“If Armani dressed everyone in the world there would no wars only events”
“Diamonds are a girl’s best friend so this is my way in ” P.Diddy on wearing them
“A Muriel’s wedding for TV ” UK Vogue description of KathnKim! Ha!
“I’m going to look like that at his age” Demi looking at spunky 69 yr old Armani
“You better because I’ll only be 55″: Ashton Kushter looking at Demi
“Silvio Berlusconi liked Italy so much he bought the country” The New Yorker
“I was lucky I think I was mostly water” model Liya on losing weight after kids
“You can tell the age of people these days by the way they dance and if they use vowels in emails” (what about spelling?)
‘Master and Commander were it not a movie could be a power point seminar presentation” ‘New York Times

What do you absolutely need to have this week? The must have French market basket with leather handles! Perfect for the beach, great for picnics and so chic with a pretty summer dress a la Jane Birken. First spied years ago at Simon Johnson for $50, I’ve seen them at My Island Home and The Bay Tree for $45 but always on the case for chic but cheap I have found them at the Bondi Health Emporium for $29! Spend the money you save on oils to create more abundance!

I don’t wear them and I don’t need them and I’ll never use them but Oh I want to BUY them! And why not share my hot find of the week? My scoop? Fabulous rustic wooden rakes, twig brooms $108 and shovels for $218 (big!) exactly like the French ones all crooked and raw but found lonely in a corner of Harvey Norman!

When you are a superb athlete such as myself you are always after the best make up! Yes something that can handle the pace and the hard slog so you look fabulous even when performing under enormous pressure. Now I’ve just got to find it! But I have found Ponds tinted moisturiser sunscreen. Why waste your snazzy foundation when you can whack this on for half the price! Great for sporty days when you need the coverage of a foundation and the protection of a sunscreen $10.

Clare Danes is making the movie of Steve Martin’s book Shop girl

Madonna will star in the film of her kid’s books and is launching a line of toys. There will be an American TV version of The Office!

Alec Baldwin will play Halston in the movie called ‘Simply Halston’ Crickey!

Carson from Queer eye is on the cover on Vanity Fair!! (& other poofs) headlined “TV’s Gay heat wave”

Tom Ford may be going to Hollywood post Gucci (to get into the Gay heat wave?)

Armani is doing the wardrobe in the Cole Porter movie ‘De Lovely’

Alec Baldwin and Mike Myers are doing the movie of The Cat in the Hat
Versace is using a model NOT a celebrity for their next campaign shot by Steven Meisel and styled by Brana Wolf

Renzo Piano is designing the New York Times Tower and it will be transparent!

Gap has hired the creative director of Marc by Marc Jacobs as head designer
Christian Tortu the Parisian Florist (you knew that!) has designed for Limoges
Prada has sponsored 6 ski schools including ones in ST Moritz and Verbier.

http://www.earthcam.com
Spy on the rest of the world! Type Paris into search and Voila you are there! Check the temperature, time and all sorts of things formidable!

http://www.travelandleisure.com
A fantastic website from the magazine Travel and Leisure (funnily enough!) As good as buying the magazine (high praise from a magazine junkie!) Read the great article on St Barts ” it’s a private club posing as a Caribbean Island” Go to www.tlfamily.com for more scoops on traveling with kids.

Oliver Hudson Goldie Hawn’s son is dating Sharon stone.
Christy Turlington and Ed Burns had a baby girl called Grace.
Kate Moss broke up with Jefferson Hack months ago! And is about to turn 30
Jennifer Garner the star of Alias is making a training video for the real CIA and she said in W “it makes me feel so American” bless!
Nicole just about admits she dating Lenny Kravitz and is planning a big Christmas party to announce her engagement! Oh my god!
Julie Andrew pays for the Christmas lights in Gstadd (The sound of money?)
Kylie admits she had a breakdown last year.
Kate Rothschild married Ben Goldsmith (shotgun Darl Shotgun!)
Hugh Grant has secretly been dating ‘a United Nations Worker’ for 3 years

Windows on the World by French philosopher Frederic Beigbeder is the hot read, won all sorts of prizes but it is only available in French (on Amazon) but it sounds incredible. About “a divorced real estate agent from Texas, takes his two young sons for breakfast at Windows on the World, the restaurant on the 107th floor of the north tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. When the first plane hits, he tries to convince his sons that the attack is a game. The short chapters are devoted to every minute between 8:30 and 10:29 as he reflects on the vagaries of life, love and happiness” from WWD.
Diana Mosley: Mitford Beauty, British Fascist, Hitler’s Angel by Anne de Courcy. The biography of Diana Mitford, this was only published after her death in August and if it is anything like De Courcy’s previous book The Viceroys Daughters about the Curzon sisters it will be a fantastic read

CHRISTMAS LIST:
Over The Top: Helena Rubinstein Extraordinary style.
Town and Country ran shots from the book and it looks incredible, her story is fascinating and she has great quotes! “ I bought it for a song but it took me a whole opera to fix it” about her Paris flat
Island Style: India Hicks’ book on her spectacular home in the Bahamas where her famous father the interior designer David Hicks has a house (now for rent. Check it out at http://www.savannahwindermereisland.com. (longest address in history)

ECONOMY
Hear ye Hear Ye! Grace Bros have the best selection of swimwear with a fantastic selection of cool swimsuits such as C design, Zimmerman and Nike. Check out the new Speedos one with a high neck and some groovy tanks with a groovy tortoise shell ring detail $69. Sunseeker have done sarong tied cotton pants perfect for the beach, white or brown $59

J.Lo clothing range is in Grace Bros and you’ll be amazed by the brown velour cat suit! Crickey! Surprisingly she’s not in the ads (too busy with Ben). Also in Miss shop cute Hawaiian hibiscus print bikinis $29 and cute cotton sundresses $49.

