casual 70's + blue hair.

wearing: denim jacket - sass&bide, denim body suit - Topshop, white skirt - mom's wardrobe, moccasins - Country Road, hat - Catarzi via ASOS, bag - ASOS, bracelet - Alexander McQueen, necklace - House of Harlow 1960, sunglasses - Chloe, belt - retro Pierre Cardin.

wear: a sunny day of uni and doing anything i can to run away from study.

i don't want to be dramatic BUT i have blue hair. yup - it may be hard to see it in these photos but there is a full 5-6 inches of bright Hawaiian Blue on the tips on my hair. so far the response has been "umm, why?" to which i still don't really have an answer. i guess that the short answer is because i found out that dip-dying my tips a la Lauren Conrad and her purple/pink/teal mermaid locks was out of the question so blue it was. that answer doesn't really explain why i'd want to put a crazy colour in my hair in the first place though. but having done it, let me assure you that it is seriously fun and all those Hollywood cuties with pink or blue hair are onto something!

(an instagram shot i took of my new blue 'do last week. the colour shows up sliiiiiightly better here.)

so besides my blue hair, i spent today embracing the sunny sky with one of my favourite outfits from last summer (plus a few new bits). i know it's a bit preemptive but try and stop me.
for some reason i always associate the combination of this old skirt of my mom's and the blue denim body suit with me looking really 70's or like a hippie. it's a little odd though as before the hat came along a few weeks ago, there was nothing particularly 70's about this look at all. i guess it's just funny how you assign random things in your head!

the accessories however, really do bring the casual hippie idea out. i've always loved the retro vibe i get whenever i put my Chloe sunglasses on. maybe that's why Chloe is my go-to for accessories? there's just a hit of instant retro glamour you get as soon as you pick up one of their bags/purses or whack on some sunnies or a belt. and if you've never had that feeling then i highly advise you grab all your pennies together and go hunt down a gorgeous Chloe piece of your own (or some See By Chloe too of course!).

also with the accessories on this outfit, they are the only things that are in any way brand spanking new. i actually really love the fact that i can still be wearing things i've had for years (or that my mom has had for even longer) and enjoy wearing them just as much as when i bought them years previously. the sass&bide jacket was purchased in Sydney during the 2003 Rugby World Cup, so 8 years later and it's still going strong as a wardrobe staple. the skirt was gifted to my mom back in her 70's/80's modeling days and years of knowing a good dry-cleaner have kept the white linen in perfect condition.
but of course the McQueen and the ASOS buys are very recent additions and i'm loving how the current nod to the 70's is fitting in perfectly with my wardrobe!

lastly - a big thanks and a massive wow to all of you for your super comments on my last spotty dress post! i must say i was also particularly stoked to get on the plane back home with the September issue of Vogue Aus and find an article about how huge spots (especially Dalmatian spots!) are at the moment. and in answer to many of your wonderings - lashings of Hollywood tape were used in the wearing of that dress! but i promise it was not as 'boob-y' in real life; i think that look was mainly a result of trying to squish myself into the camera frame which is not easy!

sun + spots.

wearing: spotted dress - 80/90's Cue from vinatge&retro store in Adelaide, belt - Witchery, shoes - Diane von Furstenberg, sunglasses - Tom Ford, cuff - ASOS, earrings - De Beers.

wear: lunch on my 1st day in the Gold Coast.

well a big hello to everyone from the sunny, but not so warm Gold Coast! i've come up for a quick family visit before uni gets too crazy (p.s. i think the Gold Coast should be better known as Australia's answer to Florida - Boca ain't got nothing on the early bird deals Sizzler was offering on the way from the airport!).
but of course more importantly than the Gold Coast itself is what i overstuffed my suitcase with to wear whilst here. and to Virgin Blue Australia, i sincerely thank you for rounding down baggage weights and understanding that 'carry-on luggage' means anything you can physically carry onto a plane. your observance of guidelines, as always, makes me a happier traveller.

so, outfits! this dress is the PETA-friendly answer to Cruella DeVille's puppy habit and was literally my find of 2009. out shopping one day when i popped into the vintage/retro store a friend used to work with on Frome Rd, Adelaide (holla!) and saw a girl pick it off the rack whilst i was chatting away. long story short - i ended up with the dress. don't ask questions.
wore it to the Polo a few weeks later and by jove was i glad i had as i hands on hips swear that every single other girl there was wearing one of five dresses. maybe i had just missed the memo? similarly again, wore it to some questionable 'Adelaide society' event last year only to stand out like crazy. must say i don't mind that though - i'd rather be the only one in the room/field with the balls to go out and find something different than look like everyone else because that's what the cool kids are doing.

saying that though, Adelaide does get a bad rep for being a backwater fashion hole when really that's not the case. i was a bit upset to read this weeks Grazia on the plane over and find only half a page (three photos) dedicated to Adelaide's street fashion. especially when the boutique owner they'd asked to sum up the Adelaide girls style had done such a good and interesting job by describing the various post-code based fashions and trends you see around Adelaide. (and p.s. we're only preppy in my neck of the woods cause that where all the colleges are and thus rugby jumpers and pink or white bows on pony-tails are everywhere. that and we're snobs - just ask my housekeeper.) 

anyway, as it turns out online shopping is the greatest equalizer ever created; and i'm from Sydney. end of debate.

