Tropical Orange 70's

I may not know what the weather is doing where you are dear reader- but I can tell you that here in Auckland it's starting to feel very Spring-y. We had that first really sunshiney day that pops up at the end of a dreary and wet Winter earlier this week and suddenly there is a better mood all over the city.  The office workers were out in force exercising in Victoria Park and I was there too. I wasn't so much exercising as appreciating their energy from a safer distance. (Basically translated as sitting on my arse in the grass with a sandwich and juice) I was enjoying the first signs of warmer weather in my own way however. I took my cardi off to give my bare arms some sun time- and I ate my first strawberries of the season too. They were delicious. Thanks for asking.

With the warmer weather coming so does the increased outfit options coming up with the seasonal rotation in the wardroom. I will always be a sucker for a good "out of season" bargain so there is often a stash of new things ready to be tested out once the seasons start to change over.  I am quite skilled in squirreling things away so now I get to rediscover Summer frocks that found me on rainier days.  It is always an exciting time I can assure you.!

This particular 70's maxi was another trademe find. When I originally purchased it I swear it was a red dress. To this day I do not know if it was my poor old eyes starting to fail- or the resolution of the computer I was sitting at. Either way it matters little. Turns out I like this dress even more as an orange frock anyway.

I know I have said it before- but there is something about migraine inducing bright colours on a polyester fabric that just get me every time. This particular maxi certainly has some notes of Hawaii coming through too, So much in fact I wore it to a luau party we had recently. Next time I will be mindful of having a tropical themed dress up party in the middle of August. It was a good idea in theory- but the older I get the more I find myself being genuinely concerned about people being cold. It is usually in the context of my inner monologue and often comes with a mental finger waggle. You know the type. The "I bet your mother doesn't know you're out in public dressed like that young lady. You will catch your death of cold" kind of a deal. Anyway. I digress.

I have teamed this bright orange piece with yellow heels and matching hair flower for this picture but it also lends itself nicely to a pair of orange cork platforms I have kicking around too. With the fabric showing tones of green, yellow, and white- it gives me a few colour options to play around with when it comes to my footwear and hair accessories anyway.

Wearing a yellow lei seems to give the dress a certain somethin' somethin' too. Pictured above standing in front of our party art installation. "Stair Lei To Heaven". Seriously. Don't ask....

Tropical

One of the things I was most looking froward to on my Melbourne trip was going back to Retrostar. This is one of the most amazing vintage clothing stores I have ever been to. EVER. It is one of those stores that you need to mentally prepare yourself for. There are so many colours and patterns to trawl through! I would never ever go to a store like this with a hangover that's for sure....

A particularly cool part about going back to this store on this trip- was that I got to take a friend of mine who had not yet experienced the joys of Retrostar. I got to relive the initial amazement through her when we walked in- and that was just as exciting for me too.

I knew there was going to be a lot I liked here- and it didn't disappoint. As I was walking around with my hangers of items to take into the changing room getting heavier- I stopped in my tracks when I saw this on the rack. Like actually stopped. I think my jaw may have even dropped just a little. I knew that this was the one. Of all the things I was carrying to try on- I hoped with all my might that this was going to be the dress that fit me perfectly.

A bright electric blue based ra-ra dress with 3 tiers of ruffles along the bottom. Pretty cool in itself. Then you throw in the tropical flower pattern in shades of bright yellow, orange, red and green. just when you think it can't get any better- you realise that hiding among the flower pattern are even a couple of parrots! Yes.That was the  moment that tipped me over the edge. (Maybe I should get out more...)

The only moment in this whole experience that made my heart heavy- was realising the zip was broken. Like proper bung. I quickly weighed up the options in my mind and swiftly went for the one that involved getting the zip re[placed when I got it home. I wouldn't go as far as saying that this made the dress a bargain per se- but it definitely was one of my favourite frocks from this shopping expedition.

Among many many great things about this frock is the accessorising options. With all those colours to contrast the bright blue there is no shortage of possibilities for hair flowers and shoes. In this photo I have gone for yellow- but it could just as easily been red, orange or green.

The only other thing this dress needs now is a large cocktail with a little paper umbrella in it.

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!