Red Lips Will Cure Anything

This is my ‘I’m so hungover the only thing that will cure me is red lipstick and new shoes’ outfit. I don’t know if this is a common thing, but whenever I wake up after a night of too many champagnes I find putting on a face full of makeup and nice clothes will generally make me feel a bit better. When I woke up on Saturday morning, I had to drag myself out of bed to do the last of my Christmas shopping, luckily I had my new espadrilles and a nice bright lip (and several coffees!) to get me out the door. 

My top is new as well. I bought it last week from Save the Children op shop in Mosman Park, it’s United Colours of Benetton and cost $7. I love the tropical print and it’s 100% cotton, a perfect summer top! (Another to add to my large collection of sleeveless tie up shirts). I think I may have solved my ‘not enough summer tops’ problem!

This trusty denim skirt and my new espadrilles were a great shopping combination, obviously I also needed the biggest sunglasses I own to hide my tired eyes (no amount of concealer could cover up those bags!). After traipsing around the shopping center for an hour I was actually feeling quite good, so I rewarded myself with some new shoes. Turns out buying new shoes is also a pretty great hang over cure. 

I hate feeling hungover (duh!), especially at this time of year when there is so much happening and so much to do. I’m definitely going to monitor my champagne consumption a little more closely over the following days, I want to be on fine form for Christmas day and all the fun it entails! 

Should-Be Christmas Party Outfit

I’m sorry about the lack of posts over the weekend, I was seriously busy! Aren’t we all at this time of year though? This is what I had planned to wear to my surf club Christmas party on Friday night. The theme was bright and colourful and I had this outfit in mind for about a week. At the very last moment before I walked out the door I changed my top and I so regret it now! 

Don’t you just hate that?! I was worried this knit top would be too warm so I changed to a halter neck and it just didn’t look as good, I felt uncomfortable all night. I’m definitely not someone who can easily throw together an outfit, I need to think about it and try it on and consider my options before I walk out the door. So why, oh why did I make a quick switcheroo seconds before heading out the door?! I think Christmas is frazzling my brain!

I still really love this outfit, so I’m definitely going to have to wear it out of the house sometime soon. My skirt and belt are both from an op shop, this skirt is one of my favourites, the colour is just so awesome and it’s great for spinning and dancing! My liquorish all-sorts knit top was given to me by my mum, it’s from French Connection. My shoes are Melissa and my jelly clutch is from a random shop in Bali.

Possibly my favourite part of this outfit is my amazing Kate Spade ring. Luckily I left this on before heading out on Friday! This gorgeous ring was a gift from my old boss, I think I admired it on her one to many times and she eventually gave in and gifted it to me. Success!

Moo-moos and Blue Birds

This dress is a moo-moo... there is no other way around it. I bought it about 5 years ago in Alice Springs for a couple of dollars. I couldn't go past the amazing bird print and I do love red and blue together, so this was a no brainer. A lot of the locals in Alice wear dresses like this, brightly coloured loose cotton is definitely the way to go when the temperature routinely creeps past 45 degrees.

I'm not such a fan of shapeless outfits (at least not for everyday). So every time I wear this dress I do the same thing to create a bit more shape. First I pin the front of it to my bra to make a more flattering neckline and then I use a belt to pull the excess fabric to the back and create a nice outline, plus it makes the gorgeous bird more visible. 

In keeping with my Christmas theme I wore red... that's a bit lame but I didn't want to wear a novelty brooch that might distract from my blue bird.

I'm also wearing my fantastic CapnMueller squid earrings, which kind of look like little Santa's from afar, so that's also festive right? (right!). My belt is vintage, op shopped a million years ago and my espadrilles are Country Road ones that I found on eBay for $20 after trawling the Internet looking for them. They are so comfy! They will definitely be on high rotation this summer. 

I mean seriously, moo-moo or no moo-moo, when you find a dress plastered with a giant blue bird in an op-shop, you find a way to make that baby work! 

My Outfit Formula

I seem to have unknowingly developed a very definite outfit formula over the past few weeks. High waist-ed skirt, tie up top and a brooch. I've worn variations of this outfit countless times over the first month of summer and I think I will continue to do so until the cold weather kicks in. It's so effortless and comfortable!

The crop top trend has been around for awhile, and while I do appreciate it on people who have the stomach to pull it off, I do not and hence will not wear one. Wearing all these little tie tops is my variation of the crop top trend, I can have a small sliver of tummy on display, but if I get cold feet half through the day I can just tuck my top in, perfect! 

I have been on the hunt for a sleeveless denim shirt for a while (I even looked in non op-shop stores! gasp!) and was very happy to find this little DKNY number for $4 at my local Mosman Park op-shop. I chopped and sewed it in to a tie up top (it was a full length shirt) and have worn it so much, denim really does go with everything. 

My gigantic brooch was given to me by my Aunty Maria, it is actually a kilt pin and belonged to my great grandfather (it's from the 1890's!). The pin is a wreath of Scottish thistles with a large citrine stone in the centre, it looks very festive and is so special to me.

