there will be only a few sizes in each style; so it will be unlikely you’ll bump into someone in Ponsonby wearing the same garment - yippeee.

Topshop will be opened to the public on 24th April, and I for one, cannot wait. I can feel a road trip to Takapuna coming along already…