Hi there, remember me? Yes it’s been a hectic few weeks with all these events on, and I’m still right in the midst of the chaos. But to make matters worse I’ve also been coping with a total hard drive failure due to insidious spam! There has been so much rubbish going around the internet of late, that it is hard to sort out the important from the pure evil, so if anyone has been emailing and not heard back, or had your messages over looked, I do apologise as things have been in damage control mode.

Moving right along, whilst all this has been happening and I’ve been tech limping along, I’ve also finished two major projects; the first of which I soft launched on the weekend and the other that debuts on Wednesday night!  I’ve been sewing night and day to create my masterpiece for the Mission 65 Fashion event this week. Because I’m such a glutton for punishment and such a mad perfectionist, my creation includes not only all the time for sourcing, designing and machine construction; but also a grand total of 14 hours of intricate hand sewing! There was something rather Dickensian about sitting there from sun up to sun down developing a hump in my back all for the glory of the garment.

I know it isn’t all that fair to be such a tease telling you about this project and have nothing to show, but all will be revealed shortly. I can say this though; my outfit is something you’ll not likely expect and like nothing you’ve ever seen before…. cue dramatic music..

I can’t show you my finished outfit just yet, but I can show you the shopping expedition in the Prahran Mission OP shop where I sourced my materials.

Watched over by Elvis, who, for all intents and purposes could be the patron saint of vintage shopping.

I’m told the event is now a sell out, but there will be all manner of features to come later in the week.

And while we’re on the topic of shopping, here’s a look at the outfit I wore while tackling this shopping quest and a freezing cold Melbourne day.

Outfit Details

Black Woollen Sweater – Country road – Op shop find

Black swing bolero (with pom poms! Love it so much I bought two!) - Mimco

White Scotty Dog Brooch – Peta Pledger

Red and black boucle 1950′s vintage skirt – Circa Vintage Clothing

Shoes – Luca & Marc

Red Rose earrings – DIVA

Lipstick – MAC Russian Red

Oh, and the red hat box styled bag you’ll no doubt be asking about came from Circa Vintage store on Gertrude street, Fitzroy and is made by Glamour Puss. Yes, that’s right, it’s a fantastic repro!

Thanks to everyone for adding your entries to yesterday’s contest to win a pass to the Melbourne Love Vintage Fair.

Thanks to the Random Number Generator, we have two winners who will each receive a pass and they are:

Michelle Robson-Garth from Health Food Lover

& Sophie from  the Poem Observatory

I’m so pleased to hear so many of you will be able to make it to this fantastic event and I look forward to meeting many of you there!

I’m exceedingly excited about this upcoming weekend,because for the first time, the Love Vintage Fair is coming to Melbourne!

You’ve seen a few of my eye candy posts of the Sydney Fairs, but this will be the first time I can bring you the inside scoop from Melbourne.  Over three days you’ll be able to come and enjoy the offerings of over 60 dealers from all over Australia. Clothing, textiles, jewellery and all kinds of ephemera make up just some of the treasures on offer. But that’s not all!

There’s great prizes for the Best Dressed in Vintage; (- 1st Place will win a Classic Pinup Shoot valued at $600 sponsored by the talented Helen McLean Photography) Swing Dancing demos, and of course the most marvelous vintage fashion parade put together by Circa Vintage and yes I’ll be up there too wearing some incredibly beautful pieces.  The ladies from The Lindy Charm School for Girls will also be doing vintage hair & makeup demonstrations.

I’ve been flat out these last few weeks working on a secret project for the fair and can’t wait to show you the results. You’ll find me right next to Circa Vintage and the main stage, so please do come over and say hello! I have some complimentary tickets to give away too, so just leave me a comment on this post and I’ll draw the winners at random tomorrow evening so you can get your passes for the show.

All the details

Friday 27th May  5.30pm – 9.00pm      Saturday 28th May   9.30am – 5.30pm

Sunday 29th May   10am – 4.00pm

Exhibition Hall, Melbourne Showgrounds, Epsom Road, AscotVale

Tickets at the door – Adult $14, Pensioner $10, Child $5

More information on the Love Vintage Website.

This is the perfect opportunity to bring your mum, bring your nana or even bring your kids along for an education.  In fact, I’d love to see some children dressed up for the Best Dressed in Vintage this time, so break out the bloomers and let the little darlings loose!

Can’t wait to see you at the fair!

A Nuffnang sponsored post.

Saturday was the big day. The big day that I was to spend with my Westfield Styling Experience winner! First off, a big thank you to everyone who took the time to enter this contest, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to judge.  But after much deliberation and consoltation, our winner Michelle, was chosen.

Here is her winning entry.

“I need a Westfield Stylist and Super Kawaii Mama to help me so I too can attain ’super’ status!

I’m living in crazy town at the moment. That place where I forget that I exist in the same time space continuum as the rest of the world and try and pack even more into a week than a sane person usually does. And yet, how can I not with all this fun to be had?

Last week I had a full week of photoshoots, hair & makeup, weddings and events planned; and boy was it a big one! First up on Tuesday  I spent a full day on set with four of my glamorous models putting together a look book of my vintage bridal and formal styling. It was fancy gowns and full hair & makeup looks that ran the scale from 1930′s movie star to 1950′s prom sweetheart. I’m presently working with the talented team at Finessence who produce some of the most stunning wedding shots I’ve seen in ages. I’m putting all this together for a showcase at the Love Vintage Fair coming up next Friday!  If you’ve wanted to see what it is that I do, this is your chance. Come along and check out all the fancy vintage hair and makeup looks we can create for your special occasion. I have all sorts of surprises in store for you!

How’s that for a good looking bunch? My talented photographic team in the front and me with my lovely models and styling assistant in the back.  Just wait till you see the complete picture; I’m simply dying with anticipation to show you!

So after a full day of divas and diamonds, it was my turn in front of the camera again.  This time with the delightful (and secretly hilarious) Helen McLean of Notorious Dames fame.  First up I wore the new “Rocker Girl Jane” dress by a wonderful local designer Peta Pledger. I have a few of Peta’s pieces now as they are all handmade here in Melbourne and are top quality.

And this super cute daisy print shirt with its little puffy sleeve and proper collar.

Remember the Birdy dress that I wore for my Vintage tour outing complete with tiara? We shot that for my lovely sponsor Miskonduct Klothing too.

And then this beautiful ‘Bamboo’ dress by Bernie Dexter that is stocked in Australia by Miskonduct Klothing too!

And that wasn’t all, but I won’t totally photo bomb you today!  It is all systems go here with so many events, shows and new projects on the horizon.  For some reason my winters always seem to be the craziest time of year, but I’m not complaining, I simply love my work!