This season, the bow fastens itself to the handbag with studied nonchalance, equal parts ingénue charm and quiet luxury. Less overtly feminine than its early-2000s predecessors, the new wave of tie details arrives with a softer kind of confidence, appearing as delicate leather knots, sculptural fastenings and gently gathered silhouettes that feel refined rather than saccharine.
From slouchy everyday carryalls to polished top-handle styles, designers are embracing the bow as a subtle point of distinction, lending classic shapes a sense of ease and personality. The result is a romantic counterpoint to the structured, logo-heavy bags that have dominated recent seasons, proving that fashion’s enduring appetite for softness is far from over.
Westmere just got even more colourful. Taco Loco has opened a second outpost at number 85 Garnet Road, bringing its particular brand of vibrant, unapologetically fun Mexican food to Westmere, and the neighbourhood is already better for it.
If you’ve eaten at the Mt Albert restaurant or the original food truck, you already know the deal. If you haven’t, the short version is this: Marcelo and Roger built a fiercely loyal following at markets and festivals across Auckland, turned that energy into a permanent restaurant, and created the kind of place that feels less like dining out and more like being welcomed into someone’s home.
The Westmere location carries the same DNA. The exterior alone, all hand-painted signage and unapologetic colour, is the kind of street presence that makes you slow down on Garnet Road whether you’re hungry or not. Inside, the palette is loud in the best possible way. Vivid murals, traditional Mexican crafts, and the sort of atmosphere that makes Taco Tuesdays feel like a small, delicious celebration.
But you’re here for the food, and the food delivers. The tacos are built with the kind of care that comes from operators who clearly treat a tortilla as a serious undertaking. The beef birria tacos arrive with a richness and depth that rewards every bite, the chicken quesadillas have a golden, satisfying crunch that holds up to generous fillings, and the enchiladas are the sort of thing you order once and then quietly rearrange your weekly schedule around. And then there are the homemade churros. Warm, crisp, coated in cinnamon sugar and entirely non-negotiable.
Homemade Churros
What makes Taco Loco work, and what makes this second location feel like a genuine win for Westmere, is the energy. This is a restaurant that doesn’t take itself too seriously but takes its food very seriously indeed.
The Italians understood something the rest of us are still catching up to: lunch should never be efficient. Non Solo Pizza’s weekend Italian Long Lunch, every Saturday and Sunday from midday, takes this philosophy seriously.
HOUSE MADE PANE, BURRATA, BEEF CARPACCIO
At $55 per person for groups of four or more, the format is family-style and three courses deep. Antipasti arrive for the table, including burrata with grilled eggplant and green pesto, and beef carpaccio with truffle aioli. From there, the mains land in generous sharing plates: tortellini caprese, free-range chicken in Tuscan sauce with sweet peppers, and roasted market fish with Cloudy Bay clams. It’s the kind of menu that rewards a table willing to settle in.
FREE-RANGE CHICKEN IN TUSCAN SAUCE
And now, by popular demand, the lunch extends into Non Solo Pizza’s home territory. Woodfire pizzas can be added to the spread, which is frankly the only upgrade this format was missing. Pair it all with the new Incanto and Crepuscolo cocktails, or start proceedings properly with seasonal oysters, and you have an afternoon that does exactly what a good Italian lunch should: go longer than planned.
Spicy Salami Pizza
Crepuscolo cocktail
Non Solo Pizza’s Italian Long Lunch is available every Saturday and Sunday from 12pm. $55 per person, groups of four or more. Book here to secure your table.
Achieving an effortlessly elegant yet practical wardrobe is not as simple as it seems, especially when the season calls for navigating crisp mornings, mild afternoons, and cooler evenings all in a single day. Autumnal dressing is an art of balance: staying warm without sacrificing style, and looking polished without overthinking every outfit. The key lies in building a curated selection of timeless, mix-and-match pieces that work harder so you don’t have to.
Ankle Boots
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Le Monde Beryl Camille leather wedge ankle boots from Mytheresa
Tilda’s Bow High Jewellery fancy yellow and white diamond earrings, Tilda’s Bow High Jewellery fancy intense yellow and white diamond ring, Tilda’s Bow High Jewellery fancy intense yellow and white diamond necklace from Graff
In the language of jewellery, few motifs are as quietly powerful as the bow. It suggests a moment of intention. A ribbon drawn tight, a gift sealed, a gesture made with care. With its Tilda’s Bow collection, Graff captures that fleeting instant in diamonds, transforming the softness of silk into sculptural brilliance.
The collection takes its cue from the precise moment a ribbon is tied. Loops arc gracefully, ribbons cascade, and each curve is articulated through exceptional stones that lend the designs both movement and light. Necklaces sweep across the collarbone in flowing forms, earrings echo the delicate symmetry of folded silk, while rings and bracelets trace elegant bows around the wrist and finger. Each piece feels fluid and organic, yet unmistakably Graff in its precision.
