Time: 9:00

Location: Sweaty Betty Headquarters

Position: Work Experience

Approximately four weeks ago I began an epic journey into the realms of fashion PR, starting approximately two weeks after Uni finished for the year, with the view of four months of glorious holidays within reach.

Fortunately for me I contracted an illness.

Symptoms:

1. An unusual abundance of free time

2. Anxiety at the prospect of another summer in retail and forgetting everything I crammed into my two day stuvac.

3. Facebook, Television and magazines not as appealing as it was when I had exams to study for.

Diagnosis:

Management Today suggests that Gen Y are generally more ambitious and want to achieve greater results, faster, and at a younger age.

Thus if Gen Y disease was my illness, a mentor like Roxy Jacenko was my cure.

One of the top boutique PR fashion agencies in Sydney…….Check

28 years old………………………………………………….…Check
Acquiring an internship here………Ch…Ch……….Check!

Entering Sweaty Betty I found myself in Street Fashion Utopia. With the speed of talk like that of the Gilmore Girls i.e. 70kph coupled with a faced paced environment it was ‘Blink-and-you-missed-your-instructions’. Amid the high piles of returns. Blink. Filing. Blink. Learning how to write a press release. Blink. More returns. Blink. Pulling items for a brief. Blink. I walked into rack. Blink. Ouch!. Blink. I’ve learnt more on this internship than I ever could have imagined.

Four weeks flew by, and on my last day here I would like to sincerely thank all the dynamic and talented team at Sweaty Betty for sharing with me their abundance of knowledge and experiences. Their ability to communicate and multi-task effortlessly, write with flair and style and stay calm in light of stressful situations has truly inspired me no end. But most importantly, the friends I’ve made here are just, if not more rewarding than the lessons I have learnt.

Their hard-work and dedication to their jobs are truly amazing, and thus at times they may become (I certainly know I did), more than a little Sweaty, but they are truly all Betty’s.

Love Always.

Linda-Jane-The-Intern.

Xoxo

UTAH SAINTS AND THE POTBELLEEZ TO HEADLINE AT CARGO NYE

Cargo Bar is pulling out all stops for what’s set to be a massive New Years Eve celebration. The event will be headlined by Utah saints (smash hit ‘something good’) and The Potbelleez capping off a very successful 2008 at the event. Also joining them will be the Bang Gang Dj’s, Van She Tech and the Aston Shuffle!

The spectacular Harbourside location will be rocking with a great view of the fireworks. There final release is now on sale so you better hurry up in securing your ticket! Final release tickets start from $110 which includes drink packages for 2 hours.

Go to www.cargobar.com.au or www.moshtix.com.au for ticket sales

Exclusive Sweaty Betty 10% discount with the code word: UTAH

Spray tan … Check

Gucci swimsuit … Check

Waterproof mascara… Check

Bikini wax… Check

5000 Sit ups for the last 3 weeks … Check

And now …

RETROSUPERFUTURE…

At last weeks Marco Polo event, as endless bottles of Veuve Clicquot flowed, the who’s who of the Sydney social scene were getting their groove on in the latest shades for summer!

If the first issue is getting into the exclusive club the second is choosing what colour of SUPERS to team back with the ensemble.

See you there!

Sophie xx

Sick of getting the stock standard bunch of flowers? Running out of ideas for presents? We have found the solution at www.chocogram.com.au!

A friend of mine had one of these little packages land on their door step (see below) earlier this week and it was smiles all round – myself included.

A cute personal message made from delicious Belgium chocolate = a no fail gift, that whilst it might not last forever, maybe like 30 seconds, you will love it all the same!

Let the chocolate do the talking and create your own personalized message for friends, family and chocoholics everywhere!

xxx

eXplosive, eXpensive, eXtreme, and sometimes X-rated – Kylie Minogue’s X Tour came home to Sydney this week and proved to the adoring crowds that she is still the ultimate princess of pop.

From the warm-up DJ spinning the coolest club hits, to the amazing acrobatic dancers and mind-blowing visuals, this show was one big party with the Aussie songstress at the helm.

Opening with Speakerphone and emerging in a John Paul Gaultier spiderweb gown, Kylie looked radiant and excited and wasted no time in launching into her crowd-pleasers Can’t Get you Out of my Head and In Your Eyes.

Described by Kylie as “a show within a show’, the evening was split into themed acts including Cheer Squad, with Miss Minogue and her dancers throwing a high school pep rally complete with cheerleading outfits, Xposed, with Kylie dressed as a raunchy bellboy, and Black versus White, when Kylie belted out On a Night Like This and Your Disco Needs You dressed head to toe in monochrome.

In homage to the album’s electro-dance vibe, old and new songs were reworked with minimal beats and dirty bass lines. The tracks were cut with futuristic visuals in neon colours and Kylie was backed by a very cool live band.

