Ebay picks

Oooh, finally.

After ALOT of procrastination, distractions in the form of hmmm...laziness, being out of the country, etc, etc, a new set of items are up on ebay.

I'm going to get my head around international shipping and all associated dealings, and probably offer international shipping for the next set of clothes and/or accessories up for auction.

Some of the gorgeous things up for auction....

black moto buckled denim jacket

brand new Primp nautical print thermal

grey t-back w.beaded halter & adjustible sleeve

oversize purple cape w.gold patterned detailing

gypsy maxi dress w.ruffle sleeves

high waisted navy 3/4 length skirt

Take a look at all the items up for auction this week at:

The Stooka Stall:Walk-in Vintage

....blue suede shoes? over-rated. grey is where its at.

Worn out to dinner at a quaint Irish pub/restaurant with Stuart.

These shoes are ridiculously comfortable for curved heels.

And I've collected quite a collection of armwear. I love stacking it all up to kingdom come :)

The food was typical Irish goodness; Colcannon potatoes (with butter, spring onions and cabbage...mmmm), Guinness pie the size of a dinner plate, with a thick pastry crust, and pints of Guinness. Yummo.

the Perth skyline in the background;

on a bridge over the Mitchell freeway

Ignore the mildly idotic look, and focus on the jewellery ;)

Went to see Vicki. Cristina.Barcelona tonight. It's mildy amusing but largely self-indulgent in that typical Woody Allen way. And Penelope Cruz....woah, new girl crush. She IS the definition of sex appeal.

Also watched Grand Torino last week....fabulous film. It amazes me that Clint Eastwood is so fantastic at 78! And so good looking for a 78 year old as well. I highly recommend watching Grand Torino, it's a well-made film. Highly politcally incorrect and all.

(I loved the entire direction, the acting, and the idea of overcoming long-cultivated perceptions so selflessly.....)

tank, supre. jeans, cotton on. bag, vintage. shoes, siren. hair thingie, ice. sunglasses, random cheapie store. bangles, assorted.

Wittner A/W 09

So I've trawled the internet like a maniac, trying to find pics of the Wayne by Wayne Cooper and Leona Edmiston designer shoe ranges being stocked at Myers around the country, but have come up with nadas. Shame, because I wanted to feature the gorgeous purple suede stacked heels by Wayne Cooper. Part minx, part feline-assassin and part PSA (pure sex appeal), I WANT those shoes....but am on a shoe ban.

So with the dreaded B word firmly in place, I decided it wouldn't hurt to visit Wittner. Oh, and it wasn't just me being masochistic....the sister celebrates her birthday in less than 10 days and is starting to become a fellow shoe fiend.

I walked in. And started drooling (yet at the same time was left somewhat hmmm....disappointed in their design team?). Because Wittner does incredibly awesome rip-offs of designer shoes, and produces them relatively soon after. Prime examples:

a) YSL Tribute platform pumps-a nod to

or in the funkier version:

the heel on those babies is 8cm, with an added 4cm platform....sweeeet!


and the real deal...

b) Prada-esque spat heels, I do like the (added) silver button tabs on the side...

I am so tempted by the faux-tributes, it's not even funny. I just have to remember my ban. No Wayne Coopers, no faux tributes....waaaahhh ;)

Heres hoping someone out there can enjoy the shoes.

sources: www.wittner.com.au, http://jakandjil.com

Tag, you're it!

The gorgeous CC of Couture Carrie tagged me a few days ago to do the following interview. My first tag, sniff sniff, I'm strangely pleased. And I do like to ramble on, so here we go :)


Describe your personal style.

The single best word to describe my personal style is 'eclectic'. Some days, I put on a masculine blazer with 80's shoulders or men's suspenders or even a men's cotton tee (my fave thing actually), whilst on other days I'll have 'business lady vamp who means business' in mind. Although those are usually weekdays where I have to go to work and meet with applicants and other clients. There is always a punk/rock element thrown in (most probably in the form of stacked studded/other cuffs), even when I dress for work although I limit it to just select accessories at work. But to further confuse, I also have hippy inclinations, and wear maxi skirts with stacked turquoise jewellery and braided leather thongs through my hair on hot, hot days.

