Are You Reddy To Frock? (To The Maxi)

No decade quite owned a full length dress like the 70's maxi. It makes sense on so many levels really. The bright colours and busy patterns synonomous with that period are all so awesome, if the dress is longer you get to see more of them.  "More is more" isn't a philosophy that spans all outfit decisions, but in this case I think it's perfect.

Maxi dresses and I had some time apart for a few years, but I fell in love with them again last Summer and now I am a serial maxi re-wearer. Not always easy when you are of diminutive stature. Let's face it. Wearing a long dress that is far too long and pools around your feet is going to do a pretty great job of making you look as short and squashed as possible. No self respecting undercover midget wants that I can assure you. Hiding high shoes under them can help, but you still gotta be careful.

No matter what the fabric, all long dresses have a few key universal versatilities.

•  If it's cold, you can wear leggings or tights under them. It may be one of the only times I relax enough to not need to match them too. Chances are I still probably would, but I could potentially break my colour co-ordinated fixation under billowing skirts and it might not wreck my day. (don't judge. It's a thing. Ridiculous I know, but a very real affliction even if I am the only one to suffer from it.) Hell. If it's really cold you can go to town. Tights, long socks and legwarmers are even better when they are your own dirty little secret. I imagine so anyway. I can't keep them a secret and keep showing them to people so it's hard to say. It does allow a new  and hidden platform for the ridiculous while not looking like a cartoon character or detracting from the dress though. Legwarmers are amazing, but can be hard to work into outfits as an retired rollerskating adult. Take every opportunity you can to get those puppies on. Im always glad when I have and I usually catch myself making resolutions to do it more often.

•   If it's hot, a maxi is surprisingly cooling to wear. I couldn't explain the scientific logistics but there is a definite breeze you get flowing through the right light floating fabric. A very specific breeze that has never been matched on a shorter hemline. The more breeze you get, the more it floats too. A nice bonus of this feature is that you feel like a princess when you're floating around on your own dress induced aircon. I've been called a lot of things but graceful isn't one of them. If I can fake it with a dress you can be damned sure I am going to notice it. Sadly, being aware of this rare feeling of grace and poise is often short lived when I invariably trip over my own feet or get tangled up in the fabric. While falling over is never really that awesome, it's almost worth it if I can get a few minutes of tapping into my inner disney princess. I dont even really think of myself as a "princessy" kindofa girl, but I think on some level we all are. Who wouldn't want a beautiful gown, handsome prince and a happily ever after? A great trio sure, but let's face it. I'm pretty much happy enough with a beautiful gown. CHECK!

• A maxi can also hide all kinds of things. You don't have to shave your legs for a start. If you ever needed to tape a hipflask to your leg nobody would be any the wiser. And if cartoons have taught me anything, its that you can pretty much sneak 2 (or even 3) people in anywhere if you have them on each others shoulders and a really long coat. I'm not that silly though. Of course that wouldn't work in real life. Nowhere makes coats that long. You could adapt this concept with a midget though. Very easily hidden under a maxi. You can pretty much get that midget in for free anywhere now.  

You're welcome.



Pretty much every maxi has those same great selling points, and that's before you even get to the individual dresses selling points that always grab me right by the eyeballs. Fabric, pattern, colour and extra detailing. Today's featured frock has a lot going for it in those stakes too.

Red is one of my favourite colours to accesorise with. What girl doesn't feel sexier wearing a great red lippie? Exactly. Now I suggest you start with that and just keep going.  Red is a great contrast to pretty much every other colour, and I must say I abuse the crap out of this. Nothing wrong with being a serial colour combo'ist. (Although I do suspect there may be something wrong with using the word combo'ist.)

This maxi is in a firey shade tomato red with an overlying paisley in shades of black and charcoal.  (see what I did there? Fire? Charcoal? I did stop short of using "burned out", but totally defeated my restraint by just telling you about it.) The fabric is just how I like my friends. Bright and ridiculous. This frocks additional features include some tiny faux button detailing down the front, a tie at the back to really add shape and the cutest double layer of arm frills EVER.

I am now freshly excited about long dresses- and it's just in time for FROCKTOBER!

Blue and White and Long

If I had to explain this dress- I would liken it to a Ming Vase. It has a vaguely Asian style feel with the almostcross over  (the illusion of one at least)  as well as the obvious colour combo.

