Climate check: dressing for a warm spring

I don't mean to make anyone jealous, but how gorgeous is the weather we're having at the moment?!

One of the challenges for any lover of fashion living in Australia is combining the realities of our climate with anticipation of pieces for the coming season fuelled by international issues of Vogue.  I have been a dedicated fashion mag hag since I was 16 years old - tragically, that is more than 10 years!! It took a trip to Paris when  I was in my early 20s before I came to understand that much of what hits the stores in Europe, the UK and the US will simply never be workable for the Australian summer.  This is particularly the case for those of us living in Queensland.

I find it's not only the temperature that interferes with my fashion aspirations, but sunshine itself is a pretty difficult background against which to pull off a fashion editor's typical wardrobe of exclusively black.

Paris in September this ain't!

I don't however subscribe to the frequent response of dressing like a tropical bird - black is undeniably chic and it still has a place in a subtropical wardrobe. However, to avoid looking drab, anything black must be of good quality (not all blacks are created equal, I find) and I always try to pair it with something to lift the palette. It doesn't have to be bright, it can be a neutral heel, bag or a jaunty scarf. Or bright red shoes, what the hell!

And if occasionally I do go all black for formality, quality accessories always lend that requisite style to an outfit, to avoid the conclusion of 'boring black' :) xo

Yes, it's all black but the Birkin lifts it :)

Hello and Welcome!

Wow, what a way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon putting together my very first blog post for The Retail Reports! This blog is the culmination of a number of factors, most significant of which is the desire to communicate with my fellow fashion-consumers out there, as well as provide a space for me to indulge that part of my brain that isn't directed towards the day-to-day operations of a very demanding company.

Research materials

This blog is going to be part personal web-diary, part social commentary on the state of fashion/beauty retail as experienced by a style-conscious professional woman in Brisbane. I'll post on things as varied as: what I bought recently, outfits I'm putting together, bloggers I admire, products I'm reviewing, as well as more serious consideration of what is wrong with Australian retail and how things could possibly be improved.





One should be manicured if one is blogging, no?

I hope this may be of interest to some of you out there. I have found that the online style community of real people enjoying fashion within the realities of a normal life, as opposed to the OTT supermodel/socialite life, to be a wonderful place to spend some time.

I look forward to meeting new people and I hope you enjoy the posts - xo!