With a nod to her huge gay following, Kylie included a very kitsch cover of Barry Manilow’s Copacabana, and Loveboat, set to a backdrop of hunky sailor boys. And for those fans longing for the the old-school classic, Kylie delved into the memory box and pulled out retro favourites Better the Devil you Know, Shocked, and I Should be So Lucky.

The high point of the evening for us was the performance of Slow, with Kylie emerging suspended on a huge silver skull singing a funked up remix of the track.

She ended the night in true Kylie style with a 30 minute encore featuring Love at First Sight and The Rain – and as the gold glitter fell from the sky the thousands of fans at the Acer were on their feet dancing to the grand finale.

A spectacular and slick show – it didn’t beat the spine-tingling performance that Kanye West delivered in the same venue the week before, but as far as polished pop performances go, it ticked all the boxes.

Amy xx

Musician Paul Mac and the Lads from FAKER grabbing some

New Shades from Cult brand Retropsuperfuture today @ Sweaty Betty HQ

in the lead up to their Falls Festival performances.

Get them @ Footage, Darlinghurst!

xx Foxy Rox

A leather tote from Japanese designer Hideo Wakamatsu is making the history books this month, at an exhibition in the world’s greatest art museum.

Hideo’s Handle II bag is on display at the ‘kansei Japan Design Exhibition’, a ten-day event staged at the Louvre in Paris, exploring the spirit and sensibility of Japanese design and products.

The Handle II is a masterpiece in modern design, made with leather and ponyskin and lightweight and large enough for everyday use. Handle II owners will be delighted to learn that their classic bags are being admired by thousands of art lovers in the fashion capital of Europe.

The kansei Japan Design Exhibition runs until Sunday 21 December. Visit http://www.hideo.com.au/hideo/ for more information.

Caz xxx

The latest lust-worthy label we have been salivating over this week is Nicole Ritchie’s new jewellery line House of Harlow 1960. While we have always admired Nicole’s sense of style and desirable wardrobe, often exclaiming ‘I wish I looked like Nicole Ritchie’, this new collection had me not wanting to just look like her, but secretly wanting to be her! With her ultra chic wardrobe, rocker boyfriend and too cute bub, Nicole just keeps adding on to her list of enviable credentials!

Richie, who collaborated with designer Pascal Mouawad to design the line, tells, “I love accessories. You can wear the same jeans and T-shirt every day and make it look completely different just by accessorizing.”

Featuring fabric, leather, silk strings, chains, rivets, feathers and gold-plated metals, this new collection had us rewriting our Christmas wish lists!

House of Harlow 1960 is available at www.shopkitson.com

xx Tahlia

The length of my Christmas wish list doubled this morning as the new Bvlgari look book landed on my desk. Sleek, stylish and super-chic in deep maroon and gold, I was letting out squeals before I turned a single page.

On close inspection I decided that whilst diamonds may be a girls best friend, I would now argue so too is a bedazzling jeweled necklace (see below, words can’t begin to do it justice), crystal encrusted clutch (it is perfection!), or even a leisurely stay at the Bvlgari Hotel Bali. Though if dripping in diamonds is still your Christmas wish, this latest collection by Bvlgari certainly has the best in show.

Get ready to fall in love with pieces that combine the modern with the classic to produce a timelessness not often seen. Classic in the most fashionable of ways Bvlgari has offered a range that from mind-blowing jewels to trendy timepieces to luxe leather bags, has a little something for everyone this Christmas – in a fair and ideal world that is.

The most lustworthy piece of the collection and the item I’m hoping to find in my stocking next week in lieu of a hunk of coal, is the sparkling cocktail ring combining diamonds, rubys and emeralds.

Whilst we are meant to deck the halls with balls of holly, i’d rather be decking mine with Bvlgari – a girl can dream….

If there has been one band that has been repeatedly blasted through my tiny 2-bedder this year, it’s been Kings of Leon. And rightly so it would seem, with Triple J listeners crowning their newest album Only by the Night as the number one album of 2008.

The Followill boys, from Tennessee, have an unmistakable sound, which has not wavered since the release of their debut album, Youth and Young Manhood, in 2003. (And a little bit of trivia: All KOL album names consist of five syllables.)

Five years on and the band have cemented themselves in the music scene, though never straying far from their original roots; southern garage rock with a hint of blues.   Frontman, Caleb Followill’s ragged voice is reminiscent of the morning after a weekend bender – laced with a roughness from a bruised throat.

Only by the Night is home to the smash hit, Sex on Fire, which is fast becoming an anthem to Australian youth and in my mind defines the KOL sound. Even being played to death on commercial radio stations hasn’t dampened the songs worth.

Caleb’s lyrics are shrouded in shadows (rumoured to be influenced by a dependency on pain meds after shoulder surgery) and you get the sense all is not peachy in the singers world.  The dimness, though, suits the genre – what is a rockstar without some sort of dependency?!

All things considered, the album was well picked as the number one of the year – I’ve even caught my girlfriend who lives by the slogan “Whitney & Britney!” sneaking a listen.

XX Catherine