Simple with an edge is another way to label my style. I'll often wear a white tee on the sheer side, slightly oversized, with a bandage miniskirt or a ruffled asymmetrical skirt or ruched satin/lame skinny pants. I adore accessories so often my outfit forms a basic canvas on which I can layer scarfs/tea cosys/ruffled micro-mini skirts as neckwear, and pile on the bangles/rings.

I see myself as an adventurous fashion devotee, willing to give most everything a try. I've noticed as I get older that I'm developing (atleast I think so) a sense of sophistication without losing the edge. Lastly, a must-mention: high heels are my achiles heel (hee hee), but the 'stripper ones' (as my work mates call them) are saved for weekends. Shame, I know!


What are the staples in your wardrobe?

My white oversized mens tees from CottonOn men, Lee supatube skinny jeans (oh sooo comfy, and oh so sexy!), my hooded leather bomber jacket from the Melbourne Queen Vic markets for the colder months, lame leggings, studded belts, my yellow and navy blue Reebok trainers (I'm addicted to exercise :), vintage customised leather skinny pants with diagonal zippers, Siren strappy platform heels, Urban Soul nude and cobalt platform heels, a multitude of random sunglasses and head accessories, and the assortment of vintage blazers from a variety of op-shops in Perth and Melbourne.

Also: Supre skinny jeans, Diva costume jewellery, Siren shoes, t-shirt dresses from Countryroad to Valley Girl.

What's your signature look?

A white sheer, oversize tee and skinny pants/cutoff Levis/edgy skirt (paired with tights and a leather jacket in winter), always with an assortment of various stacked bangles/cuffs/bracelets, and high heels. Topped off with my suede backpack/black LV bag with gold trim/patent leather Mollini bag and a scarf/neckpiece of some sort :)


What inspires you?

Fashion editorials that break or nudge boundaries, books and movies that have you deliberating hours/days after you've read/watched them, free flowing poetry, Stuart's writing (it is seriously brilliant, but I am a little biased ;), androgny, random genius illustrations, Blue King Brown's music, a friend of mine called Laurence who has an intelligent and witty mind and who is quirky cute too, intelligence in good looking people, friendliness, fashion that is outside the box but wearable, and most definitely fellow bloggers and fashionistas.


Who is your fashion muse?

I don't know if I can limit it to one....there's Irina Lazareanu, Kate Moss, the Olsens, Kate Lanphear...haha, I'll stop now.

Favorite purchase of all time?

My gorgeous black Hermes birkin bag. Oh how I love her, let me count the ways ;)


Biggest splurge?

Ahem...see above :)
(and yet, it didn't cost me the earth thanks to getting it at a designer op-shop)

What's your beauty routine?

This might take a while, so... (I jest, I literally have a 2 minute beauty routine). I wash my face, use foundation sparingly where required, chuck on my Lucas pawpaw balm and I may just use Garnier's surf spray to calm my hair down on frizzy days (just chuck it in and scrunch or brush, either works). If I'm going out it's mascara, blush, some form of black eye pencil/liner/liquid (if any at all) and err....Lucas pawpaw balm. On very rare occasion, I will bring out the 'chilli red' lipstick (with no other makeup save blush).


What jewelry do you never take off?

My silver cuff (the best christmas present yet!) and my gold filagree stacked ring. I take them off, I just wear them most often.


What are you wishing for?

*More free time so I can read my exponentially growing pile of books;
*Even though it may seem cliched, an end to starvation and poverty in Africa;
*a pair of purple suede stacked heels (I stopped alltogether at Myer today when I caught sight of them) by Wayne Cooper. Oh. Want!
*more time to do more DIYs, write the novel I've always wanted to, relax and not let life speed by.


