Queensland Fashion Or Lack Thereof
Without Prejudice
There is a definite lack of fashion here in Queensland. The heat and humidity making high fashion a treat that only the Southern States can wear. Down south in Melbourne fashion is de rigeur. We have definite season changes, and keep a winter and summer wardrobe at all times. We also sometimes have to make 2 or three wardrobe changes in one day. The weather in Melbourne so like the U.K. in the winter, making scarfs, gloves, jackets a vital necessity not just a fashion whim.
The heat up here in February will melt any make up off your face within minutes, seconds even, so good skin here is a must. Even from the breathless heights of the Q1 in mid summer there is no breath of air on the balconies and you are driven mad with it as sweat disappears trickling in to your cleavage.
My brother Dave says that Queensland is the most fabulous place to live BUT for 3 months of the year when it's Summer and humid and then he said it's unbearable.
The only way to cope with the heat is to head off to Melba's if you are on the Gold Coast and get fabulously drunk on fish bowl sized glasses of whisky and coke, heaped with ice. Dance your shoes off and wander out into sunshine at 6am in the morning.
By the end of the night you will be at Charlies On The Beach, anyway, having breakfast as the sun comes up over the horizon on Cavill Avenue. Don't sit in the sun, and do order heaps of fresh orange juice and coffee as you are going to need it. Watch the older men play chess on the giant chessboard marked out on the pavement. They play every day, same men, same time.
If you can stand it have some hot buttered raisin toast slathered in butter. It's either going to come up again and is a cheap snack, anyway, so not a lot wasted, or it will stick like glue to your insides and absorb some of the 15 J.B's you sculled last night. And the shots !! OMG what were they again ??? some liquid fire you tossed down your throat with gay abandon with your girlfriends.
Something gold and smells faintly of licorice. You can still taste it's trail on your tongue. And then you remember the lights and the crowds and how you thought you danced fantastic but really you looked like Elaine from Seinfeld dancing while on muscle relaxants.
And someone spilled a drink down your front and your toes feel sticky. You all had a "slice" of pizza on the way up to Charlies from the terribly originally named "Slice Of Pizza" house. The cheese slid from the base to your shoes in a steep torrent which you stopped with your tongue.
The virulently coloured red base exposed, with no other topping but you eat it anyway for it's iconicness and because you are slaughtered drunk and your girlfriends all want to eat it too. You all watch through the windows at the empty waffle house by Royal Danish Icecream. You will come back tomorrow and smell the maple syrup light biscuit smell and watch the waffle cones being made by hand.
You will buy one two scoops high or go to the Gelati Place where there are 33 diggerent types of Gelati, each one more tempting than the last. In the mean time you have worn three different outfits. One a one piece swimsuit with a sarong over the top tied at the bust. Or a beach dress of tiny proportions with thongs or bare feet.
I love going bare footed into shops just because I know I can and if that happened in Melbourne you would be tossed out on your ear. And barefoot in the U.K.. forget it, you will be mocked and ridiculed and looked on as some sort of gypsy or weirdo. Even on the grass in a lush lawn covered park. In the middle of Summer and one of the few glorious sun drenched days in North Yorkshire.
Ladies and Men, older people told me to put my shoes on and I was called a " little aboriginal " by a few and it was quite nasty. I couldn't understand why they took such exception to a child running around in bare feet but they did and I was never game to do it again.
Uk Fashion is beyond anything I had ever seen, there is a real tendency lately towards smart trendy clothing for the older woman that is not dreary or bland. The Baby Boomers have grown older and as a generation refuse to get old or dress old. They want good up to date fashion in elegant styles with great accessories, where they don't look like mutton dressed as lamb.
They have money, like to spend on quality pieces mixed up with High Street fashion, great shoes, bags and makeup. Hair is carefully tipped which on the young can look great but not so great on older women. The really brave ones go grey or silver and rock it. But they are the types of ladies with great bone structure and plenty of Chutzpah.
The truly trendy will colour streak their hair in pink or blue. Go for blonde on top and dark underneath or shoulder length and tousled. Jane Fonda has a great cut and colour for a women in her 70's. So does Helen Mirren. I sometimes think that when you get older, is when, as a woman, you are able to express your sense of style more emphatically.
You are no longer tied to fashion convention or social convention. You don't have to be like all the other Mothers at Gymboree or Kinda, school committee meetings or canteen. Then you just wanted to " fit in". Now you want to "fit out", go outside the square. I love a waisted dress with a fine bigger mans jacket, sleeves rolled up style of 80's look.
