What: Celeste autumn/ winter collection
When: January 2022
Where: Main range: The Barn, Kids + Baby & Play range: The Station House
Who: Photography: Armelle Habib assisted by Sarah Wilkosz, styling: Heather Nette King assisted by David, Melissa Donnan and the entire Sage x Clare team.
Hair & makeup: Melonie Santos
With thanks to our wonderful prop partners: Lights Lights Lights, Vintage Posters Only, House of Orange, Nord Modern, Create Estate
Out of all of the shoots that have taken place during life with Covid, the lead up to this one was by far the MOST stressful. Juuuust when we thought things were looking up (post lockdown) at the end of 2021, in came Omicron right before the festive season. We were completely on edge.
It’s way more contagious they said, it’s spreading everywhere they said, sanitiseeeee they said.
The weeks that followed Christmas, when rapid antigen tests were *nowhere* to be found, Omicron was peakin’ & lines to get tested were miles long? Yup, this was when our Celeste shoot was scheduled to go ahead. Yikes. Now, I’ll cut to the chase, not a single one of us on that shoot went down with the spicy cough. And that my friends, was a g-damn miracle… luck was on our side. Praise be.
Location: Our last three shoots have taken place in Daylesford so you could say we’re getting rather familiar with this be-autiful part of Vic. And each time I go there, I love it a little more.
Shoutout to The Houses Daylesford for their fabulous accommodation spots & hosting us for the entire week.
Our first day was spent shooting the kids + baby collection at The Station House on a stifling hawt day back in January. Thanks Nelly, Jude and Heidi for the modelling efforts once again. Bribery will get you everywhere with these little munchkins. Few packets of shapes, hot cross buns and an unforgivable amount of biscuits later… we had ourselves a deal. Sadly, the sugar hit came back to bite me at bed time. :-)
"As long as you feed us lollies & sweets, we'll keep quiet", they said.
Featured: Albana Quilt Cover, Aussy Tufted Cushion, Laura Heart Cushion.
Armelle, your flexibility and stamina srsly amazes us. Shooting our Matty Tea Towels.
Front row seats... Always a cheer squad behind the camera.
And yes, we ate all of those props. Shoutout to Woolies for bringing out the hot cross buns on Boxing Day. Much appreciated! Featured: Jackie Round Rug, Zora Napkin Set, resin range.
The obligatory bed steaming shot. Go Teegs, GO! Shop kids + baby here.
Nestled behind Cliffy’s Emporium amongst a million swaying trees, was our next location - The Barn, also hosted by our friends The Houses Daylesford. This is where we spent the majority of the shoot, doin’ our thang and creatin’ magic with the dream team. What a joy it was to spend six nights in this charming 100 year old country barn.
Shoutout to Chris for driving this beast down to Daylesford... full to the brim!
Best seat in the house to watch all the action. Shop lounge here. Ahhh-mazing blue couch and floral lamp shade from House Of Orange.
Our humble abode for the week - find this accomodation here. And there's me about to model our new sweats at the hottest part of the day in 30+ degrees. #SOS.
The nightly debrief... lost in thought n' sorting out bed linen combinations.
This was the second time I’d stayed here and I highly recommend this sweet crib if Daylesford is on your to-do list any time soon! Might I add, it’s approximately 10 metres away from Cliffy’s Emporium (in my opinion, the best cafe in town). Score.
Featured: Jocasta Knit Sweater, Sigrid Cotton Leggings, Cove bed linen, Lark Velvet Pillowcase, Blakely Linen Pillowcase Set, Rory Punch Needle Cushion, Valina Velvet Cushion, Ursula Velvet Cushion - sage. Green vase + print next to vase - from House Of Orange.
Featured: Floor modulars & the clever Mel + David whipping up a fabulous wall paper situation.
Weather: Boy-ohh-boyyyyy it was hot! And lemme tell ya, the temperature did NOT drop below 30+ degrees for the entire week. Bloody scorcher! As you can imagine, shooting an autumn/winter collection wearing layers upon layers, and masks, was a little, uh, toasty.
