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!

Ruby Red Satin with Skull

While I try very hard not to- I do manage to slip into "Uniform Mode" from time to time. Historically this has usually encompassed some highly versatile "can be worn with everything" piece. I haven't been a jeans kindofa girl for a very VERY long time- so my last 3 uniform pieces have consisted of varying styles of denim skirts. They certainly fit the uniform criteria in that they go with everything.

I decided it was time to update my denim skirt and get one in more of a pencil style. The one I bought was from Australia's finest- Target. (I prefer to pronounce it Tarshaaay) It was exactly what I was looking for and definitely didn't break the bank. Double ticks all round.

I have found myself wearing more and more red over the last few years. It has never really been a colour I have gravitated towards but maybe it just got better with age. (like me!) This jacket appealed for a few reasons. It was cheap. $49.00 in the factory store on Brunswick St that I keep mentioning. It is also a beautiful shade of dark ruby red in satin- so it has that vague "Grease" feel to it.  Who didn't want to be a Pink Lady when they grew up?

I'm sure it is also no surprise that I was drawn to the embroidered skull with snake running through its eye sockets.  I was even considering getting my name (Fliss, Felicity, Spar Kill or Sparky) embroidered on the other side. I'm not completely sold- but it does tie back into my Grease Pink Ladies childhood fantasies....

Out(fit) Of This World

I like stars. I think I may have already mentioned- but they are my favourite shape. (lets disregard the fact that I am obviously waaay too old to even have a favourite shape!) While these stars may not be the typical star shapes- they are still stars nonetheless.

This strapless number has a lot going for it other than the whole universe on the fabric. It is a satin tiered piece of fabulousness with a bow on top of a sweetheart neckline. The dress is mainly classed as black I guess- but it has a nice amount of dark blue to give it a bit of texture too. Twinkletastic!

It came from an amazing store on Brunswick St (Melbourne again!).It was in fact the factory shop for Dangerfield, Princess Highway and Alannah Hill. Swooooon! Needless to say- they got a great deal of my money in the 2 separate trips I took there. More on that later...

This particular dress cost me $40.00. Technically I suppose it cost me closer to $65.00 if I convert it to NZ dollars but to be honest I didn't do a lot of that on my trip. It was far easier just to pretend everything was in NZ dollars. And that ladies and gentlemen is one of the many reasons I will never be an accountant....

Yellow Featured Asian Top

Usually when I buy a new item of clothing I am so excited about it- I want to incorporate this into an outfit as soon as possible. Sometimes the item will get lost in a pile of new things. (like my swag from the Cornwall park school fair!). Sometimes I won't have quite the right outfit to fit it into- so will need to source more items. I have been known occasionally to own an item for quite some time before it gets its "maiden voyage" wearing. Like this top. It has been kicking around in my possession for about 6 months and technically has still not even had it's maiden voyage wearing!





I love this satin top. I really do. The Asian style detailing. The floral pattern. The bright yellow. It has a lot going for it. What I have found out the hard way is that navy blue is a very difficult colour to co-ordinate in a top. The easy option is to go as I have done with black. The trouble with pairing navy and black together is that while they are different colours they are still very close on the spectrum. They don't feel like they are different enough to be worn together I think. On the other end of the scale- wearing it with a dark denim is too similar in colours and also not different enough. This theory has made working an outfit around this top a long and painful process.


I think that I finally have settled on an outfit that works. The saving grace to me is the flower and the shoes. By making yellow more of a feature - then the navy/ black combo doesn't feel quite so out of place. (although the black tights make it make a little more sense)





Now that I have an option of how to wear this outfit-typically it is too cold to work it into my rotation this week. Go figure. At least it will be ready to go in that brief seasonal time where it is still cold enough to wear tights- yet warm enough to have short sleeves. This window of opportunity is estimated to make an appearance in early October- and with my luck will last for approximately 3 days.

(NB- Something about this Asian style on tops or dresses always makes me feel obliged to wear my hair up for some reason. It always looks better. )

Racey Lacey

Guess where I got this corset from! No really... guess!

So it probably goes without saying. But I will say that I paid a sweet $3.00 for it. Heh.