I love a black cocktail dress in lace as it always looks great and elegant and can be dressed up or down. Up with coloured shoes, like red high heel pumps or down worn with footless, lace trimmed ballet tights and flats. I myself would rather be dead than in flats so every type of heel I have in my cupboard.
70's stilleto's, Wayne Cooper come fuck me shoes with zips up the back, leather cowgirl riding boots, Retro Black lace high heels, leather sandals with heels, kitten heels. I haven't brought any of them with me, save for one set of patent leather slingback high heels, 2 pairs of thongs and a pair of sneakers.
Feet swell in the heat making marks on you feet from the shoes, so really although it's untrendy thongs are the go. You can team them with jeans, shorts, mini beach dresses, get two pair in great colours that look good on tanned feet. They don't have to be designer in fact you are best off with rubber thongs fom Coles or Woolies. Kmart, too. Black look great as do chocolate brown. I have teal and pink coloured ones for this trip.
With the daytime and night time fashion in Queensland it has to be leaning towards casual to be comfortable and wearable in humidity and heat. That calls for lots of little dresses, fun colours, bright colours, funky belts, vintage Katy Perry looks. Kate Moss boho chic works well in the tropics as does Sienna Millers stuff and Stella McCartney of course.
You can dress up or down, however you feel a whim. If you come in the Summer months don't bring jeans or jackets as trust me you will never use them. The only thing you might need is a hoodie or zip up wind cheater for walking on the beach at night if it has been raining. But usually you will not be in need of Winter "woolies".
The casual fashion up here and the vibrant colours are the best. The bright sun will darken your skin and screaming colours will not look unusual. The Gold Coast is the only place you can wear gold daytime. It's too ingrained in me to NOT wear gold. I do not want to do a Kerry Anne Kennel in Gold Coast, well heeled, wealthy older lady style with discreet plastic surgery and a gold belt.
There are lots of those sorts of Ladies on the Gold Coast, they do a lot of charity work and turn up to the opening of an envelope dressed like Diva's in fun Kaftans, lots of real gold and diamond jewellery bought by fat bellied business men hubbies who have their secret mistresses. They drink a lot.
The street style on any beach in Queensland is bathers, bikinis, shorts and tops, Billabong, a popular choice. There is a Fashion Warehouse out at Carrara which is worth a look. I bought Von Dutch sunnies there out of season for $10 a pair and sold them on Ebay for over a hundred each. Bargains are there if you search hard enough.
You can get really great shorts in surfers, cheap and suit the the weather conditions. Big beach towels are cheap too as are sunnies. There used to be a great shop in Surfers called Finch. Locals could snap up bargains of mini dresses in sharp colors with black or navy blue stretch panels at the sides, skirts the same. They were original, funky,local Aussie fashion, reasonably priced and now they are gone and it.s such a shame.
I was lucky enough to live on the Gold Coast as a child when Paula Stafford had her fashion salon. Mum and Dad had a music shop in the Lido arcade. Dad was also a muses agent. The brothers Gibb came in to buy guitar strings and Barry Gibb asked Jackie out.
In those days the fashion was buttoned up English fashion with mod girl dresses of boule in pinks and cream. Skirts were not then mini, more knee length and Elvis movies abounded so we wore California Gidget fashion, preppy, dressy. Anette Funicello hair flips and Gidget beach dresses.
My sister and I danced around the sunroom at Marine Parade, hairbrushes used as microphones, rocking out to Elvis' " I want to be your teddy bear"' we had a dance to it that we had made up ourselves. I had one dress, just one in gteen and purple cotton and one Pinafore that was grey and yellow tartan and I wore different things underneath it.
I was marking wel at school and a big fat only child girl called Julie said sneeringly to me one lunchtime,
"Have you only got one dress? "
" No ",I replied defiantly, thinking in my head, I had at least 2! But I went home to Mum and cried and she bought me new clothes on her store account which I am sure she had no intention of paying.
I was head of the Softball team so she picked out a pleated white tennis dress with a tiny waist and matching belt. That dress became a staple after that and Mum bought me madras shorts and they were not flattering at all.f
Buy a cap as you will need it for bad hair days at the beach. Sand and oil are never a good mix, especially in your hair. A retro beach bag or basket always comes in handy, to hold your wipes, (baby wipes are great ), your Blistex lip balm, your Hawaiian Reef Oil, the coconut one is the best. Towel, (One with a zip pocket in the corner ).
Wander around the Pacific Fair Shopping Centre and find some real Aussie fashion. Go into the boutiques and the chain stores like Sussan or Portmans and see what is on offer. You won't see it again, and certainly not down south.
