It seems that just about every blogger out there has done a “What’s in My Bag” post over the course of time, but not me. I’ve been asked to do this several times, but just keep forgetting to photograph. So when I came across my Holy Grail handbag at Wintersun this year, it was a great excuse to combine showing you this beautiful bag and to illustrate just how amazing it is by showing you what I can fit in it!

The contents of my bag vary slightly depending on the day, but this is what I carry most days.  I decided to shoot all this on my Hello Kitty tea tray so that you can see the relative size of each piece as well; and also just for gratuitous use of cute props..

.

.

Top row: iPhone, coin purse, handcream

Bottom row: Mirror, key case, wallet

I’ve made it a point to collect matching silver vintage GloMesh and I love the way it is all coming together. Next on the agenda is a DIY silver mesh iPhone case!

.

Top row: Compact powder, fold up parasol, breath mints,nail glue, eye drops, lace trimmed handkerchief, homeopathic remedy.

Bottom row: Business cards, lip pencil, lipstick, lip gloss, tape measure, comb.

All very important and in the bag every day.

.

Top row: Vintage hand fan, mini video camera that doubles for stills, sunglasses

Bottom row: Gorilla tripod, Cigarette case (for holding all manner of small bit and bobs, like mini sewing kit, earrings I take off and don’t want to loose etc..)

.

So this is rather a lot to be carrying around each day without resorting to a large shoulder bag or the whole ’schelping’ thing I fear.  And this is the reason I took all these shots on the tray, so I could also shoot the handbag that holds it all on the same tray and show you it’s Tardis-like qualities!

.

1950’s, painted leather, framed handbag with gold detailing and little gold feet!

Best Bag Ever!

And for 20 bonus points it even has a RED interior!

I don’t know if I could love this bag anymore than I already do.  I’m treating it to regular conditioning and top shelf placement in the hope of having it last another fifty plus years.  Do you have a favorite vintage bag that works with everything and what sort of things do you carry around?

Something special…

Outfit Details

Dress – 1940’s cocktail dresswith tiny silver metallic studs

Snood – via eBay

Flower – Wisteria

Earrings – Vintage pearls

Stockings- What Katie Did

Shoes – “Japan” by Wittner

Lashes – Eylure

Today I finally got my act together and have started listing some of the bits and pieces from my wardrobe that need new homes. But before you go wandering over to that section I wanted to share with you another super cute dress being sold for a very good cause.

The lovely Bernie Dexter has created a special edition dress to raise funds for her best friend, Kitty Von Purr, who is suffering breast cancer. 100% of the proceeds of the dress go directly to the fund and support Kitty through a very tough time.

The dress is a soft, stretch jersey and having seen it in the flesh I can say that it looks spankable on!  So it is a very good reason to need a new dress – look hot and do a good deed at the same time.

.

So yes, finally I have found a little time to start clearing out my closet (which is in desperate need).  Last time I did this and sent it all off to the op shop many of you asked why I didn’t sell it here, so I decided that it was a good way to share some of my most loved things and find new homes for the best pieces.  Everthing you’ll find in my shop comes either from my own wardrobe or the occassional piece I may sell for a friend.  I don’t buy in, I’m not a vintage dealer and I’m not sourcing items on request. What you see is what you get and I’ll be adding more and more over time – either that or my wardrobe will have put me in the poor house!

I have still to finish the accessories section which will appear in the next week, but given the enthusiastic response so far, I decided to open it up as I keep on adding things.

SKM’s Wardrobe Shop

Now, I’m off to photograph some more!

Blue is one of my all time favorite colours when it comes to clothing. Teal, aqua, electric,  it’s all good. This dress is a particular knock out in a stunning 1960’s aqua blue that is one part secretary one part Barbie.  It also happens to be one of my favorite recent finds from “Hello Gorgeous”, a little vintage and recycle store I visited on my Hobart trip.

Initially I thought it would be perfect styled with my early 1960’s brooches and big clip on earrings, but that would be too obvious for it’s first outing, so instead I chose something a little more unexpected. My train of thought went something like this, “Oh I feel a bit like Stewardess Barbie!  Maybe I should go for the whole Doll Makeup look? Oh I know, how about those cute accessories from Crystal Dollies!” ( Yes, it is strange to follow the path my mind takes sometimes, but that is just how some of these outfits evolve.)

