photo source here

It’s not difficult for someone who loves colour, cut and clothes to fall hopelessly in love with Roksanda Ilincic. I first discovered her designs in British Vogue before she became a mainstay on Net-a-Porter. The UK fashion Bible reported that she used to moonlight as a model whilst launching her label and was the “One to Watch”. Mesmerized by the way she drapes, her bold use of hues and choice of superior fibres, think silk gazzar, organza, wool crepe that naturally have a life of their own. Serbian-born, London-based Roksanda Ilincic knows just how the fabric should adorn its wearer. If Madam Vionnet was alive, Roksanda Ilincic would be her protégé. It was an honour to be her sole stockist in Australia when I had the boutique and I was even more thrilled that she agreed to be interviewed for Cecylia.com

Thank you! I originally chose to study architecture in Serbia, which is where my love of structure and colour developed. Fashion has always been part of my life, so I followed my gut feeling to come to London and explore fashion design at Central Saint Martins, and the rest – so they say – is history.

I draw inspiration from many things; it could be a work of art, an inspirational era or a woman I admire. For the AW12 collection I channelled the 40’s androgyny of Katherine Hepburn and Amelia Earhart.

Photo Source here

There’s a lot of research and development in the first stages, including trips to the library, constant sketching and draping. We then source the fabrics from mills from all across the world, including Italy, France and England. Once the fabrics and final designs have been chosen, the samples are made. I still love the moment when I get to see each piece come to life.

I spend time with my family and friends and generally try to relax. I like to visit galleries and exhibitions that are taking place and travel whenever I can. With a growing business and a baby, my spare time seems to get filled pretty quickly.

Confident, sophisticated and effortlessly chic. The look has a clear focus on colour, cut, beautiful fabrics and detailed finishings. I design with the intention to make a woman beautiful and add a touch of relaxed confidence.

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What do you think of Roksanda’s designs?

Thank you for gracing us with your virtual presence. Whenever I wear Roksanda Ilincic to events, that day becomes a highlight in my life, you may recall me in pink, dove and neon pieces at these various events. Speaking of interviews,  just before I headed up to fashion week, I was interviewed by Australian Review Fashion Blog about my juggles of being a blogger and my other life as a vet, a stylist and a TV extra (no, not the same one as the Age:). Theodore makes an appearance, so it’s definitely worth 5 minutes of your weekend. The full interview is available for your viewing pleasure here. :)

Have a wonderful weekend, do drop me a note about how you juggle a million things on your plate!

On the 2nd day of MBAFW, I rolled out of bed, into this ensemble, to meet 2 awesome ladies for a Parisien breakfast. The perfect milieu for a pre-show gastronome. I confessed to Megan, the Communications Manager of eBay, svelte, of Amazonian proportions, how much of an eBay-oholic I used to be. Maybe I should start an eBay-oholic Anonymous, there’d be a need for that, surely. And I also revealed my envy for Prue’s curly-wurly Prada sunnies, courtesy from her good friend Helen, Sassy Bella. A very good friend, I’d say.

You may have seen this necklace on my Instagram feed, a DIY project that is so simple I’m sure you have already worked it out and made your own by the end of this sentence. The vintage clutch was a spoil from eBay. Although small, it is mighty. With 4 separate pockets, it contained my entire life. And the skirt? You would have seen me sport it here, also with a dress. I don’t do fashion week without the assistance of pink.

Excuse me whilst I strike a Angelina Jolie. I was interviewed by another lady in pink who represented Fashion One but haven’t seen the footage…if you see me in a video speaking nonsensically, PLEASE let me know. I can only recall telling her that comfort is the key ingredient in my ensembles. I like to be able to jump, run and dance in it. And maybe even do the can can.

Where: Sydney Circular Quay

Wear: Vintage shades, DIY necklace, Claude Maus knit-dress, Arnsdorf skirt, Ghost & Lola bracelet, vintage watch, Zara bag, Lanvin shoes, vintage clutch from eBay!

What are you favourite spoils from eBay?

Can I just say a LOUD and CLEAR ‘Thank You’ to you all for the amazing press-love you’re showered me with in the past 48 hours since my appearance with Theodore in the M Magazine of The Age. I woke at 2am to a Twitter alert from a reader. The insomnia for the rest of the night was so worth it.

Here are my photos of the fabulous pack from Mercedes Benz Australia Fashion Week. Can you spot the fashion royalty and name who they’re wearing?

