Beautiful PURPLE SILK Wedding Gown

When your favourite colour is purple, & always has been purple, & everyone knows it.....then why not make a statement on your wedding day in a beautiful PURPLE SILK wedding gown!

That's exactly what Kirstin did when she recently married Wayne in Sydney, with their baby daughter as a very cute little flowergirl. As you can see from their wedding photos, Kirstin looked simply spectacualr in her Culture Shock Couture wedding gown, which we created from ivory silk liqud satin, with a fabulous purple silk train, and a detachable jacket and Obi waistband constructed from a divine vintage kimono we sourced directly from Japan. The whole wedding day had a purple theme running through it – the bride’s purple shoes were purchased before she had even picked her dress!

In Kirstin's own words:-

"There was a touch of purple in everything – from the invitations, dresses, table runners on tables, to the detailing on the wedding cake. We did try to keep things simple when organising the wedding by not sweating the minor details too much. We made sure the major details were covered – but didn’t really worry as much about the little things. This made it a much more stress free day for everyone. "

i think that is great advice for future brides - to focus on the big important things, get them right, and let all the finer, smaller details fall into place.

CONGRATULATIONS, KIRSTIN & WAYNE, AND THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR WEDDING WITH US!

xx lisa and the team

at Culture Shock

Celebrity Dress Match Up: The Dress Fashion Statement

Dress is the most common outfit or style of clothing that every girls wearing at any time and anywhere. Dress is the style of designer clothes that express the femininity of ladies. That's why in the wardrobe of every women there's a set of colorful dress that shed their fashion statement in everyday way of their fashion lifestyle.

How about the celebrities? Of course, lot of celebrities wearing dress designer clothing. All most all of lady celebrities are having their own style and designs of their dress. Because celebrities are usually wearing their dress during their day light outing. Dress is already part of everyday fashion statement of some celebrities. Want to find out who are the celebrities in their stunning dress fashions? Take a look on the list of celebrities who have their Dress fashion statements:

Taisho Chic at the Gallery

Whenever i start to feel uninspired or overloaded with mental "clutter" from daily life, there is always an easy fix to get the creative juices flowing once again - a visit to my nearest art gallery!!!
The Art Gallery of NSW, in Sydney's Domain, is such a cool place. Apart from the great location, and intriguing, totally hypnotic Aboriginal Art section, there is a stunning permanent collection of Asian arts, classic European paintings and contemporary Australia works, plus travelling exhibitions from around the globe. Earlier this week i took my Mum to see the current exhibition there called "Taisho Chic - Japanese Modernity, Nostalgia and Deco"... in a word - BEAUTIFUL! Although it's small and compact, the exquisite collection of kimono's, paintings, silk screens, funky tea-cups and pretty little fans and knick-knacks was unique, often quite quirky, and just fascinating! A real snap-shot of life back then, very well-presented, and very educational AND inspiring...
Showing works from approx the 1910-1930's period, it demonstrated how Japanese women were suddenly able to embrace parts of Western culture & fashion, without losing their own strong traditions and still staying respectable and feminine. It was a time of big changes, and fashion was enabling women to express themselves more than ever before. Some of the kimono prints and colour combinations look like they are from the 1980's or beyond- until you look at the program and realize it was from around 1930 or so... amazing. This show runs til 3rd August, and i thoroughly recommend it to anyone here in Sydney, the guided tour starts at 1pm daily. http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/current/taisho_chic LOVED IT!!!! xx lisa

Short Hair Envy

It's the holidays, and I know you're busy, cause I'm busy.  And I have to be honest, I barely have the energy to spend on my hair for these days.  So for the next couple weeks (through New Years) I'm trying to decide on a new hairstyle.  You can help - let me know which ones you like, send me links to pics you like, upload pics you like to facebook.

I'm thinking one day I might play with the http://www.dailymakeover.com/ site, where i can upload a pic of myself and "Try On" hairstyles like these.

