Fashion Hayley

Park Life Plushy

2012-01-29T18:06:00.000+11:00

Do you see the stuffed toy whale in the fountain to the left of me? That plush toy has followed us around Redfern all week. We first saw it last weekend in a lane near our house, just sitting in the street. Then a few days ago it was a few blocks away and we joked that it was slowly trying to get back to the ocean. Then today there it was, sitting in the fountain in Redfern park about ten blocks away from where we first saw it.

Outfit details
Blue lace dress City Chic Lace Dancer Dress $119.95
Brown basket bag Vintage from Savers in Brunswick for $4
Black resin flower necklace Make Believe
Bangles Elke Kramer black resin studded bangle
Rings MOMA NYC and Corky Saint Clair
Sunglasses Karen Walker Super Duper's from Eyegoodies
Black platform mary-janes Wittner on sale for $56.95 down from $189.95
Lace socks Paddys Market $5
Flower headband Sportsgirl on sale for $4.95

I blogged this outfit over at the City Chic blog too, check it out for more photos xoxo

Neon Gold

2012-01-24T20:44:00.004+11:00

This skirt I got during the recent ASOS sale is a tricky one to wear. Its so bright, and well...neon! Of course that's also what I like about it so today I decided that you know what, I'm gonna try and work out a way to wear this little piece of awesome. I think pairing it back with black works, and whilst adding the gold is a bold choice it just somehow all works. All photos in this post by Claire from Harbour Master, thanks Claire xxx

Outfit Details
Top Dimepiece sheer hands tee
Skirt ASOS neon yellow skirt $50
Gold socks My Italian Closet
Gold backpack Episode on Sydney Road in Melbourne for only $5
Gold belt From a Girls Night In clothing swap party
Necklace Make Believe resin flower necklace, gift from the designers
Bangles Elke Kramer gift & Estelle Dévé Asperatis Bangle in gold $30 from her recent sample sale
Rings MOMA NYC and Corky Saint Clair
Sandals Melissa Aranha flock jelly sandals $65 from Monk House Design
So bold, so gold.
Sparkly socks be so sparkly.

Pink is in the hair

2012-01-23T16:17:00.001+11:00

Local label Mink Pink threw a blogger tea party last week, and boy they went all out with the cute as cakes, cordial, lollies and cut sandwiches.
Not to mention rainbow popcorn!
The tea party was to celebrate the launch of Mink Pink's new global campaign, which will hit stores around May this year. My heart is set on the sunflower dress, much love for that print!

The accessories, designed by Annabel from Love More Blog are to die for. The bags are obviously inspired by Annabels love of vintage - with a modern twist.
I also got a really quick sneaky peak behind the scenes of the AW12 Evil Twin lookbook shoot and finally got to meet Jodie Mckenzie the brains behind the brand. I have loved her blog Platinum Evil, her personal style and her brand for so long and she is so so so nice in person, yay!
Evil Twin AW12, obsessed with the models pink hair which was achieved with a spray in dye which I must investigate further....meaning I forgot to ask the hair stylist the brand #doh

Pretty in pink town

2012-01-16T14:26:00.000+11:00

Yesterday we headed to Chinatown and Paddy's market for lunch and a bit of exploring. Sydney's Chinatown is pretty big, every time I go I discover something new I hadn't noticed before and this trip was no exception. We finally found an asian grocery that stocks some of our favourite foods from Japan and I fell in love with yet another kawaii plastic crap shop. After lunch we headed to the Chinese Gardens for some relaxing times, but mostly for outfit photography times hehe.

Outfit Details
Denim Jacket Vintage from a Salvos store in Doncaster $12
Tee Dimepiece sheer hands t-shirt
Polkadot skirt Gorman $150
White broderie anglaise lace frill socks $5 from Paddys Market Chinatown
Pink jelly sandals Melissa Aranha sandals in pink translucent $65
Purple bow necklace Gala Curios gift from the designer
Pink cat bag $5 from Episode on Sydney road Melbourne
I was really happy with how I did my eye make up. I'm wearing a combo of three shades of pink through to purple eye shadows from my Sportsgirl Hip To Be Square eye shadow palette with a thick slab of my Mac eye kohl liner to define my eyes under my specs. My lipstick is Sportsgirl Pout About It in fuchsia. I've worked with make-up artists on shoots who love Sportsgirl's make-up range so don't discredit their cheap and cheerful range, I swear by it for on trend beauty products that won't set me back a tonne.
You can see the crazy detail on my great opshop score of a denim jacket. I was opshopping at Salvos with my mum just before Christmas when I saw this with a pair of matching jeans going for $24 for the set which was a bit steep in my mind. Then I saw a sign saying everything with white tags was 1/2 price and what do you know this had a white tag so I scored it for a low $12 and donated the jeans back to the store as they were not my thing.
Yep another pair of new shoes. The people at Melissa shoes heard how Hachiko had chewed through the strap of my much loved black Aranha Floc Melissa's and kindly offered to send me a new pair. As my black ones were fixable I decided to try out the pink translucent style for something a bit different and wow I love them, I think I might even collect a few more colours cos seriously these shoes are the best!
Bonus photo of me and the Morning Glory bear in Chinatown.

I'm a Bambi girl

2012-01-14T23:44:00.001+11:00

I saw this limited edition Bambi dress in the Peter Alexander mail out many months ago and immediately fell in love with it. Yes it is technically a nightie but I think it makes a great dress and I'm not one for technicalities. I just freaking love Bambi and this dress was in a limited run (sold out within two days apparently) so I couldn't pass up the opportunity when it landed in my local store. I'm wearing it with my new pink hair (Brilliant Silver Rose toner) not to mention my new platform black patent mary-janes bought on massive sale at Wittner. FYI this isn't the first time I've had pink hair, back in 2009 I used Fudge to get my pink on as seen here and here. I call my current style obsession Spunk - a mixture of Spank style and Sea Punk, my tumblr is slowly filling up with fash-spiration shots currently floating my boat. Lets get SPUNKY!!!

Outfit Details
Bambi dress Peter Alexander $100
Leggings Gisela Ramierz during her 50% off sale for $40
Black platform mary-janes Wittner on sale for $56.95 down from $189.95
White broderie anglaise lace frill socks $5 from Paddys Market Chinatown
Fake nose ring From a packet I bought for a photoshoot on ebay (I've had my nose pierced twice already in my life, not going to do it again but its fun to try it out again)
Pink hair toner Brilliant Silver Rose $14
Pink nailpolish Ulta3 in Fruit Tingle $3 from selected chemists (hunt that shit down, its the BEST!)
Bangle Elke Kramer black resin studded bangle
Rings MOMA NYC and Corky Saint Clair

I wasn't feeling my face today, but this is all about my hair anyway. The toner went on a little unevenly due to the awkwardness of pouring 1 litre of water mixed with 5 drops of the dye over my head. BUT in person it doesn't look as uneven somehow. I am very happy with the results!!!
Yes I realise these are fake Prada's, but that's not why I like them, infact I would prefer if they didn't have that blue stripe and were just platform mary-janes. But you can't argue with a saving of $133, down from $189.95 to $56.95 just means you have to buy them, it makes economic sense.

The dream of the 90s is alive

2012-01-13T12:04:00.000+11:00

All the hot girls wear glasses!Yes I am referencing the much acclaimed song from Portlandia right now (by the way they could totally sing the same song about Melbourne, Sydney not so much although there is a "put a bird on it" shop in Paddington called I like birds lolz) Ahhh Melbourne, the place where young people go to retire. I miss being retired, Sydney's workaholic culture is exhausting. Anyway my outfit above was actually worn to torment poor Henry who would prefer a more conventionally dressed wife especially when taking her out for a romantic date at the open air cinema. The fact he then had to photograph said wife in her "ridiculous" get up in front of a bulging crowd was almost too much to bear for him. Lets all feel sorry for Henry for a moment...ok that's enough of that. I actually like this outfit, even if the bindi is "a bit much" and a tad culturally insensitive to boot (although so far when wearing one Indian people have been more excited than anything else, coming up to chat to me about it, which used to happen to me as a teen when I wore bindis the first time round).

Ugly cat bag version 2.0. I call this bag my Tumblr bag, I picked it up in the land of the 90s on my last visit home (fyi I'm talking about Melbourne). What could be better than a pink cat with a cross on its face on a bag? Well I can think of something better, a gif bag, but how would you actually make that?
Platform sneakers hidden under polka dot lace, a thing of beauty.
SUPER LUCKY BONUS PHOTO!!!

Outfit Details
Denim shirt Vintage Levis denim shirt from Surry Hills Market for $10
Badges The batman is from Henry's brothers 6th birthday party lolly bag that his mum made. The other two are random badges from my extensive collection kept from the last time I was into them circa 2003.
Crystal necklace Xmas gift from my sister
Sheer polka dot skirt ASOS $50
Platform Sneakers ASOS $60
White broderie anglaise lace frill socks $5 from Paddys Market Chinatown
Pink cat bag $5 from Episode on Sydney road Melbourne
Bangle Elke Kramer black resin studded bangle
Rings MOMA NYC and Corky Saint Clair

Joining the Tumbling

2012-01-10T22:28:00.002+11:00

I now have a Tumblr where I will be posting snapshots from my day that don't normally get blogged (like the ones above of some recent updates to our apartment), inspiration images and old family photos, basically whatever takes my fancy. Check it out. Oh and like the blog re-design? Let me know of any bugs xxx

Super Duper

2012-01-08T19:14:00.000+11:00

This outfit may seem pretty similar to the one I blogged just last week, what with the leopard print top and black maxi skirt and all. However this outfit actually predates that one and has been my favourite go-to-outfit for the last few months. Why I never blogged it till just now I have no idea, but here it is in all its go-to glory. It's in frequent rotation in my wardrobe because of its wear-ability as its not only comfortable but also it just looks bloody amazing on. There is a new addition to this outfit though which I'm pretty excited about, my new Karen Walker Super Duper Strength sunnies in tortoiseshell from Eyegoodies. To say I'm in love with them is an understatement. Eyegoodies offers them cheaper than I have been able to find anywhere both online and in stores and they came so fast making me a very happy girl.

Outfit Detials
Leopard blouse Vintage from Surry Hills Market for $10
Black maxi dress City Chic
Black floppy hat Xmas gift from Henry
Black sandals Melissa Aranha flock jelly sandals $65 from Monk House Design
White frill socks American Apparel $14
Brown basket bag Vintage from Savers in Brunswick for $4
Black resin flower necklace Make Believe
Bangles Elke Kramer black resin studded bangle & Estelle Dévé Asperatis Bangle in gold $30 from her recent sample sale
Rings MOMA NYC and Corky Saint Clair
Sunglasses Karen Walker Super Duper's from Eyegoodies

A close up of my awesome new Karen Walker Super Duper sunnies in tortoiseshell, they suit me so much don't you think?

2011 in review

2012-01-04T23:31:00.003+11:00

I have a blogging tradition of looking back at the previous year and all the highlights and lowlights that made up the 365 days of the year that was. The look back at 2010 was full of exciting highlights but 2011 has been a hard year for me. Living away from friends and family has been hard, especially as my grandfather got sick and then passed away last month. I am lucky that with the work that I do I was able to take time off and go spend a few weeks with my family to help them through that period, but then I missed my other family, namely my Sydney family of my husband Henry and Hachiko our handsome hound. Professionally I'm in a better place than I was 12 months ago, but I'm still not at the point I would like to be so 2011 almost feels like it was one long pointless struggle. Perhaps I feel like this because there was no overseas travel for me, even if there were lots of trips back to Melbourne and one to Perth it just wasn't the same. I do have plans in place to travel overseas this year already so I guess 2012 is looking up? Oh yeah and I dislocated my knee at the start of 2011, that really sucked balls and screwed up some of my plans (did I ever mention I did it whilst getting ready to be filmed by ABC TV who were unable to reschedule the interview so they cancelled it, yeah that's like adding an extra layer of sucky to the sucky you already knew) Anyway lets take a look back at 2011.

Proud

Firstly I want to say I am proud of myself for taking the initiative and launching my SOS Japan fundraiser after Japan's terrible earthquake and tsunami in March. With the help of some amazing local designers, bloggers and creative's who all donated to the charity auction we raised $1784 all of which went to the Red Cross's efforts in the affected area.

Career highlights

Styling the Vice x Westfield advertising campaign

Elle USA magazine street style photography capturing the best of Sydney's streets for their global street chic feature.

Styling, creative direction and copy writing of Westfield x Fashion Journal advertorials. A fun youth based bi-monthly campaign that has been a pleasure to work on all year.

Styling the Sydney band Circle Pit for their feature in Fashion Journal.

Styling the September cover editorial for Fashion Journal.

Fashion Weeks

Wow I attended no less than four fashion weeks this year, all of them in Australia (which in itself is pretty cool, Aussie Aussie Aussie, oi oi oi and all that). First up was Loreal Melbourne Fashion Festival in March, struggling along on my crutches after I dislocated my knee a few weeks before. LMFF was almost the death of me I swear, it was so hard not only physically because of my knee but emotionally too as the Tsunami in Japan happened mid week and I was a wreck worrying about friends back in Tokyo (who were all fine, the radiation and aftershocks were the main worry). The fashion was good though and seeing friends was the perfect medicine after a difficult couple of weeks.

RAFW in May was an epic 24/7 affair for me and the On The Streets of Sydney team but boy it was worth it. Seeing Josh Goot's return to the Aussie runway was a highlight of my year.

Melbourne Spring Fashion Week will always be my favourite of all fashion weeks because it was the first I ever attended, way back when I was a teen. Its come a long way since then and every year the RMIT student show blows me away so I will always make time for MSFW.

My first trip to Western Australia for Perth Fashion Festival was super exciting. Perth has such a unique fashion voice that rarely gets heard on the east coast and its about time that changed. I hope to be able to return to PFF this year.

Bullying
I experienced intense bullying on twitter this year, worse than anything I ever experienced in high school. I don't want to dwell on it or give the bullies any more attention other than to say I was hurt by it as anyone with feelings would be, but I learnt a lot from it...mostly that people given the ability to leave comments or tweet anonymously can by cunts sometimes. Lesson learnt and I'm going to ignore it as much as possible from now on.

So what does 2012 have in store for me?

In May I'll be heading to Tokyo for my birthday and I'm terribly excited. Its been way too long.
Lots of hard work, my goal is to get published in print at least three times before May.
Relaunch On The Streets of Sydney. This does not mean a re-design as I still like the layout, it just means actually working on creating original content again. We all got so terribly burnt out after RAFW that it has just sat there for a while, but I'm ready to jump back in and shake up Sydney's style again.

2011 was a hard year for me and I'm glad to see the back of it. Looking back on it though has proved to me that maybe it wasn't so bad. There were so many good times with friends new and old, great moments in my styling career and my blog took me to the most isolated city in the world so I have to remember to not dwell on the bad stuff so much and look at all the positives. 2012 watch out xxx

How the leopard got its spots

2012-01-02T21:52:00.000+11:00

This is what I wore to the small New Years Eve rooftop party I attended, where we got to see the Sydney fireworks without having to deal with the crowds around the harbour. Conveniently the party was on my very own roof so I didn't have to go too far. I did however forget to bring my camera upstairs to capture the fireworks, but hey guess what, they looked just like fireworks!

My polka dot obsession is still in full swing, as is my love of sheer and maxi skirts. So imagine my delight at seeing this skirt in both sheer and polkadot on asos.com in a maxi length, it was the full trifecta, the holy grail of skirts if you will, and as so many bloggers have written before me and will continue to write till someone invents a better way of writing about shopping, "it had to be mine". Well mine it is and wear it I will, all summer I imagine and well into winter too by adding some printed tights or leggings. This is another piece I expect to get a lot of wear out of in Tokyo come May.

Outfit Details
Hat Xmas gift from Henry, it has the widest brim I've ever seen
Leopard top Another recent Savers find from the Savers in Footscray, about $4
Sheer polka dot skirt ASOS $50
Crystal necklace Xmas gift from my sister
Platform Sneakers ASOS $60
Black lace frill socks $5 from a sock shop at Westfield Doncaster
Tote DI$COUNT
Bangles Elke Kramer black resin studded bangle & Estelle Dévé Asperatis Bangle in gold $30 from her recent sample sale
Rings MOMA NYC and Corky Saint Clair

This photo shows the platform off a little better than in my last post. Its all about getting the right angle guys!

