by tealady on August 21, 2011
I sometimes overlook the fact that when I am struggling for visual ideas for my graphic design briefs I just need to open my eyes and look around me. My life is full of design that appeals to me. some deliberate, some accidental.
I walked out of my office one day to find this discarded Big J bottle sitting just outside the doorway. Given my name starts with J, I was instantly smitten with the idea that the bottle was waiting for me Big J (yes I am tall) to claim my rightful old empty soft drink bottle. Not that I have ever actually had to my recollection ever tasted Big J soft drink. I think I would have remembered if I had.
The design is wonderful circles and j’s, red and white. That’s what I call great packaging design. A glass bottle, for a better taste and a truly recyclable bottle. Why does softdrink now come in plastic? I do not really like that design idea, some things are great in plastic, but not beverages.
Some more life design. That is things in our everyday life that says ‘design’ to me.
Antique cotton lace table cloth from a vintage fair about to be refashioned into a jacket.
A little car that is truly great design. Stylish, functional and and still running like a dream after 30 years. I am not sure how many cars today can be filled with fuel for under $20.
Our favourite tv show.
A beautiful bird in Lake Wendouree.
An amazing salad made from leftovers, makes for a memorable and tasty dinner.
by tealady on July 16, 2011
Next to a decent pair of shoes a stylish coat is all you need to exude presence when you step out into the world in winter. I guess I always kept this in mind when heading out my front door, but it did prompt me to think it a detail important enough to blog about when I was perusing through a 1938 catalogue for Best and Less. I am assuming not the same incarnation of the discount chain ‘Best n Less’ that operates in Australia today, if I am wrong, which I may well be, then our standards of ‘Less’ have sunk to all new lows (not Lowes another discount chain), which now that I think about it may well be the case…
Back to my reflections on wearing a coat. If all you need is a good pair of shoes and a coat, anything else seems to me superfluous. Am I alone in thinking that a coat can be your entire garment? Last winter I bought a black wool coat in a Russian military style, it had black epaulets, double breasted buttons, a high collar and a belt that tied at the waist. It was so warm I would wear it as my main garment with black stockings and black knee high boots. It made me feel bold and ready for adventure, I could have been on assignment for the KGB. It really was more a dress for me than a coat. In fact I once popped it on with jeans then took it straight off, it looked odd.
Perusing the old Best and Less catalogue made me wonder if perhaps back in the 1930′s women wore coats as their main garment also. It certainly does look so stylish.
It makes sense for a garment such as a full length fur. Just in order to get around without feeling like an overweight grizzly bear. Then there’s the trench coat. This practical garment already attracts spy/mystery connotations, why not wear it as your garment to add intrigue to your outing?
With their dramatic glances toward each other, it seems as if these two ladies know something we don’t. Loving the dramatic sleeves and collars on these coats.
Outwitting the weather by wearing a trenchcoat with style cues from little red riding hood seems a little girly and a little grandma at the same time. However the proofed garbardine trench coat is a timeless statement, notice the only evidence of any other clothing being the scarf.
Wearing the swing coat with a dress or trousers underneath would take some of the fun out of swirling about in this wonderful garment. The cape like design of the hood looks great, I am not usually partial to hoods.
This coat is quite dress-like. Practical elegance, an outfit suitable to wear to the office perhaps? Then on the very first page following the coats, as if to confirm my theory regarding what the models were actually wearing under their coats was this image.
