Black, White & Summer All Over

My mum has a fantastic collection of blazers. Most of them have BIG shoulders but hidden among her wardrobe are a few gems. I’ve had this white linen United Colours of Benneton blazer sitting in my wardrobe for about two summers and have always been hesitant to wear it because its a bit too broad for my shoulders and the sleeves have yellowed from years of storage.

I kept holding onto it because the fabric was such nice quality and made in Italy – something of a rarity these days on the high street. Then last week I was feeling particularly creative and I decided to chop off the sleeves, seam the edges and reconstruct the leftover fabric as a sash. I’m really happy with how it turned out and I’ll definitely be layering it as we change seasons and also wearing it without the sash and with open lapels. It actually looks like a lot of wrap jackets seen in resort collections and if you were to buy a rope tassel from Lincraft, you could create a vest like this one from Seed.

I styled the vest with my knitted skort (last seen in the winter styled with tights and a coat ‘Four Seasons‘) but I think it could pass as a playsuit if you wore matching linen shorts. I also opted for some delicate silvery jewellery from Iconic-Style to go with the silver woven thread in the shorts. I don’t usually go for v-necks so when I do, I like to add a small necklace and this whimsical star one is the perfect length.

Recreate my Look:

Vest / Skort / Sandals / Ring (c/o) / Necklace (c/o) / Watch 

Photography thanks to Adela (Styliminal) 

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Black for the Summer

Happy New Year! I have had a two week break from Style Smorgasbord because I wanted to recharge, reflect and redirect my energy towards the holiday season. Whilst we should aim to improve upon ourselves daily, the first day of the year is always a great ritual of self assessment that demands personal honestly and reinforces humility. Instead of coming up with new year resolutions for 2016, I decided to create a list of 101 things I want to achieve in 1001 days. You can see my list here. 

I would say I am a very excitable person. Thusly, I rarely wear black especially head to toe black. However, I love a good oxymoron and black in the summer is refreshingly that. I received this boater for Christmas and plan to wear it forever. The brim is wonderfully wide and perfectly practical and adding it to any outfit just makes me feel like I am on vacation somewhere tropical.

Hat / Top / Skirt / Scarf

/ Photography Credits – Matthew /

Black & Blue & Sporty All Over

Mid semester exams are over and mid semester break is two weeks away. To celebrate, the weather decided to be absolutely beautiful this sunny Saturday and going bare legged was the best feeling. My last two weeks have been crazy hectic and I need to catch up on notes, fitness and social media. At the beginning of the week I finally brought home a copy of Lola Berry’s Happy Cookbook which I am very excited to try. I thought I would finally get it at almost 50% off the RRP at Kmart because that book has been on my mind since the beginning of the year. There’s some pumpkin pie pancakes which I hope to recreate and 130 other super nutritious treats in the book.

I would pick navy over black any day. Its the more preppy sister of black and together they create a very modern palette. Despite lack of photographic evidence, I have my heavily featured Nike Roshes on my feet to tie the outfit together. Now that I have done jeans with runners and short skirts with runners, the only bottom I haven’t been brave enough to try is maxi skirts. The sporty aesthetic is still here to stay so I believe I still have some time to find a maxi skirt that won’t swamp me. Remember when I said SS Brunch would become a regular thing? … Yeah that didn’t happen but in my next post I do have a SS Brunch and we talk summer vacations, cheesy music and Starbucks mugs so look out for it on Thursday. As always, have a brill week filled with glorious sun 🙂

Crop: Country Road / Bomber: H&M / Skirt: Sportsgirl

DIY Marble Side Table

Thought I would up my bed side table game by hopping on the marble trend in the least expensive way possible. Considering marble will be out of trend within the next few years, I wanted to do something that would cost me next to nothing. I have been contemplating ordering marble contact paper for a few months now but some rolls cost up to $50 on Etsy which is ridiculous since my side table was probably less than half that price!

ONE To create this side table, print off several copies of this marble print (download here). Take out your drawer and unscrew the knob. TWO Then, trim off the whites of your marble paper and affix it to the surface of your drawer using a gluestick. THREE Neatly, cut away all excess paper and fold it behind. FOUR Measure a piece of contact paper large enough to cover the surface of the drawer and the edges too. FIVE Slowly peel back the contact backing and smooth it over your drawer. If you fail at contacting surfaces, maybe practice contacting some old magazines to ensure your final product is always bubble free. SIX Trim off excess contact and re-pierce the hole where the knob is meant to go. SEVEN Screw knob back into place and you are finished! EIGHT (option lol) Artfully style your DIY, take many photographs and boast to family and friends 😉 Make sure they always stand 5 metres away so they can’t tell if its actually marble or not.

OPTIONAL: Before attempting this side table, I actually made a jewellery holder first. I printed off the marble sheets, glued them to card stock, contacted the whole thing and affixed it to my cork board using white push pins.

Cold Snap

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 ❤

The Storm Before The Calm

Have you ever been to the beach and then had to promptly leave again? I have, many times including this time when we thought to head down to the beach for a pre dinner stroll. It had started to rain, the wind was really ripping it and when there’s wind, there’s sand tornado-ing around you. If you’ve never experienced it, be thankful. Sand, after all is made up of granules of rock and minerals so when its windy its kind of like nature is throwing rocks at you and its not pretty.

Nonetheless, my poor camera lens braved possible scratching and I managed to get in several pictures of my Endless Summer Blouse from  Lil Muse Boutique. The crochet detailing is really fine and although I wore shorts, its long enough to double as a dress. It also looks quite lovely off the shoulder!

After we left and hung around the predictable nature of the swimming pool, the sky decided to clear up again and the storm was over. Everything was calm once again. Still but not eerie. I’ll take it.

// Top – c/o of Lil Muse Boutique: Endless Summer Blouse / Shorts – Vintage Replay Cutoffs //