Saturday, September 27, 2008

Just a quick one

Not a lot to say today, as I am working all weekend and there's not much time for much else.

bluepolka

Here's an outfit I wore yesterday - a vintage dress I've had laying around for months in my (humungous) scrap-pile, waiting to be shortened - I finally did it the other day. A scarf I got several years ago from an op shop near my parents' house. My sister's old grey school tights, and shoes from ebay. It was so warm out I didn't need a jacket... This made me incredibly happy.

bowshoes

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Festival on the street

So on Sunday, we walked to the High St festival in Northcote. It was a beautiful, colourful day, so I wore a great dress I found at the Brotherhood op shop in Royal Arcade (the upstairs, 'upmarket' one!) Would have loved to wear some heels with this dress too, but knew we'd be doing lots of walking.

closeupbledress

Wasn't so sure about the dress when I first found it. It has some of my favourite things in a dress (button-down front, sweetheart neckline, pockets, piping, thick straps, and flowers) but it was still one of those pieces I looked at, walked away, then kept on going back to look at. I wasn't sure about 2 things:
1) the price ($22.50 - quite expensive for an op shop dress), and
2) the brand - Billabong, I probably normally wouldn't buy this brand!

Eventually I justified it by telling myself I buy dresses for much more than that from ebay... and regarding the brand - well, I'd never buy anything just for the brand, so I shouldn't not buy anything because of the brand either!

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In the end, I'm glad I justified it.

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Dress: op shop
Cardigan: from when I was little (Then - was oversized. Now - cropped and fitted)
Polkadot red shoes: bought in Singapore for me by my mum
Bag: ebay


P.S. I feel so honoured that the gorgeous Skye from Skylark and Son tagged me. Being new at blogging, I'm not sure how tagging works, but I'm sure I'll find out.

Also, I'm not sure what the blogging ettiquette is for linking people? Do I have to ask to link people, so far I have been asking, maybe someone could shed some light for me?

Sunday, September 21, 2008

A wedding in the bush

Yesterday we went to a friend's wedding, that was in the bush. It was beautiful - I think when I get married, I would also like it to be in the outdoors. Perhaps on the beach, barefoot, flowers in the hair, and carrying some killer heels in one hand...

The dress code was 'warm, neat and casual'. This was a source of some consternation for me... What exactly is neat casual? In the end I settled for a dress (in my books, this is casual, as I virtually always wear a dress). Seamed stockings, ankle boots and (luckily) a warm coat, as it did get very very very cold.

floralruffledress

The dress is this amazing creation, that I purchased a few months ago as a secondhand/vintage item. I'm pretty sure it was once a two piece blouse/skirt set, that was lovingly crafted into a dress (there are home-made seams with different coloured thread where they joined the top & bottom, and also where they cut the old sleeves off). Someone who is a far better seamstress than I created this, and then let their beautiful work go out into the world, where it found me.. and I couldn't be happier. This has become one of my favourite dresses. I love the ruffles on the chest and skirt, and there's gorgeous vintage gold buttons.

floralruffledress2

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Ah, I look so tired in these. We were in too much of a rush to take photos before we left, so these were hurriedly taken when we got home at 1am, it shows too.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Up in the mountains

Last weekend, we took a drive up to the Dandenong ranges. It's less than an hours drive from the city, but could not be further away in appearance. The moment you turn off the highway, the scenery changes from drab suburbia into breathtaking, winding mountain roads. Driving amongst the trees, amongst the dappled sunlight, it's such a magical place.

The mountains are always a few degrees cooler than Melbourne city, so I dressed up warm, even though the sun was shining above the canopy.

dandenongsdress2


Shirtdress: Smith St op shop from earlier this year
Coat: Kinki Gerlinki from 2005
Tights: Sportsgirl from 2007
Shoes: ebay
Hat: this year's anniversary gift from my man

Monday, September 15, 2008

Port Fairy finds

I never realised just how long it takes to take decent pictures of clothes, resize them, upload them and post them. I can't begin to imagine how much work it takes to run an online vintage clothing store!

Finally I get around to posting the Port Fairy loot...

Red dress, I love this lace collar. A bit long, it will need hemming.

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Blue dress, I put this one back the first time because my boyfriend didn't like it, but I went back and got it the day after. I'm glad I did, because it fits so well and doesn't even need to be shortened.

