Chambray ya say...

If you are a regular reader, you may well have noticed I haven't been here for a wee while now. Quite some time in fact. While I have a couple of pretty good reasons why blogging has been put on my back burner for the last few months, it would take far too long to explain it here. Besides. It  all has very little to do with clothes so not much point putting it out in this context anyway. Let's just assume you are all thinking "Oh you're back" and leave it at that. Right then. Now that's out of the way let's carry on with the frocking show!

I'm still not 100% sure how I feel about 50's reproduction clothes that came out of the 80's. When they got it right- the garments can be nothing short of amazing. When they didn't, they really didn't.  Maybe it's safer to just keep judging on an outfit by outfit basis, so today I'm talking about one that totally made the cut.

Pale blue chambray isn't often my first choice when it comes to picking an outfit. For me it conjures up images of Billy Ray Cyrus (back before he was more famous for being Miley/Hannah Montana's Dad) and phrases like "Canadian Tuxedo". It's a hard mindset to break, but this could be the kind of dress that could do it.  The added bonus of being the pale blue denimy colour it is, makes it very easy to accessorise with. There are many other variations available in my stash of belts, shoes, petticoats and hair accessories, but a classic red was the ultimate winner for the photo's you now should see before you.

While we're on the subject let's talk shoes. Red, spotty & wedge(y). What's not to love! I managed to get a lot a great deal of wear out of these babies over the Summer months. They are a very easy shoe to work into other outfits too so rest assured  they will be featured here in a few more posts to back this up.

(There really needs to be a close up photo HERE of said shoes. Will update this post to reflect such a thing as soon as I can get a decent pic of them. Taking photos of your own feet is harder than it looks ok! Go try it. Feel free to let me know any tips if you can manage it better than I do...)


The style of this dress has a subtle undertone of "Nautical" too with it's wide neck line and row of tiny buttons down the bodice. The back also has quite a wide and sweeping shape from shoulder to shoudler. The V shape just below the waist line is a cool detail, and the skirt has more than enough circle to it to rock a decent crinoline underneath it. The fabric is light to wear and falls really nicely, so overall I think I need to be wearing this dress a lot more often. In fact while typing this post I have just completely resold the whole concept of this outfit to myself. Let's hope Auckland's erratic weather gives me a window of opportunity to get reacquainted properly soon....

Hibiscuses and Pin Up Girls (or The Emotional Spenders Lament)

Most of you will know what I mean when I throw out the term "Emotional Eater". You may even understand the phrase "Emotional Drinker". While I have certainly dabbled in both of those- I am also an "Emotional Spender". This is equally as destructive as the first 2- but for very different reasons. At the risk of sounding particularly shallow- stuff makes me happy.

There. I've said it.

 (I'm sure you are all suitably shocked and stunned by this revelation)

So logically- if stuff makes me happy (especially new and exciting stuff) then if I am not happy for any reason- this could be a good way to cheer myself up. Right?

Now I'm not trying to say that buying things (or clothes more specifically) makes my problems go away. It certainly isn't a long term fix. It does often take the edge off though. I can honestly say that some good old shopping therapy goes a long way to help with my overall frame of mind. Sadly it doesnt' have the same affect on my bank balance as a general rule...

The danger with the Emotional Spending (Or E.S as I shall refer to it for the sake of word over usage here) is that the risk of post purchase regret is much higher than if you are spending in any other frame of mind. There is an element of ... desperation I guess. There is more hope pinned on a purchase to lift my mood and it means that I am not as likely to really think through whatever it is I am buying. I have certainly had a few E.S moments that have gone pear shaped in the cold sobering light of getting them home. Thankfully today's frock- (while bought in a frivolous E.S moment) is not one of my regrets.

