Seasons greetings

Sorry for neglecting the blog in the last few days, c'est la vie.

I'm currently in my room, aghast at all the clothing I've pulled from the cupboard onto my floor. Trying to decide what is crucial, nay essential, for a 10 day holiday in Thailand. We leave pretty early tomorrow morning (ahh, Christmas irony) and I'll be back on the 5th of January.

I'll be back to blogging when I return. Hope you all have great holidays, and seasons greetings :D

College reunions

My first year of uni, I lived at the residences nearby. The college I stayed at was/is(?) best known for its sporting ability and partying (not in that order though :) Anyway, during the course of the year I made a great bunch of friends. We hung out in the quad, started food fights in the cafeteria (I'm looking at you, Sam!), had intellectually stimulating debates (and some generally crude ones too!) and generally had a blast.

So it's fantastic that we're still firm friends and, for those of us that still live in the country, catch up quite regularly. But last weekend, Sam was back from the UK and so we reconvened for a college-style night. Fun was had, drinks were imbibed, and at one point we were all doing zoolander poses and playing Wii bowling. Competitively :D

yep, this was my 'zoolander' :)

A diverse bunch of people, from all over the world!

Here's to good friends :)

tee, supre. leather vest, vintage. jeans, supre. shoes, urban soul. bangles, assorted. face in 4th pic, priceless.

Christmas Wish List

My family and boyfriend are secretly going about buying presents for the rest of the family, as am I. But I always want to know what I'm getting. Around birthday/Christmas time, I pester Stuart to give me hints about what I'm getting. He entertained me the first couple of times, but I guessed correctly every single time so he refuses to even speak about it these days :D

Regardless, here are some of the things I would be delighted to receive as gifts.

Zu 'Fuji' wedges. Even better than these though....are the ones I saw a few days ago when I walked into a Zu store. They had a new pair of wedges in there (the wedge portion of the patent peep-toe cut away dramatically, but they were oh-so-comfy!) which are unfortunately not yet on their website

Topshop leather skinnies (I did find an awesome straight legged, snug fit pair at an op-shop the other day, which are currently with the tailor for skinny-fying. Cannot wait!)





Chanel 2.55 bag; always have, always will want one <3>

Adore the Canon Rebel XTI Digital camera, would love anyone who bought me this forever. Cupboard love much? ;)





Influence. Nuf said.

Books would not go astray either. I'm the biggest book worm. My problem tends to be the speedreading, so that I'm always on the hunt for new books. Lucky op-shops have them too :)

I'm not going to give away what I've bought people for Christmas in this post though. Nooo sir....I love the surprise/delight on peoples faces when they open up presents you've given them (and hopefully not shock and horror :P)

sources: Zu, Topshop, Google, and mkashley.com

Sharp shoulders, baby.

So here's the dress I talked about yesterday. I found it at a thrift store quite a while ago but only managed to alter it yesterday, whilst watching some mind-numbing tv show. I made it a whole lot shorter than it originally was and changed the hem to it. I also (accidentally) managed to alter the complete shape of the dress. No, I don't know the specifics of that any better than you do :)

But. I adore it! I have no idea where the hell I'd wear something like this (office Christmas party, anyone?) but am absolutely taken by the breath-taking shoulders and huge gold buttons. Ahhh, eight dollar love :)

I still need to find shoes that match the bright blue shade, these grey pumps had to do for the clothing trial shot.

In other news, I've finally managed to complete my Christmas shopping (for now, anyway). Bring on the festivity!

dress, d.i.y. vintage. shoes, kookai.

Want chic dresses, but can't afford to go shopping right now? Bank account looking a little grim this month? Well, have no fear, there are plenty of opportunities for aid online. Log on and find wonderful payday loans and other services, completely care-free! So don't wait, get affordable fashion today!

A hot summer....

