What I wore to work

I actually wore this a few days ago to work (that's the good thing about call centres, the casual dress code means you can wear anything...except no thongs) something similar has been posted here on the blog before but oh well.

The details:
Denim Dress: Thrifted from Savers $6?
Balt: Thrifted from Camberwell Market $10
Leggings: Thrifted from Kinji Harajuku $7
White jelly shoes: Some shop on Takeshitta Dori in Harajuku $19
Necklace: Made by me
Cigarette broach: Shag (I think) in 2003

The cigarette broach looks just like a real lit cigarette. I forgot all about it for years and only just found it again the other day. As much as I hate smoking (having my beloved Nana die because of it) I like this broach, mainly because it fools people every single time. Honestly 3 people went to me "hey watch out there is a lit cigarette on you" or "you dropped something love" when I wore it to work, hilarious. You have to amuse yourself somehow at a boring job. At my old boring job (the one I had just before I went to Japan) me and my friend made Fridays prank days. Every week there was this man who would come around with a huge cart of lollies. I always bought Jaffa's (I love them, yum) Anyway we were at the $2 shop across the road on our lunch break and we saw a box of play dough in 5 colours so we bought it to play with at our desks (yes we were that bored). We realised we had the right colours to make Liquorice Allsorts just like the lolly man sold. We made them and they looked 100% perfect and then we put them into a left over lolly man bag and offered them to people. No one guessed at all that they were fake but as they were about to eat them we would go "ha ha they are play dough not liquorice ha ha". It's the sort of thing that I guess you have to be there for it to be funny but for us it was hilarious.

Photo of real liquorice allsorts.

Just a reminder about the Research for Runway fashion show. If any of you can come down that would be great as it is for a good cause (ovarian cancer) and are a few different parades so its going to be fun! Just send an RSVP email to: runwayforresearch@live.com

Research for Runway

Hey guys, sorry for my absence the last few days, I've just been super crazy busy with no time to stop and think let alone blog. Basically I've just started a new cell centre job which is full time to help save for Japan (yikes how bad is the Aussie dollar?), and with my new commitments with Melbourne Street Fashion.com (taking daily street photos and conducting interviews which you all should go and read and look at right now!) and also family birthdays and meeting the lovely Porcelain Blonde for cakes on Saturday all leaving me too tired for the internet!


This Friday the 31st of October anyone in Melbourne should get down to the Research for Runway event which showcases Jaci Bailey's awesome designs and also some students from my new Uni The Whitehouse Institute of Design. I'll be there taking photos so it would be even better if you do come and you dress up (please no black, lol).

Runway for Research will be held at 5:30pm on the 31st of October at the ultra glam Georges department store on Collins Street. The event is helping to raise money and awareness about Ovarian Cancer, so its fashion for a good cause on Halloween (people in costume maybe?), what more could you ask for? Be there or be square. Send your RSVP to runwayforresearch@live.com and I look forward to seeing you there. Yay! I'm bringing my mum because she totally deserves a night out.

Jenny Kee for Target home

I know she isn't to everyone's tastes but I just love Jenny Kee. I find her crazy amazing life so inspiring, and while some of her prints are a bit too out there for me I do appreciate that she sticks to her own aesthetic and ideas and just goes for it.

For those of you who don't know who she is, she is one of Australia's top designers and artists, the height of her fame being the 60's - 70's - 80's. Her work is inspired by the Australian landscape. Her father was Chinese and her mother Anglo so she experienced some racism growing up in the 50's in Australia, but she didn't let it get to her, instead she attracted even more attention to herself with her colourful bright crazy clothes. She was part of the whole 1960's exodus of hip Aussies to London and famously posed nude on the cover of the controversial political/art magazine OZ.


In the 80's her clothes became really popular, above you can see one of her designs.

I really want to get this book (available at Target) about her life. I really want to know more about her amazing life. I love biography's about amazing women, they really inspire me to do more, create more, live more.

Anyway Jenny Kee has a new home wares range at Target Australia. Part of the "designers for Target" range. It's her 1st extensive range of home wares and Targets 1st celebrity designer to come out with a range of home goods. It probably isn't to everyone's tastes but I love the Opal range.

