Snobs: the TV show . . wouldn't you rather a season in purgatory?

http://tiny.cc/v33mk> updated sunday March 28, 2010



When George Bernard Shaw said that youth is wasted on the young, he was so incredibly right.
The mooted TV series, Snobs, looks set to be another great notch in the belt of the Australian TV industry.
It astounds me how a producer can throw four attractive young women together and assume they will maketh a winning formula.
And that's no matter how loose the actual plot of the potential TV series, revoltingly titled 'Snobs', may actually be.
The series is being 'pitched as a local version of Sex And The City and Gossip Girl.'
And according to a story I read on news.com.au (that made me chuckle) it 'co-stars Gracie Otto and Amber L'Estrange, girlfriend of one of the city's richest young men, entrepreneur Justin Hemmes.
'Along with Augusta Miller, daughter of film-maker George Miller, and NIDA graduate Ashley Ricardo, the women play privileged Sydney eastern suburbs 20-somethings.
'They are young, glamorous, famous and spoilt, and now the princesses of Sydney's social scene are making a TV series - about themselves.'
Oh god, when do we start to vom? Don't we want 'feel-good' TV nowadays not 'how-not-to-feel-good-about-yourself' TV?
' "The idea is to break out of the suburban, realistic nature of most Australian social drama,'' Ms Otto told The Sunday Telegraph, apparently, during 'a break from filming at a luxurious Palm Beach house.'
' "On TV you've got things like Home and Away and Love My Way. Programs which don't really explore our generation," she said.
So, the ever-popular Home and Away and the award-winning Love My Way don't and didn't talk love, death, body image, fidelity, politics, depression, social affairs and relationships but a handful of self-indulgent 'Snob' party girls will?
I bet the genuinely nice Ms Otto will be regretting that particular media quote.
The Telegraph story went onto say that the producer is hoping 'to attract the interest of international broadcasters and pay-TV's Foxtel is rumoured to be circling the eight-part series.'
Good luck.
The Sex And The City girly-formula worked brilliantly. Once. And Twice and maybe three times with the movie franchise.
But look at Cashmere Mafia? It was a SATC dilution that didn't work.
At least the SATC women had some life experience on their side; they wore and continue to wear some astonishingly expensive clothes that many women just like to ogle; and some viewers even felt they 'grew' with the cast, as opposed to just party with them.
For a zillion years I have observed what passes as 'society' in newspaper columns, on TV, radio and in mags.
So, I am speaking from some 'social' experience having watched the young and the old 'party' and live, often ludicrously narcissistic lives.
Simply, most youthful society dwellers aren't very interesting. I know. I've dealt with them.
If they aren't talking about where they had their hair extensions done or who sprays the best tan or who gives the best fake eyelashes or how much gear they snorted the night before, they're just fairly boring and bland.
Take a look at the 'beautys' on Beauty and The Geek.
Hardly a brain between them and when the fake tans washes off; the black roots start to show and the once-cute freckles become unsightly sun spots . . . they ain't all that beauteous.
So, eight eps of party girls and their lives?
Let's hope the series digs deeper than the thickness of last night's make-up.

Good golly, what would Noddy think of his golliwog pals being given the shove?

Can you believe the latest brou-ha-ha over gollies? The news that Noddy's 'black face' golliwog buddies have been given the heave-ho from an upcoming, 60th anniversary Noddy book?

If only wooden Noddy could talk, don't you just reckon he'd be as bemused as most of us seem to be.

PC-ness has gone totally mad and anyway, how do I tell my son that Noddy's pal, Mr Golly has suddenly disappeared from looking after the big red car?

Sure, the now infamous 'Hey Hey' black face skit was a much-talked about pop culture argument, but the latest Noddy black face expulsion got me thinking and even questioning my own penchant for collecting 'black face'-inspired dust collectors.

Perhaps there is an underlying racism to my collection?

Oh, for god sake, I just happen to like them. They are dolls. Ornaments. Homewares. Not metaphors for inter-racial relations!

Some people collect golf balls, Barbie dolls, coins, Wedgwood, garden gnomes, Cabbage patch dolls or old vinyl records. I just happen to collect something different.

I have one of those Negro black face money boxes where you put the coin on its hand and it goes into the mouth of the 'black face'. Does that made me racist?

I have lots of elegant female African faces that have been crafted into exquisite wooden and ceramic wall plaques; a couple of beautiful 'black lady' lamps bought in Paris flea markets and a heavenly black face doll called Topsy that belonged to my mum's mum.

I also have a a 'mammy' tea cosy knitted by women from the Bangalow Country Women's Association and that I bought from their store. Not forgetting a metal hand bell . . that happens to have an African American face on the ringing bell part.

In Mudgee recently, there were a heap of 'Gollys' in the main street's gift store. The proprietor even told me they were her best seller.

I was even all set to buy one but looked at the tag to see it had been made offshore and not by what I had hoped _ by the hands of a crafty, Aussie country person.

So, does this penchant for filling my house with things i just happen to like, that happen to be dark in color, make me some kind of mad, racist demon?

I thought not.

Far from red carpets, frock designer Alex Perry bags a carpet deal . . . .

