Closeted desire

Wardrobe space has never really been an issue for me. Well, that is until I moved to London. In my previous apartment I had a gloriously big double wardrobe with plenty of space and huge overhead shelves as well as a separate hanging rack for my ongoing designing projects and a tall set of drawers for jumpers and knickers e.t.c.

Now I find myself in a very cute, but also very much smaller apartment. And like everything space-wise in London, my wardrobe space is currently at a premium. I only arrived with two suitcases, and I certainly haven't been shopping to my full potential since arriving, yet my wardrobe is literally bursting at the seams. I've made an assessment and believe that the issue is two-fold:

(1) For the first time since co-habiting with my (very lovely) boyfriend we are forced to share not only a wardrobe, but also a set of drawers. And he has plenty of clothes - especially suits, ties and shirts, so we are having to be even-stevens about the wardrobe space. Despite my best efforts at sharing, my clothes have already started to encroach on his space.

(2) I have a lot of items that need hanging - dresses, coats, skirts. I thought I was so clever rolling all this little things into my suitcase, packing them in super tightly and paying scant attention to baggage weight limits. Now I'm forced to admit that despite having very few winter clothes with me, I really do have more than enough summer clothes to last out the season and need to put off further purchases until there is more space to store things.

Unfortunately, the close confines these garments are currently residing in mean that every time I want to wear something I have to re-iron it. Clearly the situation is not working for me.

The solution is clear. Obviously I need another wardrobe. Thankfully, the bedroom can probably accommodate a closet with some (hopefully minimal) juggling of furniture.

So I am currently researching some options for a new wardrobe space. While my options will probably be limited to Ikea (since we are renting and all), during my research I noticed New York magazine has done a great series on New Yorker's wardrobes.

{photo from www.nymag.com}

I absolutely fell in love with Anna Sui's "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" closet which is in fact a room with a closet placed in front of it. The back of the closet has been removed to create a door way through to the walk in space, so fantastic!

{other photos above from www.ikea.com}

Heading for a fall

Maybe its because I've had two back-to-back summers coming to London from New Zealand, but I am really getting exciting about the upcoming change of season. Every time I crack open a new magazine, I get a little tingly at the thought of what I will be wearing come September (or even sooner, given the weather in London at the moment!). As I am unfortunately still without a sewing machine, I will be purchasing a little more than I previously have. Especially as I arrived here with just two suitcases - not a lot of room for winter woollies.

So here are just a couple of my early picks for fall purchases....

miu miu heels - loving the sculptural heels that so many designers are doing this season. I think these would make a great 'investment' for the season.

karen walker dress - NZ designer bias showing already I'm afraid, this dress is from Karen's 'Angels' collection. Also loving the oversize woolly pompom hat. Alternatively, if I can't get hold of this dress over here in London easily, I might pay a visit to Liberty to pick up a gorgeous floral print for a bit of DIY action once I get my sewing machine.

{both photos courtesy of www.style.com}

gap wool blazer - noticed this one in the Sunday Times Style section today. Hoping its a good quality, yummy soft wool basic. Note: I hate the way its styled here over some miserable looking shirt, absolutely horrible (so horrible in fact I almost wasn't going to include it). I much preferred the styling shown in Sunday Times, which gave it more a Marc Jacobs, minimalist sort of feel (not able to provide that picture annoyingly, as I threw the paper away, and I'm not sure where the Times got their picture from). I will be buying it slightly oversize if I can get away with it in the shoulders and will be wearing mine as a base for some brighter colours - emerald, midnight blue or fuchsia maybe.

{photo from gap.com (sigh)}

Once upon a time....

Once upon a time there was a girl who lived a very lovely life in New Zealand. She lover her home, her family and her friends. She was very happy indeed.

Then one night, as she was deep asleep, she had an amazing dream. She dreamt of tall buildings and of bustling cities. Of glittering city lights and fashion runways. Of seeing all the people and places she had spent her whole life reading about in the pages of magazines, and books and watching in films.

When she awoke the next morning, she realised she wanted to follow those dreams. So she decided the time had come to venture out into the big wide world. She packed up her life into two suitcases, and hopped on a flight to London.

This is the story of what happened next....