What They're Wearing: Jodi Oloughlin

The Press, August 7, 2008

How do you wear the new season's styles? Zest goes to those in the know -- fashion-store sales consultants. When it comes to shopping, Jodi O'Loughlin likes to follow one fairly simple rule -- if you love it, buy it. "I think that's really important," she says. "Buy what you truly love, because then it shows a sense of who you are and it will easily fit in with your wardrobe. If you love it, it always works."

It is something O'Loughlin tries to pass on to other women in her role as a stylist at Soeur Design in Merivale. She also encourages them to try new looks and find a way to adapt the current trends, rather than just follow them. "That's what good style is all about," she says. "It's not about having to have all the latest trends. It's about creating a style that suits you and gives you a unique, signature look."

As a tall woman with a bit of a free spirit, O'Loughlin says the "luxe bohemian" look best sums up her style, and she tends to favour long, floaty, feminine pieces that are comfortable and easy to wear. She is also drawn to anything beaded and beautiful and says she is texture- oriented when it comes to clothing and shoes.


"I'm a magpie," she jokes. "I love beautiful fabrics, whether they're printed, screened or beaded." For this outfit, O'Loughlin has gone with a pair of flats from Overland, but says you will usually find her in beaded jandals or beautiful high heels.

Skinny pants also have a place in her wardrobe, and she says she can see why her black Soeur Design Voltage pants have been a top seller among the store's customers. "They're great -- they're comfortable and they're a natural fabric, so you can wash and wear them, and you're ready to go. We sell absolutely heaps of them."

Her silk-knit overdress and cotton shrug are also from Soeur Design, as are many items in O'Loughlin's wardrobe. She says she does not seek out designer labels, but she does like things by Yeojin Bae and Hussy, which she then mixes with pieces from a variety of stores. "I like non-predictable fashion, where you take a little bit of this and a little bit of that and bring it all together into one unique look," says O'Loughlin.

She does not buy into the idea that women can wear only certain styles up to a certain age, and says there is nothing wrong with trying new looks, as long as you adapt them to suit your body and lifestyle.

"Be open to change, but stay true to yourself," says O'Loughlin. "That way, you can't go wrong."

--Christina Kuntz

DRESS SENSE

Favourite colour?
I actually like pink, but I don't wear it. Isn't that funny? It doesn't always work that easily in your wardrobe, so I tend to go for neutrals, blacks and greys.

What do you have most of in your wardrobe?
I have an easy mix-and-match wardrobe -- obviously, a lot of Soeur Design clothes, and my favourite international labels would be Hussy and Yeojin Bae.

What was your most recent purchase?
A Yeojin Bae vintage kimono dress that I'm wearing to a family wedding on Waiheke Island this weekend.

What is the most useful item in your wardrobe?
These -- Soeur Design skinny Voltage pants. They're great under- tunic overdresses -- they give you that lean look. They're comfortable, they're natural fabric, they're trans- seasonal and they go right through from day to night.

How would you describe your style?
I would say it would be luxe bohemian. I like clothes that are flattering, easy to wear, feminine and individual.

Visit Jodi at the Soeur Design Concept Store or email her at jodi@soeurdesign.com

Making the Most of a Lifestyle Property

If life is for living, then sisters Ann Inglis and Maria Tyrie are masters of the art of living more than one life. Lifestyle one is in the heart of Merivale, running their successful concept store, Soeur Design.

Lifestyle two is lived side by side on a huge and private lifestyle block in North Canterbury. Lifestyle three is looking forward to producing their own private bin from a freshly planted vineyard on their property.


This will be producing one house red (pinot noir) and one house white (riesling) with a bit of help from the third Tyrie sister, Dawn, who together with her husband, Terry Wilson, owns Wanaka's celebrated Mount Maude vineyard. Finally, lifestyle four is often spent travelling the world sourcing the rare and the beautiful for Soeur Design.

Frankly, they should be in a state of collapse at the end of every week, but instead they fill their beautiful homes, just metres from each other, with friends and family most weekends. Busy weeks and busier weekends are part and parcel of a lifestyle for Inglis and Tyrie.

