Spring Carnival Fashion Profile

Interview with Julie Spencer – Designer and founder of Julles Haute Couture.

Having worked in both the manufacturing and retail fashion industries for 15 years, Julie Spencer established Julles Houte Couture in Toorak to provide stylish, tailored clothing with an emphasis on highlighting positive assets.

With a focus on ladies’ up-market custom design and a millinery range, Julie moved to Docklands in 2005 to become the area’s first fashion designer.

What are the major trends in millinery design this spring racing season?

Trends in millinery tend to follow fashion colours and this year there is a really strong trend towards bright colours – think rainbow!  Overseas there is a strong “blue” trend but a lot of Australian designers have really picked up on yellow and orange this year. Although red, hot pink, purples, greens and the unforgettable old favourite black are also popular - the Melbourne Cup should be really colourful!

Will the hat or fascinator be more popular this racing season?

The suggestion from overseas is that there is a strong trend towards the hats this year instead of the fascinators.  At the moment I favour the “Hattinator” – a large bold fascinator, which is a mixture of both the hat and fascinator, and there are some beauties out there this season!

When picking the perfect headpiece are there some guidelines?

Ladies should bear these three things in mind:

Size: The size of their face is important. Colour: Do you want to match your outfit or use a contrast colour? Perhaps highlighting the contrast colour with matching accessories.

Position: I personally like to wear hats on a tilt as it gives them personality.  Fascinators should be worn on the side of the head and should be positioned in line with the ear, but definitely not on the top or back of the head.

When choosing accessories for the races are there any important rules to remember?

The old rule of thumb used to be “hat, bag and shoes should all match” but these days just having two matching pieces is OK. Bags should be a small clutch purse and shoes should be light and strappy.

How important are accessories?

Accessories can either complement or kill a race outfit. I am always advising women to “balance the length” of their clothes, i.e. don’t wear a long length jacket over a dress if you are short. A bolero or evening wrap will look better and make you look taller.