I had a wedding to go to of 2 very special friends back in November. I even had a job at the wedding. Yes thats right. I was entrusted to stand up in the ceremony itself and read out a poem. I felt ever so important and knew that this meant there was extra pressure to wear something awesome if everyone was going to be looking at me for a few minutes. (haha) This pressure didn't translate into an immediate need to go out and buy something. I have many a party dress in the Wardroom that hasn't been worn out yet, so I figured that this was my chance to get one of them out into the real world. I had not yet chosen the right dress for this auspicious occasion- but I knew I probably already owned it.

A couple of weeks before the wedding I was having a "meh" kinda day. I don't even think it was for any particular reason. I just felt flat and bored. For the record- I already know that this the worst possible time EVER to be browsing on trademe. My E.S cell count was too high for window shopping. I slipped on a picture and fell into an auction and bought a new (and completely unnecessary) dress under the pretence that I needed something new for the wedding. I wasn't even fooling myself at this juncture. The issue with this purchase isn't that I bought a new dress. I am always going to be buying new frocks that I arguably don't need. (pfft) The issue with this one is that I spent WAAAY more than I usually would for a single item. On something that I couldn't even convince myself that was required. The figure I'm talking here isn't bank breaking- but when you bring in as many new frocks as I do- you need to be a bit less frivolous. I spent $140.00 on this frock. That's heaps more than my usual bargain hunting brain would let me spend.

I love this dress. I really do. That doesnt' mean I still didn't get a bout of post purchase regret a day after I had paid for it. If I shopped around I could have bought many dresses for this price. I was disappointed with myself for giving into E.S in a moment of weakness. (Being aware of the dangers sadly doesn't mean you are in the clear. An E.S trigger can happen anytime. Anywhere. Be careful online shopping kids...)

I was still feeling a bit dumb for  buying this on the day of the wedding, but I was determined to stop dwelling on it. I put on my big girl panties (figuratively that is) and made a conscious decision to feel as fabulous in my new  and potentially overpriced dress anyway. I straightened my hair. Slapped on some false eyelashes. Donned some sky high red peep toed heels and a matching hair flower. I was starting to feel quite good when I left the house to go and get some cash out from the money machine downstairs. I had to walk past my local cafe to get to said money machine. There was a table of the classic rockabilly type girls sitting right outside that I had to walk past. I swear- every single one of them stopped talking mid sentence and stared at me as I walked past. I think one of them may have even had her mouth open! Now being a girl that likes to pay attention to what other girls are wearing- I am usually pretty good at picking these vibes up. I know the difference between good quiet and bad quiet anyways. This was definitely a good quiet- so I walked back home feeling like a million bucks.This was the moment that all post purchase regret truly left the building entirely- and I decided the dress was worth it's weight in self esteem. To top off this brief but 

 fantastic foray out onto my street- I also got a text from an acquaintance that had seen me walk past. All it said was "Goddamn those are some awesome heels...." My head was at least 3 sizes bigger when I got back home.

So back to the dress. It's one that is almost in danger of being on the "cliche" side of rockabilly. You know. That 50's reproduction kind of dress that may not scream out- but most definitely whispers "mass produced". Its a basic halter neck with a fitted bodice and circle skirt. Black with nice and bright hibiscuses and pin up girls. Even the occasional butterfly. While it came with a black belt- it was kinda dumb. I had a much better black waist cincher so threw that on with it too. Thisdress would have worked with a red crinoline (to go with the shoes and hair flower) but the black one just felt right. I listened to my heart on this one and stayed with the black petticoat. God knows I'm not usually very good at the less is more philosophy!

The beauty of having so many colours represented in this dress means that my accessorizing options are pretty limitless. I have an UH-MAY-ZING new pair of yellow shoes (yet to be featured) that are going to look pretty damned good with this dress too....

50's Cross Hatch in Pink and Grey

I'm not one to discriminate. I like vintage frocks. I like second hand frocks. I like new frocks. If the frock is right it just doesn't matter. Obviously a downside to vintage dressing is that there is definitly a degree of wear and tear. Zips are often the first to go closely followed by hems in my experience. This makes for a sure fire bonus when I find a new dress that just looks like it was made 60 years ago. I present you- Exhibit A. A fantastic cross hatch little number from Melbourne. (you can probably guess where I bought based on the last few posts!)

