The Go-To

This is my last post for Frocktober! Wearing a dress every day to work has been fun and a little more challenging than I anticipated! I have many many dresses in my wardrobe but actually not that many that are completely work appropriate. I’ve had to add cardigans, jackets, shirts and blazers to make sure I stuck to the office dress code and still kept my Frocktober pledge.

I’ll do a little wrap up next week, but for today you get a classic outfit. I bought this dress from Zara a few years ago and it has definitely become one of my go-to frocks when I want to look fabulous but aren’t sure what to wear. The fit is perfect, the style flatters my body shape in just the right way and I looooove the tropical print.

One of the reasons I wanted to wear this dress earlier in the week is because I’m actually giving it to my Aunt who lives in Indonesia to get it copied for me. I’m a bridesmaid at the end of the year and the bride-to-be has simply requested we wear a red dress, no other specifications have been made. So after a few months of searching through op shops for the perfect red dress (the wedding is in Bali so I want it to be sleeveless and cotton) I’ve given up and am simply going to get this exact dress made in a red fabric. I think it’s a very clever solution and am excited to have another version of my favourite frock even if it does mean I have to hand it over to a dressmaker for a few weeks.

I hope you have enjoyed following along for Frocktober! I had lots of fun but am SO excited to start wearing some of my skirts again which have been neglected for the past 4 weeks. Don’t forget you can still donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation!

Dress: Zara

Jacket: So old I can’t even remember where it’s from (possibly Myer?)

Brooch: Good Sammies Myaree, $6

Shoes: J Crew, eBay

Sunglasses: Karen Walker, eBay

Belt: Op Shop

P.S Don't you just love my brooch? I hit the vintage jewellery jackpot at Good Sammies the other day and had to drag myself away with only three pieces, when I could have easily filled my jewellery box. 

Life Recently

Ok so we are officially heading in to the festive season. Suddenly the Christmas decorations which have been on sale in Kmart, Myer, David Jones and Target for the past 6 weeks don’t feel ridiculous they feel appropriate, hoorah! I couldn’t be happier, I LOVE this time of year and I’ve had a wonderful October as well. There have been many celebrations this month with various friends getting engaged, getting married, buying houses and pets, including Luke and I (the house part not the pet unfortunately). There has been so much happening, but it’s all been so so fun! Here’s what I’ve been up to recently…
 

 

Eating avo and vegemite on toast. Every. Single. Morning.

Drinking far too much champagne, with engagements, hens nights, bridal showers and an actual wedding, I think I’ve drunk my body weight (and then some) in bubbles this month!

Cooking BBQs baby! Tis the season and all

Watching the IT Crowd, it’s my current go-to show when I need a giggle. Moss and Roy get me every time
Buying DIY supplies, we should be moving into our new home ANY DAY NOW, so I’m getting crafty with home decorations!

Wearing all my favourite frocks, I’ve been doing the Frocktober challenge and wearing a dress every day this month!

Reading trashy mags, I need to get back into a book series because I’m spending way too much money on NW and OK. Any recommendations?

Avoiding dwelling on my operation, one day left of having a scar-free neck, EEK!
Browsing Pinterest for DIY Christmas gift ideas, less than two months to go and I’m determined to get on top of things ASAP

Needing a de-tox, October has been a seriously boozy month!

 

Personally I’ve been gearing myself up for my big thyroid operation, which is happening tomorrow. I’ve only been in hospital once before and that was to have my wisdom teeth out, so I’m slightly anxious about it but I’m also confident it will all be OK. My surgeon assures me that I’m strong and healthy and fighting fit, so recovering isn’t going to be an issue and the surgery is very straight forward. I should only be in hospital for one night and then I’ll be back home where my boyfriend can wait on me hand and foot (I’m quite excited about that bit haha). I have a few blog posts scheduled for next week, but after that I’ll just have to play it by ear. I’m going to have a big scar on my neck so I don’t know how I’m going to feel about outfit shoots. But we’ll see, god knows I love bragging about my op shop finds so I probably won’t stay away for too long! Thanks for all your well wishes and kind words, it’s truly amazing!

