Colours

Some people arrange things in alphabetical order, or use a self-devised system. Me, I like to arrange according to colour:



Also, sorry posts have recently been few and far between. I'm back at art school grappling with paintings and writing and research (oh my!) so my blogging has suffered. I hope once things get a little bit less chaotic I might be able to post more - but then again, things might get MORE chaotic, not less! Here's hoping!

Back To Black

Do you wear a specific colour when you're feeling under the weather? A colour that cheers and comforts you? I remember reading in Anaïs Nin's journals, oh so long ago, that she wore her "costumes" of black and red as a kind of barrier between herself and the world.

When I am feeling less-than-great, I definitely turn to black. Yesterday was one of those days where you're feeling a little low and just want to curl up and drink tea and ignore everything outside your own windows. Luckily I have lovely friends who coaxed me out of my house to attend a party. I wore this:



And I did end up having a really sweet time, even if I went to bed at the early hour of twelve, which made me feel positively old.

I'm wearing (the photo is lightened to show some detail):

• Black 'MinkPink' shaggy vest.
• Black 1930's rayon teddy, my new favourite thing.
• Black stirrup leggings.
• Black vintage boots, stained with paint.

These Boots Were (Kind Of) Made For Walkin'

New boots! I think I'm on a heels kick.

Daria

Seeing as the 1990's have penetrated current fashion in every conceivable way - though I'm still not sure acid wash denim vests should have been unleashed on the general public the first time around, let alone a second time - I thought I'd concoct some outfits from a television show that really made the 90's ... well, I was going to say the 90's, but I guess what I mean is ... bearable. I'm talking about Daria.

Post-grunge, but still suffused with "bitter 90's cynicism", Daria still has a place in the heart of many a twenty-something. So I took my cue from the current 90's trend and asked myself: What would the characters' outfits look like more than ten years later?

Daria:




Jane:




Trent (for those hell bent on male style):


Trent: Daria - by aquaell on Polyvore.com

Quinn The Brain & Quinn:

A Summer Dress For Winter

I received this gloriously summery dress (above) in the mail yesterday, just in time for the seasonal shift. So started brainstorming ways that I could wear it as the weather gets progressively colder. Obviously I could take the classic route, and wear it with patent pumps and a fitted coat - but that doesn't sound too interesting to me. Instead, I decided to play dress-ups with some deliberately mismatching colours and textures and patterns to see what I could come up with.

What resulted was two outfits that I am now affectionately calling "hobo prep" and "disco goth"!

Hobo prep:





Wearing:

• 60's "Lanz original" polka-dot dress, from eBay.
• Off-white herringbone tights by "Voodoo", a Christmas present.
• Red flats, purchased in Tokyo.
• Tan cardigan, from the evil "Cotton On".
• Blue jacket, a boy's blazer, opshopped in a nearby town.
• Faux fur collar, came with a cardigan, used as a scarf.



Disco goth:





Wearing:

• 60's "Lanz original" polka-dot dress, from eBay.
• Victorian lace collar, eBay.
• Sequin black jacket by MinkPink.
• AA legging in 'black eel'.
• Patent wedges, a birthday gift from my mother.

Pink Ampersand Black

I feel a little bit weird wearing the platinum blonde + black + hot pink combination, but I'm hoping it's more along the lines of sleek and strange than Anna Nicole, haha.


Without the cardigan.

Wearing:
• Black 'Avocado' cardigan.
• 1950's pink organza prom dress with pleated shelf bust. I picked it up for $10 on eBay a year or two ago, and, horrifyingly, I have never worn it!!! Until now!
• Black American Apparel lamé leggings in 'black eel'.
• Black 'Scooter' shoe boots.

Shoe and legging detail, co-starring my bedroom light fixture:

One Of The Weirder Things That's Ever Inspired Me

The Baron Bomburst's birthday party scene from 1968's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The fluffy mauve hair, the stark black and white ... it's a perfect mix of drag queen and dandy. I want a ball just like it! But in lieu of that, I want to channel some of these Vulgarian freaks and beauties in an outfit sometime soon.

Satin Skirt: Redux

This (really unflattering!) photograph was taken at eight o'clock this morning, and this is what I wore to work today. Although I actually spent the better part of the day in a black tutu. I work as a life model for art classes - and today's class had a distinctly Degas focus. Modeling for art classes is a physically strenuous job, and by the end of today, all I wanted to was run a Lush bath and listen to Pink Moon on repeat.



