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. *

My version of sight seeing in the last few weeks has constitued going to some of my favorite hidden gem stores around Melbourne. While I will list them for you a little down the track, today I thought I’d show you where all that pocket money has disappeard to!

No one item was very expensive, (this is how they trick you into draining the wallet, stealth style) but each one has a brilliant style factor for making something everyday that bit more extradordinary. Beautiful and useful? Of course!

Small bird clip that can be worn anywhere – $6.00

Faux pearl and felt snowflake earrings – FREE with purchase! ( Um yes, I bought a jacket on sale for $65 but it still counts as a bargain!)

I spotted this purple plaid beauty case from the far end of the store and immediately fell in love. I figured it would be around $90 but went in for closer inspection anyway.  It is the perfect size for carrying shampoo bottles and hair brushes when travelling, something that I don’t yet have a purpose built bag for, so when I saw it was actually $19.95 I had to have it!

This is actually a blush pot from Missha. I have been looking for a new cool and bright base eye colour but most I liked have been around the $40 mark.

This one however, is twice the size as well as being the perfect shade and was only $8!

I’ve been using it to great effect the last couple of days, so there is a tutorial in the works on how best to use it too.

This was a random find in one of those Chinese bargain stores and at $2 I couldn’t leave it behind.

You may have seen these around before, in fact I’ve been eyeing them off for a while before I finally gave it to the red, shiney, hypnotic surface. Ohhh…

Yes, it is APPLE hand cream from The Face Shop! It is only about $12, but there isn’t a whole lot in there. However this is one package I will use and use when it is empty so I still consider it a good buy. Besides which my hands smell and feel divine!

All that booty and it all came to $48.00 or about a week’s worth of take out coffee.  I know which pick me up I prefer!

Okay, so clearly I have no idea what kind of vibe I was aiming for with this outfit, but I still love the end result!

I found this skirt in a recycle boutique over a year ago and have never found anything that worked with it, that is until I found this great new top in this months sponsors store!

This is one of those ‘organic’ outfits that just kind of happens as you get dressed. Well that happens to me anyway.  It was about trying to find a balance for the volume of the skirt, find a way to keep it up (it is a little big) andground it with the right shoes.  I did have the best pair of black and red Melissa style flats on to begin with, but they just weren’t comfortable enough for a whole days walking around, so the Le Pommier shoes filled the gap instead.

I had stayed up with a friend the night before, crafting and hot gluing new hair thingys until 1am and the result was this hair bow.  A little red velvet ribbon, some faux pearls and  a golden anchor. It turned out to be the perfect thing the outft needed.

Outfit Details from head to toe:

Hair bow – made by me  Earrings – a few seasons ago from Diva

Top - Matelot top A/W’10 Friends of Couture

Skirt – unlabeled and found at a recycle store. Made of cotton scarves and broderie anglise.

Belt – elastic with enamel bow from Angel Sissi in Bourke Street Melbourne (they don’t have a website yet)

Flesh tone fishnets – Leg Avenue

Shoes – Le Pommier (these guys don’t have a site either!)

I guess you could say this is a classic SKM look – pulled together from a variety of inspirations, breaking lots of rules and inherantly me.

P.S: For those of you in Melbourne looking for some great recycled, new and vintage bargains, Episode is having their Once A Year Garage Sale this weekend!  There will be stuff from $5 – $50 but mostly $5- $20.  They have samples, last seasons stock, vintage and recycled.  It runs from Friday till Sunday and the first 20 people to arrive on Friday will be able to fill an entire bag for only $20!

Over the last few outfit posts you will have seen a few extremely cute new additions to my wardrobe like this stunning purple cardigan and these bow bangles. Each of these pieces are by local Melbourne label Friends of Couture.  I absolutely love Friends of Couture and you will have seen me wearing their pieces for some time now, remember this little lamb cardigan? Occasionally you come across a collection that you think to yourself, ” Oh that is all so me, I just have to have it!”, well that is the way I feel about everything FOC does.  They have a brilliant knack of combining vintage inspirations with super cute detail and modern chic, which  is why when they invited me to review their latest collection, Paris After Dark, I jumped at the opportunity.

Jo Matheson, (chief designer) and Candice DeVille aka Super  Kawaii Mama

Nicole looks stunning in the “Little Red Ridinghood” dress is azure blue with the red striped Matelot top underneath.