(see - i really do wear shoes!)

p.s. a big kiss to all who've been so nice and encouraging so far. it feels pretty good. my hair feels pretty happy too.

pub chic + some crazy hair!

wearing: jacket - Topshop, t-shirt - Realitee X Topshop, skirt - sass&bide, belt - Witchery, shoes - Jeffrey Campbell, scarf - Country Road, bag - ASOS, skull bracelet - Alexander McQueen, arrowhead 'fingerbelt' - WDYTYG?.

wear: out for one too many beers at the pub the other night!

what i love about wearing this sort of outfit is that i always feel crazy/sexy/cool by simply mixing a t-shirt with a few on trend pieces. for me, it is literally the easiest ensemble to put together at the moment and this is probably the third incarnation of it since i finished exams 2 weeks ago! wore the skirt+bag+belt+heels last week to a friends b'day but with a plain white asymmetric hem t-shirt and my beloved black beaded Haute Hippie bolero jacket (which incidentally, some scragg ruined a giant chunk of the beading - tear worthy moment i swear!).

isn't the ribbed knit of the skirt great? i love that it's just as much the texture that makes it interesting and not just the wrapped shape at the front. i remember the girl at sass&bide trying to convince me that the skirt was not so short at the front that it looked skanky - thanks, cause i totally was trying on a skirt i had thought would make me look like a whore!

i felt very 'sporty chic' because of the print on the t-shirt; it's got blue and red varsity stripes on the sleeves which are awesome!

i do have one confession to make about this night though... my hair was a complete and utter mess! and unfortunately for me the giant knots at the back of my head did not go unnoticed by the boys of our little beer swilling mess. of all the things guys will notice!
if you're anything like me you probably really feel it when you leave the house and you've neglected some part of your appearance. i'm usually more than happy to go makeup free for a run down to the store in ugg boots or head over to a friends place in leggings if we're going to just be watching movies. but i really take pride in taking care of the basics of self-grooming at a minimum - proper skin care, brushed hair, manicured nails, etc... i don't ever really go over board with makeup and stuff as i'm not a huge girly-girl, but i can absolutely promise that after feeling so disheveled because of my unbrushed hair i will be putting way more effort into my appearance from now on!
please tell me i'm not the only one who has made the odd grooming mistake! what eats you? chipped nail-polish, un-ironed shirts, rushed makeup?

make me feel better about my messy hair please!

Alexander McQueen Resort 2012.

i'm not aware that it is all too common for a resort collection to be treated with as much fanfare as a spring/summer or an autumn/winter collection. but in the wake of the past few months for Sarah Burton, how could her Alexander McQueen Resort 2012 collection have ever just slipped by?

i saw this collection come to me in three main parts once i'd seen it. firstly, i noticed the WWI/WWII  military tailoring coupled with splashes of war era women's wear. every look was accentuated with a safari/war colour palette, leopard and snake trims and babushka doll-like Russian embroidery.

 

i love the heavy olives and browns contrasted with the airy white lace! and i seriously need that leopard and olive leather clutch. seriously.

i felt that the collection then got darker as the palette went to black and a heavy coppery-gold. there was the introduction of Spanish-bullfighters and German spies to the styling, and the leopard print continued in a heavier way.

 

then of course onto the gowns! beautiful embroidery in gold on black for the main, with the gold then continued onto the ivory wedding dresses. love!

 

 

GOD I LOVE ALEXANDER MCQUEEN!

thoughts?

all images courtesy of Vogue.com

new ways to remember.

the past couple of weeks for me and my family have been filled with the arduous process of cleaning out my grandma's house. it's sad and dispiriting to know that all these things she and my grandpa had kept in the house they had built will never again be used or seen by her or them. sitting on the lounge suit she had specially designed and made in Sweden for her brand new house in the late 60's is not the same now she's not sitting next to me. and even worse is the constant bickering and bargaining of my father and his siblings over what goes where and to whom.

i don't feel that being given a few pieces from her house so i have something to remember her by is the same as having been given her scarves by her when she was still alive. there's little to attach to a piece of glassware or silverware that just ended up in your hands out of convenience. but i find a bit of comfort in looking through the scarves that she used to wear and knowing which ones were her favorites because she had told me so.

(a few of my favorite ones - there are MANY more).

(grandma's favorite scarves - the mustard and black Christian Dior one i remember her wearing often).

taking this into account, i decided to find something new to remember her by. it may seem materialistic or superficial, but when i get upset i shop a lot - i find the hassles of styles, cuts, colors and sizes takes me away for a moment from what is going on around me. so the Alexander McQueen  bracelet i bought from Net-A-Porter the other week was purchased with my grandma in mind. her name was Iris and the bracelet has an iris on it facing a skull. it's not something she would have particularly liked, but for me it's a little something that i can wear without thinking of the past but still being able to think of her.

i did however, take two things from her belongings that i'm really glad i now have. the first was just a junky piece of costume jewelry i found in a box of tchotchkes that my cousins and aunt had discarded after deciding it had no real value. i, luckily, quite liked it and upon taking it back home my dad saw it and told me how it was indeed her favorite piece of jewelry. apparently she had bought it during her first ever lunch break when she had started working for the DPP and dad remembered her wearing it to work everyday for years.

the second item is the red Japanese vase. it was (if my father's memory serves him correctly) a gift from a visiting American dignitary around 1985, and was displayed in her chambers until she retired from the bench in 1995. it then moved to our farm house and then eventually to her china cabinet at home. i've decided to put it to more use than as something ornamental, but i think she would have liked the practicality.

one day it'd be nice to be as great as she was.