What are your obsessions?

*Christmas, I get somewhat excited about the silly season

*thick-cut hot chips, good coffee and Protea biltong from South Africa

*Sass'n'bide's range of leggings and bandage-esque dresses

*Alannah Hill skirts (sooo divine)

*tie-dye, I want....gimme!

*my blog, wierd that, I know ;)

*revisiting 80's trends...can't help myself

*the Shop Till You Drop publication, seriously addictive!

*Balmain/Givenchy/Ginger & Smart(see right)

*Pink Champagne (my fave op-shop in the whole wide world :)

*the Gails; Gail Jones and Gail Tsukiyama, both ridiculously fantastic writers

*the canon rebel xti digital camera, I want it!

I tag Erika of fashionchalet, Bella of Vintage Lollipops, Qin At The Disco, Domonique of LilyLoveLock (all of whom have intelligence, fashion and wit in spades) and anyone else who wants to answer those interview questions. Enjoy :)

sources: www.gobuybag.com, google, www.etro.it, www.shoeshow.com.au

Lee Supa Tube

I'm sure you'll know exactly what I'm talking about when I talk about the frustrations of finding the PERFECT pair of jeans.

I've tried expensive brands, el cheapo stores and nothing! I once bought a $200 pair of jeans and they just didn't cut it (what a waste!). To be honest, the closest I've got to a damn good pair is Supre's (a F21esque chain store here in Australia) skinny jeans. The reason for the better fit is that they cater for tweens/pre-tweens and so have pretty small sizes.

(...on the downside, you have got to squeeze yourself into the smaller size jeans if you want a decent skinny pair and, like me, have stupidly small ankles....)

BUT!! Only recently (I know, where have I been hiding??!) have I discovered the absolute genius of Lee Supatube jeans.

Pure Perfection.

I've never seen skinny jeans done so well. The comfort factor is a HUGE plus too. I can't tell you how pleased I am to have found the perfect jeans. I've since ebayed two more perfect pairs...what can I say? Perfection.

Post-note: The supatubes are pretty skinny, so that needs to be taken

into consideration if purchasing your first pair off of ebay

tee, cotton on men. jeans, lee supatubes. shoes, zomp. bangles, various.

Australia Day 09

January 26th. Always a magical day. Spent with friends, and usually spanning the entire day with a bbq, swimming, drinking and firework watching thrown in.

This year was no exception. We had lots of fun, I got sunburnt (my eyes, dammit!), we all got relatively drunk (although there were no nudey swims in the river wearing only Australian flag aprons with bare bums for all the poor families to see, hey Pete and Ed ;), swam a ton, bbq'ed a few too many times and had a great day!

It was an eclectic bunch; Aussies, Americans, British, Swedish, and a whole lot more. And I loved every second of it.

Interesting tidbits: I drank 2/3 of a bottle of red, more than a keg of beer and some Amarula; Alex did enough somersaults to awe and astound us all, Pete did not repeat last year's nudie swim in the river, kicking ball drunk is a great idea, sunburn is not!

one of the multitude of Australia tatts we decked ourselves in :)

brute strength, what else? ;)

its a hard life ;)

tatts and beer, that's all we need...

Victor, setting up the shot haha!

by the foreshore, the whole lot of us :)

yay for the fireworks!

Who wears high heels for a night out.

Not me. Not on Saturday night anyway.

Having worn my la fenice wedges the last time we all went out dancing (see the Imelda post) , I was left with bruised and battered feet. Pretty they may be, but comfy they are not! So I decided flats was the way to go on Saturday night. Not only are this pair comfy and flat, they also happen to be soft and have a cushioned sole. Equalling total bliss on the dancefloor. Mmmm :)

We danced to the best "cheese" music, although towards our pre-empted exit from the bar it was more backstreet boys/five-type crap....haha, too much of a good thing :/

dress, vintage. shoes, rubi. jewellery, assorted.

