Marvel at my inspiration

Today's outfit was based around the handbag. I haven't used it nearly enough since I bought it- so decided that's what I would start with for today's inspiration.

The dress is from an op shop ($4) and I have teamed it with a skinny red belt, my Grandmothers red plastic bead necklace (its one of those cool poppy ones too. Reminds me a little of Marge Simpson too) and red and leopard wedge peep toed heels.

Now back to the foundation of my outfit- the handbag! I bought it from Dangerfield in Melbourne a few months back. I love the colours in the bag- and I'm a sucker for comic book graphics too. The bag is a "Marvel comics" one- and I think the girl is Mary-Anne from Spiderman- but I can't be 100% sure.

I don't understand why we don't have a "Dangerfield" in NZ. I found it on my first day in Melbourne and saw them everywhere. They have a great range of stuff- and it's really reasonably priced too. A friend of mine explained it best when he said "Dangerfield is like the Glassons of the punk scene". I'd say that's pretty accurate....

Yellow ...Is it me you're looking for?

My Saturday started out at the 2009 Grey Lynn Festival. I opted for a sunshiney white with orange and yellow polka dots dress teamed with a red cardi and belt. I was wearing yellow and orange hair clips- but you can't really see them in this picture. (Also-my belt isn't sitting quite right but you get the idea.)




The festival was awesome. They always have the best markets there and 2009 edition was no exception. I managed to pick up an amazing vintage hat, a new red cardi and my lovely brother bought me a felt stuffed deer head mounted on a plaque. It's tres cool. Ate some delicious food, saw some cool music. Had to leave quite early but managed to fit in everything a Grey Lynn Festival offers. I had to leave early as it was a derby game day- and those always have pretty busy afternoons.

The game itself was a really close one- and both teams had some incredible moments there. Final score was 133-115. Not to my team unfortunately- but everyone was in the mood for celebrating post bout.

My Saturday evening dress was also with a yellow theme. Black with yellow roses. Accessorised with a yellow flower. This dress was bought from an incredible store in Fitzroy- Melbourne. (We think the store was called "Lost and found") This store was the best example of chaos I have ever seen. The whole thing was the size of a warehouse with split levels all over the place. Unlike other 2nd hand/ curious type shops I have been into- this one had absolutely no rhyme or reason to where everything was. There was no clothing section. No furniture section. No record section. Everything was just kinda mushed together. It made for an interesting experience trawling through it. While it didn't appeal to my OCD tendencies- I did really like the surprise element of looking through everything and not knowing what you were going to find. We were there for about 45 minutes I guess- and I bought this dress as well as an awesome retro Casio Keyboard. Still in the box even!

Orange and Blue Zig Zag's

Today I had a hankering to look a little like a television test pattern. As I was getting dressed - I remembered that I've already done 70's orange and blue this week. After a quick check in the "wardoom" I realised that I could almost do an entire week of different 70's orange and blue frocks. How very specific.


Today's dress has been kicking around in the collection for a very long time. So long in fact that I'm not sure I can recall where I bought it. I do know it would be almost 10 years ago though. I do love that about wearing vintage. If you buy good vintage it stay relevant for however long you love it for! This dress has seen some things in that time I can tell you....



Have gone for co-ordinating the hair clips today- and also gone back to my faithful yet occasionally scratchy toy car bracelet. It gets a lot of comments actually. About 4 from total strangers today. I'm glad it gets people smiling the way it does. Good to know that people out there share my appreciation of the quirky from time to time.



I have a big derby game tomorrow so having a quiet one tonight. I did just have a brief play in the Wardroom on my own earlier this evening and have put together my 2 outfits for tomorrow. (Day and night you see.) I don't want to wreck the surprise- but yellow seems to be the impending theme for my Saturday. Its so nice to actually have the time to put together an outfit properly and just have a play with accessorising. It feels like it's been a while since I had that luxury. I think it's because Ive slept in every day this week.

Now I'm ready for the Grey Lynn fest, my derby team lunch/ meeting, the big game and then some awesome music!

BRING IT SATURDAY!


P.S- Check this link right here. WOW.

Green Thursday

For the 3rd morning in a row- I woke up late today. Not like "Oh my god I was meant to start work 10 minutes ago" kinda late. But definitely the kind of late where you have to forfeit breakfast and any real quality wardroom bonding time. I am pretty good at getting ready in a hurry if need be- but I never really recover from that stressful start to the day.


