I wish

When I saw this post on the amazing blog The Stylish Wanderer, I instantly fell in love with the chorduroy high-waisted trousers. A million fantasies of how I would live in these for the whole of winter next year ran through my mind, before I noted the brand: H&M. Unfortunately I can't buy them in Australia OR online.


Australia has gone mental with the opening of a topman/topshop in Sydney (hopefully H&M will follow suit), and if I could I would love to drive there immediately and buy these:


:
or this dress, which would be perfect for the awkward in-between weather which we seem to experience for months:


and I'm pretty sure these shoes speak for themselves:



The only problem is, it's all so incredibly EXPENSIVE!!! I've become so accustomed to spending no more than $10 per an item of clothing, that 50 pounds for a dress (which is almost tripled when converted to AUD) seems completely ludicrous to me.

Oh well hopefully one day I'll no longer be a dirt poor student.

slap in the face

Does anyone else get that feeling after a week of holidays where you do nothing but sit on the couch watching horrendous made for TV movies, that you kinda-sorta-wish you were back at school? I really have to escape to the coast BEFORE I GO CRAAAAZZZYYYYY!

Well that is a semi-lie, as I have managed to leave my house a few times, but only to hang out at friends and visit all shops in walking distance of my apartment (which really isn't very many). Today I went to a salvos and picked up $30 worth of goods. The annoying thing is, it's all either black, velvet, long, heavy or all of the above. I am much more of an autumn/winter person than summer, and because most of the blogs/magazines I read are all heading into winter, I can't help but buy ridiculously impractical clothing. Ahhh well, at least I'll be set for next year.

When I get dressed in the morning, I often will change a bunch of the items before I walk out of the door, and today this felt a little too bleak considering the sunny skies.

Oh god aren't I photogenic?

angelique

After seeing this I'm desperate for a long tulle skirt. The long blonde hair and skirt make her look angelic, but in a badass-in-the-back-row way due to the combats and blazer. The fact that she gets to cuddle Jethro Cave really doesn't help my jealousy.

trash is treasure

I wore this outfit out to dinner last night with a friend:

(my extremely unphotogenic face really does not appreciate the flash)

I picked this dress up from an op shop in sydney a few months ago, I'm not quite sure if it's meant to be a nighty or a dress, but I don't really mind as I like it so much.

I would definitely call myself a creature of comfort, and I find theres always certain outfits or items of jewellery I always turn to. This necklace is probably the most worn item in my wardrobe. My mum gave me the locket about five years ago, and since then many different items have been added and subsequently lost, from coke caps to rings. This is what is currently adorning the chain (sorry about the poor quality pictures, my camera really isn't very good):

A locket containing a picture of my mum and dad

A dog tag for "Jamin" that I found in a park near where I live

A cat tag for "Frederik" that I found at my school

And a little key chain with some numbers, but I can't for the life of me remember where I found it.

I really should get the clasp fixed.

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....

She'll go for ya little brother

I am officially on 2 months of summer holiday as of last friday. But I reckon after the two most stressful weeks of assessment I definitely deserve it. It's weird to think that after twelve years of school, this time next year I will have finished, and hopefully be on a plane heading overseas. For the past few days I've been making endless promises with myself to do better at school next year, but fingers crossed they come true this time.

I'm going through a big oversized shirt phase at the moment, and my friend bought me this top yesterday from a garage sale as she knows I adore anything spotty. I wore it with my mums old belt and silk camisole, Ally shorts, socks from Myer and........


MY COMBAT BOOTS! I found these in an amazing vintage store called lost and found on a recent trip to melbourne for only $50, and they are easily my favourite item of footwear. With heavy steel caps and heels wearing them for half a day gives my leg a crazy workout, making it easy for me to justify a mars bar or two.

Today I went op-shopping with the friend that gave me the shirt for materials to make some pieces together.

This sparkly purple jacket was definitely the find of the day, and although it's not really my style, the thought of chopping it up does sadden me slightly.

These pictures really don't do the vibrancy of the purple and it's sparkliness (invented word?) justice. I also picked up a few things for myself, I've always found it impossible to exit an op shop with an empty bag.