I was wearing:
• 1950s satin circle skirt, peach tulle petticoat underneath, both eBayed.
• Black leggings, a present from my mother.
• 1940s black and white spectator heels, opshopped.
• Black American Apparel leotard.
• Vintage quasi-collegiate cardigan, made from a weird, weird coarse synthetic fabric.
• Black patent belt from a 'Cue' dress.

The details:

Jacobean, Anyone?

I don't like throwing away lengths of excess fabric. I always feel a twinge of guilt if I stuff them into a nearby bin. As a result I have a veritable landfill of fabric in my wardrobes and various suitcases littered throughout my house.

So I wanted to do something with the pieces I cut off the dress I took up the other day.

So I took to the taffeta and chiffon with some pinking shears, ruffled them with the sewing machine, and tacked them together into a little neck ruff:




I wanted it to look kind of tattered - threads loose, frayed edges - to offset the incredible fluffy pinkness of it. I like it! And I have a feeling I'm going to have some styling fun with this little ruff.

Things I’d Like To Do This Valentines Day (By Myself)

Photograph by dangzit.

While I agree that Valentines Day is a schmaltzy holiday full of tacky teddies and wilting roses, that doesn’t stop me wanting to celebrate. Alone. For and by myself.

This year, I'd like to:


• Try my hand at a raw vegan rose cheesecake.

• Wear fresh red lipstick all day and kiss windows.

• Make a playlist full of romantic classics like “The Scratch” by 7 Year Bitch.

• Buy myself hot pink flowers.

• Keep my fingers crossed that it rains so I can run out and play in the rain in a 1940’s bathing suit.

• Make lingerie from pieces of silk that I keep hoarding and never use.

• Make antique-style valentines with text saying things like, “you’re okay, I guess”, and “please don’t ever wear clothes again”. You know, sentimental stuff.

• If I were a little more bitter around this time of year, I’d get these gorgeous fripperies. I might anyway.

And keep your eyes peeled for a guest post at Yes and Yes, written by this little Pony, about taking yourself on dates (and, naturally, what to wear while on them)!

The Dress Doctor

I have referred to my flat as a "prom dress hospital" from time to time. And sometimes it really does look like one - pastel tulle dresses hanging from every available hook, pins, scissors (scalpel!) and measuring tape littered around each gown.

But to be straight - I am not a fan of radically altering vintage clothes. The older they are, the more of a problem I have with the idea of cutting them up.

Unless they are beyond help. Or beyond wearing.

I have had a full-length pink 1950's chiffon gown in my house for about a year. Because of its length, and the fact that an overexcited prom queen seemed to have put her muddy foot right through the delicate hem at some point, it wasn't really wearable. Not wearable beyond swanning around my apartment, at any rate. But I loved that it had a muddy hole in it - it seemed to suggest a history, conjuring up images of a picture-perfect girl some fifty years ago, tripping through the forest or town park, tipsy on gin after her prom night.

So I didn't alter it. I eventually stuffed it in an ancient red suitcase, and it has sat there ever since.

What a waste.

So this morning, I finally got to work! It is now a wearable length, though I kept the long embroidered train (it's a Pony tail!)


Before and after cutting.


Wearing the new length - before I fixed it a little.


A detail of the embroidery.

Now I just have to figure out how and where to wear it ... other than to the supermarket.

This is just a little acknowledgment, before I continue posting, of what has been happening in Australia for the past few days. To those of you who don't know, the high temperatures lent themselves to some-hundred fires that razed a large part of our southern states, wiped out entire towns and had a high death toll. They're not over yet.

I don't know what to say without sounding ridiculous or maudlin - but I didn't want it to go unmentioned.

Also, if you are in a position to help and wish to do so, I direct you to two important foundations - The Red Cross and Wildlife Victoria (Thanks, Vegan and Vintage).

Thank you.

39

This is what I’m wearing to a (vegetarian) barbeque in 39 degree heat (that’s 102 to you Fahrenheit-lovin’ kids in the Northern hemisphere!)

Haha. This blog is rapidly becoming a weather report – but I make a nice weather girl, non?



Anyway, I wore:

• A 70’s does 50’s georgette polka dot dress, bought from a local vintage shop and drastically shortened.
• Frilly red Leg Avenue knickers (unseen) – because the dress is too translucent for my liking.
• Blue scarf, a gift from Boy Made of Glitter (Now his official nickname!!).
• White flipflops/monstrosities/necessities.
• White sunglasses, also a gift from said Boy.
• A mixture of two red lipsticks – because I’ve never found the right shade.