I love the bold colours on white, the kinda tacky Aussie-ness of the opal. It's sorta Romance Was Born but for the home...

This is the Mali collection, which is probably more easy on the eye. I do like this pattern, but if I am buying Jenny Kee I want crazy colour and pattern, not something so subdued.

Which is why I'm going to buy this vase. Its only $39.99 and its HUGE.

When I finally get a hall way table it will sit on it and welcome all the visitors to my home. What do you think? Is Jenny Kee to your taste?

I think I'll get her book too while I'm there. It's kinda funny how this all got released just as I have been thinking about her recently, and I had a few ideas for a shop in Japan selling Aussie crazy 80's tacky stuff, I think it would be really popular. Please don't steal my idea, lol, but its not like I can do it for a few years anyway.

I seem to have a computer virus (not)

It seems that all of my old photos and files have now disappeared, and we can't find them. I'm talking about the first photos from this blog (not the Japan one, all those photos are safe on cd) So all the photos of Hachiko as a puppy and us walking him for the first time, my friend Sakiko visiting from Japan, New Years eve, Birthdays from last year, all of that is gone gone gone! I don't know what to do, I guess this is why you are meant to back up everything, but geez this sucks. Does anyone know a computer doctor who is cheap and can restore data?


EDIT> Omg we are so stupid. We have spent the last few hours searching for those old photos and files on my computer, doing virus scans that take hours and all came up with nothing when I remembered I didn't even buy this computer until April. All those photos are on Henry's computer. Oh how stupid.

Have you ever done something so dumb?

Alpha60 Sale

Yesterday me and Henry headed down to the Alpha60 sale in Fitzroy. We had heard rumours of amazing bargains and being the cheapo pov students that we are we couldn't pass up an opportunity to buy some of our favourite designer's pieces for less than retail.

I bought an amazing paint splattered silk dress that I tried on with my friend Kia who was down from Sydney a few weeks ago...back then it was on sale for $120 down from $198 but I couldn't justify it at that price. So I was so excited when they had the dress of my dreams at the sale for only $70.

I was taking street photos today, hence the camera around my neck. Be sure to check them out DAILY at Melbourne Street Fashion.com lol I'm like a broken record but really I'm working hard and I want people to see the photos and comment on them.
The details of the outfit:
Dress: Alpha60 sale $70 It is so soft and silky, I love it. It's my first item by an Australian Designer...isn't that crazy? I'm so cheap when it comes to clothes though so its no surprise really, I love a bargain and never ever pay full price for anything!
Belt: Thrifted from Camberwell Market $10
Leggings: Thrifted from Kinji Harajuku $7
Studded sandals: BigW $19
Studded leather scarf: Thrifted from Savers $4

Henry bought the t-shirt for only $20.

And the Sunglasses for only $2...I hate his beard by the way.

He bought the shoes (at my request as I love them) at Payless shoes for $24 about 2 weeks ago. I think they are so cool for that price.


Oh and guess who I saw on the street today.

Lui from Project Runway! Woah now I have met 3 people from the show. Lui was so nice, just like he is on the show, a little shy but uber cool and calm.

Here is Petrova at her shop Lady from her Spring collection party that I went to. She was so nice in person and recognised me from my blog. Yay!

And the 1st person from Project Runway that I met, Oren.


***EDIT*** Just to let you know the Alpha60 sale was located at the Alice Euphemia store on Gertude Street, Fitzroy, and as far as I know its over now. Sorry I didn't let you all know before it ended. Major opps.

Not much to say today

Sorry guys, not much to say today except take a look at Melbourne Street Fashion.com for the Recreate08 article and photos. Some of the designs are amazing. Can you guess which one is my fave?

Hallway love

I bought the new issue of Home Beautiful magazine today, mainly because of 1 picture of my almost dream entrance hallway. I hardly every buy this magazine, I buy it maybe once a year, but this issue really impressed me.



