Sunday, February 26, 2012

Weekend fashion inspiration

I am pretty happy with my working wardrobe now - thanks in small part to my work wear muse, Kate Lanphear. But now I am wanting to focus on getting my weekend outfits up to snuff.

Because the things I like to wear are not exactly conservative, and also thanks to a few tattoos that I have to make sure are hidden during office hours, there is a pretty big difference between what I wear to work and what I get around in in my own time. And given that I only have two days a week to dress exactly how I want, I think I need to start making more of an effort.

Things that are absolute 'no's in the office - like visible bra straps (and the aforementioned tattoos), thin, ripped, t-shirts and singlets, biker boots, mini skirts, ripped denim and the like - all need to be squeezed into two tiny days.

Sometimes, though, I am just so excited that I don't have go to work, I can get into a bit of a rut and start to slop around in any old thing. Especially if the weather is icky and rainy (which it has been in Sydney up until the last week or so).

This weekend, though, I wanted to get my casual mojo back. And while Kate Lanphear is a perfect role model for weekdays, on weekends, I play another game - 'What would Pixie do?'

Source: www.weheartit.com
Yep - Pixie Geldof. One of the wild-child offspring of Bob Geldof and Paula Yates.

She is my go-to girl for hair inspiration (obvs) but I also really love how she puts outfits together. While often on-trend, she wears things in a fresh way that feels authentic and real. Far, far removed from the usual celeb offspring set who are seen running about Notting Hill and the West Village in the latest designer gear. I mean, sure, she still wears labels now and then and I have no idea what her actual job is, but she seems different.

Here are some of my fave looks that she has rocked in the warmer weather:

Source: www.luxestyle.com
Source: www.style-star.fabsugar.com
Source: www.thisislondon.co.uk
Source: www.tiskin.com
Source: www.contactmusic.com
Source: www.pure-institute.com
I am also really loving her hairstyle in that last photo. Hmmm... maybe it is time for me to grow mine a little...

Anyways, here is what I came up with this weekend outfit-wise:

Saturday daytime 


The sun was out again! Yay!



Like this outfit a lot but will NOT be wearing the headband outside of a yoga studio again. The bag is the one I use on most days - it is from Deadly Ponies and I get way more compliments on this bag than I get on my pretty purple Mulberry Bayswater. I think there is an important lesson in that somewhere if I really wanted to learn one.

Saturday night

Went to see Death Cab For Cutie on Saturday night - expected it to be a hipster-fest but it was actually me, my husband and about a thousand-odd 16 year old girls (some with boys in tow- but not many). Still - it was a good concert.



Even though my hair is super-short, I managed to get it into two little braids. I got the idea from watching 'Girl With the Dragon Tattoo'. Sooo cute and it shows off my undercut. Sad thing though - I broke my bag trying to get my tickets out in a hurry. It was from asos.com though and cost, like, $20 so probably not that surprising. In contrast to the cheap bag (plus a cut-off vintage skirt) are the boots - my gorgeous and lovely Beau Coops boots. I got them a few years back and they were on sale but still cost a pretty penny.

Sunday day


Headed out to my favourite cafe in Sydney for brunch. It was overcast but still a nice and warm.


I bought this shirt when I was in the middle of reading Patti Smith's autobiography, 'Just Kids' and wanted desperately to be as cool and androgynous as Patti. This shirt is as close as I got. It was winter then so I was wearing it with black skinny cords and a vintage velvet jacket if it was too cold. But because today was nice and warm, I just wore my favourite cut-off shorts from One Teaspoon (not that you can see them) and the same boots as last night and same bag as yesterday morning. Not that exciting an ensemble but it matched my laid back mood.

Sunday night


Tonight, I am just bumming around the house, eating brownies and blogging away so I am wearing the same cut-off shorts as this morning but with a worn-out singlet instead of the shirt - I figured there is no real point in posting a photo of that. Just assume I look amazing.

And that is it of another weekend - I have to get through five days of worky hum-drum before I can pull out the inappropriately shorty-shorts again.

Cue the Sunday night sads.


Friday, February 24, 2012

Get ya frock on!