I'm not sure where my sister got this necklace from but I love it. Thanks sis for the great pressies this year xxx

Merry Gifmas

2011-12-29T18:30:00.004+11:00

I trust everyone had a fantastic xmas. I had my family in town for a beach side chrissy in sunny ol' Sydney, it was a funtastic day of swimming and eating and surprisingly no one got sunburnt. But what's Christmas without some fabulous gifts hey? I did pretty well this year, my sister gave me the Antipodium for Sportsgirl dress I have wanted since the collab launched and I gave myself some much lusted after platform sneakers that I finally found in my size on asos. The best gift of all however was two tickets to Tokyo in May for Henry and myself that was another gift to myself from, well, myself. Hey sometimes you just gotta treat yourself yeah? Can not wait to hit the Tokyo streets again after not going back at all this year, I've missed my friends, the fashion and heck even the crowds.

Outfit Details
Dress Antipodium x Sportsgirl xmas gift from my sister
Leggings Gisela Ramirez $40 in her 50% off sale
Platform Sneakers $60 ASOS
Frill socks American Apparel $14
Necklace From my last trip to Tokyo
Tote DI$COUNT
Bangles Elke Kramer black resin studded bangle & Estelle Dévé Asperatis Bangle in gold $30 from her recent sample sale
Rings MOMA NYC and Corky Saint Clair

These platform sneakers are going to see a lot of action in Tokyo, the perfect mix of comfortable and fashion. They're not as high as I would like but having size 10 feet means sometimes you just can't be that picky.

Snapshots from Melbourne

2011-12-28T14:00:00.001+11:00

Wide Open Road cafe in Brunswick.

Yummiest bagel ever.

Street art in Brunswick.

Vanishing Elephant's first boutique in QV.

My buddies Nathan and Clea from Limedrop.

Charlotte, Emman & I in China Town. Otherwise known as Lady LV, The Di$countess & Gaultier Gurl.

Reservoir blues

2011-12-22T00:18:00.000+11:00

My mum's in town for Christmas and as such I'm off doing touristy things in and around Sydney this week. Today we visited the Paddington Reservoir Gardens, which is an old water reservoir which has been converted into a park. It was the perfect place for mum to practice her photography, snapping these great artistic photos of me for the blog. I think they're pretty awesome photos, hence I posted so many of them, thanks mum!

Outfit Details
Black sheer blouse An oldie from Sportsgirl $70 I hate that its backless but what you gonna do?
Blue tartan skirt Savers in Footscray for $5.99
Black belt Random belt I found in my wardrobe this morning, no idea where it came from
Black backpack Episode on Sydney Road in Brunswick for $5
Necklace Corky Saint Clair silver anatomical heart locket $150
Bangles Elke Kramer black resin studded bangle & Estelle Dévé Asperatis Bangle in gold $30 from her recent sample sale
Rings Alissia Melka-Teichroew red acrylic diamond ring from the MoMA store in NYC and Corky Saint Clair onyc crystal ring
Socks $5 cheapies
Sandals Melissa Aranha flock jelly sandals $65 from Monk House Design

Crystal Clusters

2011-12-18T17:11:00.000+11:00

I'm in love with my current ring and bangle situation. My fingers are slowly getting filled with beautiful crystal rings by my friend Chris at Corky Saint Clair and my arms with quality pieces by other local Australian designers. These days I'd rather invest in something that I will cherish long term for its sentimental or design value rather than a $5 bargain from one of the many jewellery chain store's that occupy malls across the land.

Like a diamond in the sky. From left to right:
Red ring Alissia Melka-Teichroew acrylic diamond ring from the MoMA store in NYC (its my actually my wedding ring y'all!)
Purple crystal ring Corky Saint Clair rough cut amethyst & sterling silver ring $120
Black crystal ring Corky Saint Clair rough cut oynx & sterling silver ring $110
Clear crystal cluster ring Corky Saint Clair clear quartz points & sterling silver ring $110
Gold crystal prism bangle Estelle D évé Asperatis Bangle in gold $30 from her recent sample sale
Black resin studded bangle Elke Kramer bangle, an old gift from Henry.
Coral nail polish Pret a Polish in pop! tastic which was free with a mag this week

Top of the shops

2011-12-15T15:20:00.001+11:00

Topshop has always been one of my favourite places to shop when overseas, and I guess until the Sydney store opens it will be one of my favourite places to shop in Melbourne now too. Yes, if you've been living under a rock than you may not have heard that Topshop opened its doors in Melbourne last week and I was lucky enough to be invited to the exclusive launch. It did get me thinking though, will I like it as much now everyone will have access to the brand and what I buy won't be as unique here in Australia? Probably not, but that didn't stop me from buying some shoes I don't need whilst sipping Moët on opening night.

Australia's Next Top Model third season winner Alice Burdeu was on my flight down to Melbourne but I didn't get to talk to her till we were at the launch. My friend Emilia (in the white lace) was down from Sydney too, it was weird us three ex Melb now Syd gals all being back home for the launch.

It was nice to finally meet Brahman from Elgar & Lyle, he is actually wearing one of his necklace designs with a sheer blazer from Subfusco he first saw on my blog. Yes PR and Marketing peeps out there, people do buy things after they have seen them on my blog haha.

Johnny Le with Matcho from the third season of Project Runway Australia. Matcho is exactly the same as he was on tv, lovely and genuine but with that very Matcho fashion sense.

Amber Renae from Fashion TV and season two of Australia's Project Runway.

Christina formerly of the blog SRC783. Was nice to finally meet her and hear how well her sister, Lauren, who I met back when I did that Sportsgirl Super Stylist comp is going, which is incredibly well, working for ID mag over in the UK.

Jess with the amazing blue fringe with Greg both of whom I studied with at Shitehouse.

Maria from Sleekit, we both had matching fuchsia lips and nails.

Alicia from Sea of Ghosts and Jamie from OhJamie give some Melbourne moodiness.

Holly Rose, the best make up artist in Melbourne with Nathan from Limedrop.

Tutu-Crazy.

Andrew in the best shirt of the night.

Tarn who works at the new female Incu Melbourne and Johnny.

Male model Boki, Nathan from Limedrop and Nadia from DI$COUNT

I spent most of my night in the shoes department, so many amazing styles including platform sneakers! Sadly the sneakers were sold out in my size but they did have some awesome mauve velvet creepers I couldn't say no to.

Ta-da! How awesome are they with my new lace frill socks from one of those Asian sock stands at a local shopping mall. The socks were only $5 which compared to the $14 of the American Apparel ones I've been buying is a huge saving. Yay for savings!!!

Talking about savings, check out this awesome Sample Sale on Smith Street in Melbourne from tomorrow for 3 days only. Sample pieces from TV, above, Estelle Deve, O.T.T by Lia . T and Young Hunting. Its gonna be amazing, I'm so there!

Lactose Intoler-Art

2011-12-07T12:46:00.000+11:00

I recently blogged an outfit photo of me wearing this Tokyo street style illustration necklace by my friend Brandon of Lactose Intoler-Art, but without a close up detail shot of it or much in the way of explanation. So without further adieu here goes. I have never met Brandon in person but we both have a mutual love of Tokyo and share the same friends in that city. We just never seem to be in Tokyo at the same time, hopefully that will change next year with me planning a three month stint for some work and fun (!). I've been a fan of Brandon's work for a long time, first blogging about him back in 2008, and again when he drew me in 2009 and more recently as part of my Sunglass Hut Inner Circle inspiration posts. What I love about his illustrations is that they perfectly capture the unique fashion and style of Tokyo but you also get a sense of the subjects personality too.

Outfit Details
Blue blouse ASOS $16
Black maxi dress City Chic $90
Necklace Lactose Intoler-Art
Tote DI$COUNT
Bangle Elke Kramer gift
Rings MOMA NYC and Corky Saint Clair
Socks My Italian Closet
Sandals Melissa Aranha flock jelly sandals $65 from Monk House Design

Brandon now has his own online store where he sells necklaces and tote bags featuring his Lactose Intoler-Art illustrations. If you don't see one of your favourite illustrations or street style shots in the store he can do custom orders too, they cost a little more but are worth it to get something unique to you. I really wanted a girl wearing platform sneakers so he sent me this design of the girl with the blue hair which I love. The amazing thing is people on the streets of Harajuku have been wearing his necklaces and bags recently too which you can see on his blog here. How amazing is that, he is now contributing to the outfits and fashion in Tokyo that he loves so much?

I told you I had more colours in these My Italian Closet socks! Here I am wearing the pale blue pair.

Brandon surprised me with this updated drawing of me and I love it.

I especially love that he also sent me it as a photoillustration of me in Tokyo. Can't wait till I'm over there again!!!

Best thing about Sydney

2011-12-04T23:42:00.000+11:00

Seriously the best thing about Sydney is the monthly Surry Hills market held on the first Saturday of every month in Shannon Reserve on Crown Street. I always manage to find something unique and cheap at this market, I have scored everything from a vintage cane papasan chair for our balcony for $100 to a gold glomesh purse for only $6. Its like a more curated version of Melbourne's Camberwell Market but still with bargains to be found.

$15 racks of vintage, found the perfect floral maxi skirt on that rack.

Cute vintage bags on display.

Perfect sea punk pieces on this rack, all pieces $5.

I wore some new bits and pieces from my recent trip to Savers in Brunswick, Melbourne. Savers is always on my must visit list when I return home, they need to open up in Sydney stat! For those who don't know basically Savers is a big second hand warehouse store with seven locations in Victoria which merchandises their products by style, size and colour, making it easy to find exactly what your looking for.

Outfit Details
Black maxi shirt dress Savers $9.99
Brown belt City Chic $29.99
Basket bag Savers $4.99
Necklace Kinki Gerlinki $12 many years ago
Black floppy hat Gift from my mum
Bangle Elke Kramer gift
Rings MOMA NYC and Corky Saint Clair
Sandals Melissa Aranha flock jelly sandals $65 from Monk House Design
Socks My Italian Closet

The basket bag was the perfect size to carry home my Surry Hills market purchase of a black rose succulent for our ever expanding balcony garden. The plant conveniently matched my outfit too.

Another pair of my new Italian made socks from My Italian Closet, this time in white. I have two other colours to blog this week.

My my my model

2011-12-03T21:22:00.000+11:00

Does anyone else remember the ad from the 90's for the My Model doll? The English version of the ad was basically the same as the Dutch one below including that ever catchy line "My my my model" which is always in my head whenever I talk about models. Anyway above is a quick after shoot snap of me and my model for a recent shoot, up and comer Sarah Tarrant Kuang from Luna Models in Melbourne. Perfectly encapsulating my vision for the editorial we were shooting for the next issue of Pocketto Magazine, Sarah is a model to watch, I'm pretty stoked we were able to book her.

Outfit Details

Red blazer Vintage from Savers in Brunswick for $7.99
Blouse $5 from another stall holder at my recent garage sale
Polka dot skirt Gorman $150
Leggings Gisela Ramierz during her 50% off sale for $40
Necklace Lactose Intolerart Tokyo street style illustration $20
Loafers Sportsgirl $35
Hat Borrowed from the photographer
Sunnies From the Girls Night In clothing swap party I recently participated in raising money for the Cancer Council
Bangle Elke Kramer
Rings MOMA design store in NYC and Corky Saint Clair

Retro FRUiTS

2011-12-02T11:44:00.000+11:00

Sponsored by Nuffnang
I stumbled across some old photos of some of my friends in Tokyo posing for the infamous Japanese street style magazine FRUiTS and have inclured them in my latest Sunglass Hut Inner Circle post. The photos are from the early “naughties” and showcase the more extreme's of the now outdated decora fashion trend. Whilst decora may be dead with other cult trends starting up in recent times such as Fairy-kei (fairy style) or Mori-gyaru (forest girl) on the streets of Tokyo, the notion of “decorating” oneself with objects remains one of the key identifiers for youth based trends in Harajuku. Click over to the Inner Circle to see the snaps xoxo

Reunion

2011-11-28T19:35:00.000+11:00

I seem to always open my blog posts lately with the line "if you follow me on twitter then you would know....." I guess I don't want to seem like I'm repeating myself all the time, but if you do follow me on twitter then you would know I'm currently in Melbourne for my ten year high school reunion (well that and other things). I've been debating what to wear pretty much since I got the invite a few months ago. As with most people high school for me was not always pleasant, what with bullying mixed with being an awkward fashion obsessed teenager which seemed to only attract more bullying. Oh and being fat in high school is pretty much hell. So yeah there was a little bit of me that wanted to go back and show those bullies up, so my outfit had to totally rock. It worked, one ex-bully said I looked glamorous and my life sounded like Gossip Girl, total life has meaning moment right there.

Outfit Details
Red blazer Vintage from Savers in Brunswick for $7.99
Blouse $5 from another stall holder at my recent garage sale
Floral maxi skirt Ginger Tree $29
Loafers Sportsgirl $35
Socks My Italian Closet
Necklace Man The Label gift
Tote bag DI$COUNT
Bangle Elke Kramer
Rings MOMA design store in NYC and Corky Saint Clair
Lipstick Sportsgirl Pout About It in fuchsia $9.95

Representing Melbourne style with my DI$COUNT tote. My nail colour is Ulta3 Fruit Tingle which I got in a fashion week gift bag and its the best nail polish ever, 5 days in no chips.

My fab new polka dot socks from My Italian Closet which I have in four different colours, they are just so cute.

Fluke of Nature

2011-11-20T23:02:00.002+11:00

Today Henry and I visited the Glebe Street Fair (which seemed to us to be just like Glebe markets only on the street instead, what's that about?) and I overdressed as per usual. I can do casual when walking the dog but venturing any further full Fashion Hayley™ attire is required, and if you follow me on twitter you will know what Henry thinks of my style. He thinks I dress too much like a cartoon character, although the first person to tell me that was a Japanese friend in Melbourne who sent me a text before we caught up for coffee that said "please no clothes like cartoon" (said friend was a conservative country boy who had never been to or seen Harajuku style). I took no notice then and continue to now, dressing up for me is just something I have to do.

Outfit Details
Blouse $5 from another stall holder at my recent garage sale
Red maxi skirt Vintage from my recent trip to the Lifeline op shop in the Blue Mountains and only $2. I love that is has a sheer panel on the bottom.
Loafers Sportsgirl $35
Hat Gift from my mum
Necklace Man The Label gift
Tartan Belt Another find from that Girls Night In clothing swap party I recently participated in raising money for the Cancer Council
Tote bag DI$COUNT
Bangle Elke Kramer
Rings MOMA design store in NYC and Corky Saint Clair
Lipstick Mac Russian Red

I love how in this outfit and my previous outfit posted below both the looks are super matchy matchy, this one with its reds the previous the pinky/purple wishy washyness. Accidentally picking up pieces that come together without much thought or planning frigging rules (from op shops, gifts from friends and designers, garage sales and clothing swaps no less!). Maybe there is some subconscious thing going on here but collecting these red pieces and putting them together was a total fluke. Its weird how these things happen.

Floating on a dream

2011-11-18T18:16:00.001+11:00

I've never been much of a sunglasses person, sure I like them on other people and I use them in shoots all the time, but on me not so much. Not only can I never find a pair that suits me, trying them on is a blinding experience (literally as I can not see without my prescription specs). Well all that has changed with the release of these Miu Miu Tres Noir sunnies in my colour of choice, the tortoiseshell (the glitter ones are fab too). I freaking love them! They have been released in Australia ahead of the rest of the world by a couple of months for Sunglass Hut's three day floating pop-up store that started today and ends on Sunday. Details about where the store will be berthed over the weekend can be found here. Last night I went to the fun beach themed launch in Sydney harbour.

All the Miu Miu's and my much loved Tres Noir's.

In that front Bvlgari glass case is a pair of sunnies that cost $18,000, a wee bit excessive no? Sure makes the Miu Mius at $495 seem cheap in comparison though.

If you follow me on twitter you would know how seriously evil these cocktails were. Evil but fun.

Stylist James Dykes and The Vine Fashion Editor Alyx Gorman were in attendance.

As were super lovely bloggers Darren Luk of Boy Moments and Jessie Bush of We The People.