I love this picture because I already have 1 part of the set up, the tree hat stand, only mine is white...and a fake that I bought on ebay Australia from Tokyo with the bidding ending while I was on the plane coming home, so I had my mum checking on it for me and somehow she bought 2 of them (the seller had 5 or so as they had used them for a shop display, they were just made by their carpenter) so that was hard to explain to the seller, that I only wanted the 1 thank you as there was a mix up, lol, but at that stage my mum was new to ebay, now she is a pro at it buying all our Christmas and Birthday presents. Anyway I think maybe we can do something like this, I just need the hallway stand in red or white and more artwork for the wall.



My mum said I could have a small cupboard thing she has that she doesn't use anymore which kinda looks like the one in this pic only it's red (tick) and maybe a bit bigger, plus its free so double tick!!! I'm yet to see it in person so I'll have to wait and see because I kinda think the space will work better with a longer cupboard or table like in the Home Beautiful magazine picture. I'm desperate to get out to her house asap (not just for the cupboard, for a visit as well) but I've been super busy recently.

As I just said, I'm really super busy right now with Melbourne Street Fashion.com, with the daily photos and other things that are slowly coming into effect taking up all of my time, so bare with me for a while with my irregular posting here.

Oh I just joined bloglovin and you can now follow my blog with them, Yay I guess.

Recreate08 outfit

This is what I wore to the Recreate08 fashion event tonight. It was a little crazy I guess, but definitely not the craziest outfit there. There will be an article about the show up at Melbourne Street Fashion.com in the next few days so watch out for that. All I can say now is that is was amazing, the students work was really inspiring.

The details
Dress: Bought at Studio Girl on Swanston Street for $20 today (oops more shopping...I'm so bad)
Belt: Thrifted from Camberwell market $10
Leggings: Cotton On $10
Black Oxfords: Dimmeys & Forges $9
Gold necklace: Bought today at Arthur Daileys on Swanston Street for $1
Blue clip on earrings: I thought I lost them during fashion week due to extreme drunkenness, but I found them behind my dressing table! Yay!!!

Oh and guess who was the host of tonights show?

Ita Buttrose was the host of the night. Ita is like the Anna Wintour of Australia I guess..Our most famous Magazine Editor. She was an amazing speaker, very entertaining and it was amazing to even be in the same room as her.

Melbourne Street Fashion DAILY

Ok just letting you all know that there will now be DAILY shots up at Melbourne Street Fashion.com and you can see the first bunch up there right now. Yay for my hard work! To help me out Melbourne people please dress up even if its a super hot day fashion is still important and it makes my job much easier. Thanks so much. Oh and no black. Lolz.

The Facehunter is coming to Melbourne soon too (around the 28th of October) so Melbourne people you better dress to impress ok? We need people to come to realise this city is a fashionable city and can compete with the likes of New York and London.

Some accidental shopping

Well I really am not meant to be shopping at all right now, I am meant to be saving for my getting more expensive by the day trip to Japan, but hey it was my first pay from my new job (at least it was meant to be...I went shopping the day my pay was meant to come in and guess what it didn't due to some stupid mistake that happened to all of us newbies and now we aren't getting paid for 2 weeks...so I have had to borrow from my sister and my mum to cover bills and crap, so bloody annoying and totally making me feel stupid for buying this dress, the most expensive dress I have bought this year! To top it all off our rent came out of our accounts but they took $65 more then they were meant to from us each but at least we are getting that back on Monday!!! Yikes so poor till then) The good thing is I really love this dress. The print reminded me of Romance was Born and the cut was very flattering on my figure so I just had to have it, even though it was $50 which is so not like me at all $50 on 1 dress, that's like 10 Savers dresses!!! It was on sale though, down from $80 to $50 at Forever New at DFO Spencer Street and it was a size 12 which totally sold me, so vain I know but when size 14's rarely fit a 12 that is baggy on me is an amazing feeling! I was at DFO because I was at the Whitehouse Institute of Design, which is just across the road helping a friend out with her application...I think I'm going to end up spending a lot of money at DFO now. I really hope my friend gets into the course too, that will be amazing to be a 1st year together.

This is how I wore the new dress today. I didn't even know Hachiko was sitting behind me, lol, he is so cute.

