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Daily Outfit Inspirations – Gardening with Betty

Super Kawaii Mama — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:05:08 +0000

Today’s outfit is a little bit work a tiny bit fantasy… all because it is something I put together for a shoot and then proceeded to have a bit of a diva moment in. The divine Bernie Dexter sent me these incredible ‘Rosie’ dungarees as, I’ll admit, somewhat of a challenge. I haven’t in my adult life worn anything like these. In fact, the last pair I owned were green candy striped with a Smurf appliqué and worn while climbing trees! Mr. SKM has always asked me about these too. Being rather partial to a more down-home kind of girl, he’s been trying to convince me to wear a pair of these for ages, but all I could think about were the bad 1990′s versions worn by teen stars in school hallways! Eeeep!

So when it came to styling these up, I found I was presented with so many choices that it is likely you’ll see them appear in multiple guises over the coming months. But firstly I had to do something entirely classic, a little Betty Grable-esque and (aside from the fabulous shoes) an outfit that is the cutest little gardening ensemble you could imagine! Happy pre-Valentines Day Mr. SKM!

Outfit Details

Denim Dungarees (or as they are often known in Australia – Overalls) – The “Rosie” by Bernie Dexter. Super stretchy and very comfortable light weight blue denim. Two simple side pockets, rear zip and button detail. Yes, they are super fitted and true to size, so if you like things a bit roomier, go up a size or two.

Floral shirt – Princess Highway S/S 2012

Blue shoes – Urban Originals many seasons ago

White bangle – Diva, many seasons ago

Yellow rose – hair flower made by me

Blue Hydrangea – real!

Beauty Note

Nail colour -”My Little Secret” by Missa

Lip Colour – Beseme Red

*All original images by Helen McLean for Super Kawaii Mama.com – Images may be reproduced with appropriate permissions. Feel free to add to Pinterest, Tumblr etc…*

Daily Outfit – Sadie Sees Some Sunshine

Super Kawaii Mama — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:16:33 +0000

I’ve been waiting for the perfect day to wear this 1940′s styled, vintage inspired dress by Trashy Diva. The Sadie dress really gets it right. A light cotton blend with a strong green background and delightful floral print, all with a waterfall of tiered ruffles across one hip. Sadly, Melbourne’s weather has not been playing ball this last month, alternating between cold and hailing then hot as hell the next; neither of which you’d want to be outside in. So yesterday, when the weather man predicted a delightful day, I made plans to meet a friend for breakfast on the streets of Melbourne and knew it was time to take Sadie on an outing.

Given the strong 1940′s style of the dress, I wanted to style the look with a more modern for the day, and so I anchored the light floaty fabric with a chunky hot pink suede wedge heel. With unstructured hair and a silver sequinned bag, it was perfect for a stroll in the morning sunlight, while the breeze carried the heady scent of chocolate brioche our way.

Outfit Details

Vintage Style Sadie Dress – by Trashy Diva and available in Australia from Miskonduct Klothing

Pink wedge shoes – Tony Bianco

Silver sequinned bag – unknown label and origin (picked it up at Camberwell market)

Beaded ring – handmade market find

Floral clay and ribbon earrings – Crystal Dollies hand made accessories

Diamonte crystal bangle – Chomel

Lip colour – “Frosty Berry” by Savvy @Priceline

Nail colour – “That’s my little secret” no.215 by Misa

* All original images by Helen McLean for Super Kawaii Mama.com – Images may be reproduced with appropriate permissions. Feel free to add to Pinterest etc.. with linking credits.*

Daily Outfit – The Casual Vintage Bombshell & Sophia Loren

Super Kawaii Mama — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 08:12:45 +0000

~Daily Outfit Inspirations~

~Sophia Loren & Guess Jeans~

When it comes to high voltage casual looks, no one does it better than the classic hollywood bombshell. And nothing captures this look better for me than the iconic Sophia Loren. When I started thinking about what I wanted to wear for today’s date to the playground with my daughter and my girlfriend, I turned to Ms Loren for a bit of inspiration – vamping up the look with some killer cats eye makeup. It was once I’d actually dressed and looked in the mirror I was drawn by the parallel between the classic Loren look and the gorgeous Guess Jeans campaigns. This wasn’t a tricky look to achieve by any means, and was perfectly practical for a day spent in a seaside park, eating burgers and playing on the grass.