This frock really ticked a lot of boxes for me. The pink, white and grey colour scheme isn't one that I would normally buy into- but the design on the fabric grabbed me right by the eyeballs. The brush strokes are pure 1950's and I sure am a sucker for that era of fashion. The design boasts a flaring skirt (crinoline friendly...tick!) and a flattering neckline. You can't see in the chosen shot I have posted but it is also sleeveless so there are some Summer options on its own- or Winter options with tights and cardies here too. Tick, tick and tick.

Anyone who has read more than a few of my posts can probably tell I have some compulsive shopping issues going on here. I channel it predominantly on clothes, shoes and accessories- but to be honest it doesn't really matter what I buy. The thrill is in the chase of a good bargain obviously but it also seems to be in the very action of handing my money to someone and them handing me something I can take home. I manage this debilitating condition by getting excited about going to the supermarket and spending time in trashy "$2 and more!" type stores. I must admit it can be hard sticking to a rule of "I am not allowed to come home with anything that didn't leave the house with me in the morning". Sounds like an easy rule to stick to- but for people like me it really isn't.

I find that if I put my mind to it I can be quite focused in my restraint. Being allowed to break it is all the more sweeter for it if I do! The trouble with being allowed to break the restraint after tracking so well for so long is that it is literally just giving me back the taste for  it. Stopping my compulsive spending again is extremely difficult at this point. A great example of this (and the reason for this long drawn out explanation of my spending habits) is the shoes in this pic.

I had just come back from Melbourne and was literally giddy with shopping-gasm. This should have been enough to keep me going for a while but no. I had the taste for it again. The day after I got home I was back in The Paper Bag Princess buying this ultra cute pair of pale grey peep toes! I don't exactly need another pair of shoes- but I just couldn't help myself. They were only $14.00 and I quickly justified their existence in the Wardroom by the fact I didn't really have this particular shade of grey represented.

Herein lies the problem. Or alternatively. Herein lies the reason I get to have an entire room full of cool things to dress up in. I will let you decide how you choose to interpret that one...

NB-   I am yet to decide if it justifies my spending behaviours or makes me feel more guilty about it- but it is a very interesting article nonetheless...

Rose Cameo Stripes

You may recall from my last post- that a dress will very easily find it's way home with me if I think I can fit a big fat petticoat under it. Some simply scream for one in fact. Others threaten to not quite fit one. And then there are frocks -like this one- that I buy on their own merits and then am pleasantly surprised when I can fit a crinoline under them too. It really is the little things...

It is another Dangerfield purchase from the factory store. $30.00 of surprise crinoline dress awesomeness.

The fabric has a gothicky quality to it. Black and white stripes always make me think of The Dresden Dolls which may be tied into that as well. I really like the combo of the stripes and the old fashioned cameo-esque rose print featured in the diamonds. 

The dress itself is quite basic. Spaghetti straps and flared skirt with a frill along the hem. It actually has an elasticated waist band too- but as it is a little too big on me I am covering it with a black waist cincher belt. (Everyone should own one of these by the way) I think my favourite feature on this frock has to be the shiney black rose buttons down the bodice. The close up I took really doesn't do them justice at all. Maybe one day we will meet on the street while I'm wearing it and you can be all like- "Hey let me see those buttons" and I can be all like "Ok!" and then you will know what I mean. Till then you may just need to imagine their awesomeness and I will enjoy them enough for both of us.

 As if a crinoline surprise wasn't already enough- I got to have a hair flower surprise on this one too. The flower in my hair is new- and was bought to go with a totally different frock.  It is a beautiful shade of dusky lilac. I learnt that it goes very well with this dress too even though the dress doesn't have any dusky lilac in it.Crazy I know!

Floaty Floral Strapless

It is entirely too easy to justify cute circle skirted dresses. I feel like I am getting double the value of a frock if it means I can fit a crinoline underneath it. It makes the petticoats seem like a reasonable investment and it usually makes me celebrate my smart investment by purchasing something else to be worn with them. (and so the cycle continues....Is it any wonder I need a whole room to hold all this stuff?)

