All dressed up

Wore this retro-print Bettina Liano dress to the Phantom of the Opera, which (as I've mentioned before) was fan-bloody-tastic.

I ran into a distant friend's boyfriend there, whom I avoided at great cost....he once asked me to join him and his girlfriend for the night (wink wink). And he had just met me. Ick. Did I mention he also happens to be completely sleazy?

Nice, flattery my way, all the way :P

Back to the dress though, don't you love the subtle poufy sleeves!

Also, very randomly, last week I was in the kitchen on the phone to Dad when I noticed this HUGE bird perched in our garden. It was a magnificent owl, at 6pm in the evening (and take into account daylight savings)??!!!?

My sister and I think he may have caught sight of a rat.

But still, an owl that comes to your waist (yes, he was that huge!), casually perched in your backyard in suburbia in the bright sunlight? Odd.

Course I snapped a few (blurry) shots!

He may look smaller here, but don't let that fool you. I took this photo from quite far away!

dress, bettina liano. shoes, siren. bracelet, diva??. ring, sportsgirl.

Designers for Payless

I am officially jealous of you Americans.

Payless in the States is a whole lot cooler than our Aussie Payless.....I wait for the day that we have the same/similar designer collaborations that are easier on the pocket, and that give us a small taste of a designer's aesthetic.

What am I talking about?

The Limited Edition Fall 09 Designer Collections.

I came across the paylessontherunway site, and knew I'd hit gold!

I mean, look at some of the shoes that will be on offer and that you can buy online....

Abaete for Payless

Another Abaete pair, and this one has me salivating (I think I'm in love!)

Alice + Olivia for Payless

I have to admit that I wasn't too taken with the last collection for Payless but these strappy boots are incredible.

Christian Siriano for Payless; another pair that I covet...spikes, studs, chains....ooh baby!

Loving the coloured soles, but not too sure about the gaps at the sides of the chains....you'd probably need to try these on in store prior to committing to them...still, love.

Absolutely loving the colour, the dangling studs, the cut of the shoe....

Mmmmmmm :)

(Again, damn you lucky Americans!)

I have to admit that I'm willing to beg someone from the States to purchase a pair or two for me and ship them over here (Payless don't offer international shipping...I know, WHAT?!?!)

Any offers, please pretty please?

What about a fee for me, I can definitely deal with that :)

Random Fun Recommendation

Gotta love the way some brains work...

You'll love the randomness and utter genius of this one:

Mr Bird

It chronicles Mr Bird's adventures, and features random adventures or mishaps...it's wonderfully tongue-in-cheek. Witty. I like.

So go check it out. It's by the wonderful Stompface (a fellow Perthian; yeah, yeah, I'm proud of that :P)

source: Stompface

Stolen Girlfriends Club

In the latest Shop Till You Drop, one of the mini-features was some Rodarte-esque tights....almost identical to the real deal, and $Aud126.50 from Stolen Girlfriends Club.

So of course it was off to google 'Stolen Girlfriends Club' to see if I could drool more over the du jour tights....mmmm.

Unfortunately, Stolen Girlfriends Club don't have an online store and the few online retailers who do stock the brand haven't got the latest stock....so I'll just have to drool over the tights in the magazine for now :)

But while I was browsing the Stolen Girlfriends Club site, I went through the Winter 09 collection "PRETTY VACANT".

I adored the entire look; the raw grunge element (not the make-believe dressed up version I've seen so often before), the 'street' factor, and mostly the 'don't give a fuck, I'm gonna spend the rent money on this instead' attitude.

This New Zealand label is doing everything right....

Looking Forward to in Winter....

I feel somewhat crazy talking about what I'm looking forward to in winter, when Perth has been hit with a warm front and we're experiencing 35 degree celcius plus days. Ahh well, I can still dream about winter outfits can't I.

Firstly, I'm very much looking forward to pairing my skinny leather pants (complete with asymmetrical side zippers a la Kate Moss' pair) with all manner of loose fit/slouchy pocket tanks and tees/oversize sweaters, and vertiguous heels. The pants were one of my favourite op-shop finds ever, costing only $20 (plus $25 for 'skinny-fying' the straight legs)

my DIY attempt at the Alexander Wang holey sweater. I found a white-ish oversize sweater at an op-shop a few weeks ago, and took to it straight away, cutting out irregular patches and replacing said patches with something akin to mosquito netting! I adore this and cannot wait to wear it...amusingly, Stuart is enamoured by the DIY effort.

