Christmas Decorating

Well it certainly has been a hectic few months, and life has changed in a big way. Unfortunately our store is going through some unexpected upheavals due to damage caused by extensive renovations going on above us and we are  looking at relocating.....but as they say, 'the show must go on!'
We do have some exciting plans for the new year in the works...but in the meantime we are hosting some Christmas events. Here are a few pictures of some of the decorations we have on offer this season, I especially love the vintage Santa star ornament!!

One of my favourite gift ideas this year, a cute Besame lipgloss set!

I had to sneak this image of a 'cranberry mojito' in, it looks like the perfect Christmas drink! I found it over on a great blog 'We Are Not Martha', please visit it  here

My very own Transylvanian Frankenstein's monster- A personal note

I can't even remember the last time I blogged, it seems like a million years ago! Since then things have changed dramatically.
Just over a month ago (Grand Final day actually) I had a dreaded late night phone call. Late night phone calls are rarely good. "There has been an accident" said my dear friend Heather on the other end of the phone.
It turns out,  my darling Gabor , who had been away on a rock climbing weekend took a terrible fall, 15-20 meters I am told! He was rescued from the mountain and flown to hospital in a critical condition and commenced a week long stay in the intensive care unit, which was the worst week imaginable. I felt like I couldn't breath the whole time.
Eventually his condition improved to 'stable'. He now had to face several difficult surgeries, which again led to an unimaginable level of anxiety. His injuries were listed as follows: A broken neck, a broken back, a punctured lung, a broken collar bone, a fractured collar bone, broken ribs, broken and dislocated arm, a gash to the head, swelling of the brain and a gash to the knee!!
We were incredibly lucky that his spine at this point was ok, but the broken bones in his neck and back were unstable meaning that with a slight move he could end up damaging it and becoming paralyzed.
It was a few more long weeks until Gabor had all the surgery needed to stabilize his spine. Eventually he did have the operations and we were very lucky that things all went very well. However as a result, Gabor is now trapped inside a hideous 'halo' brace which is actually a metal contraption that is drilled into his skull to keep his neck straight. Other than being very uncomfortable, it is horrid to look at.

With Gabor's height (he is very tall) and new gaunt frame (he has lost so much weight through all of this) His stiffness, his think Transylvanian accent, the bolts in his neck and the stitches in his head, he really could be mistaken for this guy:

In time, Gabor is expected to make a full recovery which is just amazing really! In fact it was really incredible that he even survived at all. One of the doctors told me that 50% of people will not even survive a 6m fall! Luckily Gabor had a helmet on which saved his life.
If you are in Melbourne you may of even seen Gabor's accident on the news.  He did make it into the Hungarian news ('Hungarian climber has accident in Australia')
Since this has happened, I have had such amazing support and kind words and thought from everyone, so thank-you so much, if it wasn't for that I don't think we could have pulled through so well!

So to sum up, I am sorry about my lack of blog entries, I missed Halloween and the whole of the Spring Racing Season, but hope to get back on track for Christmas. I plan to blog soon about all the delightful Christmas things I have found this year!!

Now it really is time for drink!

Turkish Delight

This week I have been enjoying wearing the gorgeous, exotic fragrance. 'Turkish Delight' by the exclusive Melbourne Perfume house, Fleurage. The scent is just as good as you would imagine it to be and better.  It offers a  mature and more complex take on the theme and has notes of rose and almond interwined with vanilla.

Anyway as a result of wearing the fragrance it has given me a week long craving to eat some Turkish delight. I finally got my fix today at the local Turkish kebab shop where you can get the real deal handmade by a little old lady in a black dress and scarf. (I also picked up some Baclava while I was there....yum!)

While on the topic of Turkish delight, I have to share with you one of my most delicious, rose infused , flavour delights ever. This is the Turkish Delight martini at Maha bar and grill in Melbourne City.

Gabor and I were treated by some dear friends who gave us a voucher to go and eat there. I would highly recommend the entire experience . (We had the sultan's feast, you can see the menu here.)

The food was amazing but I am here to tell you about the cocktail. It was like drinking nectar from the gods, the ingredients as listed on the menu are enough to make the mouth water: cariel vanilla vodka, massenez rose vodka, lillet blanc, amaro montengro and rose water. Even though I didn't know exactly what all the ingredients were I knew it would be divine and I was right!

