Versatile Khaki

It will have been mentioned somewhere in this blog I am sure-(GAWD forbid I repeat myself!)  but I never grew out of my childhood favourite colour when most others did. Green will always be a fixture in the wardroom- but I do still run into people occasionally that are genuinely surprised if I am wearing another colour. Green will always be my first colour love- but it hasn't been a monogamous relationship lately.

"It's not you green... it's me. I just think I need to experience other colours for a while. Red is looking damned attractive these days and I don't know how much longer I can fight the pull towards yellow. We can still be close though. I promise I won't let things won't get weird between us..."

I'm not elitist towards different shades of green but they do seem to have their set times and places. A bight kermit green will make me think of more Summery ensembles whereas a nice deep khaki seems to be a more Wintery shade. That little theory fell over somewhat with this dress. A light a floaty khaki Summer dress with a subtle floral print in yellow, blue and orange.

Khaki is a good base colour for any outfit because as far as greens go it is still quite neutral. I have a few khaki and red combos I like to pull out from time to time- and I really like that this dress has it's own in built colour co-ordination options. It is just a matter of choosing one now.

Ok. I tried. I couldn't choose. What a great excuse to showcase the versatility of this khaki frock and its accessorizing options! I have set myself a rule in this showcase. I will only be using 2 forms of matching accessories. There will be no hair flower/ belt/ shoes/ handbag over matching here today. I will be interested to see which one works out the best.

First up is a great deep shade of turquoise. The belt I am wearing in this shot is actually a genuine 70's cummerbund. (I have the matching bow tie and 'kercheif too) I have paired it with a cute pair of turquoise wedge slingbacks with a bow detailing.

Second off the block is a nice bright yellow. I have matched the dress with a pair of yellow pumps and hair flower.

Last but by no means least- is the lesser utilised orange. Nothing rhymes with orange. Did you know that? I have gone with orange hair flower and (the bordering on ridiculous) 70's strappy cork platforms.

I think I would feel comfortable to wear any of these 3 colour combo's when it comes to this dress. I love how the fabric of the frock itself seems to change when you put different colours next to it. It pulls out the colours in the floral print and can really make them pop. 

So.. which is the best combo dear reader? This little trial has taught me a couple of things. It has taught me that I am in dire need of a skinny orange and yellow belt! You didn't really think I would start imposing limits to my colour coordinating did you? That was a total accident and only because I didnt have the right belts to go with the orange and yellow options... By the time it comes to wearing this frock again I'm sure that little speed bump in my "ensembling" (new word) will have been obliterated.

Leopardy Goodness

I do like a good leopard print outfit. I wouldn't go as far as to say I was obsessed with animal skin patterns- but I have a decent amount of them represented in the Wardroom. To be fair- most fabric patterns and colours are!

I love that leopard in particular is very versatile when it comes to matching it with other colours. You can play it safe with gold or black but you can really lift it by matching with brighter blues and greens. Of all the possible colour combo's-red with leopard has to be my favourite.

I know I have a tendency to over co-ordinate. I am by no means in denial about this. It is not uncommon for me to take 2 or 3 matching accessories off before I leave the house. Even I occasionally know when I have gone too far. (I did say occasionally... sometimes I may realise but don't care and wear them all anyway!) The reason I mention the over matching is that red is the easiest colour for me to fall into that way. There is an abundance of reds in pretty much everything just waiting to be worn.  Belts, hats, hair flowers and jewellery. You name it. I probably have 2 of them in red. Ok. Probably more than 2. My point is- red is dangerous this way.

For this outfit I have obviously gone very matchy- but I think I have managed to stay on the acceptable side of the line. Leopard in itself is a good way to break the colour up I find.

This dress is a fantastic score. I bought it from the cotton on outlet store and it cost me a cool $15.00. I didn't get a close up shot- but it has adjustable straps AND a ruffle on the top. An elasticated waistband and a flattering skirt cut rounds it all off. Yes. I am quite fond of this dress. I'm sure it will come as no surprise to hear that I have another in the same cut- just a different colour! (Frockstar post pending)

Another point to mention about the versatilty of this dress is that it is nice and light for the Summer- but looks just as good with black tights and cardi's for an instant Winter ensemble too. 

I have gone for my stock standard red skinny belt, hair flower and patent peep toe wedges for this wearing. In fact- that is the combo I have gone with every wearing now that I think about it... Note to self. Try it with a different colour next time.

