Friday 29 January 2016

Buying Nothing New


I kind of stopped mentioning it in my blog posts, but a year ago I took a leaf out of Julie's book and pledged to Buy Nothing New for a whole year. I decided to challenge myself to avoid the fast fashion trap and only buy second hand clothing/shoes/accessories for a full 12 months. So how did I go? Well I think the fact that I didn’t even realise my year was up until two weeks after the date is a good indication that I did ok! I was already a keen second hand shopper before this challenge, but now I’m well and truly obsessed.

Over the past 12 months I only cracked twice, both times interestingly enough were to buy things I’d decided I desperately and urgently needed for a holiday (a bikini in March and a striped t-shirt in July). Aside from those two slips I stuck to my word and spent my year trawling op shops, markets, ebay and the odd consignment store for all my shopping needs. It was honestly so much fun and I didn’t miss Kmart/Sportsgirl/Country Road at all. The few times I did pop into those stores (mostly to torture myself) I did find things that I liked and if I wasn’t ‘buying nothing new’ I probably would have bought them, but I resisted, walked away and 5 minutes later I had totally forgotten about what ever item I had just reluctantly dragged myself away from.

So am I ever going to buy something new? Probably, but I don’t know if chain stores or department stores will ever be my first stop when looking for something. This year I've found outfits for weddings, dress up parties, office wear, work-out gear, beach cover ups and even some new swimmers all second hand. Why would I stop?? I love the thrill of the treasure hunt and knowing that it’s super unlikely anyone else will be wearing what I’m wearing. I also really like the feeling of shopping sustainably. The fast fashion hamster wheel is relentless and for a serious shop-a-holic like myself, I feel pretty good not to be contributing to that nonsense. Sure I buy a lot, but it’s second hand, the only people benefitting from my purchases are the op shop charities and the environment, which makes me feel ace!

I could rabbit on for ever about my love of second hand shopping (hey I made a blog specifically for that purpose!) but I’ll shut up now and leave you with this fully second hand look, which I’m totally in love with (and may or may not have worn 3 days in a row!)









Dress: Vinnies Claremont $7
Shoes: Good Sammies Subiaco $6
Bag: Vinnies Claremont $8
Sunnies: Salvos South Lakes $3
Necklaces: Assorted


Wednesday 27 January 2016

End of an Era




I’m not sure if two years truly counts as an era, but I’m certainly ending something. Monday was my last day at work before taking a little break and starting a new job in February. Change is a good thing, challenges are a good thing. Just as you start to feel like you’re in a comfort zone it’s good to push yourself right out of it again. Which is exactly what I’m doing … not with my style though, I went for spots, sunnies and a pop of red for my last day... I can only deal with so much change in one go!




Dress: Salvos Subiaco $13
Belt: Op Shop
Shoes: Melissa x Vivienne Westwood, eBay
Earrings: Dinosaur Designs, gift
Sunglasses: Valley, eBay 


Friday 22 January 2016

Kicking Goals

Back in early November I set myself four goals to achieve by the end of the year. I’ve been doing this for the past few years and always enjoy challenging myself a little. I find setting short term goals so much more manageable then creating large lofty goals with no real time line attached. Anyway, I thought I’d let you know how I went achieving them…

Work my way up to running 10km
Yep, didn’t manage this one. I started off with the best intentions and down loaded a Couch to 10kms program, which I followed pretty closely for a few weeks. But my thyroid operation threw me off and then we moved house and I was literally TOO EXHAUSTED to even unpack a box let alone run for 30 minutes. So this fell by the way side. I’d definitely like to run more this year though, at the moment I rely solely on volleyball for exercise, which isn’t the worst (I do train and play up to 5 times a week) but introducing some additional training would definitely be good.

 

Branch out and try to use different outfit photo locations
I did manage this one! WOOHOO! I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and ventured away from those beloved colourful garage doors in Fremantle. After almost 3 years of blogging I’m still not very good at using my camera, so I kept an eye out for interesting backdrops that were in the shade and unoccupied before work starts (which is when I usually do my outfit shoots). Luckily Fremantle has a plethora of different options and I was thrilled to branch out a little and change it up. I’ll definitely be keeping it up this year
 

Sort, cull and sell my wardrobe
This one is a work in progress. While moving into our new house I was RUTHLESS with what I allowed back into my wardrobes. I filled two gigantic boxes with clothes I didn’t want anymore. One was donated to the Salvos straight away and the other is full of things I plan to sell at the Melville Markets. I didn’t get a chance to do a market stall before Christmas, but I’m planning to do one soon. I’ve also been pretty strict at sticking to my one-in one-out rule. So far this year I’ve only bought 2 dresses, but as they went into my wardrobe I pulled out two more and added them to my box of stuff to be sold. Told you I was being ruthless!