This long 70's dress feels great on. It is light and hangs really nicely. It doesn't get a lot of wear time at the moment and I am putting that down to it being long. (yes- another one) I am still deciding if I should get it altered to knee length to see if if gets out more. I really love the fabric- so I am unsure that I want to lose that much of it just yet!

It would be the ideal dress to wear at the beach over togs I think. I am not that much of  a beach girl really so maybe that's another reason it hasn't had a lot of wear previously!

What do you think? Should I take it up or leave it long?

Barefoot and Floral

This may seem like a strange concept- but even though I have owned this dress for about 5 years I found it again yesterday. It has been in my 'bag of clothes to get fixed or altered" rubbish sack hiding behin my coats for quite sometime now. Every few years I remember that such a sack exists and it's like Christmas!

This long floral number screams "Little House on the Praire" to me. It is distinctly 70's and I cannot imagine wearing it with shoes. This is of particular note asI am not a barefoot girl by nature. I have way too many pairs of shoes to ever consider not wearing any of them.

This dress was a birthday gift from an old flatmate of mine. It is quite beautiful in it's own way but I always thought it would get a bit more of my attention if it was shorter. I can imagine it a little above knee length with dark tights and brown boots. Hence it living in the sack of things to be altered...

The fabric really appeals to me. A dark bottle green with 70's flowers in shades of orange, brown, pink and white.

For now I have put it back up in the long green dress section of the wardroom to see if it gets additional wear purely by proxy of being able to see it. If it still doesn't in the next few months I will get it altered.

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!

With Envy

I am a fan of green. ALL greens. I'm talking lime, forest, moss, sage, mint, emerald. I love them all. I do however have a special soft spot for that really bright middle range green that I describe as "Kermit Green" (As a side note I would KILL for that jacket!)

I own a lot of clothing, shoes and accessories in this particular shade. I thought that I would devote a post to a couple of things in that collection.



First up is this fantastic long 70's number. Cap sleeves, empire line tie, bow in the front and looooooong. I may have mentioned this is a previous post- but I bought this dress while waiting for a pizza.


Second up is this amazing green leather jacket. I have had this for a while now. I found it at the now almost defunct K Rd Markets. I picked this and a long blue 70s leather trench coat for $70.00 in total. An amazing score if I do say so myself!


Last but certainly not least is this 70's wraparound embroidered skirt. It always makes me think of Irish folk dancing or some such. I have owned this skirt now for about 12 years- and it is still in high rotation for being worn. Quite good stats really....


This skirt always makes me think of Irish dancing for some reason.

A Rose By Any Other Name...

This is a frock that has not been worn nearly enough in its tenure in the wardroom. I have had it for about 3 years now- and I think it has only really seen the light of day once. That is quite a terrible track record I must admit...




I bought this dress off trademe back then as I thought this dress had a really "classic" appeal to it. Being monochromatic in black and whites helps that feel- but also the feature rose detail on the shoulder really brings it home.




The long length, floaty cap sleeves and the empire line tie the style together to create a point of difference I think...

It may not have been worn too otften- but that doesn't mean I can't still appreciate it!

After Frock

Big Day Out has now been and gone for another year. Lots of walking, dancing, good music and running into people- topped off with a smidgen of sunburn. Dammit.

The sunburn was actually the main inspiration for this frock. I am sporting a nice pinky red line around the top of my neck where my halter from my dress lay. A nice white stripe in fact. This dress was the perfect "Big Day After Frock" as it sits exactly where my tan lines are.



This is anther frock that has been kicking around for quite a while now. It's exact origins elude me for now- but I can safely say it came into my wardrobe circa 2002.

The fabric always makes me think of lollies for some reason. I am really quite fond of the colour combo of yellow, green and white with a touch of blue.


Sadly, as with so many other frocks from the 70's, the zip is on the way out. I found this out by wearing it for a day. Every time I breathed out or leaned forward the zip down the back would slide open. I will have to do something about that before it's next wear I think....

The Seamless Transition Between 09 And 0-10

I am getting into some bad habits here and I apologise. I have been dreadfully slack at updating this blog daily as I should be and I endeavour to make these much more regular. At LEAST daily. (if you're lucky maybe even more than once a day!) While I could go on about my slackness/ laziness/ new years/ sunstroke recovery- I will stop that right here and get on with the post shall I?

