Stuck for date-night inspo? The joys of a midsummer night’s screen

WATCH / Screen idyll

Mixing plotline and skyline in Melbourne.

It’s the month of love, the oxytocin is surging – and date-night pressure is only too real. Enter a fail-safe Aussie summer staple: moonlight cinema. As a celluloid dream unfurls up ahead, a balmy night, star-spangled sky and iconic views slip into supporting roles. Screening nightly over the next couple of weeks at Westpac OpenAir Sydney and Moonlight Cinema Melbourne is a selection of golden oldies (Amélie and The Notebook, respectively, on Wednesday) and sexy newcomers – notably, Sofia Coppola’s widely acclaimed Jacob Elordi vehicle Priscilla (Feb 25, Melbourne) and The Iron Claw (Feb 15, Sydney), starring everyone’s favourite chef de cuisine, Jeremy Allen White. (White, you’ll recall, is The Bear’s tousle-headed hero who, last month, broke the internet, and our concentration briefly, with a certain shoot for Calvin Klein.) Strawberries and bubbly on the side? Don’t mind if we do. Sharon Bradley

WEAR / C’est chic

A disco-era staple is back, albeit in muted form.

The staple of the disco-era has been given a promotion. In the 1970s, halter tops glistened with sequins and lurex but sister-and-brother act, Camilla and Marc, have created a muted knit version in corporate cream (“Lena” halter top; $380). The plunging neckline is anchored by a rouleau strap at the bust before descending into dangerous territory. Worn with a blazer, it does the hard work from nine to five but, teamed with wide-legged pants or a skirt, it’s all Saturday-night fever after dark. Damien Woolnough

ORDER / Darling buds

Melbourne’s The Beautiful Bunch helps fund workforce training for female refugees.

Place your order this flower-giving season with Melbourne-based social enterprise The Beautiful Bunch, which helps fund the training of female refugees seeking to enter the workforce. (All the bouquets are made by graduates of the six-month program, which teaches floristry skills, computer literacy and business admin.) Opt for seasonal varieties or the Bunch of The Day ( $70) for some unique floral finesse with a heart. Frances Mocnik

READ / Gone boy

Hsu’s Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir is set in the ’90s California of his youth and reflects on a friend murdered in a carjacking.

It’s impossible to do justice to Hua Hsu’s near-perfect Stay True (Picador; $37) in a capsule review such as this – but perhaps no amount of space would be adequate to pin down this exquisite story of friendship, regret and memory. At the heart of the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir are Hsu’s reflections on his Berkeley classmate Ken, who was murdered in a carjacking three years after they became friends. Transporting us to the ’90s California of his youth, The New Yorker writer gently probes how we create ourselves and others, and what it means to belong. A slim read, Stay True will still be with you long after you’ve turned the last page. Melanie Kembrey

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