Urban Jungle {a House of Avalon collaboration} : part 1.

{Top - C&M by Camilla and Marc; jacket - She Inside; skirt - Backstage from Adrenalin boutique; shoes - YSL; necklace - Pree Brulee} 

Images by Maleika Halpin of House of Avalon {please do drop by and send her a kiss for me} <3 

Apologies for the unexplained absence of late ... this week has been a flurry of meetings, endless to-do lists, soirees with lovely company ... and of course, shift work. The beautiful chaos of it all, and now, a slower pace with an extended weekend, which will be filled with planning for a Parisian sojourn, a few career decisions to be made, and more pretty collaborations in progress ...

This series was shot by my beautifully talented friend Maleika of the gorgeous blog House of Avalon. This is quite a different aesthetic to my other blog posts but I adore the urban landscape against a few of my favourite sartorial pieces of the moment - I love that Maleika is able to encapsulate not only an outfit behind the lens, but also a story ... to be continued.

Much love, Mandy. xx

goodbye, summer.

{Kaftan - Sabo Skirt; skirt - All Saints}

Dear summer, 

Thank you for the warm daydreams and golden dewy skin ... for the softly sunkissed evenings that linger until bed time ... for all those balmy nights saved by the diaphanous flutter of the ocean breeze ... for languidly carefree mornings tousled in white linen and dappled golden light ... and for leaving all our troubles far, far away... 

I hope you travel safely as you light up the rest of the world. 

Much love, Mandy. xx

{P.S. this outfit is essentially the summer equivalent of this} 

Photos by my favourite Tanya Constantino. <3

London : {retrospective photo diary}.

{Photos captured and edited by yours truly & John Li}

Finally, amid the wonderful humdrum that is life, I found a few moments to sift through forgotten images from last year's overseas sojourn to London - little realising at the time that this would be the start of a long, irrevocable love affair with this beautiful city with its abundance of life's most irresistable entities (melliferous afternoon teas, boutiques brimming with laconic London labels, Chelsea flower stalls that stand as purveyors of the most perfect peonies I've ever seen, that gorgeous lilt of the English accent, and of course, the friends that were made along the way)...

Much love, Mandy. xx

midnight snack : organic caramelised figs.

My snack of choice all throughout the last summer : ripened organic figs from the local farmer's markets drizzled with a liberal coat of agave nectar, caramelised in the oven at 160 degrees Celsius until they gloss into a high sheen. Would equally be as lovely to indulge on cold winter nights, perhaps with an ample pot of warm chocolate fondue in the darkest hue nearby...

Much love, Mandy. xx

net-a-porter on a budget.

Natalia Vodianova by Centro for the Naked Heart Foundation

Black // Red

Stumbled upon these beauties designed by Natalia Vodianova on my weekly Net-a-Porter trawl and instantly became smitten with the scalloped edges, vertiginous metal heel, and buttery suedes ... 

The clincher? These darlings are only 29 pounds and proceeds are donated to the Naked Heart Foundation. Hurry along because, after all, there is no lovelier style than altruism. :)

Much love, Mandy. xx

A few lovely things.

               (YSL Tribute pumps // inspiration journal c/o Pree Brulee // Tony Bianco stilettos)

A few things to swoon over : a vertiginous pair of leather capped YSLs in a nude suede to elongate the legs; a journal to pen all of one's pretty thoughts for the day; and the slinkiest pair of minimalistic black patent sandals to be worn with absolutely everything...

Much love, Mandy. xx

snow white.

(Skirt - All Saints Spitalfields; knit - Sabo Skirt; earrings - Lane Crawford)

Photos by Love Yaz - the only person I know who can create a beautiful winter day from an Australian spring. <3

Tonight seems to be one of those balmy evenings where summer refuses to retire without a statement (vacillating between humidity and intense pluvial episodes). On such days, I find it invigorating to be reminded that somewhere in the vast world, there are houses perfectly capped with soft tufts of alabaster snow, children playing with the crunch of ice beneath their boots, and pensive souls enjoying the serenity of the arctic chill...

Much love, Mandy. xx

Clash and harmony collaboration, part three.

(Wearing all Joveeba)

Photos by the beautiful Clash and Harmony.

