Fenji and Street Smith playing round

So it has been a little while since I've posted any outfits, or looks I've done with Street Smith! I love her photos and they always make me feel good when I look at them! Most likely cause Liz, the creative behind the amazing website and photography blog, is so damn talented!! These shots were taken at the beginning of winter, when the sun still had a litttttttle bit of warmth to it. Not much though!! I'm wearing one of my favourite Alice McCall dresses from her collection, 'The Imaginarium of Kitty Leroy - Autumn / Winter 2013.' The dress is known as the 'Mis-Cue Dress' and it's a beautiful printed silk. Originally $320, it's now on sale for $230.30 and is available to purchase online HERE. Love a good bargain!! I'm also wearing one of my many 'go-to' black blazers (you can never have to many!), this one is by Dion Lee and is such a staple of mine. Then I have LIFEwithBIRD wedges on that I picked up at the sale for $70!! so comfy and such a bargain!! And lastly my Assad Mounser bracelet/necklace with my staple sterling silver rings. Probably a bit to cold to be wearing dresses now- but only a couple of months till summer again! xx :) xxx

LIFEwithBIRD Warehouse SALE!!!

Well it's that time of year again... SALE TIME!! Gotta love a good bargain. Each time my sister Bird (of LIFEwithBIRD- did I need to write that or was that just silly cause it's obvious!?) has a warehouse sale, I always put my hand up to work for that little bit of extra cash. Yet every time I work, I walk away with no cash in my wallet- just a hell of a lot of amazing bargains I end up buying instead! It's always the same, every time. There's a few of us that have all worked together over the last few sales and they always hear me say 'This time I'm not buying anything!' But I just can't help it.. When your surrounded by beautiful clothing for a really cheap price- it's just to hard to say no! So I have already worked a couple of days and made no money, I've just added to my wardrobe. Sorry mum. She is always telling me to stop spending all my money and start saving. Anyway if you are in Melbourne I highly recommend popping your head in to the sale as you are bound to find something! All details are below- maybe I'll see you there as I still have a couple more shifts- and I'm still planning on taking home a little bit of money- wish me luck, cause I definitely need it!! 

The 'Click for Info' on the image takes you HERE. There is up to 90% off which is just amazing and the stock is Past season, samples, shoes and accessories. You still have 6 days to make it down there so don't stress if you haven't made it yet as there is plenty of great pieces to get snapped up!!! The opening hours are as follows for the next 6 days;

Mon 13th-Thurs 16th 10-6pm
Fri 17th 10-8pm
Sat 18th 10-6pm
Sun 19th 11-5pm
Mon 20th 9-12pm 

And just incase you are wondering Cash and Card are accepted! Don't miss out :) xxx

Life with Bird, Lavazza and LMFF.

Lavazza is known for it's beautiful coffee and also for being heavily involved with the fashion industry. Having sponsored LMFF for the past five years, the internationally recognised brand has also worked with some of fashions elite, such as Roberto Cavalli, Moschino and Missoni. 

