Good Press

Vogue Australia Features Editor Clare Press launched her first fashion collection, Mrs. Press, yesterday, in sweet celebratory style with home-made passionfruit Melting Moments and cups of tea, while her pretty, refigured vintage dresses wafted in the breezes of posh Sydney suburb Darling Point, with the "coathanger" of Sydney Harbour Bridge appropriately poised in the background. The newly-wed Mrs. Press has been collecting vintage clothing for years but, like most of us who stumble on a beautiful fabric or style in the flea market or thrift store, has often been disappointed with the fit or cut of what she's found. She bought it all anyway. Now she has rescued the best of it and modernised the fit and style while retaining most of the yesteryear charm. I swear I have owned all these dresses at different points in my life - the blue velvet coat, the black lace tea-gown, the organza party dress. In fact, in a trunk, I still have the twin sister of "Juicy Pintuck" (modelled by the lovely Mrs. Press, at left) a confection of sunset-coloured organza. Will she ever be worn again? Sadly, not until I get refigured as well. The clothes are available at Marnie Skillings, 123 Edgecliff Road, Woollahra, Sydney. Phone 61 2 9699929.