Ms. Red Flashback part 8: photos of my previous work

This was the first ever professional photo shoot that featured my Penelope Red designs. It was so exciting to see my designs come alive in front of the camera, and it gave me the confidence to start dreaming BIG!


The designs featured in this collection are a part of "The Red Sun Collection", which can be found on the Penelope Red Website.


I am currently organising another shoot for the Spring/Summer Collection for 2011-2012, and it is nice to look back and see where the Penelope Red photo shoots started.


I was lucky to work with some very talented people in this shoot:

Photography: Milena from I Love Wednesdays
MUA: Nat Biller Make Up
Model: Amy Lyn Cage


The designs included in this collection:

Photo 1- Coral Kimono

Photo 2- Tokyo Sydney Wrap Around Catsuit in a floral print

Photo 3- Monet Printed Pleated Blouse & White Flared Shorts

Photo 4- Black on Black Bustier Top & Mint Blue Skies Skirt

Photo 5- Orange Floral Corset

Photo 6- Paris Bow Top

Photo 7- Vintage Printed Kimono

All of these designs have been sold out- of course- and I have created more exciting designs since. You can find more designs available to purchase in the Penelope Red Australian Dollar Big Cartel Online Shop or the American Dollar USD Etsy Online Shop.

Photos from the Summer Fashion Showcase Parade

In September, The Rocks Markets held a Spring and Summer Fashion Showcase parade, and some Penelope Red designs were featured. You can watch the video from the Summer fashion showcase here and the following photos are from this event.


The first two photos show the Cosmopolitan Red Bow Tie Pants, and Martini Bright Stripe Blouse. More on the Martini Bright Stripe blouse can be viewed on the blog here.


How to feel instantly like a million dollars: wear the Manhattan Bright Satin Catsuit. It looks like so much fun on the catwalk! Every time I try on a catsuit, I feel like cranking up the dance music and going to a club with my friends!



The Tokyo/Sydney Catsuit is a crowd favourite- a design that I am very proud of, and it was also used in all of the advertisement for this parade event. You may recognise it from the posters, flyers etc, and it was even on the 'Grazia' website!



I love this outfit! It suits the model so well, and is such a fun outfit- The Tequila Sunrise Spot Halter Top, and Pina Colada Green Shorts.



The Pink Singapore Sling Kimono is such a versatile top, and made from a beautiful printed cotton. A very stunning print! It is worn with the Mojito Metallic Mini Skirt.





The Purple Floral Corset Dress is a very feminine and elegant style- perfect for many occasions.


I will be adding the rest of my latest spring/summer designs to the Penelope Red etsy shop over the next few weeks.

The Martini Bright Stripe Blouse

The Martini Bright Stripe Blouse is the latest design to be added to the Penelope Red etsy shop, and is part of "The Red Hour" Collection.

I LOVE this print! My textile agent laughed when I became so excited by this print... and it is one of the many exciting prints I have for this season. It has virtually every colour of the rainbow included in it, along with a bold black line, and the printed design is basically random stripes going down the body.

The below photo shows the Martini Bright Stripe Blouse worn with the Cosmopolitan Red Bow Tie Pants. The blouse has been handmade by myself from a 100% polyester chiffon, and a little vintage rik-rak braid has been applied around the gathered neckline.



This blouse style is the same as my Black and White Nouveau Blouse,


the Liechtenstein Blouse,



the Oriental Fans Blouse,

and others.

Since the style is so simple, it can be worn in many different ways, yet the bold colours and prints make it a very "Penelope Red" design- something unique and different! Take a look at this older posting to see the many different ways in which you can wear this style.

Inspirations for "The Red Hour" Summer Collection

As stated before in the "creating the Red Hour Collection" posting, I was inspired by what I would like to wear to a cocktail bar or party.

Then I liked the idea of changing "The Cocktail hour" to "The Red Hour". My ideas just seemed to flow after that. Now all my designs are named after classic cocktails! When researching cocktail names, I found this old poster, conveniently named, The Cocktail Hour!