To be continued ........
There is a definite lack of fashion here in Queensland. The heat and humidity making high fashion a treat that only the Southern States can wear. Down south in Melbourne fashion is de rigeur. We have definite season changes, and keep a winter and summer wardrobe at all times. We also sometimes have to make 2 or three wardrobe changes in one day. The weather in Melbourne so like the U.K. in the winter, making scarfs, gloves, jackets a vital necessity not just a fashion whim.
The heat up here in February will melt any make up off your face within minutes, seconds even, so good skin here is a must. Even from the breathless heights of the Q1 in mid summer there is no breath of air on the balconies and you are driven mad with it as sweat disappears trickling in to your cleavage.
My brother Dave says that Queensland is the most fabulous place to live BUT for 3 months of the year when it's Summer and humid and then he said it's unbearable.
The only way to cope with the heat is to head off to Melba's if you are on the Gold Coast and get fabulously drunk on fish bowl sized glasses of whisky and coke, heaped with ice. Dance your shoes off and wander out into sunshine at 6am in the morning.
By the end of the night you will be at Charlies On The Beach, anyway, having breakfast as the sun comes up over the horizon on Cavill Avenue. Don't sit in the sun, and do order heaps of fresh orange juice and coffee as you are going to need it. Watch the older men play chess on the giant chessboard marked out on the pavement. They play every day, same men, same time.
If you can stand it have some hot buttered raisin toast slathered in butter. It's either going to come up again and is a cheap snack, anyway, so not a lot wasted, or it will stick like glue to your insides and absorb some of the 15 J.B's you sculled last night. And the shots !! OMG what were they again ??? some liquid fire you tossed down your throat with gay abandon with your girlfriends.
Something gold and smells faintly of licorice. You can still taste it's trail on your tongue. And then you remember the lights and the crowds and how you thought you danced fantastic but really you looked like Elaine from Seinfeld dancing while on muscle relaxants.
And someone spilled a drink down your front and your toes feel sticky. You all had a "slice" of pizza on the way up to Charlies from the terribly originally named "Slice Of Pizza" house. The cheese slid from the base to your shoes in a steep torrent which you stopped with your tongue.
The virulently coloured red base exposed, with no other topping but you eat it anyway for it's iconicness and because you are slaughtered drunk and your girlfriends all want to eat it too. You all watch through the windows at the empty waffle house by Royal Danish Icecream. You will come back tomorrow and smell the maple syrup light biscuit smell and watch the waffle cones being made by hand.
You will buy one two scoops high or go to the Gelati Place where there are 33 diggerent types of Gelati, each one more tempting than the last. In the mean time you have worn three different outfits. One a one piece swimsuit with a sarong over the top tied at the bust. Or a beach dress of tiny proportions with thongs or bare feet.
I love going bare footed into shops just because I know I can and if that happened in Melbourne you would be tossed out on your ear. And barefoot in the U.K.. forget it, you will be mocked and ridiculed and looked on as some sort of gypsy or weirdo. Even on the grass in a lush lawn covered park. In the middle of Summer and one of the few glorious sun drenched days in North Yorkshire.
Ladies and Men, older people told me to put my shoes on and I was called a " little aboriginal " by a few and it was quite nasty. I couldn't understand why they took such exception to a child running around in bare feet but they did and I was never game to do it again.
Uk Fashion is beyond anything I had ever seen, there is a real tendency lately towards smart trendy clothing for the older woman that is not dreary or bland. The Baby Boomers have grown older and as a generation refuse to get old or dress old. They want good up to date fashion in elegant styles with great accessories, where they don't look like mutton dressed as lamb.
They have money, like to spend on quality pieces mixed up with High Street fashion, great shoes, bags and makeup. Hair is carefully tipped which on the young can look great but not so great on older women. The really brave ones go grey or silver and rock it. But they are the types of ladies with great bone structure and plenty of Chutzpah.
The truly trendy will colour streak their hair in pink or blue. Go for blonde on top and dark underneath or shoulder length and tousled. Jane Fonda has a great cut and colour for a women in her 70's. So does Helen Mirren. I sometimes think that when you get older, is when, as a woman, you are able to express your sense of style more emphatically.
You are no longer tied to fashion convention or social convention. You don't have to be like all the other Mothers at Gymboree or Kinda, school committee meetings or canteen. Then you just wanted to " fit in". Now you want to "fit out", go outside the square. I love a waisted dress with a fine bigger mans jacket, sleeves rolled up style of 80's look.