Outfit Details

Gingham western shirt with pearl snaps – Harris Scarfe

Denim stretch capri jeans – Bernie Dexter

Lucky Horseshoe necklace – Etsy

Rope soled wedges – Target (years ago)

Carved scrimshaw style bangle – Diva

Eye makeup – Inspired by Sophia Loren and a new tutorial coming soon!! (Currently in editing)

* All original images by Helen McLean for Super Kawaii Mama.com – Images may be reproduced with appropriate permissions. Feel free to add to Pinterest etc.. with linking credits.*

Daily Outfit – The Water Lilly Dress on a Tropical Holiday

Super Kawaii Mama — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:25:47 +0000

Yes this is a bit special. The story goes like this..

My lovely girlfriend Bernie Dexter, who aside from being a stunning pinup model, is also a cracking designer of vintage inspired fashion. You’ve seen me wear a number of things from her ranges before; including cute 50′s capri pants and retro dungaree jeans. But just before I took off for Thailand, she sent me this STUNNING water lilly dress from her latest range! It is made of a mid weight cotton with a rear zip and a tie up halter neck. The bust is a gathered inset section and the print is a “water” print, in that it looks like blue ripples on a lake. The skirt of the dress is lovely and full so it is perfectly cool for hot summer days and just delightful in these tropical surrounds.

Anyway, when I knew I was heading to Thailand I promised her I’d take a few special outfits appreciation shots of this fantastic dress. Little did I know that the resort I would be staying at actually had a water lilly pond! Serendipity if you ask me. So I paired the dress with an inexpensive pink rose clip I found at a roadside stall, and a cute pair of floral print wedges I’d bought for the trip ( super cheap at $29 from Betts). What I adore so much about Bernie’s dresses is that not only is the fit incredibly flattering on a range of figure types, you really don’t need to accessorise at all. Just pop a dress on and you’re good to go.

All of the fabrics she chooses have such interest and movement in the print, that they speak for themselves. These are not bad mood dresses, they are not high maintenance dresses (I wash mine in a wash bag on delicate in the machine). What they represent to me is the very best of what everyday fashion is relearning from the 1950′s. That a simple cotton dress, well made with femininity in mind, is the one step solution to a glamorous day.

The good news for my Australian readers is that thanks to a little girly pow wow between friends, my lovely sponsor MisKonduct Klothing is now stocking Bernie Dexter‘s range here in Australia!! That means quick and inexpensive shipping, easy returns and being super swanky is just a local click away. Size wise I find that if you consult the measurement charts on Bernie’s site you should be good. As they are a cotton and have no stretch, you want to make sure that you get a friend to measure you up so you know your correct size. I always recommend having a (discreet) friend do this for you once and then write it all down for late night shopping indulgences. Make sure to measure everything, including the drop beneath your bust to your natural waist line – you never know when you’ll need the measurements. (Even more so on 50′s styled dresses where you want to be sure they sit on your natural waist and not above) I generally wear an Australian size 8-10, so the small Water Lilly dress fits me perfectly.

If you love it as much as I do and have any questions, please feel free to ask away in the comments section. After all, a gem like this is too good to keep all to one’s self.

Gong Xi Fa Choi – Happy Lunar New Year!

Super Kawaii Mama — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 11:04:07 +0000

Happy Lunar New Year! It’s Year of the Rabbit this year and Singapore is in full Chinese New Year swing! We’ve been feasting it up, shopping for new year clothes and wallets, enjoying all sorts of customary activities and getting appropriately fat!

Given that this is one of the few days of the year that nearly all the stores are closed, we decided to save today for a family visit to the zoo. Of course there are SO many photos of that I’ll be saving that for a super sized up coming post, but for today here’s some new years wishes from me, my family and my cute bunny friends!!

If you’re wondering, today’s outfit comes courtesy of my 14 year old self. That is… it is a dress my mother made for me when I was 14 and I’ve kept! Worn with pewter ballet flats for all the walking, a red stretch elastic belt and red roses in my hair from Bexterity. Miss 3 and Miss 6 found their outfits at Tesco’s in Phuket as they prepared for the festivities ahead. I don’t think we’ve ever been stopped for so many photos in our lives!! If we could have charged per picture we would have paid for the whole holiday! LOL.

And yes, that is a cuddly white rabbit in my hands. His name is ‘Carrots” and I just had to take him home with his crazy cute eyes. ^-^

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Daily Outfit – Jeans!

Super Kawaii Mama — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 00:45:14 +0000

As you can probably tell from these photos, my garden is out of control. See all that grass? that’s meant to be a garden bed. There is a whole lot of cleaning up that needs to be done to start this year right, so I thought I’d get stuck in, in proper serious fashion. Mind you, the actual outdoors work bit only tends to last about an hour or two in this sun, then it quickly becomes beer o’clock! But hey, that’s what the holidays are for really. Taking three times as long to get anything done because you have to keep on stopping for a nap.