In 2013, Lavazza has teamed up with Melbourne based label LIFEwithBIRD (yes my sister Bridget and husband Nicholas Messners label- very proud little sister!)  to produce a giant printed Lavazza coffee cup with the famous LWB 'caterpillar' print. Not only this, but international Lavazza ambassador, singer, and former reality tv star Caggie Dunlop, who recently moved from London to Sydney, flew down to Melbourne to join my fellow devotee Jasmin Howell from Friend in Fashion, my sister Bridget and Nicholas of LIFEwithBIRD and I (who were all dressed in the latest AW13 collection, ‘Wild Species Dark Love’), on the morning of March 19th, to unveil the mega sized cup, along with the Lavazza A Modo Mio Lounge- a pop up cafe open at Central Pier, throughout the festival. Lavazza also supplied mini coffee cups with the caterpillar print on them that were sooooo cute!! It honestly is such a great collaboration which I feel blessed to of been apart of, but also to be involved in the festival myself as a devotee is amazing. I have to say, I did feel very special being involved in mornings event. It was such a perfect morning, with unbelievable weather and we were surrounded by such a great bunch of people, which was lots of fun. Caggie was very down to earth and we had a bit of a laugh and lots of fun playing around being silly for the photographers and guests who came along. When you think about it, Melbourne is known for its coffee and for it's fashion, so it really makes perfect sense that the two would collaborate- and what better time then during the L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival. Even though this happened just under a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to share this with all of those who couldn't make it down to the festival to check it out. All clothes worn by Caggie, Jasmin, Bridget and myself are available to purchase online HERE. I am totally in love with the 'Young Love Dress' that I was wearing, which retails for $365. Made from pure silk and in the most beautiful colour, as well as a sexy smoke colour and then also the striking caterpillar print as well. It is truly flattering on the body and I felt so comfortable wearing it! There's actually a lot I could buy from the latest LWB AW13 collection… I have to be careful, cause otherwise I might end up broke!! 
The first nine photos below are sourced from Couturing (taken by photographer Gemma Watts). Then the photos in the middle I took on my Cannon G12. The last photo was sourced from the beautiful Nadia Coppolino's blog Chronicles of Nadia - photographed with Nadia Coppolino, Trent Knox from Lavazza, myself, Jasmin and stylist Lana Wilkinson. 

Fenji Style Time at LMFF.

So I am lucky enough to get dressed by some of my favourite Australian designers for LMFF this week (including my sisters, of course!). Here are 4 of the outfits I will be wearing during the week. I also have many more amazing outfits by labels Friend of Mine and Lottie Hall, however don't have the photos of these yet to show you. All the outfits below are shot by the very talented and amazing Liz of Street Smith, of course! Anyway, below I am wearing Kirrily Johnston in the first outfit. I wore this to the opening night and got so many compliments!! I am in love with it.. It's a classic style, that won't date and I always love a touch of animal print. The leopard is like pony fur and feels so soft to touch!! I couldn't stop patting myself all night when I was wearing it!! Then outfit two is designed by my sister Bridget McCall and husband Nicholas Messner for LifeWithBird. The pants are the 'caterpillar' print and it is the print that you can see on the large Lavazza cup down at the festival. Bridget collaborated with Lavazza to design the extra large cup this year and it looks amazing! The I am wearing the 'Islands shirt' in sandstone, which is beautiful and something you would get so much wear out of!! I paired that outfit with my other sisters exclusive one off 'Alice McCall' boots which never went into production so are very special! I just love the colour.. Not many bright pink boots around, thats for sure! I also decided that I should wear my bright blue bag that my sister Alice bought me for my birthday from a Hong Kong market… Just go super colourful for a bit of a change.. The third outfit is another Kirrily Johnston dress which is so hot!! It feels amazing to wear and you can't go wrong with a little black dress! Wearing it with my mums vintage leather bag and Tony Bianco studded leather boots. Love them! I have already worn those to death and get compliments on them every time! Last I have on my other sisters design Alice McCall dress which is in store now.. How cute is it! I wore this to the opening event and everyone loved it… You can make it dressy or casual which is always a bonus!! I just paired this with my Tony Bianco boots again and my LifeWithBird leather bag. Anyway, hope you like the outfits and I'll get some more pics of the other outfits up soon! xxx

Masters & Apprentices

So on Friday 8th of March (International Women's day for those of you who weren't aware- fun fact for the day), I went to the 'Masters & Apprentices' runway show as part of the L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festivals cultural program for 2013. The Australian Academy of Design invited 6 top fashion design students and recent graduates to participate in the show, as both homage to the Australian fashion icons that have mentored them and a departure point for their new directions in fashion. The six interns were drawn from the following fashion elites; starting with the names of the interns, there was Carly Harman for Alex Perry, Samantha Tibbles for Anna Campbell, Paige Carroll for Mariana Hardwick, Michelle Catling for Nevenka, Joseph Jang for Yeojin Bae and last but definitely not least Melita De Jong for my sisters label LifeWithBird (designed by my sister Bridget McCall/ Messner and husband Nicholas Van Messner).