Spots and Stripes

While I’m really loving the Frocktober Challenge I’m finding that wearing a dress every day is just too easy. Don’t get me wrong, I love easy dressing, but recently I’ve really been enjoying the challenge of mixing and layering prints/patterns/accessories to create a unique look. Throwing on a dress and walking out the door is just too simple, I need a challenge! So here I am with another sneaky way to wear a frock while not exactly feeling like you are. Instead of layering a skirt over a dress like I did last week, I’ve layered a t-shirt over a dress! Ta da!

This outfit fits all the criteria… it’s a frock, it involves more than one item of clothing and it’s suuuuuper comfy. On Friday I really wanted to wear something casual to the office. I’d worn heels and fitted frocks all week and I just wanted something comfy and relaxed for the last day of the working week. Unfortunately my office doesn’t do casual Friday every Friday, so I still had to pull together an outfit that looked vaguely professional. I think I achieved just that with this monochrome look (black and white is always profesh right?).

I layered one of my favourite dresses with my trusty striped tee, pulled out my most comfortable sandals and added a red lip… ready to conquer the day (and then go home and demolish a glass of wine, because: Friday). What do you think? Do you love dresses because they are so easy to wear or do you enjoy the challenge of putting together a cool outfit from a bunch of separate pieces?

Dress: Op Shop

T-shirt: Op Shop

Shoes: Good Sammies Subiaco $6

Belt: Op Shop

P.S I finally found my Mac Russian Red lipstick! I’d lost it for ages and was starting to consider buying another, so I was super excited to find it waiting forlornly for me in the pocket of a hand bag I haven’t used for months. Hoorah!

The Great Garage Sale Trail

Happy Friday! Did you read my last post about the Australian Red Cross Pop-Up Shop that’s happening tomorrow in the Murray Street Mall in Perth? It’s going to be such an exciting day! I’ve donated a big bag of clothes from my own collection to the sale, so if you get there early enough tomorrow you might be able to nab some of them for a steal!

The Red Cross Pop-Up Shop is part of the Australian Garage Sale Trail which is also tomorrow. It’s basically a huge national event encouraging everyone to shop second hand, which is honestly the best message ever! These are a few of the dresses I’ve donated...

All the money raised tomorrow at the Pop-Up Shop will be going towards supporting the excellent initiatives of the Australian Red Cross, so you know your money is going to an exceptionally worthy cause. Good luck rummaging and do let me know what you find!

Vintage Laura Ashley denim shift dress - donated to the sale
Vintage pink and red striped maxi dress - donated to the sale 

Check out the Red Cross Shops Facebook page for more info!

Red Cross Pop Up Shop

Why Hello there! Today I’m partnering with one of my absolute favourite op shop charities, The Australian Red Cross, and I couldn’t be more excited. Did you know that this Saturday the 24th of October is the national Garage Sale Trail event? If you don’t know what that is, do click the link, because it’s super cool and you don’t want to miss out! The Australia Red Cross are stepping things up a notch and hosting a massive Pop Up Shop in the Murray Street Mall on Saturday the 24th of October along with seven other charities. It’s like a massive op shop / garage sale in the middle of the city with all the money raised going to support the fantastic projects and programs these charities run. Pretty great huh?

All this week the Red Cross have a Donations Container set up in Forest Place near Top Shop, you can pop by and drop off some of your unwanted but excellent quality gear (clothing, accessories and household stuff welcome!). The container is open for donations only any time between 7am and 2pm until this Friday the 23rd. I stopped by on Monday morning and dropped off a bag of donations, including the two dresses in these photos. I also styled up one of the mannequins, there is seriously SO MUCH awesome stock it was hard to decide what to put on display. If you can’t get down to donate then I’d definitely encourage you to drop by and have a rummage on Saturday, it’s going to be epic!

