It must be the start of Spring time, the change of weather and the gorgeous sunshine; but all I want to do at the moment is skive off and go shopping.  I get this insatiable urge to hit the streets and just wander on days like this, but it always seems to happen just after I’ve paid off all the bills and don’t have much in the way of ‘walking around money’.

Picking up a new magazine is an exercise in anxiety more than inspiration these days, as they spend so much time telling you whether you’re ‘In’ or “Out’, what new jeans you need, or even if your eyeshadow is too last season. It’s enough to make you want to live in a cave. While I was out today, wandering aimlessly in a large shoe store, I saw two ladies (in their mid 50′s) wandering around with little black dresses in hand, picking up every pair of silver glitter platform shoes they could find.  One says, “Why don’t you just get those pretty black one?” to which the other replied, “They are so beautiful, but black is out so I have to get these glitter ones.” Oh man…. really?!

One of the greatest things about being a vintage style aficionado, is that whatever I love is already so far dated, that its ‘classic’. But that doesn’t stop me falling prey to that feeling of intense shopping lust that can take over when the sun is shining. But instead of just being a consumer today, I decided to channel that energy into something more creative and start planning out some DIY rescue and Make It Yourself projects.

I have a cupboard full of clothes that I can pull apart and put back together, boxes of fabric, flowers and hot glue gun. All I need now is an evening on Polyvore, a list of my favourite craft and DIY blogs like Violet Le Beaux and about two weeks to produce something really amazing. So given that today is the beginning of school holidays, I’ve decided to enlist the assistance of Miss 7 in my office here and turn our shopping bug into a great school holidays project – Be Your Own Fashion House – and let Miss 7 work with me on creating our very own, one off fashion collection to kick off spring!

So with the collage above that I’ve put together, I’m getting started on making my own version of this outfit with some taffeta plaid I have on hand, a pair of wedges dying to a DIY and some old handbags that have been relegated to the back of the wardrobe. Stay tuned to see if we can breathe new life into these outfits and find some new tutorials along the way!

Yep, I’ve finally done it! I’ve made a dent in the piles of outfits I’ve been storing away and started a garage sale to give them new homes!  Scarily, after two weeks of working on this with all the photos and listing and things, I still have loads more to come. I think I have a problem..

So, to share some of my various wardrobe bounty with you I’ve created two stores. One on Etsy where I’m listing all the vintage pieces I have for sale, and one on eBay where all the modern, new and reproduction pieces can be found.  I’ve put in loads of measurements to make it easy to find out if something fits you, given all the differences with international sizing, and yes I will ship internationally.

As for what sizes there are, I have everything from small to large, from AUS 8 – 16. Why is that you ask? Because I am sometimes lazy and don’t try things on, and sometimes get all over excited and buy things without first properly checking to see if they fit. And then sometimes I’m overly ambitious about how much time I have to alter things and I’ve never done it.

Everything I’ve listed is done as a buy it now to stop you having to wait for your parcel to be delivered, so if you have questions about anything make sure you contact me.

In the next round of listings will be handbags and hats, so keep an eye on those too!

The SKM Garage Sale

   New & Modern Pieces              Vintage Pieces

Yes, it is still freezing degrees here in Melbourne, but Brisbane? Brisbane was a wonderful 25 degrees!  Heading up north this weekend did wonders for my spirits and has me in full swing searching out my go to looks and colours for spring.  For today, I planned a very simple, easily packable outfit that was perfect for a day of shopping adventures. (A look at that shopping later on this week!)

A simple reproduction 1950′s dress in a blue cotton voile, a coral cardigan, lemon yellow chiffon petticoat and a pair of black ballet flats.

Outfit Details

Blue “Trixie” dress by Trashy Diva (in other news, Miskonduct Klothing is now bringing in a select range of Trashy Diva dresses to Australia!)

Coral Cardigan – Random super cheap Chinese clothing store find.

Swallow Brooch – taken from my Dior T-Shirt circa 2004

Cream cutwork bangle – Diva

Lemon Chiffon Petticoat – vintage

Black Ballet flats – Aerosoles (Great for walking miles)

Lipstick note – “Fresh Berry”, by Savvy. Available at Priceline for $4.99

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~Stay tuned tomorrow for my exclusive, one on one interview with Micheline Pitt of Pinup Girl Clothing fame!~ 

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Putting together a great vintage look isn’t the sole territory of those with extensive authentic vintage collections.  I know there are many purists out there who abhor the idea of vintage inspired or vintage reproduction, but bare with me. Good vintage is a finite resource, and as our love for it and the resulting community grows, two things happen.  The pool of quality, wareable garments gets smaller and smaller; and the price points for those items continue to rise.  I will never give up  on vintage, and having a collection that now spans 23 years, I realise that I am in a minority that has such a range to choose from; and I’m asked all the time how ‘newbies’ can create their own comprehensive vintage look without breaking the bank.

Thanks to fashions uptake of vintage looks as current inspiration, there are now so many great reproduction and vintage inspired pieces on the market. I say this with caution however, as the term “vintage” has become completely bastardised by the marketing department as a simple slogan to get us to part with our hard earned cash for what is, for the most mass marketed part, entirely rubbish. However, being the canny shopper that I am, with a dedication to ‘research’ …eehem.. I’m debuting a new blog segment today – Vintage Style Find of the Month!

