A Royal Wedding: The best dressed...

Always controversial, the best/worst dressed lists at a wedding (particularly one as high profile as this one) are always fraught with debate and vigorous discussion. it seems everyone has a different opinion as to who belongs on which and people rarely agree.

I'm drawing a line in the sand though - here are my picks.

A clarification up front: Just because someone didn't make the list it doesn't mean they aren't well dressed. There were lots of beautifully dressed people, I can't possibly include them all. But here are the pick of the bunch, in my eyes, anyway!

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.


Always polished, age appropriate and dressed beautifully at events such as these. She still ranks up there as one of my favourite royal brides. At this wedding she wore a gorgeous frock coat in duck egg blue and champagne by Anna Valentine (who also designed both her wedding dresses and the wedding dress of her daughter Laura) and a stunning Philip Treacy Hat. The curve of the hat adds a certain softness to the outfit which suits her very well. The flare of the coat at the bottom suits her figure beautifully - this is a woman who understands what suits her and what photographs well. It's a breathtaking ensemble.

Pippa Middleton


It's a rare bride who is outdone by her bridesmaid, but in this case I think I like Pippa's dress more than Kate's. The silhouette is quintessential McQueen - the structured shoulder, the cap sleeve, the draping; and it was so very sexy while still remaining demure and covered up, helped by the choice of silk backed crepe for the fabric no doubt. It's a hard line to tread for a traditional church service but she is perfection. Her hair was beautifully done and the dress fit her perfectly. A trend setter to watch for the future.

Crown Crincess Victoria of Sweden


Victoria rarely puts a foot wrong. Her style is mature but still fashion forward. She always looks elegant and age appropriate but never like someone else (no mutton here!). She understands formality and ceremony and I think she cuts the perfect figure here - not too formal, not too casual, not too sexy, but sexy enough. The Elie Saab dress in tangerine, a colour not many people can wear, is not only beautiful on her but very of the moment. Her jewellery is discrete and her hat is simple and elegant. Plus her husband, the handsome Duke of Vastergotland, is the ultimate accessory.

Crown Princess Maxima of the Netherlands


They say a big genuine smile is the greatest accessory a girl can have. If that's the case, then Maxima always has it covered. From black tie event to horsing around with her kids, she always looks relaxed and gorgeous. Her ensemble here is perfect - the on trend blush lace suits her blonde colouring and her hat, positioned further towards the back of her head, gives everyone a good view of her pretty face. Accessories are simple and classic. A winner.

Crown Princess Pavlos (Marie-Chantal) of Greece


A dark horse among the European Royals, MC doesn't often feature on many of my best dressed lists, as she tends to wear things that I find too pale for her or sometimes aging or dowdy. But in this instance, she is all class. The silvery blue-grey really suits her, the textured slip dress is stylish and the hat is a work of art. It's high drama couture without being too over the top. Plus I love the matching Louboutin shoes. This is one instance where I think people might disagree with me as it could be seen as too eclectic for some. So be it.

Julia Gillard



Now I'm not sure Joooolya has ever featured on anyone's best dressed list, but I have to say she absolutely exceeded expectations on this occasion. I loved the origami style pleating on the Aurelio Costarella jacket and I think she looks lovely in navy. I love that she (or her stylist) mixed and matched designers and that her hat was not couture. It shows you don't have to spend a lot of money to look really fabulous. He hair was fantastic too - the ehole look was appropriate and for once she outdid our normally very stylish Governor General. Julia's style on the most recent overseas trip has been fabulous to watch - elegant, sophisticated. Keep up the excellent work!

Kitty

Images featured from Hello Magazine, news.com.au, The LA Times and Getty Images.

A Royal Wedding...

Where to start?

Loved the trees, loved the flowers (or lack thereof - very minimal and environmentally sound), loved some of the guests (more later). Thought the ceremony was understated and the pomp and circumstance was muted, as appropriate for a family wedding. Thought Kate Middleton's dress was very pretty.

The really good bits: The dress looked superb on her - it fit her like a glove and the style very much suited her. It emphasised her tiny waist and spectacular shoulders. I loved the lace bodice and the simplicity. It was the perfect dress for her. The fact she wore a tiara - The Cartier Halo tiara (one given to the Queen Mother by her husband King George V) - was fabulous. We are all in agreement it can't be a Royal Wedding without a tiara, no?