This one was on an entire rack of similar styled frocks. (warehouse factory store on Brunswick St in Fitzroy- Melbourne in case you were wondering...)  Funny - but if they were spread out around the store I might have even bought more than one of them. Because they were all bunched in together I almost got bored of looking through them all. I chose my favourite fabric based on colours featured and what I will be able to wear with it. I was attracted by the light denim blue feel to the base colour. I also like the pen drawn quality of the paisley in the background. Just when you think that is enough to warrant picking the garment from the rack- it hits you straight in the eyeballs with the vintagey roses in shades of coral, burgundy and a buttercup yellow. Sweet.

For this photo I have gone with a white crinoline, black peep toed wedges and a small yellow and white lily in my hair.  I seem to be in this weird gravitational pull towards yellow at the moment so I think I will be focusing more on the beautiful buttercup when accessorising for real.  I can wear it with yellow heels for a night out- or a pale yellow cardi and brown boots for day wear. I think I have justified it enough as a smart purchase now. Almost didn't even mention it was only $25!

The Ultimate in Flissmas Outifts

If it is possible to have a more festive outfit I would love to see it.

I may have missed the boat in regards to posting this outfit in time- but I figure a couple of days late won't bother anyone too much.  I have already had to wait MONTHS to wear this outfit (I bought it in April) and I couldn't bear to wait another whole year before posting it here.

It's not that hard to look like Christmas really. Green and red by themselves will usually get the point across. Throwing in some white accents can add the extra effect. When you use all of the above- and then tie it in with holly patterned fabric.. woah. You would be hard pushed to get more festive that that unless you were wearing one of these. Ok. Or maybe one of  these. 

Could be a challenge for next year mayhaps...

This skirt came from the ever fantastic Peachy Keen on K Rd. The day I bought it I got chatting to the proprietor Thomas as I often do while browsing in there. He told me that he was about to put a sale on a particular style of clothing- and was happy to make that sale on whatever I chose to buy that day. Ha. You know you are onto a good thing when the owner of an amazing vintage clothing store will work a daily sale around you! It prompted me to pick up this beautiful swing skirt. An obviously seasonal piece- but I knew I would get the mileage out of it as long as I could be patient. I did have to wait 8 months before it got it's maiden voyage after all.

I have teamed it with a plain round neck cotton tee from Valley Girl, red belt, red peep toes, red crinoline petticoat and a red and white striped hair band. Perfect!

This skirt actually came up in a conversation with someone a few weeks before I wore it for the first time. A dear friend of mine was saygin that she had won a competition at her work the previous year for the most Christamssy outfit- and that she really wanted to step up her game to take home top prize for the second year running. She casually asked if I had anything I could lend her that may help. Well yes. I think she came to the right person on this one! I decked her out with this whole ensemble and she proudly rocked it into her work- confident that the 1st place prize was hers. Sadly they decided at the last minute that the Christmas prize was going to be chosen raffle style so sadly she missed out. We know that if it was purely based on a festive outfit she would have won hands down....

Petrel Party Dress

 I bought a lot of party dresses in Melbourne. It obviously means I will need to go to more parties to wear them all.

This is another purchase from the Dangerfield/ Alannah Hill factory shop on Brunswick St. It was a particularly good shopping day that one. I think I managed to clock up about 7 dresses in 1 afternoon in fact! Not a bad effort at all.

This dress has a few points of interest. One such point is the sweetheart neck and keyhole feature on the front. Another is the full skirt that is just right fro a black crinoline to fit underneath.

Another feature that really drew me to this frock is the keyhole motiff being continued on the back. It is an unusual keyhole in that the top part has 3 tiny buttons too. It sits quite low down the back for a feature like this.