The theme for the night was beach side elegance but sadly the weather wasn't very beachy, luckily the event was under cover. I still chose to dress to theme only adding some sneaky leggings under my skirt for warmth.

Outfit Details
Cape Romance Was Born gift
Blouse Vintage from an opshop in Box Hill
Skirt City Chic Ombre Dream maxi skirt $69.95
Fringed bag Sportsgirl $90
Gold belt From a Girls Night In clothing swap party I recently participated in raising money for the Cancer Council
Leggings Gisela Ramierz during her 50% off sale for $40
Necklace Titanium Quartz from a Crystal shop on Murray Street in Perth's CBD for $140
Bangle Elke Kramer gift
Rings MOMA NYC and Corky Saint Clair
Sandals Melissa Aranha flock jelly sandals $65 from Monk House Design
Lipstick Sportsgirl Pout About It in fuchsia $9.95

Sadly due to my drunken shenanigans my necklace died by the end of the night with only 5% of the stone remaining. Hopefully I can find the stone somewhere at home, but more likely it is lost forever.

Rock your socks off

2011-11-17T10:22:00.000+11:00

Sponsored by Nuffnang
My latest obsession is patterned socks with loafers, sandals, heels, wedges, well heck any ol' shoe will do, its just such a cute combo that instantly pulls together a look. Seen on street fashion blogs the world over (and yes including my beloved Tokyo) socks are rocking my world this Spring.

Outfit Details
Red maxi dress Vintage from Savers in Melbourne
Tote bag DI$COUNT
Stripped socks Happy Socks
Loafers Sportsgirl
Hat Ebay
Necklace Corky Saint Clair anatomical heart locket.
Bangle Elke Kramer
Rings MOMA design store in NYC and Corky Saint Clair

Beauty note
Lipstick Mac Russian red

To check out my outfit and this weeks inspiration head over to the Inner Circle

Sculpture by the Sea

2011-11-15T16:44:00.000+11:00

When a friend invited us down to Bronte to do the Sculpture by the Sea walk to Bondi this morning we jumped at the chance. Its not every morning that you get to view the spectacular Sydney coastline and some amazing art at the same time, it sure was a great way to start the day. As much as I complain about Sydney it is a truly beautiful city which comes alive in the summer, the beaches, parks, cafes and markets are some of the best in the world and I look forward to exploring them further this year, as yes this will be our second summer in Sydney.

Outfit Details
Orange blouse Summer Hill Anglicare op shop $1.60
Floral maxi skirt Ginger Tree in Little Collins Street Melbourne $29. This skirt gets a lot of compliments which kinda makes me feel like its a bit too pretty for my style.
Sandals Saltwater sandals in yellow from Sportsgirl $60
Black floppy hat Gift from my mum
Bag Quick Brown Fox Newtown $29
Jewellery the same old stuff I always wear, I'm such a creature of habit, I have so many pieces to choose from but I always fall back on my favourite combo of my Make Believe black resin flower necklace and my much loved Elke Kramer bangle.

Garage Sale this Saturday

2011-11-03T12:05:00.000+11:00

This Saturday November 5th I'm holding the best ever GARAGE SALE with my friend Emilia in Glebe. There will be homemade cupcakes and fresh lemonade plus lots and lots of pre-loved and vintage clothes, shoes, jewellery, hats, bags and accessories. With some books, magazines and nick nacks thrown in for good measure.

GARAGE SALE
9:30am - 5:00pm Saturday November 5th
90 Glebe Point Road, Glebe (just down from the market)

A sneak preview of what I'll be selling. Lots more to be added. I have pieces from Evil Twin, Mink Pink, Alpha 60, Ellery, Topshop, ASOS, Sportsgirl, Jets, Velour, Comme Des Garcons and more. Sizes range from 8-18 so something for everyone at bargain prices (I'm talking Melbourne prices, not Sydney prices lol)

There will be so many more shoes than this. Some are brand new and never been worn, others are vintage. Most are size 9-10 and all are super cheap! There will also be loads and loads of jewellery, pieces by Lola & Bailey, Drink Me Alice, Tatty Devine and also vintage bits and bobs. I'm going through my magazines and books today but expect to see old Frankie's, Yen's, Japanese magazines, and lots of chick lit. Henry will be selling a few pieces too so there will be something for the man in your life too. Emilia has amazing style and collects great vintage, plus she is a skinny minny so definitely something for everyone's tastes and size! See you all there xoxo

Buy Nothing New Month - I did it!!!

2011-11-02T12:41:00.002+11:00

As you may well know throughout October I participated in Buy Nothing New Month, a great initiative brought about to bring awareness to the environmental, social and financial impact our shopping choices have on us and the world. At the start of the month I wasn't sure I could do it, especially with the line of work that I do, but as the weeks went by so did my desire to shop for "fast fashion". Reading To Die For: Is Fashion Wearing Out The World by Lucy Siegle a few months ago had already turned me into a more conscientious shopper (its a book I highly recommend for anyone with even a slight shopping addiction), but participating in BNNM has changed me and my habits for life. You simply don't need all the crap you buy and I'm proud as punch to tell you that this month I only bought three things! Yep three.

In the photo above you can see the awesome retro jug I bought at a local Redfern vintage store for $1 which Henry and I are going to use for our fresh home made lemonade on those long hot Summer days We were actually on the look out for the perfect lemonade jug when we found it so it was a total score! I included in the photo the skirt from this post that I dyed black this month to give it a new lease of life in my wardrobe as part of BNNM. The British flag bag was a purchase from the Salvos for $3.50 which was too good a bargain to pass up. Below is the final BNNM purchase I made, the brown retro phone was from Surry Hills markets for $25 and again we were on the look out for something just like it when we stumbled across it. October was the month for our appliances dying it seems, first to go was our long struggling cordless home phone, then came Henry's computer which actually blew up in a ball of flames and more recently our TV has taken to not turning on or turning itself off randomly. The only urgent replacement was our home phone which we need to be able to talk to family back home in Melbourne (our family aren't tech savvy enough for skype) and for those annoying calls you have to make to power/gas/isp companies every now and then. My grand total shopping spend for October was $29.50, an amazing result even if I do say so myself.

GIVE AWAY In the spirit of Buy Nothing New Month I'm going to give away my copy of Lucy Siegle's book To Die For: Is Fashion Wearing Out The World to one lucky reader to help spread the message of ethical, sustainable fashion. To WIN simply comment on this post with a story of your best ever opshop/market/second hand/vintage buy and the best comment wins. Comp closes Monday 7th Nov 5pm AEST and is open to anyone in the world. Good luck and hopefully I'll see more of you participating in Buy Nothing New Month next year xoxo

Competition now CLOSED. Congratulations Kathrynoh xxx

Dotty for Tokyo

2011-11-01T10:55:00.003+11:00

Sponsored by Nuffnang
As I mentioned in my first post on the Sunglass Hut Inner Circle website, I'm currently obsessed with all things polka-dot and as always my fash-spiration comes from the streets of Tokyo. Recently on Tokyo street fashion blogs a girl has been popping up wearing head to toe polka-dots and teaming them with the exact same smiley face bag that I own. I bought that bag in Tokyo many years ago at the famous Harajuku institution Thank You Mart where everything is Y390 (give or take with the exchange rate that makes it an everything is $4.00 shop) so its been very exciting to see it popping up on my favourite Tokyo blogs all these years later. I decided to create a look inspired by the girl in Tokyo, mixing my own polka-dot printed pieces together and teaming them with my bright yellow simley face bag and my favourite combination of socks and sandals (which is also huge right now on the streets of Tokyo). Click through to see my look and the all important inspiration photo's from Tokyo that inspired me this week. xoxo

CanTeen National Bandanna Day

2011-10-31T11:35:00.002+11:00

As I blogged last week, Friday was CanTeen's National Bandanna Day which raises much needed funds for their incredible work with young people and siblings of children and teens suffering from cancer. Every year they sell close to 1 million bandanna's and this year I helped out by volunteering at the Styling Booth in Martin Place. Above you see Massiel who interns at CanTeen and also blogs at Pretty Perfect in Paris and me in Martin Place working our bandanna's for the cause.

Over 300 volunteers helped out in Sydney, above some high school volunteers with my styling assistant for the day Vanessa from The Monday Issue (who also took all the photos in this post for me, except this one of course)

Here I am styling a happy customer.

Benefit cosmetics were doing make-overs in the styling booth too.

There also was a hairdresser on hand to do more complicated looks.

Biggest Loser trainer Shannan with Jay from Masterchef.

CanTeen appearing on channel 7's Sunrise with Mel and Kochie with CanTeen celebrity chef spokesperson Manu most recently from the so bad its good show Dinner Date.

I do believe I was out of frame and not on breakfast television...this week.

The channel 7 news reporter getting her bandanna on.

Me with the charismatic Frenchman and celebrity chef Manu.

Outfit Details
Black top City Chic $30
Maxi Skirt Ginger Tree in Little Collins Street Melbourne $29
Sandals Melissa Aranha flock jelly sandals $65 from Monk House Design
Necklace Titanium Quartz from a Crystal shop on Murray Street in Perth's CBD for $140
Bangle Elke Kramer gift
Rings MOMA NYC and Corky Saint Clair
Bag Quick Brown Fox in Newtown on sale for $39
Lipstick Sportsgirl Pout About It in fuchsia $9.95
Bandanna CanTeen $4

CanTeen Style

2011-10-27T23:36:00.001+11:00

Tomorrow, Friday 28th October, is National Bandanna Day, which raises much needed funds for CanTeen who support young people living with cancer. Most people have been affected by the terrible disease in some form, whether its a friend, relative or even yourself. I'm no exception, a close friend from primary school died from cancer at only thirteen years of age, a terrible loss especially as she was so young and full of life. CanTeen do really great work and every year I try to support them by buying a bandanna. This year I'm going one better and I will be at Martin Place in Sydney from 7am - 9am tomorrow morning helping to sell bandanna's and demonstrating the many ways that they can be styled in the special fashion booth. There will also be a red carpet photo shoot for people to get shots of themselves styled up in their favourite bandanna so please come along. Above you see me wearing the pink birds design as a turban, a cute chic way to style the bandanna.

Another idea, which is perfect for gents headed to the upcoming Melbourne Cup, is to fold the bandanna into a suit pocket square, and for this look I chose the checks design.

Another way to wear a CanTeen bandanna is to tie it onto your bag to add some colour and personalisation to it whilst also doing your bit for charity. For this look I used the Autumn Leaves design by bereaved offspring CanTeen member Natalie Jordan who was chosen as the winner of the 2011 Member Bandanna Design Competition and you can see why as its such a beautiful bandanna.

To see the full range of CanTeen National Bandanna Day merchandise click here. Hopefully I will see some of you tomorrow morning from 7am - 9am in Martin Place. xoxo

Maximum Impact

2011-10-25T15:46:00.000+11:00

Sponsored by Nuffnang

A photo of me at my current blogging station where my latest post for Sunglass Hut's Inner Circle was devised.

My love of sheer maxi skirts is well known, check out my favourite go to dress to wear in my wardrobe right now over on the Inner Circle. Its just so versatile, I can dress it down for browsing local markets by simply wearing a shirt over the top, or dress it up for heading to fashion launches during the week by wearing it as is. Maxi skirts give your look maximum impact for minimal effort, there is no need to shave your legs or worry about tan lines the length hides all sins.

Click over to see what's inspiring me this week.

Spring Styling

2011-10-24T17:21:00.000+11:00

Have had a busy few weeks of work since getting back from my Aussie fashion week adventures in Melbourne and Perth (and I still have some stuff to post from those trips, yikes!). Above is some recent styling advertorial work that appeared in last weeks issue of The Brag magazine for Westfield Sydney's urban level.
Team
Photographer Ken Leanfore
Stylist Me
Hair and Make-up Rosalie Musso
Models Zac and Natasha from EMG

Limedrop's Calypso Pop-Up

2011-10-13T10:48:00.003+11:00

Limedrop, aka my favourite Australian designers and Melb-town buddies, launched their three week Sydney pop-up store last night. Held at the Grand Social's Edition concept store at 214 Crown Street, Darlinghurst with their full SS11/12 Calypso collection on offer and some limited edition pieces thrown in its a must visit for anyone in Sydney.

The calypso theme means the usually minimal Edition is now a tropical. floral paradise.

Limedrop's prints really stand out.

Fittingly (or maybe I should say randomly) Yvan Facehunter is in town as he has actually now been to all three of Limedrop's pop up store launches, which for someone who 99% of the time is not in Australia is quite the feat. Clea from Limedrop and I were joking that for the next one they should just fly him out as its tradition now. Nathan and Clea wear head to toe Limedrop as always, they actually got confused for the models in their lookbooks by Gracie Otto the other night.

Like I said Edition has become a tropical paradise.

Candice and Matt from Mother Father PR in the floral with Ash from Operator Please.

Limedrop boater hats, visors and limited edition signature print bow ties.

The lovely ladies from Capital L.

Mitch has recently moved up to Sydney from Melbourne which is awesome for me and sad for Melbourne peeps.

The bow ties are the perfect gift for that special man in your life. I've already had requests from Henry to get him one for his upcoming birthday.

Claire from MCM PR and Jackie from The Grand Social.

It was lovely to chat to fellow bloggers Jessica from Tuula Vintage and Nicole from Gary Pepper Vintage

Things got a bit floral at this point.

Everyone got in on it.

Lovely ladies. I'm actually testing out a new foundation in the above pic and am pretty in love with it, expect a blog post on it soon!

Outfit details
Cape Romance Was Born gift
Dress Limedrop sleevless tail shirt $247.00
Leggings Gisela Ramierz during her 50% off sale for $40
Bag DI$COUNT Tote bag gift
Necklace Titanium Quartz from a Crystal shop on Murray Street in Perth's CBD for $140
Bangle Elke Kramer gift
Rings MOMA NYC and Corky Saint Clair
Belt Random belt that came with a skirt
Sandals Melissa Aranha flock jelly sandals $65 from Monk House Design
Socks American Apparel $14
Lipstick Sportsgirl Pout About It in fuchsia $9.95

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Nathan and Clea from Limedrop are the nicest people in fashion, they work so hard yet stay so sane and deserve all the success that comes their way.

UPDATE
For those of you in Melbourne you don't miss out on some Limedrop goodness, this weekend Limedrop are having a
MELBOURNE SAMPLE SALE
Friday 14th October 11am- 6pm
Saturday 15th October 11am- 5pm
Sunday 15th October 11am- 3pm
Limited edition, samples, sale items and selected new season styles available this weekend at the Limedrop studios Level 1, 395 Gore Street, Fitzroy VIC 3065. All cards accepted. Enjoy xoxo.

Fash-spiration

2011-10-12T10:42:00.000+11:00

Post sponsored by Nuffnang

Image from Tokyo Fashion.com

Collecting fashion inspiration images is a favourite past time of mine, as I'm sure it is yours (or you wouldn't be reading my blog). Continuously hitting next page to devour more and more content is a scenario I'm sure we've all been through, so that's why the Sunglass Hut Inner Circle website is so exciting. Sunglass Hut's Inner Circle aims to be a central source of the best style blogs and up to the minute international trends, capturing every fashion moment and keeping readers ahead of the curve. Always on, always in the loop, Inner Circle is the essential style bookmark no fashion-savvy soul can be without.

I'm currently obsessed with:

Digital prints and frosted coloured sunglasses.
Two current obsessions are polkadots and sheer panels.
Platfrom glitter boots.
As always Tokyo street fashion is high on my rador. I am obsessed with sheer maxi skits over patterned tights.
Palazzo pants rule my roost.
Socks and wedges, a dream combo.
Tokyo street fashion illustrations by my friend Brandon always inspire.
Flatform shoes, maxi skirts and dip dyed hair = hell yeah!
A hodge podge of layers and patterns can look amazing.

Illustration by Lactose Intoler-Art

I love finding street snaps of my friends in Tokyo, head on over to the Inner Circle to check out Tavuchi, my Japanese bestie who also is the owner of the Spank stores and all the other images that are inspiring me this week!

