Williamsburg, the home of cool

So I tend to read about this mysterious place in books a lot. Williamsburg is a neighbourhood in Brooklyn, New York. Williamsburg has become very popular for its indie rock and hipster culture. To be honest, all I knew about Brooklyn was that Jay-Z was from there (seems to mention it in just about every song). After trailing through pictures on tumblr and flickr I realised how awesome this place actually is. Current/past residents of this neighbourhood include Alex Turner, Zoe Kravitz, Peaches Geldof, and Alexa Chung.

source: Carlos Cravero flickr

source: brightwhiteshadows tumblr

source: Jleon wiki

source: kdengs tumblr

source: lacamaradefanny tumblr

source: maltagracia tumblr

source: snapyou tumblr

Some of my favourite things...

I always seem to post images of fashion, I want to try and make my blog a bit more personal. To start off, here is an insight into all the things I love.

Alexandra Potter's Books

Not only do these books have pretty covers, they also have amazing stories. Alexandra Potter has written 8 books (I have read 6 of them), each one of them takes the reader on a journey. From the the ones I have read, my favourite is definitely Do You Come Here Often? I really love the story of Jimi and Grace. I remember when I first read it, when I got to Jimi's big speech at the end when he was chasing Grace I started bawling my eyes out (very embarrassing I know). 

Kanye West

I know a lot of people think Kanye is an arrogant jerk, but you cannot deny the talent he has. I am not a fan but that 'Gangster Rap' of that involves violence and arms, but Kanye is a lot different. He has really made rap an art form. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is one of the best albums I have ever heard, and is one of the few in my collection that I cannot skip a song or ever get sick of.

Dior 'Addict To Life' fragrance

This is my favourite fragrance. For the past year I have loved Dior Addict 2, until I had a smell of this one. It has such a sweet and floral scent. I definitely will be re-buying it once it has run out

The Body Shop

I will admit, I do have a mass addiction to this store. Their body butters are so amazing and leave you smelling amazing for a longtime. Comparing to a lot of body products I have tried they have the best. I love anything in their peach range.

Trey Songz

That smile already speaks 1000 words

 Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks 

I read this one a few weeks ago, and one of my favourite books I have ever read. It follows the story of Katie (her real name is Erin) who escapes from an abusive marriage. She moves to Southport, North Carolina, only to fall in love with widowed single father of 2 Alex. This book was captivating and a page turner. I had never read any of Nicholas Spark's books before (he also wrote The Notebook, Dear John, and The Last Song) so I didn't know what to expect, but it was absolutely amazing. It is also going to be a movie in 2013 I recently found out!

The French Revolution

So this is the history nerd coming out of me. I have always been fascinated with this period of time. It occurred during 1789 until 1799, and as Wikipedia says it "was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France that had a major impact on France and indeed all of Europe". I am not going to ramble on about the details of it, but instead describe why I love it. It was an amazing time when the people really stood up for what they believe in. Its funny, when looking at current political and social movements (think the Occupy protests) they look weak comparing to something like this.

Lindsey Kelk's Books

I only discovered her when I saw that her first book I Heart New York was discounted for $4.99 on the Ibooks store and I thought why not read it. It follows the story of Angela Clarke, and her indie rock boyfriend, Alex Reid. I absolutely love reading about these two, and their amazing relationship. If only thats how it was in real life. Lindsey has also created sequels to her New York book, which include Los Angeles, Paris, Vegas, and London (released June 7th 2012)

Beyonce

Words cannot describe her, she is absolutely incredible (even this is an understatement)

My Top 10 Vogue Covers of 2011

1) Vogue Australia March 2011: featuring Alina Baikova by Nicole Bentley

2) Vogue Turkey March 2011: featuring Gisele Bundchen by Mert & Marcus

3) Vogue Korea September 2011: featuring Arizona Muse by Victor Demarchelier

4) Vogue Germany December 2011: featuring Karlie Kloss by Alexei Lubomirski

5) Vogue Paris April 2011: featuring Gisele Bundchen by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin

6) Vogue Australia January 2011: featuring Miranda Kerr by Carlotta Moye

7) Vogue Japan June 2011: featuring Naomi Campbell  Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin

8) Vogue Italia December 2011: featuring Karlie Kloss by Steven Meisel

9) Vogue Australia December 2011: featuring Isabel Lucas by Max Doyle

10) Vogue Brazil October 2011: featuring Candice Swanepoel by J.R Duran

Gisele is the Queen of VOGUE

As we approach the end of the year I will start to do my top 10 of everything fashion. Before I do my reviews, here are all the Vogue covers Gisele has had this year. She ended the year with an amazing 8 covers!