The below shot is another shot that helped to inspire the team involved in the photo shoot. I like the idea of the model lounging around on the lounge chair, but I also wanted a few less "posey" shots, and have some fun with it. So we did both.





All of the Penelope Red handmade creations are available to purchase at The Rocks Markets, and they will be listed in the Penelope Red online shop soon.

Creating "The Red Hour" New Summer Collection Part 2

Last week, I mentioned my new summer collection, "The Red Hour" and a few photos showing the creative process. So here is Part 2 of that...


Above and below, creating the mini skirt...



Above: cutting out the flared pants, from a gorgeous bright red rayon!


Above: sewing the red polka dot satin fabric- this is to make a really cute top!


And altering the pattern for the flared pants.

Today I am creating the new catsuit style, and the fabric for this is going to be amazing! This will be a design that will stand out!

Meanwhile, take a look at some of my other designs in the Penelope Red etsy shop:

Creating "The Red Hour" New Summer Collection

Finally my computer is working!!!! I have not been able to add any new blog postings for 2 weeks now, and I am starting to get withdrawal symptoms. So here I am, back again, and ready to add more and more new posts!

So without further ado, I wanted to show to you the beginnings of my new Penelope Red Summer range, "The Red Hour Collection".

It is called "the RED hour" instead of "the cocktail hour". I began designing this collection by starting off thinking: "what would I love to wear to a cocktail bar or party?"

Then I visited my textile agent, and she had these amazing fabrics! So the ideas just flowed...


The above design is my new Aqua Summer Wrap Around Halter Neck Top. Such a great style, which never dates, paired together with a stunning print- I have a feeling this will sell fast!


The photo above and below is of another cotton print, but you are actually seeing four colourways/swatches of it (2 in each photo). I have so far bought the green/aqua/yellow combination (the top swatch in the photo below), and now, each time I look at these photos I am tempted to buy another, but I am not sure which one... Any suggestions?



From the aqua print fabric, I am also making some flared pants from it. Anyone who knows my style well, knows I love my colourful flared pants!


This next print will be made into a gathered neck blouse, such as the Black and White Nouveau Blouse. This style shape has been very popular in the past 6 months, and as soon as I spotted this fabric, it just screamed Penelope Red!



There will be plenty of other handmade Penelope Red styles to come, and sneak peeks to view. I am hoping to have all the designs made up in the next week, ready for a brilliant photo shoot.

Some of my current styles available to purchase can be found in the Penelope Red etsy shop here:

Paths to Abstraction Exhibit at the Art Gallery of NSW

A market buddy, Naomi, and I decided to visit the Art Gallery of NSW yesterday. It is always nice to get some fresh inspiration, so when Naomi suggested this exhibit I didn't know what to expect, but I loved it!



The above images were taken from the Art gallery of NSW website. 1st image: Patrick Henry Bruce "Painting". 2nd image: Frantisek Kupka "Discs of Newton".

So many great artists and recognisable artworks in the one exhibition: Cezanne, Duchamp, Kandinsky, Malevich, Matisse, Mondrian, Monet, Munch, Picasso, Whistler. There are approx 40 different artist's work on display.

I wanted to share with you a few of my favourites:


Unfortunately this is the only image I could find on the web of the above artwork. It is by Sonia Delaunay, "Dancer, second version 1916". The colours and the proportions of these colours together are simply beautiful! I love using artworks to inspire my colour combinations, as artwork is already proof that the colours work together.

Naomi, who is the designer of Mae and Pearl, and she also designs her own prints, mentioned that she might use the above artwork as inspiration for a print. I hope she does! I would love it!!

Well worth the visit to see this in its real-life format.



Above, Robert Delaunay's "Nude woman reading". I LOVE the colours in this work too.


Naomi and I out the front of the art gallery. Such beautiful weather for mid winter!


There were many more artworks that I loved, so you will just have to visit the exhibit to see for yourself! Piet Mondrian's "Zomernacht", Andre Derain's "Banks of the Seine at Bougival", and Morgan Russell's "Four Part Synchromy, no 7" just to name a few.

Viewing this exhibit has given me a few ideas for my Summer collection, so I can't wait to start it!