Restyle 2014 and The Australian Red Cross

 For Restyle 2014, each of the bloggers have been partnered with a different charity and I was lucky enough to be paired up with the Australian Red Cross. The Australian  Red Cross stores help to fund humanitarian programs  locally, Australia wide and in the  Asia Pacific region. The organisation relies heavily on volunteers and has in WA 3488 alone, 750 of who work in the fund raising retail sector!

 (the delightful Brenda and Thea from the Freo shop)

The Australian Red Cross celebrate their Centenary this year, and they have SO MUCH to be proud of! You can also join in the festivities by signing up to host your own Big Cake Bake morning tea on August 25th. This is a fun and delicious way to raise funds and awareness for  Australian Red Cross and to celebrate their momentous 100 year anniversary. I’ll be hosting a morning tea at my office and am already planning what yummy baked goodies I’ll be making (did someone say choc caramel cupcakes?!)
 

A big part of my partnership with  Australian  Red Cross Australia is to shop exclusively in their stores for all my Restyle goodies (oh the burden!!), and boy have I been spoilt for choice! I have found so many wonderful things! The Australian Red Cross have 28 op shops in WA, ten of which are in the Perth metro area. I have now been to all of the metro stores and here are my hot tips…

Australian Red Cross Shoalwater  - check it out if you want a serious bargain! The shop is beautifully merchandised by size and colour so it’s super easy to find something that fits and suits you, plus pretty much everything in the store is $10 or less.

Australian Red Cross North Perth – this is the place to go if you want some designer labels, the North Perth store have a huge variety of designer gear and lots of recognisable brand names.

Australian Red Cross Duncraig – this store is vintage heaven! Even if you live in Freo like I do, it’s totally worth the drive to check out their amazing rack of vintage clothing and excellent costumes.

Australian Red Cross  Fremantle – this is a great place to start if you are new to op shopping, the store is more like a boutique with heaps of brand new clothing, pristine vintage, designer labels and lots of shoes and accessories.

  

Happy op shopping!

Jeanius

Jeans are something I have struggled with for a long time. They are SO practical and versatile, but I never feel 100% comfortable in them. Last winter I chanced upon some Acne beauties in an op shop and fell in love with the high waist. This winter I decided it might be good to find some jeans in a darker wash with a similar high waist but also a skinny leg.

Given I don’t wear jeans all the time I was reluctant to spend a lot of money on some, so after fruitlessly searching for the perfect pair in an op shop (finding a perfect pair of Acne denim sadly doesn’t happen very often), I started looking in some chain stores as well.

This pair are from Cotton On and set me back $35. I’m really happy with them and am so glad I didn’t have to spend a fortune, they probably won’t last that long, but seeing as I’ll only wear them a handful of times each winter, I’m not too worried about it.

This is a recent date night outfit, my boyfriend always pays me lots of compliments when I wear jeans so I felt pretty good about myself in this get up, maybe I’ll have to whip these out a little more often!

Jeans: Cotton On

T-Shirt: Op Shop

Jacket: Op Shop*

Belt: Op Shop

Boots: Tony Bianco

*Jacket Number 11

Life Recently

I’ve been doing so much stuff behind the scenes for my blog recently that I’ve forgotten to actually post things! I’ve got some cool things to post next week, so I’ll tide you over with what I’ve been up to lately…

Eating lots of roast vegies and warm winter food

Cooking carrot cake… twice in one week, it’s just so good!

 
Drinking lots of tea

 
Watching the World Cup! With a Dutch boyfriend and a German housemate things are getting a little intense in our house hold at the moment

Shopping at Red Cross stores, I’ve gone to every one in the metro area as part of my Restyle challenge

Buying the perfect black ankle boots, it took me ages to find some in my price range but I finally have and I’m never taking them off!

Wearing layers upon layers! It’s so bloody freezing at the moment, my vast collection of coats is really coming in handy

 
Reading nothing… dam I need to remedy that!
Browsing Claremont Quarter, I’ve got a $200 gift voucher and I want to spend it on something special

Dreaming of a tropical holiday… or a snowy holiday… any holiday would be good!

This weekend I’m wine tasting, beer drinking, ice hockey watching and volleyball playing… it’s going to be fun!! What are you up?



Restyle Photo-A-Day Style Prompts

The Restyle 2014 style prompts have been released! How exciting! Now is probably a good time to explain the Restyle challenge a little better, because everyone can (and should!) get involved.