WIN: All Day I Dream About S#%uper Nails

2011-10-11T16:59:00.002+11:00

Recently I embarked on a journey of self discovery. That journey started with my first ever manicure in my life a little over a month ago which has led me to learn that I FREAKING LOVE manicures! I have now tested out Shellac, Gellac, Minx and Sphinx and I don't think I will ever be looking back or buying regular nail polish ever again. So when the people at Adidas Originals emailed me and asked me if I wanted to come in and get a free manicure as part of a promotion they are having in their concept stores this month I was all "hellz yes I do" when normally emails like that get trashed in my junk folder (I get eleventy billion press releases and offers every day and I choose to ignore 99% of them). More info on the in store promo can be found on their facebook page.

At my in store manicure I got to choose out of the four on offer limited edition designs; iconic three stripes, the Adidas trefoil, Jeremy Scott’s camouflage and a chic black lace design. I went with the Jeremy Scott camo nails foils as I'm all for some khaki action.

They came up a treat.

Now I have a treat for you my lovely readers (don't say I never think of you), you can WIN the amazing prize pack below of all four Adidas Originals nail foil kits.

The prize pack includes all four nail foil designs and each nail kit comes with all the essentials for at home application; nail scissors, a nail file and a buffer.

To Win just comment on this blog post and I'll use random.org to choose a winner. Competition closes Wednesday 19th October at 5pm AEST and is open to anyone in the world!

Good luck, xoxo

Competition now closed. The winner is comment number 58, Gertie, congratulations, please get in touch to claim your prize xoxo

Walking the dog

2011-10-09T23:58:00.001+11:00

This is as casual as you'll ever see me. A simple blue maxi picked up at Glebe Markets worn with my trusty old denim vest and simple loafers for some dog walking and brunch in Darlington. I love how pretty the streets are in my local area, every day I see something unexpected on my walks with Hachi. Today we found this fern pathway by taking a new route home and we just had to stop to take some outfit photos.

Outfit Details
Dress a Glebe Market find $35
Vest City Chic denim vest from last summer
Sunnies Borrowed from my husband
Loafers Sportsgirl $35
Bag DI$COUNT Tote bag gift
Necklace Titanium Quartz from a Crystal shop on Murray Street in Perth's CBD for $140
Bangle Elke Kramer gift
Rings MOMA NYC and Corky Saint Clair.

A skirt to dye for

2011-10-08T23:47:00.000+11:00

Its Buy Nothing New Month and in honour of the month I finally completed a craft project that's been on my to do list for a couple of months. I bought the above turquoise button down skirt at my favourite Sydney op shop, Summer Hill Anglicare, for a whopping $1.60. I was never too into the colour and as such I never wore it in its blue incarnation. Knowing I had some left over black fabric dye from an old project from years ago (remember this old post? I still wear that dress) I decided to give the skirt new life in my wardrobe by taking the plunge (the skirt literally into a hot dye bath) and changing the colour to a more wearable black. Below is the result. I just followed the instructions on my fabric dye pack (I used Dylon dye) which was very easy but still the process is a bit too messy to photograph so sorry about the lack of process shots.

The skirt went a bit more of a grey tone which I'm actually pretty happy about and I was expecting it anyway seeing as that's what happened last time I used fabric dye. I guess you have to be pretty flexible on the final result when using fabric dye as it is hard to know what exact colour you will end up with as it depends on the colour of the original item, the fabric and how long you soak the item for. I love that I gave an unwanted skirt new life instead of contributing to landfill and as a bonus I now have an awesome grey skirt to wear.

Outfit Details
Stripe t-shirt Antipodium for Sportsgirl tee that was a surprise gift from the people at Sportsgirl
Skirt Summer Hill Anglicare op shop $1.60 and dyed with dye I had on hand
Necklace Man The Label gift
Belt Random belt that came with a skirt
Sandals Melissa Aranha flock jelly sandals $65 from Monk House Design
Bag DI$COUNT Tote bag gift
Bangle Elke Kramer gift
Rings MOMA NYC and Corky Saint Clair.

My perfect summer sandal I picked up in Melbourne. So comfortable and as a bonus 100% vegan too as all Melissa shoes are.

Perth Street Fashion

2011-10-01T17:05:00.000+10:00

Model off duty style. Australia's Next Top Model 2010 finalist Jessica in her Wittner creepers captured on her way to eat burgers between shows.

Perth fashion identity Scott wears a Romance Was Born tee and Alistair Trung drop crotch pants.

A sweet as shop assistant from Elle boutique in Perth wears a "ephemere" necklace and a "the passing" bracelet both by Gala Curios teamed with a floaty shirt dress by Zimmerman.

PFF Day Three

2011-09-30T13:56:00.000+10:00

Jaime Lee, one of Perth's shining fashion stars, designed the goody bag for day three's runway shows. I luckily saw her amazing RAFW debut earlier this year, have loved her work for a long time.

Malaysian blogging star Kee continued to shine in his kooky outfits. Stay tuned for a full Kee report in the next few days.

Billie from Russh magazines was part of the media sitting front row.

On Tour was the standout of the night. Perforated maxi skirts are now high on my wish list.

Bhalo is an ethically minded Perth label who prove sustainable fashion can be fashion forward and cool. I love the bold yellow maxi skirt.

Poppy Lissiman's prints depicting what I believe to be a Japanese garden really impressed me. Again I want the maxi skirt. I am maxi skirt obsessed right now (maybe because of my still having to wear a knee brace??? Well not maybe, that is definitely the reason!)

Aussie super model Tiah Delaney said she reads my blog which made my night! She was in town to support her hometown friends and to walk at the Wheels & Dolls Baby show.

Story by Tang had the best make-up.

I loved these cut out gold and black Beau Coops.

Fabulous make-up.

PFF Day Two

2011-09-23T16:46:00.001+10:00

Mel B aka Scary Spice was in town as an invited VIP for Perth Fashion Festival and as such she held a press conference at her hotel. As a teenager of the 90's meeting and being in the same room as a Spice Girl was an amazing opportunity not to be missed, especially as the shoes the Spice Girls popularised in the 90's at the height of their fame are very much back in fashion. Yep I'm talking about platform sneakers and shoes which I'm very much in love with right now. The assembled media were told to ask only one question each and to not ask anything too personal, which for me was ok as all I wanted to know was if she was going to buy or wear platform shoes this time round. She laughingly answered "I have shit loads" from her old Spice Girls days, which makes me really want to rummage through her archived wardrobe to see all the amazing 90's platforms, a girl can dream.

Yeojin Bae was the first show of the night. Held at the majestic museum it was a beautiful setting for a beautiful collection. I have now seen this collection three times on the runway, first at RAFW, secondly at MSFW and now at PFF and each time I have seen something new within the pieces.

The delightful Yeojin herself taking a walk with the show stopping red gown.

Romy Frydman from Style Me Romy and designer Kym Ellery came up to me to ask when I got time to do my hair. We had enjoyed a VIP lunch earlier that day in Subiaco at which I had my usual plain blonde hair, but for the shows I had used my Kevin Murphy Color Bug on my tips and they were impressed.

The second show of the night was Designer Capsule #1. The cute cupcake was a great little front row addition.

The museum had undergone a set change and these beautiful flowers were on display.

Front row pal Hannah in the middle who is the lady behind the amazing Re-Style caravan and runway show that is on this week. Sustainable fashion at its finest, will be blogging it soon!

The first designer to walk was Little Gracie, a cute whimsical collection of floral prints, pastel colours and vintage inspired silhouettes.

The second designer of the capsule showcase was Lisa Marjanovich whose models were styled with extreme wet look hair wearing the collection made up of nude tones, ruching and asymmetric hems.

Paper Skye was the final designer to show, and was my favourite of the night. See-through sheer maxi dresses, pleated skirts and stripes all in a muted colour palette of white on white.

I wore
Dress Subfusco gift
Leggings ASOS $40
Bag Sporstgirl fringed bag $90
Sandals Melissa Aranha flock jelly sandals $65 from Monk House Design
Necklace Titanium Quartz from a Crystal shop on Murray Street in Perth's CBD for $140

Close up of the Titanium Quartz stone. The crystal shop allows you to choose your stone of choice and then they add the clasp for you to turn it into a necklace for only $10 more. They had cheaper crystals but of course I fell in love with the $130 one. So worth it though.

PFF Day One

2011-09-22T12:54:00.001+10:00

Day one of Perth Fashion Festival saw me attending the fancy Myer luncheon at the Perth Convention Centre. There were two runway shows of Myer's SS11/12 collections which included Ellery, Sass & Bide, Karen Walker, Sonia Rykiel and many more of the department stores labels.

Show one was the more edgy of the two shows.

Show one ended and we were presented with our yummy food.

Show two was a colour blocking affair.

The evening saw Perth's VIP fashionista's hit up the C restaurant, a revolving restaurant in the city with amazing views for the Aurelio Costarella launch party. Above are Bonnie from Bonnie Friday, Laura from Peanut Moonbeam Knickers , Kim from Blonde Suburbia, designer Ebony Harding and Jacqui from Don’t You Know April Rose?

Laura from Peanut Moonbeam Knickers and Charmaine from Heart and Bleecker

Vicky from Fashion Catalyst, Scott Patrick Mitchell from Out In Perth magazine, John from Cut & Paste.

Fashion TV host Amber Renae and designer Yeojin Bae.

Karen from Karen Cheng, Pip Christmass from The West Australian and Perth's best menswear designer Shane from Zsadar.

Aurelio Costarella proved why he has been in the business for 25 years with his latest collection. Beautiful evening wear, painstaking detail has gone into every piece.

Changing my camera settings helped capture the mood of the event as well as the amazing view of beautiful Perth.

Designer and ex-Perth-ite Kym Ellery attended the night with her mum, a lovely touch.

Bonnie rocked her amazing clutch and yellow dress to perfection.

The invite asked for guests to dress evening, so I pulled out all the stops and went for an amazing black and gold gown by City Chic and teamed it with a borrowed black and gold vintage bag and my favourite necklace of all time. I felt my look was a little gothic and very glamourous, people complemented me on my dress all night.

Outfit Details
Dress City Chic Night Mistress Dress $229.95
Fringe Kimono City Chic $79.95
Bag Borrowed Emma's vintage bag
Necklace Make Believe gift

Greenhouse Perth

2011-09-20T12:30:00.000+10:00

A few years ago Melbourne's Federation Square hosted a temporary version of Perth's infamous environmentally friendly restaurant Greenhouse and I loved it and blogged it. Sydney recently hosted a temporary version too, but like all hip restaurants in Sydney it was impossible to get a table so I missed out on a chance to go. Well last night here in Perth I was able to visit the original and the best, and boy was it amazing.

The decor was amazing, re-using materials in such interesting and inventive ways.

This desert was the best desert I have ever eaten that wasn't chocolate (which if you know me is saying something, as normally I only like chocolate deserts!) Everyone needs to try this yoghurt parfait, orange blossom jelly and persimmon concoction, it is mind blowing.

This chocolate, cherry and coconut log was good too, but for the first time ever the chocolate desert was not my favourite. We shared the two deserts between five of us and it was more than enough after our excellent tapas style vegetarian sharing meal of delicious haloumi, eggplant, olives, tahini and heirloom carrot plates that we didn't get a chance to photograph as they didn't last long enough on our table. FYI Greenhouse isn't a vegetarian restaurant but they do have a lot of vego options which was great.

I have been staying at Emma from Dropstitch's house since I arrived in Perth and its been so much fun, when I move onto my hotel I'm going to miss her so much. Yesterday we went and got ourselves shellac manicures at Le Beau day spa (so cheap only $30) above you can see Emma's beautiful coral nails, her first ever manicure.

I chose white, which apparently was the first time the salon had used the white for anything other than the tips in a French manicure. This was my second ever manicure, my first happening whilst in Melbourne, another shellac colour which lasted more than two weeks before I got bored and decided to change it up for the Perth Fashion Festival (which I'm in town for). I think I am addicted to shellac now, I love how long it lasts, I never saw the point of manicures before but now with this long lasting shellac its all hello new beauty routine. I just wish that there were more options with the colours, but apparently there are some new ones coming out soon.

Jewellery info
Bangle Elke Kramer gift
Red ring MOMA Design Store NYC $12
Black crystal ring Corky Saint Clair $110
Necklace Man The Label gift

I went to dinner with Emma's lovely friends who are also part of Emma's creative agency here in Perth, All of the above creative which covers stylists, photographers and make-up artists. From left to right you have me, Rebecca, Emma, Maevana and Libby. A super talented and nice bunch of girls, there is something in the water here (other than clarified waste water) that makes everyone so nice!

Outfit Details
Red blazer Vintage from my recent trip to Savers Brunswick for $7.99
Red maxi dress Vintage from that same trip to Brunswick Savers for $9.99
Leggings Gisela Ramierz during her 50% off sale for $40 (the sale has two more days hurry!!!)
Socks American Apparel $14
Sandals Melissa Aranha flock jelly sandals $65 from Monk House Design
Bag Discount Tote bag gift

Emma from Dropstitch's (in the middle) Outfit Details
Tee Limedrop emerald print tee from Pigeonhole
Skirt Polka dot skirt from Gorman (yes its the same one I own)
Clogs Zanita for Funkis

♫ Lady in red ♫
As I mentioned I'm currently in Perth for the Perth Fashion Festival which is looking to be an amazing week of non stop events. I'm really looking forward to exploring what's going on in Perth and bringing you the best of Perth fashion. From the ReStyle event that supports op shopping to the glamorous Aurelio Costarella opening night extravaganza and everything in between I'll blogging daily during the festival. Expect lots of great street style, runway photos and designer interviews. xoxo

All photos in this post by Libby Edwards.

Drawn & Quartered

2011-09-18T23:32:00.000+10:00

Whilst in Melbourne last week I visited the studio of Drawn & Quartered designer Jake in the fabulous Nicholas Building. He has just finished his latest collection, Novella II: Amethystos, a dark moody collection of oversized crystal pendants and lust worthy rings, one of which is designed to sit above your finger's middle joint.

Amethystos collection.

A previous menswear jewellery collaboration.

Pieces from Jake's impresive archive.

Beautiful stones.

You can find Drawn & Quartered at Fox and Found and Craft Victoria in Melbourne.

Buy Nothing New Month Give Away

2011-09-16T11:19:00.001+10:00

I'm proud to announce that I am the Sydney ambassador for Buy Nothing New Month in October which encourages you to do exactly that, buy nothing new for a whole month (you can still buy second hand items though). The idea is to get you to think about each and every purchase you make and to cut back on waste. A quarter of women only wear 10 per cent of the clothes in their wardrobes, and 91 per cent own items with the tags still on. I'm guilty of doing the same but I have been making changes in the way that I shop so that I do so now with sustainability in mind. In terms of not buying anything new for a month, well I actually probably have had three or four months this year where I didn't buy anything new anyway so it really shouldn't be too hard and it should be fun re-mixing my wardrobe. You can make the pledge to Buy Nothing New in October here.

The Brotherhood of Saint Laurence are supporting this great initiative, as are the Salvos and Gumtree amongst others. I got to meet up with the marketing manager of The Brotherhood of Saint Laurence at their newest vintage Hunter Gatherer boutique in Melbourne's Royal Arcade whilst in town. I have been a lover of Hunter Gatherer since my teens, visiting the Brunswick Street and now defunct St Kilda stores often, I even wrote an article about the store for a year 12 media assignment. All the clothing in the stores is specially handpicked from the hundreds of thousands of items donated to the charity and its op shops each year, and unlike some vintage stores the prices are very reasonable.

I wish that this peace symbol shirt was my size, I love how its also from a label called "The Dude", amazing!

Vintage jewellery and shoes.

Cute bric-a-brac.

A nice selection of brogues.

A cool feature of the store are the neon lights on the back wall.

The city store manager is such a babe!

I tried on a vintage polka dot blouse and skirt, not so great together but I did buy the blouse for only $15 which I wore to fashion week that night (my final MSFW posts are to come where I will show you that outfit).

Give Away
I have a double pass for the Sydney Variety Op Shop Ball to be held on Saturday 24th of September. Held at the top of Sydney's iconic Sky Tower and hosted by TV and radio presenter Lizzy Lovette, over 250 party-goers will join in the celebrations. In addition to the spectacular view, guests will enjoy a visual feast of dazzling drag queens, famous faces, and outrageous second-hand outfits, with professional fashion shoots taking place throughout the evening plus some wacky entertainment and plenty of prizes on offer.While the complimentary cocktails and canapés flow, some of Australia’s best DJs and musicians will take to the decks and storm the stage to keep the in-crowd entertained.This is not the time to be shy! Raid your local op shop and come dressed in the most glamorous second hand outfit you can find. Fantastic prizes awarded to the lucky guy and gal who win the coveted Mr and Ms Op Shop Ball titles. Will be a fun night.

