Loreal Melbourne Fashion Festival is rather a big deal here in Melbourne.  With not only a great main runway line up but also a full and rich cultural calendar.  Hence why my posts have been a bit slow this week, as I’ve headed out to as many things as my legs would carry me and still be able to recognise my own children at the end of the week!  Fashion week is a brilliant time to combine both business and pleasure, seeing not only some of the best and brightest talents out there but also to catch up with delightful friends and wear some of my favorite things all at once!  I’ve had only a little time to photograph what I wore this week, but this outfit was a little bit special.

The talented Gabrielle from Hoplessly Devoted, created this showstopping musk pink, dupon silk headpiece for me to wear and show stop it did. Named the “Marie Fascinator”, it has great body to be able to mould the bow into the shape you want, and features beautiful knife pleating across the front.  I had planned to wear it with another outfit this Saturday, but just couldn’t wait, so last minute I teamed it with a simple black dress and bustle belt for a little Fashion Week fun.

If you look closely, you’ll see the evidence that I do really take all my own photographs for this blog.

And yes, LMFF so far has been a blast. I have some new favorites (Nevenka) and some old favorites that continue to blow me away (Aurelio Costarella).  There is just so much to see and to be inspired by.

Aurelio Costarella indulges my love of strong tailoring; of 1940’s silhouettes,waists, peplums and strong shoulders. Their winter collection is simply delicious and appeals to my sense of decadence and luxury.  They are garments you just want to breath in as they fill your senses with berry tones and kitten soft trims.  If you’d like to see more of the events, the who’s who and some beautiful photographs, head on over to OhJamie (who also happened to be my front row date one evening along with brilliant celebrity stylist Philip Boon) and catch a glimpse of his stellar shots.  For a full round up of LMFF by some of Melbourne’s favorite local bloggers check this out .

Awaiting the start of Runway 3 with OhJamie – blogger and talented photographer.

Image credit – OhJamie

I know some of you have asked for the little details of these nights, so here are a couple of pics of just what one takes away from these shows other than an incredible lust and impending credit card debt!  The ubiquitous goody bags.

Loreal knows that after all the air-kissing  our lips may need a little plumping to restore them to their former glory, and the tresses need some TLC after a weeks worth of super styling.

Being able to rest one’s stilettoed feet between shows is critical, as is keeping track of just who is showing so that you can find that lust worthy gown in store.

How did they know I love glitter and red lips? Nice one Loreal!

Keeping it chic, LMFF put together this great little hold all for the mags, the lippy, the whole fashion week lot as ruining the lines of your outfit with a shopping bag is just not on.

Outfit Details

Dress – Table Eight (a very long time ago)

Bustle Belt – CMK

Shoes – (out of shot) “Japan” by Wittner in black

Tuxedo Cuff – Somewhere in Bangkok?

Headpiece – Hoplessley Devoted “Maire” silk fascinator

Pink ring – Singapore jewelery store

Lip colour – AVON “Amethyst” over MAC “Russian Red”

Now please excuse me whilst I go and tackle a weeks worth of photos!

Welcome to the NEW and IMPROVED Super Kawaii Mama.com everyone!

As you can see there have been some significant changes around here in the last week, and although there are still some sections to come on line, there is lots of new stuff already here to explore.  After a good six months of design work, thought, feedback and exploration; I’ve put together what I hope will be an even better blog experience for you here.  My aim is not only to give you the best possible content I can but to help you FIND it all!  Because Super Kawai Mama is now 2 years old (Happy Birthday blog!)  there are well over 500 posts in the archives to search in. That is a hell of a lot of writing, photographs and information to help you out.

As you’ll see there are special gateways to take you into each area of interest (these should all be fully up within the week I’m finishing the code as fast as I can) and all those requests you’ve been making for new posts, information and especially tutorials will be found here.  As soon as everything is all completed I’ll give you a proper guided tour and help you to find your way around.

But that is not all.  March 2010 is set to be a milestone month for Super Kawaii Mama – why? Well…

Super Kawaii Mama is the first Australian blogger to be invited to design a capsule collection with local Australian fashion label Friends of Couture!

This is just about the most exciting news I could possibly tell you as not only is it a total dream come true to be able to indulge my love of fashion and design, but it means that you’ll have the opportunity to tell me exactly what you want to be wearing and get your hands on a collection of my very own unique style!  I’ll have loads more to tell you about this as it all progresses, but suffice to say that if you are here because you love my style, you are going to LOVE this collaboration.  The collection itself wont be available until later in the year, but you’ll get to read first hand all about the inspirations, ideas and innovations, as well as being the first to see any sneak peaks!

In the meantime,  you don’t want to miss a minute of the action,  hear about exclusive news, offers and events; as well as just the general (somewhat offbeat) meanderings of my mind –

FOLLOW ME on Twitter, FRIEND me on Facebook,  ADD me to your Technorati and remember to SUBSCRIBE to the YouTube chanel to see all the new videos first!