Happy Australia Day!

Happy Australia Day!

Hope the Aussies enjoy the hot sun, time with friends, booze and to cap it all off drunken shenanigans by the foreshore watching the fireworks (or is that just my group of friends? :P)

Note: "no worries mate" = our national phrase (aka it'll be fine/don't worry about it),

"she'll be right mate" = our national attitude (it'll be fine), and

"Waltzing Matilda" = our national anthem (about a sheep stealing crim who commits suicide!)

Happy Australia Day!!!

source: www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au, blog.piajanebijkerk.com

Love in a bathroon mirror. Culture combo.

Photos taken in Thailand, during the western portion of Dad's friend's wedding. He's Indian, she's Irish therefore two vastly different ceremonies (Hindu and Catholic). It was a ton of fun, lots of drinks/dancing/friends/laughter/good food. As all weddings should be really :)

Mum and me took photos of each other in the hotel bathroom,
haha, gotta do what you gotta do right? ;)

Full length pic of the sari, as I didn't get a decent one in Thailand
(this was for the Indian portion of the ceremony)

All in all it was a great day and location (overlooking the ocean), watching two people in love be united, and getting nice and tipsy. Hey, when the Irish and Indians are involved that's what you get, you know? ;)

western outfit: dress & shoes, sportsgirl. bangles, assorted.

indian outfit: sari, hand-me-down from mum (don't own my own).

Slumdog Millionaire

Sorry I've been awol. It's been a crazy, busy week.

So yesterday the boy and me decided to go check out the highly-anticipated Slumdog Millionaire. We both had heard so much about it, and given the number of nominations and awards it's received (4 Golden Globes and another 31 wins; see imdb for details) we thought it would probably live up to expectations, or far exceed them. Which is never a bad thing.

We'd planned to watch the film under the stars, but being the fabulous planners we are, we rocked up a mere 30 minutes prior and were informed the outdoor session had sold out. Luckily we managed to get seats at one of their indoor cinemas!

The movie was sensational. The premise was simple; an 18 year old orphan from the slums of Mumbai who is on 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?', and one question away from 20 million rupees. I won't give away too much, for those of you who haven't seen it (when was/is it released in the States?) but still stop reading now if you want to know absolutely nothing about it.

The movie focuses on Jamal Malik, said orphan from the slums, being suspected of cheating on the show (how could a mere boy from the slums know all that he does?) and having to prove his innocence. The story behind his answers to the questions is overwhelming, and gives a precious insight into his growing up, life in the slums, the happiness, the sadness and the overwhelming sense of struggling just to survive on a day-to-day basis. The love/hate relationship between Jamal and his older brother Salim (the sometimes antagonist) is eye-opening, only because we all deal with it with siblings, but to different extents in each circumstance.

The backgrounds are exquisite, more so in the harsh beauty of their extreme poverty (dire poverty is often startingly exquisite), and Danny Boyle does a brilliant directing job. Stuart and I sat on the edge of our seats for the entire movie, giggling at the funny bits like you can only do when completely involved (and Danny entices you in, drawing you into the characters and the plots so that you care more than you think you could about fictional characters), and despairing at the sorrow. Most of all we revelled in the perfection of the movie, it doesn't disappoint and never falters, not for one second.

[Handy Fact: Danny also directed The Beach and Trainspotting, but I found those movies to be more cult-status movies whereas this is so much more]

So does Jamal win the 20 million? And how can a movie about questions on a quiz show incite so much feeling and passion in people? You'll have to go and find out, wont you ;)

Anika's rating (haha ;): 5/5
Stuart's rating: 5/5

p.s. I also fell in love with the actress, one of the 'three muskateers', Freida Pinto. Gorgeous, gorgeous girl!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll leave you with a long lost photo from a welcome-home party held by a good friend for his brother a while back....It's my "be good kids, I have eyes in the side of my head :)" look, haha

sources: photos from google and imdb