Sportsgirl have done some cool trucker caps $20 and some fabulous black jet and feather chokers and earrings. Also on the Groove Richter scale Mickey Mouse T shirts $ 49 (UK Vogue did a page on who’s wearing them!)

Cue have done some good side pocket chinos in their new range called

General Pants have more Emily the strange T-shirts $59 (from the kids book)
Review have done a cream cropped double breasted cotton peacoat $180

Witchery have got fantastic hooded cotton caftans on sale for $39! And cute string bags in every colour for $9.95!

Seduce have the best silver sequins clutch bag $109 and black beaded cami $99

Mimco have opened in Oxford St and have a great selection of dangly earrings but their bags are all so eighties I am scared!

BUSINESS
Sally Smith has got a gorgeous red Chrysanthemum cotton sun dress $ 275,
fab wrap chiffon halter tops in lots of colours $175 and a divine red chiffon dress with pretty embroidery $ 529

Country Road have done a classic long skirt (if you have to) I know, they can be scary but it’s an A line so it’s OK and it has side lacing on the waistband $229. Also a Burberry style trench in a murky chocolate brown canvas $399

Grace Bros still have some amazing Cacheral pieces like a divine Sonia Delaunay style print shirt $380 and the most gorgeous black chiffon dress $770

Bettina Liano and Lisa Ho have both swimwear and very designer!

Saba have done an exceptionally gorgeous black chiffon dress v neck dress
Belinda (29 William) has the most divine collection of Easton Pearson and is now selling the divine chic de la chic Carthusia perfume from Capri! $90 Gorgeous!

FIRST CLASS
Grace Bros (I spent hours in there!) have the divine Philosophy by Alberta Ferretti black beaded dress $3500 and have quite a big range of Micheal Kors label Kors (Well a rack anyway) Fantastic red or black classic rib knit T shirts $369, gorgeous grey knit long sleeve T with lacing $ 379

Belinda has opened her the Frock exchange in Clovelly. Her clever idea is to recycle designer clothes (from Belinda or others) and it works on consignment.
You can do 50/50 with shop or 60 to customer 40 to shop to create currency called Belinda dollars! to spend in any Belinda store. In there now: YSL bag cream suede crescent bag $400 Sigerson Morrison shoes $125, Diane Von Furstenburg etc HOT! (221 Clovelly Rd, Clovelly 9664 9188)

Gucci have new sunglasses in from the runway show (not available elsewhere)

Riada have new collection of Ferretti and Gaultier. (See next week for details)
New SHOP Alert!

R G Madden in Queen St is full of fantastic home wares in time for Christmas.

Quick! Delicious! What a crowd pleaser (important this time of year!) It takes 2 secs to cook (Ok about 10) So whip it up in front of your guests: they’ll go crazy!

Swordfish Pasta with Olives and Capers
2 swordfish steaks for 4 people
2 or 3 garlics smashed and chopped roughly
4 tblesp Olive oil
A dollop of truffle oil (if you have it)
2 tblesp Lemon juice or more
½ a preserved lemon chopped finely otherwise grate 3 lemons
spaghettini or angel hair pasta
2 tblesp black olives
1 tblesp capers rinsed
Bunch of parley or rocket
Heaps of salt and pepper

* Pour yourself a drink
*Give the garlic a bit of swirl around in some heated olive oil for a couple of secs
*Toss in the swordfish and cook as you like it (important because you’re eating it!)
Then set it aside because you are going to attack it with your fingers! So let it cool then flake it into chunks using your hands (watch the manicure! Feels good!)

* Chop up the olives and the parsley roughly (they like it like that!)
* In a bowl whisk the olive oil and lemon juice till it thickens (but your waist won’t: this is good for you and think of the calories you use with whisking!!)
* Add the preserved lemon rind and truffle oil to the olive oil and lemon juice
* Cook the pasta it takes about a minute
* Serve the pasta on a platter then throw on the swordfish, the capers, olives, parsley, and drizzle the lemon juice and olive oil all over it! And toss it through and then go on drizzle more olive oil or lemon juice if it needs more moisture (we all need that honey!) A winner! And see it took about 10 minutes.

Le Divorce
This movie would make a good book! Put it this way it would be great if you turned down the sound and looked at the pretty pictures of Paris. Mmm It’s about the script. What was Merchant Ivory thinking? Le Divorce is based on a best selling book of the same name about 2 American sisters in Paris. One married to a Frenchman the other having an affair with her brother in law. Kate Hudson is playing Almost Famous again with a French accent and Naomi Watts tries really hard but how can she when her hair and makeup is outrageously bad oo la la! (They need queer eye and a serious makeover) In fact the whole movie I was mesmerized by the hair. Kate Hudson’s wigs are worse than Liberace and even Leslie Caron has a bird’s nest on her head! And then you there’s a bigger shock! Glen Close straight from the set of 101 Dalmatians as Cruella de Vil with long long grey hair. But le grand a mistake that stood out more than Leslie Caron’ hair: the red Hermes crocodile Kelly bag (which is a feature of the movie) is worn with its strap attached…. Quel disaster!! (Even Hermes they were mortified!) Nuf said…

The New Yorker has a great article on Christopher Reeve, shot by Avedon
UK Vogue Dec is great read: Kylie being serious, the last Mitford sister the Duchess of Devonshire and the castle garden where Harry Potter was filmed
Elle Deco US has shots of the Diptique store in San Francisco. Chic!
Vanity Fair Dec: Has Russell Crowe on the cover of some and the ‘Gay Heat wave’ on others. Graydon Carter goes for broke tearing Dubya apart.. Love it!
US Harpers Bazaar Dec: The cover is of Salma Hayek looking great!