The floral print on this op-shopped skirt looks exactly like Poinsettia, so it's very apt for my Christmas outfit theme. My trusty black Hobbs wedges are still the most comfy shoes I own (I wish I had them in every colour of the rainbow!).

Candy Stripes and a Christmas Tree

My second Christmas outfit, hurrah! This one is particularly festive I think. I bought this top last week specifically because it reminded me of a candy cane. I love the shape of the collar as well as the print, I just can't go past a brightly coloured stripe. 

Due to the sticky weather and vast amounts of chocolate/candy canes/wine I seem to be consuming recently I have been favouring loosely fitted clothing. I'm not bothered by a tight waist, so long as my stomach isn't too confined. This skirt and the one I wore yesterday are great examples, the fitted waist gives my body a little definition, but the A-line skirt doesn't restrict anything else (so I don't feel like I'm popping out of my clothes after one too many fruit mince pies). 

My skirt was $5 from the Melville Markets and my top was $6 from Claremont Vinnies. My wedges are from Hobbs. I've been wearing wedges a lot lately, I actually quite like the extra height they give me. At 5 foot 10, I definitely don't need to be any taller, but there is something very satisfying about towering over people. Most of the time I don't really like that amazonian feeling and I've been quite enjoying it recently! 

Last but not least, LOOK AT MY BROOCH! It's so pretty! My mum has been wearing this brooch at Christmas time for as long as I can remember. When we were setting up the Christmas tree a few weeks ago she gave it to me. I am thrilled! It's so beautiful, not like my other novelty Christmas brooches, this one is beautifully made with little coloured stones in it. I want to wear it all year round!

12 Outfits of Christmas

So this is a little obvious, but I'm going to try and blog my 12 outfits of Christmas. I know, I know, there is only 7 days until Christmas now (I really should have got my self organised 5 days ago!) but I've got so many events within the next 7 days, so I will definitely be wearing at least 12 outfits between now and D-day (C-Day?). Plus you know I love a theme, so I don't really need much of an excuse to wear only red clothes and novelty brooches for a week.

 
I wore this to work on Monday and then to my work Christmas party. It was SO HOT on Monday and even though my office is air conditioned I wanted to wear something nice and cool. This printed cotton skirt is so light and floaty, it's perfect for 40+ degrees weather (yes it was over 40 on Monday in Perth, gross!).

As I was also attending my work Christmas party I was determined to look festive, so I put on my mistletoe brooch that I made last December. It's really heavy so I needed to wear it with a fairly sturdy top. This little tie up red top is a new favourite. It's Moss&Spy and it's cotton, I bought is for $2 at Claremont Vinnies. They were having a sale and I am always on the look out for cute cotton tops, this one fits the bill perfectly. 

Check out my first attempt at a half moon manicure! It's not perfect, but I was pretty happy with it. More practice is definitely needed! My shoes are from Sportsgirl and my very tired eyes are courtesy of a jam-packed weekend and a few too many wines. Who doesn't love the silly season hey?

 

Holiday Packing

Isn't it a wonderful feeling when you have an excellent holiday but then don't feel so bad about heading home? As much as I could have lazed around my Balinese resort for another three weeks, I wasn't so sad about jetting back to Perth on Sunday night, so many fun things to look forward to in the next few weeks!

Let's back up a week and talk about holiday packing! I don't know about you, but it's something I get seriously excited about. As soon as I've paid for my plane tickets I start dreaming about what capsule wardrobe I'm going to bring with me. What will I wear on the plane? What shoes are versatile enough for the day to night transition? What accessories go with which outfit? It's all so much fun to plan and make lists and try things on and then pack! Am I the only one who does this?

Knowing I was heading to a very hot, humid place I had to plan my outfits well. Considering I tend to favour fitted clothing with a definite structure, working out a way to dress stylishly and comfortably in seriously sticky weather was quite a challenge. It may surprise some (and probably my boyfriend won’t agree) but I’m actually a very good packer. I try really hard to only pack things that can be easily mixed and matched, and rely on accessories to change the style of an outfit, rather than packing a million separate looks.

For this trip I packed two skirts and three little tie front tops which could all be worn together. Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of the second skirt, but it’s this one here. I used a few carefully selected accessories (1 necklace, 2 scarves, 2 rings and 2 pairs of earrings) to take my outfits from day to night appropriate. I packed 3 dresses as well, this stretchy stripey one is so versatile (I’ve worn it here and here) and SO comfortable, it’s my go-to plane dress. I used my $2 tassel earrings to make it look a little fancy for sunset cocktails one night (check out my gorgeous Aunt as well!).

Everything I brought with me to Bali was op-shopped, excluding my shoes, jewellery and swim suits. I was really happy with all the things I packed and I didn’t feel like I missed anything (which is usually how I feel the minute the car has pulled out of the driveway for the airport), AND my suitcase was well under weight, which always makes me want to do a little cheer at the check-in counter!

I didn't take my tripod with me to Bali, so all of these pictures have been taken by the boyfriend (thanks Luke!)