🐸 TOP HAT TIPS: MILLIE SYKES
Hello!
Gosh that is so cute.
Anyway how shit’s lockdown? I simply cannot wait to chop the legs off this experience, fry them in butter and then throw them in the bin because, disgusting.
There is one silver lining to this experience, and that is that I’ve had the time to write up today’s TOP HAT TIPS. They belong to a very stylish stylist, Miss Millie Sykes.
If Millie Sykes was a moment, she would be a drive down the Las Vegas Strip in a hot pink convertible Mercedes listening to Soul Bossa Nova and sipping Cask Wine that has been carbonated in a SodaStream.
She is a true creative with a signature style and a vision that is infectious. I want to live in MILLIEWORLD!
Let’s go.
WHO
F: Are you?
MS: First of all good morning Froomes and thanks very much for having me here. I’m Millie Sykes. I’m a freelance fashion stylist, content creator and occasional nightlife performer & hostess.
WHY
F: Do you do what you do?
MS: Oop existential crisis 2 questions in aha. Honestly, all the work I do has fundamentally been motivated by the fact that I am an artist and nothing revs my engine harder than to simply ~ express myself ~ & get paid for it.
WHERE
F: Do you get the inspiration for your looks? And better yet, where do you find all your unique stuff?
MS: Initially it was films, as a teenager I would escape my SuBurBan NiGhtMaRe by getting the 5 for $5 deal at Civic Video and absorbing myself in cinema.. As I’ve gotten older I’d say I get more of my inspiration online. And I will eternally be inspired by the art of drag. I find my pieces all over, namely thrifts & brands online. Love a good costume store closing down sale. If you look really closely most of the outfits I put together are made up of cheap shit just executed really well.
HIGH N LOW
F: What’s your fave high end piece of clothing/thing and your fave not-expensive thing?
MS: Mugler S/S 1995 Venus Dress & my granny knickers.
DESIGNER
F: Favourite Australian designer and why?
MS: Romance Was Born! They continue to lead with drama and extravagance in an otherwise pretty conservative industry. They asked me to walk their Australian fashion week show this year and I pooed myself in the good way.
STYLE
F: Have you always dressed the way you want? Have you always felt confident and capable of dressing in a way that reflects how you feel?
MS: I moved out of home when I was 18 and it was probably about a year after I started getting a bit wickety wack with my personal style. Prior to that growing up in a small coal mining town I didn’t really have much exposure to anything beyond the holy trinity of stores in Gowrie St Mall - Supre, Jay Jays & Just Jeans. I was also heavily invested in being considered cool and hot. Hence, wearing things like the ‘beached as’ beached whale shirt that was popping off at Supre for a minute there.
TOILET
F: Best one in Sydney and why?
MS: I know Lil (Flex Mami) already said this but can I please drive home the significance of taking a wizz in an orange pod 305m above the ground? It has to be Bar 83 at Sydney Tower.
HOMETOWN
F: Where did you grow up? What’s the best place to grab a feed there?
MS: I grew up in a town called Singleton. Lots of options (!) I’ll list a few; loved getting a ham cheese pineapple melt at the Coal Rock Cafe. Bakers Delight in the town mall does an awesome cinnamon scroll & if you’re around on a Saturday head to the Rose Point Park netball courts canteen for an unforgettable sausage sizz with all the trimmings.
ARCHIVE
F: If you haven’t always dressed in the style you love… how else have you dressed? I don’t believe in fashion ‘fails’ per se, but do you have any looks you regret?
MS: Agreed - no such thing as a fashion faux pas. That being said I've learnt some lessons in my time, one being – if you intend to sew an outfit from scratch, see it through.
Prior to Subsonic 2016 I bought a bunch of material & decided I'd save money by sewing my own outfits. Admittedly I had no fucking idea how to sew. The night before the festival I hadn’t done a single thing and decided I would simply rip up the material and wear it loincloth style. Unfortunately this meant at 3am when I was too cooked to notice or care anymore my tits were flopping about the dance floor with reckless abandon.
RESTAURANT
F: Your fave one in Australia?
MS: I’ve actually never been but my favourite restaurant in Australia would have to be the vegan dumpling restaurant in Hyde Park because I already know it's that good I’m just waiting for someone to shout me a date there.
RECIPE
F: Do you cook much? What’s your favourite meal? Do u have pics or a link?
MS: I wouldn’t classify myself as much of a cook per se. I did however make this bowl of pesto pasta last night from scratch and I’d like to take this opportunity to show it off.
PERFORM
F: How do you perform, where do you perform, what do you perform?
MS: I guess the closest thing I could liken it to would be drag but to be honest I’ve never had the patience to learn how to do a full drag beat. So perhaps It’s more performance art? Essentially, I lip sync to a track and just absolutely give it my all. Just… rip into it. I mostly perform at queer parties, Heaps Gay, Girlthing & Club Mince.
PLAYLIST
F: Give us a playlist to dance to, please!
MS: This is my playlist entitled ‘House Slappys’. It’s my top picks of 90s/early noughties electronica. It’s the stuff I would wake up to and watch on Rage at 6am on a Saturday over a bowl of Nutri-Grain. Think Oxford Street, think Pre’s. Think turbo dance floor energy:
FUNNY INSTA
F: You are so funny. Being on your close friends list on instagram is fucked, one of the most entertaining stories I have ever known. Have you ever considered opening some kind of forum where you can vet people and let them in? I wish you could share it. In that vein, what is your fave funny instagram account?
MS: The highest of compliments. Look, I’d not yet considered it but if there are any Top Hat Tips subscribers out there reading this question and thinking... fuck I want in. Slide into my DMs. Ref this interview & get ready for the ride of your life.
Fave funny instagram is hands down Gabriel Gundacker I could rewatch his videos into oblivion.
VIDEO
F: Best video on the internet and why.
MS: It just has to be lit parade. An exquisite piece of video work. A journey from start to finish. I don’t think it’s an NFT but if it were I’d be the highest bidder.
BISCUIT
F: Best type? Please justify your answer.
MS: I’m vegan now so my pool of choice is limited. That being said I recently discovered these in the bougie health section of Woolies and no other biscuit has satisfied me quite as much since. They’re incredibly girthy which suits me well and the biscuit to choc chip chunk ratio is phenomenal.
FINALLY
F: Any questions you wanna ask me? I haven’t talked in a while. I’m happy to provide any business advice should you require it.
B: I do yeah. What kind of solutions do you suggest for leveraging the robust capital of my anus? Keeping corporate values in mind.
F: Poo stool
Another week, another hit!
Thanks for reading. If you have not yet exhausted your FROOMESWORLD daily limit, the last episode of Where Are All The Baby Pigeons is out tomorrow! You can listen to the whole archive (93 minutes) tonight.
Goodnight angel,
F x