Inspired by Rumi of fashiontoast when she pulled off this incredible black Topshop sweater with chunky holes and uneven rows, I was more than stoked to see that MinkPink are currently selling the exact replica. Mmmm....now all that's left is to find the perfect sheer/mesh tank to wear underneath.

I gave in on the whole 'shoe ban' thing this weekend, when I stumbled across these babies for more than 50% off. From Siren ofcourse. I'm generally not a peep-toe kinda gal, but these shoes look so incredible on it's a moot point.

Leggings from Sportsgirl, including a space odyssey homage silver pair and the infamous sequin leggings (which there was apparently a waiting list for (??!!!?) and which I was pleased to see are incredibly well made). The sequin leggings were a gift that I shall covet for a long time. I'm meanwhile eyeing the sequin bomber jacket and the military-inspired leather jacket and convincing myself I really need one or the other, or both, but that's beside the point ;)

My long tuxedo style blazer jacket with cuffed sleeves from Valleygirl. Made of cotton, the skinny fit is perfection and will work over bodycon dresses/tees/fitted tanks/anything just wonderfully. Mmmm.

What are you looking forward to, for the next season?

I'll leave you with these snaps from my birthday party a few years ago (and continuing with the "dress up" theme). The theme was A/C, my initials, so I was an Androgynous Crooner (Marilyn Manson) and Stuart was Captain Anonymous. I loved the effort everyone put in :)

The construction worker wrecking all the pictures with his flouro vest ;)






Stuart aka Capt Anonymous...hahaha



Commando, Androgynous Crooner, Christmas Tree and Cleopatra

Russian Mail-order Bride, anyone?

I was invited to a house warming party last weekend and only realised it was dress-up the day of, when I double checked the address on facebook :/

Don't you just hate that? (the last minute part, not the facebook part ;)


The theme was "disappoint the parents", which leaves alot to interpretation.

So Stuart went as a rockstar and I as a Russian mail-order bride.

Something you didn't know about me (but might have suspected anyway ;)?

I ADORE dress-up.
I will do it given half the chance.

And not go the skanky/sexy or easy option either.

So this time around I was hesitant about the Russian mail-order bride option (moderate skank factor) but didn't want to go the easy rockstar/punk/pregnant bride option either (no offense, Stu ;)

Given the timeframe of awareness and limited oddball paraphernalia at home, this was the best I could come up with. Tsk Tsk.

(And yes, there were a few pregnant bride/schoolgirl types)

Stu, doing the 'gay punk' pose ;)

Some other outfits at the party:

Gotta snuggle up to Osama, right? Right.

Just watched The Phantom of the Opera, in which The Phantom blew EVERYONE away! The show was an extravangance in every sense; set design, costume, performance (Ridiculously brilliant). I adore the Phantom of the Opera and feel inredibly desolate on behalf of the Phantom at the end.

Thanks for the comments, I promise to link those who requested :)

HOW incredible was the Lanvin show (it may have something to do with the fact that I adore Lanvin, huh?)!!!!

I'm so looking forward to going trampolining tomorrow (I should say today actually), I'm a big kid at heart!

Sorry for the extra long post. The next blog post will be succinct and feature what I'm looking forward to for winter. Hint: ALOT.

Anika: fur hat & boots, vintage. dress, supre. lipstick, l'oreal color riche 'garnet creme' (460).
Stuart: tee, gift. jeans, jeans west. shoes, customised dunlops. leather vest, vintage. cuff, Anika's. sunglasses, Egyptian shop.

Sunset over suburbia (and the restaurant in the sky)

On Saturday, Stuart and I did the very romantic thing (I'm not normally a romantic sap but I do have my moments) and went out to dinner, to the restaurant in the sky, to celebrate our anniversary.

Restaurant in the sky, I hear you ask.

Yep. A revolving restaurant on the top floor of a building in the city.

I'd heard it was romantic, good food, the lot, but I still didn't have any expectations.

