Sydney sees Stars!!!!!

Crazy time in Sydney town!!!!

April has been a month of madness in Sydney, with more celebs coming into town than you could stuff into a Qantas first class lounge!

Robert Downey Jr. kicked off the celebrity onslaught with the premier of his new film Iron Man, a kick ass action flick based on the cult comic classic. Over the years I have had the pleasure to get up close to some of my idols, and when I was in the Gold Class lounge during the “Who Magazine” pre movie drinks, my knees started to shake when I saw RDJ... I had no idea he was so cute and little in real life! After recently celebrating his 40-something birthday, he still looked 12 in his suit and sneakers, as he chatted away to Naomi Watts and her hubby right behind us... (sighs)

As if that wasn’t cool enough, after we took our seats, RDJ did something I have seen few stars do in all my time in this biz, he actually sat in the audience, and watched the entire film from start to finish, and he just happened to do it 2 rows behind us... I am not sure what was better... Seeing this film, or whipping my head back on occasion seeing the star of the film react in the same way as the audience. This film was obviously written just for him and during a few very cleverly humoured moments, I caught him head in his hands, laughing at himself... That was totally cool!

Iron Man is one of the most fun films of the year and is well worth a trip to the cinemas to see it on the big screen.

The next night, hottie Keanu Reeves was strutting his suited stuff up the red carpet for the premier of his new dark action thriller “Street Kings”. All was going so well until some other journos, whom I will let remain nameless, pissed the poor man off so much that he had a massive tanty and stormed off the carpet. At least he signed some stuff for the fans.
Seriously, what moron thinks it’s cool to ask a mega star like Keanu, why people should bother to part with 15 bucks to see his movie or whether his socks are polyester or wool!

Hugh Jackman has been floating around town filming his latest action flick “Wolverine” and has been spotted sporting some sexy mutton chops, while promoting his other new film “Deception” co-starring Ewan McGregor.

The Astra Awards rolled out the red carpet as Foxtel’s night of nights paid tribute to their most talented, meanwhile I was sweating it out back stage dressing the trophy girls from the new season of “Australia’s Next Top Model”, but still found time to catch up with a few familiar faces, like the kids from MTV and Love My Way.

Days later it was pandemonium as Miranda Kerr and her new BF Orlando Bloom flew in and caused a media storm... I wonder what his ex Kate Bosworth is thinking, maybe she isn’t thinking at all after I spotted her on a busy Sydney street with a very sexy new Aussie hunk on her arm.

Race fever took over Sydney on Saturday day, as everyone who was anyone, and then some, flocked to the racetrack for some high fashion and punting fun. I personally forgot that horses actually race there too, but someone who had his eye close to the action was Orlando, who cleaned up bringing home a few big winners!

From race track to red carpet more celebs crashed this town for the 2008 MTV Awards, including Mischa Barton who did 3 laps of the red carpet, Eve, Wyclef Jean, Brian McFadden, Juliette Lewis (who may be better remembered as Brad Pitt’s first girlfriend), Leona Lewis, Kim Kardashian and rapper 50 Cent, then joined by a host of local favs including Axle Whitehead, The Veronicas and the Potbelleez and the Vines who debuted their brand new single.

The show had new quarters this year, being held at Sydney’s Australian Technology Park, which meant no seats and sore feet, and maybe there should have been a warning to guests about Wyclef’s wardrobe choice involving green and yellow lycra...

If that wasn’t already enough, as April draws to a close it will do so with Rosemount Australian Fashion Week... As designers like Wayne Cooper, Sass and Bide, Zimmermann, Akira and Alex Perry take the catwalk with their latest collections.

I was lucky enough to be at the Ruth Tarvydas show, as she is the woman responsible for bringing the Kardashian’s out to OZ. Kim’s sister, Khloe Kardashian, at times seemed to be more interested in singing along to the great soundtrack of the show, rather than watching the dresses, which were breath taking... Bless, and Lara Bingle on occasion blinded anyone sitting opposite to her with her new rock.

With more shows to go, including Glamor God Alex Perry, and a host of other fabulous fashionistas still to show, there should be no end of exciting goss to report back next week, if I can see anything through the sea of black, over sized, over priced big bags, Anna Wintour wannabes, air kisses and ass kissing.

Till next time, stay fabulous
Much Luv Mamaxxxx

Have you packed your "GO Bag"?

I was sitting watching the news the other night, catching up on what's going on in our crazy world, when I was stopped dead in my tracks by a most peculiar story...With the impending Apex summit about to swarm.

Sydney, MP Clover Moore decided to spend tax payers hard earned cash on the "GO Bag" campaign… so expect to see flyers in a letter box near you that talks of these "Go Bags" and what you should have in them.

