Christmas 2019: Fashionistas reveal their best and worst Christmas looks
Style setters unveil their Christmas Day ensembles and recall classic looks from festive celebrations past
Brisbane News
Don't miss out on the headlines from Brisbane News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Three Brisbane style setters unveil their Christmas Day ensembles and recall classic looks from festive celebrations past.
WHO: MARY DICKINSON, 70, BOWEN HILLS
Retired retailer, sometime artist, charity worker and fashion blogger
Where will you be on Christmas Day?
At home, having lunch with my husband Trevor and other family members. We celebrate with my siblings and their families a few weeks earlier.
What will you be wearing?
I plan to match my table this year, which has a red gingham tablecloth and napkins. I have a red gingham skirt with a ruffle, from Zara, that is a few years old; a cool white lace top that I found at a thrift shop some years ago; and Camper white leather sandshoes – this is my second pair, I wear them a lot! I’ll also wear an armful of red Chinese bangles; my red ladybird ring; white raffia earrings I found at a market; and a headband I’ve made from red and white fabrics. I’ve managed to go for the whole year without buying anything new.
What makes a great festive outfit?
I think there should be a theme with some effort made – perhaps something a bit quirky. White is my favourite colour for Christmas, closely followed by red.
What’s your process?
I usually just look in my wardrobe. I have a tendency to keep everything, so I find something I haven’t worn for a while, and jazz it up with a headpiece.
Is there a favourite frock you can recall?
My favourite dress, and my husband’s, was bought at a Noosa shop called Ciao Bella. It went everywhere with me and was very flattering but unfortunately I lost it in the 2011 flood.
What’s the best gift you’ve received?
A promise of a trip overseas!
The worst?
A gift is a gift and I try to remember that! Oh – my mother once gave me a beautiful antique sterling silver photo frame that had broken glass, so as I opened it, she took it back, saying she’d have it mended, but I don’t remember ever seeing it again!
Your favourite Christmas traditions?
I often go to a Christmas Eve church service, then start the day with fresh fruit (always mangoes and cherries), a glass of champagne, then opening presents.
Fave festive flick?
Love Actually. The plot revolves around relationships between people and how they manage to overcome their difficulties in time for Christmas. A stellar cast.
What’s on the menu this year?
I like to mix traditional and modern and adore any recipe from my Yotam Ottolenghi books. I love the way he says to serve at room temperature – perfect for multiple courses and a warm summer’s day. First course will be a prawn paté from a 1978 Beverley Sutherland-Smith book and everyone loves this subtle flavour. To follow, a tomato and almond tart (Ottolenghi), orange sorbet palate cleanser, roasted spatchcocks with a festive wreath of herbs around the neck, roasted eye fillet, sweet potato with orange bitters (Ottolenghi), cauliflower and hazelnut salad (Ottolenghi), a simple green salad and, to finish, Eton mess (Ottolenghi).
Favourite Christmas carol?
Mary’s Boy Child.
Fondest Christmas memory?
Being on the beach at Noosa, early on Christmas morning, with not a soul in sight. I was sitting under some trees and above me were a couple of black cockatoos. Another fabulous Christmas Day was spent on a friend’s boat. We woke up about 100 nautical miles east of Cairns, anchored near a tiny sliver of sand that had a weather beacon and dozens of birds on it. One of the crew had been ashore and set up umbrellas and deck chairs. Unforgettable!
—————————
WHO: REBECCA PARER, 52, ASHGROVE
Sales manager for labels Rubyyaya, LulaSoul, LulaLife and Itami
Where will you be spending Christmas?
Christmas Eve will be carols by candlelight on the banks of Noosa River with my Ashgrove friends who all migrate up there for fun in the sun. Christmas Day will be at my gorgeous sister-in-law Sophie Parer’s place with the extended Parer family. There’s normally about 25 to 30 of us – lots of fun, noise and chaos. I love that everyone is welcomed with open arms.
What will you wear on Christmas Day?
It’s always a veritable parade of Rubyyaya for me. Usually a bright, embroidered RYY beach cover-up with a Martina McGrath straw hat and bare feet for a beach morning. For Christmas lunch I’ll be wearing the Rubyyaya Violet Maxi in emerald ($219.95, kabanashop.com.au, right) and Jilly Marsden hoop earrings and lots of vintage and leather bracelets.
What makes a great festive outfit?
I think the best ones feature festive colours with a twist. Think hot pink with green floral sequins, or a luxe white broderie anglaise dress with silver sequin sandshoes. Of course, super fun earrings are a given. Christmas prints are too predictable and kitsch and best left for preschoolers.
How do you shop for it?
As global sales manager for Rubyyaya and LulaSoul, I’m so lucky to have the labels I love at my fingertips. Women around the world adore and collect these labels, and I get to wear them every day and have the pick of the bunch for Christmas Day. I am as far from a minimalist as you can get – definitely an advocate of more is more! There is a lot in life to take seriously but fashion is not one of them, so have fun with it. Dress for yourself. If what you wear puts a smile on your face, it will make others happy too.