1 The Amazing Arnsdrof coat/ 2 Sara, stylist, The Image Boutique, in Alistair Trung/ 3 Thom, Couturing, and me in vintage & Baron Y neck piece/ 4 Sydney bloggers, including Laura, Wrinkle in Time Vintage, & Christie, Dark Blue Stripes, in Karla Spetic/ 5 Candice Lake & friend/ 6 Lady in Pink Pants / 7 Phoebe Garland, in Cameo & me in vintage / 8  Bryan Boy, in Prada/ 9 Thom, in Lisa Ho & Lisa, Couturing, flanking Zanita/ 10 Geneva, A Pair & a Spare/ 11 Phoebe, Lady Melbourne & Sussie Bubble/ 12 The incredible Yasmin Sewell wearing something incredible/ 13 FELLT bloggers, including Margaret, Shine by Three and K is for Kani

Which is your favourite outfit? What would you wear to fashion week?

If you read my Tweets or Facebook stats, you may have been edified by all the great advice I received at Nuffnang’s Fashionopolis yesterday. The first Melbourne-based conference for fashion bloggers, presented by Sunglass Hut Inner Circle, it was certainly a highlight-of-the-year for me. Nothing has inspired, stimulated or exhilarated me more than being able to hear the counsel of fellow bloggers, industry insiders and marketing specialists, as well as being in a room full of so many like-minded, passionate, fashion bloggers! Not to mention the omnipresent amazing style! Here are the highlights from Fashionopolis captured through my Instagram…

1. Warm hospitality from 1000 £ Bend/ 2 The stunning Dasha Gold/ 3 Dasha’s RMK shoes/ 4 Delicate table ornaments from Domain Flowers/ 5 Jenny Bannister‘s spikey bag/ 6 The stylish pack/ 7 Detailed shot of my vintage cardigan/ 8 CAKES!/ 9 The divine Lady Melbourne & Style Melbourne/ 10 Polariod of Calvin, Michelle and I in Sunglasses Hut shades (I’m ACHING for these Miu Miu glittery beauties)

Thank you Lady Melbourne, Nuffnang, Sunglasses Hut, Reward Style, so much for this awe-inspiring event, for feeding us, physically and mentally, and for encouraging bloggers to do our best. Every day. Every channel. Every way.

Also a warm Happy Mother’s Day to you all, especially those of you celebrating it for the first time this year (Jess, Karen and Amber!).

And lastly, thank you to The Age for featuring me in the M Magazine today about my pursuit of being a fashion blogger. A light read for those curious, is here.

There will be some exciting tweaks to Cecylia.com in the near future. Stay tuned! xx

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Which fabric “surrounds with its fine border cloaks and tuckers, and shows grandly round the throats and hands of Kings” (Jacob Van Eyck)? The drive to create more beautiful and elaborate clothing instigated the birth of lace. Finely twisted threads, woven with skilled digits, in a beautiful and repeated motif, became the vital finishing touches of a fine garment. The art has been flourishing since the 14th century. Of course, it is not difficult to see how these delicate embroideries became the fabric of choice for dress-makers and couturiers. Representing prestige, wealthy, luxury, beauty and romance, lace is welcomed back on the throne of fashion.

With decades in the bridal industry, Melbourne-based Mariana Hardwick is no stranger to what women want. To wear. Despite the dominance of ‘fast fashion’ and its mass appeal, Hardwick and her team have discovered the secret to the modern woman’s heart. Sentiment. She is searching for clothes that will stand the test of time, the battles of trends, and bring her joy with each wear. The clothes need to have the charm and glamour of a bygone era but also the contemporary and seductive allure of the 21st century.

For her first Ready-to-Wear collection,’Hardwick‘, which debuted at Mercedes Benz Australia Fashion Week, what better fabric than lace could the designer have hand-picked. Intricately constructed in sheer black and glimmering metallics, Hardwick knows that the Little Lace Dress is the piece de resistance that will sweep everyone off their feet.

So dear ones, tell me, how would you wear the Little Lace Dress?

Happy Wednesday my lovelies. I hope you’ve enjoyed the runway posts from Australia Fashion Week as of late. If you’re starting to get sick of seeing skinny models struttin’, then you’ve returned to the right place. And if you still desire more Australian fashion, then you’ve scored again. Here I present Sara Phillips (blazer) and Rebecca McGeoch (top). Fascinating print enveloping cashmere threads. The silk blazer has met its match.

The reason why I’m smiling like a juvenile is because recently I was sent this video, the River Island Vogue off to watch and to blog. River Island, the British high street brand is renowned for offering its male and female customers unique, stylish and affordable fashion, every week! It’s my bestie-in-UK’s favourite label and I cannot wait to visit London again just so I can scout out the stores. In the video, you’ll see ridiculously handsome models clad in River Island apparel strut their stuff and shake their booties in a myraid of trendy outfits emulating famous movies. It is one part ditzy, two parts fashion, 100% amusing. But the best part is the River Island app. You can add in your friends’ faces to the video and see them dance. I warn you, you may get hard abs as a result of this exercise.

