fun

The Kimono, Backwards.

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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

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Plaid & Denim for Summer?

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Groundbreaking is what I hope Meryl Streep’s character would say if she looked up at me through her glasses and did a head to toe flick with the eyes. In reality, she’d probably get her assistant to throw me out.

Victoria is known for its crazy four seasons one day kind of weather so I wanted to be as prepared as possible in Mornington Peninsula even if it meant sweating a bit and looking out of place on the beach. Everything about this outfit is a travel essential regardless of the climate you’re jetting off to. Converse are a given, boyfriend jeans are comfortable eating pants and flannels make great swimsuit coverups. Plus, a boater hat and aviators are just good sense.

I spotted this long line of brightly painted beach boxes as soon as we docked and couldn’t wait to get a proper look at them and call dibs for the future. For a cool, 150k you can buy one to store all the flamingo blow ups, boogie boards and neoprene wetsuits you need for a day by the sea. Its a sound investment because the government has stopped allowing people to build new ones only to purchase and repaint old ones. I think mine would be turquoise, with a white roof and a pink door.

What colours would your beach box be?

Recreate my Look:

Flannel / Jeans / Converse / Hat / Backpack / Sunnies / Watch (c/o)

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Double D: SS x NotebookDaisy

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I am so utterly pleased with how this concept turned out! I love collaborating with people who can draw and letter (because my doodles look like dog poo and my hand writing is a nightmare) and today I’m so glad to introduce to you guys the lovely Daisy from NotebookDaisy on Instagram. Go visit her Facebook and Instagram to see more of her beautiful work now! She likes drinking green tea and spending too much money on lippy. So we’re basically the same people but she’s much more better at drawing ha! She has this very cool series on her Instagram called the little alphabet people which I definitely think you should check out and also bug her to keep making more – I think she is only up to Chastised Charlie

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I don’t like fashion (why you are a fashion blogger?!) but I love styling. I was having a bit of an epiphanic moment a couple of weeks ago when I realised that nup I don’t want to be a brand whore. The reason I write a blog is to be creative and personally I believe creativity flourishes more when you have limitations. For me, this is my smallish closest. I don’t think you need a ton of clothes to be stylish, you just need to know how to be creative and work with what you have and what is a bit terrifying to you. I also encourage outfit repeating, anything you think you look on point in, you wear it ten times and then you wear it again because if it is a good outfit, why not ?

I love this double denim day to night look. I think it would be the perfect quick car switch that you could achieve in less than 5 minutes. The base is the denim shirt and boyfriend jeans and then it is all about the accessories. For a day at uni or running errands I would go with some print mixing – stripes and polka dots are always a win, my white converse and a brightly coloured bag. For night, I would just button up my shirt and tuck it into my jeans. Add a blazer, pussy bow, pumps, statement earrings and clutch and you’re almost ready to go … Finish off with red lippy of course, flip you curls to the side and you’re ready to boogie.

I hope this post gave you some inspiration today and if you have any more styling queries or other day to night looks you would like me to do … I am up for the challenge so hit me with your best shot.

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Coming Up Rosy Gold

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Anything copper or rose gold I am down. Particularly love it when its paired with maroon, pink or navy. What I like most of all about this bomber is the little pocket by the arm. I’ve never been one for magic tricks but when I whip out my opal card in two seconds and slam it on that rainbow circle triumphantly, I chuckle to myself a bit whilst all the plebeians have to go through the process of taking out their wallet from their bag, behind, etc. and flipping through their cards in slow motion.

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// Bomber Jacket: H&M (similar here) / Cropped Sweater: Miss Shop (similar here) / Peplum: Forever 21 (similar here) / Leggings: DottiSlip Ons: Zu (similar here) / Purse: CoachBracelet: PandoraWatch: Vintage / Ring (c/o): Elyia / Scarf: Old (similar here) //

Pictures by Adela 

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DIY Lipstick Clutch

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I came across this clutch a couple of weeks ago and for a cool 450, you can make it your cutest night out bag. But today, I have a cheap as chips and easy as pie DIY that cost me less than 10 bucks and 10 minutes of my Friday night in. You’ll need a plain box style clutch (mine was $5 from Colette!), a used lipstick and a red rubber. Make sure you visit my blog again next week to see how I styled it for a night out!

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Start by scooping out all your old lipstick and filling it with some glue instead. Cut off a chunk of your rubber to create the bullet. I was lucky enough to have a red rubber at my disposal but I think red polymer clay or bluetack stained red could possibly work as well. To ‘shape’ your bullet, rub it against a flat surface so the hard edges disappear. Then push your bullet in the hole and glue the entire lipstick to your clutch! Make sure you glue it on the back side so you can still open your purse.

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Gold Coast Digger

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A fortnight ago I was lucky enough to score a last minute deal to the Gold Coast. It’s like the Miami of Australia and where our version of Spring Breakers herald every November. Not exactly in with that scene, I decided to postpone Gold Coast digging until the end of January 2015. The holidays I go on are usually intensely packed – sometimes with 3 am wakeup calls and past midnight showers so it was nice to head somewhere sunny without a plan for once. Click the scrapbook to see it expanded and try and spot my dress twin (I’ve been keeping count and so far I’ve seen it once in Gold Coast and once in Sydney!)

