I'm Baaaaaaa-aaaaaaack!

I have a few posts now that start with an apology about the time frame between posts. I'm not going to do that this time. I am going to celebrate my return to Frockstar instead of giving you excuses for my absence. I will however give you a  rundown on what has been going on since we last talked. Well- Since I last wrote anything and you read it. No need to be pedantic.

• We are planning to relocate to Melbourne.
• I haven't been buying clothes.

So my amazingly detailed bullet pointed list gives insight into what seems to  have slowed my Frockstarring down somewhat. I have been making every effort to not buy clothes- as the thought of downsizing and relocating the wardroom to another country is scary enough without adding anything else to it. I have been doing pretty well in that regards but it does mean I have been lacking any enthusiasm to blog about newly acquired things. A double edged sword there really.

I am super duper crazy excited about moving to Melbourne but there sure is a lot to do before that happens. The biggest test of my clothes buying self control will be in the next 3 weeks when we go over for a long weekend to see Ben Folds play. (On a side note- OMFG I AM GOING TO SEE BEN FOLDS LIVE FOR REAL! I sure hope he does this at the show...) I will be trying to stay away from all the incredible shops so as to not blow our moving savings. It is going to be very difficult. I might have to sneak a very quick trip into Dangerfield but it will probably need to be chaperoned.

And that takes us up to now.  Lets get back to the frocks shall we.

The dress I am showcasing in my comeback is a great little number I picked up from a small 2nd hand boutique in Glen Eden. I saw it on the mannequin as I was driving past and did a U-turn to go back to look at it. Not only is it a genuine handmade frock from the 50's it had a fairly reasonable price tag of $35.00. When I took it up to the counter I found out that they were having a one day only half price sale- so I got to walk away with it for a cool $17.50. Heh.

The fabric has a woven lineny (new word) feel to it and you can see the criss cross in the fibres. I love the slightly abstract floral feel to the pattern and I love love love the colour scheme of pinks, purples, teal and a hint of brown. It gives me a lot of room when it comes to matching it to shoes. For this photo I have donned a pair of purple kitten heels with a bow feature on the front. You can't see in these pics- but they are purple down one side and completely clear down the other. I always thought that was a nice touch. Slap on some pearls and a crinolene and I am good to go!

It is nice to be back I must say. I am not going to promise any kind of continued regularity though. Not while I am in this self imposed "Don't buy any more clothes Fliss" time anyway. I have a few things up my sleeve though. You will hear from me again soon.

Pin Tucks And Pearls

I'm not going to lie to you. I have never worn this dress. Not even once. In fact- I have a funny feeling I didn't even try it on when I bought it- so this shot may have captured the only time it has ever been on my person EVER.

It's not that I don't like it. I think it's quite awesome actually. It's just not the kind of dress that I can wear to work, and it hasn't really fit any of my social activities either. I guess I bought it as a future dress up project and that particular theme has still not showed it's face.

There are a lot of great things about this frock. I love the turquoise colour. I love it's pin tuck detailing on the bib, and I love that it has it's own pearls sewn around the neckline. That is 3 really good features as far as I'm concerned.




I think I have pinpointed the 2 features stopping me from getting this out more often.

• The sleeves. They are weird. Short sleeves that are almost bell sleeved but end up just being kinda gapey. Not overly flattering.
• The length. I have no problem with a great long 70's frock- I just find that I am way more likely to wear one that is short or at least knee length.

These factors are making me wonder if this dress needs a bit of a "Fliss over". Get rid of the sleeves completely and lift the hemline. The more I consider it the more I think it may have to be done.

My track record for actually getting around to dress altering isn't amazing. I have a rubbish bag stashed behind my coats that is full of dresses that need adjustments of some description. I may even have to dedicate a post to before and after shots. Maybe that is the motivation I need to actually get them fixed!

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...