Outfit Details

Ruffled & Checked shirt – Route 66

Dungaree jeans - Bernie Dexter

Ballet flats – Big W

Horse shoe earrings – Collette Accessories

Lipstick – ‘Moulin Rouge” Boots No. 7

Lusting After Lusterware

Super Kawaii Mama — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 21:30:23 +0000

Fresh flowers are lovely, I have a whole garden full of them. But there is something about being given flowers that I find bitter sweet. That whole fading beauty thing; knowing that as pretty as they may be that moment in time you just don’t get to hold onto it. I know is a big part of the appeal for so many, but I find it hard to get past. I’ve tried buying and arranging fake flowers but just can’t get quite the same sentiment of beauty from them; that is until I found myself with a selection of stunning vintage flowers in their original lustre ware vase!

Mr SKM bought me this beautiful vase filled with flowers at the Camberwell markets a little while back. The flowers have a sort of velveteen finish and soft pastel colours that compliment the vase perfectly. But it has started a whole new addiction… lusterware! Luckily for me, this isn’t an expensive one with all sorts of pieces still available in Op Shops, garage sales, markets and even the odd raid on Nana’s house.

Pretty, no?

Today on Lustable I find the perfect handbag sized, wicked perfume!

Daily Outfit – A Short Problem

Super Kawaii Mama — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 08:26:23 +0000

It’s Sunday. In fact it my first Sunday off in a very long time, so I’m going casual, cowboy boots and all.

When I first found this dress at Harem, it was the colour and the print that grabbed me. I adore this shade of blue and the deep pink of the roses was a fabulous contrast. There is only one massive problem with this dress and that is that it is too short for me by far. I knew it when I was in the dressing room, but somehow convinced myself that it would still be okay. It really isn’t though and without leggings or opaques underneath it is just so many kinds of wrong. Damn it.

What I really need to do is take it with me down to the fabric store and find a solid fabric in a magenta then add about another 10cm to the hem. In the meantime though, I am experimenting in my off time with this shorter length (over opaques only) and my deep plum vintage cowboy boots. Once I messed around with this outfit enough I felt confident enough to unleash it on the world and headed off to lunch and a spot of window shopping. As an aside I have to add, why is it that every single time I shop at Westfield ( one of our big malls), I’m asked at least twice if I work for Allanah Hill? Is it because I do my hair and I’m not afraid of colour? I wonder….

The other problem with this dress is that the waist sits a good 5cm above my natural waist line, so it reminds me a bit of maternity wear. It may not look like it but it feels like it from the inside and keeps throwing me off my game. So I’m just not sure. I half love it, half hate it.. so it may end up looking for a new home shortly. The boots however, I am in love with, so they will have to get their own post shortly too.

And while I was shaking it up a bit today, I even threw in a little blue eyeshadow and glitter. I don’t know; either I’m a little bored or a really need a nap!

Outfit Details

Pink Leopard cardigan – Temt

Blue rose print dress – Harem

Black Opaques – Voodoo

Vintage cowboy boots – Retrostar

Earrings & Handbag – Equip

Dog – This is Lola. She is a Papillion cross Shitzu and she is very, very naughty.

Daily Outfit – Cherry Red

Super Kawaii Mama — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 09:07:32 +0000

The sun here has been beautiful this last week. It doesn’t take much, but it totally changes people’s moods and seems to fill everyone with new inspiration. I’m already dreaming up new outfits and thinking about great adventures to have in them, as well as the usual seasonal reorganisation that hits with a vengeance. The sort where you want to pull everything out, colour block it, then polish your halo.

Outfit Details

Red Angora Cardigan – Friends of Couture “Hollywood Moment”

Blue cherry dress – Vintage from Ruby Red Dress

Shoes – Target ( many seasons ago)

Necklace and Earrings – DIVA ( from a lovely friend and don’t they work with the cherries well!)

Black belt – Malco Mode

Lipstick – SAVVY “Poppy”

P.S: Remember you only have one more week to get your entries in to WIN an OSIM foot and leg massager valued at $750!

Daily Outfit – Springtime Sunshine!

Super Kawaii Mama — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 21:30:43 +0000

Saturday – the sun finally shines and the spring time dresses come out!

Outfit Details

Dress – 1960′s vintage raw silk pleated dress

Necklace – 1960′s vintage plastic bead necklace

Earrings – Screw post 1950′s pearl clusters

Shoes – Emporio

White hair flower – Bexterity

Stockings – Voodoo seamed stockings

Lipstick – MAC Russian Red