Aaand the less interesting picture:



Happy heatwave!

Where I Wear A Bathing Suit

Last night was another repulsively hot evening. I was having a dinner party on the floor of my upstairs shoebox/oven/apartment, and I assure you, I was not the only one cooking!!

Consider yourself punned.

Anyway, I thought I'd try the whole bathing-suit-as-everyday-wear thing I wrote about some time ago. And it was a hit! Even my neighbours seemed to love it as we traipsed out the door to lie on the neighbourhood oval, drink wine, and watch a tiny storm erupt inside distant clouds.

Although please excuse the weird photographs - I took these while the boyfriend was in the room - and he was SO SILLY. I don't know how people can take daily outfit shots with other people in the room and not make silly faces, I really don't! In some of them we were chasing each other around the kitchen like six-year-olds. Oh well.

The bathing suit:


Or view large to see details.

The outtakes:

Also viewable large.

And I was wearing:

• Coral and white 1950's gingham bathing suit, eBay.
• Vintage pearl collar, eBay.
• Patent black belt, from a 'Cue' dress.
• Patent black and white 1940's spectators, opshopped.

Hello, Boys

Here are the looks that made me drool today, courtesy (and property) of The Sartorialist and Jak and Jil. And they all happen to be men.




This first cutie does "I just stepped off the train for private school" all too well. So well, in fact, that you're not quite sure if he knows how good he looks. But look at those colours, those clothes, those proportions. He KNOWS.




This man's style is perfection. Which is weird, because by themselves, his glasses, the cut of his trousers, his scarf - all leave me cold. But put together, it's a strange, flawless mix of sleek and quirky.




There's really nothing I can say about Mr Kanye and his entourage - except that I LOVE these outfits with a shiny-eyed, foam-mouthed fervour. They are amazing. And I want to live in his cupboard. I'll sleep happily next to his collection of kicks.

Sorbet Colours

sorbet colours, originally uploaded by atriuum.

Wearing:
• Aqua singlet, from the kids section of a department store.
• Vintage pink circle skirt, opshopped.
• Black patent wedges, birthday present.
• Black patent belt - came with 'Cue' dress.
• Black bow tie worn in hair, from a cheap kitty costume!
• New, hilariously disheveled platinum 'do!

Well, I'm off to clean my little shoebox flat in the staggering heat. Oh Australia, how I love you, but please cool the hell down!

& today's cleaning playlist (because I cannot clean without music):
"Kick It" - Peaches and Iggy Pop
"Hearts on Fire" - Cut Copy
"The Staunton Lick" - Lemon Jelly
"Paper Doll" - Louis XIV
"Szerencsétlen" - Venetian Snares
"Miss Alissa" - Eagles of Death Metal
"Sex on Fire" - Kings of Leon
"Nighttime Intermission" - Charlotte Gainsbourg
"Hong Kong Garden" - Siouxsie and the Banshees
"I'm Good. I'm Gone" - Lykke Li
"Forwards Backwards" - Cassette Kids

The Sunday Obsessional

Images from style.com and American Apparel.

Well, I had a categorically bad week – the kind of week where everything bad is sandwiched together – rent being raised, impending landlord inspections, my external hard drive kicking the bucket & pushing up the daisies. Gah. Never mind. It's over now! So, the things I managed to be excited by this week include:

• My new white hair: To take the edge off my crappy week, I decided to do something else altogether - something fun, or at least something distracting. Two and a half glove-clad, Pretty-in-Pink-watching hours later, I was white-haired. The picture is of me while cleaning the house, grey-t-shirted and haggard, but you get the idea. I’m still not sure if I like my hair white – from some angles I feel like a stereotypical Soviet spy (or something), but change is good … right?

• Stirrup leggings. Yep. I want them, I love them. I’ll have them in cashmere for winter, please. I’ll prance around in a cotton pair with a leotard for the rest of the summer. I’ll even wear my shiny pair. Oh yes. I am obsessed.

• The Artful Dodger and The Kid – Mixed with Summer Wear! I’m talkin’ bowler hats and rompers, like in the Betsey Johnson runway picture above, fingerless gloves with bloomer-style shorts, or moustaches and red ruffled taffeta dresses. I love a stylistic cocktail, and this week this is the one that’s caught my fancy!