Julie Vaux

So I'm walking thru the city ... yes Sydney CBD having popped into the "Book Quarter" to pick up some catalogues ... which I pass on to our local library having drawn circles around the most promising items. Someone passes me a plastic bag with two items in it. I put in my shoulder bag to read on the train.

So what was in the bag? A fashion catalogue PRing Barkins Autumn 2010 designs and a copy of one of those "free" weeklies called Nine to Five. It was the February 8 2010 issue.

Now I dont expect to see any outstanding ad design in a weekly freebie type zine and there certainly wasnt ... especially the cover feature.

Cover photo tall skinny model POSING in moon gate in Chinese Gardens.

Page Five Tall skinny model POSING trying to look sexy in Chinese Gardens.

Pages 13 to 16 more of the same model POSING ... posing in very unrealistic distorted positions that suggested I should be emailing her or her agency the addie of my physio.

Oh and before the clan called Anonymous starts b***hing truly they were very unrealistic distorted poses and worse of all ... in most of the shots the posing HIDE the clothing!

The posturing did not draw one's eyes to the clothing.

So that was the BAD ad and the GOOD one that made the awfulness of the posing all the more obvious?

The Barkins catalogue was excellent. Simple Eyecatching A great page layout No exaggerated posturing just good well posed standing poses with a skillful use of shadow and light and stone backgrounds to draw the eye to both the model and the clothing.

The photographer stylist and model seem to have worked together to make the clothing look excellent and elegant and the result was a small compact sample of design that I hope some graphic design teachers will be showing their classes unlike the photo spread in the weekly.

I dont know anyone at Barkins but if anyone working there does read this blog my praises to the team who did the catalogue! Great Job Good Design.

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Virolution

February 4th 2010 05:12

VIROLUTION

FRANK RYAN

"Readable and disturbing" is oneof the two cover blurbs on this book.

And its spot-on accurate as a description. ... unlike some blurbs ...

This is a fascinating and challenging book about the latest developements and research into the role of viruses in evolution and biology. It does require a fairly high level of science knowledge though but its well worht the effort. Read tit and think and perhaps be a little afraid.

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Crowner Royal

February 2nd 2010 05:29

CROWNER ROYAL

Bernard Knight

Crowner John Mystery 13

John de Wolfe is now in London missing Exeter and Devon but not his wife who's taken herself off to the nunnery ... AGAIN ... tho he miss his dog Brutus. It's not long before he confronted with several murders and a robbery from a locked room to solve.

Visit London in 1196. A much smaller city but the crimes are just as deadly!

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Okay iPAD sounds cool BUUUT ...

February 2nd 2010 05:23

Okay iPAD sounds cool BUUUT ...

none of the reviews I have read so far cover these points

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Bright Hair About the Bone

January 28th 2010 04:49

Bright Hair about the Bone

Barbara Cleverly
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Blood Moon

January 26th 2010 05:06

Blood Moon

Marilyn Todd

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Purple Art

January 26th 2010 04:58

Some UNSOLD Purple Art.

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Seven things I learnt from January 2010 Vogue

January 24th 2010 07:42

Seven things I learnt from January 2010 Vogue

Vogue Australia that is

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TIGER SIGNS

January 20th 2010 01:41

Asian New Year is coming in February
and its the year of the Tiger!
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Don't Sleep, There are Snakes

January 20th 2010 01:21

Don't Sleep, There are Snakes

Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle

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Comment by Julie Vaux
on Jimmy Choo... and UGG?

January 20th 2010 01:07

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Oh dear muses!

I don't know whether to be relieved he's hopefully having the boots made in Australia and not China

(Does anyone know???)

or worried he'll ruin comfy uggs adding heels?

Comment by Julie Vaux
on UNDERWHELMED

January 7th 2010 05:16

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Thank You Journeywoman and Corry.

I wish I could report a late minute sales rush but alas no such luck!

The relative is still due to hav either radiation or chemo but they have delayed that until after they have a MRI scan.

Oh yeah and several of my relatives and acquaintances are SOOO not getting xmas cards on or off the web next year.

No Xmas messages by either email or snail mail from people who have web access and have incomes 3-5 or more times higher than mine? Sheesh!

Still feeling underwhelmed!?!

Comment by Julie Vaux
on Nina Garcia's 100 List

September 25th 2009 23:18

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I find it disturbing that you apparently think EVERY SINGLE ONE of the items Garcia lists are must haves?

Every single one of them?

If Garcia's List is an example then the fashion industry is just about encouraging people to waste money on clothes and other items that may or may not suit them so they can maintain the illusion of status and style.

