A good cause

Couture Car Boot Sale organiser Roxane Horton. Photo / Babiche Martens

Roxanne Horton has raided the wardrobes of some of Auckland's most stylish women and pulled together a selection of garments to sell at The Friends of the Liggins Institute's Couture Car Boot Sale on September 10. But this is no traditional car boot sale - the pieces on sale will be high-end and the cars luxury BMWs. The fashion fundraiser will benefit the medical research centre and will feature around 600 pre-loved designer pieces from the likes of Adrienne Winkelman, Escada and Trelise Cooper, as well as a selection of international designer garments.

Tickets to the fashion event are only $20, which also includes a glass of champagne and canapes. To purchase tickets or for more information email friends@liggins.auckland.ac.nz or phone Roxane Horton on 021 898 .

1 Aboriginal art

My favourite Aboriginal art piece is Mala, the aboriginal word for Bush Wallaby. I am Australian, so I like having some pieces of home around me. Embarrassingly, I know very little about Aboriginal art, but I am trying to learn from my father-in-law. He puts me to shame as he has an extensive indigenous art collection, and spends a lot of time going into Aboriginal communities to meet the local artists and gain an understanding of the culture.

2 My JFK Parker pen

I have a bit of an obsession with the Kennedy family and this pen is an exact replica of the Parker pen JFK used when he was in the White House. It has his signature copied on to it. I bought it at the JFK Presidential Library in Boston, which is a stunning I.M. Pei-designed glass building that looks as though it is floating on Boston Harbour.

3 Timeless wardrobe classics

I love beautifully tailored pieces of clothing that transcend all generations. My favourite Couture Car Boot Sale item is an Yves Saint Laurent suit that one of Auckland's most beautiful women has donated. It is probably 20 years old, but so superbly tailored that it could easily be styled for today and be right on-trend. It is testament to the adage that it is worth investing in timeless classics.

4 Catalogue of the Henri Matisse Retrospective

At the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1992. This exhibition is yet to be surpassed as my most loved art exhibition. Looking at this book also brings back memories of a year I lived in the United States, and a trip I later took to Nice, France to visit Matisse's house.

5 Clay mask

Made by my husband when he was 13, this is a gorgeous tactile piece with an enduring style. It has survived many house moves and now resides on the fireplace mantelpiece.

6 French designers R&Y Augousti

I have an R&Y Augousti writing desk, which is a truly luxurious piece, made of pale yellow, parchment leather with a wooden interior. R&Y Augousti draw much of their inspiration from the 1930s; a design period I especially like.

7 Everything Is Going To Be Alright

This is a photograph of an installation by British artist, Martin Creed. The words were a huge neon sign suspended on the side of the Palazzo Arengario in Milan. We happened to be in Milan and I saw the sign. I had no idea what it meant at the time, but it seemed like a talisman so I photographed it and framed it.

8 Rawlence and Horton personalised engraved writing paper

This is my beloved personal stationery, engraved in gold on pale blue paper. I love the exquisite craftsmanship involved in copperplate engraving. The copper plate is engraved by hand and then a counterplate is hand cut into layers of card. The plates are placed on the engraving machine and ink pressed on to the paper, fed manually between the plates. The force leaves an indented impression on one side and a raised image on the other side. Real gold is used and so the colour is particularly beautiful and the print is very delicate. A traditional and rare craft, this is regarded as the gold standard of printing and dates back to the early Middle Ages. Today, copperplate engraving is favoured by royalty and those in the know around the world, and Rawlence and Horton are the only fine stationers in New Zealand to offer this divine, bespoke service.

9 Moonlight Escape

Designed by Australian architect Glenn Murcutt. This is a spectacular eco-retreat on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. We stayed there only a few weeks ago. The house is industrial in design, with a saw-toothed roof that gives every area in the house a view of the sky. The corridor is 25m long and runs all the way down one wing of the house, with four bedrooms and two bathrooms leading off it. The corridor is lit with in-floor pink spotlights and the bathroom floors with blue in-floor spotlights, so where the two intersect, it gives the appearance of a long pink cocoon with purple stripes.

10 Lanvin skirt

Around the corner from my parents' home in Sydney is the best designer recycle shop in the city. It's called Blue Spinach, in Darlinghurst. This skirt looks like a plain black skirt, but in inimitable Lanvin style; it has actually been created by sewing two layers of watermarked silk together.

The studs on the side are sewn on to grosgrain ribbon, which has then been stitched on to the skirt, so it hangs and moves beautifully when you wear it. (I also love that it was such a bargain - it cost about 95 per cent less than than I would have paid for it at full price.)