When I stopped by the donations container on Monday I saw racks and racks of gorgeous clothes all ready to be sorted and organised by the fab Australian Red Cross volunteers and that was only the first day of donations! I had to drag myself away very reluctantly. I’ll be back on Friday to show you another couple of outfits I’ve donated to the Pop Up Shop that you’ll be able to purchase for a steal if you like them.

Red printed Kookai maxi dress - donated to the sale!
Vintage floral print dress - donated to the sale!

For more info check out the Red Cross Shops Facebook page

A Weekend of Love

Oh my goodness I am so excited you guys! After years of be-moaning the fact that I never get invited to weddings / none of my friends were getting hitched it’s finally started to happen! This coming weekend Luke and I are heading down south for our very first friend’s wedding! We have a number of them over the next few months and I’m so excited! This past weekend I went to a hens night, an engagement party and a bridal shower, it was pretty full on, but so much fun. This is the outfit I wore for the bridal shower (you do not want to see for I wore for the hens night!).

I’d never been to a bridal shower before but I felt like something flowery and super girly was in order, and I was right on the money. All the guests were decked out in beautiful summer frocks, perfect for sipping champagne and nibbling treats while partaking in the bridal shower fun. The bride to-be stole the show of course (as she should!) in a beautiful full blue skirt and pale pink top.

I bought this dress a few months ago, it’s Review, which is a brand I really love. Their vintage styles have a modern twist which is right up my alley. I was very excited to find this barely worn beauty hanging in the racks at Salvos. I originally thought this might be a good option to wear to the actual wedding, but then I found something even better (which I’ll share next week). So this floral number was perfect for the weekend’s activities.

Do you have any weddings coming up? I know Summer is wedding season, so I’d love to know what your go-to guest outfit is!

Dress: Review, Salvos Osborne Park $17

Shoes: Melissa

Sunglasses: Pared
Earrings: borrow from Mum

Trackside

A lot of the time I find myself wearing outfits to work that many people would wear to a wedding or another special event. I try super hard to dress things down with basic hair, makeup and accessories. But what can I say, I just LOVE wearing pretty dresses and if I’ve got to work 40 hours a week I may as well be doing it in a fancy frock!

This dress is newly thrifted, it’s Leona Edmiston and I got it for a total steal. Obviously I was desperate to wear it immediately, so there was no way I was going to wait for a special event. But wouldn’t this be the perfect outfit for the races? The Melbourne Cup and all those fun racing events are coming up in a few weeks so I thought I’d whack on a facinator and show you what I might wear if I were going...

Unfortunately the Melbourne Cup is 3 days after my surgery, so I’ll be in no state to dress up and drink champagne track side (such a shame!). So instead of wearing this outfit to the races, I wore it to work, minus the facinator. Speaking of which, do you prefer a fascinator or a hat? Or even just a simple head band? My attitude towards fascinators is unlike the way I feel about any other accessory. Basically I only wear them once a year, so I only need to own one. Unlike some other blogger babes, like Amy from Willow Curves, I don’t wear fascinators regularly or on any day other than the first Tuesday in November, so I don’t feel the need to have a huge selection, plus they are SO expensive for what they are. I’ve had this red one for 4 years and have worn it every year. It was the perfect buy because it goes with so many different things. I’ve had no trouble putting together a new and exciting races look year after year.

Do you own lots of racing head-wear options, or just the one like me? What is your go-to Melbourne cup look?

Dress: Leona Edmiston, St Lukes Op Shop $8

Clutch: Alannah Hill, Vinnies Claremont $3

Boots: Bresley

Stockings: Leona Edmiston

Facinator: Gregory Ladner

Earrings: Mimco, gift

P.S We are half way through Frocktober!! Make sure you donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation by clicking HERE!