I Love Lover

As the seasons begin to change I find myself spending more and more time in my closet puzzling over outfits. Autumn and winter are my favourite to dress for, but the changeover is always a period of reflection and questioning- how do I want to dress this season? What look am I going for? And what am I trying to say with my clothes? I'm not one to drastically change my style every season or year- I have friends who will say, "I think my look for this season is urban warrior" or some such statement, but I lack the funds and the desire to have such a dramatic change. Even so, the changes in my life, such as going back to school, have intensified my desire for new clothes that will work well across all aspects of my life- school, freelance jobs and industry parties. For the last few weeks I've found myself wearing over and over again all of the little dresses I own by Lover, the Australian label designed by Susien Chong and Nic Briand. Started in 2001, I first heard of them in a little article about them in FWD in 2004. The two photos below accompanied the text and immediately set me off on a desperate chase to track down their clothes. They weren't carried by any stores in the United States for a while but as soon as Elizabeth Charles announced they were to carry them I began to barrage the store with phone calls until the collection came in.


L: Lace dress from 'Performance'; R: Tuxedo dress from 'Broken Hearts'

I bought those two first dresses along with several other pieces from "Broken Hearts" (S/S 2005) and "Performance" (A/W 2005), which I sadly don't have any photos of. Their "Black Magick" (S/S 2006) collection was completely spellbinding and made them instantly one of the most talked about labels around. I have several pieces from most of their collections, except for the last two as I'm no longer able to afford their pieces but I still look to their collections every season.


Lavender dress from 'Performance' that I still regret not buying;I have this blouse in white and long-sleeved and it is perfect; for some reason I gave the dress version of this blouse, from 'Black Magick,' to my best friend last year, not a smart idea.


The dress version of this blouse is one of my all-time favourites; this dress is amazing and even though it is a little too big for me now I still adore its sexy prettiness; whenever my boyfriend sees me in this dress he coos about how gorgeous I look.

Their current season, "White Moon Rising," is possibly my favourite one of theirs ever as it perfectly encapsulates all that I love about them- wearable and comfortable pieces that are casually chic and imbued with a lovely spirit of fun. Their looks have a faint vintage sensibility to them but their simpleness and the definiteness of their lines stops them from veering too far into the cutesy. I would honestly wear any of the pieces in this collection, but I will probably only be able to save up for one- the only problem is then, which one?



An immaculate little bodycon dress; the perfect transitional outfit; this blouse with attached cape is a must buy for all us occult-loving girls.


Knowing how well-made all of their lace pieces are, I'm sure this dress is jaw-dropping in person; velvet is by far my favourite fabric and it rarely looks better than in this curve-hugging mini; I wonder how long it would take me to save up for this perfect winter coat.


These fluttering sleeves are the ultimate in prettiness; in fall I rarely wear anything but a cape and this is a particularly elegant and lean one; ethereal white; this bodysuit would work so well as a day to evening piece, worn with a variety of bottoms.


These pieces are all from the Southern hemisphere's 'White Moon Rising' collection and some of these are already available on their online shop (for Australian purchases only)- even though I own three or four white lace dresses by Lover I wish I could purchase the second and forth and have them shipped to my best friend in Melbourne.