Gladly, it was romantic and then some. Mood lighting, a rotating outer disk of the floor space (where the diners sat), tables overlooking the bright lights of Perth city, the mellow and soothing familiar tunes from the drummer and pianist, the very attentive waitress, and the fabulous food. Yum.

I had salmon with blood orange slices for starters and Stuart had scallops with mango and watermelon pieces, topped with mint leaves. Seriously odd combinations, but bizarrely and sensationally delectable. The mains were even better (beef fillet so tender I nearly cried (well, Okay, I didn't but you get the gist ;), barramundi so perfectly grilled on a bed of sauteed tomato slices it should be illegal). We finished off with a decadent chocolate mousse desert and finished off our bottle of impeccable red wine.

I took these photos just before we drove off, to the restaurant.

I like to call it "Sunset over Suburbia"

The bright lights of the city (plus the drummer :)

The foreshore

Wrestling with statues for money...

Infront of the Supreme Court building (we happened to be passing ;)

It was quite funny actually, on the walk back to the car a drunken 15 year old swayed towards me and when she got within grasping distance (and I had stiffened considerably, eyeing the alcopop in her hand warily!) she halted and slurred, 'I looove your dress...where is it from?'.

Vintage, dahhlink, vintage oversize lady top actually.....

dress, vintage. clutch, ice (bought years ago!). shoes, siren.

Freaky or Fabulous?

Recently, I read about a more unusual collaboration.

Betwixt Pritzker Prize-winning Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid and Brazilian shoe label Melissa.

The single picture that accompanied the blurb intrigued me...the shoes looked quite cool....

So I dug a little deeper (thank you Google :) to find out more.

The design of the shoes is said to

"engage with the fluid organic contours of the body. The shoes asymmetric quality conveys an inherent sense of move-ment to the design, evoking continuous transformation. The concept addresses the perception of wearing the shoe in motion rather than a static display on a shopping window.

The shoes emerge from the ground and climb up the foot and leg with a soft elegant movement. The plastic organic quality of the choreography adheres to the skin. There is an implicit sense of lightness that blurs the boundary between body and object."

Zaha spent two years to create a shoe that moulds to the lines of the foot. The shoes are made from materials that can be recycled and there are no buckles, closures or seals.

Opinions?

I love this concept. The comfort factor is a huge plus but more importantly the space-age look these give off would elevate mere outfits to stratospheric levels. I would love to know exactly how affordable these shoes are, just so I can go out and buy me a pair.

Further, Zaha Hadid's architectural work speaks for itself.

Her lack of compromise in design and artistic temperament give her work a dramatic, modern take. I also happen to adore the fragmented geometry clearly present in her work.

For examples of her work, see the

Zaha Hadid blog

Meanwhile, I will be hitting up Melissa's Australian website (come May) to see if I can get my hands on a pair of (in every sense of the word) architectural shoes. As an architectural shoe fiend, how better to satiate my craving than a silver pair? ;)

source: dezeen

Gift ideas....searching.

Apologies for neglecting the blog; it wasn't done on purpose I swear!

I got struck down by some mystery illness and felt absolutely crap all of last week.

To add to the searing pain I felt, I also had to complete a job application (which was more demanding than filling out immigration forms almost!) and come up with a fabulous gift idea for Stuart's and my anniversary on Saturday.

I love giving people close to my heart multi-pieced gifts (I like to DIY/make something, buy small joke/other gifts and of course the main gift [which should ideally amaze!])

Yeah, no pressure!

Anyway, incase you were wondering, I finally finished the job application and ten-page application form and 7 essays required, AND managed to get Stuart what I believe to be an awesome gift (if I do say so myself :)

I managed to find a tourism company that do hot air balloon safaris...and booked a half-day one for Stuart and myself (champagne breakfast, sunrise hot air balloon trip over the country, and fabulous full breakfast included :).

So I'm back on form, and it'll be regular posting from here on in.

p.s. these pics are from a few weekends ago....

(apologies for the blur here, drunk camera people CANNOT be trusted :P)

I found this top at an op shop awhile back and bought it straight away for its odd texture and baggy fit. I think it would look fantastic with different textured bottoms (like above or lace tights or a ruffled miniskirt).

top, vintage. leggings, jay jays (I kid you not!). shoes, siren. bracelets, assorted. earrings, queen vic markets (melbourne).