Ellery

Words by Hannah Rose Yee, Photos by Me, Layout, Edit and Handwriting by Talisa Sutton

To be a champagne bubble of a girl about town - and who doesn't want to be, deep down, really? - in the town that is Sydney you have to own something by Ellery. She is the it-designer with the wardrobe to match, just as likely to be found on the pages of magazines as her designs are. She designs for girls who are just like her - good-time girls who are the first to arrive and the last to leave, girls who never take their brand new Celine heels off, no matter how much pain their feet are in - and this season was no different. Full of crisp separates and statement pieces to get the party started, this collection was a return to - and a celebration of - everything that Ellery has made her name with. Girls in the shortest skirts and the best hair and looks straight off the runway. This was a collection for the dedicated followers of fashion.

Goat-fur vests and caped shoes are not for the faint of heart. But you can hardly call Ellery devotees - who have previously sported everything from sateen bloomers to ballooning shearling sweaters - faint of heart. What they are is fearless. And that's what this collection was all about; not being afraid of wearing floral-printed flared trousers or , not caring one iota about tying your jacket around your waist. This was a collection full of the idiosyncrasies and quirks of styling that belong to those few who are regularly found on street style blogs. It was distinctly formal - evening dresses with padded cap-sleeves and boned corsets in Ellery's trademark shade of mustard yellow - with a surprising voluminous bent, whether through sleeveless tuxedo vests over trapeze-cut blouses and mini skirts or puffy tactile sweaters (there's that fur again).  

It's not an easy look - indeed, most girls can't pull it off - but that's what makes Ellery so immensely watchable. You can isolate the easiest things to wear (maybe you can tie a jacquard bomber around your waist, too?) but that's not the point, really. The point is to stride out to drinks at the Apollo on Friday night in a fur singlet and wide-legged maxi skirt slit right up to there and completely own it. Like we said, it's not easy. But at least there's an ideal girl you can model yourself on. She's the life of the party - a veritable champagne bubble - with a mop of perfect hair and a bright smile and a sense of wild exuberance in everything she does. Who is she? Why, she's Kym Ellery herself.