Is there a favourite frock you can recall?
In Year 11, I saved my entire year’s clothing allowance to buy one outfit from David Jones rather than four budget store outfits across the year. It was all pink stripes and polka dots with a scooped clown collar and tiered rara skirt (above, left). I wore it with excitement that first Christmas Day but the novelty wore off when it was the only special dress featured at every dance, party and photo opportunity for an entire year.
Best Christmas gift?
I gifted myself a department store Santa chair for Christmas one year. My husband Simon shook his head and asked, “Why?” I answered, “Because I love it and I’m thinking of the memories I’ll make”. I love how much that chair has been loved by the entire Brisbane community through years of local kindy Christmas concerts, school plays, street Christmas parties and family photos. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.
Worst Christmas gift you’ve received?
My first married Christmas my husband gave me a briefcase. I think that’s the working girl’s equivalent of an iron. Needless to say, he is now a much more romantic present giver.
Your favourite Christmas traditions?
I love Christmas so much. For me it’s pudding parties with my friends, slipping in a lot of extra rum and stirring in Christmas wishes for each other. It’s family and friends consuming several hams and tray after tray of mangoes. But mostly, it’s family and friends coming together to celebrate another year of love, the good times, the tough times, and all the chaos that comes with that is what I love more than anything about Christmas.
What’s on the menu?
Our casual beach culture calls for a surf Christmas morning followed by a huge family gathering over ham, prawns and mango and macadamia salad – and of course my rum-soaked pudding.
Favourite Christmas carol?
My all-time favourite is The Twelve Days of Christmas. We sing it every year at our gorgeous friend Gen’s place with everyone dancing to the actions – not so elegant swans a swimming, maracas shaking, symbols clashing and the talented David and Liz on the piano. By the last ‘partridge in a pear tree’ everyone collapses with exhaustion. It’s exhilarating and the best start to the Christmas season ever.
Your favourite Christmas memory?
It’s of my mum getting all 12 grandkids dressed up in Santa suits in 35 degree heat for a Christmas treasure hunt on the beach followed by carols and Christmas games. It’s hilarious how competitive everyone gets after a few Christmas ales.
—————————
WHO: ANNABEL FALCO, 31, HENDRA
Fashion stylist
Where will you be this Christmas?
Up north at Home Hill with my in-laws on their cane farm. Myself, my husband (Joshua Falco), two children (Oscar and Valentina) and our sausage dog (Chilli) will all be making the trip.
What will you wear on Christmas Day?
I need to be cool, comfortable but – obviously – chic. Lee Mathews is my go-to on such tricky occasions. I’ll be wearing the label’s Roxie puff sleeve bias dress with El Zapato Lulu sandals ($139, elzapato.com.au) in nude and my new favourite shades from Sheike.
And the rest of the Falcos?
Josh and the kids usually wear a mix of Country Road and Ralph Lauren. The kids need to be able to run around, play and not worry about ‘dirtying’ their outfit. I’m a sucker for punishment though, so will probably dress them in white linen.
What makes a fab Christmas Day outfit for a busy mum?
Anything that will hide dirty fingerprints! Something with a print is a must. Shopping for a ‘Christmas Day Outfit’ has always been a big deal in my family – I plan months ahead. My job has me in the shops a lot so I tend to buy online when it comes to my family. I do my research and then take advantage of the Christmas promotions.
A favourite frock you can recall?
So hard to choose just one! Last year’s Sass & Bide frill maxi dress is pretty hard to beat.
Any fashion disasters?
I regret nothing.
What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?
The Yeezy sneakers I’ll receive this year – hint hint Josh!
And the worst?
I’m very particular about my gifts and send detailed lists to all family members so I’ve never received a bad present.
Your fondest Christmas traditions?
We have so many – watching festive movies; driving around to look at fairy lights; Christmas Eve drinks; wearing our new Christmas pyjamas the night before Santa visits; and a game of cricket on Christmas Day.
Your favourite festive flick?
The Family Stone starring Diane Keaton. Need I say more?
And Christmas song?
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Ella Fitzgerald.
What’s on the menu?
Josh’s family are Italian so lots of carbs. Nonna usually makes lasagne and all of the boys get together to make Italian sausages from scratch.
And your fondest Christmas memory?
My sisters and I used to wake up early, open our presents, then re-wrap them to open them again the next morning with the family. They had no idea we had spent most of the night playing with them.
Double holy s#*t! Brilliant meteor lights up sky over Qld
A meteor was spotting blazing across the sky as weatherman Garry Youngberry began his live cross on Wednesday night – and the TV station wasn’t the only one who captured the spectacle. WATCH THE VIDEO
Watch: Scammers ripping off Brisbane celebrity designer with brazen fakes
A Brisbane fashion designer – whose clients include singer Robbie Williams and a string of A-listers – is fighting back against “shameless scammers”. WATCH THE VIDEO