Last up is the fabric itself.  This shade of blue is one that I refer to as "Petrel". Kind of an understated bluey grey. I am also fond of the irregular dark grey flicking pattern. It reminds me of oil splatter. All this on a beautiful smooth satin.

On another note- today is Frockstar's 1st birthday. 365 days, 181 posts and 12925 hits later- and it's still going strong. Thanks for taking the time to read this blog and giving me a thinly veiled excuse to buy more dresses.... It has been a Frocking good year!

And Again...

This dress is the same dress as my previous post. And the one referenced within that as well. I was going to wait and space them out a little but decided I would go for immediate continuity instead.

A "Revival" brand little number from Dangerfield- this one was purchased at full price right before I found the factory shop. C'est la vie.

I have worn it with a red crinoline which sits quite low but gives it a nice red band at the bottom that way.

The fabric reminds me a little bit of a 50's tablecloth or tea towel. A great cross hatch background with posies (or are they tree's?) in vibrant red, green and navy on a white background. Gives me options for co-ordinating later I think,

Fascinating Black 50's Frock

I try to not be one of those people who buys the same dress in all the colours available. Hey- I said I TRY.  It doesn't happen often but it has been known to happen on occasion. I now own 3 of this particular dress.  (one more yet to be posted)

It really is an awesome cut- and I am obviously a sucker for anything I can thrown a crinoline under.  Being black this one is also ultra versatile so I think I have suitably justified it.

I found it in the Factory Store from a few posts back. (Dangerfield, Alannah Hill etc) and scored it for a very reasonable $60.00.  I had a split second in the changing room where I seriously contemplated not getting it as I already have 2 in the same style but then I turned back into the Fliss you all know and walked it on up to the counter.

In this pic I have teamed it with my new Alannah Hill fascinator. It essentially consists of an over sized black velvet bow and black netting highlighted with orange, red, pink, yellow and blue pom poms. A nice feature piece when worn with the right outfit. I think it works quite well with this one in fact. The original price tag on said fascinator was $89.00. I took it home for $16.00.  I would have been silly not to ... right?

Green and Yellow

This cute little green dress is yet another that has not seen the light of day since being added to the Wardroom. It was a gift from a friend who bought it for me mainly for 2 reasons.

1. It was green
2. It was in a $2 bin in an op shop
   

I tried it on when she first gave it to me and while I like the fabric it wasn't a very flattering fit. I hung it up and left it there.

Fast forward 18 months or so and I pulled it out to give it another go. (Essentially for this post!) I decided that the cut could be altered slightly with pulling it in under the bust with a belt. Now with the colours in the fabric the obvious option to me was to match the red. I added read belt and peep toes and took a good hard look. It was ok- but it didn't "pop". You know?

I decided to change tact slightly and opted to accessorise with yellow instead. The colour change made such a huge difference to the overall look- that there is no way I will ever put red on this outfit again! Yellow and green together have always felt... well. A little Australian. I will overlook that thought in this instance and roll with it anyway.

The shoes were a trademe bargain at $4.00, the belt from a sale rack in an Asian store fro $5 and the flower from trademe at $14. These accessories alone could potentially be added to a lot of outfits to change the feel drastically!

I like that the pattern on the fabric has an almost batik quality to it. When you look closely- there are a lot of very detailed swirls going on underneath the floral motifs.

I have managed to fit an ever present crinoline petticoat underneath to lift it slightly too.

Red White And Blue

What a patriotic colour combo...


In the vain of my last few posts- here is a dress that I have not actually worn yet. Turns out I have a lot of these hiding on the racks! I bought this one in Adelaide a few months back on an epic shopping afternoon with a handful of like minded derby girls. We were over there to skate in an Australasian tournament- but managed to set aside a decent couple of hours to hit the shops the way we hit our opponents. HARD.








I actually found this dress in "Valley Girl" which we have in NZ as well. This store really knows how to put on a good sale! There have been many occasions where I have flicked through racks of $10, $15 and $20 specials. It is a great way to run a sale really. I spend a lot more money when I can get multiple items. Its easy when there is a perception if getting more value for your money. (and obviously money aside- I like leaving a store with full bags of new clothes!) This dress was on a $20 and under rack. It cost me $14.95AU.