Paris After Dark is the new Autumn Winter 2010 range by Friends of Coutures head designer Jo Matheson.  Inspired by the romance of vintage lines and a strong traditionally French colour palette, Jo has created something that is both wearable, collectable and very very head turning. The collection takes a journey from the flirty and feminine lines of sweet floral chiffon with a distinctly 1930’s flavour and meanders through to stunning, slightly puffed sleeved cardigan with beaded art deco detailing. I particularly love the Hotel DeVille cardigan in a soft, buttery cream wool with deep blue beading.  There are the iconic pieces that take wardrobe staples and give them just that much more punch by creating a strongly waisted silhouette and drenching you in azure blue; as well as classic boat necked tee’s with stripes that Gigi would have been proud to wear.

Jo Matheson is responsible for the beautiful Paris After Dark collection.

Hotel DeVille Cardigan (left) clearly must have been named after me! Little Drummer Girl cardigan (right).

The feminine detailing doesn’t stop at the figure flattering cuts, but continues through to corsages, bows (that can even be worn in the hair!), tulle skirts and the softest of soft cropped angora cardigans. (I don’t know about you, but the snuggle factor of angora wins me over every time.)  I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to find a local, accessible label that knows how to combine current trends with timeless classics in such a seamless way. For example, they’ve taken the military feel (so popular in that Balmain jacket) and managed to capture the essence of the style in soft, wearable cardigans that make the most of our assets without having to cash in any to buy them!

When I start to think about “Paris After Dark”, my mind drifts to Parisian bordellos (clearly I watch too many films), smoky eyed women in sumptuous fabrics, with kissable lips and strokable hips.  Jo has woven this intensity and edginess into some of the darker pieces in the range using velvet and sequins (bows!), strong shoulder lines and strategically placed zippers. While our Parisian girl by day may be all feminine pinks or jaunty stripes, at night her walk takes on just a little more wiggle in body con electric blue, violet and black.

Oh, and for those of you who have been drooling over my high waisted jeans… let me tell you, this collection has the most amazing pair of wide legged, high waisted black pants, Sartori.  With flat fronts, button detailing, even button on suspenders; when I tried these on, they fit like a glove and I even gave a little Squee in the dressing room.  You are going to LOVE them. ( Watch out for an outfit post with them next week.)

See them on the left? Awesome Sartori pants!

Friends of Couture pieces get my seal of approval for not only being infinitely stylish and cute, but also for their quality. I’ve worn some of their pieces over and over and over again in the last three years, washing the knit wear and popping it back on the next day, and they have kept their shape, their colour and their edge. I can’t say that for a lot of modern pieces in my wardrobe, especially not those others of a comparative price.

Yes, I could go on and on about how fab this range is, but you really must see it for yourself.  If you are in Melbourne you can head straight to the stores at:

225 Chapel street, Prahan

186 Sydney Road, Brunswick

Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

Melbourne CBD 311 Swanston Street, Melbourne

And, because one can’t possibly not share something this good with the rest of the world, you can get your hands on some of these fantastic pieces for a ONE DAY ONLY 20% off Valentines Day Sale in the online store!! Just enter “bemyvalentine” at the coupon section at the checkout for 20% off on ALL stock!

***EDIT: Just to clarify they do sell online and will ship to ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD! So get in there while the Aussie dollar is still a bargain!***

So yay for awesome new designs and a great big yay for special sales too!!

Feburary is one of the hardest months to find wardrobe inspiration in for me. Here in Australia it is generally as hot as anything, and it has been for a while. So our enthusiasm for fresh summer looks is on on the wane.  The stores start teasing us with thoughts of Autumn showers, but the sun still insists on frying us to a crisp. This week I’ve taken another imaginary shopping trip, delving into the reaches of my sweating subconcious, to put together some late summer outfits to inspire your days.

Light, bright, Ice Queen chic. Looking like a stylish snowflake will take the heat off!

For party or for play, baby blue envelopes you in a cool breeze as you dream of the sea.

They say that green is the most relaxing colour, and the colour most often chosen by geniuses.  Either way, frogs and frills most certainly go together in this look to take you away from it all.

Red may be the colour of passion, but add lots of rosey pink and it is all girly love. It is summer showers and raspberry kisses with a nice tall sangria as the sun goes down…

To see the details of any of the items in these outfits, simply click on the image and follow the link.

See if you can come up with your own monochromatic masterpiece from what you have in your wardrobe – and NO- black does not count this time!

Feeling inspired yet?