Designer collaborations seem to be the style world's arrangement du jour.

If Lindsay Lohan isn't doing it with French fashion house Ungaro then Peter Morrissey has hooked with Big W for cheap and cheerfuls and Stella McCartney had a her big go with Target.

Now, the ruby rug's favored walker, Alex Perry, has moved into another celeb con-fab. And it's all about rugs. Ones for the home and some v. smart offices.

After working at a model agency as a booker, Alex followed his true calling, that of designer with a penchant for ferociously sexy, figure-hugging gala gowns. In the early 90’s, Perry frocks caught the eye of the fash-mag set, the designer happily creating the biggest and boldest dresses for equally as over-the-top fashion shoots.

Fast forward to now and Alex has segued into interiors for the Designer Rugs crew.

"I wanted to pay homage to my Greek heritage striving to create something timeless and striking. Each design tells a different story, revealing a distinct aspect of Greece and myself,” Alex says.

Hand-made from 100% New Zealand wool, some pieces feature pure silk and viscose with weaving and carving techniques used to create unique accents and definition.

The rugs have names like 'Palati', inspired by an intricate gate seen in the National Gardens in
Athens; ‘Anthi, Rhodes and Ipografi' which feature colors like lime, mahogany, white and gun metal while there is ‘Nisaki, Bibelo and Psaraki', all of which have been influenced by the Aegean sea.

Alex Perry for Designer Rugs is available in the standard size of 200 x 300 cm (big). Take a look at http://www.designerrugs.com.au/

The Perry rugs will be officially unleashed over drinks next Wednesday night.

Go on .... Dare you to go purple, neon pink or acid orange in the nail department. Just spied these newbies at Valonz beauty parlour, Miss Frou Frou.

Sent via BlackBerry® from Telstra

Collete Dinnigan is no slave to try-hard trends . . . .

Having shown 27 collections in Paris, it was time for Collette Dinnigan to address an inner 'Alice in Wonderland' fantasy for her 28th.

"I always go with my heart and don't follow 'trends' '', Collette told me, down the phone line, just a few hours before her spring/summer 2010 show started in Paris.

"And while I say I don't follow trends, I am told the collection is 'on trend' with what is going on in fashion this season.''

Collette showed her ‘Alice’ collection (which is for European and North American spring/summer 2010) in a salon in the Hotel Meurice, the pieces going from some tougher, all black evening pieces to some more whimsical, fresh, floaty and pretty print dresses.

In her collection notes Collette said the show showcased 'A mirage of colour, prints and detailed embellishment, “Alice” takes us to her wonderland.

'A journey of contrasts; soft hues with bold print and stripe, long and fluid. It’s a new freedom of spirit combining modernity with femininity.'

Collette's commitment to luxury and style, using the best fabrics and finishes, fits in with the Paris catch cry of showing quality fashion house labels, many of whom are then slavishly copied by derivative 'designers'.

"I still love showing my collections in Paris and because I am the only Australian designer on the French calender it's special to show our collection to the rest of the international fashion world,'' Collette added.

"I have designed bigger shapes and silhouettes and the blues, greens and soft palette pieces serve as a good contrast to the solid black pieces that I still love doing.''

Ms Dinnigan remains the only Australian to show on the official Chambre Syndicale du Pret-a-Porter Des Couturiers et Createurs de Mode schedule. Or the Paris fashion week schedule, in more simplistic terms.

Nicole Richie's designer collaboration: so she's morphed into a designer?

Nicole Richie showcasing her House of Harlow 1960 jewellery collection

Designer 'collaborations' are nothing new to the fashion world.

But when the 'LA chicks', ie Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie, start partnering with established names, more people seem to sit up and take notice.

This week it was Ms Lohan who unveiled her marginalised collaboration with the established French house, Emanuel Ungaro. A strange marriage indeed, but one that where both players ultimately feed off each other.

Ungaro does it to get media miles, particularly during the Paris fashion show week where, quite often, designer wares get lost in a sea of other designer runway shows.

Ms Lohan, on the other hand, would do it in an attempt to gain fashion cred, no matter whether the collection was loved or hated by the fashion critics.

Another collaboration is from Nicole Richie whose 'House of Harlow 1960' jewellery collection is a partnership with LA celebrity jeweller, Pascal Mouawad, and which has hit our shores.

The 35 piece collection follows inspiration from Richie’s 'style' including layering unexpected combinations of materials and styles, using leather, silk strings, chains, rivets, gold plated metals and a palette of jewel-tone colors on pieces that go from bohemian, gypsy, tribal, flower child to edgy and street-like.

Each piece bares the stamp of Mouawad, with every detail from hand-set leather, instead of stones, to intricately pressed peacock feathers wrapped around a cuff.

“I’ve always felt that great accessories are essential in every complete outfit and I wanted to create a collection that was easy to mix and match; to either wear alone as an everyday piece, or stack on to make more of a statement,” Richie says on her press statement.

"I went to Pascal Mouawad knowing he’d be the perfect partner to build my designs; he’s been incredible at bringing my creative ideas to life.”

House of Harlow 1960 available in selected Aussie stores or visit http://www.trilbyphoenix.com.au/.