Let me back track for a moment, incase you are not up on the "Go Bag", no this is not the latest offering from the Parisian catwalks, it's not the new must have from Chloe nor is it the must have accessory from an LA seen on the likes of Posh Spice or Jailhouse Hilton, it is in fact your "Holy Shit! a terrorist has struck us, let's run bag".

In this bag should be a roll of toilet paper, bottle of water, first aid kit, torch, batteries, some snack bars and get this… a pair of running shoes.
I can see it now, some loon heaven forbid, decides to drop a bomb, the last thing I am going to be thinking about is kicking off my Manolos and slipping on my Nikes in the hope that I might run faster…

Which brings me to my next question… "Go Bag" at the ready or not, where the bloody hell are you going to run to? Byron, the airport or your closest Starbucks for one more White Chocolate Mocha Frappe and caffeine fix!
What is a roll of 3 ply luxurious loo paper going to do when the city is burning? Are we going to get all of our bog rolls together and make toilet paper traps to trip a terrorist?

Some of you may think I am being silly or even blasphemous to be speaking of such tragedy, but at the end of the day, it's no more silly than a "Go Bag" campaign hitting our letter boxes.

I have never been much for political talk, I believe in what I believe and let others do the same… but instead of Big W selling out all stocks of black rucksacks, and muesli bar prices going through the roof… do we really need our MP's scaring half the city shitless into thinking we are gonna get hit!

Who knows maybe Fashion Week next year will see a parade dedicated to designer "Go Bags" I can see the slogans now…

"Don't be slow, just go"
"Wake me up before you go, go"
"Gone in 60 seconds"
"Just Go It"

Louis Vuitton has just found a whole new niche market... oooh and it gives the Tiffany little blue bag a whole new meaning!
I'll have mine in Versace, black and gold trim, they might even do the joggers to match with Swarovski crystal trim, don't forget the Evian and Lindt Chocolates for energy! A four pack of Moet's minis thrown in for good measure, I can get pissed and use the bottle for protection.

Mamaxxx

PS If I have offended or upset anyone, I apologise, but at the end of the day, this is just my humble opinion.

Are Women's Magazines Sizest?

When I decided to put my diary online for everyone to see, I promised glitz, glamour and goss, but I also promised that I would give you an insight to my label, and the things that go on behind the scenes. So far all I have spoken about is the “glam” aspect of this business, what I haven’t done is talk about what it’s really like to run your own business and the tribulations and triumphs that come with it!

I have always had a strong work ethic, shoot for the stars, dream BIG, work hard and NEVER, EVER give up, however at the end of the day it’s not always smooth sailing… this week, I have felt a deep tinge of disillusionment and disappointment in the industry I am trying to hard to make a change to. So to say I have a bone to pick is an understatement!

I generally stay away from reading magazines, especially when I am in a “designing” mood, I prefer to draw influences from less common places, however I decided to buy a copy of a few different “popular” women’s publications and was left feeling infuriated.
I digress, I started this label because I felt there was a desperate need of quality clothing for “real” women that was sexy, tailored and glamorous. I wanted to make a difference in the media and the way women are perceived, I wanted women to feel empowered by fashion rather than enslaved.

Yet it seems every time I open a women’s mag something catches my eye and sends me into fury. There was one publication in particular which will remain nameless that had a great article on women over coming eating disorders and what they went through to finally reach a point where they were “friends” with their body, these were real everyday women, in each of their stories they mentioned the pressure of feeling as if they needed to aspire to some “perfect” ideal… accompanying this story was information on places you could turn to if you felt you could be suffering an eating disorder, then to my sheer astonishment on the opposite page was an ad for a fashion label with a 6 foot size 2 model that looked barely 15. Enveloped by a lycra sheath. Does anyone else see a problem with this?

It’s all good and well for these magazines to highlight the problems that women face, I applaud it, however it’s almost futile when they continue to fill the rest of their pages with advertisements and editorials filled with women that represent 1% of the population, whom by the way have been airbrushed and photo shopped within an inch of their miniature waist lines and flawless faces.

Another publication that shall not be mentioned featured all the latest trends and where you can get them, in all of it’s 200 pages with everything from make-up to shoes… only 2 thats TWO fashion labels featured in the entire publication did to a size 16, a few more went to a 14 and the majority were to a size 12, and ONLY one label that provided her range up to size 20. How can this be, when 65% of women in Australia alone are a size 16 or more!

My fabulous right hand and operations manager, Cath, was out on the weekend, and got into a rather heated debate with a male in his mid 20’s who works in the banking sector, he questioned our label and it’s relevance in the market place, claiming that “bigger” women don’t shop, have no money, and no desire to look nice. What’s worse was she had to explain to him point by point, statistic by statistic why he was so far off the mark, till he finally agreed she had a fair argument. When she told me this my blood boiled and I was so very saddened, is this really what it’s come to? Is this the perception of women who don’t fit the “perfect” size 8 stereo type?