To enter: Make the pledge to Buy Nothing New in October and then comment back on this blog post by Monday 19th 5pm AEST explaining why you made the pledge. You must be in Sydney on the night of the event to enter. Winner will be chosen at random. Good luck. xoxo

Tickets to the Variety Op Shop Ball are still available. Tickets are $120 each and all proceeds go towards Variety's Freedom Program which provides sick, disadvantaged and special needs children with mobility equipment and communication devices – giving these children a brighter, more mobile future. A great cause.

Fat Marios

2011-09-13T16:08:00.001+10:00

Fat know how to throw a party and this year's launch of their new store in Russell Place in the city and celebration of them now stocking international label Marios was no exception.

Marios is a label I first discovered in Tokyo at their Ebisu store Marios Left Tanker opening. I love the pastel colour palette.

The colours in the clothes were referenced in jelly sculptures around the store.

I had to touch them gently to make sure they were infact jelly, so perfect and cute.

The main party was out in the laneway (where else would it be in Melbourne?) Was so fun to hang out with my Melb gal pals Greta from Comeback Kid, old friend and fellow fashion school drop out Charlotte Webb (what an awesome name yeah?) and Alicia from Sea of Ghosts.

OhJamie in that Givenchy dog jumper.

Male models Boki and Gadir strike a pose.

My fave peeps in the world, Laurie and Charlotte who both share my love for Japan.

Laurie has amazing style.

And amazing shoes!

Pat and Greta from Comeback Kid.

Fashion trend forecaster Jess.

Fashion designer Reiss Radvanyi who is also playing Martin Bryant in a film which is yet to wrap and get a release date. Watch out for Reiss's Winter 12 collection, by what he was describing it sounds amazing.

Big backpacks were everywhere!

Lady Melbourne told me she hadn't seen anyone wearing a satchel in Melbourne yet apart from gay Asian males, so this photo is for her.

Remember my love of pom poms? I miss those days.

Amazing platform sneakers.

DI$COUNT UNIVERSE

2011-09-12T09:51:00.003+10:00

I popped down to day one of my friends Cami and Nadia from Discount's massive studio sale on the weekend. It was great to see their work in person, and to see how much the studio had changed since my last visit back in March. The sale was amazing, lots of great unique and one off pieces as well as their staple items such as their logo tees and tote bags.

Emman picked up a Discount logo tee and tote bag.

If only I could still walk in heels I would have bought a pair of these babies.

Studded pieces, sheer lace dresses embroidered with dollar symbols oh how I want thee.

Amazing colour choices.

A ubiquitous Discount logo tee.

The sale continues tomorrow at Level 3 34-36 Block Place in the city. Block Place is the Little Collins Street laneway entrance to The Block Arcade, once there look for the small staircase between a cafe and a jewellery shop, it will be the one with Discount Sale signs!!! The sale is a must see!!!

MSFW Boutique - Kawaii Five-O

2011-09-10T12:58:00.001+10:00

Wednesday nights MSFW Boutique show was a kawaii affair, with a mix of cute pom pom accessories, layers and mixed prints reminding me of the infamous Harajuku street fashion you all know I love. Melbourne's best boutiques and store owner designers put on a great show of fun accessible fashion.

Obus
Clashing colours, prints and those pom poms. Great accessories with bright backpacks and skinny belts in a variety of shades.

Gorman
I love this bikini, I actually used it in my Fashion Journal cover shoot. Gorman is one of my favourite designers in Australia and they didn't disappoint. Whilst I've already seen the collection in the Sydney showroom it was great to see them styled up on the runway, seeing how they move and work together. The sunglasses are a new collaboration by Gorman with Isson, I tried on a pair in orange back in the showroom and fell in love, looking forward to them hitting stores.

Leonard St

Kings of Carnaby

Nevenka

Dhini

Fat
I really miss Fat in Sydney, its my favourite boutique in Melbourne, their buying is so unconventional. Above is an outfit by PAM.

PAM @ Fat

Marios @ Fat. I love that Fat have brought Italian brand Marios to Australia. I first saw the brand in Tokyo, attending their Ebisu store Marios Left Tanker opening and fell for their quirky street aesthetic. I still regret not getting one of their hair hoodies.

Life With Bird

Green With Envy
Dion Lee Line II @ Green With Envy

Josh Goot @ Green With Envy

Lover @ Green With Envy

Lover @ Green With Envy

Megan Park

Alice Euphemia
Another favourite Melbourne boutique that I miss in Sydney is Alice Euphemia. Alice only buy Australian designers, and they are big supporters of new talent. Above is a piece by Romance Was Born @ Alice Euphemia

Kym Ellery @ Alice Euphemia

Emma Mulholland @ Alice Euphemia
Emma is a recent graduate of Ultimo Tafe in Sydney, its great to see her picking up a fantastic stockist straight out of school.

The dress that stole the show (in my opinion). Another great piece by Emma Mulholland @ Alice Euphemia.

MSFW Gala + PETA protesters

2011-09-07T02:29:00.002+10:00

Lady Melbourne, Danni Minogue and me at the pre show VIP bar.

Old pals Tutu Crazy, stylist Connel Chiang and Lady Melbourne.

Current season Project Runway Australia peeps Craig and Matcho.

Designer Yeojin Bae and Lady M looking beautiful.

I wore:

Blouse Vintage pussy bow blouse from Savers years ago $3
Skirt Cheapo number bought at Ginger Tree in Little Collins Street that day for $39
Shoes Shoobiz Dimitri red winklepickers from ShoesSales.com.au $89.95

I love these shoes so much, and before you comment yes they are 100% vegan, no leather at all so they get a huge tick from me.

Its always exciting to see what Emman, Johnny and the boy from Swallow Glitter wear. Nothing like this exists in Sydney.

I love the DIY re-make attitude of Melbourne, its very much where my heart is.

Amazing customised necklace.

Aviary by Phillip Adams' BalletLab. Millinery by Richard Nylon and costumes by Toni Maticevski.

Christine.

Nicolangela.

Arthur Galan AG.

Yeojin Bae.

Dom Bagnato.

Thurley.

Gwendolynne.

Aurelio Costarella.

In lieu of Rachel Gilbert's collection I bring you snaps of the PETA protesters who gatecrashed mid runway. Whilst the Rachel Gilbert pieces on show didn't feature fur, Rachel Gilbert has used fur in her collection and PETA is pissed off.

They walked up and down the runway shouting "Fur is Dead" over and over, stopping the show while security worked out a way to end the protest peacefully. Audience members booed and front row fashion identities yelled out insults to the protesters, saying things like "your shoes are leather", "get off the stage fat pigs" and . Fashionising's Daniel P Dykes tweeted "No slim girls PETA?" WHAT is with the comments on their appearance? I understand the shoes comments as often when arguing for or against fur the issue of leather is brought up, but to clarify about the boots in question I spoke to the protesters after the show and they are 100% vegan boots (as were all their shoes). BUT the comments on their appearance is seriously embarrassing and makes me cringe at the industry I work in. Respected fashion designers yelling out "fat pigs" to people, who as the MSFW organising body stated, have a right to peacefully protest, makes me seriously question everything.

The protesters pointed out an audience member wearing fur, she was lucky they didn't have their famous red paint with them.

The majority of comments being yelled around during the protest were based on the argument that the protesters were wearing leather (which they weren't). Leather is more often than not a byproduct of the meat industry, which is a hugely regulated industry with measures in place to ensure a humane end to the animals life (at least in this country). Yes the animal is still dead, but the thinking is at least you are using the whole animal and nothing goes to waste. I am a vegetarian who doesn't eat meat (including seafood) but I eat dairy and eggs when inside something (a cake for instance) but not directly by drinking milk or having a hard boiled egg...its very particular. I have been a vegetarian for 17 years. I do not expect nor want everyone in the world to have the same views as me, I just want to have respect for both sides of the argument and to be able to share my thoughts. Recently I have been thinking more and more about going the full hog and becoming vegan, but what holds me back is the difficulties in everyday life when so many things have animal products in them. Take beer for instance, did you know that fish gills are used in the filtering process? Or even milk, have you thought about why cows are lactating all the time? Milk is a byproduct of the veal industry as in order to produce milk a cow needs to calve, so many people balk at the idea of eating veal but they drink milk. Essentially this whole conversation can go round and round in circles and there is no clear cut right or wrong, other than the idea that the animals should be treated humanly in both life and death, I'm pretty sure everyone can agree on that. That is why fur is singled out over leather, as the fur industry is hugely unregulated and the life and death of the animal is often painful with the end of their life involving being skinned alive in order to protect the fur. I am against fur for that reason, and also because here in Australia fur is completely unnecessary, the weather here doesn't get cold enough to warrant a fur coat and fur trimmings are (personally) just an excessive abuse of power. My opinion may not be popular, but it is mine and I have consistently spoken about these issues on my blog. I buy/wear leather shoes and belts very very occasionally as sometimes my love of fashion overtakes my moral values because hey, I'm human and don't always remember to check the materials! I think I'm doing pretty well though, but yes I have friends who wear fur and leather (lots who freaking love the stuff) and sometimes I get photographed with goats at parties even though I'm totally not into animals being treated as props (even if they're trained to do so). In the end it comes down to individual choice and you have the right to wear, eat and say what you like, but you do have the responsibility to make informed decisions.

MSFW 2011 launch

2011-09-06T12:38:00.000+10:00

I'm back home for Melbourne Spring Fashion Week, one of the best events Melbourne puts on every year with a week jam packed full of runway shows, launches and exhibitions. I love that the week celebrates everyone from the high end designer to the up and comer so you can expect to see some great fashion on this here blog. The launch was last Friday night at Georges on Collins Street with the face of the festival Sophie Van Den Akker (in a glittering Rachel Gilbert number) and Lord Mayor Robert Doyle opening the event.

This year Danni Minogue is the official ambassador of the festival, and boy is she super tiny and stunning in person. She will be launching her new fashion label, ProjectD during the festival.

Once the speeches were over the caped crusaders/models removed their robes to reveal dresses by local designers.

A posing podium posse of de-robed models.

Melissa Bergland and Zoe Tuckwell-Smith who play Jenny Gross and Bec Gilbert on channel 7's Winners & Losers, which as uncool as it may be to admit is actually one of my favourite shows so I was super excited to meet them in person and chat for a bit. Zoe is EXACTLY like her character Bec, super super nice.

The From Britten boys Tim and Alex with Miss J from America's Next Top Model.

Christine Barro, the lady behind the eponymous boutique of the same name Christine in Flinders Lane. Her amazing necklace is Lanvin.

Becky Chua and Gavin Lowe from Neo Dia with Alexandra Blak from the label of the same name which is going gangbusters at the moment, collaborating on neon clutches with Camilla and Marc and her neon jewellery in every magazine on the stands right now (including my cover shoot of Fashion Journal).

In LOVE with the Alexandra Blak clutches, and Becky's fab sunnies.

Becky designed and made her top the day of the event, showcasing some of her fabulous label Neo Dia's famous pleating.

Pink Flamingo

2011-09-05T22:23:00.000+10:00

The Melbourne Spring Fashion Week launch party had the best goody bag of any event I have ever been to. Firstly the bag itself was designed by my friends at Limedrop, and secondly inside the bag were some amazingly innovative products that I would never have discovered otherwise. The best one being Kevin Murphy's Color Bug (their spelling), which is essentially an eyeshadow for your hair which I'm wearing in the above photo. Just like hair mascara of the 1990's, hair shadow is a temporary hair colour for your hair.

The packaging got confused for a form of contraceptive by drunk party goers, and its easy to see why.

Its really easy to use, essentially you just rub the powder side through the desired sections of your hair.

Use your fingers to rub it through. It washes off very easily and only lasts in your hair until your next wash. Its perfect for people who get bored easily, want to test out a new colour or who have to tone down their looks for work.

I'm loving it so much that I want to try out the other two colours, purple and orange, but I do love the pink a lot.

CBK

2011-09-05T09:33:00.000+10:00

Comeback Kid parties are the best parties, so good in fact that I came down to Melbourne four days early just to attend one. It certainly didn't disappoint, everyone I know and love was there, including the amazing Ariel from The Vine, and miss CBK herself Greta above.

Other pals included Tully from Faint Magazine and Nathan from Limedrop.

Cami from Discount representing!!!

Clea from Limedrop and Alicia from Sea of Ghosts.

I've got the Limedrop sleeveless tail shirt in the check print on special order after falling madly in love with it at my recent Fashion Journal cover shoot (the dress is on page 35). I believe their new SS11/12 collection drops this month, can't wait for their Melbourne Spring Fashion week show on Friday.

Comback Kid was looking great, they're doing some awesome things with their in house label CBK and their collection of hand selected vintage pieces. The store is now a great mix of designer, basics and vintage.

The CBK scarves are so good for only $30!

Ahhh Melbourne fashion, I love thee.

Hipster plant.

Arrests were made by the fashion police. No not really.

Brotherly love from the From Britten boys, Tim and Alex.

Oh hi OhJamie.

Awesome Elly has an awesome Tumblr.

She also has an awesome blue faux fur stole.

I wore the exact same thing as the Diesel party the night before, only adding a cardigan cos Melbourne is a wee bit chilly. Nadia from Discount wore jealousy inducing platform sneakers and has the best yellow hair right now. I've really missed the way that Melbourne people dress, there is just more sass involved and I'm already feeling really inspired. Its going to be hard to leave, but Sydney does feel like home now, its just taken a year.

Land of the Stupid and Home of the Brave

2011-09-04T12:00:00.003+10:00

Last week in Sydney, the night before I flew to Melbourne, Diesel held an amazingly thematically designed party to launch their SS11/12 collection. The collection and its accompanying campaign imagery is titled "Diesel Island" with the citizens of the island fed up with the fucked up world, decamping to an island to be free, getting bored of the freedom and then making their own constitution (which turns out to be boring too) coming up with motto's such as the sign above "We prevent terrorist attacks by not pissing them off". A lot of thought has obviously gone into the story and it certainly made for a great night.

I'm not too sure about the use of live animals for events, especially after reading Jonathan Safran Foer's On Eating Animals and knowing how scared they must be. Hasn't anyone learnt from the infamous Ksubi Dove incident? The goat was only there for the first hour for photos, but yeah dyed pink, taken to a loud scary event...not exactly a goats normal night.

Being greeted by pillow fight ready citizens of the island.

Yummy cocktails.

Someone famous's daughter dj-ing. Ok, just checked and apparently this is Rolling Stone member Keith Richards's daughter Alexandra Richards.

I felt like I was at Disneyland in the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse.

Again, I felt bad for the poor Rooster.

Male models Gadir and Luca.

Leah the editor of Fashion Journal was in Sydney for the party and my lovely assistant/friend Sofie from The Milk Club who was my +1 for the event, much more fun than taking my hubby.

Phoenix Keating and Byron Spencer, the it boys of the Sydney fashion scene.

Gadir's fabulous accessory, he got the toy soldier at Chapel Street Bazaar.

Sofie's awesome tights, socks and creepers combo.

What I wore:

Tee Dimepiece sheer hands t-shirt
Skirt Gorman $150 new season on sale for one day only at The Strand Arcade last week
Socks American Apparel $14
Mary-Jane Creeper's Sportsgirl on sale for $13
Necklace Make Believe gift
Bracelet Elke Kramer gift
Ring MoMA design store in NYC $10
Bag vintage from Thank You Mart in Tokyo $3.90
Belt Ebay find $6

This necklace always gets me a lot of attention, people are drawn to it.

I have had this bag for years, its been on my blog every now and then when I'm in a smiley face bag kinda mood.

I found this belt on ebay, not too sure about the white belt itself but love the banana buckle.

Still loving these mary-jane somewhat controversial creepers (a previous commenter reckons they're not creepers, but hey I'm just going by what the Sportsgirl box said).

In closing I want to say I had a lot of fun, it really was a great event, but please wont someone think of the animals? They didn't seem distressed and I'm by no means an expert, but I just don't feel right about it especially after seeing it go so wrong once before.

