It’s pretty safe to say that kimonos and pineapples are being washed away from the shores that are our warm weather wardrobes. Before you put yours away into storage, let me show you how you can extend its life a little longer by tying it back to front and chucking on some classic black pieces to keep it relevant. Let’s call this a pathetic attempt at ‘sustainable fashion‘.
Recreate my look:
Kimono / Dress / Shoes / Hat / Purse
A while ago, I read somewhere that blogging gives a person a different perspective on things. Everything suddenly has potential to be a flatlay background, to be a prop, to naturally divide your photos into beautiful thirds. Your wardrobe becomes ‘shoppable’ again. I bought this sweater from a Las Vegas outlet back in oh nine. It was a favourite during my Massie Block phase with a plaid skirt but then disappeared for years when I thought sweaters, leggings, CR bags and UGGs were the uniform for non uniform days. Shudder. It makes a return in twenty fifteen with this Alexa Chung inspired coat, joggers and a BIG scarf. Maybe I’ll shudder again in six years at the idea of skinny jeans with trainers but for now I dig it so much.
Coat (c/o) Jolly Chic (runs really small, I got a L) / Sweater Ralph Lauren / Scarf Seed / Jeans Dotti / Sneakers Nike
Photography: Adela from Styliminal
Pink Lettering: A Place for Art
P.S: The Giveaway from Tassel Me Softly is still running so keep signing up to Jolly Chic and commenting below with the same email address 🙂
I’m really digging this plaid on plaid ensemble. I think I was a little inspired by Cher having rewatched Clueless for the upteempth time but instead of going matchy matchy I decided to mix it up with two kinds of plaid for that modern prep look that I am constantly gravitating towards. I was surprised at how seamlessly the two wool pieces pulled together and I believe it must have been the navy checks and purse that gave this outfit its lifeline.
Recently, I have developed a deep desire to tassel everything. Lamps. Cushions. Skirts. If its not moving I want to add that little bit of za za zing to it! This little navy bag from JollyChic is my first tassel item but it definitely won’t be my last. I’ve been seeing these little summer dresses with open backs and a row of tassels and a little bit of me dies because its not anywhere close to floaty clothing climate. In the mean time, I guess these tassel adorned knits and accessories will hold me over. If you would like to hop on this bandwagon, sign up with JollyChic and comment down below using the same email address and I’ll pick someone to win a $20 gift voucher!
Long sleeved knit / Short sleeved knit / Skirt
Crossbody (c/o) JollyChic / Scarf / Flats
Apparently the following week will be one of the coldest this winter. My suggestion is to rug up in all American colours and layers of knit and wool. Apparently some states will expect some sort of snow! Unfortunately, Sydney will still be hovering between the 8 and 15 degree mark so for now my boots don’t have much function than some light treading across grass. There you have it folks, Karen, the weather reporter, out. // Recreate ‘Cold Snap’ – Coat, Shirt, Sweater, Jeans, Bag, Boots //
Photography: Chloe ❤
With my easter week long break coming to an end, I kinda wish I was at Coachella right now. I don’t even listen to much of that music but that red dust kicking and ferris wheel spinning has got my heart beating to Arcade fire. But you know what they say, dress for the job you deserve … or in my case the music festival I want to be at.
Parka: Shuca Global Work (similar here) / Sweater: Mum’s Closet (similar here) / Denim Cutoffs: Vintage Replay (similar here) / Combat Boots: Rubi Shoes / Socks: Rubi Shoes (similar here) / Necklace: Colette Accessories (similar here)
I never thought I would wear runners with my jeans but then I met these polka dotted Nike Roshes and it was comfort at first wear. I wear them with my oldest pair of skinny jeans (6 years of love and very few washes to my mother’s dismay) and an open back cropped tee. After 13 years of uniform schooling, I still revert to wearing variations of this every day.
Top: Lil Muse Clothing Jeans: Old (similar here) Shoes: Nike
One of my favourite things in general about blogging is the feeling of unexpectedness. I thought these pictures would end up being a mess because I shot them after a day at the beach. Sand was trapped in the weirdest places, my naturally thick voluminous hair had been naturally sea salt sprayed (god knows I don’t need any more oomph), I was sweltering in the thirty degree heat and my feet were sizzling on the pavement. Usually as soon as I get home from a shoot, I’ll stab in my SD card AY SAP because I’m impatient and I need results NOW. I just couldn’t bare to look at these pictures until a few days later so when I adjusted the curves and did some brightening, I was pleasantly surprised.
I have to say, this is one of my fancier beach get ups. My typical beach uniform reads like large t shirt over my swimmers and lots of sunscreen. Another unexpected part of these pictures are the colours. The top is beige like sand and the bottoms are blue like the sea. I like how its the perfect complement against the beachy background. If you scroll through my Style page, you’ll notice that I have never shot any pictures with people in the background because I think its distracting. However, it looks really organic in these pictures because the people are far away enough to add a sprinkle of life to the waves.
The sandy crochet top is anatomically the perfect beach cover up. Firstly, it is made of crochet which is a non brainer because crochet is basically synonymous with most coverups. It also buttons up backward and if you’ve read my wrong way don’t turn back post, you’ll know my affinity for backward things. Finally, my favourite thing about this top is that it’s ‘vintage’ Sportsgirl. It used to be my mum’s before I stole it from her closet which I think is so neat because Sportsgirl is an iconic Australian high street brand that opened in the 50s as the younger sister of Sportscraft. Now that my mum has moved onto Sportscraft, and I, Sportsgirl, I think its kind of fab to have something from a 90s Sportsgirl store that wouldn’t look out of place at all in today’s stores!
