This is the first week of school holidays for my girls. So we cleared a little time on the calendar this morning to go in and see Daddy at work for a little picnic lunch.

Our schedules always get so busy that it can be hard to find the time to just stop and smell the roses. But when the Spring morning hits 21 degrees, and the babies are co-operating, you have to just say, “Hang it. It may be a Wednesday morning, but what better reason to celebreate with an impromptu picnic.”

Some of you already saw a little sneak peek of last Friday’s activities via my Twitter, but until this goes to air, here is another snippet of last week’s activities.  Excuse the camera phone quality pics, we were all a bit too busy to take serious photos…. we were at Circa Vintage shooting a segment for The Collectors!

I’m all too excited for Summer now!

Finally, phase one of the Great Wardrobe Project is complete! Not for lack of trying, but other pressing matters keep pushing this project to the bottom of the list.  Well, that was until I decided to take a total ‘time out’ on my weekend, not leave the house even once, employing my mini troops in the battle against chaos. Occupying children when you have every piece of clothing and accessories you own scattered around, can be a little tricky. So I armed them with swimming goggles, spray bottles (of water), dusting cloths, cameras and clip on earrings! Rather than tackling the Everest that is all my clothes (that is costumes, collection etc..) I stuck to only the current day to day wardrobe.  With vacuum in hand, plenty of boxes, tape, surface spray for warding off any critters;  we set to work.

Taking everything out of the wardrobe is the best time to check for any creepy crawlies, give it a thorough vacuum, wipe down and take measures to protect your threads until next time.  And while you have everything out, check its condition – holes, buttons, seams, threads, cleanliness. Only the pressed and perfect go back in, and I keep a clothing rail in my studio for all the fixer-upers.

Maximise your space with clever thinking. All my long necklaces and belts are housed on tie racks at either end of the wardrobe, making use of the depth of the wall rather than more horizontal space. All the larger, soft handbags and totes go into a big plastic storage container with pictures at the front. Each bag is in its own dust cover inside and these are rotated out seasonally. I don’t like to keep things in plastic as a rule, as plastic gives off fumes that aren’t great for textiles.  But this container has a front opening door that allows me to reach inside and pull out what I want without taking the whole box down.

Special occasion hats are all in various hat boxes, with those I use most frequently, able to be grabbed at a moments notice. I love to colour block my clothes, but the various lengths and space restrictions make this tricky.  So they are blocked by colour and length to allow for more shoe storage and drawers under the shorter garments.

Of course, there is never enough room to house ALL the shoes, so those not worn quite as regularly as housed in boxes with their photos on the front. An old trick, but a good one, as even though you can now buy those see through plastic boxes, I resent paying for something that comes with the shoes already and is better for the environment and the longevity of my shoes than yet more plastic in the closet.

My dressing table houses the majority of my accessories, and as you well know, accessories are one of those things you really need to be able to see at all times or you totally forget what you have.  So I make good use of all the drawers, using yet more old boxes to help separate and store things so they don’t become damaged and jumbled. Even the scarves are folded and stacked so I can see the ‘spines’ of each of them to help identify them quickly.

And as for all the hair & makeup stuff… how do you tame that beast? With the help of fishing boxes from the hardware store, makeup cases, and lots of hooks.  Also, having a handy MR. SKM around to get the shelf on the wall was rather critical to the success of this one too!

If all else fails and you know like me, that your wardrobe has to extend into the rest of your house just to find homes – get creative.

China cabinets need not just be for nana nick nacks, they are the perfect place to do a bit of visual merchandising with your favorite handbags, hats and small plastic friends!

…… and Done!

If you’ve got any other great wardrobe organisation tips – share them with us in the comments.

image by .ash on Flickr

Last night I attended an exclusive photo exhibition launch event here in Melbourne for some very talented people. It was the usual crowd of names, faces and a sea of black. Official photographers walking around taking crowd shots,talking to you and taking details. (I don’t mean that to sound wanky, it just is that way at some events)  In amongst all of this was one chap walking around with his little digital happy snap camera, taking photos.  Now being a blogger, I am all too usually doing this myself – cool lighting = photo op, great style = photo op, amazing typography = photo op. You get my drift.  So I generally have no problem with people taking photos or asking to take photos of me.

What got me though was this – as I was standing talking to a friend, she whispers to me, “Don’t look now but there is a chap taking a photo of your shoes.” I casually remarked that that was cool and didn’t bother me, until I noticed that said chap was lying down on the floor at foot level snapping away at my feet WITHOUT EVEN ANNOUNCING HIS PRESENCE! Seriously, if I had taken a step backwards I would have stood on his head!  There was nothing official looking about his photo taking activities, he just melted away into the crowd. I thought this was pretty rude given his intimate knowledge of my toe nail polish shade, but I decided to forget about it and carry on enjoying myself.

After some time, as I was leaving the event, I stopped by the door to pick up some marketing leaflets for the gallery (I had my back to the room). I should mention here that I was wearing a backless dress, so a little of my back tattoo was peaking out. Anyway, I turned around to leave just as a flash went off – and there is this guy again with his hand just about inside my dress to move it back!  He stammers and says, “Oh I just want to get a shot of that tattoo  if that’s ok?”, So trying to remain gracious I say alright, thinking that there will then be an introduction, the usual handshake (however awkward) etc..  But no.  He strokes, snaps and leaves!!

So my question is this – Apart from the infinitely inappropriate use of hands without introductions; do you think this kind of stealth, yet invasive, happy snapping is ok? I know as bloggers we often want to photograph everything we like, but there are times that we have to check ourselves.

How would you have handled this situation?    Is stealth snapping okay?

A BIG thank you to Alister from Image Asylum for this great outfit shot.

Outfit Details

Blue velvet Jacket – Cue Winter 09    Dress – Betsey Johnson circa 1980

Opaques – Voodoo   Shoes – Tony Bianco

Headband Bow – Birthday gift and made by Arielle Antionette

Clutch bag – Thomas Wylde

Melbourne Spring Fashion week is about more than just models in pretty frocks and the latest offerings from your favorite designers. It is about talent, innovation, inspiration and the chance to see art expressed as fashion.  Worn Wild is one of the best places to see this ethos at work, in a market meets catwalk environment, where you can shop AND stare!  Here is where you have a chance to see fashion at is rawest, its edgiest, and catch a glimpse of more mainstream designers looking for new inspirations.  Worn wild is also a great event for getting your hands on unique, hand crafted and LOCALLY MADE pieces; that with a little imagination, you can work back to create a wearable day to day look all of your own.

With the talented Hexotica

It also happens to be a great event for meeting some very stylish readers!

Worn Wild is where all the cool kids come out to play, bringing their cutting edge sense of style to the street and making no apologies for being fabulous. From Goths to Lolita’s, Punk’s to Princesses, Vamps and Vintage Vixen’s – it is entirely possible that this much style is too much for one day to hold!

Like all good catwalk shows, Worn Wild is two parts fantasy,two parts reality; it is all up to you what you see in each piece and how it translates to your life style. For instance, there was a killer pair of hot pants with pink six shooters screen printed on the rear, which although hot pants are on the “not for me” style list – they would make an excellent addition to my gym gear wardrobe. Break them up,wear them together, but whatever you do innovate!

One of the key factors that makes Worn Wild a success in my books, is that all the designers are present to meet you and talk about your needs.  They can custom make no matter your size, and within a price range that even a student (with a little saving) can afford.  Combine that with supporting the talents of local up and comers,and and you have yourself one unmissable event. Fortunately for you, Worn Wild is on twice a year and I’ll let you know the dates for the next one as soon as it is on the horizon.