Today's ensemble is a green toned circle patterned strapless dress matched with a pale green cardi with diamante buttons, gold belt and shoes, and green crocodile handbag. Dress was bought off the sale rack in Supre of all places a few years back- and has actually stayed pretty versatile. As cliche as it sounds it is a classic example of being able to dress it up or down. I could take this little number to the beach and then a cocktail party without a problem.




I may have been in a hurry this morning- but I still managed to match my buttons to my earrings.


Also managed to tie together the belt ($2 shop) the shoes (Op shop) and the clasp on my bag.




Speaking of the bag- this was also an op shop find. A particularly good one I must say. Vintage crocodile for $3!! AND its a really good size to fit a reasonable amount of handbag goodies in it too...


As today is Thursday it is a derby training day. We have a big game this weekend (The finals of our 2009 season- Circus of the Scars) and I was feeling extra loyal to my team tonight. I decided to go for my team colours in a Mascara Massacre themed training ensemble! Derby training is a fantastic outlet for fashion. You can wear pretty much anything you want to training- and nobody will bat an eyelid. Depending on how creative I'm feeling this can be realised in some pretty bizarre clothing combinations. This is me pulling my hard b*tch scary derby face. Terrifying I know.


Tonight's training outfit features a singlet that I am convinced I was meant to own. I found it in the Salvation Army store in Wellington. It was cool enough that it's in my team colours- but it has my skate number on it too! Woah. Coincidence? No. Fate.


I have teamed it with some 70's denim hot pants, purple fishnets, green sports socks and purple roller skate hair ties. The scary part- is that I could have kept going on the green and purple theme. For AGES. I even briefly contemplated wearing one purple sneaker and one green one. You know if I owned a long purple pair of socks- I would have probably done it so the sneaker and sock on each leg could still contrast. Sometimes I wonder if I might spend a little bit too much time thinking about this kinda thing....

Classic Red and Black VS Purple Plaid Geek

I am kind of over compensating in this entry. I never got a picture of Mondays outfit so I have recreated it.

So Mondays outfit was I thought- a little boring. I don't really felt like I extended myself too much with it. Thankfully a friend at work told me I looked "Classic" which made me feel much better about the whole ensemble. Red and black are quite "safe" colours to put together. I find myself doing it quite a lot lately in fact. Black pencil skirt and black cap sleeve top with red belt and flower. I pretty much worked the whole thing around having a reason to wear the shoes though. I think if you're going to wear statement shoes you need to be careful not to have too much going on in the rest of the outfit. (Yes- I do have a line I don't cross...) These statements came from my favourite shoe store- Trademe- and were under $20.00. Zebra striped peep toed with red bows... how can you go wrong!


The outfit was teamed with a puma embroidered cardi that I actually bought from a friend of mine. Through Trademe. And I didn't know it was someone I knew till they sent me the sellers contact details. That has now happened to me 3 times with 3 different people. True story.


Now we are all caught up on the beginning of the week- today's outfit was purple plaid geek chic. The dress was from a fantastic store in Melbourne that I also bought a vinyl Piano key tote bag from. AWESOME. The least awesome part of reminiscing about this store is that I left my favourite pair of sunglasses in the changing room and was many hours away by the time I realised. Boo.


The shoes were coincidentally bought the same day. I actually bought them first- and then found the dress about an hour later. (I wasn't even trying to match them. I had other purple things in mind to co-ordinate the shoes with at the point of purchase...) I really like the frilled detailing and purple soles. They are also very comfortable to wear.



Topping this all off is my favourite horn rimmed glasses (to hide this mornings bags under my eyes) and a handmade ghost badge bought form the "Camp A Low Hum" music festival in Levin a few years back. One of the bands were selling them there with their merch. I don't recall the band at all- but their handcrafts were quite impressive.

This is what I would wear if I was a secretary. In the 70's. In Hawaii.

Says it all really...

I bought this dress on my birthday this year. I was on the way home from a pretty awesome day at work (awesome because I had a pretty dress on and I got to eat cake and I was being taken out for amazing Japanese food for dinner. Its the simple pleasures after all...) - when I decided to stop at one of my favourite central vintage stores. Peachy Keen Vintage on Karangahape Rd. Besides the fact that this store is CHOCKA full of amazing vintage American clothing- Thom who runs the store is awesome and always up for some good yarns while browsing. It's so dangerous having to walk past this store at least twice a day and seeing the incredible rockabilly petticoats and retro cowboy shirts in the window. I have literally spent hours trawling through the racks there- and there are always pieces that I daydream about long after I've left .