Tilda’s Bow Double Knot Ruby and Diamond Ring from Graff
Crafted by the house’s master artisans, Tilda’s Bow balances delicacy with drama. One striking interpretation reveals layered ribbons of white gold set with more than 22 carats of Graff diamonds, their scintillation giving the illusion of fabric caught mid-movement. Elsewhere, the motif becomes more architectural. Bold knots are sculpted into necklaces and earrings, their cascading ends set with pear shape diamonds and anchored by commanding solitaire stones. For those drawn to colour, the collection reveals another flourish. A high jewellery suite centres on extraordinary oval Fancy Intense Yellow diamonds, their sunlit brilliance framed by hundreds of white diamonds that trace each ribbon edge in glowing contrast. The result is a composition that feels both joyful and refined, radiating warmth against Graff’s signature icy sparkle.
Yet beyond the technical virtuosity lies something more intimate. The inspiration for Tilda’s Bow rests in family connections, a sentiment woven into the very fabric of Graff itself. Founded in 1960 by Laurence Graff and now led by the next generation, the house remains one of the few great jewellery maisons still guided by family hands. In Tilda’s Bow, that spirit finds elegant expression. A diamond ribbon tied not merely with precision, but with meaning. A jewel designed not simply to dazzle today, but to be cherished and passed forward for generations.
There are very few people today whom the entire human race, regardless of religion or political beliefs, can collectively hold in the highest regard than Sir David Attenborough, who celebrates his 100th birthday.
His unwavering commitment to highlighting planet Earth and all of its species, to ensure that humanity pays attention to the other species with which it shares this planet, is incomparable. Delivering his important message for more than 80 years, with his idiosyncratic warmth, wit, and immediately recognisable voice, Attenborough is attached to our hearts as a champion for all that is beautiful, while quietly serving as a fierce advocate for humans to wake up to the breadth and depth of our planet.
Attenborough started his interest in wildlife when his father gave him a fire salamander when he was eight. By eleven, he was selling newts to the zoology department at Leicester University for three pence each. That early instinct, the compulsion to find creatures and then make other people care about them, became the architecture of his entire life. Life on Earth, his landmark 1979 series, has been watched by an estimated 500 million people worldwide, and its most famous sequence, in which young mountain gorillas in Rwanda clambered onto him and tugged at his shoes while he whispered to the camera, was never scripted. He described it simply as “bliss.”
David Attenborough is also very funny. During the filming of The Life of Mammals in 2002, to scare his camera crew, he delivered a wolf howl so convincing that an entire pack of wolves assembled within view of the crew, prompting Attenborough to break into uncontrollable laughter at their shock. In 2013, he was filmed on his hands and knees in a Kenyan conservancy, squeaking back at a blind baby rhino named Nicky as though the two were having a perfectly reasonable conversation. He is also, despite a lifetime spent face to face with gorillas, snakes and the full spectrum of the planet’s more confronting inhabitants, utterly terrified of rats, a fear he cheerfully attributes to one unforgettable night in the Solomon Islands when they ran across his bed in a tropical storm.
At 100, Attenborough no longer traverses the world’s jungles and deserts, but earlier this year, he presented Wild London, discovering canal-dwelling snakes and pigeons riding the Tube with the same attention and admiration he gives all life on earth.
Today, we celebrate the man who has ignited our curiosity and love for our planet and all of its inhabitants. We are immensely grateful for his curiosity and unwavering commitment to sharing the truth about all life on Earth.
Who doesn’t love Mexico in May? Forget the flights, Savor Group has brought la vida loca to Auckland. Viva Espolón sees Espolón Tequila cocktails served at Bivacco, Bar Ziti, Flush, Non Solo Pizza, Ebisu andAzabu’s Mission Bay and Ponsonby outposts, with every eatery creating a delicious cocktail list, with each drink only $18 a serve. Pair your cocktail of choice with the specialty dish to transport yourself elsewhere.
With a cocktail lineup that includes margarita and paloma variations, ranch water, tequila negronis, and mezcal-led twists that lean into bright citrus, gentle heat, and the grassy backbone of agave, this is a rare chance to taste how a single spirit reshapes itself across six different eateries.
Bivacco’s Braised Short Rib With Pickled Onion, Avocado, Lime, Beef Sugo On Grilled Corn Tortilla and Spicy Paloma
At Bivacco, the bar is pouring the classic margarita alongside a spicy paloma, the latter built for diners who like a bit of friction with their citrus. Pair it with the fried prawn taco, dressed with salsa verde and campechana, or the braised short rib taco with pickled onion, avocado, lime and beef sugo on a grilled corn tortilla.
Bar Ziti’s Ranch Water
Bar Ziti’s Passionfruit Margarita
Meanwhile, Bar Ziti leans into stone-fruit territory with a passionfruit margarita that drinks like a late summer refusing to leave. The Ranch Water sits beside it for anyone after something cleaner and more linear, all lime, salt and the quiet hum of tequila.