A few weeks ago a little surprise arrived in my mail box from two very lovely and very talented readers.  Knowing how much I love both the super cute and the very vintage, they put on their thinking caps and created some stunning jewellery pieces that capture the essence of both. These gorgeous handmade pieces were sent to me by Kelly and Karen from Crystal Dollies who make all manner of delicate designs.

.

.

Getting a surprise like this is the mail is just the best! It reminds me of how excited I used to get back in primary school when I’d get a letter from my pen friend. Kelly and Karen had written me the sweetest letter and even included some of my favorite kawaii pens. ( I have a major thing for kawaii stationery and have been collecting it since I was about 7 years old)

.

The ring has all these little grey blue pearl dots underneath a decotti ice cream design. The whole thing is put together on a cameo style base which I just love.  The cute factor is fantastic but they’ve managed to put it together in a way that works in a more sophisticated vintage look. Brilliant!

.

The necklace she made has beautiful ceramic flowers with a mother of pearl finish.  It came on a lovely dark snake chain, but for this outfit I decided to wear it in a more traditional fashion and pinned it to my lapel as a brooch.  How ace does this look?!

.

So this is a big shout out to Karen and Kelly at Crystal Dollies for not only making my day, but bringing together the kawaii and the vintage in such a very ‘Me’ way.

Love!

The other week I received my first pair of shoe clips.  I’ve tried my hand at (dodgy) DIY versions before as I loved the idea of these versatile accessories, but had never looked into finding some specifically built for the job. And let me tell you, this is a VERY exciting style moment! *Disclosure* – Yes, Emmersen sent me these as they thought I would love what they create and boy were they right!

Being a vintage collector I’ve seen my fair share of dress clips and fur clips, (not always still in matching pairs) but hadn’t seen anything new until I came across Emmersen. Exclusive and made by hand here in Australia, Emmersen is producing a stunning range of shoe clips along with matching gloves (yay!) and even limited edition pieces like their tulle bustle – also a brilliant style add on. So I spent quite a bit of time the other week browsing through the site trying to decide on two different styles of clips that best worked with my look and would be the most versatile.  The first of these you will have noticed in the previous outfit post – the stunning red AVA clips that I added to the back of my shoes.

Given that I was already plotting the myriad of ways I could wear these, the decision to choose the vintage diamonte ones ( On the Rocks – what a name!) was a foregone conclusion. I am imagining them on capes, collars, bags, hats, furs, hair slides…. and I’m sure I’ll come up with even more options as time goes on.

Anyway, when my little package arrived I was equally impressed by the beautiful boxed packaging. They’ve obviously thought about the type of women who will wear these and the best way to keep the pieces in tip top condition.  The box is a lovely heavy weight card with a matt laminate finish and a cello window so you can always see which pair you are looking for. The clips themselves are a quality french mechanism with tiny little barbs to stop them slipping or disappearing off your shoes.  I put my AVA clips through their paces on Thursday night and not once did I have to readjust or go looking for a rogue bow. The more I played with these the bigger fan I have become.

The Ava shoe clips that I wore on my black patent shoes in the last post. They are so lovely! The finish is satin and the backs are a super soft felt to that there is no danger of scratching and it also helps them grip a little better to the slippery patent leather.

The On The Rocks shoe clips in all their sparkly, swanky glory. I really, really love these but to be honest I’ll probably wear them more as dress clips or on hats as I want to see them all the time, and if I always wear them on my shoes I’ll likely trip for always looking at them!

I started experimenting with a few different ways of wearing these and decided to try them both out on one of my structured vintage bags, and the diamontes were just the thing to add night time glamour to my new vintage hat.

They clipped on very easily and didn’t damage, leave dints or holes in anything which is always a concern when you pin things in to vintage garments.  Here is a close up of how they work.

Each time I wear these differently in an outfit I’ll show you how I’ved used them and try and give you even more creative ideas, but this morning after pin curling my hair  and popping on the scarf to keep them warm, I had a brain wave.

Thanks to Emmersen I’m having my very own Aunty Mame moment!