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My favourite dress - this one was more pricey but I just love the palm trees. Also a bit long, but should be a cinch to shorten.

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Blouses - Pt Fairy was pussy bow galore... there were about a squillion pussy bow blouses to choose from. My favourite is still my grandma's (not in this post) that was handed down to me through my mum (I'll show that on here one day) but these are good too.

Floral shirt - I envision wearing this one with high waisted 70's jeans and a long sleeveless cream knitted cardigan with wooden buttons. I just have to find these things first!

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Polka dot pussy bow (I look so weird in this picture!)

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Blue silky pussy bow

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T bar shoes. I have been searching high and low for T bar heels. Not exactly the colour I would have chosen but you can't be picky with thrift finds now can you. Worn with one of the (new, still in packaging) thrifted pairs of tights.

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There was other stuff too - navy 70's boots, a vintage black and silver Kodak camera, stockings, and the floral tapestry bag I showed here last week. I also bought the boy a tweed jacket with leather elbow patches for $6.

I also suffered some great disappointments. Namely, finding one gorgeous brown lace up ankle boot and being unable to locate its pair (I searched so hard!). Also, a whole range of gorgeous vintage granny shoes (woven! t bar! in various shades of pastel!) that unfortunately, at a ladies' size 4, were way to small even for me.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Spring snuck in under the door...

I get so excited with the onset of spring, the air just positively hums. Today was so brilliant I just didn't know what to do with myself.. in the end it was a lazy day at home - sewing, drinking coffee and reading the weekend papers.

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This is what I wore today. I love wearing this dress, even if it's just to hang the washing on the line. The parasol was a random gift from my best friend, it's tiny and not at all practical in a parasol-sense, but it's very cute in a for-the-sake-of-it sense.

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...and this trench coat, which goes with everything.



Dress: Smith street opshop
Shoes: Betts from 2007
Coat: ebay
Parasol: gift


I will be posting the Port Fairy stuff soon. I have taken all the photos, but it's taking forever to upload and resize my photos. They are huge if I don't resize them but using the proper resizing programme does take a while. I might have to go back to resizing thing in Windows "Paint". It may be crude, but at least it's fast.

Tonight there was a bit of stress involving the boy's car and break-downerage in the middle of a main road! It left us both a bit agitated so it was a quiet Saturday night in with a home-cooked meal.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Folk and florals

I'm such a novice blogger, I just realised I forgot to describe my outfit in the last post. Well, the top and skirt in question is actually second hand Witchery from the Brotherhood of St Laurence shop in the Royal Arcade, Melbourne. It's not vintage and it's not too interesting, but good for days when I want to look structured and stylish but at the same time stay comfortable.

Well, today was wonderfully warm, the first day in a long whiles I've been able to venture outside sans coat.

brown folky

This dress started life out as a 70's maxi dress. Maxi dresses really do NOT suit me, they make me look even shorter and stubbier than I already am! I do really like the whole free-and-easy maxi dress look, but chopping the bottom off this one and hemming it was a no brainer.

It has the most adorable floral print on the yoke and sleeves...

close up brown folk

The necklace, I made from a pair of earrings. For some reason, people keep giving me earrings, even though I don't have pierced ears. I couldn't pass this pair on though, because the dried flowers and bright orange resin is just too cute.


The bag is one of the treasures I found last weekend in Port Fairy. I love tapestry.

cropped floral tapestry

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Dress - some vintage store, which I can't remember the name of.
Necklace - self-made.
Tights - my sister's old school tights.
Boots - ebay.
Bag - Port Fairy op shop.


Our backyard is inexcusably messy. Now that spring is here, I should be doing some gardening...

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

simple things

So I've just gotten back from a weekend jaunt to Port Fairy, the prettiest little seaside town in western Victoria, and one of my favourite places to be. We spent the weekend walking in the rain, drinking tea, watching the boats go by on the river, and enjoying the sea air!

Port Fairy has the cutest name, and also has the most perfect tiny little op shops with perfect tiny little women who are just so, so lovely. I bought many things but haven't taken pictures yet, so for now I'm going to post an outfit which I did wear in Port Fairy (but this picture wasn't actually taken in Port Fairy).

black

sailor sk

I'll definitely post pictures of my Pt Fairy finds soon.