Sunday, April 28, 2013

Quilted



Today the weather decided it would be funny to be summer again. Just to continue the inappropriate dressing, I also decided to wear faux leather. Lesson learnt!

I'm actually quite excited about this outfit. As the cooler months are coming to Australia, I've embraced the whole faux leather thing. I'm on a budget you see, my unemployed status doesn't really allow for extragavant leather pieces. But with all these amazing quilted skirts and shorts I've seen floating around, I couldn't help but wonder if I could find budget friendly pieces. Honestly, eBay is the best place for such bargains. I found this quilted shorts for $9.99! I've also been coveting a leather tee, and I made a promise to myself that once I'm able to afford it, I would invest in one, but for the meantime, this $24.95 faux leather version will have to do. The cut and fit is exactly what I had wanted so i'm pretty damn excited about finding it at such a bargain price.

Im not sure if my whole black ensemble was inspired by my emo black hair or my all black bargain purchases has inspired me to go back to black hair, either way, i'm loving it all for now. But the inner rainbow/neon loving girl inside will always come out, even if it's just in a form of nailpolish colour.

I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend!

Top: Ally / Shorts: eBay / Shoes: Chanel / Bag: Chanel / Sunglasses: Oakley / Necklaces: Disney Couture & House Of Harlow 1960 / Watch: Fossil / Rings: YSL & Etsy

Friday, April 26, 2013

Oldie's But Goodies




I thought I would give some peoeples eyes a break from seeing me in brights and neons, though I cannot and will not guarantee that I would never wear anything retina burning again. 

I have on some of my all time favourite pieces in my wardrobe. Let's begin with this One Teaspoon sleeves top. I scored this baby for $8.50 on ebay, probably a good 5-6 years ago. I've gone through more than 15 closet clean outs and this is the one item that's always stayed. These J Brand Houlihans were all the craze a few years ago and I had to get my hands on them, though the frugal fiend in me didn't like the price tag of over $170. I just refused to buy them at retail price, until I found them on eBay and won them for $65! Score! I subsequently got 3 more colours for different prices but all were less than $75 each. I was a happy camper after that and I have to say, the fit and silhouette of Houlihans are just like no other.

It's funny, I just had a conversation with a friend about shopping. I find that there will always be something that I want each time I either browse the net or step foot into a store. The 20 year old me would have bought it, especially if it was on sale, not thinking about whether if I would realistically wear it. Thinking back to all my closet clean outs, I think the younger me was shopping for an imaginary lifestyle. The amount of going out dresses and strapless dresses that I accumulated was just riduculous. I had stopped clubbing at around the age of 21-22. Nevermind the fact that I always felt so uncomfortable in those types of clothes anyways, so not only did I probably look slutty, but probably very awkward aswell. I'm sure that didn't scream "Hello Boys!", it was probably more "Hello, has anyone seen my trackie dacks?!"

My point is that, there will always be pretty and beautiful things out there. But if you step back and think if you will realistically wear an item, then you will probably save yourself a lot of money, there will be less closet clean outs and you will have a wardrobe full of items you can wear for years to come.

Top: One Teaspoon / Pants: J Brand / Bag: Alexander Wang / Shoes: Isabel Marant / Belt: Valleygirl / Sunglasses: Oakley / Rings: YSL & Etsy

Monday, April 22, 2013

Neon Whites


I've been lusting after a short suit for a while now. I originally wanted a red pair after seeing Miroslava Duma donning a pair, though hers was a red pants suit, I just loved the fun idea of short suits.

I managed to locate these gorgeous red shorts a few months ago on sale, then a few weeks after that I also found a red blazer on sale, I was so excited! Only to come home and find the reds just do not match each other. It was a little disappointing, but when I found that red blazer, there was also a white blazer next to it for $14.95. Score! Now the idea of a white short suit was brewing inside. I however have a serious fear of white bottoms. I've tried buying white jeans before, but was never game enough to wear them and every pair of white shorts I found was see through. Trust me, no body needs to see any more than they should. Then I thought, maybe look outside the box and go for a different material. A few months back I scored a pair of faux leather shorts on eBay for $9.95, so I decided to check if that seller had the same pair in a white, and the rest as they say is history.

