Spring, the Milliners busiest season of the year. Beginning by restocking any dwindling supplies from previous months and choosing materials for current designs, a Millinery studio begins bursting with deliveries of vintage flowers, lacy netting and unshaped straw.
For the start of the season, I find it the best time to pull together your best daywear ensembles and mark the months ahead with Carla Murley, Owner and Milliner at Murley & Co. Millinery. In her bayside suburb studio of Beaumaris, Carla annually produces one of the largest ranges of ready-to-wear and hire millinery available in Melbourne. I encourage you to view her premier designs on Instagram (here) consisting of six years within the industry, editorial features in both Vogue Australia and The Age, not to mention she has been named one of Melbourne’s “Top Ten Milliners” by the Herald Sun.
Through a successful career as a Milliner her aesthetic carries a strong graphic design, mixed with playful organic shapes and textures as seen in today’s design “Miss Tatiana”. From the large vintage hand crocheted brim to it’s satin center base, Carla focuses on using sustainable and man-made materials. While other designs tend to exude bright colors, floral crowns and sculpted bows.
From the moment I discovered Carla’s Millinery talent and design portfolio, I envisioned how I might garnish such beauty. I started with a 1950s-inspired Wiggle dress by Muxxn in the royal hue of blue and found it to complement the unique style of Murley & Co. A pearl floral brooch, rhinestone earrings and satin Lewisette evening bag with matching gloves keeps such an ensemble elegant, yet timeless. You may also notice my eye to detail as the brooch design clearly marries the pattern on the millinery design and the pear tree blossoms. It’s the simplest details that create a world of timeless elegance to spring millinery.
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‘Miss Tatiana’ Vintage Lace Brim Hat c/o Murley & Co Millinery
1950’s Inspired Wiggle Dress, Muxxn (Similar here & here)
Pearl Brooch & Earrings (Similar Styles Sold on Etsy)
Donna Karan Hosiery, Sold at Bloomingdales
Marble Gloss in ‘Eartha’ c/o Ultra-Vixen Cosmetics
Kate Spade New York D’Orsay Pump (similar here & here) 
Judging from the plethora of eye-catching retro-inspired eyewear that’s been getting face time – from the ready to-wear runways of NYFW to the sprawling city streets of Los Angeles – it’s clear that sunglasses have stayed within a chic Joan Crawford meets Marilyn Monroe, style aesthetic.
It’s this shift which reflects the current look-at-me trends – retro, vintage-inspired frames, chunky cat eyed tortoise shells and geometric shapes which attract instead of deflecting ones’ attention. There is a sense of dominance that speaks when showcasing such a style that allows you to not compromise your current appearance and authentic-self. There are a number of elements to choose when garnishing a retro look from a cat eye lens or oversized frames, which display an articulate presence of which attracts a wandering-eye despite the era.
A preferred choice (for me) has often started with the timeless 1950’s cat eye. They deliver a certain personality to the individual wearer- a dose of the NEW LOOK you could say – for a new persona. These elegant gold accented cat-eye sunglasses by Retro Sunnies exude such a profound appearance of glamour while offering the protection against UV4000. The gold hue from these “Daisy” shades can easily brighten up one’s face while completing an ensemble of authentic daywear.
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Authentic Vintage Bow Accented Dress, Annie Sandoval (similar here & here)
Couture Silk Scarf (similar here & here)
Retro-inspired “Daisy” Eyewear c/o Retro Sunnies
Pearl Accessories (similar here, here & here)
Marble Gloss in ‘Eartha’ c/o Ultra-Vixen Cosmetics
Fiore Glam Satin Top Hosiery c/o Heels & Toes Inc.
With wings, black as night, black as coal, the Raven is a messenger from another world. When it makes, its presence known to you, a mysterious flight of dark romance and beaconing confidence is received. There is no sense of time as the raven lives in the void of the moment. Simultaneously, watching as he tilts his head while sitting above in a tree, he never loses track of the hours as it feels nothing of the sting of things lost as he waits for time.
There is a moment of darkness before beauty is created, a beauty that can effortlessly breathe life from one to another – in fact, these experiences can easily live beyond another. An experience such as this, can cleverly be felt through the bespoke eye of Isabelle Nguyen, Owner and Milliner behind All Ginned Up.
A woman that wears this luxury from such a strong collection embodies an authentic truth to their inner madness. She knows her attributes and displays them boldly while emphasizing the courage to reinvent herself. This woman joyfully embraces danger as an antidote to dull monotony. Such an ambition may remind us of the heroes of history and legend, and of Aristotle’s claim that the brave man is inspired by a conception of the noble. Yet it is arguably a somewhat meretricious courage that exists primarily to display its own charm. Instead of courage being mustered in order to pursue an independent desirable object, a goal is sought or manufactured to serve as a pretext for courage.
There is a magical unexplained force that exudes from Isabelle’s Birdmad Girl millinery design. Perhaps if comes forth from its tear shaped base, adorned with the finest French tulle lace, black bird wings, and a feather bloom, among a strip of feather quills. A design such as this, flies within a world of mystery capturing the grandeur side of luxury and beauty.
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‘Birdmad Girl’ Bespoke Millinery c/o All Ginned Up
Voodoo Vixen ‘Dita’ Dress c/o Unique Vintage
Marble Gloss in ‘Eartha’ c/o Ultra-Vixen Cosmetics
Trasparenze Pennac Back-Seam Hosiery c/o Heels & Toes Inc.
Kate Spade Patent High Heels
Illustration created by Visual Artist, Tony Vilche Serra
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