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!

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!