Everything featured here needs to fit the following criteria-

*New and currently available in store or online. That’s the instant gratification factor ticked off.
* Good value for money – that doesn’t mean cheap and nasty, but it does mean a good price for the quality point and not overly inflated due to branding.
*Something that I’ve tried, tested and used myself so I know that it meets my tough standards.
*Under a $120 price tag, preferably well under, but that gives us a bit of room to move for those super special items.* Of course I reserve the right to have more than one find of the month in order to discover which one comes out triumphant as the best over all.

Now this by no means will replace my evangelical love of true vintage, but see it as a supplement if you will. Pieces that are beautiful but not irreplaceable, pieces that need not be treated with kid gloves or pieces that can finish off a look when finding an authentic vintage piece is not an option. Ever tried find an original 1950′s iPhone case to match your outfit? I think not. But such are our lives that we need to think about how we work these gadgets into our carefully crafted ensembles.

And so it is that I give you this Vintage Style Find of the Month to kick off July – The framed, applique handbag!

The Primrose Box Bag & Lee Lee Framed brocade purse.

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From: Forever New – Winter 2011 – Melbourne Central flagship store

Price: $59.99 for the Primrose framed handbag and $12.95 for the brocade purse.

Features:

Bag- Soft pink applique detailing, solid framed shape with single clip top, handles long enough to carry the bag neatly over the shoulder, two internal sections, feet at bag bottom. All man made materials.

Purse – Pink and gold brocade fabric (so 60′s!), kiss clip coin section, wallet section with space for several cards and photo holder. Large enough for every day use or small enough to be a tiny evening clutch, using the coin section for lipstick instead.

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If there is something you’ve been dying to find to fix your vintage wardrobe, but just haven’t found; add your request and let’s see if we can find you your own Vintage Style Find o’ the Month.

Last Wednesday evening, the Mission 65 Fashion event for Prahran Mission went off with a bang! The show was a total sell out with people still turning up at the door vying for a space to see the show. Created as a fundraising event to assist people living with mental illness, it brought together top designers, stylists and fashion students in a time honoured tradition of philanthropy meets fashion. It was an honour to show with Jenny Bannister, the incredible team at Madam Virtue, Anthony Capon, Kim Kniepp, and Philip Boon amongst others.

This year the Mission turns 65, as does the House of Dior; and so it was that a parallel was drawn and inspiration for the evening began. In 1947 as the world was emerging from a time of darkness and austerity, fashion was rediscovering the spirit of celebration and was once again used as a tool to lift the spirits. As a contributing designer my brief was this – to take garments found in the Prahran Mission Op shop and in the spirit of the  Make do and Mend, re-create them into a 1940′s styled master piece with a slightly modern twist.

I wanted to create something that not only looked good, but as much as possible mirrored the quality techniques used in garment construction. Choosing fabrics of the best quality and producing an outfit that would last 65 years. After finding my muse, I went on a hunt to uncover the materials I’d need. And here is a look at the process of creation.

After two days sourcing, one day of cutting and machine sewing, then another 14 hours of hand sewing to perfect the trim; it was ready for it’s close up!

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A BIG thank you to two wonderful bloggers Fashionising and Business Chic who had my back on the photo front for the evening. Please do visit their blogs to see and read more about the evening.

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As you’ve probably figured by now, the inspiration for this piece is the late 1940′s woman’s Western Suit look – particularly inspired by to good friends of mine who are masters of this craft and converted me heart and soul. The Western look was very much in vogue right throughout the late 1930′s to the late 50′s and still has a strong following today.

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I wanted to create a chic ensemble that could be worn as separates or a as a whole for this intensely beautiful look.  The blouse hidden underneath is  sheer red georgette with self rose print. It is collarless and has puffed mutton sleeves that taper to the elbow. I finished it off with vintage red flower glass buttons and a removable blue neckerchief.

The hat is an original Velveteen black structured beret (another op shop find), which I custom trimmed with vintage pieces from my own stash, including the veil with it’s beautiful soft texture.

The jacket and skirt are both fully lined and in wool, and the skirt has a red velvet ribbon trim woven through the scalloped hemline. ( I should note that on me the hem comes nicely below the knee but on my gorgeously statuesque model was rather shorter). From my own stash I added the vintage trim – silk cord and woollen pom poms. The doilies came from the Mission op shop and were just the right thing to add more colour and shape. The snoods did indeed come from my personal stash, but finished off the look perfectly.

Not only was I honoured to create this piece for the event, but I was also Director of Hair & Makeup, ensuring a cohesive vintage look all around.  I wanted to keep it a simple 40′ flavour, without any of the high fashion interpretations so often seen on the catwalk. To me, I felt that each model should shine in the outfits; a radiant version of themselves to echo the tones of celebration for the evening. So yes, as you flip through the images of the evening, you will no doubt recognise my finger prints on these looks.

On one hand it was totally exhausting doing all this, but on the other a totally revitalising and reinvigorating experience. Breathing new life into old garments like this opens up a whole world of possibilities for your wardrobe.  Yes, it is time consuming, but it expands your imagination onto new horizons and goes to show that style doesn’t take a whole lot of cash. The Make do and Mend philosophy of the show was something that I was indeed academically familiar with, and while I’m always restoring my vintage garments, I’d never taken the principle to these lengths. The world of possibilities is endless…