I got invited to a party this week. And the dress code is "black tie".

Awwww yeah!!!

I love getting frocked up. I take it very seriously. I definitely do not go in for this "it says black tie, but cocktail will be ok" crap that everyone seems to think is appropriate these days. If you were meant to wear cocktail, the invite would have specified "cocktail" - geddit? Sheesh!

Hell, I would wear black tie to the movies if it was socially acceptable. But, sadly, it is not. 

And it is precisely  because there are so very few occasions that call for formal wear these days that I think the opportunity to frock up should always be fully embraced whenever it arises. 

The fact that we are getting to the pointy end of the awards season makes it even more exciting too! Will be able to get lots of inspiration from whatever Rooney Mara ends up wearing to the Oscars!

The first time that most girls get a real excuse to get their glam on is their high school formal. 

At my school, our formal coincided with our graduation so it was also our last night with our old school friends. This probably would have been a sentimental moment for me if I hadn't been absolutely desperate to get the hell away from that school, and everyone in it, as soon as I god damn could. 

But that didn't mean that I didn't want to look pretty! 


I bought this dress with my mum months and months before my actual graduation. We went on a major shopping expedition for it a few weeks after I was dumped by my boyfriend in a horrendous fashion (over the phone while I was in the middle of studying for my exams). I think she had hoped that shopping for a pretty, expensive dress would cheer me up. And she was right for the most part. (Although I do remember sobbing uncontrollably while we were eating lunch in a nice restaurant. And again in the train on the way home while listening to Tori Amos and Fiona Apple on my walkman. My poor mum!) 

Being a demi-goth, most people expected me to rock up in some kind of medieval number I think. I did consider getting a black and purple strapless corset with matching purple skirt for a little while. But as soon as I tried on this silvery, silk dress, it made me feel like such a princess! And I think that is really what I needed at the time. Oh, and it had the coolest back to it, too.

(How awesome was this guy's suit, btw? Also, you can't really see it in this photo, but he was wearing a bowler hat. Very cool.)

But that was my formal. It is a big thing, you know? So I was quite happy to go all out with the dress and shoes and getting my hair did and all that. 

Nowadays, though, I get invited to a black tie event maybe once every couple of years.

So what is a girl to do?

Well, just because I like to make an effort at these things doesn't mean I am totally ok with spending a bucket-load of cash on a new dress each time. And it isn't just the dress, is it? There are the shoes (and no, you can't just grab one of the pairs of heels that you wear to work, no matter how much my husband might insist), handbag (ditto the handbag, ok husband?), bling etc etc. You can end up racking up some serious cash on a bunch of pretty things that, let's face it, you will probably only wear once. 

Even though it is a bit boring, I find going with a black dress is good because you can get away with wearing it to more than one event and, so long as you accessorise it differently, I don't think anyone really notices. Also, I find that if you dye your hair pale pink the morning before the event, everyone will be more focussed on your hair anyway.


Gothic balls, on the other hand, are much easier. It is pretty much corset, ripped fishnets and pretty Victorian jewellery.


(I still may just wear a corset to this next black tie party - but we will see.)

Last year, my gorgeous, gorgeous, friend got married and, because she is incredibly stylish and fabulous, it was a formal affair. While I was initially super-excited by the prospect of shopping for a new dress, when I thought about the evening dresses that I had sitting at the back of my wardrobe, I couldn't really justify buying a new one. But I still wanted to look really special at my friend's wedding (not as special as her, obviously!). 

So, I decided I would wear the same dress that I had worn some 13 years ago to my high school formal but updated with new accessories to give it a different feel.


Mostly, though, I was just stoked that it still fit me. And that it was still in style! 

I don't think I can really get away with that again though. Plus, I kind of feel like because I saved on that one, I get to spend more this time around!

Some Dior or Armani Prive, perhaps?

Source: www.vogue.com.au

Source: www.vogue.com.au



Monday, February 6, 2012

Weekend outfit - sunshine and lollipops!

I was so excited that the sun FINALLY decided to come out this weekend! Yay!!!

And with the sun, my pasty limbs also came out!


