30 Plus Style and Beauty: Featuring Champagne Cartel

When I attended Nikki Parkinson’s Unlock your Style launch in Brisbane I met the gorgeous, funny, clever chicks that are Champagne Cartel for the first time. I felt like I had known Gillian and Carolyn forever. Love, love these guys and I’m so glad they agreed to featuring in the 30 Plus Style and Beauty link this week.

30 Plus Style and Beauty: Featuring Champagne Cartel

Why did you start blogging? And has it changed from when you first started?

Carolyn: I originally started Champagne Cartel because I was launching my freelance writing career and I wanted a place to showcase my work, but what I found was that I really loved the community we built so much that it has become my first love. Plus our driving message – that we all need to take time out to nurture ourselves – seems to resonate so deeply with people that we want to spread that message far and wide.

Gillian: Carolyn had the fab idea to start CC and she invited me to be involved. I had a 2 month old baby when I started writing and it was a bit hectic sometimes but loved it south right from the start. I didn’t really know what to expect. I’m constantly amazed and in awe of our beautiful readers and their comments and warmth. But what has surprised me as well has been the support and kindness of other bloggers. I’ve met some amazing people so far over the last year and look forward to seeing what happens in our next year of life.

How would you describe each others style?

Carolyn: Gillian is the most stylish person I know! She has a knack for taking anything and – with her magic zshoozhing skills – turning it into FABULOUS. Any time I’m going anywhere special, she received a whole lot of photo messages on her phone of me trying on my whole wardrobe until I get it right. Her ability to accessorise is other worldly!

Gillian: Carolyn is ridiculously tall, skinny and stunning. So she’s one of those birds that you could wrap in a cheap polyester curtain and she’d look gorgeous. She has a lovely chilled out, youthful fashion style, leaning towards boho. She looks brilliant in jeans and kimonos and boots, or maxi dresses that show off her crazy toned arms. I love that she has no qualms about asking for fashion tips and I’m always happy to throw some ideas around, but honestly she diesnt give herself enough credit there. She doesn’t need any help from me, she nails it and always walks out if the house looking fabulous.

If you could steal one thing from each others wardrobe, what would it be?

Carolyn: From Gillian’s wardrobe I would steal all of her Sacha Drake dresses!

Gillian: Carolyn’s awesome well worn cowboy style brown boots are to die for. I love the new black ankle grazer trousers with pink palm tress that she recently acquired – they’re all very Miami resort chic. Her jean, I think they are ‘not my daughters jeans’ although is need about five sizes larger!!!

Who inspires your style?

Carolyn: I never really gave my style much thought until recently, and I’m not really a celebrity watcher. I first started thinking about going beyond jeans and sneakers when I started following Nikki Parkinson, and she really helped me get out of a style funk after having my three kids. Now, I love the quirky cool of Kimba Likes, and Sonia Styling really knows how to put an outfit together. But Gillian is my hands-on style guru.

Gillian: I’m inspired by my friends, celebs, stuff I read in magazines , street style. But my mum and sister are probably my biggest inspirations. Mum used to be an air hostess in the swinging sixties and in those days the girls had to dress a certain way and present themselves absolutely immaculately. She’s in her seventies now but to this day you never see her with a hair out of place. She’s quite brave with her fashion and although she sticks to the classics she’ll pull out something wild every now and again, like a Camilla kaftan. My sister is not only a beautiful blond bombshell but she has awesome style. She’d loves big glamour high heels, shift dresses and perfectly fitting quirky jackets. People turn their heads when she walks into a room – she lights it up!

You are joint hosting a dinner party and you must prepare everything. What are you going to serve and who is making what?

Carolyn: When we have dinner parties together, I often end up making the dessert, which is funny because I don’t really eat sugar. But I love to live vicariously through others! I’d probably do a baked cheesecake or a pavlova. My darling husband wonderful cocktails so he can be in charge of the shaker. Gillian’s table styling is second to none (no surprise there!) and her house is much tidier than mine, so we’ll be having it at her house.

Gillian: I love having dinner parties, we renovated our house a few years ago and designed a fab new kitchen that opens on to the deck so we could do lots of entertaining! Carolyn always makes dinner parties seem effortless. She has a knack of making the right amount of very delicious food and she never seems harried by the process. And she’s makes wicked desserts! So I’ll second everything she said about the party.

You’re stuck on a desert island with Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling, The Notebook), Darryl Dixon (The Walking Dead) and Eric Northman (True Blood). They will all be remaining in character. You have to kick one off, which one and why?

Carolyn: I don’t know who any of those people are! Am I showing my age if I ask if I can dump them all and replace them with Colin Firth, a white shirt and a duck pond?

Gillian: Ryan Gosling and Eric Northman both have eyes that are waaaay to close together for my liking. So they can both be gone as far as I’m concerned.

About Champagne Cartel

Carolyn Tate and Gillian Moody have created a positive space for busy working mums where we get to focus on what matters to us. Remember us? The you and the me that existed before the kids and the mortgage and this overscheduled life? We want you to think about your damn self for a change. We believe in daring to put yourself first. And we think guilt is for suckers.

Catch Champagne Cartel on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or Twitter.

Plus I had to sneak in this photo of Carolyn and our overload of sequins.

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