Photos by Sofie from The Milk Club and me.

Cover Block

2011-09-02T15:17:00.002+10:00

My cover shoot and editorial for Fashion Journal is out today, online here, and delivered to boutiques nation wide over the weekend. I'm so excited by this shoot, its my favourite work to date. Will be uploading all the images to my NEW UPDATED online portfolio this afternoon.

Cover shoot team
Photographer Andrew Scott
Hair Hair by Koh
Make-up Kristyan Low
Styling Assistant Sofie Bartter
Model Ashley Rae @ SixWolves

Pick up a copy or flick through it online and you will also see a shoot I did with Sydney based band Circle Pit, with an amazing interview by Hannah-Rose Yee from Capture the Castle. Boy that girl can write!

Circle Pit team
Photographer Lucia Pang
Hair and make up Rosalie Musso
Styling Assistant Sofie Bartter
Words Hannah-Rose Yee

xoxo

Gisela Ramirez

2011-08-30T00:08:00.003+10:00

Gisela Ramirez is a Sydney based plus size designer (and an amazing blogger) whom I've admired for a while. I was very excited when she kindly invited me to her launch and runway show in Darlinghurst last week. She makes the type of clothes that often larger women are told not to wear, think sheer tops, cut out panels and figure hugging bodysuits, which if you have been reading my blog for a while you will know I love. Remember this post where I wore a red sheer dress and bike shorts? Did I ever tell you about the negative comments I got from anonymous commenter's afterwards? Apparently I'm disgusting and fat people should never ever wear such things. Oh and the other night when I wore my sheer blouse from this post to a fashion industry event I came home to aggressive anonymous tweets from someone who said they were at the same event and apparently I was the laughing stock of the party, cos you know I'm fat (shock horror) and wearing sheer! I deal with this shit all the time and I don't let it ever get me down. People need to learn that I wear what I like, always have and always will. Deal with it!

Anyway, back to Gisela Ramirez's kick arse show. Here are some back stage shots of the models during the runway rehearsal, looking hot in lycra. I'm ordering a pair of the leggings as I type.

Bold n gold, loves it.

The styling was perfect, bold earrings and chic up-do's.

Waiting in line to make their entrance.

This event had some of the best dressed attendees of any event I have been to in Sydney. People who weren't wearing the usual paint by numbers style that industry types seem to stick to, give me some frigging gutsy street fash pleeeeaaaasssse. So over beachy.

Thank god for these kids, doing colour blocking without the rules.

A pretty radical front row.

The fashion on show. Perfect pieces for the "beach to bar" vibe that magazines always talk of that I have never actually experienced (Hey I'm from Melbourne, we pretty much don't have beaches ok?) We do have bars though, lots of them dotted around the city in lane-ways. I'd wear these looks there.

The final walk saw the models all parade down the catwalk in cropped t-shirts with the words "FUCK FLATTERING" printed in bold across the chest. Um yes please. I'm as guilty as Paula Joye or any of the current STYD team of writing bullshit about flattering bodies when writing about fashion as my job, but I actually don't believe in any of it (unlike those mag hags). What I do believe in though is wearing what YOU WANT, and what YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE in. So for some people that may be an outfit that they, due to social conditioning and/or years of fash mag reading, believe is flattering then so be it. For me it means feeling good about myself in my clothes, which has taken a few years (my teenage years were hellish) but has got to the point where blog comment and twitter bullying don't bother me in the slightest. Talk to my arse cos the face ain't listening.

*photo not actually of my arse.
**I actually like lots of people who work at STYD, I just was trying to make a humorous point.

SUB culture

2011-08-29T00:26:00.001+10:00

Culture magazine invited me to their SUB culture launch at the Oxford Art Factory in Darlinghurst. I love Culture magazine as its one of the few publications that take submissions which means every issue is a visual treat of bright new talent doing extraordinary things, you may remember last year I styled their April 2010 cover and editorial? The event was a great way to mingle with industry people. Above you can see Jayne Wild doing a live hair presentation on the Sessions Secrets Stage.

Stevie English hair salons did a live photoshoot for the Culture Yearbook due out in December.

I love the Fafi inspired hair and make-up.

Vanessa from The Monday Issue and friend. Vanessa is one of my favourite people in Sydney, she is so talented, and so genuine in her enthusiasm for...everything!

Lotsa awkward interview face, getting interviewed for Culture TV.

What I wore:

Blouse Evil Twin $20 from the Market HQ warehouse sale
Dress City Chic $99.95
Socks American Apparel $14
Mary-Jane Creeper's Sportsgirl on sale for $13
Red Fringed bag $10 Surry Hills markets find
Necklace Make Believe gift
Bracelet Elke Kramer gift
Ring MoMA design store in NYC $10

Pretty happy to discover these shoes in the Sportsgirl 70% off sale section.

Win tickets to see Kasabian in Melbourne

2011-08-22T18:24:00.005+10:00

Sponsored Post

I have had a bit of experience now at styling bands. They are all different with different visions and ideas behind their music and therefore the image that they want to create for themselves. From your regular indie rock band to a more theatrical electro band I've been there. They are also primarily compiled of men/boys and for those of us with men in our lives (in particular boyfriends and husbands) then you will know what I'm talking about when I say men are VERY PICKY when it comes to fashion. They all have their idiosyncrasies, for example one may say adamantly “No I won't wear scarfs” of any kind just as adamantly as one may say I'm allergic to peanuts, or they will only wear super skinny jeans by certain brands, a belt needs to be facing a certain way (that one may be an actual rule though, I just have never encountered it before) and the cuts of shirts are more important than the print or style, if it isn't a button down shirt than heaven help me. So yes I have had experience in styling bands and dealing with their demands. I do love working with bands though, its always a fun day when your hanging out with a bunch of rock stars.

When MasterCard approached me to help get the word out about the latest gig in their Debit MasterCard Priceless Music Series with UK rock band Kasabian playing in Melbourne at Peninsula Melbourne Docklands on Wednesday, 5 October I immediately thought about how I would style the band. Knowing their style is a very English rocker with peacoats and skinny jeans featuring prominently that was my first step in recreating their looks. Keeping to a muted colour palette helps unify the band's look so that they do in fact look like they belong on stage together. Classic button down shirts are given a rock n roll edge when teamed with a pair of Chuck Taylors. Creepers, the in shoe of the moment, are a good way to update the classic winkle picker style of shoe the band normally wear. My favourite item on the mood board is the army jacket, so 90's and Noel Gallagher.

The band are releasing their new album Velociraptor! on the 16th of September. It will be their 4th studio album, proving their staying power within the fickle music world. The first single Switchblade Smiles has been released digitally with the music vid already gaining traction on YouTube.

The Melbourne gig is at Peninsula Melbourne Docklands on Wednesday, 5 October. To buy tickets go to www.mastercard.com.au/music Tickets are $41.25 (limit 4 per person) and are on sale from 9am AEST on the 25^th August. Tickets must be purchased with a Debit MasterCard. Most importantly have fun, and tell me what they wear xoxo

WIN tickets to see the gig

As a special treat I have 1 double pass to give away to a lucky reader who resides in or will be in Melbourne on Wednesday 5^th October. To enter all you have to do is comment on this post by 1pm AEST on Tuesday 30^th August with your email address (you can disguise your email address using spaces if you feel safer). Good luck and I hope you win xoxo

CONGRATULATIONS jax_cave you have won the double pass to see Kasabian. Enjoy xoxo

Secret Wars

2011-08-18T17:33:00.000+10:00

Last night I headed to the final of Secret Wars, a 90 minute art off of epic proportions at the Oxford Art Factory. The artists drew their masterpieces in front of a live audience and were only allowed to use black markers or paint and their pieces had to feature their competitor. Sprinkles work is on on the left and Heesco's work is on the right. Heesco was named the winner as judged by the audience and 2 esteemed judges (the founder of Mambo Dare Jennings and a representative of Graniph Japan), Heesco really put on a show as up until the final 15 minutes his work only said "I You Sprinkle" which didn't make sense, and then bam "I Reign You Sprinkle" appeared before our eyes and you just knew he would win.

I went with the black and white theme of the night and wore my Great Grandma's houndstooth jacket which I have never ever worn before, its just sat in my wardrobe since I was 10 and was passed down to me.

Tee Dimepiece sheer hands t-shirt
Skirt Gorman $150 new season on sale for one day only at The Strand Arcade last week
Necklace Corky Saint Clair anatomical heart locket $160
Socks no idea
Loafers Sportsgirl $35
Bag Sportsgirl $99

and yes I am standing next to a tag which says "No Fat Chicks". Seriously dude, get fucked!

Fruit Loops

2011-08-15T16:23:00.002+10:00

Some behind the scenes action from a recent shoot for the next issue of Fashion Journal magazine out September 2nd. Behind the scenes photos by my lovely assistant Sofie from The Milk Club. Can't wait to share the full story with you, it looks freaking amazing even if I do say so myself. I also updated my portfolio, moved it to a whole new website with its own url. Check it out and let me know your thoughts. I'm really happy with it, makes me want to do bigger and better things. xxx

Fashion Hayley Loves Antipodium for Sportsgirl

2011-08-10T15:53:00.001+10:00

Its true, I love Antipodium, and have for a long time. I was lucky enough to meet Geoffrey J Finch and Fenella from Antipodium at Melbourne Fashion Week in 2009 and got this lovely happy snap with them like the fan girl that I am.

I blogged my love of their SS 2009 collection and amazing jewellery collaboration with my friends Amber and Ebony at Make Believe (you know that big black rose necklace I am always wearing? Well its from this collaboration). I loved that they had my pal Andrej Pejic walk the runway before he was famous and that they used "real" people to model the collection proving you don't have to be stick thin to look amazing in their clothes.

So that is why I am so excited by the new Sportsgirl Likes Collaboration with Antipodium. When I first heard about the collab with Antipodium I was super duper frigging excited and upon seeing the collection I am not disappointed at all. I think its by far the best Sportsgirl Likes collection (I tweeted as much too) as it really is staying true to Antipodiums cheeky quirky aesthetic.

I'm so buying the skirt and dress! Look 1: Antipodium Wilton Way Shirt $120, Antipodium Regents Canal Skirt $100. Look 2: Antipodium Wilton Way Dress $140

Freaking LOVE that Anorak! Look 3: Antipodium Cambridge Heath Anorak $150 and Antipodium London Fields Short $90. Look 4: Antipodium London Fields Dress $140

The ultimate classic, the striped tee with a twist. Look 5: Antipodium Regents Canal Tee $80 and Antipodium Wilton Way Skirt $90 Look 6: Antipodium Cambridge Heath Anorak $150, Antipodium Wilton Way Shirt $120 and Antipodium Cambridge Heath Short $100

Take a closer look at the print, if you look closely at the paisley shapes you will actually see Geoffrey's face with his now trademark specs staring back at you (FYI he wasn't wearing them back when I met him, but I was wearing mine, maybe I inspired the glasses choice? haha j/k). Its little details like the paisley print with a twist that really make this collection so damned fun. I'm so buying the blue and white striped maxi skirt and cute skater style dress as soon as they are released in September. What pieces are you buying? Also please let me win the trip to London as I would very much like to go. That is all xoxo

The Fern

2011-08-03T14:03:00.002+10:00

This blog post is about my local area in Sydney: Redfern, or as locals call it The Fern. I'm really enjoying living in this area, exploring all the new cafes and bars that are opening up. The photo above was taken in the courtyard of my new favourite cafe which I tweeted about last week saying it has the cheapest breakfast brunch menu I've seen in Sydney with prices ranging from $3.50 to $7.50!

That cafe is The Shortlist at 258 Abercrombie Street (which is actually in Darlington but is just round the corner from my place in The Fern). The menu isn't as extensive as other cafe's (hence the cafes name, The Shortlist, which refers to the short list of food/coffee available on the menu board) but boy is it good.

A fashion blogger's blog post isn't complete without some narcissism, so here is the obligatory photo of me and my hair which is driving me crazy as I grow it out.

This was only $4.50! Yes it is "only avocado on toast" but when I normally pay upwards of $10 for this at other Sydney cafes, and the fact it comes with lemon oil (which is freaking delish!) it becomes so much more than that. It represents freedom, freedom to eat at hipster cafes even when totally broke and freedom against the insane expensiveness of this city.

I like this wall, that is all.

Had no idea this place existed, yet its just on the other side of the station...you know the "bad side". (Redfern is famous for The Block which is an Aboriginal housing community which has a bad reputation although personally I've seen more violence/drug taking on the streets of Collingwood and Fitzroy in Melbourne than I have here, although taxi drivers have a great fear of driving me home as its close to "The Block" and one of my work experience kids wasn't allowed to continue her placement when her parents found out it was in Redfern...) I just wish we could all get along.

In stark contrast to what is just down the road sits one of Australia's most prestigious (and pretentious) commercial art galleries, the Anna Schwartz Gallery.

Another great cafe is Saint Germain Patisserie, 88 Rosehill Street, corner of Gibbons street in Redfern. The French bakery has the best quiche's in Sydney but the worst service I've ever come across. Personally I am not so fussy about service but Henry is at the stage where he wont go back. Forgetting cake orders for birthdays made days in advance, forgetting orders while your there, bringing out the wrong order when your the only patron, but like I said they make the best quiche's in Sydney.

The cakes and macaroons are good too.

My favourite cake there is the chocolate tart. My god its good, and a slice is only $3.50!

A great new pub opened up (well re-launched) called The Abercrombie and we headed to the opening. Above is my friend Emilia and her housemate being hair twins.

I don't know these people but to make it look like I have friends I have included this snap.

I tweeted from the launch about these drinks and promised OHJAMIE to twitpic a photo. Well I've gone and done one better, blogged em instead! Raver Cocktails in glad bags with glowsticks inside. Difficult to drink but drink em we did.

Dead animals, wigs and tits, how freaking cooooool man.

Congratulations to Julia Stephens from Melbourne who won the Gala Curios prize pack! Thanks to everyone who entered and to Jasmine from Gala Curios for giving away such an awesome prize!

Colour Blocking

2011-07-29T14:01:00.001+10:00

Just a quick post with some recent work for the latest issue of Fashion Journal. Had lots of work on recently hence the lack of blog updates. Its good to be busy but I've missed the blogosphere and have loads of blogs and tweets to catch up on.

Stylist Hayley Hughes Photographer Ken Leanfore Hair, make-up & manicure Vanessa Collins Model Noni from Six Wolves Assistant Stylist Vanessa Low

Also there is still time to enter my Gala Curios competition to win an amazing prize pack worth over $634.
Good Luck xoxo

Fake cosmetics

2011-07-19T11:04:00.000+10:00

In the video above I share with you my first ever experience (to my knowledge) of inadvertently purchasing fake cosmetics. I bought my Mac Cosmetics Eyeliner in Smoulder at StrawberryNET for $15 which included free postage. That is less than half what you would pay in Australia, and sadly it turns out it was too good to be true. I go through the steps we took to see if it was indeed a fake. Have you had a similar experience with buying fake cosmetics, or clothing for that matter, online?

WIN: A Gala Curios Prize Pack worth $634

2011-07-18T17:31:00.003+10:00

My lovely friend Jasmine of Gala Curios fame is one very talented lady. Not only is she an extraordinary jewellery designer but the lookbooks she produces for her collection season after season, year after year, are always the most eagerly awaited in my inbox. Working with quite possibly the best stylist in Sydney (after me of course..jokes) Paul Bui, the images accompanying the jewellery always and without fail, take my breath away. To help celebrate the launch of Gala Curios's SS2011 collection MONO NO AWARE, which hits stores in early August we are teaming up to offer you, my sweet and loyal readers, one hell of a prize pack.

1 x Pyramid Earring Silver - valued at $120
1 x Accordion Bangle Oil - valued at $285
1 x The Passing Pendant Gold - valued at $130
1 x Sting of Remorse Ring Rose Gold - valued at $99
Total Prize Value = $634

How to win?
Like the Gala Curios facebook page and answer this question "What is your favourite piece from Gala Curios's MONO NO AWARE collection?" on the wall then copy+paste that answer in the comments of this blog post. Simple.
The competition closes at 5pm AEST on Monday August 1st and is open to international readers and locals alike. The winner will be chosen by random thanks to random.org.