Icy poles were our best friend on this trip, essential for that 3pm sugar hit.
Heather's prop table sitting near a bed of daisies looking oh-so pretty.
What we ate: The good news is, we did not go hungry on this trip. The first night we indulged in some takeaway from Beppe and it was next. level. good. What I wouldn’t do for some of their gnocchi right now. Mmmmm!
Model off duty eating her baguette in the thick of the cushions.
Throughout the week we were extremely lucky to have multiple members of the crew play Chef. With a special mention to Jem and Mim, jeeeez they’re handy in the kitchen. Our Marketing Manager Deb was so impressed with the flavours, she even suggested we create our own cookbook. Thoughts?
Moroccan inspired cous cous + halloumi salad. De-lishhhh.
Our post work hang out.
And lunches courtesy of Cliffy's Emporium and Dele Food Store.
Memorable moments:
The fam-bam dropped by. Thank you kindly to my hubby Chris for wrangling the kids + also jumping in a few Easter inspired shots. It wasn’t long before Heidi got hold of the edible props (adorable Easter biscuits baked by Heather’s lovely daughter Allie!). Heidi would.not. stop eating them. But look, on the plus side it kept her cooperative.
Getting our hair + makeup done everyday. This was the first shoot we’ve had an MUA on set everyday and it felt like a total luxury. Melonie Santos is a hair + makeup wizard! Considering my lack of sleep, I felt a million bucks after an hour in the chair with Mel everyday. We got chatting and turns out her house is covered in Sage x Clare goodies and that made my heart oh-so happy to hear!
Mel working her magic on Mel! Melonie Santos - thank you for making us feel so fancy and fab everyday. And for answering my million makeup questions!
Tired eyes... BE GONE! Wearing the Undine Floral Robe, Winifred Daisy Towels.
Melonie Santos at it again! Featured: Olive Stripe Beni Rug, Plaid Checkerboard Daybed used as a bed head from CCSS TM.
Swimming in the lake every night after work. By far my most treasured memory of our time in Daylesford! After a long day shooting in the sweltering heat, the crew and I headed down to the lake and all plunged (or in my case, plonked) into the water. Floating along the water together and debriefing about the day as the ca-utest little ducks swum by. Bliss.
Shooting the apparel at golden hour. Some refreshments in hand, a balmy night and the most magical garden I ever did see. Thank you for suggesting this backdrop Armelle… the shots turned out exactly how we envisioned... but BETTER.
Featured: Zana Cotton Sweater + Reagan Cotton Trackpant - rosewood.
Labour scare. For context - Jem (our Design & Production Manager & my twin sis) was heavily pregnant on this shoot. One night as we were standing around the kitchen and preparing dinner, Jem and I deep in conversation, I heard a harsh splash on the ground as liquid splattered near Jem’s feet. OHHHHH. MY. GOD. She’s going into labour I thought. My stomach dropped and I was ready to jump in the car. Turns out, Jem had just opened a cup of buffalo mozzarella and it splashed everywhere on the floor. Phew. False alarm. HA!
Featured: Maud Shag Rug - cobalt, Gillian Velvet Cushions - cobalt + kelp, Wren Linen Blend Pyjamas. Chair from Nord Modern.
Hanging out with the crew. Throughout the day, it’s a fascinating and inspiring thing to watch the fab duo Armelle, Heather + their teams in their element. After shooting with these legends for a few years now, we really are a well oiled machine! The evenings also feel *really* special as we sit around each night and tell stories over drinks + dinner. I seriously lucked out with this crew. A bunch of incredibly wonderful (and talented) humans.
Featured: Tabatha Check Dress, Muslin Wraps.
And there you have it! The Barn couldn’t have been more perfect for our darling Celeste and I’ll forever thank my lucky stars that this shoot still went ahead amidst the Omicron crisis. I always walk away from these shoots feeling incredibly grateful for what I do. It’s a joy to watch something you’ve worked on for so long, finally come to life. X
PS. A BIG thank you to Armelle Habib, Heather Nette King (and David), Sarah Wilkosz, our prop partners (listed above) and the entire Sage x Clare team. X
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