Forgive me for the excessive outfit posts in the last week and a bit, I’m currently snowed under with so much work that I haven’t been able to finish some of the things I wanted to bring you. I’m making up for it today with a huge recap on the weekend as well as all the outfit fun, so hold on for a huge selection of photos!

Anyway, my world is a whirlwind at present.  A mess of designing, writing, sewing, events and attempting to keep body and soul together for everyone in the household. It has meant a few 2am bedtimes, but I just can’t seem to ever tame my over achieving nature.  There was a small welcome break in one of these roles over the weekend however, as Mr. SKM took the girls on a trip to the country whilst I stayed in town for Fashion week events, parties and watching some very talented girls get their kit off!  Intriguing?

Saturday began with a quick trip in to to Circa Vintage Clothing, seeking out patterns for inspiration for my Friends of Couture collection as well as my own personal stash. Nicole at Circa has more patterns than you could possibly imagine and it is like a little piece of nirvana to sit there and search through for heartbreakingly beautiful gems. Yes, I found something amazing, but that will have to wait for another day when I can show you the finished product.

Then it was onto Worn Wild Alternative Designers Market as part of the LMFF calendar.  A great opportunity to check out lots of hand made and custom pieces as well as to meet and talk to the designers. So after a day of shopping and waltzing about looking at pretty things, it was off to see the amazing Sugar Blue Burlesque troop, over from Perth for one night only.  Oh, if only there were more shows! Sugar Blue were out of this world amazing!  The costumes, coreography, innovation and the downright cheekiness of it all. They really deserve their own post of highlights, so stay tuned.

So after all that shopping, socialising and sexy spangles, I finished off the night watching two beautiful friends perform at The Burlesque Bar here in Melbourne. The delightful Foxtrot India and the dark and devilishly good Miss Nic. What. A.Day!

And just what sort of outfit is going to tackle that kind of a schedule from 10am till 3am on a 30 degree day?  That would be this one!

Outfit Details

Leopard print shirt – Zara

Gothic lolita bustle skirt – Fanplus Friend from One Day in Paradise here in Melbourne

Shoes – “Japan” from Wittner

Over the knee stockings – I wish I could remember!!

Little Birdy – Harem on Brunswick street

All that and it was only Saturday!

Still to come.. A Vintage Afternoon Tea, all the fun of Sugar Blue Burlesque and hitting Loreal Melbourne Fashion Week.

I don’t often do short. I’m a little worried about coming off too “hoochie”, but this dress was one I couldn’t resist. It was all about which shoes I paired this with that made it work.  The needed a heel, but nothing too high, nothing too slick and nothing too Pretty Woman. My feature heels,  (found in Bangkok’s Paragon department store), came to the rescue with cute, solid and fun. But this dress has hidden powers.

Thanks to this fabulous Faux Pas dress by Friends of Couture, I did not get hit by a tram the other day!  I also managed to make it through a very crowded event without once being forced to say “excuse me”. Someone even gave me a hand getting my groceries to the car.

MAGIC!

Outfit Details:

Dress – Fabulous Faux Pas by Friends of Couture

Hair Bow – Sugar Doll Designs

Shoes – Paragon Department store, Bangkok

Earrings- Kawaii black bears by SIX

Nude Fishnets – Leg Avenue

Outfit Details:

BOW – $2 Shop

Dress – Angel Sissi

Silver bat wing top – Tempt

Two tone fishnets – Columbine

Boots – Candy

Earrings – Equip

Total outfit cost – Less than $100.

Why Les Miserables? Well I think it is the ragged skirt that I love so much.  Something about this combo as I was putting it together, made me think of a Parisian Courtesan on her day off or a well dressed revolutionary marching the streets of Paris. This skirt has had so many appearances over the last autumn winter season and I don’t see it stopping anytime soon.  Depending on how I wear it I can end up feeling like The Little Match Girl, Eliza Dolittle or like today, a Can Can dancer on her way to the shops! All that fantasy in one skirt? What a great buy!

(Some of you have asked for more detail of this skirt and this cardigan before, so prepare yourself for a gratuitous amount of photos)

The hair was done using my “Chic and Simple Updo” tutorial and takes no more than 5 minutes to achieve.

The makeup look has a tutorial on the way too.  I’m a little behind on the editing but hope to get it ready for you in the next week.  It is simple and soft, but can be amped up quite easily for an evening look.

Phew.. that was a lot of photos!  Now for the details..

Outfit Details

Skirt – Boo Radley

Cardigan – Friends of Couture “Daughters of Pleasure”

Teal slip – Anthropologie

Boots – Novo “Mali”

Hair Bows – My Little Rockabilly

Bow Earrings – Equip

Purple sequin bow clip – $2 shop

The first thing that occurs to me as I started getting these photos ready to post, is that I really need to allow more time before events to take some proper outfit shots! I always end up running out of time and then taking a few hasty shots during the evening that doesn’t really capture the detail of what I wore. Oh well, at least you’ll get the gist if it.

Saturday night was Circa Nocturna, the annual catwalk showcase of alternative fashion, and a place where so many of my loves can all be found at the same time in the same room!  I had planned to wear a particular vintage Gautier dress this evening, but the weather had other ideas with very high humidity and a storm that had cars floating down the roads and roofs collapsing!  So I had to do a bit of improvisation last minute.

I’d picked up these amazing boots (yes, a post on just these by themselves is coming) earlier in the week and was dying for an opportunity to take them out on the town.  Bit in the abcense of the previously planned dress, I had no idea just what I would wear them with.  So with an hour to go before heading out the door, I grabbed a pair of neglected black pants, chopped the legs off, whipped them through the machine and knocked up a pair of shorts!

It ended up being the perfect combination to keep cool in a very hot and humid evening, as well as dance the night away at the afterparty!

It wasn’t until I saw photos of myself with the lovely Hexotica, (who makes some stunning fascinators and accessories) that we realised how much we matched. In a sea of black, black and more black, a little white goes a long way.

Outfit Details

Black satin and chiffon shirt – Cue

Black buttoned cincher – CMK

Shorts- a quick creation from an old pair of trousers!

Thigh high boots – Novo Shoes

Faux fur collar – Target children’s wear! ( yes, the secret is out)

Silver clutch – Thomas Wylde

Earrings – Diva

Fingerless gloves – Forever New

Mini Tiara – borrowed from Miss 5