Haha, the post title makes me think of Rhys' Hot Summer video. (Is his makeup and fierce feather cape in the video not beyond delish?!! He was/is a makeup artist, who was on the Aussie 'So you think you can dance' show)

We had a scorcher of a weekend; it was 35 degrees on Saturday and a cool 40 on Sunday. So it made sense to make a bookshelf from Ikea in that heat :/ Even having aircon didn't help, but it's been a while since we've had such hot days, so no complaining from me :)

So it being too hot to really do anything, I've put off uploading photos from a pot-luck dinner on Saturday night (where I wore leather and black skinnies, outfit to come) and am going to use photos I've taken over the last few weeks.

(Stu at the boat harbour)

(before the arts festival a few weeks ago)

(the beatiful beach)

I also worked on a few of the d.i.y/sewing jobs I've been putting off for way too long now. I still want to make a pair of fingerless lace gloves (from spare material from a lace skirt I thrifted), a single feather & wire drop earring, and numerous other diys. But I did manage to alter this gorgeous thrifted turquoise dress with fabulous sharp shoulders and poufy pockets, which I will showcase on the blog tomorrow :)

Stuart's outfit: shirt, cotton on. jeans, just jeans?. shoes, dunlops with customised laces.
My outfit: grey vest, supre. jeans, sportsgirl. neon tube, vintage. necklace, d.i.y. christmas ornament. shoes, ancient.

Saturdays in Summer

Summer accounts for such a large portion of Australian life; its not just a season here but a change of pace, great attitudes, a 'she'll-be-right' view of life and just a sense of freedom. And so summer has begun :)

The boy and I spent the first warm weekend in a long while (about 30 degrees celcius, mmm) at a local market where we sat on the grass and watched the market happenings and then got approached by a cute member of a band debuting their new album soon (they were just chilling in the park and the guy came over and was so cute and bizarre), had coffee and people-watched, and went to dinner at one of our favourite restaurants (Little Creatures in Fremantle) with a good friend and her boy. And then Sunday there was more lazing, coffee at the boat harbour, dips in the pool, and just chilling out.

the day to night dress

one of my fave pairs of shoes (I know I say that alot...)

side view of shoes :)

at dinner at Little Creatures (Lil Creatres pale ale, mmm)

I love chilled out weekends <3

1st outfit: t-shirt dress, scarf & bag, vintage. shoes, sportsgirl. sunnies, cheapo shop.
2nd outfit: t-shirt dress, vintage. necklace, diva. shoes, urban soul.

Outfit Post

Just a quick one because I'm still recovering from a sleepless night, and a very long day at work. The aim is to put myself to bed early tonight.

This is from a few days ago (can't remember exactly when). The liquid leggings are a new purchase from dotti (of all places!), and they are so skinny and hard to put on, but I love the way they look, so worth it!

This men's tee is my new obsession; it works with everything and is super-soft. To top it all off, it was only $2 at my fave op-shop :)

p.s. the fringe has been chopped. It's a little harsh but I like it more and more every day, which is impressive considering it's the result of me losing my hair cutting scissors and resorting to a dull-edged pair which equaled the worst hack-job ever! Never mind, since fixed, and much much shorter.

tee, vintage. leggings, dotti. shoes, siren. necklace, diva.

Bows, beautiful bows.

Tis the season to be jolly, tra la.....etc etc. I kid you not, I know nobody who is more enthusiatic about Christmas than myself. Last year, the family participated in my love for all things Christmas and bought a tree and decorated it, had chrissie stockings hanging, presents under the tree, the works!

And what does that have to do with this outfit? Errr, not much, maybe the bow is a little bit festive. Speaking of which, there is a woman in my office who has a christmas tree lights necklace, and various other christmas accessories. Nice. She does enough festive dressing for the rest of us :)

Ooh, Christmas, I cannot wait. I've already bought most of the presents, the special gift wrap (yep, really) and the christmas cards. So excited!

dress, supre. skirt, myer. sheer jacket, cotton on. shoes, sportsgirl. scarf, dotti?. ring, diva.