Dress: Forever New at DFO $50
Belt: Thrifted at Camberwell Market $10
Leggings: Thrifted at Kinji Harajuku $7
Fringed sandals: Target $24
Necklace: Arthur Daileys $1

Today in an effort to save money we went to Footscray to go to the fruit n veg market and the "not quite right" style supermarket. We got a lot of cheap food for the week but made a detour to Dimmeys & Forges (discount department store) and Savers, which ended up being kinda expensive, oops.

I got these amazing women's oxfords for $9 at Dimmeys & Forges....well Henry bought them for me. How could I say no? They are patent and shiny and perfect for my trip to Tokyo because it will be winter and freezing then. I love them. Dimmeys was having a crazy amazing sale, we got Colgate toothpaste for $1, toothbrushes for 79cents and the best bargain ever, Sunsilk leave in blonde hair treatment for 49cents! Yep 49cents! This is normally $9 or something.


At Savers I bought this floral dress for $6. I had to get it because it needs no altering, I can wear it right away its the perfect length and cut. I just threw this outfit together for the photo, I might wear it a bit differently when I do go out (I think I need a giant gold necklace or something?)

Dress: Thrifted from Savers Footscray $6
Belt: Thrifted at Camberwell Market $10
Leggings: Thrifted at Kinji Harajuku $7
Shoes: Dimmeys & Forges $9
Necklace: Kinki Gerlinki $28
Bag: Thrifted from Savers Footscray $4

I think I'm going to wear the Savers dress to this fashion show I'm going to next Tuesday called Recreate08. Its for the Salvation Army op shops and it sounds cool, fashion design students re-design and style op shop finds for the runway. It's a big charity event and I'm covering it for Melbourne Street Fashion.com. I can't wait to see what they come up with.

Australian Dollar is so crap right now :<

This graph shows how much the Australian Dollar has fallen to Japanese Yen. Basically 1 month ago for 1AUD we would get 100Yen (technically 94yen but come on 6yen is nothing...not compared to what it is now 1AUD gets you 64Yen so a loss of 40Yen, basically the Yen is counted in "cents" so 40 yen is the same as 40 cents or 40,000 yen is the same as 400 dollars....well at least it used to be now for every 1AUD we will loose 40 cents, Yikes!!!) Well anyway if you earn your money in Yen its fine, but now for us Aussies 30,000Yen is $500, so I loose $200. This means that our planned trip to Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Kobe, Himeji and Hiroshima is basically off the cards unless we save double of what we had planned (and what is possible) or if the dollar somehow magically improves before February. Maybe it will get better around Christmas because around then consumer confidence is high? At least that is what we are hoping because otherwise Japan is a very expensive place for us when normally it is really cheap (so a can of beer is 126Yen...used to be $1.26 AUD basically...now its $2 AUD. A day at Disneyland 5000Yen used to be $50 now it is $80...so crap) At least all of our Tokyo accommodation is free because otherwise we wouldn't be able to go anymore. Please don't drop too much further, please? This is my sisters first trip overseas and she would really like to be able to see the temples in Kyoto and the deer in Nara, so please Australian Dollar just get better soon. I had already planned that 5 day trip and was about to book the hostels when the dollar went South. If I was earning my money in Japan and was sending home money this would be AMAZING I would be making money instead of loosing...when I was actually working in Japan the Australian dollar was strong so when I sent home money I would loose a lot in exchange fees and end up with not much at all but at this exchange rate even with those fees I would have a profit. I bet all my old coworkers are super happy, it's just us travellers who are going to feel the pain.

Anyway sorry for the boring non fashion related post, this is pretty much all I have been thinking about in the last couple of days. I was so excited about maybe being able to shop in Tokyo at the new H&M (yep Tokyo has a H&M opening in November...here in Aus we still don't have one or any word yet to say we will be getting one) but now it seems highly unlikely that I will be doing any shopping except at a 100Yen shop (like a $2 shop only everything is 100Yen)

Take a look

at Melbourne Street Fashion.com for some fab new street photos and an interview with Chris from the Melbourne Boutique Corky Saint Clair by me. Please tell me what you think.