So this birthday induced "excuse for a new dress" dress started life as a sleeveless mu mu a couple of sizes too big. I saw some great potential as I love the colour combo.

Orange + Blue = win every time.

I made the (historically fatal) mistake of buying it knowing that I needed to completely change it before it could be worn. I have a rubbish bag full of things that need altering and I notoriously never get around to doing anything about gettign them fixed. Maybe it was my sugar hit from a belly full of cake- but I felt surprisingly motivated. A quick stop in at the alteration store further down the road and it was finished and ready to be picked up the following day. Its debut was 1 day later.


The shoes are amazingly ridiculous. And bright orange. And stupidly high. Maybe not the smartest choice footwear while I was speed walking to work this morning. Although once the immediate danger of falling off and breaking my ankle was outta the way- it was all good. These were a very lucky find on trademe a few years back. I was in fact looking for a replacement for a pair of cork wedge platform sandal that were essentially identical to these babies- but in pale green and yellow snakeskin. (now THOSE were a good buy. $10.00 in a seconds store and I literally wore them for 10 years until I snapped the sole right down the middle. I can still feel the excitement I felt when I saw them for the first time and I still miss them dearly!) I still can't believe I found a pair in the exact same style. Some days you can handle being short. When you REALLY can't- you break these puppies out.

So to complete the Hawaiian 70's Secretary ensemble I have gone for a dark blue pair of glasses, navy hair flower and my car bracelet.




Its a little scratchy if I wear it too long- but makes me smile every time I look down at my wrist so totally worth it.

Saturday in the City

Today's outfit is a great little Summer frock I picked up from the K Rd markets a few months back for $11.00.I had to track down a decent petticoat to wear underneath as on its own it leaves nothing to the imagination!

I am torn between my favourite feature on this dress. Something about a rose motif gets me every time- although the black and white cross over and strap details is a nice touch too.
I have teamed it with a skinny red belt, kermit green short sleeved cardi and peep toed wedges. (Which I find myself wearing an awful lot this week!)

Today I started my long journey to finding a decent but cheap pair of white cowboy boots in my size. At one stage they were quite literally everywhere. Number 1 Shoe Warehouse had them in almost every colour- and you pick yourself up a pair with no real hassle. Unfortunately I didn't need a pair to go with an outfit back then and didn't have the foresight to purchase a pair when they were in abundance. White cowboy boots are an integral part of my outfit for my work Christmas party. (Rodeo is our theme this year which is quite frankly much less racist than last years "A Night In The Orient" ) I have the dress on standby ready to go- now if I can just find the right footwear......

Tattootastic

Today is a Sailor Jerry / Pin up P.O.F. (this is the dress I bought yesterday in Spacesuit in Wellington) The fabric is old school tattoo's and I love the colours that are represented right throughout. The style is comfortable and flattering (I think!) with a V neck line, capped sleeves and a ruffle along the hem line. I have matched the dress with patent peep toe wedges, red dahlia, red lippy and red handbag. Still quite pleased with this purchase from yesterday. A very reasonable $60.00. I love that this can be dressed up or down relatively easily. Good to have versatile pieces handy!

Looking forward to heading back to Wellington with the derby girls in another fortnight. Will make the most of another trip into Spacesuit as well as the punk/ rockabilly store. (Still cant remember the name of that place!) They had more pairs of amazing tights and fishnets than I have ever seen in one place. EVER. There was too much to look at to commit to one pair- so I ended up buying none of them They also had an incredible pair of skeleton hand hair clips. They were a fairly steep $39.95 a pair but the more I think about them the more I think perhaps they are worth the splurge...

The other 2 items I have been pondering from that store is an amazing Halloween looking cat handbag and a set of glow in the dark zombie toys. I obviously dont NEED either item- but need is such a harsh word when it comes to shopping. I have a fortnight to continue to ponder before I go back for souvenirs of "Skate Highway 1"!

3 P.O.F's in one post!

P.O.F #1 is an obvious "1950's hostess" theme. (I was going to say housewife- but hostess is much more glamorous!) I have teamed a floral circle skirt with a vintage petticoat (to give it the flouncy shape), a plain black cap sleeved shirt, thick red belt tied at the back and a string of pearls. A pair of peep toed patent wedge heels finish it off quite nicely I think.