My answer is pretty obvious. As has been well documented on my blog over the years I love a bold statement necklace. This Gala Curios Ephemere Necklace in Rose Gold ticks many boxes for me. Its gold, bold and most importantly beautiful. I also love the small details, like the powdercoated chain and silk ribbon fastening.

So what's your favourite piece from Gala Curios's MONO NO AWARE collection? Good Luck xoxo

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED Congratulations Julia Stephens from Melbourne xxx

Brown buys at Sydneys BEST Op Shop!

2011-07-04T14:26:00.002+10:00

The thing I miss most about Melbourne is knowing where best op shops are. Ok, maybe not the thing I miss most, but you get what I mean. Well on the weekend I discovered what is possibly the best op shop in the WORLD right here in Sydney. Its the op shop that trumps all others in its magical cheapness as you do not pay per item but you pay just $8 per kilo. So where and what is this magical op shop of awesomeness? Its the Anglicare sorting factory shop and market in Summer Hill, just near the station.

Summer Hill Anglicare

Address105 Carlton Crescent, Summer Hill.

Open Mon-Fri 9am-3.30pm, Sat 9am-1.30pm. Closed Sun.

Cost $8 per kilo.

The reason its so cheap is because it is the sorting depot for Anglicare's op shops, which means everything is a big unsorted mess that you have to sort through. Those white tubs are full of unsorted op shop goodness and grossness and its your job to scrounge through them hunting for whatever it is you desire.

The place is huge, and you have to compete with other hunters in a way that is not unlike a pack of lions fighting over the last piece of meat on a freshly killed zebra, well something like that anyway. If your an unseasoned op shopper this may be a little daunting, but having been to a few Savers 50% off sale days in my time I felt right at home, pushing and shoving with the best of them. I was just so happy to be at a real op shop. I find when I ask locals about their favourite op shops they list what I would call vintage stores, the likes of which you would be lucky to find a loose button for $8, let alone the five pieces we left Anglicare with (total score!!!).In my search for op shops in Sydney that weren't vintage stores I found this comprehensive website opshop.org which lists op shops by location and also by organisation, which is where I learnt that Sydney has only a measly 114 op shops compared to Melbourne's vast 332. What Sydney lacks in city central op shops it does make up for in country op shops worthy of a road trip, but as a car less lass who relies on public transport such a trip sadly ain't happening any time soon. So that is why the Summer Hill Anglicare op shop is such a godsend, I get my fix and can train it there and back. So now comes the big reveal, what we bought.

The first piece is the delightfully burnt orangey-brown blouse I'm wearing with my new ASOS chinos. The blouse is exactly what I've been looking for, like really truly I've been searching every online store from here to Timbuktu trying to find such a top, cannae believe I got it for $1.60!!! The chinos are from ASOS and I'm not too sure about them, sure they're mighty comfy, but not too sure they suit me. I originally ordered a pair in camel that were a little more high waisted but was advised that style had sold out whilst my order processed so was directed to these. I think they make me look really short and stumpy.

Blouse Summer Hill Anglicare $1.60
Chinos ASOS Curve on clearence for $30
Necklace Estelle Dévé, gift
Loafers Sportsgirl on sale for $39.95
Bag Sporsgirl Fringe Bag $99.95
Red Lipstick Mac Russian Red $36

Another item on my wish list was a brown shirt. My sister owns a similar shirt which I borrowed on my last trip home to team with my sheer City Chic maxi dress and I've been on the look out ever since as I loved the outfit. Again can't believe I find such a perfect one for one dollar freaking sixty!!!

Shirt Summer Hill Anglicare $1.60

Dress City Chic sheer maxi dress $99.95

Necklace Make Believe, gift

Loafers Sportsgirl on sale for $39.95
Red Lipstick Mac Russian Red $36

Henry didn't miss out on bargains either, snapping up this delish brown cord blazer for another unreal $1.60. He too had been searching for something similar for months without much luck and he plans to customise it with adorable dark brown leather elbow patches to update it a little (if we can just find where to buy them?).

Hat He has had it forever and doesn't know where he got it but maybe Japan
Blazer Summer Hill Anglicare $1.60
Shirt Kmart $5
Jeans That Store $200ish and not sure of brand (Updated, they are Nudie jeans)
Bag Savers $5
Desert Boots ASOS $45

I wish Henry would allow me to blog his outfits more often, or even start a blog himself, as I think he can share some unique shopping tips on how to dress well for less for men. For instance last night at Kmart he bought a striped polo shirt in bold blue and black stripes that just scream Prada for only $9. The lesson is don't dismiss Dimmeys, Kmart, BigW and Target guys out there as they have bargains galore and if you style the pieces well you won't look bogan-chic at all, unless that's your thing, then hey go for it. xoxo

Scallop

2011-06-27T10:50:00.000+10:00

The type of scallop I'm talking about is not the fish kind but the fashion kind, a scalloped hem to be exact. I now have three pieces of scalloped hem clothing in my wardrobe, this beige dress being the most recent buy. It is of course from ASOS as I don't seem to be shopping anywhere else recently, but I do want to get back into buying and supporting local designers asap, ASOS just make it too easy with all their out of UK season but in AU season sales (the one time it pays to be in the Southern Hemisphere) great range of sizes not to mention the free shipping worldwide. My black military style jacket is yet another rediscovered oldie, I bought it at H&M in New York in 2006 and wore it heavily through that winter and then promptly forgot all about its existence until my recent wardrobe clean out. Re-finding all these amazing pieces I already own has given my wardrobe a new lease of life without having to shop and spend money, so yay for wardrobe clean outs!

Our Sunday routine involves heading down to the local park with Hachi, grabbing coffee and bagels on the way and just enjoying the atmosphere. Hachi would have been in these photos but he was far too busy chasing other dogs for photo time. So instead you get me, looking awkward and as per usual mid fight with Henry who reckons taking outfit photos in Redfern park is asking to be mugged. He may well be right, but, hey we weren't mugged and I got some nice shots so was worth the argument it took to make it happen. You can see without my jacket on how the scalloped hem continues in the sleeves and also around the neckline, and its these little details that make the dress for me.

A Glebe Markets find, these patent bowling shoe-esque brogues were a pricey for a 2nd hand market stall item at $50, but worth it for their awesomeness and the fact they fit my previously moaned about giant feet.

Outfit Details
Dress ASOS Curve on clearence for $30 (No longer for sale)
Belt ASOS Curve black skinny belt $20Necklace Estelle Dévé, gift
Shoes Glebe Markets $50
Bag Sporsgirl Fringe Bag $99.95
Red Lipstick Mac Russian Red $36

How to make a terrarium

2011-06-24T13:07:00.000+10:00

In my post this week where I let you all have a sneak peak at our new place I promised to show you how to make a terrarium. Well here is my tutorial on how to make yourself your own terrarium.

Step 1:

Gather your materials. You will need:

A glass vessel of some kind, we went with a classic round fish tank from the local $2 shop. Ours cost $15.
Plants. We chose succulents which are known for their robust survival skills. Our local nursery had them for $3 a pot.
Stones for drainage and decorative purposes, you can buy them at garden supplies stores but we found our stones for free.
Potting mix.This bag was $4.
Gardening gloves as its a messy job.

Total Cost: $22

Step 2:

Make your drainage layer by adding stones of your choice. Some people add charcoal first as it aids drainage but we have skipped this step as we couldn't find any and have read mixed reports on whether it is really necessary.

Step 3:

Add your potting mix to the desired planting height.

Step 4:

Plant your plants, trying to make it a visually pleasing arrangement. Keep in mind they have more chance at survival if you plant them at the same level in which they were originally planted in their original pot. We also planted a succulent cutting we let dry out for the last month allowing for new roots to appear.

Step 5:

This step is optional, but we decided to decorate the top with a layer of rocks. So there you have it, 5 easy steps to make a terrarium for your house for a total of $22. I remember being fascinated as a kid by my Nana's terrarium, imagining little forest creatures living in the glass box having a fantastic time, its nice to have this little reminder of those times looking pretty in my home. I'm hoping to have more DIY style posts over the coming months, some fashion and some interior themed DIY's as I'm always making and creating but never documenting the process. xoxo

What's in my Styling Kit

2011-06-22T13:46:00.001+10:00

We have all seen those "what's in my bag" posts around the place and I thought it might be interesting to share with you something a bit different, what exactly goes into my styling kit. If your not sure what a styling kit is, basically its a tool kit of useful items a stylist brings with them to a shoot. Every stylist is different, but essentially most kits will contain at least double sided tape, bull dog clips and scissors. I'm going to show you what I bring with me on set.

Organised chaos. I am looking for a better box with more compartments that is ideally on wheels, but for now this red metal box will do. I bought it at Arthur Daley's in Melbourne for about $25.

From Left to Right:
Sewing kit: I have a set of sewing needles and threads in different colours as well as a few other bits and bobs like extra buttons and an unpicker just in case.
Bobby pins: I find these are the most requested item on shoots, someone always needs just one more, so I have these on hand in both dark and light colours for those moments.
Zip lock plastic bags: These come in handy for so many reasons. I use them to hold shop tags as we remove them from clothes so as not to misplace any, I use them to keep models jewellery together so as not to loose pieces, I use them to store things inside my kit. Basically I use them a lot.
Black Markers: Great for labelling things as we go.
Lint roller: I prefer these sticky lint rollers to the more traditional ones as I find these remove more hair and lint and do it faster too!
Ball of rubber bands: Great for adjusting belts, necklaces, clothing. Also good for grouping things together.
Shoulder Pads: For those times when the shoulder needs that oomph.
Double Sided tape: For those times when you need something to sit just so, or to protect modesty when required.
Black Electrical tape: Shoes need to be taped on the bottom of the sole to protect the shoes from wear and tear.
Hollywood no shows: aka nipple concealers. For modesty.
Scissors: Pretty self explanatory really.
Safety pins: Useful for adjusting clothing and jewellery and also for "punking" up a look.
Bulldog clips: Again for adjusting clothing and jewellery to fit. I like to bring a variety of sizes.
Fragrance free wipes: Not only useful for models to remove their make-up but also good for keeping things clean on set.
More shoulder pads: A different style to the other pair, these are more sharp.
Black crop top: I like to use this under see through garments as I like the line it gives.
Black bike shorts: by Voodoo Hosiery, always handy to have on set to add the something extra to a look.

So that's what goes into my styling kit. Some of this might be a bit "no shit, Sherlock" but hopefully this post gives you some insight into the job. xoxo

Small Apartment Living

2011-06-21T12:53:00.003+10:00

Welcome to our home, please leave your coat by the front door on our tree shaped hat stand. There is a funny story about that hat stand which you can read about here. You can also see I have always been obsessed with entry hallway's, having made three posts about them back in 2008 here, here and here (FYI Henry broke my beloved Jenny Kee vase featured in that last hallway post). I guess why I am so obsessed with the entrance of a home is because its the first thing you see when you walk in, and I want mine to have that wow factor. You may recognise the white metal shelf, that piece used to sit in our kitchen in our Melbourne home as a display of all my favourite (at the time) red kitchen stuff, and it used to be much taller. Then in our 1st Sydney home it was in my office as extra storage for all the mess working as a stylist generates. The great thing is the shelf is adjustable and comes in two pieces so we were able to make it two shelves instead of just the one so it could work with our new Sydney pad. The first section sitting in our hallway and the second on the balcony as a plant stand.

If you follow me on twitter then you would know we recently had to move house as our lease was up (never again will we sign a 9 month lease, but being new to Sydney at the time we didn't know any better and needed a place ASAP). Well the new place is absolutely tiny, about a third of the size of our last place and a lot smaller than our old Melbourne apartment, but what initially scared us about this place has made us fall in love with it. By placing furniture in defined zones, downsizing a few items and keeping to a clean white colour palette I think we make the most of the tiny amount of space available. In a way its a very Japanese way of living, our apartment wouldn't look out of place in Tokyo (but the rent in Tokyo would be much cheaper, much much much cheaper!).

Vintage Danish Sideboard bought in Melbourne at Clear iT on Brunswick Street back when it used to also sell vintage furniture, for around $300. Vintage Danish Coffee Table bought on ebay for $5. Ikea Flakati rug $39.99. Vintage white sofa bed from ebay for under $100.

As you can see we have split the small living space into three sections. Living, Study and Kitchen which helps optimise the space. Our furniture is mostly from our Melbourne place which we got trucked up here (moving from Melbourne to Sydney was cheaper than moving from one end of the street to the other, yep when we moved we moved to the same street, and no this is not the first time I have lived on the same street more than once, if it ain't broke don't fix it I say) The only major change is the dining chairs as our old chrome chairs took up too much space so we sold them on ebay and replaced them with classic replica Eames dining chairs from Matt Blatt for $79 each.

The white stool in the mirror is a new buy from Kmart, and for only $5. I have one in the bedroom as my dressing table stool and we have one outside on the balcony as a plant stand.

The mirror is a tried and true decorators tip to help make the space seem larger. We bought the mirror for our last place as there were no full length mirrors in the house and it sat in our bedroom. I'm glad we could make it work in our new space as that thing was a total bitch to take home on the train from ikea, haha. The key to renting and living stylishly is to buy pieces that will fit in with all your other furniture no matter where or how it is positioned. So try to buy matching items in colour, tone or size. Another tip is don't get too attached to a piece because moving around can mean it wont work at all even if you have tried to keep to the aforementioned rule of buying only things that match.Thanks to ebay and gumtree getting rid of unwanted items is easily done, but it can be sad to see much loved items go (on the plus side you get some money for new stuff).

As the space is so small we only have two dining chairs, but we do have four white ikea folding chairs that sit in the gap between the fridge, utilising empty space and perfect for when guests come over.

The new place didn't have a pantry, or any room for our microwave, so we bought this cute little Ikea Bygel kitchen trolley for $49.

Our tv is a few years old and non digital so we have a set top box set up, not very pretty but functional.

The skull that holds our tv remotes is from one of those children's collect the whole series to create the full set thingys from a newsagency. It was the 1st in the series and us such was at an introductory price of $2 and was the only piece we wanted, score!

I love our balcony, seeing that hit of green from the lounge makes me so happy.

We made the terrarium (instructions on how to make one yourself coming this week) and it sits on a replica Kartel Componibili shelf from Matt Blatt for $99.

My sister gave me the Sydney bus destination scroll as a house warming gift.

Our study area is bright and full of little pieces of inspiration from our travels.

The teeth in cup is from an art event I held in art school called Swap Shop where the idea was to swap pieces of art for other pieces of art, and this is what I ended up with. The wooden Elephant is from a newsagency (I find some cool things at newsagencies it seems) The vintage Tasco microscope is from Savers.

Missing a few issues here and there but still a great collection of my fave mag, Russh.

The bunny is from Tokyo and the mini replica Robert Indiana Love sculpture is from Typo. Henry and I have seen the sculpture in person in both New York and Tokyo so this is a nice little reminder.

This macrame hanging plant holder is my first ever etsy buy, and I love it. It was a custom order from The Scarf Tree: Modern Macrames and it only cost me $16! My only wish was that the hook was on the other side of the balcony as it sits on the "ugly side" above the air con unit. As renters we're not allowed to put any new hooks in.

Here is the "pretty side" of our balcony. The fern and giant cane Papasan chair are both Surry Hills Markets finds, the later for only $100. The chair is so comfortable, its like sitting in a hug.

So that's our new home, and its sure to evolve and change over time just like my personal style. Already compared to our home in Melbourne its a lot more grown up, there are less bold hits of red and the colour palette is more subdued. I love interiors just as much as I love fashion, and often get jealous of my husband who works as an Interior Architect. I want to spend my days choosing tiles and finding the perfect chair for a client. Mind you he also does tricky architecture stuff I don't know anything about, I just like the decorating side of things. Well I hope you enjoyed the post and if you have any questions about where things are from that I may have missed I'll answer you in the comments below. xoxo

Breaking the rules

2011-06-19T21:09:00.001+10:00

As a Melbournian it's against the rules to say that the food is better in Sydney, but I'm sorry but it is. That's the first self imposed rule I broke this weekend, the second is further down in this post. Henry and I had brunch at one of our favourite cafes in Sydney, Kawa on Crown Street in Surry Hills with Vanessa, my Junior Fashion Editor at On The Streets of Sydney to talk through some upcoming shoots. Vanessa also has a fabulous blog, The Monday Issue which you should check out. Our food was fresh and fabulous, and whilst not being Melbourne cheap, Kawa is cheap for Sydney so it gets a huge tick from me. Plus the place is decorated so darn cutely, I love all the indoor plants and hanging ferns.