Complete a gallery wall in my new home
I didn’t so much create a gallery wall as I did decorate my entire house in the space of two weeks. So I’m definitely chalking this one up to a win. At some point I’ll share more images of my new place, because I’m pretty chuffed with how it all turned out. I was so impressed with how quickly I managed to pull everything together using only stuff from Gumtree, op shops and IKEA (I have a mortgage now so no extra cash to splash on fancy furniture that doesn’t require an Allan key to assemble).


So that’s it, I achieved 2.5 of my 4 goals… not bad considering the circumstances I was working with. Have you made any resolutions for the new year? Or goals you’d like to kick in 2016? I’d love to hear about them!



Wednesday 20 January 2016

Sweaty Filthy Mess






So we are officially in the middle of the Australian summer and MAN it has been hot recently! Aside from a few days of sweet relief and a little midsummer rain the mercury has mostly been hovering around 35+ degrees, yikes! In weather like that even I struggle to muster any excitement about getting dressed, let alone putting on makeup or trying to wrangle my hair into something decent. But sometimes these things must be done, so here’s a sure fire way to survive the sweaty filthy heat without looking like too much of a sweaty filthy mess…







Stretchy maxi dress which requires no underwear (over share much? But seriously who needs those additional layers when it’s ONE THOUSAND degrees)
Hair slicked back and pulled off your neck for maximum air flow
Sunglasses to hide wilting mascara
A bold lip and dangly earrings to distract from the inevitable sweat moustache








Voila! A look which is suitably glam for a night out and fairly heat friendly. Now to re-hydrate with a gigantic icy cold glass of Rose…

Dress: Vinnies Claremont $15
Sandals: Opportunity Knocks $6
Earrings: Save the Children Myaree $2
Bracelet: Mimco, Salvos Osborne Park $3
Sunglasses: Ray Ban






Friday 15 January 2016

Hola 2016!




HOLA! Welcome to 2016 In The Dress Up Box! I know I’m a bit behind and I honestly have no excuses to offer you. I just needed a little break from blogging to re-jig my mind and get pumped for a fun (stylish) year ahead. Some big things have been happening in these first few weeks of the year, I finally got my mortgage sorted and am now a real home owner (and consequentially seriously broke!), I also bought a new car and… (drum role please)… I got a new job! So I guess those are the excuses I offer for my blogging hiatus. Here’s what else I have been up to lately…
 



Cooking a lot of BBQs! I got my little outdoor area organised over the Chrissy break, complete with macramé plant hangers and a nifty new Barbie
Drinking champagne (I’m still in a celebratory mood!)
Wearing striped t-shirts, I picked up a fantastic Bassike one from Good Sammies for 25 cents!!
Buying a fab vintage peasant dress, I can’t wait to wear it with boots and a wool hat in autumn
Lusting over an outdoor rug… such a boring thing to want, but I really really do!
Watching The Office, I churned through the entire series over the holidays and fell in love with it all over again
Reading Fear and Clothing, SUCH an interesting book about personal style and what it can tell you about a person
Doing a lot of decorating, I’ve gone home-décor mad!
Dreaming of my next holiday of course. Nothing booked yet but I’m thinking Mauritius, Exmouth or Japan (or all three!)
 



On top of all that I also went to Bali for a family wedding, hosted some girlfriends from Queensland for a week of touristy fun, camped for a few nights at Rotto, did a TON of op shopping, cooking, eating and beach lazing. It was a pretty great silly season. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas break and start to the new year. I finish up in my job next week and then have a bit of time off before starting my new role. I plan to dedicate that time to getting my blog sorted for the year ahead and creating some great new content. I've got lots of cool ideas swilling around at the back of my mind so I just need to organize my thoughts and start blogging! Have a fun weekend (I'm cruising down south for a beach volley comp!)