New dresses with fun prints

Dresses by Karen Walker and Sara Phillips

This Karen Walker dress is lots of fun, with its quirky scout badge print. But for some reason, the loose-fitting silk crepe de chine bodice and chiffon sleeves look completely elegant - such a contrast! The colours are very flattering and the dress looks good belted (as shown here with my Karen Walker chain belt) or unbelted. Buy from Karen Walker or Maximillia (it's very well-priced too!)

I'd mentioned in a previous post that Sarah Phillip's latest collection had caught my eye, and this was the main dress that I was lusting after. Adorable shirt dress style with pleated skirt, in the softest silk and the most gorgeous colours. This dress also comes in a colour-block version for those who want to be more on trend... but this patterned one was just my style. Buy from Sarah Phillips.

Sp-riiiing!

Ah, my favourite season has arrived.  The weather has been gorgeous and so far I have celebrated with a trip to the beach, happy hour on the deck and general lazing on my picnic blanket in the sun.  Bring on the long afternoons!

Here are some outfit details (said outfits involved the baring of legs which had been hidden since my USA trip).  I must say, this warm, sunny, in-between weather is very easy to dress for.

 Knit: Zara; Skirt: Karla Spetic; Watch: Michael Kors; Brogues: Stuart Weitzman

T-shirt: Lover; Culottes: Sportsgirl (on sale for $25!)

These shorts are amongst the first of my Spring purchases. I am in the process of a big wardrobe cull, so I don't think I need too much more... but it is nice to have a few new pieces, isn't it?

Sarah Phillips Luxor

I've never really been drawn to Sarah Phillips before, but was instantly attracted to her new Luxor collection. There are some things that I would never wear (pics not included here, but there are some huge cutouts, I know that's a big trend right now) but even so they do look oh-so-pretty for those daring enough. Likewise, colour blocking is a big trend for Spring (again, not sure if I will embrace) and the pink lace pieces are very sweet. But, as always, it's the prints that really caught my attention. Gorgeous colours, classic cuts, but still very unique... I can feel my first Sarah Phillips purchase coming on.

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?

Playing with prints

I'm a sucker for prints, and Karla Spetic's canvas-worthy creations for her 'Borderlands' collection had me at "hello". I'd been eying off this leather-backed skirt and when I saw it at 50% off at Joy Hysteric I couldn't resist. I played around with styling it with both warmer and cooler styles to bring me into Spring:

Sportsgirl blouses (the brown one circa 2002!)
Lilya wedges and Stuart Weitzman brogues

Next was the Karen Walker blouse from my previous post - plain and casual with shorts and wedges; substituted a skirt some mixed print action:

Shorts and skirt by Karen Walker

Finally, a Karla Spetic blouse, also a sale purchase from the 'Borderlands' collection. Seriously, her prints are irresistible. The colours are a little darker than I usually go for, which I've found makes it an easy go-to for nights out. I like to keep the styling fairly plain with this one:

J-Brand jeans
Lover leather jacket
Country Road shearling collar

Look what the postie brought...

Ok, not all of it - but the lovely Karen Walker bird blouse did arrive today from Maximillia.
Some of these other items I own, some are representative of how I would like to style this
come Spring time.
- Lover jeans and shorts
- Karen Walker sunglasses and skirt (with belt)
- Stuart Weitzman brogues
- Tory Burch wedges

USA: The shopping

Unfortunately, I didn't find the shopping to be as great as I expected. This could have been because it was the end of sale period and there wasn't as great a variety of stock, but I just didn't find that many unique pieces. Let's face it, I do like my Australian/ NZ designers.

That said, I did do a bit of shopping and had some fair finds. It amazed me just how cheaply you can buy into the latest trends, so that even at full price it hardly feels like spending money at all. There were also quality pieces that were much cheaper in America, so I splurged on jeans, shoes and a watch. And let's not even mention the skincare and make-up...

Here are some of my purchases:

Floral jeans; cream and spearmint knits, from Forever 21 - super cheap!

Bought this sheer cherry print maxi from Manhattan Beach (best boutiques of the trip)

Super cheap but super cute blouse from H&M, pictured with Stuart Weizmann brogues bought on sale from Saks 5th Ave (they remind me of those Marc Jacobs ones I'd hoped I'd find)

Knit and pleat skirt from Zara - brights were a big trend!

Michael Kors watch and J Brand jeans...
and yes, this is me lying on the grass, exhausted after a day's shopping.