Fashion culture shock

Aussies may think our minds are all on the dear departed. Picture / Carolyn Robertson

A friend from New Zealand just back after living in a Sydney beachside suburb is shocked to find everyone wearing black.

Have they all been to a funeral? Who died? Or is it just that black is the new black again, she wonders. Then again, maybe it's just her imagination after a year among the uber-tanned and uber-feminine, all-in-pink-with-kitten-heels Australian followers of fashion.

There really is a difference between the way New Zealand and Australian women dress. So let's play spot the Australian fashion.

Can you guess which of these items are being worn by an Australian and which by a New Zealander?

A bright pink cropped T-shirt with "baby doll" written on it.

Yes, this is Australian and most likely from Sydney. But no, they're not all Baby Dolls. Nor are they all slappers. It's the weather, you see. It's much warmer and sunnier over there which means less clothing, more tanning, more figure-consciousness, wealthy cosmetic surgeons and a lot of breasts that don't move under plunging necklines.

All that sun seems to have an effect on the overall palette of the Australian wardrobe - generally, designers there tend to like bright shades more than New Zealand designers. When pink wetsuit dresses were the new black, the Aussies loved it. When goths were in, they didn't.

Black rags wrapped around upper body.

Well, they look a bit like rags but on closer inspection are revealed as the latest offering by some experimental Japanese or Belgian designer. A New Zealander is wearing them because, - as international pundits have put it - our tastes in clothing are darker and more intellectual.

This ties in with fact that New Zealand women are not afraid of a bit of androgyny but Australians feel the urge to show booty at all times.

The latest Chanel bag and Prada shoes.

Australian again. First, they're easier to get over there. Second, there is more emphasis in Australia on looking wealthy and following international trends.

An explosion of ruffles and flowery fabrics around the waist.

This is also known in some circles as a skirt and a New Zealander is wearing it. A positive byproduct of the desire for Chanel and Prada is that in Australia the ladies-that-lunch dress like ladies, not Swiss milkmaids. They blow their seasonal budgets on grown-up labels from Europe and make sure they're slick about it.

A ladylike wrap dress with a bow at the waistline.

This is a tricky one. We'll probably all be wearing them next summer - but for now let's just say she is Australian. The designers in that country are far more determined to follow international trends. But New Zealand's top designers have always seemed more interested in independent thought rather than simply following overseas trends.

This could be because their national niche market is much smaller and they look overseas for markets, requiring them to be more original. Or it could be because they've been more isolated from international trends.