First up is the last day dress of 2009. (sounds so regal when I give it that kind of title!) I wasn't feeling too hot on New Years Eve so went for comfortable. Comfort to me often means wearing something that could be easily converted into a tent should I ever get lost in the woods. This dress was no exception.

It hailed from the Aotea Markets of days gone by- and cost me about $40.00. I was very happy with this purchase until I saw that they were being mass produced and made in 3 other colours in Shanton... I don't usually class myself as a clothing snob. (God -I will wear almost anything!) I was just disappointed at my seemingly "one off from an independent designer that sells their wares at the market" dress suddenly turned into the exact opposite. My dream may have been dashed but it is still a nice dress. Albeit very long on me.....

I am a sucker for anything green and frocky- so this fit the bill quite nicely.

New Years Eve was pretty good this year. A party at our place followed by a party at my friend Ruby's place followed by Whammy bar... a good night was had by all. Especially me once someone pointed out that I didn't need to commit to the same dress for the while evening. My GOD it's so obvious yet somehow I have never thought to do a mid-evening outfit change! So I actually had 2 New Years party frocks over the night- and sadly both have been posted about already so no new photo's for you!

New Years day was quiet. I got up briefly to pass a cell phone and a bag back to their rightful owners - but that was literally all that was achieved. I didn't get dressed so there is no outfit to showcase for the first day of the new decayed.

Yesterday was much more productive. I got dressed AND left the house! (Productivity just needs a little perspective from time to time I think...) I spent the afternoon in the park under a tree on a picnic blanket with my boy, a subway sandwich, an instant kiwi crossword and a Chuck Pahlunuck book. It was AWESOME.

The dress I chose for such activities was a simple off white and floral number that I've been wearing for quite a few Summer's now. It came from the op shop that isn't there any more in St Kevins Arcade. I don't recall paying more than about $12.00 for it - and I have certainly got my moneys worth from it.

It has an in built petticoat so as not to show the world my underwear. It's made out of a slightly stretchy lycra- and while it seems to be from the 70's it has the 50's in built bullet bra thing going on too. It needed a yellow hair flower yesterday- although the colours in the fabric make hair accessorising quite easy.

Today I am back at work. That 3 day weekend went very quickly. There wasn't a great deal of thought in today's outfit. Mainly as I started work at 7am and woke up at about 6.40.

This was a trademe purchase from a few years back. It is a little too big for me at the moment- but such great fabric I chose to wear it anyway.

The pattern is a great bright orange, turquoise, blue, yellow, black and white in an overlapping bubble print. There is quite a lot going on just in the colour spectrum- so have accessorised with black jandals and a navy blue hair flower.

Now as there were 2 whole days that didn't get their own posts/ photo's- I am going to put up 2 separate and special outfits just to redeem myself. (I have been saving them because the titled puns have been in my head for a while now!)

Sorry for the wait. I'll try and be more regular I promise!

Jebus's Birthday And The Day After

Christmas day has now been and gone for another year. For me it meant time with family and WAAAAY too much amazing food! (crayfish, prawns and chocolate mostly)

I have been saving this dress for Christmas this year. It seemed to be kind of festive in its colours- and was a nice light wrap around to wear on a very hot day.



It is a 1970's patchwork number and the fabric reminds me of origami paper. Lots of colours involved but mainly pinks and red's with a touch of gold and green.



Technically I was wearing it backwards. I think it looks better this way- but it did mean that I was called Kris Kross all day by my lovely brother. I don't think it looks like I'm wearing it the wrong way- but it does have pockets facing the wrong direction that give it away a little...



Boxing day is another beautiful sunny day. I think maybe we might have hit actual Auckland Summer now. (I really shouldn't jinx it by suggesting such things. If it starts raining tomorrow it isn't my fault.. ok?)

I am cheating slightly again. We are off to a bbq over on the sunny North Shore today- and I am wearing a frock that has already been featured. So as not to short change anyone reading this I have pulled out one that has not been featured yet to balance it all out.


This dress is pretty bright. Even for me. Bright red 70's long halter with a geometric blue, green, white and yellow pattern. It screams awesome. To me at least.



This dress was picked up from a vintage clothing store in St Kevins Arcade that sadly is no longer there. I had made friends with the lady that ran the shop in my frequent stops there on my way home from work on Friday afternoons. We were almost at the stage where I was ready to bring in a bottle of wine for us to work our way through while I played dress ups and marvelled at the beautiful frocks she had to behold. I was pretty sad when she moved on...