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 ~

~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.*  

 ~ Daily Outfit Inspirations- A Candy Coloured Dream ~

After a long winter and many more cold and rainy days this spring, it is sometimes hard to keep your thoughts on the up and up.  When all you want to do is soak in the sunshine and eat gelato, but the weather has other ideas, you need to inject your own ray of sunshine, your own happy making recipe into your days.

Today was a day of transforming everyday women into classic pinups with my hair and makeup magic in the studio with my good friend Helen McLean.  While it is occasionally tempting to create a working uniform, my fantastic imagination always gets the better of me (thanks goodness!) and creates something new and fun for each little adventure my days bring.

Outfit Details

1960′s gold lame capri pants – Vintage deadstock from Bonnie Rose Vintage

1960′s pink knit top – vintage fair find

Shoes – Gold rope wedges from Target many summers ago

Silk scarf – Morgan De Toi

Sunglasses – Betsey Johnson

Eyeshadow – Sephora own brand, blue glitter shadow

Lips – my own custom mix of colours.

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

Outfit Details

Silk shirt – Sara Philips 2011 from Cecylia Boutique

Skirt – Bardehle

Horse shoe earrings – Collette Accessories

Two tone shoes – Paragon Bangkok

Just the other week I finally cleared my calendar to go and spend the morning with the darling Cecylia in her Armadale boutique. Cecylia and I met at the Nuffnang Christmas party last year, where we spent a very long time talking over the merits of vintage; both wearing and collecting. During the usual, “and what do you blog about?” conversation, I learnt that Cecylia was a bit of a dark horse really.  Not only did she pen a beautiful style blog, but she had recently opened her very own boutique, fulfilling a childhood dream. Mind you, this was no small achievement as she is also a vet and still working at that practice as well! So it was no surprise to me when entering the boutique to be greeted by her most charming sales assistant.

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And what a beautifully edited selection of garments can be found there; in fact in can be so hard to take it all in that Cecylia has just the space to help you relax.  In a gorgeously decorated salon environment, Ms Cecylia serves tea and cupcakes to her visitors, all whilst helping you navigate the marvellous pieces on offer.  Cecylia is not a vintage boutique, but what I like to call a “Future Vintage”™ boutique. That is, they focus on showcasing new work by both local and international designers that is both of exceptional quality and design pedigree.  These are the investment pieces that bring your look to a whole new level of chic; no detail left forgotten.

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For the next few hours we played a delightful session of dress ups. Pink silk palazzo pants, mongolian cashmere sweaters, sumptuous costume jewellery; the biggest dilemma was deciding what had to come home… and to see the beautiful silk, twin horse blouse I purchased by Sara, have a look at Cecylia’s blog post, complete with even more photos! (I cannot wait to style and shoot this one!)

Cecylia has though of everything the perfect boutique should have. Not only does she serve tea and cupcakes, but they are furnished with the most expansive and luxurious changing rooms, complete with great lighting. Bliss!

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You can find out more about the lovely Cecylia boutique and the stores stunning selection of garments on their blog, and see even more of the temptations thrown my way when I went to visit. Mind you, the only thing I really wanted that wasn’t for sale was Theodore, the Casanova Chihuahua! But shhhh…. don’t tell Cecylia!