Non Solo Pizza’s Rosita
Non Solo Pizza’s Osteria Pizza
Non Solo Pizza’s contribution is the Rosita, a tequila negroni that swaps gin’s botanical edge for something warmer and rounder, designed to drink alongside the Osteria pizza. It’s an unlikely pairing on paper that makes complete sense when you try it.
Ebisu and Azabu Mission Bay (and Ponsonby) share a menu, that might be the most ambitious of the lot. The ESPaloma anchors the drinks list, while the kitchen sends out poached prawn tostadas and wagyu tartare tacos that play the group’s Japanese sensibility against Mexican brightness. Expect rotating taco specials throughout the month, so a return visit is definitely required.
Azabu And Ebisu’s Espaloma
Azabu And Ebisu’s Wagyu Tartare Taco
Viva Espolón runs for the entire month of May across the participating Savor venues, with $18 cocktails the entire month. We suggest working your way through the list for a true slice of la vida loca.
Among the countless ways a diamond can be cut, only a handful achieve true distinction. The Ashoka is one of them. Instantly recognisable to those fluent in fine jewellery, this elongated diamond with its softly rounded corners possesses a poise that feels both modern and timeless. Elegant without being austere, it offers the crisp geometry collectors admire in emerald cuts, but with a brilliance that feels far more alive.
That brilliance is no accident. The Ashoka cut features 62 meticulously arranged facets, engineered to amplify light in a way that traditional step cuts rarely achieve. While an emerald-cut diamond is celebrated for its clean architectural lines, it is not typically known for sparkle. The Ashoka changes that equation entirely. Its additional facets create a vibrant play of light, producing a brightness and scintillation that feels noticeably more radiant on the hand.
Achieving that effect is neither quick nor easy. Each Ashoka diamond can take up to six months to cut and polish, a painstaking process requiring extraordinary precision. The stone must be carefully shaped to achieve the cut’s exact proportions, ensuring the facets align perfectly to maximise both brilliance and balance.
Before that process even begins, the odds are already narrow. Fewer than one per cent of rough diamonds possess the clarity, size and elongated crystal structure required to become an Ashoka. The material must be exceptional from the outset. Only then can the cutter begin the long and highly specialised journey toward the finished stone.
The result is a diamond that appears larger than many others of the same carat weight, thanks to its elongated silhouette and distinctive faceting. On the finger, it has a luminous, almost floating quality, the light moving through the stone with a softness and energy that sets it apart from more familiar cuts.
Today, the Ashoka remains one of the few proprietary diamond cuts. Developed by the renowned William Goldberg Diamond House in New York, after years of research and experimentation, it is produced exclusively by the brand and a tightly controlled group of authorised partners worldwide.
For those who value individuality in fine jewellery, the appeal is obvious. The Ashoka is not simply another diamond cut. It is a connoisseur’s diamond; rare, exacting, and unmistakably brilliant.
ASHOKA® diamonds are available at Partridge Jewellers in New Zealand.
Ten scarves from the Gucci archives, each selected by Demna. A Calabrian silk production chain resurrected from abandoned mulberry groves. Students from Florence’s Accademia delle Belle Arti are transforming archival prints into contemporary paintings. This is how heritage brands stay relevant in 2026: by reaching backwards and forwards simultaneously.
The Art of Silk “Your Majesty” printed silk carré from Gucci
The Art of Silk “Giardino di Seta” printed silk carré from Gucci
The collection spans Gucci’s visual vocabulary with considered restraint. Your Majesty and Double Trouble sit alongside the inevitable Flora iterations. Each design carries its original character while speaking Demna’s quieter language. The silk itself tells its own story: sourced through Nido di Seta and Ongetta’s revival project in southern Italy, where renewable energy powers looms and rural economies find new life.
The Art of Silk “Salon Privé” printed silk carré from Gucci
The Art of Silk “Double Trouble” printed silk carré from Gucci
The accompanying campaign positions scarves as fluid accessories rather than precious relics. Movement shots capture silk in motion, styled as everything but what you’d expect. Meanwhile, the student paintings now inhabit the Rodeo Drive flagship, bridging archival craft and contemporary interpretation.
After years of matte restraint, gloss returns with conviction. Lacquered cabinetry, polished veneers and resin finishes catch the light and amplify a room’s drama, and no one is doing it with more assurance than Minotti. The Italian house has long understood that a surface is never just a surface; it’s an invitation to look closer. Their latest pieces lean into high-gloss lacquer with the confidence of a brand that built its reputation on quiet material intelligence. Think deep, inky finishes on streamlined cabinetry and console forms that seem to hold the room’s light within them. High gloss works particularly well in darker palettes, adding depth and a subtle glamour that feels intentional rather than nostalgic. Used strategically, it sharpens contemporary interiors and elevates simple forms. The key, as ever, is balance. Pairing Minotti’s reflective surfaces with tactile textiles, natural stone and warm timber avoids tipping into excess. This is not gloss for gloss’s sake. It’s a polished restraint that only works when the form beneath it is worth reflecting.
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