Then to finish off the look, I added some low maintenance bling by putting on some foil tattoos. They performed really well given that I crashed around in some rough waves for a while and nature exfoliated by arms by throwing me across the sand. If you’re going to a party or epic rave where you want to get some sparkle on without losing a bangle, try some foil tattoos next time!
{Outfit photographs shot by Emi and Arm photograph shot by myself}
According to the Urban Dictionary, definition number seven, chinos are: A type of trouser made from chino cloth. Although they are very comfortable and soft, they come in the most grotesque colours possible which really makes them stand out. The fact that they are sold in excess in stores such as Abercrombie and Jack Wills doesn’t help their reputation much either. Chinos, the everyday hipster’s choice of trouser wear. So what then are chino shorts? To me they are the conservative short, which means they are the perfect piece to go with the bustier – a garment Victorian women wore to get their va va voom on. Since I have no desire to show off too much skin, I decided to pop on this light see through chiffon shirt and one button it up all easy breezy.
There you have it, all ready to set sail! Or at least walk along the boardwalk. How lovely does Balmoral look on this cloudy Saturday? I think the cool tones are the perfect complement to my sailing appropriate look and I love how bright the pictures turned out. Sometimes, a picture sans blue sky is really okay after all! And where do sailors brunch? The Balmoral Boathouse of course! Get the quinoa bircher it could seriously feed three!
Today was actually meant to be a DIY post and the last post in my New Year series but Optus decided to cut my internet for two days because the roof of a tower fell off or something so I have been in agony for the past 60 hours. It got to the point where I turned up two hours early to a party so I could use the host’s internet (thank you beb) and stood in front of the Apple store for an hour to leech off their fast wifi. Sue me, I’m so twenty first century.
The footless seagul { :(((( } and food shot by me, outfit shot by Adela
Now that I look at these photos, I realise they are quite leafy. The hedges, the South African lilies, the palm leaves on my skort – so much foliage, so little space. I think cutting is very important. Hedges need to be trimmed for them to look attractive. Just like clothes have to be cut well in order for them to sit right on the body.
When I used to do textiles in high school, one of my favourite materials to work with was anything that did not fray with an exposed hem. Felt is kind of hard to find in tops so scuba is my next favourite thing because it allows for the most interesting cuts and cut outs like this grey high neck top. Paired with an envelope skort, this is actually a very functional outfit. Perfect for someone who likes to lift in fancy clothes. Jokes. But really, I look so ripped in the first picture that it would almost pass as the truth. :00
Oh and instead of a GIF today, you get two of me in one picture. What a time to be alive!
Christmas is now sadly over but I hope you all had a very merry day or week or month! There’s so much build up leading to the 25th that it almost becomes anticlimactic when we fall asleep in our santa hats with our food comas watching the ten hundredth Christmas film (for me this was Arthur Christmas!) and sucking on candy canes that we hoarded from store promotions (is that just me?!?!) I’ve had a great week filled with all my favourite F’s: food, family, friends, fairy lights, falalala music and festive everything.
Yesterday was Boxing Day. What Boxing Day means now for the modern person is just as ironic as its American counterpart: Black Friday. You spend the day before being grateful for what you have and then the next day you go and buy what you don’t need … I remember when I was younger, I thought boxing day was just a plot my parents had to delay us opening our presents and then another year I read that it was the day the box was invented but today I actually learnt a brief history about it that sounds legitimate so I thought I would enlighten any other souls who have always wanted to know. Boxing Day is actually an old holiday where servants box up leftover food from their employers and take it home for their family. Unfortunately, retail employees today have to get up at wee hours of the morning to ready themselves for the morning shoppers one of whom included me!
On my 7 hour trek (never again or so I say haha!) I wore this mostly pink ensemble. What kind of pink is this? Peachy pink? A light salmon? I’m not exactly sure but I know for sure that its a new favourite. For most of senior high school, I stayed away from pink clothing after going through a bubblegum pink phase in junior high where I had pink cable knit sweaters and pink plaid skirts and an obnoxious pink backpack. But now, pink is coming back into my closet in the prettiest way. Its soft and feminine but there’s no trace of lace or silk in sight.
This top is actually the wrong way around. I wore it back to front because I liked how the zip detail give the fluted hem some edge. Plus, convenience-wise, its much easier to zip on a top from the front (haha!). Perfect for making snap decisions in the change room where there’s a sea-length of impatient shoppers. Continuing on my love for this kind of colour, I wore my summer slip ons that have what I like to call ‘pony hair’ * on them and my minimalistic light weight watch. Then I have these cute little pair of pin striped shorts underneath that I wear every summer and can’t seem to let go of because they have way too many sand printed memories on them.
* I think I call it pony hair in my mind because it reminds me of a pony’s coat and it would be incredibly sad to see a pony drenched in water just like these slip ons would be completely ruined under rain. You comprende? Probably not but that’s ok because I confuse and contradict myself all the time anyway.
STYLE SMORGASBORD 