Peach + Navy

Sretsis dress and shorts
Chloe shoes and bag
Equipment shirt

Spring is just around the corner, and I'm liking the idea of peach and navy as a possible colour combination. Add some fun accessories, textures and prints... can you tell that this is the season that makes me happiest?

Pretty new things

It's getting a bit cold now in the evenings for me to play around with my new purchases (so sorry, no outfit posts). The QLD weather is still quite lovely when the sun is out though, so they should hopefully still get some Autumn/ Winter outings and work well into Spring too.

My $100 per week on clothes is going... ok... I think it almost evens out due to weeks when I haven't bought anything. BUT I'm finding it very tempting to shop at the moment - change of season and feeling like I have nothing to wear for winter + the sales starting... Does anyone else have this problem?

Anyway, here's a few new things I've bought (I know, I know, really not solving my nothing to wear for winter problem!)

Sretsis blouse - there are so many cute things to find in this print!

Karen Walker belt - classic yet cute

Forever New pants - the colour looks a bit funny against the wood floors, but I love these!

Sretsis dress - I don't think the photos capture just how gorgeous this lace fabric is

I got this Sretsis dress too (pre-order) but unfortunately it's too long for me. It's such a shame because the colour is gorgeous and it's so floaty and lovely... up on ebay it goes :(

Up in the Clouds

After seeing the lookbook for Sretsis A/W 2011 collection, "Up in the Clouds", I'm super excited for the main print. It kind of reminds me of the galaxy print in Christopher Kane's 2010/2011 Resort collection, favoured by celebrities:

Carey Mulligan (this girl is amazing!)

Anne Hathaway (in Sydney)

Alexa Chung (nuff said)

As usual, Sretsis puts a cutesy spin on things - this time it's a girl's fantasy land complete with clouds, unicorns and an adorable blowing wind face - if you grew up on Rainbow Brite and Care Bears, you will love this. The blue based colour palette (a soft blue paired with white, or black/navy/ blue) and ladylike cuts ensure keep the overall result sophisticated rather than overly cute. My pick is the shoulder-cut-out Wind Whistler dress (top row, right). There's still a bit of a wait for this collection, which thankfully means time to save!

Winter lace

This Lover blouse and Sretsis dress (though in pink/ peachy tones) will be in my wardrobe soon. Here's what I'd love to pair them with: Mimco hat, Wittner shoes, Chloe bag, Karen Walker belt.

White Swan, Black Swan

I saw Black Swan a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure I enjoyed it at the time (is it really the sort of movie that you can enjoy?) yet I couldn't stop thinking about it. I think it grew on me over time. Natalie Portman is incredibly creepy. Some people said that they found her mother creepy, but I kind of felt sorry for her and felt that she was just trying to prevent her daughters' self-destructive behaviour. Nevertheless, I somehow identified with Natalie's character's struggle to unleash the black swan within herself. Sometimes I wish I could be more of a black swan too.

Close-up of the print on my new Emma Cook dress

Emma Cook dress, Tony Bianco shoes

Lover dress

Sretsis dress, Nine West shoes, metal and bead necklace

A lost summer

It feels as though the rain will never end, washing away with it any chance that "the Sunshine State" will actually get a summer this year. I spent much of today watching flood updates on TV. My own suburb is not expected to flood too much, but it's scary just waiting to see how bad it will get. And it's very worrying the amount of people that will be affected and the inevitable aftermath of it all. It's so hard to comprehend at the moment.

I had tickets to see a band tonight, but I don't want to venture out too far and risk getting stuck away from home. So I'm sitting here, transfixed on the images on TV, but alternating with these images from the next Sretsis collection, "Wekend Wanderers". They evoke the feel of an exotic summer holiday, with divine seashell cut-out lace, floaty silk and washed out, romantic colours. Quite a cruel juxtaposition.

I'm hoping that a holiday in the US that I'm planning for June-July might offer a second chance at summer for the year. I don't travel a lot, so it's a bit of excitement for me. Recent posts by other bloggers on their own holidays are feeding this excitement, particularly Running in Cute Heels and Domestic Divinity.

Well, let's see how the next few days go....

New dresses

Here are some of my latest purchases - been a bit bad with the spending lately. The Sretsis dress was a planned purchase, but the Stella McCartney cloud print dress was an impulse Outnet buy. Even at 50% off the already well reduced price, I was still a little surprised and dismayed when the conversion came through on my credit card statement. Never mind, it's pretty gorgeous. But for an original price of about $1500 it would want to be!

Stella McCartney's second Target collection hits stores this Friday. I wonder if it will be as crazy as last time? I still love my silk bird print top from the last collection. But something tells me I should hold out for sales this time around...

Despite my thoughts that I may have had enough shopping for now, and should probably dedicate a bit more to savings, I find myself browsing Outnet once again...Richard Nicoll blouse, $90 (approx)

Vanessa Bruno culottes, $80 (approx)



Lover dress, $120 (approx)

A special occasion dress...

My Sretsis 'Silver Heart' dress, from the 'Stolen Hearts' arrived in the mail today and all I can say is... WOW. The detailing is even more incredible than I expected. It's much more sparkly than I thought, with green and gold shimmery specks through the grey lace overlay. The sleeves are also more puffy than I thought, giving the dress a kind of vintage look. But the sparkly silver hearts add a quirky modern touch.

This is definitely a special occasion kind of dress, made for parties! I'm thinking either birthday, Christmas or New Year's for the first outing, all coming up in quick succession. I'm imaging it paired with either my Country Road grey vintage style low round toe pumps, or my Midas pewter almond toe high wedges. I can probably dress it down for winter with tights, my Mollini grey & black heeled brogues and a grey jacket.

Here are some pics I took to try to better convey to you its beauty:

Spring Wardrobe Update #3 : Patchwork

Ok, so I've been attracted to patchwork lately. I managed to pick up some bargain additions to my Spring wardrobe:

Lover vest: $50
Cheap Monday shorts: $50

The vest had been on my wish list for awhile as it's from an older collection. So when I finally saw it in my size on ebay I decided to snap it up.

The shorts I had seen a month ago, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend $100 on them. I tried on a similar pair in Sportsgirl but decided I would rather pay the extra $40 for the ones I really wanted. Then, when I went back, they were reduced by 50%. A lucky coincidence.

Here's some outfits I've devised:

Blue dress: Sass & Bide ($10 from warehouse sale!)

Ivory dress: Lover ($110 from warehouse sale)















Blouse: Lover ($40 from ebay)
Jeans: Cheap Monday
($90 from General Pants)


















Blouse: Sretsis ($160 on sale)
Skirt: Sretsis ($370 on sale, yes, on sale)

Spring Wardrobe Update #2 : Utility

I am loving this trend. I find the colours very flattering, especially khaki. A few of my new purchases for Spring fit under this category:

- J Brand Houlihan cargo skinnies in Vintage Sahara: buy from Pink Zebra
- Witchery khaki tee (such a nice fit)
- Witchery khaki skinny pants wiith knee panel detail (not pictured but outfits are similar to the J Brands)

Pants: J Brand, Top: Emma Cook, Cardigan: Country Road

Top: Lover

Top: Sretsis

Top: Emma Cook (buy from ASOS), Shorts: Jag (pulled from bottom of wardrobe - yay!)

Top: Sretsis

Tee: Witchery, Skirt: Lover, Sunglasses: Karen Walker

Skirt: Karen Walker (buy from Maximillia), Necklace: vintage