Showing posts with label inspiration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inspiration. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Best ever shorts


When I decided to make shorts for the Summer 2013 collection, I was pretty sure it would be a risk that wouldn't entirely pay off.
There are so many variables with shorts (or pants for that matter)...they must be a flattering cut around the tummy...not too tight on the legs...roomy enough to not ride up ones derriere...
And I wanted them to be cartwheel ready at any moment!

http://www.ginnyandjude.com/store/p11/High-waisted_Shorts_-_Rosebery_Shorts_with_Button_Down_Detail.html

So you can imagine how elated I felt during the sampling process when I realised that they were actually the best shorts ever! But would anyone else think so?? I couldn't be sure...

http://www.ginnyandjude.com/store/p11/High-waisted_Shorts_-_Rosebery_Shorts_with_Button_Down_Detail.html

I have my Great-Grandmother to thank for the inspiration, and my pattern-maker for getting it so right because these humble and yet entirely fantastic shorts have been our best selling item of clothing ever!!

My beautiful Great-Grandmother outside her house in Rosebery

We have just one pair left. It is a size 10. Do they have your name on them??
 http://www.ginnyandjude.com/store/p11/High-waisted_Shorts_-_Rosebery_Shorts_with_Button_Down_Detail.html

xo
rabia

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Howards End

I got an early start on my passionate, romantic love for all things Edwardian. I was already an ardent fan of the carrot-topped Anne Of Green Gables (and therefore all things puffed-sleeved and early 1900s) when my mum asked my brother and a 9 year old me if we would like to go for a walk by the River or to go and see a film. If anything, this question says much of our love for walking; but on this occasion, we chose the film. Off we trotted to the city to the bright shiny lights of the George Street cinema complex.
The film we watched that Sunday afternoon was Howards End; the Merchant Ivory film adaptation of the E.M. Forster novel...


That afternoon would go down as a seminal moment in my childhood. This was no Anne-with-an-'e', this was something completely different - this was the murky world of adults; of lies, corruption, beauty, longing and ultimately death. I vividly remember with crushing terror the climactic scene where the bookcase slowly falls on Leonard Bast - the final moments of an already broken man; the gorgeous scene where Leonard walks through the night to see the countryside and finds dawn in a field of bluebells; the fiery shrewish pride of Helen Schlegal (a young Helena Bonham Carter) with her messy, curly pouffe of Gibson Girl hair; the thwarted kindness of her sister Margaret (a radiant Emma Thompson).

I really related to this - walking and walking and walking all for the hope of walking through a field of flowers. I hear you Leonard!
Leonard and Helen making out in a row boat. The epitome of a romantic fantasy!

Margaret as played by Emma Thompson sees Howards End for the first time
Helen reading in the window of Howards End
Time hasn't wearied my love. A few years ago I rediscovered this film and was again awestruck by its beauty, it's delicate pacing and exultant praise for nature. Yet, seeing the film through an adults eyes I found myself more keenly appalled at the wretched desperation of the English class system and the inherent social disabilities that came with being a woman in this era.

I have since re-watched this film many times. The opening sequence that slowly follows the train of Ruth Wilcox's dress moving through the long grass in the inky mauve twilight of midsummer as she walks towards Howards End is one of the most beautiful, quiet and moving scenes I have ever seen.

Vanessa Redgrave as the aging matriarch Ruth Wilcox in the films opening scene.

If you're yet to see this film, it I couldn't reccomend it highly enough.

xo
rabia

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Our most re-pinned

As I'm sure you are all aware by now, I quite LOVE Pinterest. I love rolling through the pins of the boards I follow - feeling inspired and taken away from everything for a small minute.

I recently discovered by accident our most repinned image...

By Christine Chitnis / Repinned a staggering 4828 times!!
This simple image of a white-washed cottage with a vibrant rambling flower garden was pinned to our Home board from Pia Jane Bijkerk's beautiful blog from a guest post by writer/photographer Christine Chitnis. She describes wandering the farms and coast of New England in a quietly evocative way that really resonated with me at the time. I was particularly struck by the art on the verandah wall - a wonderfully eccentric touch - and the messy exuberance of the garden.

And it clearly resonated with many others - 4828 others to be exact! I love the fact this simple image has generated so much inspiration and conversation about what it is to have a 'home' with those who have repinned and liked this image.

xo
rabia

Saturday, March 9, 2013

a very country wedding

Last September my dear friend Brooke married her forever-love Ezra on the banks of a river in the northern New South Wales town of Bangalow. It was perfectly sunny in the day and ever-so-slightly chilled as the evening descended. And boy, was it pretty!