I love a black cocktail dress in lace as it always looks great and elegant and can be dressed up or down. Up with coloured shoes, like red high heel pumps or down worn with footless, lace trimmed ballet tights and flats. I myself would rather be dead than in flats so every type of heel I have in my cupboard.
70's stilleto's, Wayne Cooper come fuck me shoes with zips up the back, leather cowgirl riding boots, Retro Black lace high heels, leather sandals with heels, kitten heels. I haven't brought any of them with me, save for one set of patent leather slingback high heels, 2 pairs of thongs and a pair of sneakers.
Feet swell in the heat making marks on you feet from the shoes, so really although it's untrendy thongs are the go. You can team them with jeans, shorts, mini beach dresses, get two pair in great colours that look good on tanned feet. They don't have to be designer in fact you are best off with rubber thongs fom Coles or Woolies. Kmart, too. Black look great as do chocolate brown. I have teal and pink coloured ones for this trip.
With the daytime and night time fashion in Queensland it has to be leaning towards casual to be comfortable and wearable in humidity and heat. That calls for lots of little dresses, fun colours, bright colours, funky belts, vintage Katy Perry looks. Kate Moss boho chic works well in the tropics as does Sienna Millers stuff and Stella McCartney of course.
You can dress up or down, however you feel a whim. If you come in the Summer months don't bring jeans or jackets as trust me you will never use them. The only thing you might need is a hoodie or zip up wind cheater for walking on the beach at night if it has been raining. But usually you will not be in need of Winter "woolies".
The casual fashion up here and the vibrant colours are the best. The bright sun will darken your skin and screaming colours will not look unusual. The Gold Coast is the only place you can wear gold daytime. It's too ingrained in me to NOT wear gold. I do not want to do a Kerry Anne Kennel in Gold Coast, well heeled, wealthy older lady style with discreet plastic surgery and a gold belt.
There are lots of those sorts of Ladies on the Gold Coast, they do a lot of charity work and turn up to the opening of an envelope dressed like Diva's in fun Kaftans, lots of real gold and diamond jewellery bought by fat bellied business men hubbies who have their secret mistresses. They drink a lot.
The street style on any beach in Queensland is bathers, bikinis, shorts and tops, Billabong, a popular choice. There is a Fashion Warehouse out at Carrara which is worth a look. I bought Von Dutch sunnies there out of season for $10 a pair and sold them on Ebay for over a hundred each. Bargains are there if you search hard enough.
You can get really great shorts in surfers, cheap and suit the the weather conditions. Big beach towels are cheap too as are sunnies. There used to be a great shop in Surfers called Finch. Locals could snap up bargains of mini dresses in sharp colors with black or navy blue stretch panels at the sides, skirts the same. They were original, funky,local Aussie fashion, reasonably priced and now they are gone and it.s such a shame.
I was lucky enough to live on the Gold Coast as a child when Paula Stafford had her fashion salon. Mum and Dad had a music shop in the Lido arcade. Dad was also a muses agent. The brothers Gibb came in to buy guitar strings and Barry Gibb asked Jackie out.
In those days the fashion was buttoned up English fashion with mod girl dresses of boule in pinks and cream. Skirts were not then mini, more knee length and Elvis movies abounded so we wore California Gidget fashion, preppy, dressy. Anette Funicello hair flips and Gidget beach dresses.
My sister and I danced around the sunroom at Marine Parade, hairbrushes used as microphones, rocking out to Elvis' " I want to be your teddy bear"' we had a dance to it that we had made up ourselves. I had one dress, just one in gteen and purple cotton and one Pinafore that was grey and yellow tartan and I wore different things underneath it.
I was marking wel at school and a big fat only child girl called Julie said sneeringly to me one lunchtime,
"Have you only got one dress? "
" No ",I replied defiantly, thinking in my head, I had at least 2! But I went home to Mum and cried and she bought me new clothes on her store account which I am sure she had no intention of paying.
I was head of the Softball team so she picked out a pleated white tennis dress with a tiny waist and matching belt. That dress became a staple after that and Mum bought me madras shorts and they were not flattering at all.f
Buy a cap as you will need it for bad hair days at the beach. Sand and oil are never a good mix, especially in your hair. A retro beach bag or basket always comes in handy, to hold your wipes, (baby wipes are great ), your Blistex lip balm, your Hawaiian Reef Oil, the coconut one is the best. Towel, (One with a zip pocket in the corner ).
Wander around the Pacific Fair Shopping Centre and find some real Aussie fashion. Go into the boutiques and the chain stores like Sussan or Portmans and see what is on offer. You won't see it again, and certainly not down south.
To be continued ........