Having said all that, I was a little disappointed. For me, she met expectations rather than exceeded them. I thought the dress was derivative and interpretive rather than original. That specific style had been worn by not only 50,000 brides before her but arguably THE most beautiful princess of all time, Princess Grace of Monaco. Right down to the bouquet of lily of the valley and the lace edged veil. No comparison. When you compare her to princesses who have gone before her (Princess Diana, Princess Mary, The Duchess of York even), the dress was sweet and pretty rather than regal and original. Perfect for an upmarket country wedding perhaps (which is apparently the look and feel the couple were going for) but Westminster Abbey? My personal opinion is not so much.

The Original Princess in That dress.

Lace edged veil...

Lace embroidered train...

I know others will disagree with me, but I think the choice of Sarah Burton from Alexander McQueen was perhaps a waste of that designer's extraordinary talent. The dress was so plain it really could have been designed by any one of a number of designers. There was definitely nothing particularly McQueen about the dress which for me was disappointing.


The other part I though was disappointing was the veil. The very fine silk tulle clung to her body, altering the shape of the silhouette. By the end of the ceremony, the weight of the silk tulle veil had flattened her hair and pulled the beautiful curl out of her tresses. That, combined with friction silk tulle has gave her hair a slightly static-y appearance by the time they got into the coach for the trip back to Buckingham Palace. The same thing happened to Sophie, Countess of Wessex on her wedding day. A net tulle veil may have been more appropriate, as would something cathedral length rather than waist length. It certainly would have been more elegant.

There had been a lot of debate about the fact she wanted to wear her hair down because it was "more her". I think with a dress like this an up-do would have been more appropriate. More polished and less flat, giving her a better silhouette overall. It would have worked better with the tiara and veil and made her look more regal. Just my opinion.


I wasn't going to mention the train fact but in for a penny, in for a pound. I did think a slightly longer train would have worked well in the space of the abbey. I was disappointed that the embroidery was so subtle that it couldn't actually be seen (which begs the question, what is the point?). When I got married, my train was 2m long, Kate's was 2.7m long. I didn't get married in the or an Abbey. Nuff said on that front.

Look at that liner...

The other teeny complaint was the fact she did her own makeup. The Duchess of Cambridge has a bit of an unhealthy relationship with eyeliner and blush it would seem. A professional would have been a better option for such a big occasion, given the TV lights and cameras. Lining under the eyes with a heavy black liner ages anyone terribly. All I can remember is how fresh and gorgeous Diana looked on her wedding day. No comparison for me.

You can just make out lace embroidery on the train if you squint and look very very hard...

For most people I am sure, the fact she looked lovely and pretty is enough for them. As it should be. But for those who were trumpeting Kate's (or the Duchess of Cambridge as she is now to be known) arrival as a cutting edge fashion plate and the embodiment of modern British fashion, it must have been a little disappointing. There wasn't anything cutting edge or original about the dress or overall look. It was very traditional and staid.

More on the best and worst of the guests later!

Kitty

Images sourced from smh.com.au, AFP, AP and news.com.au

Happy belated Easter everyone!

And what better way to celebrate the passing of yet another egg day than with fabulous, moment appropriate stationery accessories?

Available at Design Life Shop for just $24.95. A bargain I say! I might just buy them, if I can keep them a secret from Mr K - he'd be likely to steal them!

Kitty

A Bug's Life...

I'm not a huge fan of creepy crawlies in real life, but I really seem to like them on jewellery. I find them interesting and fascinating. People have to look a little bit harder to see that you are wearing a ladybug, a spider or a cicada as part of your bejewelled accessory collection - it makes them my own little private joke.

Here are some of my favourites:
I've blogged about Elk before - they are one of my favourite lower priced jewellery and accessory companies. The make great on trend pieces from wood and metal. This cicada necklace ($50) is a favourite - I have worn it many times. The colour pops beautifully when you wear it with all black (which is often the case with me) and the fact that it is inexpensive makes it all the more wearable.

Mimco's latest collection features this little gem - a cool and hip necklace that features black agate beads and glass pearls, with two beautifully crafted bugs adorned with Swarovski crystals. Matching earrings are available but I love the necklace ($229) just by itself.

Alex Monroe is another designer I have blogged about before - his beautiful nature designs rendered in gold and silver make for stunning jewellery. Focusing on bugs, birds and plants, his pieces are longer term investments that can be worn for a lifetime. This dragonfly necklace is stunning, capturing the bug theme perfectly while remaining chic (120 pounds, approximately $185).


And for something a little more decadent, we'll turn to Tiffany for this diamond and platinum butterfly necklace. At $5250, it's certainly out of my price range but a girl can dream can't she? If you have to have it, it's available at Tiffany in the US for $3650 (a little over $3400 AUD, plus local tax).

