How to wear...

A knitted jumper if you're a boy:

Enjoy the chilly weather!

xx

Melbourne shopping list

I'm going away to Melbourne for a weekend at the end of May, and whenever I go to Mr. Melbs I make a little mental list of things to look out for at the epic op shop Savers. This time I only have one thing on that list, which is a trenchcoat! And this website is purely to blame: Burberry - the art of the trench. Be warned, it's hypnotic and addictive! It's the lookbook.nu of trench. Eep.

Lazy Easter

LOLcats

So I've had a week off over Easter, probably the only one I'm ever going to get as a late Easter like this year's won't happen for another 30 years according to Catholic Mum! It's also the first Easter I haven't worked in 5 years and the first week off I've had since July last year. I know that doesn't sound like a long time, but when you work 40 hours a week on your feet, and you don't often get 2 consecutive days off, or any weekend days off, and you study 15-20 hours a week on top of that, it feels like a REALLY LOOOOONG TIME.
And what did I do with this glorious week off? Nothing! As little as humanly possible! I lay around my Aunty's house at Mooloolah, ate chocolate, watched Star Wars and The Storyteller, and taught my cousin how to vintage shop*! Best staycation ever ^_^

AND we got results too-boot from the local vintage shop called Vicious Vintage (fab name hey!)...

Liberty Print 70's high-waisted maxi culottes and matching vest!

(dear God where am I going to wear this?!)

Green velvet late 70's cocktail frock

Both were only $25 each!! Vicious Vintage I lurve yew!

*Rules for vintage shopping:

1. Look at EVERYTHING. There is a hot pink dress or shirt or something (all you can see is the sleeve so you're not sure!) wedged behind 20 other tops and dresses on a rack... pull that sucker out and have a look! Rummage through all piles of clothes, carefully folded or just in a bin - a good rummage can bring many choice picks to the surface. Think of it as like tossing a salad till you get that elusive cube of feta you think you saw under a heap of rocket.

2. Check the garment's condition - look for moth holes, split seams, busted zippers. You may not like to haggle but damage on an item of clothing is bargaining GOLD! Just think of it this way, the vintage seller did not pay a lot for the item they're selling, in fact it may have been a donated item. Plus the damage may not be able to be home repaired, you might have to fork out to get a new zipper or a dry clean. Price haggling helps with your repair budget.

3. Always tell the Vintage seller that they have a great collection and that you like their stuff! It's just nice manners plus sometimes they'll take more off the price because you're sweet/let you know about the wholesaler they get most of their stuff from/when the next vintage fair is/general vintage seller gossip etc.

4. If it looks too small it probably is, vintage stuff is usually quite old and hand sewn, don't try to force yourself into a pair of maybe too small grandpa pants just to see, you WILL rip the pants in the seat (bum area) and then be embarrassed and have to buy, AND get on the retailer's nerves! When in doubt buy bigger and get it taken in.

5. HAVE FUN. Fashion is meant to be fun! Hence why taking the piss out of clothing from another era is so easy! If you find a meringue wedding gown ala Lady Di that looks like it'll fit put it on and have a twirl around the store! Give pink leopard print jeans a whirl! When are you gong to get to play dress-ups with such amazingly hideous/astounding clothes again in your life?! Probably next week when you hit the shops again but will the same crazy pants be there the next time... maybe not! So enjoy!

Fortitude and Finds!

Sooooooooooooooo it's been a while since I've posted. I've been a tad glum, just that time of year coupled with some annoying lifestyle factors (had a break up, work gripes and waiting for mid semester entry offers) I guess...

...some cute things have pepped me up though - aside from my brilliant friends and mini Cadbury creme eggs of course! My mum (who I'm living with at the moment) is moving house, and being a busy workaholic/hoarder she hasn't had a lot of time to get the house in order for the market, so I decided to help her pack up (and chuck out while she's at work!) a stack of junk that has been stealthily piling up over the years all over the house. Note that this IS NOT a cute thing that has pepped me up, even though throwing old junk away and organising piles of mess is very therapeutic!
What I found while cleaning junk up was fab though:

Marianne Faithfull's autobiography Faithfull

I LOVE THIS BOOK. I love her, and her story of  beautiful young 60's pop star thrown into the deep-end of fame/money/sex/drugs which resulted in a 20+ year addiction and becoming a homeless person, only then to beat said addiction and return to the music world a Doyenne. The best part is it's all true! She's also incredibly self deprecating, funny and quirkily observant which makes little anecdotes about hanging out with Bob Dylan on his first tour of England or driving Keith Richards' Mercedes Benz across Spain and taking the ferry to Morocco where they could get cheap drugs, charming and warm rather than wanky and name-dropsy. I've read this book at least 5 times, and always seem to start reading it again when I need a bit of fortitude/perspective. This time I re-found it in a big taped up box of my things I put 'into storage' in Mum's laundry before I went to Europe. The book actually belongs to my Dad who lent it to me close to 10 years ago, when I was going through a very rough patch in my life... I think I should just buy him a new copy rather than give him back this well thumbed and doge eared tome ^_^*

Noritake 18 piece coffee set circa mid-late 1970's

This set was given to my parents as a wedding present and from the looks of it has never been used! I found this while cleaning out the pantry in Mum's kitchen which for those who don't know - and the ones who do can attest to - is the place where plastic bags, old cereal boxes and fritzed out light bulbs go to die. I demanded the set as a reward for cleaning out and re-organising the pantry, laundry and medicine cupboard. Happily, Mum saw the maniacal look in my eye and consented!! Eeeeeee!!

New shoes!

Mokay so I didn't find these amongst junk, I found them at work and cannot stop wearing them! Even though they are precious Italian hand made leather creations and should not be worn non-stop (thankfully I got 2 pairs so I can rotate and not get in trouble at work!) I just can't help myself...

The brand that makes these beauties is called INK - this is their cute logo and this is where you can get their stuff in Brissy. I warn you though, the soft soft leather and cuban heels make you never want to take them off so be careful when trying on!

And finally - Vogue living photo shoots:

It's always a happy day when my subscriptions arrive, mostly because I've usually forgotten about them so it's a surprise and feels like I'm getting a mag for free! It was an extra happy day when flipping through my latest VL I came across some familiar pics/themes...

The pic on the left is one of my vintage finds, the pic on the right is from a VL story about Hermes new collection

The above pic is of a photo shoot from VL about Wedgwood, including the pic below on the left which looks like it comes from the same collection as the little bowls I got for my Mum earlier this year....

Always nice to have your 'in vogue' status confirmed! Haha.

And so now I feel just pepped enough not to feel like I need to eat all my Easter eggs in one sitting!

Mum's collection.

It's my Ma's birthday today and when I was at the New Farm Antique Centre a couple of weeks ago I picked up a couple of Wedgwood roman-esque pottery bowls for her. They were in different shops but looked so alike I decided to make them a set!

The only reason I noticed these little bowls is because for as long as I can remember my Mum has had a little, green, heart shaped Wedgwood bowl which I was obsessed with when I was a kid and was NOT ALLOWED TO PLAY WITH! God knows why I wanted to play with a tiny bit of pottery... undiagnosed Aspergers? Would explain a lot! 

Anyway when I saw the little blue bowls I had to get them as I'd never seen them anywhere else and thought it might be nice for Mum to have a little antique collection of her own  ^_^

Happy birthday Mum!