I like to inject points of interest in each outfit, so a white short suit was just not going to cut it without a statement. The neon orange bra under a semi-see through cami was a $10 find at Mosman Clothing and have been dying to incorporate it to an outfit. So my outfit totals to $44.95, sans bag, Louboutins and accessories of course. One of my necklaces cost more than my outfit for goodness sakes!

This is why I'm such a huge believer in it's not what you wear, but how you wear it. I'm also a great believer in investment pieces. Investment pieces for me are accessories, like rings, necklaces, shoes and bags. I'm not a Kardashian or any kind of celebrity, so outfits and especially accessories will get repeated numerous times. Due to their quality, there will be longevity. While clothing for me, there are a lot of places where you can find bargain buys and create looks for much less than you think.

Top: Forever21 / Blazer: Valleygirl / Shorts: eBay find / Neon Bralette: Mosman Clothing / Bag: Cambridge Satchel Co. / Shoes: Christian Louboutin / Sunglasses: Celine / Necklaces: Both House of Harlow 1960 / Rings: YSL & Etsy

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Palest Of Hues


I've been lusting over asymmetrical skirts for a very long time. My past outfits here, here and here have seen me reconstructing a few skirts/hems to achieve the look.

Last night, in a bid to procrastinate some more, I decided to make these skirts from scratch. An assignment I recently completed was to construct the pattern and assemble 3 different types of skirts. I made sure the 3 designs I chose to do for school were with design lines that I knew I would make in the future and something I could play around with to achieve different looks. Having the basic skirt pattern pat down can set you up for a melange of skirt designs. I browsed the world wide web to gather design ideas and paid close attention to fastening, structure etc. and after rummaging through my stash of material I was able to come up with this little number.

The marle grey patches of the skirt is the off cuts from a pair of pants turned into shorts featured on this frugal post. When I reconstruct an item, if the off cuts look large enough for me to be able to work into future pieces, I keep it. Maybe one day I'll be on the TV show 'Hoarders' as the woman who's buried herself in material off-cuts! But for now I am glad I kept it as I love the white and marle grey marriage with the tinges of juicy tangerine and pink edges.

Toodles for now poodles!

Top: K-Mart / Skirt: DIY / Shoes: Windsor Smith / Bag: Givenchy / Sunglasses: Celine / Necklaces: Both Lovisa / Watch: Seiko / Rings: YSL & Etsy

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Sightseeing & Inappropriate Dressing


There were a few rides you could go on to experience the different views of the Blue Mountains. This one in particular, it was like a small train carriage where you had control of the angle of your seat, whether it be laid all the way back or facing all the way front where it almost felt like you were standing, while the train went down this steep track through a mountain cliff. 



Oh you know, just keeping it PG-rated



 This was at the lookout, the fog was so thick that there was really nothing to see. It was still beautiful though.


A few weeks back I had a family outing to the picturesque Blue Mountains. It was very sunny during the day, but by the time we got there, it became overcast with scattered showers, not to mention no one told me that the temperature in that area was always about 10 degrees cooler than Sydney itself. So it was safe to say my attire didn't really look appropriate. Lucky I found a hooded coat in the boot of my sisters car. It was my saviour!

Everyone also decided to go on an impromptu bush walk. A muddy bush walking track and Marants don't really mesh well together. I was also petrified of the facts that the walking trail had the mountain wall on one side and what looked like a heavily bushy cliff side on the other. As if it wasn't enough that I had to concentrate on where I was stepping due to shallow pools of muddy water but I also had to make sure that I didn't accidentally step on a jagged rock or uneven surface, loose balance due to the wedge heel of the shoe and fall into the cliff-side abyss.

Let's just say, next time, i'll be checking the weather & temperature so I can dress accordingly.

Jumper: Valleygirl / Shorts: eBay Find ($10!!!) / Bag; Balenciaga / Shoes: Isabel Marant / Sunglasses: Oakley / Necklace: House of Harlow 1960 & Etsy / Watch: Seiko / Rings: Etsy