The best thing was, it was served with a lump of Turkish delight in the glass which when eaten by the time the glass was empty was soaked in liquor.

I have been trying to track down a recipe for such a drink and have found these to be the closest. I will definitely by adding this drink to my cocktail repertoire!

Chocolate Turkish Delight Martini

2 shots Rose vodka

2 shots creme de cacao white

2 shots chocolate schnapps

dash cranberry juice

mix and shake over crush ice. Strain and pour into Martini Glass .

Turkish Delight Martini - from Gourmet Traveler Magazine

½                     lemon or lime

To garnish:      drinking chocolate

45 ml vodka

3 tsp white crème de cacao

3 tsp good-quality rose syrup

2-3 drops rosewater

To garnish: rose petals (optional)

 

Rub the rim of an chilled elegant martini glass with the lemon or lime, then dip into a saucer of drinking chocolate. Combine the vodka, crème de cacao and rose syrup in a cocktail shaker with a handful of ice. Stir well, then strain into the martini glass. Add a few drops of rosewater and garnish with rose petals, if you like.

 

French Flowers

Last week we held our Spring Fashion workshop which was co-hosted by the lovely Ms Candice DeVille and milliner extraordinaire, Peter Jago. We were joined by a lovely group of ladies and everyone left looking very glamorous indeed, newly armed with some new tips and techniques to try.

just some of the lovely ladies that attended our event

However, the lead up to the event was not as smooth as I would have liked, with my order of hats not arriving in time. As you know Spring time in Melbourne is all about hats, so this was a cause of great anxiety for me. Never the less, the show had to go on. Luckily, I am a hoarder by nature and have long been hanging onto a collection of fabulous vintage millinery supplies, so I pulled some out of my collection to use for the day. Peter did an 'on the spot' demonstration and created this gorgeous headpiece in minutes using a combination of vintage velvet leaves from my collection and gorgeous fresh roses.

Looking at how gorgeous this is, it has inspired me to go through my collection, sort it out and share it.
I have decided it is a shame to have these things sitting in boxes when the could be made into something gorgeous like this!
I do have my work cut out for me though!

A pile of flowers that need sorting!

Some gorgeous wire edged French ribbon, just wait until you see the rest of the collection!

Now because it is Friday it would be unlike me not to list a cocktail, but today for a change I am drinking a glass of Rose´ . It is often an underrated drink of choice but on a nice sunny day like today, when Spring is really in the air and the sun is shining I think it is the perfect choice (besides I love the colour!) so cheers!

Coordinated Colours - Choosing lipstick

I am getting excited about the Spring Fashion Workshop that I will part of this weekend.  Fanantique will be working with Candice DeVille, (aka Super Kawaii Mama) Australia's première vintage stylist and pinup model and milliner Peter Jago to present a three hour session demonstrating techniques for creating a glamorous, vintage inspired Spring look.
To make it even more fun, I have just received the entire collection of Besame Cosmetics to play with.
The Besame range combined with some of the gorgeous  hats I have in store, will go towards creating some very glamorous ladies indeed!
When it comes to creating a 'look' I really believe that the right lipstick plays a key part. During my years working at retail fashion boutiques, I would constantly see women trying on clothing and complaining that certain items 'washed them out' . 99% of the time these women would be wearing little or no lipstick. Each of the images show beautiful women in stunning hats, but I think in each instance the lipstick really pulls all the elements together and gives each look that 'wow' factor.

I adore this look (I am really liking orange tones at the moment. I really like the simplicity and playfulness of the hat. The orange band on the hat is complimented perfectly by the matching lip color. The hint of a matching bag completes the outfit! To create this look, Besame have two gorgeous lipsticks in this shade. 'Carmine' is quite a bold orange-red that is a fabulous Spring/Summer shade. 'Coral' is also in this color family but is a softer copper orange with a hint of gold, another beautiful warm tone.