Annie Cabral, the Creative Director gave a welcome speech and then introduced Alex Perry, who was a guest speaker at the event and welcomed all of us with a speech about how amazingly talented these six students are, and how hard each of them have worked to get to where they are today. He mentioned how although the fashion industry is seen as glamourous, it really is only a small percent as the hard work that goes into producing collections can, and often does result in blood, sweat and tears. Funnily enough, he talked about how in his office, he loves to swear and it is a second language that is spoken when things are stressful and full on (which is pretty much all the time). Anyway, it was a great introduction which had us all laughing and excited for the show while taking our minds off the fact it felt like we were all sitting in an oven, roasting. It was such a hot night (still about 30 plus degrees at 8:30pm), that we were all very anxious for the show to get under way. 

The fashion industry is one of the toughest industries to succeed in and only a small minority of designers can claim they have 'made it,' and make a comfortable living from it. While some designers are lucky enough to get their labels started with great opportunities, the generosity of great fashion mentors can provide new and emerging Australian designers the opportunity to learn a great deal from their talent and experience. The 'Masters & Apprentices' runway demonstrated the result of the students raw potential, teamed with the leading Australian designers experience and flair to produce some truly amazing results. The six recent graduates presented to us, showcased the fruits of their learning in a successful and inspiring runway show that left me excited for our young and upcoming talented Australian designers.

The runway took place at the Academy of Design in Ingles street, Port Melbourne, which is an amazing and beautiful building and was filled with fashion and creativity- it was so inspiring to be able to walk around and check out all the amazing work on display. From sculptures, to photographs to stunning designs by the mentors, the night, was in my mind a complete success. We were welcomed with drinks of champagne, wine, beer (or in my case strawberry & pear cider- so good!), canapés and there was an amazing group of three girls, two singers and one on the keyboard, singing cover songs such as Alicia Keys 'New York.' The girls had such powerful, mesmerising voices- they gave me goose bumps!

The show went really well with each student showcasing between four and six outfits (I got a little confused at one point, but pretty sure thats how it went!?). Of course I loved Melita's (from Life With Bird) designs, as although I may be bias- it is one of my favourite labels! You could see that each of the interns had hints of their mentors looks in their designs which isn't surprising as some of the internships went for a period of 6 months. I also loved Michelle Catling (Nevenka's intern) and then Calry Harman from Alex Perry was extremely impressive. There were a few pieces that were a bit too cheeky and a little too sheer, but at the end of the day, we were at a runway show, and as it goes- the designers don't plan or intend for whats on the runway to convert straight onto a look that is to be worn on the street. There is supposed to be that WOW factor, something that catches your eye and stays in your mind after the show has finished. Well it worked! All in all I was very impressed and won't be surprised if each of the six go on to have very successful careers in the industry.

At the end of the night we received amazing gift bags sponsored by Grossi filled with Phillips headphones, Grossi spice mix, Klara mineral foundation and a beautiful pen by Zetta Florence. Then on departure we were also given a cute little box from 'Little Bertha' with cupcakes, meringues, gingerbread biscuits and a 'to die for' chocolate brownie inside! Every sweet was mouth watering and I pretty much inhaled them.

As we were walking past Alex Perry I just had to ask for a photo, thinking it probably wouldn't happen. He'd been getting hounded for a good 15 minutes for photos from the minute the runway finished and was in the hallway on his way out. I said, 'Alex can we please take a quick photo,' and little do you know, he turns around! So Sandra's holding her iPhone and I'm thinking we need a shot with the three of us, so I'm looking around and say 'I need someone to take it.' Alex grabs the phone off Sandra, flips the screen view so its facing us and takes a SELFIE!! He was in the middle with Sandra and I on either side and the first photo was a tiny bit blurry, so he took another! Funniest moment and totally unexpected.. We had photographers behind us taking photos of it. What a legend. It was so hot as well and we were all crowded in the hallway trying to shuffle out. Anyway, love a team player and my opinion of him has just gone up!

So here are some photos from the night below. I hope you enjoy (The last photo is really blurry but just had to include it anyway!!) xx