Red ,white and blue still has a really nautical feel to it. To me anyway. I like that I can match this dress with a red or a white crinoline petticoat (the white one pictured here to balance out the white detail at the top of the dress) and then push with the red accessories to lift it a little more. It came with the red belt- so I have run with that as an option this time but I can see there are possibilities to swap out the red and go for green or yellow belt, shoes and hair piece or necklace too!

Blue and Teal Circles

This is the latest in a long line of hidden treasures the Wardroom has thrown out at me in the last month or so. In the name of Frockstar- I have been rummaging to find some new inspiration for outfits and blog posts. This is a dress I have never worn. Not even once. It has been in my possession for more than a year now. It came from a Hospice shop in Melbourne. I pulled the price tag off when I took the pic- so I can tell you that it cost me $10AU.

It is a simple halter neck dress with a flared skirt. It is actually made of silk which feels amazing on the skin. I love the retro vaguely 70's overlapping circles pattern on the fabric and this is made even better buy the colour scheme of turquoise and a deep teal green over white.

Now that I know that I have matching shoes, hair flower and can wear a crinoline petticoat with it- I think it will make it out to the streets as a completely wearable outfit!

NB- while this has absolutely nothing to do with the outfit in this post- something very weird is going on with the spacing here. For some reason I cannot change the gaps between the pics and the words. It is highly annoying...

The Perfect 50's Housewife

While I am fairly certain that demure isn't often the first thing most people would think when they think of my style- I think this outfit could almost help me pull it off!




This is a new addition to the wardroom. I purchased it on my recent trip to Adelaide with my roller derby league. One of my absolute favourite things about Australian shopping is Dangerfield. I cannot understand why we don't have it here in NZ! Probably lucky for me really. They would get too much of my money if there was one I had regular access to...

I went in to the store knowing that I would be coming out with a new frock. Must be psychic.

I found this beautiful 50s style within the first 5 minutes. It is a really classic cut that makes me think I should be greeting my man at the door after a long days work wearing pearls and an apron with a tray of baking in my hands. I have not yet made this a reality- but I have the pearls covered at least!

The pattern on the fabric is a great mix of black and white gingham and dusky pink roses. The cut has a collar that sits almost off the shoulder. It has a button detail to one side of the waist- and a circle skirt that works very well with a crinoline petticoat underneath.

With my 50's housewife pearls- I have also added my gangster wing tip black and white brogue heels. I'm still working on the apron and the baking....

Green Picnic Frock

First of all- I need to apologise for my lack of Frockstarring in the last month or so. I have been sick. Like really sick. I have had the flu not once- but twice within the last 30 days. Hardly seems fair. So I'm sure it isn't surprising to hear that the last thing I felt like doing was being in photo's showcasing outfits for the blog...

I am well on the road to recovery now- so figured I had some catching up to do here!



This little number is a new addition to the Wardroom. It is a recent purchase from The Paper Bag Princess- and while it is kinda out of season (bring the middle of Winter and all) it was only $14.00. Summer will be back and it will all make sense soon enough.

The top actually needs a little bit of adjusting. It is a halterneck but it doesn't sit quite right. I have turned it into a strapless dress for the sake of this picture and added a pale green cardi to cover up my ghetto alterations.

I really like the way the skirt sits and I knew I could fit a crinoline petticoat under it too. Add to that the great shades of greens, purples and reds- and we have a winner!



I have teamed it with red accessories for this pic but could quite easily go for darker greens or purples for a slightly different affect.

Flowers And Polka Dots

It's no surprise to you all I'm sure- that a new dress will make for one very happy Fliss. New dress excitement is hard to compare to anything else and will usually eventuate in the need to wear said new dress straight away.

