Tluxe Blog

Here’s wishing every one of you a relaxed and laid-back Christmas. Our top tip for surviving the mayhem is: keep it simple. We’re talking beachcombing for Christmas decorations, a bbq and a few icey cocktails for lunch, and a lazy summer afternoon, kicking back under the shade of a beach umbrella with a dip in the ocean - or your neighbour’s backyard pool - if you feel so inclined (and the weather finally clears, which we're assured it will on Christmas day). Ahh, Sydney in the summer. What’s not to love?

The deliciously cooling afternoon thunderstorms we’ve been experiencing here in Sydney of late has called to mind a few of the inspirational images we put together for the current Tluxe summer collection (pictured above), Basic Elements.

The deep, dark colours of the sea and sky when the heat of the day gives way to the rolling charcoal tones of an afternoon storm was our starting point for the season’s colour palette, shot through with accents of sunshine yellow - as you can see in our carefully engineered striped Suzanne C tee and Rebecca P maxi dress, and the moody sky print on our Isabel M and Vanessa B dresses. For more inspiration of the pictorial kind, we’d like to direct you to one of our favourite resources for beautiful imagery, ffffound.com. We also love thisisnthappiness.com, and arts and crafts, among many, many others. Go ahead, take some time out this week, even if just for a few minutes and, delight your senses.

Think about how you wash you clothes. Image thanks to Zena Holloway.

Research has shown that the greatest damage clothes do to our environment is not in their construction and distribution, but in washing them. Throwing a load in the washing machine not only involves large quantities of water but also energy and chemicals. Greener threads, like our very own Tluxe spring/summer collection, are those that can be cold washed and line dried.

The next best aspect in terms of earth-friendly clothing, according to eco aficionados treehugger.com, relates to longevity. And this has as much to do with styling as it has to do with the quality of the fabric you choose. In fact, you’re better off choosing a classic style in traditional high quality cotton, that you’d still wear 10 years down the track, than an of-the-moment number in organic bamboo, which will end up in the charity bins in six months time.

And of course, if you can combine style with organic and natural fibres, like we try our very best to do here at Tluxe, then you’re onto a real winner, for both you and the longevity of the planet. For other ideas on fashion with a conscience, check out some of our favourite blogs, including British Vogue’s Green Style, US site Ecouterre.com, and our very own, Australian-based How Big is your Eco.

Pick up any local interiors mag this month and it’s hard not to miss the news of New York-based Australian ex-pat Martyn Thompson’s debut book, Interiors. While we love the book - a tour of twenty years photographing the homes of well-known style luminaries including Calvin Klein creative director, Francisco Costa, and Italian jewellery designer Elsa Peretti - it’s Thompson’s personal work, which we find most inspiring – like his series, Trees, pictured above, which, he says focuses on “the emotional elements in environments”. Considering our theme for the Tluxe summer collection, Basic Elements, Martyn sounds like our kind of visionary.

And while we’re on an interiors tip, look out for 70/80/90 Iconic Australian Homes the sequel to Karen McCartney’s fantastic 50/60/70 Australian Homes, out this month. Both books embrace the relaxed glamour of the Australian way of living, another theme close to our hearts. Enjoy.

Environmentalist and award-winning actress Cate Blanchett, one of Sydney’s more stylish mums about town, is also one of our favourite local fashion heroes both on and off the red carpet. We love her polished red tailored look for the recent Armani show in Paris (pictured above), as much as the way she styles her hoodies and Tluxe-style track pants while out shopping round town, or with her boys, Dashiell, Roman and Ignatius Martin, in tow. Never shy of mixing a little edgy style with traditional glamour, Cate's red carpet looks while pregnant - such as the teal caftan above - would have to go down as some of the more drop-dead gorgeous mamma moments in Hollywood. Rock on Cate.