For every day in August there is a different style prompt and you are encouraged to op shop and wear something that matches the prompt. For example on August 1^st the style prompt is Glitter, so head to your local op shop and find something gorgeous and sparkly to wear on that day, then post it on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or leave me a comment below.

 The Restyle bloggers were given this list of style prompts a few weeks ago, so I have been madly op shopping and searching for pieces from Red Cross op shops that fulfil each prompt. Being a super enthusiastic op shopper, I have already ticked off most of the prompts and as you can see I am literally surrounded by clothes ( even more so than usual!). Red Cross op shops have SO MUCH awesome stuff, I've been spoilt for choice and can't wait to start sharing my finds with you.

Aside from blogging my outfits each day I’ll also be sharing them on Twitter and Instagram, so make sure you follow me @inthedressupbox and use #Restyle2014 to tag any of your own posts. You can interpret the style prompts any way you like, so find a way to make them suit your style (or challenge yourself to dress outside the box!). I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with!

  PS Some of the prompts are a little tricky (ummm hello Cut Outs?!) so I'll share a few tips to tackle the more challenging ones in a few days

Restyle Excitement!

So after all the excitement of yesterday (or is it just me?) I thought I’d tell you a little more about Restyle. It’s an initiative of the Telstra Perth Fashion Festival and encourages people to op shop (how fabulous daahhhling!). There are seven Perth based blogs involved with the project and I am lucky enough to be one of them. The other blogs are listed in the side bar, I strongly suggest you check them all out because this is a seriously stylish and creative bunch of ladies that I am pretty stoked to be in the company of. 

Last year when my blog was just beginning I followed along with Restyle 2013. It was so much fun and a great way to kick off In The Dress Up Box. These are my favourite looks from Restyle 2013...

Shoes                                                                                     Bow

 This year I’ve got the added challenge (or bonus!) of exclusively shopping at Red Cross op shops. There are 28 Red Cross op shops in WA (here's the list!), I’ve been madly visiting the 10 metro stores and collecting items to use for the challenge. I've found some gorgeous stuff that I can't wait to wear!

Statement                                                     Colour Blocking

 Belt                                                                              Cuffed        

Next week Telstra Perth Fashion Festival will announce the style prompts for Restyle 2014 and then the fun will really begin! You can start op shopping and putting together outfits to follow along with us. The Restyle Photo-A-Day challenge officially starts on August 1^st… I can’t wait!

 Sequins                                                                     Bag

Don’t forget to subscribe to In The Dress Up Box (enter your email in the little box on the right side bar) and follow me on Instagram and twitter (@inthedressupbox)!

Restyle Photo-A-Day Challenge for Telstra Perth Fashion Festival

Happy Thursday! I am thrilled to FINALLY announce that I have been chosen to be part of the Restyle Photo-A-Day Challenge for the Telstra Perth Fashion Festival (TPFF)! I am SO ridiculously excited to be part of this fantastic project .

The Restyle Photo-A-Day Challenge will be happening from August 1-31, each day there will be a different style prompt to inspire you to hit the op shops and put together a fantastic outfit. I am well and truly obsessed with op shopping and am proud to have a wardrobe that’s almost completely second hand. Hitting the op shops  is a wonderful way to find awesome clothing (that no one else will have), contribute to a worthy cause and it’s a great sustainable way to shop! So everyone wins!

Every day in August I will be blogging about my op-shopped outfits and hopefully inspiring you to put together your own Restyled look. There are seven other Restyle bloggers who will also be posting about their op shopped outfits, I am so excited to see what every one comes up with! We have all been partnered with a different charity and I am lucky enough to be paired up with The Australian Red Cross! Over the next two months I’ll be filling you in about all the excellent work the Australian Red Cross does (and how amazing their op shops are!).

I could honestly blab on about Restyle for pages and pages because it’s just so exciting, but I’ll leave you with some behind the scenes pictures from our photo-shoot a few weeks ago (very fancy!).

Shirt: Stylists own

Skirt: Vintage from Berlin

Shoes: Rachel Antonoff

Hair: L’Oreal Professionel

Makeup: SC Makeup Artistry

Styling: Claire Mueller

Photography: Shift Creative

Did you know you can subscribe to my blog to receive notifications every time I publish a post? Just submit your email address in the little box on the right, that way you can keep up to date with my Restyle 2014 adventure! 

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!