Even despite the most vigorous attempts to abandon my infantile predilections, my adult (loose term, admittedly) life can be described most accurately as the summation of my childhood instincts. I still adore weekly ice cream runs (with an impossibly unrelenting fascination at the rainbow-flavoured variety), call my mum every day to recall the day's events and lament over the fact that I'm not allowed a puppy, and am still entirely convinced that I was placed on this beautiful planet to become an eye surgeon; all common denominators of the childhood version of myself. 

At a sartorial level, it has taken me quite possibly a good few years to ensure that my wardrobe didn't evolve into a deluge of various gradients along the pink spectrum but sometimes when I stumble upon such a saccharine piece like this pink knit top, I simply must succumb to my sweet tooth and all those candy-filled days of a halcyon youth...

I also did a little interview with the delightful Cindy from Clash and Harmony! You can find out more about the story behind my blog here. 

Much love, Mandy. xx

{recipe} : summer chocolate mousse.

I woke up this morning to the sudden realisation that summer is quickly dissipating, implicating a finite time limit to my summer-inspired blog posts that have been patiently pending. The bigger implication, however, is that I have been working as a doctor for four grand weeks now and that those tumultuous series of night shifts and erratic work hours feel like a euphoric haze of realised longstanding dreams. I'm not going to deny the fact that I return home utterly exhausted, mentally and physically, but there's a such a glorious satisfaction in knowing you've find your calling because you cannot conceive the possibility of life any other way.

Anyhow, onto more frivolous matters ... this dessert. I think chocolate is perhaps one of the less favourable dessert options during the sweltering summer days as it cloys too easily, and in my case, an inadvertent omission of mint leaves in the white chocolate mousse layer meant that the overall flavours were far too saccharine. The summer berries, however, are not only a lovely seasonal touch to an otherwise basic dessert but are also mandatory for their added acidity. 

In some ways, this dessert is deceptively simple - basically three different permutations of chocolate and cream with the dark chocolate mousse layer, white chocolate mousse layer, and the dark chocolate ganache but you do need time and patience to execute this. I am quite particular about the aesthetic element of the dessert so I was a little disappointed at the lack of congruity between the layers, but this can easily be rectified in the future with the use of a stalwart piping bag. 

I think I would still save chocolate desserts for the chiller months but this is still a worthy idea to keep in your dessert repertoire for laid-back summer soirees! 

Much love, Mandy. xx

gilded.

(Top - Viktoria & Woods; shorts - c/o She Inside; cardigan - vintage from American Rag; bag - Mimco; sandals - Tony Bianco)

On my last sojourn to Melbourne, I was traipsing by the Yarra River en route to the perfect ice cream purveyor on one of those exquisitely gorgeous afternoons - I had just finished my conference and the river was scintillating with the warm afternoon sun. I don't usually have an affinity for vintage stores (fossicking for sartorial gems amid derelict interiors have little appeal for my time-impoverished self) but there was something about American Rag with its quintessentially American charm that had me drawn to its glorious array of meticulously hand-sewn sequined cardigans and utterly beguiling dresses from bygone eras. I was instantly enamoured by this gilded confection and was so delighted with my new purchase that I completely bypassed the ice cream store...

Photos by my favourite Tanya Constantino. <3

Much love, Mandy. xx 

Wish list : be my valentine.

Samantha Wills gift cards // Jordan Askill double heart ring // Rosamosario silk lace robe // Kitchen Aid stand mixer // Nicholas metal cap stiletto // Diptique candle // Byredo parfum // L'Avion fawn scarf // Vanessa Bruno waffle knit 

Boyfriend entirely optional. Ample credit card imperative.

Much love, Mandy. xx

Clash and Harmony collaboration, part two.

Wearing all Joveeba <3 

Photos by the exquisitely talented Cindy from Clash and Harmony.

Australia, such a land of polarities. It is so peculiar to think that only the day before I was shooting with Clash and Harmony, I was in the exact location at Sydney's Bondi Beach experiencing 42 degrees (Celsius) heat. How apt then that we ended up shooting pieces from Joveeba's gorgeous impending autumn/winter collection with the perfect backdrop of ominous skies...

See more of the images from the shoot here.

Much love, Mandy. xx