All day I wondered if I was born in the wrong era. I think this a lot actually. I love the idea of getting this kind of dressed up every day. The effort that women in the 50's would put into their appearance is nothing short of incredible. Their hair would be pristine and perfectly styled and would not move an inch over the course of a day. They would always be wearing an impressive array of full undergarments (with hosiery and the full petticoats) Then I usually get caught up in fantasies somewhere between being the perfect housewife hostess cooking up amazing meals- and lavish cocktail parties with big bands and dancing. I may have been born in the wrong era- but it is nice to have the choice of ALL the era's from where I am sitting....


Sadly this week I had a funeral to attend. In Upper Hutt no less. I opted for one of my favourite LBD's with a beautiful pin tuck and round button detailing right down the front. I wore this with my killer gangster wingtip heels, pearls, and a Mexican skull embroidered Illicit cardigan. (Pictured outside the Upper Hutt Cossie club- the venue of the wake. )


After 3 consecutive days of heels- today I went for a P.O.F that included flat high top Chuck Taylors. (it isn't very often that comfort is intentionally factored into my outfit choices!) I did feel like I hadn't really stretched myself today- but walking around Wellington for a few hours made me glad I had chosen this outfit based on the shoes. My chucks are olive green so I have teamed them with olive green leg warmers and a light corduroy cap sleeved shirt. To lift the overall effect I added my favourite red hair flower (A dahlia in case you were wondering) and this picked up my red lipstick perfectly.



To compensate for feeling like I had dressed terribly boring today- I cheered myself up by buying a dress from Spacesuit on Cuba St that is fantastic. I am still gutted that there is no more Spacesuit on K RD. I think they should rethink the closing of this store. I used to stop in a couple of times a week to check out their quirky slightly oriental fashions. There were a few more dresses I thought about buying today- but a little restraint can go a long way. (And I'm back in Wellington the week after next anyways!) I also bought a pair of piano key socks and a great pair of hair clips from a punk/ rockabilly store. They have the Winter Coat I should have bought this year- but alas I found it as we're moving into Summer. Lets hope I find another one I like so much when its cold enough to justify it.

I don't like Mondays...

I find that I don't bounce back from big nights the way I used to. Consequently am still feeling the effects of a big Saturday night on Monday. Ouch!

I may not have felt like much effort went into today's ensemble- but there is still an obvious theme running through my choice of outfit. I have gone for a simple Illicit halter neck in olive green with a red cherry detailing, an Illicit cardi with a "True Love" Swallow and heart embroidery motif.

I went for my red sparkly drag queen heels so its a good tall day today!

I have also matched the whole thing with a red rose hair clip, a red sparkly ring (thanks $2 shop!) and a red patent vintage handbag.

Hopefully tomorrow my alcohol killed brain cells will return and this will be reflected in my choice of clothing!

That's how I roll

On Saturday night Pirate City Rollers had their second game in the league's season- and I had a new pair of derby knickers to debut. My full derby name is "Spar Kill" but I get called "Sparky" a lot. I actually wanted something a little bit wittier written across my arse- but sadly there wasn't enough room (This will undoubtedly be the only time in my life when I am rueing not having more junk in the trunk I'm sure!) My team uniform (Mascara Massacre) is a purple lycra flip skirt that I usually wear with a white ruffled mini petticoat. The shirt is a kelly green singlet with our logo and my name and number on the back. There isn't a great deal of variance with my uniform wearing - although this week I opted for fluro green lace top stockings and a purple suspender belt to tie it all together.


I was lucky enough to have time to go home and get changed before the after party- so decided to wear this fantastic dress for the first time. A simple design of black satin strapless but with the added twist of a hot pink ruffled asymmetric feature on the front. (This was an aboslute steal at $9.00 from New Lynn Savemart) I teamed this with a plain black cardi and then added a hot pink sparkly brooch. (sadly I managed to lose this somewhere between the bars I visited over the course of the evening) Overall I think the maiden voyage of this dress went well and I did feel very glamorous.


On the other side of my hangover - I did have a derby meeting this evening that necessitated I leave the house. I went for comfort and warmth with a plaid flannel dress, black tights, red legwarmers and black high top Chuck Taylors. I matched this with a red knitted beret, "Faster Pussy Cat" black cardi with red and white panther detailing and my favourite horn rimmed glasses. P.O.F- Geek Chic.


