Chloe studded boots? Yes please.

I laid my eyes on these stunning Chloe studded leather boots a little while back. And drooled. And then drooled some more. Realistically however, I knew there was no way in hell I could get a pair of these as looking for them in Australia is probably the most foolish thing you could do as there is often a %100 mark-up on U.S. prices for designer products. Seriously. It's ridiculous. And even if I had them shipped from the U.S., it would cost me $US 1,245 plus postage. Gulp.

So I thought no more about them (other than when photos of Erin Wasson popped up wearing a pair....mmmmm), and it was only two days ago that the Chloe boots popped into my mind again. I was at a really funky op-shop in the city, sourcing items for the ebay store, when I saw a pair of calf-length boots that looked familiar. Not identical to the Chloes, they still resemble them in a number of ways; the golden buckle, the gold studs and the slight heel. Yum.

So with glee, I tried them on, they fit, and I bought them. And to be honest, they haven't left my side throughout the weekend. In fact, I know I'll probably end up wearing them tonight at the pub where I'm going to watch a great band.

(And yes, I am fully aware that they are miles apart from the awe-inspiring Chloes, but I like to dream and this is the closest I will ever get to the real deal :)

Edit: I ended up not watching Ash Grunwald, but in the emergency section of a hospital (for most of the night, dammit! So mad! But I'm okay, I think, which is the most important thing).

grey pocket tee, myer. skirt, cotton on. red cape, supre. studded leather boots, vintage. jeweller, diva and vintage.
source: styleguru

When it rains, it pours (whoop!)

I had the craziest day at work today....some staff briefing (that went for wayyy too long), coffee with a friend at the awesome artsy/eclectic coffee bar in the city, a little work, the pretend-fire drill (and then the struggle to finish a report). Because I volunteered to be a warden. The drill took an hour in total, from the brief to the 'event' to the de-brief. Most important to mention? The gorgeous fireman who came in to help us out. Mmmmm. Anyway, after that I had to rush to Sportsgirl as I had put two pairs of shoes on hold. I ended up buying the camel coloured platforms I've had my eyes on for a while, but hadn't bought because I wasn't sure of the colour. I have brown skin, so camel and brown is perhaps not a combo to mix.

But when I walked in to Sportsgirl today, the shoes were more than 50% off. Woot! I love Sportsgirl sales. Hah. Who cares about matching your skin colour to your shoes at that price? :) Whilst there, I also saw another pair on sale for $70 (basically imitation YSL tribute sandals, which the boy thinks 'aren't that great', he picked the camel coloured pair).

(the 'camels', sorry about the face)

the real deal; the YSL tribute sandal

I thought about buying both (as the imitation YSL's were also half-price) but restrained myself. I seriously have a shoe problem, and this isn't helping. I only recently picked up a pair of leather wedge thigh-high boots (very, very similar to the latest offerings from Stella McCartney and Louis Vuitton actually!) and a pair of menswear-inspired Ninewest high heel brogues from my fave op-shops (and I was actually whinging recently about the fact that I could never find vintage shoes because I have little feet (a size 5.5, true)). I am also waiting on the Colin Stuart studded booties from Victoria's Secret, which I am slightly nervous about.

(vintage ninewests, from my fave op-shop)

I swear the boy thinks I'm mental. The other day I said to him that I didn't have that many shoes cough*althoughthatmaybealie*cough and he responded with 'Yes, and you're only 24. You have time. We're going to have to rent a place to stay that has a spare bedroom for your shoes'. All said with a hint of amusement. Ahh, bless him and his reticent ackowledgement and acceptance of my shoe thing.

black tee, supre. vintage shorts, cut-off Levis. bag, vintage Louis Vuitton. patent leather shoes, sportsgirl. stupid face, shattered me.
grey tee, supre. skirt, cotton on. shoes, vintage. jewellery, diva and vintage. glasses, destroyed cheapo sunglasses.
source: luxist

The D.I.Y. episode

I go through phases where I become a D.I.Y. maniac. Like older men who visit Bunnings on a weekly basis, Lincraft (read: Aussie craft-type store) and me have a special relationship. To the point where the girl at the counter (with the funky, pixie-cropped hair. want.) now knows me and only smiled when I recently walked in and asked her whether they stocked 'strips of metal or strips of thick wire for a D.I.Y. project'. Yes, I plan to DIY a metal face piece, inspired by Vogue Australia. Once I actually make it, I'll post photos here.