Ginger & Smart love

I got a chance, yesterday, to fondle select items from the Ginger & Smart S/S 08-09 line at Harry & Gretel. A fabulous pair of side-pocketed, drop-crotch silk pants (want!), a stunning sheer draped dress and an even more divine silk architectural blouse. It isn't just the look of the clothes; its the finish, the materials used, the subtle finishing details like a waist-tie belt with studded ends. There's a perfect edge to them that makes them wearable yet...well, edgy.

I know I've mentioned Ginger & Smart in a previous post, but I thought it was time to show more love for the label. Ginger & Smart all began in 2002 with a spa range, followed by a leather accessories range and then a move into high fashion, and the beautiful clothes I now crave. The designers behind the label are the Sydney-based sisters; Alexandra and Genevieve Smart. This label has grown from strength to strength and I now keep my eyes peeled for anything Smart.

The downside is that the prices aren't cheap. But the clothes are worth every penny. So I'll just have to save up for my current obsessions; the silk drop-crotch pants with exaggerated side pockets AND those divine tie-up leather sandals. Swoon!
(on a side note: if you've got the money and are so inclined, the silk long trench/leather arm wear/asymmetrical khaki cropped pants would be much appreciatedand loved and I would love you long time!)

Costume.....Obsession

So I mentioned in the last post that I had a slight...well, I don't quite know the word for it.....obsession(?) over costume jewellery. And specifically oversize/funky/crazy rings. I don't do delicate; never have, never will.

And with that introduction, here's my ring collection. Yes, it's all mine. Yes, I realise the absurdness of owning so many. I do wear them all though. Most are on very high rotation. It's how I let my style out during the work week, when I'm restrained in terms of how funky/fashionable I can dress, given my job.















To be fair, a good handful of the above were gifts. Okay, enough rationalising :)

Let's see. My absolute favourites include:

• the silver snake ring
• the black and silver studded ring (3rd pic)
• the flower rings; I wear three stacked together to create a monster ring
• the gold curvy long 'grasper' ring, and the gold filagree cut-out ring (5th pic)
• the silver turquoise ring
  
• ..and number one spot goes to the gigantic silver and black flower ring (last pic), its my current obsession!
  
  

Which rings do you like?

Melbourne

Sorry for the absence. I was back a week ago and ermmm....loser that I am, spent the entire week reading my newly acquired cheese-tastic Stephenie Meyer Twilight series. Cough, really :/

Melbourne was incredible! The kind of holiday that, on day 2, you've forgotten all the petty dramas/don't know what the day and date are/is just bliss. My boy is amazing; not once did he whinge whilst I shopped, and he made me laugh all day, everyday. I'm a lucky girl.

We spend ALOT of time in a French cafe with the best crepes ever (tucked away in a lane inside a lane), checked out an awesome library and a museum/gallery, checked out op-shops, went to the markets a number of times (each time we'd get there, we would overhear things like 'yes, we close in 10 minutes..' or 'today we close early; 20 minutes max'). Haha, we eventually got it right and managed to scoff a whole bag of Spanish donuts, mmm. I bought an awesome hooded leather jacket and a faux fur hat at the market, in addition to some of the boy's Christmas presents and a pair of shoes for dad.

We also took alot of photos, re-visited the jazz bar we had found last time (you guessed it; in a lane, inside a lane, inside another lane...not helped by the rain pissing down!), found an incredible and funky coffee shop, went to an artsy-type market, tried Starbucks for the first time in our lives (meh.), trammed it everywhere, frequented the St. Kilda cake shops, visited a bunch of restaurants (yummy cheap food!), got our photo taken at a well-known pub, visited the boy's sister who lives about an hour and a half outside of Melbourne (and who's cat was the fluffiest, cutest thing that would lick my hair once or twice every time I picked her up :), and even took awesome photos at Union Lane, a Council/government-sponsored 'authorised grafitti' laneway.

Haha, I leave you with this parting shot ;)

Basically Melbourne = love. Except for the weather.

Oh and I also have a post idea. I want to share my unhealthy obsession with oversize costume rings (yeah, don't ask, it's not right, you'll see what I mean)....so I'll take some snaps tonight and post them tomorrow.