I thought I would also take the opportunity to showcase one of my favourite rockabilly cardigans too. My cardigan section of the wardroom is getting a little bit out of control. I don't know how many cardi's your average girl would have- but I would put money on the fact that I am probably quadrupling that amount. At least. I am now in a self imposed "black cardi ban" as these are pretty well covered. I am a sucker for embroidery on black cardi's though. I guess that's how they got to be so well represented in the first place...

This one was another great trademe purchase. I think it cost me about $40.00 which isn't too bad for a good quality cardigan. It's quite a bit thicker than a lot that I have - and its brushed too so nice and fluffy feeling on your skin. I LOVE the embroidery at the back as well as the detailing on the front! I could explain this in great in detail - or I could shut up and let these pics speak their thousand words...

White With Rainbow Spots

Wow. 2012 already. 2010 and 2011 seemed to disappear in a bit of a blur. I'm hoping this year slows down a little but I don't think that's how it works sadly. I'm at that age where this one will whiz by possibly even faster than the last couple!


Last year was a bit average in places for me- so this year I have a few plans in place. And not like last years great plans  that never really came into fruition. Moving to Melbourne didn't end up panning out. I left my roller derby league after 4 (INTENSE!) years of involvement and decided to utilise my new found spare time with more music, learning to sew, more Frockstarring, starting yoga classes and generally being proactive and motivated. How much of all of that did I achieve? Heh. basically none of it... ! I did however spend a great deal of time enjoying doing sweet F.A after years of an overly busy daily schedule. I enjoyed my routine of going to the gym on my way home from work, coming home to put on my pajama's, make a delicious dinner and then watch hours of really bad (so bad it's good again..) tv on the couch with my wonderful man. Now when I read that back it sure doesn't sound like much but to be honest I loved every second of it. I needed a year of stepping back and reassessing some of my priorities. Admittedly I may have stepped back a little too far at times- but I think the overall outcome at the end has been a positive one. I'm not going to tell you about any resolutions I have for the new year. That would be a definite jinx on my best intentions but let's just say I am now ready to hit 2012 with a better balance of 2010's ridiculous busy- and 2011's slothful ambling. Let's hit it!

My first Frockstar post for the year has been kicking around the wardroom  for quite sometime now. 15 months in fact. It still hasn't even been worn out of the house yet- but I will be changing that within the next 5 days. Promise.

This 80's does 50's wiggle dress hailed from a great little vintage store on Smith St in Melbourne. I could see the potential when I tried it on- but it was a little tight in places. While I should know better than to buy things out of size in the hopes of getting smaller-I turned a blind eye to logic here and bought it anyway. I have certainly made smarter decisions. Now I had a dress that was almost awesome on- but couldn't wear it.

Flash forward a year and then some- and it finally fits. To be totally honest I had kind of forgotten about this dress. It turned into one of those items that you see so often that you stop seeing it completely. The ol' "I've been in front of your face for so long that I have effectively turned invisible". I try not to let this happen in the wardroom but when there is that much packed into a room it is inevitable. The up side is that in my moments of clarity when I have a proper rummage- it's like Christmas rediscovering outfits I forgot I had and breathing a new lease of life into them. But I digress...

Wiggle dresses aren't my usual forte shall we say. My body type doesn't really lend itself to this style generally. Going out on a limb and getting a WHITE one was a brave decision- but I couldn't resist the multitude of  80's-esque rainbow spots with the black outlines. It gives me many many options for accessorizing which in my mind makes an outfit quite versatile. The different combo's of green, blue, yellow and red will basically mean I will never have to wear the same combination twice. (That doesn't necessarily mean I won't- just that I don't have to...)

For the sake of this posts photo I have gone with the good old McDonalds colour combo. Red belt and lipstick to tie in the buttons down the front (some of which are fake which was briefly confusing!)  - and yellow hair flower and shoes to give it a bit of contrast. I am already planning some of the other possibilities. These are including (but certainly not limited to) a short sleeved kermit green cardigan with blue cummerbund belt and shoes. I could even dive into the rainbow P.O.F completely and do the green cardi, blue belt, yellow hair flower and red shoes.... Too much? Maybe. Will I wear it anyway? Almost definitely.

Sadly the light used in the pic didn't really do the dress justice. There may be blow out in the full shot- but I figure I have suitably compensated for this by adding not one but 2 arty closeups of said fabric...