I also find it disturbing that most of you self proclaimed fashionistas and style experts never seem to visit or comment on any of my art or bookblogs.

Style isnt just a knowledge of fashion and clothes.

The fashion industry only cares about the rich and the beautiful or those obsessed with such.

Where are the comments on my blogs about exploitation of outworkers?

While many of the items on this list are potential classics others of them are unnecessary luxuries.

Vanity is still a vice and trying to acquire every or most of th items on this list because a "Fashion expert" recommended them would be vanity!

When I review books I explain why you shold consider buying an itme or borrowing it form a library if you cant afford it and then have it to the reader to decide.

Buying every item in this list because its on a list by an 'expert" would be like some undergrad classics student with lots of money thinking owning every single Loeb and Penguin classic made them a classicist without actually reading the books!

No one needs every single item ...and many of those items are unneccesary luxuries not classics of anything.

Learn the difference between an essential and a luxury!

Comment by Julie Vaux
on Bones S5 promo pics

September 5th 2009 23:40

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Lovely

Many thanks for the pics!

i do join Bones. Whiel the "Jeffersonian" labs are clearly Kathy Reichs' version of "Lab Porn" the fantasy lab every pathologist craves this shows balance of comedy mystery romance and science has helped sustain interest in science in both genders and Boreanaz' chemistry with Duschanel is fun to watch!

Comment by Julie Vaux
on Suffering for fashion

August 27th 2009 06:45

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Gotta disagree.

I dont think we should suffer for fashion or style.

Shoes should not be a NON functional form of sculpture but great and beautiful designs that both flatter and support our feet regardless of what shape or style they are or your feet are!

About the gym. If you're feeling pain EVERY time you work out and you work out regularly you are either OVERdoing it or doing something wrong and need to see a physio.

I added Pilates stretches recommended by my physio to my mat warmups and switched from aerobics to hand weights and instea dof doing the heavier weights or a longer time on the treadmill I do more repetitions with lighter weights and I built up to higher gradients and speeds over a year.

I think people make the mistake of overdoing excerise hoping for fast results instead of focusing on fitness.

My sciaitica has been much better this year cos I stopped OVERDOING the excerise and fouced on fitness instea dof weight loss ... and the results less hip and joint pain and I lost weight anyway without being a gym junkie.

Likewise for clothes we need to use commonsense as a criteria and find looks we can wear with comfort and style.

Finally a point about high heels. You can realise one of the original reasons for shoes with high heels was to get womens' hemlines up and away from the mud and filth in streets with no pavements or regular street cleaning?

Masochism is not a healthy ideal and before people sya they have to right to choose cos its thier lives may I remind them nicotine and other junkies use the same or similar excuses.

Dont be addicts! Think about commonsense and comfort when you choose a style and be a mistress or master of style and not a victim!

Comment by Julie Vaux
on Freya Stark An Image

August 27th 2009 06:31

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I just hope her works will stay in print!

I have picked up a couple of her books second hand at library sales and the library did not replace them with a newer less damged copy!

Worrisome!

Comment by Julie Vaux
on What is Style?

July 24th 2009 07:52

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If its part of the essence of something then its inherent in the object and part of the form.

If so should we apply concepts like

"FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION"

and also it is part of an object then its physical as well as spiritual or metaphysical, concrete not merely concept?

Comment by Julie Vaux
on So you love frangipanis?

July 24th 2009 07:47

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Hopefully another dose of liquid food on the weekned will help

Comment by Julie Vaux
on Pattern mixing: The review

May 31st 2009 02:34

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It only works cos you have a matching base color that's dark and the floral motif doesnt cover the whole skirt.

My advice on pattern matching.

DONT

The number of people fashionistas or not who can get matching differing patterns is work is even lower than the number of peoplewho can fit into haut couture cos they had 6ft tall elves for ancestors?

Just dont!

I see so many near misses every day cos people try to pattern match and dont have enuff color sense to get it to work! ...Shudder and those are graphic design students!

Comment by Julie Vaux
on Oh no! Not the Shoulder Pads

May 22nd 2009 01:36

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The thing that annoys me the most about the return of the shoulder pad is the hypocrisy of reading articles and reviews by fashionistas that can be summed up as:

OOOH SHOULDER PADS ARE BACK OOOH!!!

The same people over the last coule of years were saying

OOOH THANK DEITY WE"RE FINALLY OVER BIG SHOULDER PADS OOOH

Big LONG Blazers could be useful though and I would like to see BIG LONG BLAZERS over say black tights and ankle boots?