Last week her wedding was featured on the Etsy wedding blog. The wedding itself truly was a labour of love for Brooke and Ezra - they made almost everything themselves; from the napkins to the chandeliers, and I can tell you that on the day this effort made the event all the more sweet. Everything worked together seamlessly; the colours, the decorations, the chairs...it was the perfect representation of who they are. 

Gorgeous table settings and the magical mulberry tree at night. Photos: Chris Cooney

Brooke is best known for being the co-founder of  The Finders Keepers - the East Coast independent design market that she runs with Sarah Thornton. They also have a store in Surry Hills called Follow that is stocked to the brim with brilliant pieces from Australian designers including, of course, yours truly.

She is also an incredibly talented jeweller, note-worthy curator, biscuit fiend, brilliant friend and it must be said - a total babe!

See what I mean? Babe. Photo: Chris Cooney
After finding the perfect dress - a stunning embroidered Collette Dinnigan sample - it was onto the search for the perfect accessories. I was chuffed when Brooke asked me to make her a headpiece, and I was quickly selecting pieces that would fit with the vintage theme of the wedding. In the end I chose some amazingly fine 1930s silk veiling that I teamed with some elegant and tiny organdy millinery buds from the 1940s. This was all sewn onto a piece of the embroidery that was salvaged from her dress when it was altered.

Isn't her hair amazing!! Photo: Chris Cooney
Here comes the bride... Photo: Chris Cooney
The veil was detachable so that she could remove it when she hopped into her second dress for some shimmy-ing to tunes as spun by the inimitable Jack Shit later in the night.

Before...and after! Her second dress was a fantastically frothy embroidered tulle 1950s prom dress. Photo: Chris Cooney



I'm pretty notoriously photo shy, but their talented photographer Chris Cooney managed to snap this lovely photo whilst I was unawares. I'm wearing a 1930s lace gown from Bohemian Bisoux Vintage that I had meticulously mended in the weeks leading up. I'm really glad I persevered because it was the perfect dress for the occasion.

The mulberry tree was truly amazing...here I am perched beneath it looking up into the canopy. Photo: Chris Cooney

I think they both looked perfect, happy and proud and I was so glad to have been a part of such a glorious day.


Seriously photogenic couple! Photo: Chris Cooney
Photo: Chris Cooney

xo
rabia

Monday, January 28, 2013

Four of a Kind for Love

It will come as no surprise to many of you that we are really mad keen on curating. Nothing gives us more glee than putting lovely things together in an aesthetically pleasing fashion.

We really got into the swing of creating Etsy treasuries last year - our Summer Four Ways treasury primarily featuring Australian Etsy sellers even made it to the Etsy front page!

Recently we have been searching for beautiful lingerie - something feminine, unique and well cut. On our searches across the world wide web, we found many stunning examples from Etsy sellers and our new treasury Four of a Kind for Love is based around the four best examples we discovered.

Valentines take note!
xo
g&j

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

The Talent: Tania Bowers of Hello-Lashes Salon

We here at Ginny & Jude have been incredibly blessed to have worked with a number of really talented people through the years. They have have all helped us build this little brand up from the ground to the glittering star it is today.

Today we start a new feature on the blog called The Talent where we introduce you to these get-out-of-town talented gals.

First up we have the wonderful Tania Bowers. 

I first met Tania when she started working at the Button Shop with me a number of years ago when she had just moved back from America. We hit it off straight away and I have been very fortunate to have had her extend her talents to me for a total of 3 shoots now. 

Despite her considerable talents, she is one of the most humble people I have ever met and always emanates a reassuring sense of calm. She also has an enviable back catalogue of crafting skills and once traveled the world playing songs under the guise of Via Tania.

I certainly share her no-fuss attitude when it comes to makeup for the everyday and can personally attest to the wonderful of get-up-and-go-ness of tinted lashes. Marvelous!

- Rabia, Designer for Ginny & Jude

The gorgeous Tania. Photo: Andy Mueller

Tania Bowers - a lady of many talents! Tell us a few fun facts about yourself...

I once crashed a shoemaking course for a whole semester. It was at the Art Institute of Chicago. No payment necessary, no grades either, but I didn't want grades I wanted to learn how to make shoes.