Another DIY project I recently completed was a bodychain. Whilst perusing everybodyisugly (one of the 'must read' daily websites I visit at work...shhhhh!) a few weeks back, I saw the stylishly-chic Lulu's DIY tutorial on bodychains. It looked awesome! Bodychains have been making waves recently, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing, but I wanted one! I thought about it, realised how simple yet effective it would be, and visited my go-to place to source much-needed materials.

It was ridiculously simple to make, and I improvised in places, but this is the result:

I also made another piece, different in design to the above one, and am thinking of making a crazy t-back style one once I've visualised the design in my head.

Also, am I the only one who watched the closing ceremony of the Olympics and thought 'want. want. want!' when the Chinese girls came out with silver beaded fringing? Man, I would take

either the headpieces, or arm thingies (official term, ahem) or even the silver beaded fringed skirts! Which raises the question, what happens to all those tons of cheap silver beads once the curtain's fallen? And can I get one on ebay? :)

(Okay, I'm a serious technophobe....can't even find photos of those silver beaded outfits! Never mind, I'll edit the post once I find the photos)

tee, ???. jeans, supre. leather booties, scooter. leather jacket, vintage. bodychain, DIY.

Op-shopping

Or what the Americans like to call "thrifting". I adore op-shopping, a task made even more exiting by the thrill of finding exquisite, divine pieces. Ahhh. But Perth is a little hit and miss with op-shops, and slowly I'm getting to grips with which ones always have gorgeous stock, replace stock regularly, have unique stuff, are budget-friendly (I kid you not, I walked into one awhile back where the prices of quite a few items were more than they originally cost. The goods were also cheap chainstore quality. So I quickly walked out before I was tempted to buy valleygirl (a.k.a the Australian version of F21) pants for $28!).

That experience aside, I'm lucky in that I find alot of nice stuff. Which may explain why I recently went to put a new vintage skirt in my cupboard and found it was a wee bit of a squeeze. Ahem. Hence I will soon be putting some of the vintage goods up for sale on ebay. A girl just cannot own that many things, right? (Apart from shoes, of course ;)

This was what I wore op-shopping a little while back.....

I picked up some good stuff, including a gorgeous vintage crochet style cardi and these cute-as-a-button navy blue leather flats with navy suede and gold bows and gold trim around the heels.

p.s. It's not a bad thing if the staff in the above vintage shops all know me by name, and suggest things I might like every time I go in, right? Heh.

top & skirt, cotton on. ribbed tights, myer. leather boots, shoobiz. beret, sportsgirl. jewellery, diva. sunglasses, random cheapie store.

Hippie fringe-dwelling

I have been told, on a number of occasions, that I am a hippie at heart. I like to reassure friends that I do not discriminate; I adore fringing as much as I do studs. Ahhh, the two words that send my fashion imaginations to a happy place. As such, it's no suprise that I'm a huge fan of all things Etro. The S/S 08 showings were beyond effortlessly cool, in my opinion anyway. The more studded belts and flowy dresses I see, the better. Sheer bliss in many colours, toughened up by studded belts or utilitarian cross-body bags or wide belts or man bags.

Ahhh, it had everything....flowy maxi dresses, ginormous studded belts, fringed/studded cross-body bags, platform gladiators, cuffed mens pants, and a whole lot more.

And then there was that translation from runway to red carpet that has been made infamous in numerous blogs. Yes, Kate Bosworth in Etro (and when the deal was sealed) ....