‘You’ve got the looks but have you got the moves‘? I was so smitten by the hilarious entertainment that I fell hard for its infectious frivolity, so much so that I’m proud to humiliate myself. I’m going to show you my moves. You may not know this, but dancing used to be my only form of exercise during uni days. And boy do I feel young again boogieing in jeans. Let’s twist again!

And now, it’s your turn. Embarrass your friends. Go on. Just click here. It’s a double dare.

Where: Local Park

Wear: Sara Phillips blazer, Gasparre Cashmere top, vintage necklace, Hermes belt, Wrangler jeans (similar pairs here), YSL ring and heels

Why: Sponsored Post. Happy Hump Day!

A few weeks ago I interviewed an international blogger (Eleonora Carisi) and a design prodigy, (Kathryn Beker) for you. This time, I dug a little deeper into my networks trying to think of someone else I deeply admire and respect… I nearly jumped out of my seat when Daniel, the Editor-in-Chief of Fashionising.com, popped into my head. Stylish, suave, articulate and insightful, Daniel shared words of wisdom about blogging with me at a Christmas event last year. What he informed me has helped shape Cecylia.com to be what it is today. Here I ask him to let us into the Fashionising world and pick his brain about digital media.

Tania (the stunning Editor of Fashionising) & Daniel at a Sailing Event

1. Hello Daniel! It’s always a pleasure to see you. I’ve known you for over a year now and you never cease to amaze me with your aptitude for online media and your drive for Fashionising.com. Could you tell us a little about your background and how Fashionising.com was born?

Hello and thank you – that’s high praise indeed. 

I’m a child of the digital age. I got my first computer before I could walk (it took casette tapes instead of discs and I promptly destroyed it). But I’ve never been a person who cared about what was on the inside – I’ve never been one to enjoy the bits and bytes, but rather the experience. What you can do with the technology has always interested me far more than what makes it tick.

And that interest of what you can do led me into Internet publishing in a roundabout way. I manually put together what you’d now call a blog (this was before WordPress or any system could do it for you) for the first time around 1998 and got into new media publishing some time around the year 2000. Back then I focussed on my love of cinema, and eventually I found my way into writing about the pleasures we can derive from dressing well. Dressing well has always been something that interested me in the sense of ‘what fashion can do for us’ as opposed to the ‘it has a designer name I simply must have it’ way of approaching the art. And so Fashionising.com was born.

Daniel & Tania at the Mesa launch

2. What strategies/platforms have you implented to make Fashionising.com one of its kind in the world?

One above all else: passion. I’m passionate about it and about the art of online publishing. And our whole team is passionate about what we do, how we do it, and where we’re going. I’m lucky in that Fashionising.com is made up of a small team of A players who really understand what we want to achieve.

If I had to offer up a more substantial answer (though I honestly can’t think of anything greater than passion) it’s that I always ensure that we remain conscious of the medium we work in. We publish digitally, and that means we always have to work to understand how digital publications are used and consumed. That changes year by year. When I started it was enough to have a web page, then you had to know something about search engines – today you not only have to mastered publishing, but you also have to master platforms such as Facebook, Foursquare, Instagram and Twitter. For publishers, these aren’t solely social media platforms but also publishing platforms, each requiring a different approach.

Tania, Daniel and I at the MLY Party

3. For most fashion bloggers, traffic is everything. What advice would you give to them to improve their blog content, readership and vision?

I think you nailed it with the last word. Vision. Have one. There are so many sites, whether they’re blogs or full blown publications, that lack a vision, that lack an auteur driving them forwards. You have to stand for something, and it has to be more than just ‘this is something I like’. Push boundaries or defend them, love something or hate it, but have a vision of what you represent, and make your site 100% about that.

And when you have that vision, represent it professionally. In this day and age of Instagram and status updates, there’s a feeling that things can be hastily put together. And that’s true of platforms like Instagram – no one is expecting art there; that’s not what Instagram is about. But your site has to be art. It has to be the pinnacle of what you do, and it has to look great for it. That’s not easy and it usually doesn’t come naturally, but you have to work on it.