Vogue China February

Vogue Nippon Janurary

Vogue Portugal April

Vogue Paris April

Vogue Turkey March

Vogue Australia July

Vogue Brazil July

Vogue UK Decemeber

Louis Vuitton S/S 2012: Kati Nescher and Daria Strokous by Steven Meisel

source: WWD

This is one of my favourite Louis Vuitton campaigns that they have ever released. I love the pastel colours, they remind me of cupcakes. I definitely see that pastel colours becoming more popular in designers collections. With everyone in Australia making a big deal about colour-blocking, I prefer this trend to the bright neon colours

Trends: Yellow Isn't So Mellow

 made by me on polyvore

made by me

Oscar De La Renta S/S 2012

Elie Saab S/S 2012

Tommy Hilfiger S/S 2012

New Zealand's Victoria's Secret Takeover

Georgia Fowler for the VS catalogue 

source: victoriassecret.com

Jessica Clarke at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2011

source: getty images

For many years people have been talking about Australia's dominance in the fashion industry, in particularly their association with lingerie giant Victoria's Secret. Australian models such as Miranda Kerr, Elyse Taylor, Shanina Shaik, Jessica Gomes, Jessica Hart, Pania Rose, Kristy Hinze, Nicole Trunfio, Abbey Lee Kershaw, Catherine McNeil, Elle MacPherson, Sarah Stephens, and Victoria Lee have all be associated with the label. Australia better watch out, as their is a new country starting to show they have the talent to dominate the fashion scene.

This year, two up-and-coming models from New Zealand have made their debut for Victoria's Secret. A few months ago, I did a post on an interview Georgia Fowler's booker had done, hinting that she had work lined up for Victoria's Secret. Well the hints ended up being accurate as a series of catalogue images of Georgia modelling both the lingerie range and clothing range dropped around 1-2 weeks ago. This is no surprise as Georgia has done many campaigns and lookbooks for many Australian and New Zealand swimwear brands. Jessica  Clarke, who happens to be half Maori, has spent 2011 working with some of the industries biggest labels. Her runway credits include Calvin Klein, Dolce & Gabbana, Ellie Saab, Lanvin, Emilio Pucci, Matthew Williamson plus many more. Her booking for the VSFS was a surprise to me, but she shocked me and did a really good job. She also shot with Victoria's Secret this week, with backstage shots showing her with beautiful wings on her back.

Should Australia be worried? I don't think we should, we still have Miranda, Shanina, and Elyse. 

Model Moment.... Jasmine Tookes

Vogue Paris January 2012
source: Tarsha @ tfs via giampaolosgura.com

This is one of my favourite models of the moment, Jasmine Tookes. Jasmine states on her twitter that she is both Brazilian and West Indian. The American has recently exploded on the high fashion scene, dominating the runways. In 2009 Jasmine was walking for Lauren Conrad, Tulle, and Cloth Logic. In 2011, her career totally revolved due to her booking runway appearances with Versace, Vera Wang, Chanel, Oscar De La Renta Balmain, Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton, Jason Wu, Tom Ford, Missoni, and Miu Miu, just to name a few. 

So how does one's career go from booking mediocre commercial work to booking the blue-chip work? One thing that has gone in Jasmine's favour is that currently designers are starting to prefer the prettier commercial looking girl, to the boring high fashion looking girl. I personally prefer to see a much beautiful girl like Jasmine on the runways as opposed to the other types of high fashion models.

It was reported that Jasmine was suppose to appear in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show this year. Unfortunately this did not happen as she was already booked for the Versace for H&M show. Jasmine has been a permanent fixture in the the catalogues, proving that she has not lost her commercial appeal. Unless a job is booked in advanced I do not see Jasmine missing the 2012 Victoria's Secret Show. I wouldn't be surprised if she actually became an angel in the next 2 years. 

to see more of her Vogue Paris editorial click here

Russh #43 January 2012 Marique Schimmel by Nick Dorey

fashiongonerogue

Lucy Mcintosh

source: photobyvia.com

Codie Young by Satoshi Saikusa for S Moda

source: fashiongonerogue