I had an emergency root canal during the SXSW festival in Austin Texas and had maxed out my Credit Card while on tour, luckily the dental nurse suggested to the dentist that instead of forking over $1000 I could perhaps get his daughter a pass to the music festival. I just gave him mine while I was on the bed.
Unfortunately there is a music video of me singing a few hours later trying not to drool. At the time I thought I was getting away with it, but thanks to the internet, I can't fool myself.

I lived in Melbourne, moved to Sydney, then Chicago, then back to Melbourne, then back to Chicago and now in Sydney again. 

I used to teach a summer school inside the University of Minnesota for creative high school kids it was funded by Target and I met designers from all over the world, a guy that designed inside space ships for NASA, German car interiors, so many cool teachers 

My daughters name is Frida Jane Wigdahl. I'm not sure how she's going to feel about that.

Tania's varied work for Ginny & Jude, photo: Lyndal Irons



Tell us a little bit about the Hello-Lashes Salon...

I'm a pretty cruisy chick and beauty salons never really interested me so it took me a long time to find my path to the beauty industry. Painting, drawing, makeup, styling are all my passions and learning to do eyelash extensions is such a specific skill but I saw a niche in the market; it's for girls that want to accentuate their features while still looking natural. 

With makeup I have a pretty 'light hand' and like to see skin not a foundation mask but because of my love of photography I have worked under strong lights and with photographers enough to work out where you can do that and where you can't.

Hello-Lashes Salon is for real women and girls who like to have fun, dress up or be natural but not overdo it, know what I mean?

Soft and subtle; photo at right Gintas Zaranka, photo at left Damien Thompson.


What was it that attracted you to make-up and hair design? And was there a reason you chose to specialise in lashes?

I think when I first enrolled at the Makeup Designory school in New York, I saw it was the right thing for me straight away. Out came the colour wheels and tonal excersizes. It was the first time in years I felt like I was back at art school and I felt sorry for the young girls in my class that had none of that theory behind them, I would have been flailing around if not for my background, that stuff is hard!

But to be really honest, it was a creative thing that I could get paid for. A daily rate… go home, have your life! I love that kind of work because my life out of work is really important to me.  

Lashes are sweeping the cities of the world. It might be soon up there with Zumba. But I think as I have always loved using my hands, sewing and being crafty that those kinds of fine motor skills really suit me, I watched a demonstration in Beauty school and never looked back.

Gorgeous natural bridal hair and make up; photos by Joe Wigdahl of Grass Finch Photography

Looking back at the many shoots and events you've been involved in over the years, what stands out in your memory the most?

Shooting with Kevin Sinclair was a really great experience. Fashion photographers are notorious jerks and I've experienced my fair share but shooting with Kevin early on at the Factor Models space in Chicago was an eye opener; that someone so lovely and supportive of new talent can rise up to be one of the biggest most successful photographers of today. 

Also the Vera Wang bridal launch at the Oprah Show was a really really fun day seeing two ladies who work their butski's off backstage commenting and laughing at all the 'child' brides were making up - fun stuff. 
Also shooting with my partner Joe is really nice and we get on really well on set; no one knows we're married we get on so well!

Credits: Photo by Kevin Sinclair

What is the one beauty product you never leave the house without?

Vincent Longo lip stain. Totally doesn't look like lipstick and you can use it on your cheeks, my colour is Sunshine.

Can you share a never-fail make-up tip with us?

Anastasia or Gorgeous Cosmetics Brow Gel, if you set your brows with this gel brushing 'up' you will always look more groomed and neat, but no one will be able to tell why.

What are your predictions for trends in make-up and hair this year?


I think it's going to be about matte's. We've had the glitter and shimmer a bit too long. It's like studs, save them for rockstars, when Target is selling shoes with studs, just Let . It. Go at least for a while. Matte makeup is so lovely and you can play with contours and highlights without being too spangly just classic.There's a reason it's called classic, people always come back to it because it looks the best.

You can find Tania at her Hallo-Lashes Salon stall at the upcoming One Fine Day wedding and bridal fair in Sydney which runs over the 2nd and 3rd of February at Sun Studios in Alexandria.


e: whyhellolashes@gmail.com


Thursday, January 17, 2013

The garden of fashion

Yesterday I was bequeathed quite a beautiful piece of fashion history from a dear friend who was visiting from Berlin. 

Le Jardin Des Modes - The Garden of Fashion - is a rather exquisite French fashion journal from 1951 filled with delicious inspiration for the Autumn/Winter collection I'm currently designing...


