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.

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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)

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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!

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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?!

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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!

There was a very special tea party to attend the other week. A tea party you’ll see and hear more about a little later, but first up its all about the outfit.

Lolita styles are not something I’ve really added to my wardrobe.  I love the colours, the frills, the prints; but I also know that for me they just don’t work head to toe.  So as usual, I’ve taken the elements of what I love about the style and worked it up to create something very ‘me’.

The whole outfit was so much fun to put together and so much fun to wear.  And the hair? Well that is the result of setting small pin curls for 24 hours then letting them go wild!

The skirt is by Japanese Gothic Lolita brand Body Line which I actually found here in Melbourne at the One Day in Paradise store.  I loved the pink and black striping as well as the cotton lace detail and tulle underskirt.  Apparently it can be worn with petticoats underneath too, but it had enough volume for me as is this time.  The print is all fruits and icecream with little flecks of glitter here and there too, as well as black satin ribon woven through the hem of the lace.

Where did it all come from? Surprisingly, other than the skirt, I already had all these other pieces in the wardrobe.  It just required a fresh set of eyes looking through the drawers to pull it all together.

Outfit Details

Pink Fascinator and Pink and black bow (minus the little tiara) - Hoplessly Devoted on Etsy

Mini Tiara hair clip (worn in fascinator) – Paragon Department store Bangkok

Black satin shirt – Cue Winter ’09

Skirt - Body Line

Red Opaques – Columbine

Shoes – “Japan” by Wittner

“Love” necklace – by Equip

Pink cake ring – Sweet & Co.

Lashes- Eylure at Priceline

Lipstick – ‘Strawberry’ Loreal Sheer Delice Gelee.

I’ve been asked many times how I tie my simple headscarf.  The one I wear when I’m setting my pin curls and still want to be able to go out on errands looking half way decent.  So today, I have a simple video tutorial for you, taking you through three simple and easy to achieve looks with a large square scarf.

There are so many I could show you, but don’t want to overload you by creating a whole two hour tutorial! So here are the first three ways that can be adapted to suit your own style.

This is in high definition, so remember you can click to make the image full screen for better detail.
Enjoy!

*For those of you viewing in IE, I’m experiencing a few technical glitches with the site at the moment. Please bare with me as we attempt to repair the damage.*

Remember that fancy tea party the other week?  Well here are the outfit photos of what I wore.

It is super, super girly and was particularly appropriate for that kind of event; but it was also almost all vintage! Well at least half.

The dress itself I picked up at the last Way We Wear vintage fair here in Melbourne.  I was told at the time that it is an early 1960′s square dancing dress and it was one of a set of three all in different colours.  The seller even had the matching men’s waist coats and ties that would have been worn to dance with their beau. Awww.

It is made of some sort of metallic threaded, synthetic eyelet lace type material with no give at all so I don’t know what it would have been like for dancing!  Underneath is a baby blue tulle petticoat that has its origins in the early 1980′s and is a bit of a rough homemade job. Not to worry though, cause it did the trick and I love the colour – it was also free!

The stockings I found at Myer on sale and are from the Pins collection by Leona Edmiston There are a little too cheer for my liking but the spot pattern was irresistible.

Shoes – well what can I say? These are incredibly awesome “Japan” shoes from Wittner.  They are incredibly comfortable and you can even run in them with no difficulty should the occassion call for it.

*Please note – I am not attempting to do a pidgeon-toed, ingenue blogger stance here; I was just sliding down the hill!!*

Given that the scarf is all scrunched up tied to my bag, I thought I’d spread her out for a proper appreciation shot.

When I saw this hanging on the rack at Circa Vintage, I leapt for it like a rabid scarf hound! I’ve never seen anything like the print before and new it would be the perfect foil to a collection of many plain coloured scarves.  The bag was a bit of a sneaky sale rack find ($10!) at Equip, that cheap little accessory shop, and while I don’t tend towards small bags there are times that they are really the only chic option. That and it was ROSE print!

The right accessories really make or break this dress as I found out a few times when I just couldn’t make it work. Here’s a round up of the rest-

Headband – pinched from Miss Two

Earrings – pearl bows from Equip

Necklace – ‘Love’ on faux pearls from Equip also

Bow Bangle – Friends of Couture

.. and I think that’s everything!

*P.S: You’ll notice a few changes happening around here.  Please bare with me as I get everything finished and the kinks sorted out. *