Do you love bugs on your jewellery?

Kitty

Easter: In other news...

1. The five day Easter Break is playing havoc with my internet shopping. Not being work inclined at the moment, I don't get the benefit of five days off (which is not really a complaint, just an observation). My complaint is this - I have seen so many lovely thing I want to buy online recently, however with only 5 working days until we leave for the US, the likelihood of me receiving anything before leaving is very very slim, especially from overseas. I will have to keep my fingers crossed that items of desire, like the above Marks and Spencer dress, remain in stock until I get home.

2. Easter baking is playing havoc with my healthy eating resolve: Now the morning sickness has decided it's pretty much finished with me, I am off my solid diet of cheese flavoured things and attempting to embrace a healthier eating regime. Nigella's Norwegian Cinnamon buns that I baked last weekend and that are now gracing our freezer and the freshly baked Not Quite Nigella Mocha Cinnamon buns (minus the coffee part) are not helping me with that resolve... Luckily I haven't over indulged in the purchase of Easter eggs yet. Yet.

3. The fact that shops are very closed over the weekend near where I live means I need to be more organised than usual with what we want to eat. Unfortunately with my slightly confuddled baby brain, this means more hard work for moi. Thank goodness I have Mr K to remind me of things I need to do. Although I'm fairly certain cleaning the house wasn't on my list, despite his protestations that it definitely was...

Kitty

Springtime Green.

I promise this isn't going to instantly become a blog just about babies. I still like other things, you know, but babies just seem so exciting at the moment!

As I previously mentioned, we'll be finding out what variety the baby is. Having said that, I tend to like light green as a colour no matter what sex the baby will be. It's fairly gender neutral and nice and Springtime-esque, perfect for our little Spring baby.

Here are a few of the green things I have seen that I like so far:

The Bloom Alma crib:
I love it's Granny Smith apple green colour and the fact it's nice and compact. It will be good for the corner of our bedroom as it's small and the lockable casters mean I can move it around the house, keeping the baby with me or Mr K as needed. Once we are done with it, it folds down nicely for storage. The only downside seems to be the weight - 23kg for the world's tiniest cot! This requires further investigation I think. Urban Baby is a good Australian stockist for this crib. More information is available on the Bloom website.

The Ektorp Armchair from Ikea:
So many of my friends have mentioned the need to invest in a comfortable chair for breastfeeding. This one looks both comfy and practical, with the cover being removable and washable/dry cleanable in the case of any baby related incidents. It's also reasonably well priced at $499 with additional covers available for purchase. More information available at Ikea. And bonus - you can buy a matching footstool!

The Bugaboo Cameleon in limited edition green:

Buying a pram that has a bit of character that isn't the same as anyone else's pram is difficult, particularly when you decide to buy one of the most popular prams on the market. But as luck would have it, Bugaboo have recently released two new colours: light green and deep purple. Both are fabulous but with my green fixation I am obviously gravitating towards the green. The limited edition Cameleons are available in Australia at Minimee.

Fun decals for the nursery:


There are so many great decals availble on my favourite online store Etsy. This is just one - from the aptly named Kinky Wall Studio. Given we'll be renting when the baby is born, painting the nursery green will be impractical, but a fun and bright decal will liven up the room quite nicely without being permanent. There are loads that I like but this one with it's animals and trees is lots of fun!

Did you have a theme or favourite colour when your little one was born? Or do you have a vision of what your nursery might look like when you have a baby? Or do you already have a favourite colour that you like to wear or decorate with?

Kitty

One for baby, one for me...

That's how it works, right?

I've been eyeing off this bangle for aaaaages. I first saw it in Hong Kong last year and I was very tempted but I put it back on the shelf at Joyce in Harbour City/Ocean Terminal. Reluctantly.

But now it's at Net-a-Porter and I feel like a bit of a treat. I bought the baby a present so now it must be my turn, right?

Kitty

I Heart Baby Clothes.

It's official - babies have the best clothes.

I held off buying anything until I had my 12 week scan. I would walk past racks of little cardigans and dresses, merino playsuits and bunny ear hats justitching to purchase something. But I wanted to make sure I was in the "safe zone" before Going Nuts.

But since then I have to say I have been quite restrained. Not knowing what I am having has put a little bit of a dampener on the buying process - we do plan to find out but not until we get back from the US. Irrespective of the variety we get (I'm happy either way, I think Mr K might be hoping for another cat as he's very good with them - they are a known quantity) buying gender neutral clothes isn't as fun as buying clothes for a little girl or boy.

