How would you describe your style?
Eclectic mix of vintage, NZ designers and directional international designers all accessorised with good basics from Glassons, Farmers etc.
Has it evolved over the years?
Got more eclectic as my confidence to rebel against trends and to dress for me grows, along with an ever-growing vintage collection.
Describe your wardrobe
A big mess, needs serious organisation, a walk-in wardrobe like Carrie on Sex In The City movie would do just fine.
Whose style do you like or look up to?
Margarita Robertson - does the best black ever, relaxed and edgy at the same time!
Always wearing her clothes in interesting and unexpected ways, e.g. once we were judges at Hokonui awards together and had to stand on stage side by side, we arrived to go to the venue and realised we both had the same Nom*d jacket on! Margi simply put hers on inside out, and of course it looked absolutely amazing.
Katharine Hepburn and Cate Blanchett - classic style, tailored but feminine.
Anna Piaggi - a sense of humour and a fashion revolutionary.
Who are your current favourite designers? Ones I can afford, sometimes, especially if I pick them up second hand Zambesi, Martin Margiela and Nom*d.
Ones I dream about affording - Martin Grant, Balenciaga, Rick Owens, Gareth Pugh, Hussein Chalayan.
What is your favourite item of clothing?
Ancient Skin Deep [Dunedin] leather skirt; it is one of those things that when it finally falls to pieces, I will too.
Shoes - blue boots from I Love Paris.
Bought in 2006 as tan coloured, I had them professionally dyed earlier in the year, gave my favourite shoes new life, love them.
Accessory - vintage sunglasses my sister bought me in Milan, and my patchwork leather bag from Modern Miss.
What was the last item of clothing you bought?
Pair of gorgeous vintage croc brogues from a workmate.
What has been your best fashion bargain?
Margiela clogs, second-hand, so unused they still had the original price tag underneath!
What has been your biggest fashion mistake?
Never seems like a mistake at the time, and by the time it could be considered to be a mistake, it is no longer fashion.
OK I admit it, I still love 70s fashion, although thankfully don't still wear it.
My Mr Figgins silver platform shoes might be a fashion mistake now, but they were pieces of beauty and desire in the 70s, and people still try to buy them off me and I am sure the same goes for my maxi length cotton floral sequinned beach frock.
A fashion tip?
Buy the best you can afford, as my dear old Popeye used to say. Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.
I hear Gucci use that line also.
Clothes that skim the body are the most flattering; sacks are for potatoes.
Go vintage, give those clothes another chance to shine.
A beauty tip? Relaxed attitude - don't sweat the small stuff.
Plus buy a hat to protect your skin from the sun.
What would you buy if money was no object? Firstly, a whole wardrobe consisting of an item from each of my Otago Polytechnic Year 3 students' end-of-year collections.
Although some pieces might challenge me, I know I will love wearing them.
And, secondly, an unusual but classic tailored jacket and skirt, specifically made for me, by Zambesi or a vintage Babs Radon.