It would look something like this.

Insert Self Here for Blissful Time.

Last Saturday in honor of the delightful Violet Le Beaux being in town, a group of like minded bloggers (and a pair of well trained partners) got together to enjoy and afternoon tea in true girly style. In a little known corner of Collingwood, Melbourne, is a lovely store that is bringing girly back. Christina Re is well known for her stunning DIY stationery collection that let’s you create customised pieces of correspondence magic on paper, vellum and quilted card to name but a few.  To make the experience of selection and creation much more enjoyable, they have recently launched a small in store cafe to supply tea and cakes to weary crafters.  After popping in for a much needed lemonade the other week, I was overwhelmed by the serenity and light of it all, promptly making a note to bring back a bunch of appreciative friends.  And so we did.

left to right: Aurora Hime, Violet Le Beaux, Jimmy America

left to right: Esme and the Laneway, Fables in Fashion, Petite Valse

Super Kawaii Mama and Esme and the Laneway, doing what bloggers do best. Photo by Jimmy America.

Also in attendence were Kitty’s Drawings and Circa Vintage to help us improve the vintage lover versus princess contingent.  I met the two styles in the middle by wearing a 1960’s pink square dancing dress and vintage blue petticoat!

It was as fun and fancy as it looked, there is no doubt we’ll be doing it again. In fact, I think I shall declare this weekend;

DIY Tea Party Weekend

So have a little tea and a cake or two with me.

One of the goals I’d set mself for this year was to tackle so many of the outstanding personal projects sitting around neglected in my studio. Things like yesterday’s jeans had been on the waiting list since Septemeber!  So far, I appear to be off to a cracking start even if that does mean hand stitching by lamp light feeling rather Dickensian as my vision slowly fades….  Which is why I was quite thrilled to be featured in the January issue of UK magazine SEW!

Here is what it says…

-What do you write about and what inspires you to blog?

Super Kawaii Mama is primarily fashion and style related. It is all about choosing to live your most glamorous life, regardless of your income level or parental status!  Rather than focusing on the latest catwalk looks or fashion that needs to be constantly updated, I am passionate about vintage, recycled, cottage industry and alternative fashion.  It is all about creating a style that is unique to yourself and finding a sense of joy through what you wear everyday.

Amazingly, I never seem to run out of things to blog, in fact I have a hard time keeping up with my brain and sometimes have some very sleepless nights as it won’t shut off!  I don’t find much inspiration in current fashion trends but rather in things I come across in daily life that, when looked at from a certain perspective, open up a whole new world of possibilities. It could be a certain colour, a great old movie, or even a wheat field seen from the window of the car that inspires me to start thinking about Little House on the Prairie type fashion!
Everything is fair game and is interpreted through the lens of my own sense of style then served up on the blog ready for consumption.

-How does blogging aid you in the creative process?

Blogging has been the biggest boon in terms of aiding my creative process. It is a brilliant way to connect to like minded individuals as well as people that see things very differently to myself and thus open my eyes to the new.  It forces me to make sense of many otherwise unformed thoughts which means that so many projects that would never have made it out of my head, have been able to become a reality.
Blogging is also a great validation. When your life is so busy being a parent, wife and everything that goes with that; it is often difficult to justify the time we want to spend on projects for ourselves. Especially those that are simply frivolous fun!  So if I feel like making a fancy Cinderella gown that I may only ever wear once, I can justify it to myself when I share the process with others… Well at least that is what I tell my husband!

-What are your favorite things to make?

Wow, my studio is testament to my favourite things to make as it is full of supplies for projects I haven’t even started but have very good intentions to! I have a large collection of vintage patterns from the 1930’s – late 1950’s as well as reams of vintage fabric. I love making reproduction vintage pieces as it means that I can have the garments I really want in just the right size, as finding an authentic piece that is just what you want isn’t always possible.  I try to use all the original techniques and materials were possible when I’m doing these.  There is such a sense of triumph involved in getting some of these pieces right as the tailoring is critical, especially when the fabrics have no stretch and some that have no closures, just a complex construction.

If I don’t have the time to devote to such a big project, the other favourite is things that can be knocked over in a short space of time. Usually taking something old and altering and customizing it to become something entirely different.

-What are your plans for the future of Super Kawaii Mama?

There is some much in the works for Super Kawaii Mama in the new year.  The site is being redesigned for more depth and better navigation of archives.  I also get hundreds of requests for help and tutorials each month so I’m trying to find a better way to give readers what they need.  I have a number of creative collaborations in the works that will see the pages open up to a whole new audience and give you more choices in how you choose to interact with me. In short, I guess I never stop making things and never stop coming up with more and more outlandish ideas!

******

What about you?

