Cocktails in Orbit Lounge- Summit Restaurant

A friend and I decided to go out in the city one Friday night recently. We are over scrabbling for a seat at most bars, and wanted a more sophisticated setting, and my friend suggested the Orbit Lounge in Australia Square's Summit Restaurant... possibly the best view in Sydney, and they have an extensive cocktail list! Perfect!



I also couldn't help myself, and decided I needed this dessert as well- and I certainly wasn't disappointed!



I am wearing one of my favourite outfits at the moment... The Vesper Kimono and the White Russian Mini Skirt. Every time I wear this outfit, I feel so colourful and bright, and a little sexy- I love it! It always receives many comments... and you can imagine since my friend was wearing gorgeous vintage bright orange dress, we both stood out from the crowd (which is what I love)! Every one else looked very boring in their black suits!



The White Russian Mini Skirt will be added to the USD shop online very soon!

Win a Penelope Red Top! A Competition!

Introducing an exciting competition to start off 2011!

I decided to hold this competition because as I was creating the latest Autumn 2011 competition, I started to question what I should name it... and I couldn't think of anything!

Since I have a network of Penelope Red supporters, and I had been thinking of holding a competition for a while, I thought this was the perfect opportunity!

I need help naming the new Autumn Collection, and in return, the winner will be given ONE of the following new Penelope Red tops:



The Black and White Zebra Alexander Blouse (above) or the Adele Multi-coloured Halter Top (below- and it was featured in the blog posting before this one).



Details of the Competition:
Aim: To name the new Penelope Red Autumn Collection for 2011.

Hints: Keep in mind the theme of it being a Gustav Klimt and Egyptian Costume inspired range. I also like to try to have either "Penelope" or "Red" included in the name. To keep the website with the same theme, the name should be something like: "The ......Collection"

I am also planning the photo shoot to be taken in a dinner party setting... so lots of ideas, and I am hoping someone will come up with a great name!

Win: The Winner will be able to choose one of the designs pictured above, The Adele Halter Top or the Alexander Blouse.

Rules: The winner will be judged entirely on the name for the range they choose. You can enter as many times as you want until a name is chosen from the entries by myself.

You must be on the mailing list or a Penelope Red facebook follower to enter into the competition.


To Enter the Competition: just send your nominated range name to designer@penelopered.com.au or comment on the Penelope Red facebook page here.

Once I have picked a winning range name, I will contact the winner via email to confirm thier postal address and size, etc. Postal fees (excluding customs if going Overseas) will be paid by Penelope Red.

Competition closes 20th March 2011

I wish everyone the best of luck in the competition!

The Adele Multi-Coloured Halter Top

Yesterday I added the latest design to the Penelope Red Australian Dollar Online Shop (bigcartel), the Adele Multi-coloured Halter Top.



This halter top has been handmade from a beautiful bright and soft cotton fabric in deep jewel colours of plum, cream, grey, blue, green, lime, aqua, red, brown. It is a 100% polished cotton.

This is part of the latest Penelope Red Autumn 2011 Collection.



I think it is important to have as many photos as possible when selling online, as people can't see a 3-d item in front of them, so they need the photos to create an image in their head... so here they are!



All of my halter tops, including this one, are fully lined. You can wear this with or without a strapless bra. In the photos shown, a strapless bra is being worn.



The Adele Halter Top has been handmade by myself, Penelope, in Sydney, and I will be making a small quantity of this design- around 15 copies. I love giving a uniqueness to my designs, and ensuring that my customers have something special to every one else!

If you would like to buy this top, please look at the Penelope Red Australian Dollar Shop Online here: http://penelopered.bigcartel.com/product/adele-multi-coloured-halter-top

Creating the new Autumn Collection Part 2: The Judith Dress

Introducing the latest Penelope Red design... The Black and Gold Stripe Judith Dress. I am very proud of this design- the fabric is perfect in this style as it drapes beautifully, and the black and gold metallic stripes contrast well witht he black textured stripe.



This style mixes the Penelope Red Blue Skies Skirt and the White, Orange and Black Pop Dress together- two styles that I love, and I wanted to do more with.


This style is fully lined, has an invisible zip at centre back, exaggerated waist as the hips are quite full, a neck that curves around at the back, and a square neckline which I find is flattering on a lot of people.




The metallic sheen gives this dress a sophisticated and different edge to the design, but the dark colour and comfort of the dress means that you can wear this to the office.


It will be added to the Penelope Red Australian Shop Online very soon!

Creating the new Autumn Collection Part 1

One of the latest designs for the Autumn 2011 Collection has finally been started! This collection has been inspired by Gustav Klimt paintings and Egyptian costume, and when designing this I took the gold and black contrasting idea from the 'Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer1", along with the extravagant use of shapes and metallic paints.





The shape of this style is virtually the same as the Deco Sequinned Blouse. I wanted to use a very simple shape, since the gold sequinned lace is really the "show-stopper" in this design!





The photos in this post are just a few photos that I have taken as I have been creating it. In the above and below photo I am pinning the gold sequinned lace in place over the black satin. This is quite a time-consuming step, as you need to make sure you don't cut into the motif too much, and also make sure it sits nicely around the silhouette.

New Australian Dollar Penelope Red Shop Online

I have some exciting news! I have recently opened a new Penelope Red online shop! This new shop's currency is in Australian Dollars AUD.



So now, you have a choice of paying for Penelope Red online in either Australian Dollars or in U.S. Dollars USD.

The Penelope Red Australian Dollar shop online will highlight the Southern Hemisphere's coming Autumn and Winter, and the Penelope Red American Dollar shop online will highlight the Northern Hemisphere's coming Spring and Summer. Currently since the season's are transitioning there is a mixture of both.

To pay for any of the designs in both shops, customers can use their own paypal account- so all transactions are done securely and safely.

Take a look at the Penelope Red Australian Dollar shop online here.

Happy 2011 Everyone!

Today I wanted to just write a little quick note to wish everyone who reads this blog a very Happy New Year. I hope you achieve many of the things you would like to do this year, and perhaps even a few of the things you didn't think were possible! Let's also try not to forget a little down-time is always needed... I know there are too many of us out there, myself included!

I have added a few personal photos of me and my family, friends and home town, Sydney- some of my favourites that I have taken in the past year...




My nephews, niece, sister and I had a little picnic in Centennial Park, and they were dying to have a go on these car-bikes. Little did we know when we agreed to it that they were really hard work pushing it around!



The kids again at Neilson Park on Christmas Day 2010 (just over a week ago already!).



My brother and I at the Carols in the Domain, in Sydney. The 1st photo in this posting is from the same event.

A few sunsets from one of my local parks, Queens Park- you can see the city skyline in the background.