Here's what I like so far... I'd kind of like to go a bit edgy , but of course, then there's growing it back out...

OK - this isn't edgy at all, but sooo cute!

http://www.dailymakeover.com/hairstyles/all_womens_looks/jaime_pressly_june_07_2009?tid_ref=958

http://fabulousfinishes.wordpress.com/2009/07/26/gosh-why-is-our-hair-so-damn-important/

http://gimps.de/pictures/273-Short-Hair-Styles-of-Jessica-Alba

Not sure if mine would actually look like this...

http://www.dailymakeover.com/hairstyles/all_womens_looks/mena_suvari_oct_22_2008?tid_ref=958

Japanese Beauty Wedding Gown

I'm excited.... i always get excited after a photo shoot, knowing that we captured some GREAT new pix, & seeing my designs "come alive" on our models, plus having a fun day being imaginative with like-minded people, creating beautiful images together....it's definitely one of my favourite aspects of my job!

So check out these "sneak preview shots" from my latest "Japanese Beauty" shoot.... and these are just the images i took myself, on my little pocket-camera. When the official professional photos come thru, i will be adding them to my website gallery....VERY soon.

Both these one-off Oriental-themed Couture wedding gowns were custom-made from authentic vintage Japanese textiles, which i sourced direct from Japan. Can you imagine how divine this would look on a bride, on her wedding day, perhaps in a lush garden setting, or a sleek & stylish restaurant? Chic and elegant but at the same time, edgey and downright sexy.... and both these bridal gowns could easily be worn again afterwards, as eveningwear.

For this photo shoot, my model Eve had her customised make-up look specially designed by local make-up artist Simone Cozens, who did an amazing job... so if you're looking for a great make-up artist for your wedding, Simone can be contacted on ph 0424 948 593, and is available for weddings in Sydney and beyond, working with both hair and make-up... she comes highly recommended.

Stay tuned for more sneak previews coming up from another recent shoot i did up in the Hunter Valley of NSW... more NEW wedding gown designs, more exciting ideas, and more reasons to come & see me here in my Leichhardt studio!!!

Please feel free to email me via my website if you have any comments or queries, as you can tell from this blog - i love chatting about fashion and discussing my designs, and i feel very passionate about encouraging my brides to "think outside the square" and to be creative & ORIGINAL with their wedding gown ideas, to really express WHO YOU ARE and to celebrate your individuality!

cheers for now, xx Lisa

Bathing in the Golden

Happy "Australia Day" Long Weekend, everyone .... 2009 is already in full swing & the Culture Shock studio is a hive of activity, buzzing with energy & a bevy of smiling, happy brides-to-be!












In the past weeks i've met with lots of lovely new bridal clients, looking around for gorgeous gowns for their Spring/Summer 09-10 weddings. The Grecian-inspired look is still very popular, especially after the recent GOLDEN GLOBE awards, where we saw many stunning one-shouldered gowns and fabulous draped silk chiffon creations. Laura Linney's golden coloured Elie Saab Haute Couture gown was so beautifully fitted and expertly crafted, a joy to see.

It certainly was an entertaining night for fashionista's around the world to drool over....all those incredible Couture gowns were just breath-taking, i was glued to the TV for hours! The sexy Fishtail silhouette was seen in many fabulous versions on the red carpet, actually the DIVINE pale blue Dior gown worn by Drew Barrymore was surprisingly my favourite look of the night, big hair and all!!

I also loved Kate Beckinsale's fitted white J Mendel fishtail gown, which she wore so beautifully, and i can just imagine that on a bride - WOW! Slicked back hair, fab make-up, no necklace and big feature earrings... sleek, polished and just so elegant for a wedding day look.

Eva Mendes' funky Dior gown, again in white, also stood out as a potential bridal look, with that AWESOME necklace....the colours of those precious jewels against her tanned skin, exotic face & white gown was mesmerising!