Do you sew, do you want to sew or do you fear even the mere thought of reattaching a button?

Last week I received this email from a reader….

“I found your blog recently and absolutely love your girly inspirations. I’m glad there are sharers in the world, yay the WWW.

As an eighties teenager I was raised with no fashion sense at all, (in some ways that may be a lucky coincidence of fate) so I was wondering if i may ask, is everything in your wardrobe of matching fashion, is it all in your style on these pages? I wonder whether period fashionista’s have two fashion lives or its all the way?” – B

… to which I (of course) began penning a very long and involved reply.  Once I realised it was going to be a short essay I figured it would be something to share with you all, so here is my answer.

If I understand correctly what she is asking  is, is everything I own vintage style or do I have a “normal” wardrobe as well? I can’t answer for all other vintage enthusiasts, only myself.

To answer as best as I can, I am not a vintage purist. What I mean by that is that I will happily mix a 1950’s dress with modern shoes or a 1940’s jacket with a Disney headband (yep, I’ve done that at Fashion week).  I’ve been collecting and wearing vintage for close to twenty two years now, and find that I wear it with varying intensity over different times in my life.  There are indeed times that I wear head to toe vintage, from the hairstyle to the earrings to the shoes; everything is period accurate; but this could be for a variety of reasons.  I understand that there are many enthusiasts out there that participate in “Re-Creation” types of events, which is something  I have yet to experience.  However, outside of specific modelling engagements where I might be hired for this purpose, there is no real rhyme or reason for when I decide to frock up in that manner. It could be just about anything, even a dreaded visit to the supermarket that motivates me to spice it up a little.

Going vintage all the way!

Do I have more than one wardrobe? Yes. But not in the way you might expect. I have (to be honest) about three wardrobes on the go at any one time, and this is to cater to  space limitations.  If I had a dream walk in robe with a place for everything, then I’d only have one.  As it is I have it spilt across three areas in my own room, my guest room and my studio.  I divide it up by things that are currently out of season, things that need repair or alteration and things that are in current rotation. It may sound fabulous but believe me it is a never ending source of angst trying to manage such a cobbled together system. The one thing you will not find…. the old jeans and t-shirt or logoed tracksuit anywhere to be seen.

I don’t have an “on duty / off duty” wardrobe, so everything you see on the blog is the way I dress, all the time.  Yes, sometimes it is more theatrical and intense for specific purposes like show casing that amazing gown from Violetville earlier in the week, but you will also find that most of it is just my day to day look. I don’t fluff about styling fancy photo shoots in things I don’t actually wear, just for the purpose of this blog. Frankly, with two small children to get fed and out of the house on time I just don’t have the time, and when evening comes around I certainly don’t have the energy. 99% of my Daily Outfit photos have to be done in two minutes flat on the front porch.

While I believe that you can add more glamour and magic to your everyday life through what you wear, there are times when I have to make compromises and times when I just don’t have it in me to go the whole nine yards in dolling up. However, my version of dressing down or casual, seems to be a bit different to the generally held standard these days.  The only time you will find me in a dressing gown for the whole day, I must be near death’s door with illness, only appearing from the bedroom to garner more sympathy.

I do own and wear gym clothes (like these), but they will only be seen in the gym or enroute – not picking up the shopping or hanging out for coffee. Now that is not to say that I expect the same from everyone else,  it is just that for me if  I spend a day dressed like this I don’t feel like myself and that doesn’t make me happy.

Makeup free  (if you don’t count lipbalm) going to the gym.

I don’t always wear makeup. There are times and days when it just  isn’t appropriate.  If I know I’ll be spending the entire day out in the garden working hard (ish), then I will usually be seen in my solitary pair of jeans, huge hat, bare faced only with slatherings of sunscreen and lipbalm. Attempting to reapply 40+spf over a full face of makeup whilst also attempting to keep dirt out of your eyes is just ridiculous. Besides which, with a slathering a red lipbalm and huge dark sunnies that is enough glamour for my rose bushes to handle!

I also try to have at least one makeup free day a week. A day to let my skin relax, breath and have a bit of a DIY facial. This is not as relaxing as it sounds however, as it is usually accompanied by screams of feigned terror at the Mama Monster and her masked face. I attempt to salvage my glamour factor in these instances by wearing a fabulous vintage dressing gown, sipping tea  (whilst Tweeting) and imagining myself away.

So B, I hope this is the answer you were looking for, and for everyone else I hope this gives you a better picture of who I am. The short answer is that everything you see on this blog is me. There is no alter ego, no hidden stylist, no pro photographer.  The reason I began writing this blog and the reason  I am so passionate to spend a large chunk of my life on it is to show that should you wish to, it IS POSSIBLE to make your life a little bit more glamorous.

You don’t need to be rich or famous, you don’t need to be artistic or have a team of specialists on hand.

You just need to want it and be courageous!