So I implore all of you that may be reading this for your feedback, I want to know about your experiences, your feelings and what goes through your mind every time you open a magazine, or walk into a shop that doesn’t have YOUR size! What happens when you want to find something for a special occasion or something nice for work, and you are forced into a department called “plus size” even though you represent the average, real woman. I want to know what goes through your minds when you read these magazines and see the TV shows, I want to hear YOUR stories…mailto:info@lilmama.com.au

Please email me at Look forward to hearing from you all, till next week.
Much LuvMamaxxx

This week was all about culture at Lil’ Mama, as I was out and about getting a good dose of live music and theatre.
Thursday night was the opening of the David Campbell’s “Company” an awesome little musical written by one of Broadway’s legends Stephen Sondheim, who flew all the way here for the premier performance.

Company is a fabulous little story about a 30 something bachelor named Bobby whose friends are all married off and putting pressure on him to settle down… it’s one of those great stories that so many of us can relate to, and Campbell’s performance is nothing less than stunning.

Also roaming the country the last couple of weeks has been the Human Nature boys on their biggest Aussie tour to date! The boys wrapped up their tour on Saturday night to a sold out crowd at the Entertainment Centre, with their Motown show. My feet are still sore from dancing the night away to 70’s disco tracks till the wee hours of Sunday morning with the boys at their end of show party!

At Lil’ Mama HQ we were very excited to send out our second installment of L’Amour D’ Éclat, and have loved hearing all your great feedback! Keep it coming!
Well that’s about it, till next week…
Much LuvMamaxxx

Knocked Up, Ed Hardy and Guns N' Roses all in a weeks work!

The past week has been nothing less than go-go-go!!!!!
On Tuesday night, I attended the red carpet premier of “Knocked Up”, as I was walking down the red carpet, trying to avoid frost bite and hypothermia from the maddening winds and icy rain, my dear friend Bianca Dye gave me a very kind warning about a particular scene in the film, and for that I am truly thankful, I have never really been the maternal type, however after seeing this film, I have firmly decided that childbirth does not rate highly on my agenda, EVER!

“Knocked Up” is a really honest story in comedy’s clothing… about life throwing us the unexpected and how love can be found and lost in the most unlikely of places. Keep an eye out for it, it’s worth a watch… when it opens in cinemas everywhere July 5th.

Wednesday night however was a definite highlight for me, when I got to attend the opening of the Sydney “Ed Hardy” store. For those of you not familiar with this iconic man, in a nutshell he is the Godfather of tattoo artistry and has now lent his world famous designs to everything from caps, T-shirts, belts, jeans, shoes and kids wear. It’s been a fav of mine for a few years now.
As if I wasn’t excited enough, cutter to the stars (I’m going to name drop here… Paris, Nicole, Justin and J-Lo) Adam Saaks, flew all the way from LA to show off his snipping skills. In case you have no idea what I am talking about, this man takes a piece of clothing and a pair of scissors and hacks in to clothes like Freddie Kruger on Friday the 13th… before you know it, he takes his slashed canvas and weaves it into what can only be called a true piece of art.
So taking full advantage of the opportunity, I was damn lucky and got my own piece of Adam Saaks art d’jour, customized ala Lil’ Mama style.

To round the week up, I got a phone call on Friday which stirred the old teen spirit, a dear friend of mine offered me the chance to relive my adolescence… in the form of a ticket to Guns N’ Roses… these boys as you may remember ruled the charts in the 90’s with tracks like Paradise City, Live and Let Die and my all time favourite cock rock ballad “November Rain”.
The band has since spilt and Axle bought the name, so really it was him with a bunch of musos and no Slash in sight…

So of course I leapt at the chance to get up close and personal with Mr Rose himself, personally I always thought John Bon Jovi was hotter, but that’s another story for another day…
I found my inner rock goddess and headed to the venue around 10ish as Axle wasn’t scheduled to grace us with his presence till 10.30… we got there to find fellow cock rocker Sebastian Bach who you may remember from a little band called “Skid Row”, rocking out on stage, still frizzy haired and leather clad.

Just after midnight Axle decided to grace a very tipsy crowd with his presence… looking like a fat old fart off the set of Magnum PI, there was no bandanna just ginger tinged corn rows, a goatee and a beer gut… opening with their classic “Welcome to the Jungle” I have seen better backdrops at Rock Eisteddfod concerts… but hey, it was midnight and he was here, well he was a second ago, after every half assed attempt at what once rated as “classic rock n’ roll” Axle would disappear stage right for up to 10 minutes at a time and had more costume changes than Cher… all in all it was a late night, but a fun one, and a good excuse to relive some old school memories.

Till this time next week have fun and be fabulous!

Luv Mamaxxx

To find out more about me check out http://www.myspace.com/allaboutmama
To find out more about my label go to http://www.lilmama.com.au/, while you are there join the "A-List" to receive exclusive previews, news and a touch of glamour in your inbox each month.