It is possible that I sat up last night watching clips like these for four hours. Clips on “Being Popular” (tip – don’t park in cars), “Being a good housewife” (tip- don’t talk too much), “Being a good female employee” (tip- do what you’re told and shut up).  As amusing as the clips are, the comments left by viewers are just as hilarious at times. But I particularly liked this one about the habits of good grooming and it made me wonder, just where are children taught things like this these days?

For many of my generation these things were still learnt at home where we were fortunate to learn by good examples.  However, a visit to any local shopping mall will leave you in little doubt that there is a big, gapping, badly groomed hole in the education of today’s teenager. The things I take for granted, like knowing how to use an iron, have become rare and exotic skills in today’s teenage repetior.  And taking a clean handkerchief out with you? Well the only handkerchieves I see on most teenagers are the ones masquerading as skirts.

Perhaps if the cast of Glee did a version of this film we’d have more luck guiding the next generation on the path to ‘keeping it nice’.

This clip is from the Prelinger Archives.

Finally, I’ve finished creating the highlight reel of the big Wintersun 2010 Vintage Swimwear Parade!  This fantastic show, produced by Nicole Jenkins of Circa Vintage Clothing,was one of the biggest highlights of the Wintersun week.  Showcasing suits from the 1930s to the 1970s, this show was about more than scantily clad girls, but also about just how wonderful the designs of the past are. How flattering, how fun and how relevant they remain today.

I’ve condensed the whole show into ten minutes (not an easy job) and managed to highlight each and every swimsuit on display.  The models came from all over and did a wonderful job of capturing the essence of the eras.

P.S I really wanted to keep my leopard print cossi!

Enjoy!!

Parade Produced by Circa Vintage Clothing

Camera Work by Tim Hamilton

Still Photos by Andre Turner

Video Production by Candice Deville

This last week my life changed forever.

I believe that all the best stories have a sound track and without music, life is only a life half lived.  Yet, until now I’ve had to contend with playing my sound track in my head at most times as I moved from place to place, inside outside, in the car etc..  Then someone came home with a Sonos. I hadn’t even heard of these brand new fangled inventions, but I knew someone would get their act together and figure it out one of these days.  So what is it?  Without being a big promo for Sonos, (as I really don’t know or understand all the tech details) it is basically a wireless speaker system that I can move to any room in my house, my garden my porch.. etc.. and keep on adding speakers without having to wire anything in!

So now when I choose a soundtrack for my day it follows me everywhere! The whole thing is driven by my central music catalogue kept on my iPhone, so even if I leave the house and drive away I can still keep on listening and keep the same groove. Anyway, this means I am falling in love all over again with my favorite artists and getting goosebumps over new ones.

So what am I listening to this week?  Quite a lot of the amazing Johny Cash and his back catalogue.  His website actually has a radio station that is all Johnny all the time (which I’m listening to as I type this).  I’m also listening to the soundtrack to Walk The Line, which has become a staple for my drive time I just can’t get enough of that one.

I’m also getting goosebumps over the music (and moves) of Nick Willett who I was privileged to see perform live at Wintersun. I cannot tell you what an experience that was. Nick is one man that could have stepped directly out of your favorite 50′s rock ‘n roll movie – A voice that rolls over you in waves, moves that should be illegal and a first class gentleman.

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Ms Carly and I snapped having a word with Mr. Nick Willett

I’m also very eagerly awaiting the first full album release of our very own (that is Victorian) Scotty Baker, as his fantastic music and highly amusing lyrics have been stuck in my head for the last two weeks.  But until then I have to content myself with his singles..  Go here and listen to Scotty Baker - he’s full of awesome! (And he’s also seriously stylish!)

The Re Chords are also particularly fantastic and are Melbourne based too!

Check them out here.

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Anyway, what has become abundantly clear is that I need to update my music catalogue with a whole lot of new stuff , (particularly each and every band I saw perform at Wintersun and will link you to as soon as I can) so even though I’m no music reviewer I’ll be telling you about which sound track is playing in my life at any one time. A word of warning though, it may be classic Rock n Roll, it may be new local Rockabilly or just as likely, a little bit of mad J-Pop! Just like my wardrobe, my music is all about what moves me that day – so let’s see if we can give your day a new soundtrack too.

Hold onto your hats friends, because today’s hair tutorial is a never before attempted feat of daring!

Two of my blogging buddies (who are also well known for creating fun and interesting tutorials) and I were having a little chat one evening when we came up with this idea. It went something like this, “Hi Violet, Hi Cheesie. You know how much we love doing awesome hair tutorials? Well how about we try this?”

It is a simple and fun hair do you’ve seen me wear an casual days and asked for a tutorial on. It’s also one you can customise to your own style.

Enjoy!

You can visit the awesome Violet Le Beaux and Cheesie to see more of their fun tutorials!

I try not to talk too much about blogging in general here, as for most of you it is probably a mind numbingly boaring subject. But the recent Singapore adventure involved a few opportunties for me to chat about what I do, along with one of my favorite local bloggers Xia Xue, and Nuffnang Co-Founder Ming.  There were news radio interviews on 938 Live, and even a morning breakfast appearance on CN Asia T.V!

With Xia Xue and Ming – all catching up in the Green Room with a cup of Milo to settle any nerves.

So what did I wear when getting up at 5.30 in the morning to be ready for this breakfast appointment?  Well, I was told last minute that I needed to wear something “plain” for T.V, and of course it was then I discovered just how little in the way of  “plain” I own these days! I used to have a wardrobe filled with black, but in the last few years I’ve developed a wardrobe that could rival Cindy Lauper’s!  I’d thown my only plain summer black dress into the suitcase last minute, and it certainly came in handy.

Outfit Details:

Dress – Cooper St Clothing  Cardigan – Katies

Stockings- Skin tone Fishnets     Shoes – Luca & Marc

Bow – Arielle Antionette    Braclet – Diva

Bag – Sexy But Cute (! Amazing Thai designer brand I found in Bangkok)

The outfit stood me in good stead as not only was it comfortable and slick, but it then went on to handle and entire day of shopping, eating, touring and more drinks. Which gave me a moments giggle when at about 1am the next morning sitting in a bar with friends, someone said to me, “OMG I saw you on TV this morning!” and all I could think to say was, “Thank you… I can’t believe I’m still wearing the same outfit!”

Here is a look at the Morning Show interview.