Until you happen upon the marvellous creations from NiteOwlDesigns on Etsy.

The onesies are just superb - handcrafted, beautifully designed and made. I ordered three - the owl, the hedgehog and the monkey. On the advice of The Mummy, I also ordered a few of Jenny's gorgeous bibs too, just in case the baby is a dribbler!

I can't wait for them to arrive! If they are as good as I am hoping I plan to buy many more!

Kitty

Bad hair day.

I used to think they were a bit of a myth. But they certainly aren't.

I have one every three months. The day I go to the hairdresser. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE my hairdresser. I LOVE her so much I fly to Melbourne to have my hair cut. Indulgent much? But in my defense, I have never had anyone cut my hair as well as she does, and when you have curly hair you follow a good hairdresser to the ends of the earth. But anyway, she used to blowdry my hair really well when she worked at her Sydney salon. Now she works at a salon where they use totally organic products. Very few styling creams and potions. Very little spray. My hair lives on styling wax. It drinks the stuff. The more pomade and products the better it looks.

Now, when I leave the salon, I look slightly poodle-esque. Flufforama. And honestly, Melbourne is a long way to go for a bad blowdry. I have to leave it at least a day before I wash it again because otherwise the fluffiness continues for another wash cycle and I just cannot cope with that. I have considered telling her but I have had 18 months of blowdrys without saying anything and I can't say something now.

So today is the poodle hair day. I am huddling under the blankets today I think. Mr K wants me to go to the shops with him but there's a 1% chance I might see someone I know and that's too big a risk for me.

Perhaps if I put a bag over my head, it will be ok?

Kitty

Whoops!

So the shopping "reduction" was well and truly "expanded" today. Mr Kitty had to go to the optometrist and the bank in town so I got dressed up and in we drove. I had an errand to run too, and Mr K's Easter present* to purchase so it was rather a full day for moi, all things considered.

While I was waiting for him (and lunch, I might add, all I seem to do is eat at the moment) I popped into Sportscraft at Westfield. BIG mistake. As Julia Roberts said in Pretty Woman "HUGE." I was only looking, filling in time, when a lovely sales assistant came up and informed me that everything in store was 30% off today (how very un-Pretty Woman of her).

Now, I don't really need anything. Much. I'll admit, some of my favourite pieces are getting a tad snug around the waist area, but I can cope for a while. Much of what I own is jersey anyway, but when I heard the magic 30% off, I forced myself to have a bit of a look around.

I wasn't disappointed. Sportscraft is currently chock full of fabulous things. Loads of great tops, numerous gorgeous frocks, quite a few great coats and jackets... But there was one thing I couldn't take my eyes off.

Now, we all know I have an obsession/love affair with leopard. But I tend to favour furry leopard rather than leopard print. I tend to find accessories more wearable - bags, shoes et al. But when I tried this dress on, I had to have it, especially with the magical discount. It's a gorgeous fit and there's plenty of room for le bump to expand. The jersey is soft and drapes beautifully. A win all round I'd say!

The dress also comes in a beautiful purpley-fuchsia colour, but with le bump, I felt a bit like a giant grape or berry (which will only get worse) so I stuck to the tried and true option...

The afternoon was spent test driving prams. We left the showrooms even more confused than when we arrived. We did narrow it down a little - if anyone has advice on the Bugaboo Chameleon, the Quinny Buzz or the Micralite Toro, I'd very much appreciate it.

Kitty

*Mr K is not a fan of Easter eggs. Or Lindt Bunnies. I tend to end up melting them down about 6 months after the event to turn them into chocolate cake. I feel sad melting bunnies so I decided not to buy one for him this year. Instead I bought him a bag of dark chocolate scorched almonds from Haighs - His favourite and I also think quite Eastery. Outside chance he might actually eat them...

Wonderful news.

In a heartbeat. A moment. A minute. A phone call. Everything changes.

What seems like it would never happen, finally happens. Your world gets turned upside down. Irrevocably changed. Forever, but definitely for the better.

In the same moment, it is terrifying, empowering, scary, challenging, mind boggling and fabulous. It's earth shattering and real. It's emotional and scary. It's overwhelming and amazing. After disappointment and heartache, it's the bright shining beacon of light we've been praying for.

But above everything else, it's wonderful. It's marvelous.

It's a baby. Our baby. Due in mid October. We are beyond thrilled.

Thank you all for your support on our long (and sometime arduous) journey. I have appreciated all the supportive comments and emails more than you can imagine. I have wanted to share this with you for the longest time but wanted to wait until the time was right.