I got this dress in Chicago. It is a bit colourful - enough to feel Summery but not so much that it freaked me out. This is the first time though that I have worn it since I got back - not because I changed my mind about it or anything - but it has just not been warm enough in Sydney! Ugh!

CRAPPEST SUMMER EVER!!!!

So we got one nice day this weekend before the clouds and cooler temps set in again and I wanted to take advantage by getting out there amongst it.

And it felt lurvely! xox

Sunday, February 5, 2012

The greatest crush of all

I did something bad. I posted a whole list of celebrities that I have had a crush on over the years AND I DIDN'T INCLUDE LUKE PERRY!!!!!

Source: www.lukeperry.com
Very bad. Hopefully this post that will be TOTALLY devoted to the lovely Luke will somehow make up for it.

I mean, he had a seriously profound effect on pre-teen me (sometime between Jon Bon Jovi and Damon Albarn). In fact, even now while I peruse photos of Mr Perry on the interwebs it is clear to me that I am still totally in love with him. His face still makes me weak at the knees and all swoony.

I mean, seriously:

Source: www.listal.com
Om nom nom nom nom.

My crush on Luke started simultaneously with an obsession with a fab little tv show called 'Beverly Hills 90210'. He was quintessential bad boy, Dylan McKay. And, even though it was quite obvious that he was far too old to be in high school, he was the dreamiest boy at West Beverly High.

Source: www.fanpop.com
Dylan rode a motorbike, drove a sweet-ass Porsche Speedster, was misunderstood, mysterious and broody all the time, surfed and hung out in Baja, had this cool, kind of raspy voice and was basically sexy as all hell. Seriously, seriously hot.

But Dylan wasn't the only reason I watched 90210 - I also thought the show itself was the best thing EVER! Da. Bomb. It was my whole life.

Naturally, I was Team Brenda. She had a huge influence on me style-wise and also attitude-wise. And I think this was partially because I wanted to be the kind of girl who could end up with a boy like Dylan.

Source: www.fanpix.net
This kind of never really happened (or, to the extent that it did, I now realise that older, broody boys with family and alcohol issues are not actually that hot outside of the Beverly Hills zip code).

And when Dylan left Brenda and started hooking up with that pathetic, sulky, privileged, stuck up, BLONDE Kelly, it really PISSED ME OFF. I kept watching of course but was always hoping that B & D would maybe hook up again and that Kelly would maybe die some hideous, painful death.

But really, it didn't matter that much, because Luke Perry was turning up in other things too! Like 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer'! No - not the world's best tv show that was ever, ever made. He was in the movie that preceded it (and that was not really so great - in fact it was so bad that its writer, Joss Whedon, revived the concept for the BRILLIANT tv show to make up for it).

Source: www.scifipulse.net
Ok, so his hair looked pretty bad through most of it but I swear he was still hot. I mean, check him out here in the prom scene:

Source: www.slayermovie.com
HOT! (Also, he kind of looked like Spike from the tv series in this movie. And his characters name - Pike - a coincidence? I don't think so!)

I was really hoping that he would make a cameo in the tv series - there were lots of rumours flying around that he was going to make an appearance in the final season but it never happened. Sad. Face.

But, kind of exciting, he does still act! Yay! And he is still pretty cute. Here he is in some tv movie called 'Goodnight for Justice' that he made last year:

Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com
I have no inclination to watch this but I am glad he is still getting work and looking delish (if not a little too much like a hipster). Sure, it was directed by Jason Priestly (who, of course, played 90210's Brandon Walsh), but work is work. And hot is hot. And staying hot in Hollywood is not as easy as you would think, right, Val Kilmer?

Source: www.celebritybeforeafter.com
The other awesome thing about Luke is that he gives really good fan photos.

Source: www.buzzfeed.com

This is one is my favourite, but there is a whole collection of fabulous photos that Luke posed for with adoring/crazy-ass fans here.

So, while I am really sorry that I missed him off my previous list, I am kind of happy too because it meant that I got to do a WHOLE POST devoted to him.

I STILL LOVE YOU, LUKE PERRY!!!!!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxo