Frocktober!

Hey guys! GUESS WHAT?! Tomorrow is the first day of October (but you probably already knew that) which means it’s the first day of FROCKTOBER! The classic Frocktober Challenge is to wear a dress every day for the whole month. That’s 31 one days of dressy goodness, how fun! 

Frocktober raises money for Ovarian Cancer, which is an extremely good cause and one that needs all the money and awareness it can get. If wearing a dress every day this month is just too hard then you could try to wear a dress once a week, or even just one day during the month. I’m planning to wear a different frock for every work day, that’s 22 different dresses! Challenge accepted!

Luckily I’ve got quite a few dresses in my arsenal, so finding a frock for each day of my challenge will be fun not stressful. I’ve actually written down a list of the outfits I want to wear this month (because I’m a bit OCD like that!). These images are a bit of a walk down memory lane for my blog and also my wardrobe, it will be good to pull some of these out of the depths of my cupboards and give them some time in the sun! 

So are you going to accept the Frocktober Challenge? If you are (or if you aren’t!) you can find out more information here and more importantly you can donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation here.

Tassels

Last Saturday I caught up with my friend Darek again from WithU Photography to do a quick outfit shoot in Freo. I’m was ecstatic to have a professional shoot me again and was also super excited to wear this outfit. This tasselled leather jacket is one of my most prized possessions. I picked it up in a thrift store in San Luis Obispo when my brother and I were road tripping around California. Very few people completely ‘get’ my sense of style, but my wonderful brother does 100%. I was hesitant to buy it because the jacket wasn’t particularly cheap and it’s so outrageous but Sim insisted I had to have it for exactly that reason. I’m so glad I listened to him. At the time we were on our way to Las Vegas and I have to admit it’s the perfect Vegas jacket, I felt like Dolly Parton walking down the strip! 

Now when ever I wear this jacket I always remember that fab trip with just my brother and I in our rented mustang (yes we hired a convertible mustang in America in December… clever). I love it when a piece of clothing comes with such a strong memory! Long story short; this outfit makes me feel awesome, HOORAY!

Thanks Darek for all the wonderful photos, prancing around Freo while someone follows you with a camera is pretty fun!

Jacket: Thrift store

Skirt: Good Sammies Osborne Park $5

T-shirt: Good Sammies Osborne Park $1

Boots: Tony Bianco

Sunglasses: Ray Ban 

(my excellent photographer!)

Life Recently

So this time last month I was going on and on about how much I love the month of September and the start of Spring and bla bla bla. But to be honest my September has kind of taken me by surprise. I had a major health scare which frightened the shit out of me. I spent the first two weeks of the month terrified I was going to die (I’m just slightly melodramatic) and the last two weeks of the month feeling rotten because of my new medication. BUT it hasn’t all been bad. My boyfriend’s lovely parents have been visiting us from Queensland, so we’ve been playing tourists in our own city which is always a treat. I celebrated the birthdays of some of my absolute favourite people including myself (haha), my boyfriend, my cousin and one of my best friends. Also two of my great friends got engaged at the start of the month! So we drank lots of champagne and ate far too much cheese in celebration. See it hasn’t all been bad!

Eating too much chocolate, my skin is NOT thanking me

Drinking many many cups of Earl Grey

Cooking not much, my boyfriend’s folks have been cooking! #score!

Watching the Bachelor

Buying the perfect button up denim skirt for Summer (after a long op shop search!) 

Wearing my new gold birks everywhere, they were my best purchase in a long time!

Reading forums online about people with thyroid problems… I really need to stop scaring myself

Avoiding my bank account, our new house is almost finished and I’ve been shopping up a storm, much to the detriment of my savings account

Browsing for the perfect red dress. I’m a bridesmaid for my cousin at the end of the year and her only specification is that I wear a red dress. I’m determined to find one in an op shop!

Needing another holiday. Exactly 3 months until Christmas… is it too early to start counting down?

So September wasn’t exactly as I anticipated, but when is life ever? October is definitely going to be fun, I’m sure of it! The weather is heating up slowly but surely and I’m determined to enjoy this wonderful season. Have a super Friday!

Spin the Pin September

I’ve decided to try my hand at another of iCurvy’s Spin thePin challenges. The Pinterest image for September is of Tash and Elle from They All Hate Us, dressed in their trademark style of ripped denim and expensive accessories. These two blogger- extraordinaires have a very specific style which I can certainly appreciate but it’s not usually a look I would wear. I mean I don’t have their long gorgeous legs, so wearing denim shorts for literally every occasion is just not for me. BUT Spin the Pin is all about putting your own spin on a look and taking some style inspo from Pinterest, so I'll give it a go! Here’s their image:

And here’s mine!

I went on a bit of an op shopping rampage last weekend and scooped up quite a few new things for summer, so obviously I was keen to wear some of my new-to-me gear. I thought I’d try my hand at double denim, wearing my new button down denim skirt and denim jacket. Elle and Tash are renowned for mixing relaxed denim with high end pieces, so I threw on my nautical Celine T (thrifted in Paris) plus my Goyard tote accessorised with a bandanna to complete the high-low outfit.

I really love how Tash (on the right) appears to be wearing a striped top layered over a lace top. That little bit of lace frill poking out the bottom is really cool. I don’t have anything like that in my wardrobe, so I couldn’t re-create it, but I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for something similar while I’m trawling through the op shops next.

I just love this outfit, I'll definitely be wearing it again soon!

Skirt: Salvos Bibra Lake $6
Jacket: Salvos Bibra Lake $2
T-shirt: Celine, thrift store in Paris
Bag: Goyard, Vinnies Claremont $4
Shoes: Urban Soul, Salvos O'Connor $10

Spring Essentials

Thank you for all the kind words and positive vibes sent my way after my last post. I really really appreciate it! I’ll keep you posted with how things are going, but wont bore you to tears with too much detail. You can rest assured I’m in excellent (and skilled!) hands, I’m feeling really healthy and by the time Christmas comes around this will all be a distant memory.  Now on to an outfit post… 

The top of your Spring Essentials shopping list should be a yellow leather mini skirt... 

JOKES! Obviously a bright yellow leather mini skirt isn’t exactly a ‘staple’ for most people’s wardrobes. But for me it is. There are soooo many magazine and blog articles about wardrobe staples or summer essentials, telling you that you MUST have a tailored black blazer, a beautiful white shirt and the perfect striped T for your wardrobe to be complete. For someone like me, who LOVES to shop and does so regularly, it’s pretty important to give everything I buy some serious consideration. If something is going to take up precious wardrobe space then it needs to be workable for my life. But the thing is, all those neutral classic pieces, like the perfect skinny jeans or nude pumps, are not what gets the most wear in my wardrobe. Over the years I’ve bought all those things, thinking that I need them. If InStyle is telling me my wardrobe is incomplete without them, then surely they’re right? Well I don’t know about that, because I certainly get more wear out of my red and white spotty vintage dress and my purple houndstooth skirt suit then I do out my classic black blazer (plus they are SO much more fun to wear!).

This buttery soft leather Gorman skirt might not be everyones cup of tea, but for me, it's essential. Worn with some of my birthday treats (sunnies and boots) and some of my other wardrobe classics (white singlet and denim jacket) I love this outfit! I've actually worn this exact look about 4 times in the last few weeks... oops! 

Skirt: Gorman, Consignment store $40

Singlet: Kookai, Salvos Fremantle $3

Jacket: Salvos Bibra Lake $2

Boots: Siren

Sunglasses: Preen*

*The most AMAZING birthday present everrrrr from my lovely Luke, who happens to be celebrating his birthday today (Happy Birthday gorgeous man!)

It's Been A While

Hello! I just wanted to check in and say sorry for my recent blog hiatus. It wasn’t planned, but things just got a little out of control. The last few weeks have been super stressful because I’ve had a bit of a health scare. It was the kind of thing which completely takes you by surprise and throws you through the ringer. You're my friends, so I thought I'd share a little of what's been happening the last few weeks...

A few months ago I had a random blood test which happened to show I had elevated levels of thyroxin in my blood. The GP wasn’t too concerned and told me to wait another two months and have another blood test to check on it. So I waited, did the blood test, then went back to the doctor expecting to be told it was nothing to worry about. But it was something to worry about. I was sent urgently to have an ultrasound which showed a massive (like golf ball sized) nodule attached to my thyroid. I was then sent to have a biopsy and a bunch of other tests in hospital. The C word (cancer) was being thrown around and I was beside myself with worry. My lovely boyfriend was doing all this research on thyroids to try to calm me down, and even though the odds were completely in my favour I just couldn’t relax. 

Earlier this week I finally managed to get a bit of relief when the specialist told me the tests showed my nodule is almost certainly benign. Because of the size of it (you can actually see and feel it through my neck, GROSS!) I need to have it removed with surgery. But I can’t have surgery until my thyroxin levels are back to normal. The medication I’ve been put on to control my thyroxin is going to make me put on weight which is freaking me out because I’ve been the same size my whole adult life and I don’t want to change! All that being said I’m in exceptionally good hands with my wonderful GP, endo specialist and ENT surgeon and although my medication will make be fat (booo) it’s also keeping me healthy until my surgery so I’m certainly thankful for that! 

It’s such a cliché but you seriously don’t appreciate your good health until it’s not there. I’ve been very lucky in my 28 years, I’ve never had any serious health issues before and even though my thyroid problem absolutely terrified me, it’s treatable and it hasn’t affected my life very much at all. I suppose it’s just a good reminder to try and appreciate how miraculous and wonderful our healthy bodies are. We shouldn’t wait until we are sick to appreciate how lucky we are when we’re not. 

I should be back to my regular outfit posts soon, thanks for hanging in there!

Birthday Outfit and a Collaboration

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to do a photoshoot with the lovely Darek from WithU Photography. Darek specialises in wedding and sports photography and portraiture, so it was a real treat to be able to have some of his time. You might not know, but I do almost all of my own photography for the blog, using a tripod and a camera remote. I have no back ground in photography and I hardly know how to use my camera (which is pretty poor seeing as I’ve been blogging for over two years now!). So being able to work with a real photographer like Darek was awesome, he made me feel very comfortable and gave me lots of great tips about how to hold and move my body to capture the best shots. I’m no model and am not particularly graceful, so all of his direction was very helpful!

 

The outfit we shot is one I wore for my birthday on the weekend! It’s super bright and fun, and was really easy to jump around in while Darek tried to capture my silly face. I’ve had the lace skirt for ages, but I recently bought the pink Cameo bustier (brand new with tags on!) from an op shop, so I was desperate to wear it. I wore the same Moschino belt for my birthday last year (see the outfit here) so I thought I may as well make it a ‘thing’ and whacked it on again. Plus it’s just so cool! When I first bought the lace skirt it was fully lined, but I loved the pattern of the lace so much I decided to cut out half of the lining so you could see the detail better. It's one of my go-to pieces when I want to look a little fancy! 

Darek and I have plans to collaborate again in the future, so you may start to see some different types of photos on the blog (not just my colourful garage doors that I’m so obsessed with!). Thanks again Darek, you are a pleasure to work with!

Skirt: St Luke’s op shop Mosman Park $12

Top: St Luke’s op shop Mosman Park $7

Belt: Anglicare Bentley $5

Bracelet: Opportunity Knocks $4

Shoes: Gorman

Bag: Target

All photos by WithU Photography