The second self imposed rule I broke this weekend was my rule about not wearing pants (see rule 4 of this post from 2008). Look at me as happy as larry above in beautiful Hyde Park wearing my new ASOS palazzo pants. Rules be damned, I'm going to wear what I god damned please from now on without fear or fight. Also why didn't anyone tell me just how comfortable pants are? I've been missing out for years.

I'm also wearing my new ASOS trench with leather accents, bought on sale for $102 (its still available at that price in some sizes and in the other colourway: clickity click) A girl ran after me today asking me where it was from, that's how awesome it is!

My white pussy bow blouse is another re-found oldy from my time teaching English in Japan. I bought it at Savers for about $3 and it fast became a favorite in my working wardrobe. Unfortunately the pussy bow element of the blouse often got me in trouble at Nova as I looked too "maid style". This was at the time of Marc Jacobs retro secretary phase and pussy bows featured in many of his collections, so when I wore my blouse that's what I was thinking of, definitely not visioning looking like a sexualised otaku maid...only in Japan. The red lippy is Mac Russian Red, which I also haven't worn since I lived in Japan (but this tube is new, I'm not wearing five year old lipstick guys!) There was a stage where I had black hair and wore red lipstick every day and only ever wore red, black and white. That stage lasted about four years until my style transformed into what has been documented on my blog over the years, you know the leggings + dress + waist belt + blonde bob with fringe + my infamous giant glasses with virtually no exceptions in between. I seem to be going through another style transformation at the moment and I'm not sure where I will end up. Its weird that I change like this about every four years, but all the changes have occurred whilst living in different cities so maybe that has something to do with it? Who knows?

Trench ASOS White leather trim mac $102
Pussy Bow Blouse Savers $3 (God I miss Savers, hurry up and open in Sydney already)
Palazzo Pants ASOS Curve on clearence for $30 (No longer for sale)
Belt ASOS Curve black skinny belt $20
Bag Sporsgirl Fringe Bag $99.95
Loafers Sportsgirl on sale for $39.95
Floppy hat Ebay $30
Red Lipstick Mac Russian Red $36

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, checking out the amazing contemporary art collection donated to the gallery from art collector John Kaldor. The collection includes pieces from Jeff Koons, Ricky Swallow, Christo amongst many other world renowned artists. An amazing collection to have been donated to the gallery, and is definitely worth checking out. Another exhibition held in the galleries temporary space is Unguided Tours, a video and installation exhibition of my favourite kind of art, humorous, playful and in a way almost slacker art. Unfortunately unable to take any photos in the gallery, but take my word for it and check out both exhibitions if you can. xoxo

Body Image and Fashion Blogging

2011-06-18T12:40:00.001+10:00

When Gala Darling called out on twitter for contributions to her Body Image and Fashion Blogging article to be featured on her blog I put my hand up right away as there were a few things I wanted to address. You can read what I had to say below and head over to Gala Darling to read Gala and other blogger's thoughts on the issue in part one and part two of the great initiative to get some dialogue going on what we are all thinking.

Here is a photo I was too scared to blog because it shows my double chin...well that and its off centre as my mum took it, thanks mum! x

“Body diversity in fashion blogging is out there, if you know how to look for it. In fact there is a whole world of plus size “fatshion” bloggers getting together, having blog conferences and getting sponsorship from brands and designers just like you all in the “straight” sized blogging world do (straight sized is the respected term within the fatshion blogging world for, for want of a better word, normal sized people). The reason you straight sized bloggers aren’t aware of it is because you don’t have to know about it, if you know what I mean. If your a size 8 then you probably have never heard of Evans, Monif C, City Chic, Torrid or even clicked over to ASOS Curve, all of which are leading Plus Size brands around the world. Because your not googling those words you don’t see the terrific blogs out there in the fatshion world, blogs like Young Fat & Fabulous, Fat Aus, Pocket Rocket, Fatshionable, Nicolette Mason, Musings of a fatshionista, Le blog de Big Beauty and many many more.

For me as a blogger I sit between the two worlds. I am what the plus size fashion world calls an “inbetweener”, I can wear straight sized clothing from designers and regular chain stores but can also shop at plus size stores too. So I see both sides of the blogging world, and that’s the thing, there are sides and I do feel my blog, or any other plus size blog could never reach the heights of Rumi or Jane blogs, I mean Chanel won’t be inviting me to no ball any time soon. In terms of my blog and sponsorship I am lucky that in Australia I have been accepted by the mainstream blog-osphere and as such have worked with top chain store Sportsgirl (An Aussie version of Topshop if you will), helped Target launch their recent Stella McCartney line and been featured in many top magazines (Cleo, Shop Til You Drop etc) but I do also know I have missed out on opportunities offered to others because of my size. Some brands just can’t see through the fat, so to speak, and decide to spend/send their promotional dollars/products elsewhere, even though my readership may be larger than the blogger who they finally choose. Its about branding, and if a brand, which is used to size 8 models isn’t prepared to get in on what makes fashion blogging special, which is seeing a real person talk about and wear the clothes that they make and are promoting than that’s their loss really. On the flip side my size has given me opportunities that I would have otherwise missed out on. For the past year and a half I have been blogging for Australia’s leading plus size retailer, City Chic, and essentially I get free reign on all product in stores (fun!) and last year they sent me over to New York for a plus sized blogger conference, which was more fun and inspiring than I could have ever imagined (more on that later).

I find when I talk to my straight sized fashion blogger friends they start to feel uncomfortable at the words we use within the fatshion blogging community, words like Fat & Fatshion, they are more comfortable with nice sounding words like curvy, whilst we are trying to reclaim the word fat from its negative connotations to become a positive body acceptance word. Lets not dress up what it is and speak the truth, because with the truth comes acceptance. On the other hand I can see that the language used within the plus sized fashion blog-osphere can be a little daunting for those not aware of the fat positive message that is being discussed, without intending to it can exclude others from the conversation. It can get very heated and political as the fatshion world is not always just about pretty clothing, its about changing attitudes and society to be more accepting of fat, which is pretty hard considering the media’s current portrayal of fat people.

There are people on both sides of the blogging divide who are negative about others bodies, yes on the plus size side you can get chided for losing weight, the opposite of what would happen in the straight sized fashion world. I just try to avoid the negativity and look at the positives. I love the strength of the community within the plus size fashion blogging world. Last year when Gabi, from Young Fat & Fabulous organised the YFF conference in New York for plus size bloggers andbrands I got to meet with some of my most admired and respected bloggers in the world whilst also meeting with buyers, designers and CEO’s of the worlds leading plus size brands. The highlight was meeting Gabi herself, a powerhouse in the plus size fashion blogging world akin to the likes of Rumi with her god like status amongst us mere mortals, Gabi has been a leader in the plus size blogging world, one of the first to really embrace her curves and make others have the confidence to do the same.

My personal struggle with self acceptance is all over my blog, especially in the early years (I’ve been blogging for five years now). Of course I still have days when I wish I was thinner, but not as many as I used to. One of my most popular ever posts was this one (and Gala you actually linked to it) where I discussed ways to dress for curves, which I now see as a self conscious way for me to address the fact that I felt alone at the time, like I was the only fat fashion blogger in the world. At that stage I used to get emails from people saying “I love that your a role model for us plus size girls” and it used to both annoy and frighten me, I thought my being plus sized was my little secret (Yes, secret! Even though I was posting images of myself all over the internet) and definitely didn’t want to be a role model for others, I mean how could I? I was still in the doubting myself and hating my body stage. That’s where the fatshion blogging community stepped in and showed me the way to self love and acceptance through seeing that I was in fact not alone, that there were other girls out there just like me, being fat and looking fabulous.

What it boils down to in the end though is the two blogging worlds are separate because the shops are separate. Well, that and a few other reasons, but hey, at least now you know we are out there, and we rock!”

What are your thoughts on body image in the blog-osphere? xoxo

Tokyo Obsessed

2011-06-13T22:14:00.000+10:00

I am obsessed with all things Tokyo right now, but really when am I not? Normally I would have got my Japan fix by now but Sydney induced poverty has kept me Australia bound, and as such I'm suffering major withdrawals, not helped by Susie Bubble's amazing posts on her recent Tokyo trip (look she visited my friends shops in Koenji's Kitakore building at my insistence, and she was impressed which says a lot, Susie sees the best of the best of the fashion world and what the kids in Koenji are doing stands out as unique/amazing/unreal amoungst all that she has seen!!!). So yes, I miss my amazing friends over there soooo much, and I miss the unique fashion just as much (the two are intertwined I guess). The above platform sneakers from a street snap from my friend Daisuke's site Drop Tokyo remind me of the sweet as pie Tabuchi from Spank and I really desperately want a pair for myself. Fruitless internet searching where I found many similar styles on yesstyle.com (the home for cute Japanese/Korean high street pieces) but sadly all were too small for my size 10 feet, has left me with a slight ache in the pit of my stomach for the awesomeness that could have been. I also found an amazing pair at Nu+Nan's Sydney city store, but they only have the one pair and again it was too small for my heffalump of a foot. Not that I would fare much better finding platform sneakers in Tokyo where I spent the year I lived there pretty much not buying any shoes at all due to the small sizing, but there occasionally were some larger shoes around and I'm sure I could stumble across a pair of platform sneakers in my size if I just could have some dollars in my account the next time Jetstar have a Japan sale. Here's hoping I get over there soon cos I'm going CrAzY!

Styling work: Westfield for Fashion Journal

2011-06-03T12:22:00.000+10:00

A new issue of Fashion Journal is out today, but if you have a copy of the previous issue (issue 104) you will see this Westfield advertorial I worked on (a little late to be posting about it I know, the day the new issue is launched and all but only now getting my blogging mojo back). Inspired by nature and the season itself, Autumn and the changing tones in the natural world the styling used a dusty burnt orange, camel and caramel palette to showcase the latest trends. All clothing is available at Westfield Sydney's urban level 1, where we shot on location. Shooting in a shopping mall is getting less weird for me now as this is the fifth time I've worked on a Westfield level 1 advertorial. Talk about yay for a returning client, I must be doing something right. It also makes it easy that there are so many great stores and interesting design features on that level so its always easy to pull great looks and get some interesting shots with cool backgrounds (how cool are the pink legs?)
Stylist Hayley Hughes Photographer Ken Leanfore Hair, make-up & manicure Vanessa Collins Model Isabella from The Agency Models Assistant Stylist Samnang Sou

Parting ways

2011-06-02T00:12:00.001+10:00

My fringe has finally grown out enough to try out a middle part, and I must say its nice to not have hair in my face all day. I can't wait till my hair is all one length, but I know as soon as that happens I will end up with a fringe again. The simple part has changed my look dramatically, I finally look my age and not ten years younger, or at least I think so. I do realise it is nice to look young and to be mistaken for a teenager well into my twenties and one day I will look back and wish I looked as young again.

Dress ASOS $75
Blazer A rediscovered gem. Its from when I taught English in Japan. I bought it on Bridge Road in Melbourne in desperation as I needed something fast as I was leaving the next day for Tokyo and in order to do the job you had to have a black blazer and I knew there was no hope of me finding one there. Yes it was a rule you had to wear your black blazer every day (even in Summer) as was wearing tights (but not printed, fishnet or lace) and sleeves that at least met your elbow. This blazer actually got me into a lot of trouble as it was too fashion-y I guess, but it was the only one I could find that actually fit me and wasn't incredibly ugly.
Necklace Corky Saint Clair silver Anatomical heart locket $150
Bag Sporsgirl Fringe Bag $99.95
Loafers Sportsgirl on sale for $39.95
New hair Free

I love the asymmetric hem of this dress. If you look at me from one side it looks like I'm wearing a maxi dress and on the other side a midi.

The bag is my third black fringed bag (the others died after too much wear) I hope on keeping this one much longer.

Comfy and cute, these loafers look like the shoes my Nana always wore. Love some nan-spiration. x

Styling work: Mori Gyaru - Forest Girl

2011-06-01T10:55:00.000+10:00

I've had this idea for a shoot for a long time, a shoot inspired by a cult trend from the streets of Tokyo, and finally got to realise my vision this week and I'm pretty happy with the result. What with being out of action for the last few months due to my knee as styling is pretty physical work - there is the sourcing, the lugging of many bags and boxes back to the location, prepping the racks which often involves building them first, dressing models which involves a whole lotta kneeling (which I'm still unable to do) and then returning all the clothing the next day. Who ever said fashion was glamourous? I'm just so happy to get back into the game. Have a few new clients to add to the mix, as well as my work for On The Streets of Sydney, of which the above shoot was for. Check out the look in its entirety and read the blurb about my inspiration, part forest girl part swamp girl, there is one in all of us xoxo

Stylist Hayley Hughes Photographer Rachel Kara Hair & Make-up Sarah Scott Model Lauren Moody from Chadwicks

All betts are off

2011-05-31T13:23:00.001+10:00

Betts kindly sent me a pair of Simpson desert boots $79.99 to help me build up my collection of flats now that I'm off heels for the next few months/possibly forever thanks to my knee injury. The shoes themselves are unbelievably comfy, I've been living in them since I got them. In return I had to snap 5 outfit photos for the Betts Blog "5 Ways to Wear" feature. As regular readers will know, my husband Henry still takes all my outfit photos, and he does so with about as much enthusiasm as a cow off to the slaughterhouse. As he works 9am-6pm all week coming home after dark this leaves us with only the weekend to snap outfits, which isn't much time at all and as I'm not one to change my outfit five times in one weekend lets just say this was a very painful exercise of negotiating on a NATO scale. But we did it without too much yelling, name calling and threatened walk outs and can now bring you an outfit post so epic you all better comment like you haven't commented before!

Blazer My husbands grey blazer vintage
Dress ASOS purple gingham dress
Necklace Gala Curios bow necklace
Tights Target tights (my knee brace is visible)
Bangle Elke Kramer resin bangle

Parka Forever New khaki parka
Dress Topshop floral dress
Necklace Tiffany & Co lock necklace
Leggings from Tokyo
Ring MOMA NYC acrylic ring
Bangle Elke Kramer resin bangle

Dress Mink Pink shirt dress
Belt vintage skinny belt
Hat floppy hat from ebay
Bag fringed bag from Sportsgirl
Rings rings from City Chic
Cuff from Lovisa

Dress Henrik Vibskov dress
Bag Alpha60 bag
Necklace Tiffany & Co lock necklace
Ring MOMA NYC acrylic ring
Bangle Elke Kramer resin bangle
Leggings from Tokyo
Socks brown socks from Myer.

Dress Alpha60 dress worn as top
Skirt Sussan skirt
Necklace Corky Saint Clair anatomical heart locket
Bag Love and Luck lawless satchel bag
Tights Target tights

In other news it was my birthday yesterday and I want to thank everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday, especially to my pals in New York who wished me a very drunken happy birthday from a rooftop party in Greenpoint, that phone call made my day. Thanks Ryan Lobo, Dion Lee, Andrej Pejic and Ebony Fleur, the best of Aussie fashion in one hilarious and confusing phone call which had to be blogged. xoxoxo FASHION Hayley

Between Two Ferns

2011-05-28T22:59:00.000+10:00

At the Sydney PAM opening with the super sweet Carri Munden from CassettePlaya. I'm wearing:
Dress Henrik Vibskov dress bought in New York for $100 on sale
Bag Alpha60
Necklace Tiffany & Co's new lock necklace
Desert Boots Betts

I'm surprised this never went viral

2011-05-26T15:45:00.000+10:00

nah not really x

TV is back

2011-05-11T22:23:00.000+10:00

As soon as I saw these lookbook images I knew I had to blog them stat. TV is my favourite Australian label ever, so when they took an indefinite break after their amazing AW10 collection (the lookbook of which I assisted on) by not creating a SS10/11 or AW11 collection I was left hopeful that the creative pair would return once more. And return they have with Monika and Ingrid's break having refreshed their eyes yet leaving them still delivering those TV trademarks with quirky playful cuts and bright colours. I do hope they have returned for good because if this new collection is something to go by the Melbourne duo are still outdoing their previous work.