I often wear glasses when I'm not feeling too flash from the night before or just have not had enough sleep. Although I don't actually need glasses- they do a fantastic job of masking the bags under my eyes. Some days you just need to look a little smarter. Psychologically it does wonders. I am accumulating a collection of such glasses just fro these occasions. I went through a phase where I really wished my eye sight was bad enough to warrant a reason to have a great pair of "I look so smart in these" glasses. I was a very happy girl the day I realised that I didn't have to wait- and could feasibly wear them for aesthetic if not required to actually see. It is nice to have the choice.

Let the Sunshine In

Yesterday was such a stunner I was expecting today to be a much more appropriate bright sundress kindofa day. No matter. I will bring the sunshine to this slightly overcast Friday myself!

Today's P.O.F (point of fashion for the uninitiated) was based on a "70's Luau meets RainbowBrite". Slightly obscure perhaps- but a good excuse to wear such a great summer dress and also to match my hair flower with my yellow shoes that are not getting anywhere NEAR enough feet time at the moment. (p.s. I love casual Friday's. So much fun to really push them in a corporate environment!)

The dress was purchased in Melbourne in the most incredible vintage clothing store I think I have ever visited. The first part of the store is kinda small and boutiquey but once you turn the corner it opens up into a 2 tiered warehouse size extravaganza! Other than the sheer size of this store- the most impressive part to me was how well everything was catalogued on the racks. Being someone who has OCD tendencies for how my wardroom is catalogued this really hit home with me. The sections got down to such detail as the "Knitted with sequins" section or the "1940's ball dress" section. The dress pictured was in the "Tropical 70's" section and was surrounded by other similar styles and fabrics with a Hawaiian twist. For the first time in my life I had to leave a vintage clothing store due to a case of sensory overload. There was just too much to look at and it was all so brightly coloured and patterned! As amazing as that store was I would never recommend anyone try shopping there on a hangover... I could not leave without a purchase of course- so left wit this dress, a yellow cardi and a spontaneous counter purchase of a ribbon hairclip.

Toady's shoes are bought to you by the colour yellow and Trademe. They were an absolute bargain at $9 including postage. I especially love how they tie in a sneaker with a wedge style. Its nice to have a pair of shoes with a definitive flexibility to take them from casual t-shirt and denim skirt to something a bit dressier for a summer evening. I have a creeping obsession with the colour yellow at the moment. It will never take over my love of anything green- but I have a greater appreciation for it as a very wearable colour option right now.

Although it didn't make it into today's outfit - I am too excited about my latest pair of sunglasses to not give them a mention here too. I have an extensive array of eye wear that will also go with any theme or occasion. I am unsure of the exact number of glasses that is deemed as "too many" but I'm sure with 38 pairs I'm knocking on that door! My newest ones are nothing short of incredible not only for their function, their novelty but also the price. At first glance they are pretty cutesy enough with an obvious kitty undertone- but wait. there's more!

With a simple fold they turn into an actual kitty cat shaped face that you can then hang off the front of your outfit to create a further statement. Why settle for wearing sunglasses on top of your head when you can do this! As I mentioned- the price is a factor in just how awesome these are. With a price tag of $4 they have quite literally blown my mind this week.

(A special mention goes to my amazing roller derby compadre -Lucy in Disguise- for her owning a yellow tiger pair of these first and not minding at all that I bought a similar pair when I saw them in a store the following week)

Lets hope tomorrow is full of actual sunshine to make the most of other bright summer dresses and a new pair of glasses...

Short Girl Blues

Today I went for Blue and Sparkly. The dress was bought in Melbourne from Houndog. My inner magpie comes out with anything shiny or sparkling so it was a great find! The boots were from an Onehunga op shop and only cost me $4. Bargain I tell ya. (they are a much better blue than is showing up in this photo)

To go with the P.O.F I have matched the outfit with blue sparkly hair clips and ring. (both from random $2 shops somewhere in Auckland)

Not shown in the pic is my black Illicit cardi with Blue Swallow decals.

Wearing flat shoes is always a little weird for me. It messes with my entire centre of gravity. I am too used to being between 4 and 6"s taller than I actually am with my preferred shoe style or being on roller skates. (These are on my feet more than any pair of shoes I own!) It takes a while to re-acclimatise myself to shifting heights. Especially standing next to particularly tall people (extra neck cricks anyone?) and the buttons being higher than my eye level in the lifts at work.

I may be short- but I think I'm finally ok with it....