Sewing Pile: Conquered!

My sewing pile has been slowly taking over my laundry cupboard, so the other day when I tried to shove yet another skirt in there and it all toppled down, I knew it was time to get out my sewing machine. 

I’ve been steadily making my way through the pile over the past week, it’s such a satisfying feeling when my alterations actually work. I’m not a master seamstress by any means and I often ruin things when I try to alter them, but lately I’ve been having a lot of luck. This shift dress has been in the pile for a few months. It’s vintage Laura Ashley and was a size 16, it was also on the $2 rack at Salvos so I just couldn’t leave it behind.

I took in all the seams and darts and made the arm holes a little smaller. I’m pretty impressed with my effort and I’m so glad I managed to make the dress wearable because it’s so lovely. Layered with my silk pussy bow blouse and vintage 60s coat, I felt very glam going into work.

Unfortunately these pictures don’t show my new Repetto ballet flats very well. I’ve been lusting after a pair of Repetto flats for awhile, but could never justify the price. Luckily for me though I found a never been worn pair in my size in Dress Circle (a fantastic consignment store in Nedlands) for $55. They truly are the most comfortable shoes ever and even though I got them for cheap, I’d say they might actually be worth the hefty price tag.

 

Dress: Laura Ashley, Op Shop

Blouse: Sportscraft, Op Shop

Coat: Vintage, Amsterdam street market*

Shoes: Repetto, Dress Circle

Stockings: Leona Edmiston 

*Jacket number 10!

PS. the wind in Freo is clearly not conducive to successful hair in outfit shots!

Perfect T

Everybody look at my t-shirt! Look how great it is! I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect black t-shirt for AGES, years it feels like. I honestly have looked everywhere and even resigned myself to paying upwards of $80 for the perfect one, but lo and behold regardless of the price I could never find one that was juuuust right… until now!

This soft cotton scoop neck t-shirt is the best. It fits just right, it’s not so thin that you can see through it, but not so thick that it doesn’t fall nicely when tucked in. The sleeves are the right length, the shoulders sit perfectly and it’s not skin tight. Where did I find this miraculous piece of clothing? The men’s pyjama section at K-mart of course! 

I couldn’t tell how perfect it was to start with, so I just bought the one (for $6!) and thought I’d give it a test run with this outfit, well it passed its test with flying colours and I have since gone back and bought another black t-shirt (it’s so good I need a back up) and a white version as well. How exciting when you have a little win like that hey?! I’m definitely going to venture in to the men’s section at K-mart more often, who knows what other gems are hiding in there!

Top: K-mart

Skirt: Op Shop

Jacket: Op Shop*

Hat: Op Shop

Shoe: Converse

 

*Jacket number 9

 

PS. I know you can't really see the t-shirt in these pictures, but trust me it's perfect!

Un-Trend

There’s a very fine line to toe between dressing like an individual, not looking like a weirdo or a trend whore, and still looking visually appealing and interesting to the majority of people. I never want to look like I’ve fallen from the pages of a magazine or alternatively tumbled out of a charity bin, but it’s a hard balance to perfect. Sometimes I get it woefully wrong, but I do my best to mostly get it right. 

 

According to the blogosphere, Pinterest, Instagram and assorted glossy magazines, pastel colours are the go for winter. This suits me perfectly because I’ve always been a lover of baby colours and my new ASOS coat fits the bill nicely… a bit too nicely! I never set out to try every trend, but sometimes they just fall in my lap and I can’t help but love them. This pastel plaid coat is one of those times. I loved this coat when I first saw it pop up on Nicole Warne, and I jumped on ASOS immediately to snap it up.

I really like this outfit, I’ve worn the exact same thing twice already. All ice creamy pastel goodness and not a spec of black in sight, perfect! I’ve been adding this little collection of vintage brooches to almost everything I’m wearing at the moment, there’s something about the sparkle factor that I just can’t resist. I think they look particularly great against the plaid.

There is nothing worse I could think of then looking like a Sportsgirl mannequin, so by wearing a vintage dress, op shopped accessories and clashing prints, I’m trying my very best to avoid looking too on-trend. Does that make sense? Do you try to ‘un-trend’ your outfits to avoid looking like anyone else?

Coat: ASOS*

Dress: Op Shop

Brooches: Assorted, Op Shop

Boots: Report, Nasty Gal

Socks: Target 

*Jacket number 8

A Last Minute Black Tie Look

The worst thing ever happened… I lost my camera remote (slightly over dramatic, I know). I usually take 50-70 photos in order to get 5 that look nice, which sounds time consuming, but with a little camera remote it’s actually really easy. I was very keen to blog about this outfit so I attempted to use the self-timer button on my camera to capture these photos, but I gave up after 4 pics, because it’s seriously such a pain in the butt! So I do apologise for the questionable quality of these pictures. I have ordered another remote online so hopefully it doesn’t take too long to arrive.

I went to a black tie event last weekend. It was a rather fabulous function held at the Crowne Casino and I was very much looking forward to getting all dressed up. Unusually for me, I didn’t have an outfit planned and intended to just see how I felt when getting dressed. This is a questionable method particularly when concerning a black tie event, but I think the look I pulled together was actually pretty great. It just goes to show that you don’t necessarily need a brand new dress for every fancy function you’re invited to. I really enjoyed the challenge of putting together a black tie look using the existing bits and pieces hanging in my wardrobe.  

Top: Vintage hand painted bustier, Melville Markets

Skirt: Op Shop (I hemmed the lining to show the pattern of the lace)

Shoes: Gorman

Bag: Target

Necklace: Collette

I went and got my make up done specially for this event, which is not normally something I do. I’m quite good at doing my own makeup, but I needed to restock my Body Shop bronzer anyway, so I decided to get them to do my face as well. I went to the Body Shop store in Garden City, it cost $40 for the makeup appointment which was fully redeemable in product. The lady who did my makeup, Jess, was SO lovely. The whole appointment took about 45 minutes and it was really nice being pampered with all of the beautiful Body Shop products. I will definitely be going back whenever I have another special event*

*I don’t have any affiliation with the Body Shop, I just really love their products!