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Transport

In order to maximise out time there, we took a 6 am flight with Jetstar! This was probably the most tiring part of our journey but we were in chill mode from here on. Watching the sunrise while we took off wasn’t too bad either. The traffic around Gold Coast is pretty easy to navigate – we usually took a bus or tram. Our hotel was right beside the Surfers Paradise tram station which was super convenient. Check out that surfboard carrier on the tram below – if this isn’t a surfer’s paradise then I don’t know what is!

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Accommodation

We stayed at a 3 bedroom apartment at Q1. It was insanely spacious for four people and had everything you needed: kitchen, 3 bathrooms, balcony, dining room, Foxtel, game consoles, board games and even DVDs (there was Mean Girls haha!). My favourite part were the views! My goodness we could see the jetty, the coastline, I basically could touch the clouds and we were only on floor 31! The facilities were pretty sweet as well. I loved lying on my back in the pool and staring at the tip of the hotel. They even had poolside tents with awnings if you didn’t want to burn.

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Sights

Gold Coast is a bit like Florida because it is home to a lot of amusement parks. Since this wasn’t our first time here, we skipped Dream World, Movie World, Sea World, White Water World. Instead, we spent our days never too far from the ocean or the pool and went to Cavill Mall and Robina Town Centre for shopping.

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Food

Although our apartment was fully equipped with a kitchen and even a food processor, we went out to eat most of the days we were there. Some of my top meals included the all you can eat pancakes from Pancake Paradise (you can order unlimited pancakes and they’re HUGE … I stopped at four), the pesto rosso from Vapiano (the wait is tiring but they make it in front of you) and the Hawaiian chicken with curly fries from Hog’s Breath Cafe.

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Night Life

The Gold Coast is alive up till late and I just loved watching the skyline from up high. They have markets along the boardwalk every Sunday and we would usually walk along the beach back to our hotel in the evening.

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I hope you enjoyed my postcard, one by ones and trademark GIFs!

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Palm Springs / Suburbia

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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!

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A Little Tulle Late

action4I have a really strange fascination with tulle and big poofy skirts like this. The strange part of this fascination is that it didn’t start when I was a young un and watching Angelina Ballerina … it started when I was about 14! What I like best about this tulle skirt is that its layered instead of just flouncing out at one length. This means that it is a lot of fun to twirl in to make for some great action shots.

I know I’ve been referring to it as a skirt but I’ll let you in a sneaky secret: the tulle skirt is actually my prom dress from year 10! I’m happy to say its not something i would cringe at all these years later but it makes me sad that I never wear it which is why I popped it on, Christmas day. Then I decided to dress it down with a plaid shirt cinched at the waist, popped at the collar and rolled at the arms so I could give my outfit some silhouette. To finish off the ballet vibes, I went with a big poof on my head and some bow heels that shouldn’t be leaped around in!

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PINATA

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Its the middle of the week so happy hump day! We’ve also hit the middle of the countdown to Christmas today so I thought I would share with you another Christmas ornament DIY – specifically a miniature geometric piñata ornament! I’ve been seeing huge geometric shaped pinatas  all over the place of late including Real Living magazine which was my source of inspiration for this DIY. Pinatas remind me of  childhood parties and candy so why wouldn’t you want a miniature version hanging on your tree? This is a very simple DIY so let us begin (:

ONE: Download this template and print it out. Then trace it onto a thin piece of white card. TWO: Assemble your geometric shape and attach some ribbon to it with tape. THREE: Cut 1cm strips of crepe paper, lay them on top of each other and cut 3/4 of the way down so you have pieces and pieces of crepe fringe. FOUR: Start gluing pieces of the fringe working from the bottom to the top and working on one face of the ornament at a time. FIVE: Give your ornament a good old trim so its shape is visible again and you are done! EXTRAS: Instead of crepe paper you could make a shiny ornament with thin foil paper and you can also place a bell or some beads in your ornament before you assemble the shape so it rattles like an actual piñata!

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FANCY

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I’m actually a very lazy person when it comes to dressing. Half of the time I’m in a loose tee and denim cut offs and more recently I’ve also started embracing the normcore that has always been in me by wearing joggers on occasions that don’t involve working up a sweat. The weather has been crazy in Sydney this week – think really hot mornings and spectacular thunderstorms in the afternoon followed by light sun at dusk again.

To combat the heat, my outfit for today is really just a fancied up version of your basic pyjamas. I love this light, chiffon button up because I’ve managed to wear it a million different ways and today I discovered a new way! The sleeves are actually very poofy when buttoned at the wrists but today I buttoned them up and pushed the cuff three quarters of the way down so that the sleeves would flow out in a more boxy manner. Then I’ve actually just got on a pair of monochrome patterned work out shorts and my good old flats as opposed to bedroom slippers because I do have to draw the line somewhere. To carry my stuff, I’ve got a canvas bag because that to me is the lazy bag. Unless, of course you’re carrying groceries in your canvas bags, then you are in fact very hard working and I commend you with many snaps.

If you’re curious, these shots were done at a University campus in front of what my friend and I believe is an anthropology mural with some questionable drawings that we had a good laugh at trying to figure out what exactly they were trying to convey. On an end note, I’d like to say Happy month-versary eve! It has been almost a month since I’ve launched Style Smorgasbord and I just wanted to quickly acknowledge how much your support and love has meant to me! I hope you have enjoyed the few posts that have tricked out of me and I hope to improve my posting schedule over the next month. Until then, have a great weekend – only 19 more sleeps till Christmas which means an ornament DIY coming very soon 🙂

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