Instant Goddess introduces Aly & Rachelle and The Black Label

If you’re an Instant Goddess regular, you’ll know that I love discovering new affordable labels right here in Hong Kong, so my Instant Goddess shopping antennae went into overdrive when I discovered Aly & Rachelle.

I love the story behind Aly and Rachelle, founded by Christine Lam, who drew her inspiration from her fascination with (fictional) identical twins – and how two people can look so similar but have totally distinct personalities and individual styles.

Aly is the slightly elder of the two twins, and she has the darker personality, favouring edgier, sexy looks; whereas Rachelle is the younger of the two, with a certain purity and innocence about her favouring a more dreamy, feminine look. The theme runs throughout the collection and you can easily spot which dresses are which. So, who are you? Aly or Rachelle?

Here are my picks from the collection: 

Cassandra dress $1699 (definitely an Aly!)

Anya dress $3339

Zoe dress $1465

Elaine dress $1465

Leigh jacket $1935 with Elaine dress featured above

Lana dress $2899

Danielle dress $2335

Helena dress $2169

 Patience dress $1465

 Left to right: Leigh jacket $1465, Paige jacket $1699, and Zelda bomber jacket $1465

Aly & Rachelle is available to buy online from www.alyandrachelle.com or alternatively contact Christine Lam on 9665 6065, [email protected] And don’t forget to like them on Facebook!

Aly & Rachelle is also stocked by Namu fashion boutique located at G/F No. 6 Tak Hing Street, Jordan, Kowloon and Shop No.10, B/F Kai Fung Building, 2-24 Queens Road Central, Hong Kong.

Aly & Rachelle will be holding a pop up event on Tuesday 30 April from 12 noon onwards at PURE restaurant, 2/F, Kinwick Centre, 33 Hollywood Road, Hong Kong. 

The Black Label

Not one, but two new labels this week, you lucky Goddesses! The Black Label specialises in exotic bags and accessories using the finest quality crocodile, ostrich, python and lizard leather. Carefully and lovingly handcrafted right here in Hong Kong using the finest of materials, you can see why The Black Label is already a firm favourite with the Japanese export market. As always with the finest of materials and craftsmanship comes a price tag, but the bags really are gorgeous, and will stand the test of time.

They’re hardwearing too… Teresa Ho, the lovely lady behind The Black Label has been using her crocodile bag for 8 years and it’s still going strong! So if you tot it up on a cost-per-use basis, this doesn’t work out to be too bad at all… and if your pennies won’t stretch to a bag, there are wallets and iPhone covers in the collection that are definitely worth a look as well. The Black Label is available to buy online.

Abella clutch with chain strap inside $4800, Magalie Natural handbag made from python $7600

Isabelle multi blue handbag made from python $6180, Elaine blue jeans wallet made from crocodile $2800

Jolie Taupe handbag made from crocodile $13800, iphone 5 case made from Python $550

Agace wallet made from crocodile $3560 – note the inside stand-up credit card slots inspired by Japanese women
who (like me!) need a lot of card space! There are more conventional card slots on the inside as well.

The Black Label is available to buy online from http://www.theblacklabel.com.hk/ or alternatively contact Teresa Ho on 9838 1000 or [email protected] Also don’t forget to like them on Facebook!

Midweek Meal Inspiration

Has spring sprung? With all these April showers we’re having you would think so, and spring always makes me think of lamb… I came across this super speedy and very tasty recipe from Delicious Australia: Lamb with Spring Vegetables.

Full recipe here. 

Tip: the recipe calls for lamb backstraps but my butcher (Pacific Gourmet on Caine Rd… costs an arm and a leg but the meat is very good!) didn’t sell them so I used lamb tenderloin instead and just cooked it for less time – 2 mins on each side (and was even praised by hubby for cooking the meat to perfection… job well done, pat on the back, round of applause for me)!

Yogi tea saying of the week: “Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are”.

Instant Goddess saying of the week: “And RELAX”!