Also Aus Style has a new issue of Pockettozine out with an interview with yours truly about being a street fashion photographer. She has likened me to Rei Shito from Fruits mag, I am truly honoured to be mentioned at all, let alone with the likes of Rei who is my hero (I met/saw her once or twice in Tokyo...she never took my photo though but why would you when Tokyoites dress so much better than me)

This is me posing as a street style photographer. Sometimes I feel like a fake, I don't know why, I just do. This is what I was wearing that day:

Marble dyed tee: Thrifted at a Box Hill Op shop $4
Skirt: Thrifted from Brunswick Savers $3
Leggings: Thrifted from Kinji in Harajuku $7
Tribal fringed moccasin sandals: Target $24
Studded bag: Thrifted from Footscray Savers $4
Wooden necklace: Kinki Gerlinki $28

Our Genkan

This is our Genkan, which means entrance hallway in Japanese. It is the place where you take off your shoes and dump your keys and mail. Currently we have no where to do this so I am looking for either a bookshelf or a narrow hallway table. We do have the cool tree shaped hat and coat stand which is really handy, and our recycling bin which at least is red.

You can see the whole area is very white and red, so I want a white table I think. (Doesn't Hachiko look so cute there? he wouldn't move from the frame, he just came and sat right there)

I really want this from ebay for our entrance hallway, so we have somewhere other than the dining table to dump our keys and mail. I would want to paint it white but I'm not sure how feasible that is to do in an apartment...we have no garage to paint in. Hmmm maybe I will keep looking for something white. I don't want a bookshelf per se, I want a thin hallway table or something similar to this ebay bookshelf. Something that we can place a bowl for keys and then also some photos and art displayed on it. I have wanted something like this for a long time but the situation is getting serious, the dining table is always covered in letters, junk mail, keys and sunglasses, it would be nice to have a place where those things can stay without being in the way.

I got the new 2009 Ikea catalogue and I fell in love with the Trollsta yellow sideboard which at $629 is way too expensive for me right now. I don't think it will suit the Genkan anyway, it is too low and long, I'm not too sure where I would put it in the house either, but I do really love it.

I also like the red Lack bookshelf from Ikea. It is a little too expensive for me at $219, but I do really like it and I think it would suit the Genkan area and also give me more storage for magazines (right now all my bookshelf's are full to the brim and beside my bed are 5 piles of magazines to be put away, only there is no room! So either I get a new shelf or cull some magazines...so I think a new bookshelf is in order because I love my magazines)

Oh and Henry's mum bought us the flowers. They look so cute. I think I'm going to buy flowers more often, they really make a room shine.

I am so happy

I got into the fashion styling course at The Whitehouse Institute of design. I am soooooo happy I am doing fashion styling now, this is my dream course, exactly what I have always wanted to do. The interview went so well. basically the interviewer opened up the 1st page of my folio and said "wait I just have to go get someone" and he brought in another teacher (or the receptionist? I couldn't tell) because he thought it was just so amazing. So that was a good sign, and then a few pages later he said "you are in". So yeah you could say the interview went really well.

Some pages from my folio:







In other good news my sister bought her ticket to Tokyo so we are going together, but she leaves Tokyo 2 days before me. It is going to be so much fun I can't wait. We are making so many plans for things to do and people to see. I seriously can't wait.

YAY Flights to Tokyo booked

Yay thanks to Hannah for the tip off about cheap flights to Tokyo with JetStar I am now leaving on the 5th of Feb and I'll be back on the 2nd of March. The flights were selling out as I was typing and got booked up till the 5th of Feb, I wanted to go on the 1st but oh well I'm still going to be there for about 1 month. My ticket plus taxes was only $709. My sister doesn't have a passport yet so couldn't book them now, hopefully she will get that soon (she put in the application on Monday) and be able to go over too but maybe not on the cheap flights. Anyway YAY I am so excited I got the tickets so cheap, its going to be so much fun. YAY!!!

I also have my interview this Friday at the Whitehouse Institute of Design. I am excited and nervous. What should I wear to the interview? Henry thinks nothing too crazy or out there I want to look fashionable but also studious. Hmmmm. Maybe my new Cotton On dress?

With a gold necklace, black belt with gold buckle and black and gold sandals? Maybe?

Ok well I have to print my folio now and let my friends in Tokyo know my dates for the trip. YAY!