get out your whistle! it's time for notting hill carnival PEOPLE!

Every August Bank Holiday weekend the largest festival in Europe takes place over 2 days (this year August 30 & 31) with more than 1 million revellers packing the streets of West London's Notting Hill. The event is definitely Caribbean in flavour with floats and food celebrating the culture of carnival and in particular Trinidad. 

Steel bands, reggae and the smell of spices fill the air. You can't help but be swept along with the sea of the dancing crowd, singing TRIN I DAD-TRIN I DAD. My bestie and I had an amazing time at carnival and I would mark it is one of our most memorable adventures in London.

We were warned by local Londoners about our safety at the event as the amount of crime during the street festival has been well, controversial.  The year of our attendance two men were actually shot, although we were completely oblivious and didn't find out until we read the papers the next day.

We didn't see any violence whatsoever just a whole lotta people gettin down and when I say gettin down I mean GETTIN DOWN. One minute your dancing and the next

Happy CARN I VAL peeps!

well her name is erin

Miss Wasson is one cool chick and THANK GOD to finally find someone with some style to rock the name Erin (other than me of course lol). I had searched long and hard for someone to look up to in the name game but every other Erin I knew of was well a little bit soft. All bunnies, brown skirts and library cards. I can unequivocally say the wait was worth it. This model, stylist and designer is elegant with an edge and I lOve lOve lOve her.

Check out her out

http://www.erinwasson.com/

and her new rock inspired designs at RVCA

http://www.rvca.com/advocates/?cat=6

RUSSH inspires

I picked up RUSSH today and had to share this editorial. It makes me ache for summer sun, balmy nights and bronzed skin. I know I'm getting impatient I know but perhaps a perfect pink pout can tide me over. The only speed bump the above is a custom blend for RUSSH using M.A.C Magenta Madness and White Lipmix. I better get blending.

sienna sienna sienna

I may have mentioned earlier the Sienna saturation that has hit our paper stands, the fashion 'it girl' does seem to be getting around (no pun intended, well maybe a little one). When I spotted her fourth September cover on British GQ I thought geez that's a bit much but funny thing I picked it up and flipped straight to her article. Why? Because she's cool.

Perhaps because of the recent media backlash, (all that business with Getty, really who cares) Miller has decided to turn it up a notch on the style stakes, making some bold choices for her GI Joe press run and looking fresh at the premiere of Vogue's The September Issue.

Her personal life may be picked over like roadkill but her fashion choices have always had her at the top of the game. Perhaps even to the point where she is predominantly known as a style icon rather than an actress. People at least put Interview with Steve Buscemi on your to do list. The girl's got game.

Miller also collaborates with her older sister Savannah on their label twenty8twelve named after Sienna's birthday.

http://www.twenty8twelve.com/

queen of cool

Kate (even too cool for a crack conviction) Moss launches her latest Topshop collection online tomorrow and I say strike while our little Aussie dollar is hot (well it's worth about 50p) and when delivery is only about 7 quid translation around $14, all I can say is ROCKnROLL!

http://www.topshop.com/

Don't forget to check out their Sale section because as the Brit's head into winter it makes for some sweet summer buys for us...

Banksy

Some say it's vandalism but Banksy is one graffiti artist who's work can be found from the streets of London to the West Bank Barrier in Palestine and even the back alleys of Melbourne. The cult of Banksy is only fueled by the artists anonymity (he knows how to play it cool) and his distinctive stenciling techniques that express alternative political views. Some believe he gives a voice to the people who inhabit the urban landscapes he chooses to paint. But you also might say he does it for a laugh or a smile in otherwise bleak surroundings.

The above is a picture I captured on my mobile at an exhibition of Banksy's work in Kensington, London over a year ago and here's what he has been up to lately

uber kruger

Diane Kruger has been blitzing the Inglorious Bastards press tour - the reason, because she's cool...

i Hart Jess

I SPOTTED Miss Hart on the city streets of Melbourne today, quite ironic since I had just seen her via my FOXTEL IQ on MTV's 'The City'. Looking pretty much exactly the same, all blonde hair and black leather. The girl has style, one that exudes a laid back glamour with an edge that is synonymous with the Australian aesthetic.

As I watched her walk on by (coveting her black leather jacket) I remembered I had this stunner of a Vogue cover from March 2008 gathering dust in the confines of my macbook. 

The cover sets Australian Vogue apart from its international sisters and epitomises Australian fashion. Fresh, simple and glamorous.

because if anyone has that 'je nai sais quoi' it's Depp

Seen here in last month's Vanity Fair is the man who is the epitome of cool actually he may be the one exception to the notion that 'coolness' is subjective. Ask any man, woman or child (Jack Sparrow is so cool he even had Keith Richards as a father) and their answer will be the same, they love him because he just is so cool...

the spring/summer collections...

It's that time of year again when the days are getting longer, the sun begins to outshine the rain and carrying your favourite fashion magazines may cause a hernia. Sienna is dominating the covers and the palette for summer is looking distinctively light.  It's a little bit rock with a whole lot of soft rolls.  Nude layers and statement shoulders, thanks to the 'lust have' Balmain (props baby props). 

Camilla & Marc's Spring Summer 2009/10 collection is a perfect example of this with nearly everything on my my wish list for hot summer nights of cocktails on rooftops. Beautifully light with flecks of gold and silver whilst statement black make for depth of light and shade. Not to forget the hottest boots of the season in leopard or of course nude! because it's cool...

http://www.vogue.com.au/fashion+shows/australian/camilla+and+marc+2009+10,s3347

tres cool Alexa Chung

Like many gen y's I headed for my 'right of passage' to the mother country, London, England. She was a cruel mistress with her lousy weather and horrible food but she did make up for it with asos.com, Topshop and Miss Alexa Chung.

Chung epitomises London Street chic mixing the high street and designer in a very 'I just threw this on' too cool aesthetic. In 2009 she was awarded Best TV Presenter for both the Elle Style and Glamour Awards.

Only a whisper in our ears down under she graced nearly every cover of every magazine, newspaper and weekly in my 16 month stint in the UK. It was an Alexa overload!

Shortly after arriving home my eye began to twitch when I realised the it girl was gone with only a few scant sightings across our pages. To get my fix I now have to fork out into the double digits for a UK Grazia or Look magazine or when I'm feeling desperate I'll even take a quick hit from Google images. All I can say is; it must be that je nai sais quoi...