Green and Yellow Tulips

I do love splashing colour around on a cold day. I know that I have already touched on this subject a BUNCH of times now- but why oh why do New Zealand women insist on wearing such dark colours in Winter? After a quick "previous post" check I can see I touched on this just a few posts ago. So I will save you my drawn out diatribe on it again. This time. This dress is a timely reminder for me of how well other people can react to a stranger wearing bright colours when so many.... just don't.

It was a bout a month or so back now. My lovely man and myself decided that we would get up early on a Sunday morning and go and make a day of it. Armed with coffee and cameras we went on a mission to get some good early morning sunrise shots out over Auckland harbour. It was a beautiful day. Crisp air with just enough sunshine to warm our bones. After our first stretch of adventures- we went to the Takapuna markets for a look around and to get some more coffee.

These markets are great and I would love to get over to them more often. It is a very eclectic mix of stalls full of plastic toys, fresh produce and flowers, faux designer sunglasses, home made crafts and the odd "garage sale" looking spot full of bric a brac and curio's. There really is a little bit of something for everyone.

I think my man must have seen the bargain crazed glint in my eye when I saw the possibilities of a good rummage- so made a plan to go have a coffee and read of the paper while I did so. I was more than happy to have a wander and meet him afterwards. Half the fun of markets like this is not knowing what you are looking for exactly, but knowing when you see it. I came out  with a beautiful vintage crystal bowl, a cake stand, some freshly cut white proteas and an Ella Fitzgerald record. As I was on my own at this point I was more than happy to do a slow meander through the stalls checking out everyones wares. I swear that I have never had so many strangers come up to me in such a short space of time to tell me how much they liked my dress. It wasn't even just the little old ladies either. I managed to get a pretty good spread of people in the range.

This story finally ties in with the point of the post as the dress is question is the one I am writing about! (Insert B Grade horror stabbing organ music here while pulling a shocked face)

This dress hails from Smoove on Little High St. I have a pretty good track record of loving the dresses I have bought from there in the past- so I am happy to spend a little bit more on them than I would usually be prepared to on a frock. (Around $80.00 a dress but they do deals on 2 for $140.00). The day I bought it I accidentally (no.. really) caught them on a day they were having a 50% off sale. A smarter person may have relished in the money they saved on their purchase. I did not. I just bought 2 of them. And I regret NOTHING.

The tulips on the fabric are in gorgeous bright shades of marigold yellow and orange. This is nicely off set by the kelly and kermit greens of the leaves- and set against a black background for optimal effect. I haven't had this dress over the Summer months yet, but it has provided me much wearing mileage over Winter teamed with black tights and boots (or green heels) and a perfectly matching marigold yellow cardigan.

Thanks to the strangers that told me how lovely I looked that Sunday morning (*BLUSH*) I now have a very positive pairing associated with this outfit these days!

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...

Lost and Found Misery Cardi

I'm not going to lie to you. Having a room full of clothes rules. I don't think it is possible to ever take that kind of thing for granted. Every morning I walk in there to get dressed and think "Hell yeah!" Living the dream kids.

One of the bonuses about having said room full of clothes is that stuff gets lost in the clutter. While that may not sound too awesome- the flipside is after stuff gets lost it gets rediscovered. That leads us up to todays featured piece- a Misery bolero cardi.

I can't even remember exactly when I bought this cardi but it was about 3 or 4 years ago now. It was from the savemart chain of recycled clothes and it cost me about $20.00. I had probably only worn it once or twice before it got lost on the rack so it has been nice to finally get the wear out of it that it deserves.

The cardi itself is a very pale green with a hint of aqua. (Maybe we can call that colour Graqua in the future) It has a very fine black lace trim around the front and rounded hem on the bottom. 3/4 puff length sleeves and the cutest turquoise embroidery of a mermaid and anchor motiff. Perfect for a black wiggle dress or pencil skirt.