Have vision and professionalism, and the readership will follow. We’ve never spent a cent marketing Fashionising.com – in this day and age you can grow a dedicated readership organically. But on this I’d like to go back to the first part of your question – “traffic is everything”. You’re right, for most bloggers that’s the measure of success or failure. It’s the number that drives them forwards. But it shouldn’t be. It’s an unnecessary influence upon people’s feeling of success and self worth. It’s an illusion. Traffic alone doesn’t pay the bills, get you vacation time or buy you nice stuff. Traffic alone doesn’t determine if you’re a success or a failure. As I always tell our team: I’d rather have a single dedicated reader and for he or she to be a billionaire than to have a million readers that are all paupers. The billionaire is always going to make you more successful; having a million people that aren’t helping pay for what you do will leave you with a number that can only stroke your ego.

Alan (Fashionising's Art Director), Tania and Daniel at LMFF

4. Thank you so much for your words of wisdom. Tell me Daniel, how does such a busy team at Fashionising unwind?

By practicing what we preach. I’ve always defined fashion as more than just clothes – it’s more about having a great life, a fashionable life. A life where, to totally nick a cliche, you walk the path less trodden. So though we don’t always get to write about it, we’re always unwinding by enjoying the world. In this month alone the majority of our core team will be weaving through the airports of Sydney, Hong Kong, Milan and Paris. We might not feature any content on a single one of these cities, but we’ll certainly enjoy every moment we spend in them.

Here’s the other trick to unwinding: love what you do so you don’t have to unwind in the first place. I live and breathe Fashionising.com, but I don’t consider any of it work. Ask people about work and they tell you it’s that thing they hate but begrudgingly do for the pay cheque. I love every second of what I do, seldom do I have something to unwind from.

Daniel and I at Fashion Fullstop last year

5. I completely agree, blogging is my only ‘job’ which is not a job because I adore it with my soul. So what is next for Fashionising.com in the next 6 months?

We celebrate our 5th birthday in 2012, so it’s a massive year ahead for Fashionising.com. It’s a year that I’d like to see us revisit our roots, take stock of where we’ve come from, and understand where we and the industry are going. We’re always looking at how we can improve our content without writing more of it (I’m a big believer in Fashionising.com being a digest of the day’s best ideas, as opposed to everything we can possibly write about), and we’ll open our London office this quarter. More importantly 2012 is a year in which I want us to give something back to the industry as a whole. The next few years will see the online fashion industry mature, and I hope that our team can bring our 5 years experience to the table and help in that natural process.

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Wow! A London office! Another reason to visit the hip Brit city. Thank you so much Daniel for taking the time out of your busy schedule to provide us with such insightful and inspiring answers. Hope to see you soon and happy 5th birthday to Fashionising!

I hope the interview helped answer some of your questions! What did you think?

With a confident nod to the future and a devoted eye on the past, Toni Maticevski charms fashion week once again. It’s almost become tradition for mouths to drop, hearts to go aflutter, and camera shutters to whir when his creations are sent down the runway every year. His SS12/13 collection fuses luxe fabrics from the 10s, ladylike silhouettes from the 40s and modern architectural contours to create an array of sophisticated garments with emphasizes on the shoulder, waist and hips. The peplum cemented itself as the venerable centre-piece, bringing courtly elegance back. Space-age angles, rich brocades and sexy sheers, Maticevski’s dresses embody glamour in the 21st century.

Toni Maticevski SS12/13

Did you notice the echo in the hero colour this season? See the Gary Bigeni show to find out which hue it is.

I just attended the Lisa Ho show, had cake brunch with hubby (it’s his birthday today!), blogged this, and now off to more shows. Keep up all the fashion week goss on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (Cecyliadotcom)! Have a fabulous day my love!

Yellow and blue, the 2 dominant bright hues seen on the runway of Gary Bigeni, brought sunny disposition to luxe sophistication. Last year, Bigeni’s collection was a contrast between the warm array of terra-cotta and cool turquoise jersey pieces draped in perfect fluidity. I recall caressing the silk fibers with my fingers at his showroom and silently applauding the ingenuity of his designs- totally wearable, utterly covetable. This season, Bigeni allows his own colourful personality to shine through. He communicates his SS12/13 collection through bold prints, exploding colors but translates his beloved silks and leathers into modern, understated silhouettes with sartorial splendor. Who knew that the drape master can also tailor like a Saville Row and color like Van Gogh?

Gary Gigeni Spring/Summer 12/13

Shoes by Tom Gunn

A favourite show from the 1st day of MBAFW, I hope you enjoyed the geometric prints and dazzling hues. I think I want the entire collection…

Did you spot Bryan Boy in the front row with his Jil Sander beanie? What did you think of Gary Bigeni‘s collection? Which are your favourite looks?