don't tell mom the babysitter's dead.

I've been a huge fan of Australian label FAIRGROUND for a few years after first discovering a few of their pieces in Herman, my favourite store in my hometown of Mornington. Kimbra's fashion mate Jamie-Lee (this banana dress was sick) is the designer for the company and Alice McCall is creative director, so you already know the label will be killer. Their latest collection is named after my favourite childhood movie DON'T TELL MOM THE BABYSITTERS DEAD. It's full of bright canary yellow and fuschia and bold orange and black crochet which is an unexpected departure from the labels earlier bohemian designs from a few years ago, but it works IT REALLY DOES. I'm going a bit nuts (or banana's...am I right?) over the yellow/pink cropped skivvy and skirt combo in the first picture. I will also be pre-ordering that divine kimono after wearing the only Fairground kimono I own to absolute death for the past year. I always wish I could be as bold as Sue Ellen in the movie and lie my way into a fashion job and find a babe to play in toy stores with and now with this collection MAYBE I CAN! A collection that would make any girl (or Christina Applegate) smile. 

[all images courtesy of Fairground website]

You can pre-order the Fairground collection here

INSTAGRAM BRO

I am so addicted to Instagram its going to kill me. How, you say? Well I've had several near-death instances where I've been walking across a road/driving with iPhone and have not been paying attention, narrowly avoiding a yuppy iPhone death. PHEW. Its people like Lara Bingle, Matt Corby & Annabel Wendt of Love More that are holding my interest at the moment.

Follow me on Instagram: @samanthagoss

Elizabeth & James

I hate it when I walk into Green With Envy with the [futile] intention of 'having a squiz' and I walk out with a bag the size of a mini cooper containing clothes worth 2/3 of my months rent. And when I say 'hate' I really mean 'love, but feel a bit guilty about.' Today I strolled away with a chartreuse shirt dress by their in-house label Nicholas and these little mates by Elizabeth & James. Such good little platforms these are, easy to walk in with my thrice sprained cankles. Nice one Olsen one and two! Planning on breaking them in tomorrow when I throw one final party in my apartment before I move!

Happy Australia Day kidgerigars, and remember keep it classy (don't, its un-Australian)!

Surf Rider na na naaaaaa

Here is my first column for the Southbank Local News [note shameless Topshop plug, trying to impress my managers by being a team playa wot of it]..

Surf Rider

With Melbourne weather heating up, then cooling down, then pouring down, then heating up again, a common problem for fashion savvy Melburnians is “what the heck do I wear during these unpredictable summer nights?”

Take your inspiration from the classic Australian surf film Puberty Blues and slip into neon colour and kitschy prints to channel a surfer babe vibe this summer.

The “surf luxe” trend is being fast-tracked to the forefront of fashion this season, with acidic yellow, fluorescent green and neoprene pieces all infiltrating recent Australian collections.

For those of you surf neophytes like myself, neoprene is a synthetic rubber typically used when making wetsuits. Australian fashion prince Josh Goot has based an entire collection around neoprene fabrics, showing graphic print versions, as well as structured black, as seen on celebrity fashionista Lara Bingle.

The arrival of UK chain store maven Topshop to Melbourne shores has also brought with it a slew of affordable surf-chic pieces.

For the cooler nights, throw on a pair of baby pink or printed skinny jeans, a good basic grey t-shirt and a fluorescent knit for when the winds pick up – it’s part 90s grunge, part Gold Coast surfer and perfectly on-trend for the current season.

Melbourne boutique chain Green With Envy offer a more high end version of the trend, for those who want to inject a summer vibe into their wardrobe yet aren’t quite surfer chic.

Its in-house label Nicholas has offered up neon lime green sheer blouses and electric blue dresses which, when teamed with their rose-gold neck plates, create a high fashion take on a cool street trend.

You don’t need to be a Blue Crush surf hero to pull off this trend. Just sport some neon colours, cool prints and a laid back attitude. Surfboard optional.

Or read it here and leave a comment (along the lines of 'wow! What a great writer! Her surf knowledge is unparalleled! Not only that, but she sounds like a pretty groovy gal! I'd like to hang out with her & buy her kittens & berries!' Just a suggestion...) 

Melbourne Street Style: Tara

Forgive pathetic lack of blog posts, the silly season & I got along a bit too well this year methinks. Moving right on, I have a new job writing a column for this leetle newspaper and am also now the official taker of Southbank street style pictures. After 6 hours on the job, I discovered that Southbank isn't really the catch up place for the Melbourne style set so I took some snaps of my work BFF Tara C instead. She's a total spunk! I could just dip those Balenciaga's in aoili and eat them right up.

Dress: Topshop

Tee: Givenchy

Boots: Balenciaga

Bag: Alexander Wang

Sunglasses: Grazia X Ellery

Love-shak[uhachi]

See what I did there? [note: if you read this blog with any sort of consistency, you will notice a recurring theme that is BAD PUNS, unabashedly]. 

The lovely biddies over at Shakuhachi have started a Tumblr. It's pretty neat! I really love the above picture of Anja, sigh. Now just waiting for them to open a store in Melbourne. Fuck Sydney getting their lovely little pop-up stores...at least we get TopShop first!

AUS RISING

Just stopped by SHOPBOP to suss out items my student budget won't let me afford to be delighted by a feature called AUSTRALIAN RISING. Yay for us! Showcasing the best of local talent including Fernando Frisoni, ManiaMania, Sober & Dion Lee and with little style notes by Zanita, this is a such a heartwarming feature for Australian fashion! 

Have a leetle look on the home page here ...

ELLERY MEMORIES

The latest ELLERY Resort '11 campaign is so gosh darn beautiful. Featuring super babe Kim Noorda, the collection is all wonder and lust and pretty pieces any lady would stab for. Earlier in the year, I was a volunteer at RAFW and I was lucky enough to be the girl selected to do the very important job of 'hold the broken door open for the models.' Being inches away from this glorious collection before it was showcased was one of those odd surreal moments that you just wish to stay in forever. The dreamlike fluffy white skirt (which was modelled by Julia Nobis at RAFW) was my choicey-pick of the collection. I'm waiting for the day when Kym Ellery completely fucks up and delivers an ugly collection BUT I KNOW IT WILL NEVER COME. She's such a gem. The cherry on top of my year was when I was backstage and she gave me a hug mistaking me for someone else and I totally owned that shit. Keep it up Ellery, you bloody winner.