This weeks inspiration comes in the form of footwear. Glorious, artful, marvellous footwear. All of the things I won’t be wearing for a while as I broke my toe on Saturday.

So while I wallow in my self induced misery (I kicked a chair I’d moved and not put back where it belonged), I’ve put together this fabulous list of all the wonderful shoes I want to be wearing and their no less impressive flat counter parts.

Polka dot twins 

Spiked up Sisters 

Friends of Flame 

Glitter Girls 

Jackpot Cherries 

For the circle skirts.

………….

Now I’m off to the shops in the one pair of pool side flip flops I own to try and hunt down something even remotely this stylish!

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.* 

For many of you this will be your first week back to work or at least back to your usual routine. To help ignite your creative spark when it comes to opening those wardrobe doors, I’ve put together four very different looks. From downtown casual to the stark white minimal of a fresh start; there is something in each of these to give you a different take of your stylistic self for 2012.

~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 Inspirations ~

~Marie Antoinette Does Colour Blocking~

Sometime I like to put a whole new twist on my vintage dressing. Sometimes it’s less about the clothes themselves but about the stories I create with them, and the characters that emerge. Upon receiving an delightful invitation in my inbox for an occasion of historical significance (which you’ll see next week), the wheels of inspiration began to move and a whole new plan for these pieces in my wardrobe was born.

Imagine Marie Antoinette, circa 2011, taking on the colour blocking trend and taking it to the streets. And so I dressed.

Outfit Details 

Pale pink ruffled jacket – Angel Sissi

Purple velvet bow tie – 1970′s vintage find

Yellow silk blouse – op shop

Hot pink raw silk skirt – op shop

Red suede wedges – Spendless shoes

Red patent leather bag with gold chains – label “Sexy but Cute”

Floral corsage – handmade one off

Pink pearl earrings on silver bows – Chomel

Pink and silver kitten fob brooch – “Drink Me Alice” label by Melbourne jewellery designer and blogger at Sea of Ghosts.

* All images by Helen McLean for Super Kawaii Mama.com – Images may be reproduced with appropriate permissions.*