Lecon De Mode - Feshion Lesson - we had great fun attempting to translate these last night! 
Some standout rules I am taking away from this are that skirts should be between 30-32 cms from the ground and no shorter, belts should accentuate a narrow waist, shoulders should be wide and that a large swing coat over all these tight angles of tailoring is a must!

Fabulous, fabulous ideas...

 

...and what exquisite winter hats!
I am desperately in love with this jacket.
Nothing like some fun fashion tableaux!
Some of you may already be aware that I have been without a functioning camera since last October. As you can imagine trying to run an online business without a camera has been bordering on ridiculous - there are only so many times you can borrow one from a friend!
Thankfully my new one finally arrived today. It is fabulous and we are very much in love.

I had quite a bit of fun testing its macro settings and ISO fiddly bits this afternoon as the sun was just slipping away behind the roofs. 

This hydrangea would be considered by most to be quite beyond its prime, but I am really enjoying its tainted rainbow hues.



xo rabia

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Pinterest Picks #11

Long days and short, hot nights are coming...






 


{ All images sourced from our Pinterest Boards where they link back to their original source }

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Current obsession: Storage tins

Some time ago, we bought our first colourful tin on Etsy.com. We didn't buy it with anything particular in mind - we were buying something else from that particular store, and thought we'd get some extras from the shop to combine shipping (...this is where we seriously fall down when it comes to shopping on Etsy!)

Isn't she a beauty! Such beautiful bright colours...Photo: VintageVanatic
And in situ at the Casa del Studio above and below. You will notice that we have quite a few of them!
Photos (two above): Renee Baker
We use them to store bits and bobs for jewellery making - the red one above (the original by Gray Dunn, and the best!) stores all the brass findings, the big gold one all the semi-precious stones, and the red oval one has all the brass and silver chain offcuts in it.

We love the excited use of bright colour, the texture of the pressed metal and their inherent sturdiness.

Naturally, these few we have are not enough. Not even close! So we are rubbing our hands together with glee planning our next Storage tin purchase. After trawling the 80 odd pages on Etsy (yes, we are *devoted* to our love of these tins), these are what we think are the pick of the crop.

What are we looking for? Colour, texture and a variety of shapes and sizes, that are relatively rust free.

Which should we get?!

Dahner Storage Tin // $10 from AmyKristineVintage
Not so sure about the addition of hibiscus to that centre floral arrangement (!), but the bumpy texture of the sides and mosaic of the top have us sold!

Dahner Canisters // $20 for the pair from TheSquirrelCottage
More magic from Dahner - the pressed metal one on the left is DIVINE! But the other one we would be happy for them to keep...

Another Dahner Canister // $14 from JustSmashingDarling
Oh hello! A twin to our friend above! Wonderful...
Our only reservation? Dahner tins are a dime a dozen! And we were hoping to find something a little more off-beat...

Art Nouveau Candy Tin // $25 from AustinModern
 Like this one! Oh wow - it's pretty rusty and old but golly isn't it beeewdiful! 

Vintage Asian Tea Box // $20 from ARandomFind

Vintage flour canister // $12 from littlewoodenhouse
There's a lot of mid-century looking stuff on Etsy, which isn't quite our style - but we quite like this upside down pineapple quirkiness!

Vintage Storage Tin from Holland // $29 from BestowAppreciation

Vintage Candy Tin from Holland // $13 from spaceroom
These two from Holland are bright and fun aren't they!

Wafer Tin from Western Germany // $17 from therunawaypancake
Seems appropriate given when most of our work gets done!

Christmas Tin // $10 from LucillesAttic

Christmas themed, so a bit naff, but those reindeer on the side! Adorable!

Christmas Mints Tin // $6 from vertzvkv

Handpainted Tin from Denmark 1970s // $10.50 from tessiemay
Fabulous - and a flat top is handy for stacking...

1950s Ransburg Canister // $8 from meggyleves

Painted Canister // $18 from SuzyQVintage
Murray Allan Tins from England // $18 from SwanVintageFinds

Sometimes an upright canister is just the ticket - great for storing tall bits and bobs...

Nesting Tins from USSR // $23 from agafrog

Nesting Tins from USSR // $21 from NewLifeForOldies
And these small nesting tins are perfect for keeping little beads.

Having serious TIN FATIGUE by the end of this, but our conclusion would be to buy them all, yes?!

xo
g&j