Their respective homes, filled with glorious works of the sisters' own art and photography, have been designed with considerable flair and an eye for minimising upkeep. These sisters see absolutely no point having a lifestyle property if they are unable to enjoy the accompanying lifestyle.

Their success in doing so comes as no surprise when you consider Inglis and Tyrie have been contributing to some seriously stylish lifestyles of others for almost 20 years now through their business. "Five years ago, we decided to contribute a bit more to ours and came out here," says Inglis.



"It's a perfect retreat, a place to spend with family and friends, and provides us all with some much- needed balance in our lives. We all value family enormously," adds Tyrie, "and the fact that we would be giving our grandchildren a taste of countryside was a factor in why we came out here to live." Their choice of location was settled with typical practical consideration.

It was exactly halfway between Christchurch and Soeur Design's shop in Merivale, and a 40ha olive investment block run by Tyrie's partner, Russell Lucas, and Inglis's husband, Ron. Equally fair was the way they decided who was going to live where on the property. After finding the 4ha block, the two families literally tossed for it.

Hence, when the coin fell, Tyrie and Lucas were dispatched to the left, and the Inglises to the right. Robert Weir, of Paul Foley Design, was responsible for the stunning home now occupied by the Inglises, while Rosemary Beckett, of Beckett and Fisher, project managed for Tyrie and Lucas.

In the interim, the two families flatted together at the back of the property. It is typical of this close family that when the Inglises' pavilion-style home was completed at Christmas, 2001, that everyone was still on speaking terms.

It probably helped enormously that as well as the sisters being close, Ron Inglis and Lucas are old friends from Dunedin's King College. The two homes are as different as they are similar. While both differ in layout, each makes superb use of the sun, private courtyard areas and polished concrete floors.

Both homes unfold seamlessly from the indoor to the outdoor living areas. The Inglis home has a long, low profile, allowing the Inglises their own space at one end, while visiting family are accommodated in style at the other end. "The big central living and dining area is where we all congregate," says Inglis.

Tyrie's and Lucas's home is a two- storey affair, with the master bedroom on the first floor with views to the gardens and paddocks. The first floor was also home to Tyrie's studio where she produced wonderful paintings, often working into the small hours.

Today, however, it has been commandeered by visiting family and overnight guests and is guarded, and occasionally patrolled, by Keith, possibly the largest black-and-white cat in North Canterbury, and certainly the fluffiest. Tyrie doesn't look like being able to reclaim her studio any time soon.

This is very much a lifestyle property developed with a family- oriented lifestyle in mind, and that includes Bailey the chocolate labrador and Murdoch the fox terrier. While each has his own home, Bailey to the right, Murdoch to the left, it is obvious that these dogs consider the property a shared concern where each feels equally at home regardless of whose home that happens to be. Very much, in fact, like their owners.

Soeur Design Reach 10 Years

SOEUR DESIGN In 10 years, sisters Maria and Ann Tyrie have seen their fashion company Soeur Design grow from a small two-woman operation to a nationwide business. In 1990, linen shirts were the mainstay. Today, there are four seasonal fashion ranges, a huge stock list, nearly 40 sales agents, and a retail store in Christchurch. Maria Tyrie believes networking has played a large part in the company's success.

"Before each season we travel overseas to check out styles, colours, fabrics," Maria says. "We have an in-house pattern-cutter/ designer, but the ideas are mostly ours. We get feedback from customers in the shop, from our agents via twice-yearly surveys, and we listen to our own younger generation." (Ann's daughter Jodi and Maria's daughter Kylie are both involved in Soeur Design.)


"We have learnt that if 10 people ask for a certain colour, for instance, we had better add it to the range -- and fast. This year has seen an interruption to the work schedule. Daughters Jodi and Kylie have both had babies, and Maria and Ann devote a working day each week to their grandchildren.

"Jodi and Kylie take over at the business and we do the baby Soeur thing," says Maria. Soeur Design has four separate seasons: summer, winter, midwinter and pre- Christmas. Garments are manufactured in China and New Zealand. Knitwear is made in Auckland and the company also uses cut- make-trim factories in Christchurch, Ashburton, and Temuka.

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