This particular new dress caused the same excitement of course. Especially since it was purchased in Wellington in a flurry of other purchases on my Regina Spektor road trip a few weeks back. It was in a high end second hand clothing store called "Missy's Wardrobe" (or something to that affect anyways) on Cuba St. I was hesitant as the price tag told me it was $92.00- but after a quick scan around the store all the dresses were on sale. I tried it on and decided that I would have to get it if was $40.00 or less. I was happy to find when I got it to the counter that it was down to a remarkable $25.00. Quite stoked about that!



I am drawn to bright colours- with green , red and yellow combinations being among my favourites. This dress has all of those sorted AND even throws in some black and white polka dots for good measure. Heh.

This dress was obviously homemade at some point. I know this as it doesn't have a tag- and secondly as they have inserted a baby pink zip. An odd choice given that there is no pink in the dress anywhere. I was happy to find that it is crinoline capable too. I did try out the red petticoat first as it picks up on the fabric so well- but I couldn't escape the thought that I looked like a christmas tree.



I have noticed lately that I have a lot less frocks in this shade of green than initially thought. This is possibly the most represented colour in the entire wardrooom- but not so many frocks in it strangely enough.

I managed to save the first wear of this dress for an astounding 3 whole weeks! I saved it specifically for the after party of my derby teams season debut. We are the green team after all- so it seemed like an apt occasion for the first wear.

Red and White Stripes

I know I have already mentioned the bag 'o' bargains I picked up at the school fair yesterday. I am still quite pleased with myself so am going to just go on ahead and mention it again. There.

This dress was one of said bargains. I think I ended up getting this one for about $4.00. It was actually the very first thing I picked up in the clothing hall. I thought it was too small so put it back. Miraculously nobody else picked it up to buy before I came back to the rack and grabbed it on my way to the counter. Turned out to be maybe even be the score of the day. Yusssssss.....




I was even happier with it once I got it home and realised it can fit a crinoline petticoat underneath. I pulled out the drawstring from the waist to use as a headband - and added red peep toes and a wide red belt with bow at the back.

Bordering on over co-ordinating again I know- but still totally worth it!

Quite the Break

So I haven't update this page in AGES and I'm sorry. Due to technical difficulties and extreme busy-ness directly followed by extreme tiredness Frockstar has unavoidably taken a back seat. I will endeavour to keep to some kind of regularity. I promise!

The good thing about taking a break from this blog has been that it has made me aware of how I was letting it take over my wardroom pickings. By this I mean that I was starting to get a little weird about not wearing the same things twice. Even I know that this is not a healthy way to look at getting dressed everyday!


So anyway. Break is over and it's time to start churning out the posts again. For the "welcome back" outfit- I have chosen a dress that is bordering on being too big now. Hoping to keep it this way so figured I should feature it while it is still wearable.




Black and red is an easy colour combo. Starting to creep into my outfits quite a lot in fact. The red in this dress is really only used to highlight in the trim and buttons- but it is enough to really lift the cut of the design.

Today I have teamed it with red peep toed heels and a red crinoline petticoat.



This dress came form the "Paperbag Princess" which boasts that nothing in store is over $20.00. It's a promise they have no trouble keeping- so they have had no trouble retaining my business. This is one of many bargains I have liberated from this store over the years- and it cost me a grand total of $15.00. Score.

Accidentally on Purpose

I know that I possibly purchase dresses slightly more often than your average girl- but I can say that most of them are usually bought on purpose. This frock however was a complete accident! Let me explain...

I recently purchased a cute little singlet dress off trademe to wear to derby training. The trader I purchased the item off kindly offered to drop it off to me as she was going to be leaving the country a few days later. (I did think was particularly cool of her.. it meant that I would receive the dress much quicker AND save the money on postage!) I got a text from her early on Saturday afternoon to say she was on her way. I excused myself briefly from the derby game plan meeting I was in- explaining that I was just popping downstairs and would be back in a sec. When she arrived it turned out that she had bought the wrong item with her! Luckily she didn't live far away- and suggested that I get in the car with her and we could go and swap the item. So far so good.