Any advice will be gratefully received. You may not have guessed but we are complete novices at this baby raising thing and all the books in the world mean nothing compared to real life experiences, as far as I see it.

And yes - the reason for the lack of posting over the last few weeks was due to morning, or as I like to call it, all day sickness. Horrible stuff. I'm pleased to report it has almost totally abated. Finally.

And now, we settle in for the exciting 6 month wait until our little one decides to join us!

Kitty xx

Image from http://weheartit.com/

Boo-jays and other nonsuch...

The other day Mr Kitty went through all of our expenditure over the last two years. Scary times for Miss Kitty I can tell you. Luckily he didn't include my purchases (I have my own credit card for those - PHEW) but it did reveal some surprising things.

1. The overall amount of expenditure wasn't as scary as either of us anticipated.

2. We had a lot of one-off expenses in 2010 that are unlikely to be repeated anytime soon. Medical, House (hello ridiculously expensive but stunningly gorgeous lamps!), a rather large piece of jewellery that was a gift from Mr K to Miss K...

3. The cats, even though we often feed them steak and send them to luxury kitty camp (the Purrrrr Hyatt as we call it) when we go away, don't really cost us a lot. Or less than we really thought they would.

4. We spend a considerable proportion of our expenditure on travel. Interstate, overseas, weekends away...

We don't really have a set budget for things but there were some things that were extremely consistent. It turns out we tend to take three "holidays" a year - one to the US, one to Europe and an Asian/Pacific Adventure. We also go to Melbourne and Adelaide to visit family fairly regularly. We love travelling: our trips are the things we look forward to throughout the year. Planning, finding great places to stay and interesting places to eat...

I often joke with Mr Kitty that travel is our one true luxury, but it turns out it's not that far from the truth. Despite what you might read on this blog, I don't get around in head to toe Prada (unfortunately), spooning avruga caviar onto my blinis for breakfast every morning. We tend to cook at home a lot, preferring to purchase yummy produce from markets and local stores. Partly a function of where we live (and that there are very few nice local restaurants), our big nights out seem to be limited to our travels. When we are in Sydney our monthly spend on food is eerily consistent which amused me somewhat. It's not like we were working to a budget on that front, it just happened...

Speaking of budgets, I have managed to do okay on my spending reduction (I don't like to call it a ban, as such). So far I have bought a jersey cardigan from Ojay and a pair of black trousers. I bought two pairs of tracksuit pants (sorely needed in my new guise as a lady of leisure) and some DVDs. I've been limiting my book purchases to my kindle, only buying one hard copy book (it wasn't available on kindle and I reeeeeeeally wanted it). I am finally embracing thrift, eschewing random purchases just for the sake of it. Partially because I am so looking forward to getting to the US in 4 weeks, partially because I haven't seen anything I really have to have, and partially because I have kept out of the shops. That seems to be the secret!

Now - to work out a strategy to keep me out of online stores...

Kitty

Dinner and other assorted domestics...

Today I baked.

The end.

Just kidding! But honestly, a week ago a round of baking would have been enough to make me take a nap. It would have been an entire day's activity. Today, I not only baked (for those who are interested, these cookies courtesy of Whisk and Whimsy), I went for a walk, I entertained a friend and her two daughters (4 and 2, although Max and Millie really were their entertainment), I did some research for the house and I had a chat with a friend over skype.

I'm now preparing to make saltimbocca and risotto for our dinner. Now that the evenings are getting colder I feel more like comfort food. And given Mr K says he still doesn't know how to make risotto, I guess the onus falls to me to prepare dinner!

This week seems to be packed! I'm planning a movie out with Mr K at some point, an adventure with a friend on Wednesday, more baking and morning tea with another friend on Thursday morning and then out to do some chores and run errands with Mr K on Friday. Back on the horsie indeed!

Definitely sleeping in on Saturday methinks!

Kitty

Eye spy...

It's been an interesting week. One escapee cat (he didn't get very far), one cat with conjunctivitis, an emergency visit from the plumber, torrential rain and too many loads of washing to count (in between the rain, natch), I finally have a few minutes to post something.

In my desire to collect more leopard print than is reasonable, I stumbled across these glasses on none other than my favourite website, Net-a-Porter. Made by Cutler and Gross, they are so cute. Unfortunately squarer glasses seem to suit me better but it does beg the question why I have never actively sought out leopard glasses in the past? Maybe because I wear them every day I feel the need to go a bit more neutral?

Something to ponder. Perhaps I truly need to update my everyday style with some leopardy frames?

Kitty