It was originally sold in Portmans. A nude coloured strapless top with a black lace over the top and finished off with a black satin band and bow. All up I think it is quite classic..

I have worn it with my ever versatile black pencil skirt and black patent peep toe wedges. (Together they are a great foundation of a multitude of outfit options)

A Little Bit Classy

There is a very noticeable lack of places to get this kind of dress up for these days. In lieu of waiting for such an occasion- I have decided to throw it on and blog about it anyway.



I have always thought that there is something particularly classic and elegant about an evening gown in black and white. It takes me back to a time where an evening out with a big band and champagne saucers would not have been out of place. It is obviously not the first time that I have wondered if I was born in the wrong era...

This dress came from Princess Nicole's Recycled Wardrobe on Dominion Rd about 7 years ago. Although it was a second hand shop- this dress was brand new and still had the original tag on it. It cost me a ridiculous $60.00- and my only regret is that I haven't had more occasions glamorous enough to wear it to.



The design itself is really simple. Long and strapless in black satin with a contrasting corset ribbon on the back. The floral design on the front is very effective. White embroidered roses with a hint of sequined detailing. It is a case where less really is more.



The pattern is only featured 6 times on the front of the dress- and isn't on the back at all. It is all the more striking for it. (additionally surprising as I have historically always been a more is more kindofa girl)


I have worn it with silver maryjanes for the purpose of this picture.



My mission now is to actively look for a suitable excuse to wear this gown out in the foreseeable future!

A few days worth of catch ups

Sorry. I have been terribly slack these last few days. To make up for my lack of posting I have recreated the last few days wort of outfits to get back up to date!


I busted out this long wrap around skirt on Friday. It's really light fabric and so comfortable to wear. It's another piece that I've had so long I can't really remember where it came from! I have teamed it with a plain black singlet and black high top chuck taylors.


I love the print on the fabric. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for anything with a tropical feel.


Saturday I only really went to the gym and dyed my hair- so nothing blog worthy was worn during the day. I did put in a little more effort that night though with a gig and a bbq on my social calendar! Now on paper I realise that velvet tiger stripes sounds ridiculously westie. But I have never been one to hide from my westie roots- so I ran with it!



This dress was purchased from the Paper Bag Princess about a year ago. I also really like that the grain of the velvet goes up not down. (I'm not sure why exactly that's a selling point- but it is!)



I must admit that since starting Frockstar I have been going out of my way to wear a much wider cross section of my clothing. This has been really good and quite inspiring- but the flip side is that I haven't' wanted to wear anything I have already blogged about. I realise that this is not a healthy way to look at my outfit choices. It did also mean that the outfit I wore yesterday has already been blogged about - so no point putting up another picture! (on days where choosing a new unblogged outfit is not an option I promise to find something obscure in the wardroom and blog about that- but seeing as you are already getting 4 outfits in this post I'm not going to bother today...)

This all brings us up to Monday. I have gone for a "Pink Ladies" short sleeved satin jacket with embroidered bird and flower detailing. I swear to god I found this jacket on trademe for $1.50. A dollar fifty! It cost me more to get it posted to me- but considering the whole thing still came in under $5.00 I don't think I have much reason to be complaining. I have matched the jacket an shoes with a pink hair flower, pink sparkly ring and silver nails.


I'm not an overly pink person but this jacket always gets lots of comments. And it ties in quite nicely with my silver high top Reeboks...


I LOVE these sneakers. They are everything an amazing pair of high tops should be! I also really like the 2 tone pink laces and the 80's inspired pink and green stripe detailing. I spent more on these shoes than I usually would- but who can put a price on happiness right?



This "Little House on The Prairie Nightie Dress" didn't actually get worn today but I thought it deserved a pic. Its verging on ridiculous- but I love the wings effect on the sleeves. I'm actually thinking about taking it up to the knees.


The fabric is nice and light with a pretty 70's floral pattern. I bought it from a closing down second hand vintage store. Everything in the store was $10 the day I ventured in. So dangerous....

It seems like Auckland's Summer weather is getting a bit more consistent- so looking forward to getting reacquainted with lots of bright Summer dresses in the next few weeks!