In this image below, the stylist has cleverly matched the lipstick to the floral print of the headscarf. When something is being worn this close to the face, a good match is crucial because even a slight shade off will make a big difference to the look. If you can't match the colour a complete contrast can work well too. If contrasting though, the colour should be the same strength. (Besame 'Dusty Rose will help you create this gorgeous look)

The image below is a good example of contrasting colour. The depth of colour in the gorgeous blue hat is equaled by the depth of the berry lip colour. (Try Besame Cherry Red)

This outfit below is an unusual mix but still works. Although a strange pairing of colours in the hat and blouse, the soft patchwork texture of the pieces is what they have in common so they work. The soft green beads also repeat the colour of the soft green leaf of the flower on the hat. The deep red lip colour pulls the darkest colour from the blouse and finishes off the look. Try Besame red velvet.

When wearing black (or black and white) it's hard to go past a classic true red lip. Try Besame red .

To have a closer look at (or purchase) any of the lipsticks mentioned, please click here

If you would like to come to our fabulous workshop, please visit www.fanantique.com.au

Chambord- The return of Champagne Friday

The theme of today's post is Chambord. The lovely black raspberry flavoured French liquer.
There are lots of reasons I adore Chambord. Here are some of them:

 It comes in a really beautiful bottle.

It originated from a really beautiful place.

The Chambord Castle in France.

It makes great sangria and it makes really delicious cupcakes, 

(I made some last week for my gorgeous friend, Pie.) I found a great recipe here.

(The recipe calls for Creme De Cassis but I used Chambord instead and it was delightful)

It makes lots of other delicious things like these sophisticated jello shots

and these yummy French Martinis,

But best of all, it turns an ordinary Champagne into something spectactular!
Add a splash of Chambord to your glass of bubbly and enjoy!
Happy Champagne Friday! xxx

Spring Fashion Workshops and illustration

Once again, I have neglected this blog, the reason is I have been busily preparing for Spring and getting back into some illustration work, which I love.
It seems like winter has lasted forever this year and I can't wait for Spring! At the shop I am eagerly awaiting a beautiful range of hats and headpieces designed by my lovely friend Chitra from Chitra's Closet. All the designs reflect a strong vintage influence and fun colour combinations which are Chitra's signature.
I have also been working with Candice DeVille, aka Superkawaii Mama (check out her blog here)
and milliner, Peter Jago to put together a Spring Fashion Workshop.
I have just finished the imagery for this event and working on the illustrations made me realize how much I enjoy fashion drawing.
I have just finished a book featuring children's illustration, (I will post some pictures soon) this project was an educational book so while it was fun, parts of it were quite technical, so it was refreshing to work with the loose, fluid style of fashion again. I hope you like them!

GaGa Blows

I know there are a lot of people out there that are mad for Lady Gaga and love her whacky and so called original outfits, but to me it all seems so done before. Doesn't anybody else remember Isabella Blow????

 Isabella Blow

 Blow on the left, Gaga on the right, above and below

 Gaga or Blow?

Style Icon-The Duchess of Windsor

Lately I have been looking around at fashion of the nineteen-thirties, in particular bridal fashion of this era. (As inspiration for my own wedding) One of the most famous (and controversial) brides of this era was Wallis Simpson who Prince Edward (The Duke of Windsor) famously gave up the throne for. There certainly are many varied accounts of the Duchess' life, some more scandalous than others (at the moment I am reading a rather raunchy story of her life entitled "Dancing with the Devil") I have also heard that there is currently a movie being made about her, which is being directed by Madonna. I will be looking forward to that, if just to see the costumes!

A gorgeous diamond panther by Cartier, a gift to the Duchess from her husband.

 

The Duke and Duchess on their wedding day.

Madonna on the set of the new "Wallis Simpson" movie.

M.I.A

For the last few weeks I have gone 'Missing in Action' from this blog. Where have I been?
On Pinterest, that's where! I discovered it some time ago and would only use it on a recreational basis, but over the last few weeks it has developed into a full blown addiction. Because I am in the midst of wedding planning, I can justify the hours I spend on it, but with my neglect of this blog as evidence, I can see I might have a problem.
If you haven't checked out 'pinterest' yet , here's a taste.....

There are gorgeous fashion images,

inspirational places,

Holiday places,

And then there's the cakes.......yum

There are inspiring quotes,

Stunning hair and make-up ideas,

and there are mermaids,

There are cute puppies and of course........

there is Champagne!

Lots of Champagne.

I love this place. 

(you can visit it too, click here)

Happy Champagne Friday!