starry night

I normally detest chain-store rip offs of designer clothing, as it ends up looking tacky, cheap and entirely unoriginal. These people seem to think that because they change the design 10% from the original, they have created a trendy, high-fashion item that they can then slap a ridiculously high price on considering the poor quality fabrics and workmanship. Despite this, for my fashion project at school last session I decided to knit a pair of those Rodarte tights (you know the ones I'm talking about). I decided that as I am not making a profit off the tights, and we were being marked on construction not design, it was perfectly fine to make them, and I am so happy as I am head-over-heels in love with them! Such a shame it's summer down under :( Here I've styled the tights in four different ways, to give myself ideas on how and where to wear them.

First up is a spring, monet-inspired outfit:

I have a soft spot for floral dresses (in case you hadn't noticed), and like most of the ones in my wardrobe, this one began it's life as a floor length, size 32482348 granny dress. I love the soft blues of the dress and tights together.

Secondly, a more formal take on the tights:

With this outfit I like how the tights become the main focus (sorry about the hemline, must've rode up a bit between clicking the camera button and frantically tottering over to the wall).

Next I've tried to dress the tights up to look more punky

This is my favourite of the lot, probably because I am obsessed with everything punk (I LOVE YOU VIVIENNE). If I was wearing this outfit out I would accessorise it a bit more, probably with a cuff, silver bangle and some silver chains.

Finally:

This outfit is pretty different from what I normally wear, as I don't really colour-block like this, but I do like the idea of wearing the two knitted pieces together.

I'd still like to experiment layering these tights with other opaque/patterned/coloured tights, but I might save that for next winter.

you're not as brave as you were at the start

Today I've had one of those typical, relaxing summer day of staying at home on my couch catching up on some dr phil and Oprah. Not to mention indulging in vast amounts of homemade blueberry muffins. So here is an outfit I wore sometime last week:

I added the purple flower while running out the door to match the shoes (blame my kinda-obsesssive-compulsive-but-not-really-ness)

A couple of months ago I trailed practically every clothing store in my town in search of a pair of floral leggings, with no results. So when I discovered these on a mannequin in a melbourne store window I practically sprinted inside, let out a squeal of delight after locating them on a rack, and then slunk off to the changeroom after noticing the strange looks directed my way by the cool indie, 20 something shop assistant.

The students at my school are pretty relaxed when it comes to clothing, as everyone pretty much just wears what they want. Although floral leggings are everywhere in Europe and the States, us Australians are a little slower to catch on to trends. So when I wore these to school I was delighted with the numerous compliments, but also taken aback by the strange looks, and in some cases, rude comments. If it were up to me everyone would wear things like this to school:

But unfortunately I don't have a spare tens of thousands of dollars lyeing around for Dior, McQueen and Rodarte :( Hopefully one day....

Be Mine?

Russh march/april 2009

I love Russh

I love his dad

I love boys in girls clothing

I love Jethro Cave

Ripped to shreds

Sometimes it's nice to pare down the layers...

I thought my purple kitchen cabinets went nicely with the skirt.

A few of my friends were horrified with my see through cardy, but I don't think there's anything wrong with showing some skin, it's not like this is an overtly sexual outfit. That being said, I don't think I would wear this outfit to school, although my college is extremely relaxed when it comes to clothes (no uniform whatsoever!), I don't think they would appreciate a visible bra.

When I found this skirt at a local thrift store, it was about a size 20 and floor length, but I fell in love with the material. I know that purple is supposed to be the least wearable colour, but for some reason I am always draw to it. I often buy second hand clothes from the plus size section, as there is much more room for error when it comes to altering, and it's always nice having left over material!


P.S. I'm going away for a few days for my baby cousin's christening, but I'm working on a big Vivienne Westwood post. She is hands down my favourite designer, and the reason why I fell in love with fashion.

xx

The youth is starting to change

Shoes keeping me awake at night:

At first glance I thought these Rodarte thigh highs were leggings. Then I realised they were the most amazing long boots I have ever seen. The Mulleavy sisters really can do no wrong.

Found this image in one of my many inspiration folders, so I have no idea where it's from. Can't you imagine a little pixie skipping through the woods in these? I would looooove to own them, definately the most interesting and creative boots I have ever seen.

I've been searching for a pair of floral doc's for a long, long time. Anyone know where I can get a pair? Anything featuring florals gets my tick of approval, especially when printed on arguably the most iconic punk item. I can imagine Vivienne Westwood stomping all over London in these in the 70's.


Another mystery image found on my computer. I recently learnt how to crochet, so I'm currently going through a mild obsession, shame it's the middle of winter.

I fell in love with Balenciaga when I saw the spring/summer 2007 runway show featuring the C3PO-esque robotic suits. Since then I have loved every single one of Nicolas Ghesquiere's collections, which have all been enhanced by the amazing shoes. He must be doing something right if he has created the "it" shoe for the majority of the past few seasons. The three shown above are all so creative and wonderfully ridiculous.

Easily my favourite shoe of the season. Words cannot describe how desperate I am to own these. The architecture, the patent leather, the chunky heel, the clean simple line.... Now all I need is $860.00.... any ideas???

.......and an outfit:

I'd like to be under the sea...

My new reason to be alive:

Romance Was Born!

Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales: making me proud to be Australian. Together they are changing the direction of Australian fashion, taking risks and not being afraid to turn their wacky ideas into runway shows.

Romance Was Born was by far the highlight of last months Australian Fashion week, with their deep sea inspired collection providing a refreshing distraction from the current grey cloud that seems to be hanging over the country. Featuring items such as a knitted squid headpiece, crocheted beards, shell encrusted bum-bags and oyster patterned shorts, with an underwater cove of treasures as the backdrop, the collection represented what I believe fashion is all about; having fun! I won't go into a rant about the economic downturn, but I think it is important to remember that fashion can be used as a way to escape and bring joy to a society that is feeling very down in the dumps.

Enjoy!

Knitted squid heapiece- perfect for the freezing winter ahead

Crocheted Tutu!!!

Grandma fashion..... :)

Bringing back the fishtail

(note the mermaid Dolly Parton in the background)

There are no words to describe how I feel about the above...

The genius duo

Any item of clothing featuring feathers gets my tick of approval

Last night I was flicking through the november 08 issue of vanity fair, when I fell upon an advertisement for grey goose vodka. It wasn’t the vodka that interested me (16 yrs old remember), but a beautiful grey cocktail dress adorned with giant feathers. After checking the credits on the page, I discovered it was by Kristian Aadnevik. Ignorant as I am about many labels, I had never heard of him, but when I googled his work I was astounded by the originality and craftsmanship in his work. The spring/summer 09 collection of bandage dresses featuring flashes of bold colours are fabulous enough to rival that Christopeher Kane collection (you know the one I'm talking about).

Now all I need is to lose 5 kilos and and gain a few thousand bucks.

Now a completely unrelated topic, here's what I wore today:

Very basic, but I'm so in love with these DIY'ed leggings I wanted to draw full attention to them.

xx