We got to chatting in the car on our trek to Grey Lynn and she told me she was not only leaving the country the following day but trying to move house. She was having a bit of a clear out and told me that she had some more clothing she had not yet listed on trademe if I was interested. Like a red rag to a bull really. But hey- I was doing her a favour... right?

She did indeed have a few things I was interested in- hence this accidental dress purchase! It was an absolute bargain at $10.00 and is already a new and solid favourite in the wardroom for its sheer versatility. Today i have teamed it with a crinoline petticoat, cream maryjane's and a string of pearls. It could just as easily be worn without the petticoat and a pair of jandals to dress it down too.

The colour is unusual in that its not really pink but not really orange either. Sort of a tangeriney- coral I would go with. It has a small check print overlaid with flowers that I would liken to proteas (goes so good with my tattoo!) and daisies. The colours are quite muted in the floral pattern in shades of turquoise, charcoal grey and white.

The style is quite 50's with the accessories I have teamed with it today- but the point on the waistband and the overall length is quite 80's. I guess together that would make it 130's.

So it is possible to have an accidental dress purchase. And yes- I got teased by my team mates when I arrived back at my derby meeting after half an hour with 3 new dresses...

A Little Bit Country- A Little Bit Rock 'n' Roll

Today's outfit was completely worked around the shoes. They were a trademe purchase from the last month or so- but had not fit them into an outfit until today! To be perfectly honest- I didn't really think this outfit was working when I left the house this morning. I couldn't quite tie it all together. I went through 3 different top options before I gave up and went for a plain singlet!

The skirt is form the K Rd Op Shop. Not the rainbow one- the other one. Next to Iko Iko. I famously went in there one time while I was waiting for a pizza next door and came home with 2 new dresses.... I swear I shouldn't be let out on my own sometimes.

This skirt was bought to wear with my crinoline petticoats I seem to have accumulated in recent months. I like that it conjures up images of a rockabilly hoedown with lots of hay bales or Ellie May Clampett when she is forced to dress like a girl. (maybe that's just me). That and I'm a sucker for gingham and the colour turquoise. Check and check!


The shoes finally had their turn at being worn out. I bought them under the assumption that they went with a lot of outfits I already own- but I did have a little bit of trouble fitting them in today. I will blame morning brain rather than not enough turquoise in the wardroom I think.

I decided to go for the trusty ol' red hair flower- and as an afterthought matched it with a red cardi.

Even though I didn't think the outfit worked- I had 3 strangers come up to me in the street to say they liked my "look"- and was even stopped to have a photo take for Auckland Street Style. (new fashion blog about town)

Hello Sailor

Seems like I have a lot of 50's Sailor themed outfits coming out of the closet (Wardroom) these days... I guess it's easy to be nautical with a colour combo of red, white and navy blue with a few stripes in for good measure!

This was the dress that broke my self imposed dress buying ban over Christmas. I purchased 2 new crinoline petticoats thinking that I had a lot that I could wear them under. Sadly when they arrived I realised that this wasn't strictly true so suddenly had a need to find a few more outfits to wear with the petticoats. (It is scarily easy to justify such purchases in my brain I can assure you!)

Swing dresses are a great addition to any wardrobe I think. They can be worn with a huge petticoat underneath to give the shape of something between an wedding cake or an upside down tea cup- but have an equally awesome shape without the flounce.

It is really comfortable to wear. I would liken it to wearing a big glamorous t-shirt! The cotton is really soft and I just love the white lace frill along the bottom of the skirt.

This particular one had it's maiden voyage today with a red petticoat. I have matched that with a red flower and red skinny belt and balances out the stripes and frill on the dress with some white peep toed sandals.

While I didn't wear this ensemble with the short white gloves today-I'm thinking that I will incorporate them next time. (I didnt' want to get them dirty by wearing them to work you see!)

NB- When I first bought the belt I was a lot bigger than I am now. In fact I bought the belt to wear wrapped around as a necklace! Lets hope it doesn't get relegated back to neck wear anytime soon....