Now its off to Natasha and Sportsgirl for starters to find me a fringed suede leather bag and a suede fringed vest respectively (both spotted in the pages of magazines).
p.s. how cool is Agyness Deyn?

Post-edit: I know the Etro showing was a while back, but summer is coming to Australia, as is fringing. Whoop! On the downside, however, where are the studs??? (Guess I'll have to make do with the awesome suede leather studded Valentino miniskirt I found at my fave op-shop/vintage shop for $Aud 3.00 :)

sources: etro, http://www.people.com

city-style and sizzlers

Yes. The title of the post describes what I did Saturday; roamed the city in my get-up from the night before's tequila party (yes.....ooof, must never drink tequila again) as I waited for the boy to get in so we could get yummy sushi, and then headed home for some rest before dinner with the family at sizzler in lieu of a birthday gone. Overate at sizzlers, not a huge surprise there. And wasn't hungover on Saturday morning, again not a huge surprise because I don't get hangovers.

The first outfit is me in the city. People here don't dress like this, so there were a fair few stares (good, I'll assume, being the optimist I am :). The second is, obviously, dinner. I found this skirt last week in an op-shop and I adore it! It has the perfect amount of flouncy/foufyness, and will be perfect in summer with a skinny tee tucked in and crazy wedges or gladiators. Mmmmm. Ooh, and the shoes were an ebay bargain (Aud $0.99!). I adore them, they are perfectly worn in.

everything 's vintage except for the tee from supre, and some of the jewellery from diva.

Birthday shenanigans

I wore this out to a friend from work's birthday/welcome drinks at a pub. Tried to avoid looking too teenagerish, as there could potentially be other colleagues from work (older, more senior to me) and you really don't want to come off as the youngun with the "crazy fashion sense" (as I imagine they think on casual-dress Fridays!).

Guess what? No other staff from work present. Hmmmfff, could have attempted the Erin Wasson cutoff denim shorts and oversize men's shirt (with regulation high heels). Or NOT :)

The platform on these babies is a little more impressive in real life . Oh, so obsessed with platforms as we speak. But these are the ones I reallllly want...I think. Too much going on with the shoe? Perhaps. Also, they seem to have been stretched out on the website, because they look more elegant (less squat) on the model and in the pages of Shop Till You Drop.

leather jacket, vintage. tee, target. jeans, supre. zhoes, zu. leather bag, vintage. jewellery, random turkish shop.

sources: wanted shoes, siren shoes

Socks'r'us

I only recently purchased a pair of thigh-high socks from Sportsgirl (yes, I know, verrry late trend adoption), but have come to love them. They work so well as opaque tights under dresses or over black opaque tights and short, short skirts! Shame winter is nearly over.

This was taken on one of a vast number of coffee dates with the boy at our favourite beachside coffee haunt (one word: banana bread. Mmmmm, okay it's two but whatever :). Lucky for me he's willing to take all these outfit shots. I can just imagine what he's thinking, though. Heh.

top, ???. skirt, temt. leather jacket, vintage. socks, sportsgirl. boots, shoobiz. jewellery, turkish shop. bag, vintage.

Changing the rules....

I have a newfound obsession with platform shoes. Not platform flats, which I think look bizarre, but gorgeous platform heels by designers or high-street shoe retailers. Yum. Which helps justify my latest purchase, these knockoff Dior gladiators (made infamous by the Sex'n'the City movie).

I would love to own the real deal (below), but funds do not allow that to happen. So instead, I now own an imitation pair. Yes, the shoes still have their tags on in the photo but I couldn't wait to try them on. They are ridiculously comfy! And....extra bonus, they bring me up to about 5'10"/5'11". What's not to love?

p.s. I promise to try and take future photographs in more exciting locations. It's just a high laziness factor problem I have to contend with.

blazer, vintage with DIY buttoning. skirt, vintage. tee, target. shoes, rubi. jewellery, vintage & random turkish shop.

Source: thisnext