Have you met our new Perth contributor, personal style consultant Kate Miles? Each month, she'll be sharing her loves with us here and you can follow her over at @wearingittoday...
A bit about me – I am a very hands-on mum to my two-year-old boy Freddie. We live in Cottesloe directly opposite the beach and spend most of our time outdoors soaking up Western Australia’s amazing weather. I am also a Perth-based personal style consultant (you’ll find me at @wearingittoday or www.wearingittoday.net) and a fashion buyer for the designer boutique Adam Heath. My job is very flexible and I am able to work around Freddie and his two days he spends in daycare, which is perfect for me as I love being a mum. Essentially as a personal style consultant, I go to a client’s house and we go through their wardrobe and work out what needs to be sold, chucked or kept. I will restyle looks from existing items and work out what they need to fill in the gaps to make their wardrobe work harder. I will then either send them an email with various shopping links (who has the time to trawl online boutiques?) or I take them shopping. I then help them work their new pieces into their existing wardrobe if they want/need. I was in recently Paris on a buying trip for the Resort 19 collections with Adam Heath boutique. With back to back appointments with designers such as Sacai, Peter Pilotto, Lee Mathews, Nili Lotan, R13, Vince, Rixo London, Ganni and DVF to name a few, we managed to squeeze in a little bit of shopping, sightseeing, eating and drinking. Ready for a glimpse inside my trip? Here we go! Follow @wearingittoday
On the balcony of Lucy Folk’s apartment and showroom
Wearing
My recent trip to Paris and Milan on a Resort 19 buying trip had me wearing lots of dresses from Isabel Marant and Realisation Par either teamed with my trusty Vans skate sneakers or K.Jacques leather sandals. I have just added some super cute new Ganni pieces to my wardrobe. I love this well-priced fun and feminine label and was lucky enough to go and preview the new Resort 19 collection in Paris.
Drinking
On the way to dinner on our second night, we popped into Ralph’s by Ralph Lauren, for an aperitif. This is a must do. The most divine courtyard setting in the 6th arrondissement. The staff are all dressed in Ralph Lauren riding gear complete with knee-high riding boots and jodhpurs.
Eating
Situated next to Musée des arts décoratifs LouLou Paris was my favourite to have dinner in Paris. There is so much to love about this restaurant, from the location to the Mediterranean style food, the people watching and the service. Being summer we booked a table outside in the courtyard to soak up the views of the stunning grounds and beautiful people.
Shopping
As much as I love shopping online, nothing can beat actually going into a proper boutique. L’Eclaireur in the Marais is a certainly an experience. It was hard to tear myself away from admiring the incredible interiors – moveable walls which pop open to reveal extra rails of clothes and accessories, cardboard panels and built in tv screens. Blurring the line between fashion and design, this incredible store stocks high-end designer labels such as Gucci, Chloe, Saint Laurent, Dries Van Noten and Ann Demeulemeester to name a few. At the front of the store, there are more accessible pieces like cute accessories and shoes from lesser-known designers such as Elina Linardaki whose pale pink shell and beaded slides I fell in love with and seriously regret not bringing home with me!
Trending
‘Dad’ sneakers. I saw them everywhere in Paris. All the cool girls were wearing versions from Balenciaga and Louis Vuitton to New Balance. I think I prefer the more subtle take on them from Nike.
Lusting
I am currently lusting after Celine’s new cat-eye sunglasses, which I was tempted to buy in Paris and again at one of my favourite Perth boutiques, Love Story in Cottesloe. I love all of the colours especially the white ones but still not sure if the white is too bold for me. In the meantime, I will grab a cheap pair from Mango to see how they go.
Watching
The Defiant Ones. This biographical docu-series on Netflix is a revealing portrait of American rapper and music producer Dr Dre, record producer Jimmy Iovine and their leading roles in contemporary culture. I’m not a huge fan of hip-hop or rap music but this series was incredibly interesting to watch. Directed by Allen Hughes, it features interviews with music icons such as Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Nicks, Gwen Stefani, Tom Petty, Diddy, Snoop Dogg and will.i.am. A definite must see. Warning it may influence you to relive your youth – currently listening to 90’s hip-hop driving to Coles and the playground.