Others worthy of a special mention from this designers' point of view were Elizabeth Banks' cleverly ruffled J Mendel gown, which was such a girly look but with a real vintage-lingerie look, and Maggie Gyllenhaal's blue leopard-spot Lanvin gown, which was a cool take on the one-shouldered approach.



And although i did think it made her look a tad too old and too sophisticated for her age, Rumer Willis's Reem Acra gown in Aubergine had a beautiful silhouette and the skirt section moved so well on stage. AND congrats to Salma Hayek, with those incredible womanly curves, who i thought looked pretty amazing in her Bottega Veneta gown, which fitted like a glove and was draped to perfection!


So now that we've got an appetitie for glamour....bring on the Oscars!! xx Lisa

BEST OF 2010 - Merry Christmas from Culture Shock

How quickly has this year flown by?


As i recall all the wonderful "Culture Shock" brides that we have had the pleasure of dressing thru 2008, here are a few personal highlights (in no particular order...)


* A lovely Norwegian bride whose gown we decorated with a traditional Norwegian embroidered ribbon waistband (which she painstakingly hand-stitched herself), and finished with an antique brooch from her Grandmothers wedding....DIVINE!



* Our always-smiling, nature-loving & very funky client whose bridal corset-mini-dress we designed especially for her, in white silk, then dip-dyed in bright lime green and sunny yellow, so that she was like a little Aussie"bush-baby" for her garden wedding - the result was FUN, FLIRTY & FABULOUS - and it fitted her personality, setting & theme just perfectly!



* Our beautiful Tasmanian client whose wedding took place on her own organic farm in rural Tassie, by a small riverbed containing several platypus, who were seen by the guests playing in the water during the ceremony- aaawwwwww!!!! How very Australian is that?





* The highest number EVER of interstate & international clients who flew to Sydney especially for us - planning their flights to visit the Culture Shock studio for fittings with whatever other excuses to come to Sydney they could muster- shopping trips, business trips, visiting friends and family - or just solely to visit Culture Shock! A special thanks to all those globe-trotting, jet-setting brides, it's always a pleasure & we trust it was worth the early morning starts and extra travelling time! The world is definitely getting smaller...




* Our fun-loving, bold, curvaceous and retro-inspired bride who cleverly blended her love of the 40's AND 50's with her "victory-rolls" hair-do, funky Fifties Obi frock, red petticoat and fabulous red peep-toe shoes - you looked AWESOME, Miss N.....



* So many "East Meets West" inspired brides who embraced my love of Japan, and allowed me to mix splashes of RED amongst the ivory and whites, to create wedding gowns that celebrate Asian cultures as well as our own - and allowed me to delve deeply into my vintage Kimono & Obi collections.



* Likewise with my Indian-inspired bridal clients - we created some amazing & totally unique wedding gowns from rich, exquisitely-coloured Sari's this year, including bold purple, deep turquoise and brilliant aqua, plus the ever-popular reds, all mixed back with whites and ivories to stunning effect - and we hope these gowns will be worn again to Xmas/ NYE parties very soon!




* If there was one look that dominated my brides this year, despite the diverse range of styles we create - it would have to be the GRECIAN GODDESS look! And to make that happen - soooooo many never-ending hours of pinning, hand-rusching, draping, hand-stitching and french-seaming layer upon layer of sheer silk georgette and chiffon- thank goodness my beautiful & immensely talented & experienced staff ALL have such nimble fingers!


So as i wave goodbye to 2008, yet another creative, inspiring & rewarding year for Culture Shock, i now take my hat off to my FABULOUS, patient, caring and very dear team of expert staff, who work with me here in the studio, weaving their magic and making my crazy ideas come to life and look so good on each and every client - ladies, without you, there would be no gowns, no Culture Shock, and no fun ....A HEARTFELT THANK YOU SHERRY, JOAN, SABINA, EVE, POLI and LINDA, for a job VERY VERY WELL DONE!


AND a BIG, warm and very special thanks to all our beautiful brides ... here's to a SPLENDID year in 2009, have a magical Christmas,

love from Lisa xx