Item of the Week 031

It's been a long time since I've posted this feature, so long that 'Item of the Week' is becoming a rather redundant title; I'm sure I could more appropriately justify this cardigan as my favourite item of the month. My mother in law bought me this cardigan a few weeks ago and I've been in love with it ever since; it made me so happy and excited to receive surprise clothes in the mail. It was the best and added so much joy to the day! It suits my style perfectly; I've loved leopard print ever since I was a young child and it matches my leopard print coat hangers (little details like this amaze me too). It's very classic and I adore how much a faux fur detail can add to any outfit. Every winter I believe I have a new favourite style of look; last year I mostly wore coloured trench coats with my skirts and dresses and this year I've moved on to cardigans, specifically with fur collars. This is the first time I've blogged one but I have about five at the moment which I've accumulated over the years. I particularly like how this collar is paired with black because of the versatility; I can create both sophisticated and fun looks. This is definitely one of my most worn pieces this winter. I'll post some outfit pictures of how I styled this soon. 







Valleygirl Cardigan

Outfit

In recent times, this has been one of my go to outfits when I cannot decide what to wear; I'm surprised I haven't posted these pictures earlier. Soon it will be much too cold to go out in such a lightweight cardigan. I like this outfit because it coordinates well; probably since I've always been drawn to red and have accumulated a myriad of red items over the years which pair together rather nicely. This cardigan is one of my favourite ever items; so much so that I wrote a whole post on it a few months ago here.  I love flowers, beads, sequins and sparkle and this particular arrangement makes a unique collar.
I also like it how the entire cardigan is covered in a floral design; a change from most of my other AH cardigans which are a solid block colour. The buttons are special too; I believe this is an aspect capable of differentiating an item from a statement piece. Over the years, this red dress has been very reliable; it is even more valuable to me worn as a skirt rather than a dress. It makes up for the lack of a decent red skirt in my wardrobe. Is it just me or are plain coloured skater skirts of reasonable quality and length extremely hard to find? I am always searching for what should be wardrobe staples; this is probably why I treasure and wear both my black skirt and my green skirt so much. Also, this winter I am completely obsessed with gloves despite not paying much attention to them in the past. I can't believe how much warmer I feel just by wearing gloves and they are a relatively inexpensive accessory which are exciting to buy. I love the little pom poms on these gloves!

















Recently I've been thinking a lot about blogging and how it has become such a significant part of my life;  from the day I started back in 2009, there's no way I could have imagined how much I'd love it and what it would mean to me. I'm sure it goes without saying that I blog because I love fashion; I enjoy sharing my looks, finding inspiration from others and having an extremely small section of the Internet dedicated to my personal style. But to me, it is also so much more than just a place to share fashion; it's a community, a place where I feel accepted like I fit in, which generates positivity, makes me feel connected; it's somewhere that I can always rely on for support and friendship despite what may be happening in my 'real life.' Not only do your comments make me feel better about myself, I truly value the friendships  I have made here and I appreciate the opportunity to speak to some of you via email about aspects of life other than fashion. There's often so much more to someone than what appears on the surface; I'm definitely a lot more complex than just some girl that over dresses all the time. Thanks to those who I've been able to trust over the years and who I've relied on when I otherwise felt alone. Feel free to email me any time about fashion, life or anything really. I always like to talk and make new friends. Is there anyone else out there who feels like fashion blogging is so much more than just fashion?

Princess Highway Dress
Alannah Hill 'Shower Me in Alannah' Cardigan
Wittner Kilton Flats
Thurley Bag
Prouds Pearls
Kmart Hair Flower
Forever New Gloves

Linking to What I Wore Wednesday,  Trending Pretty

A Day at the Park with Sara and Tori from 'The Polished Edge'

I thought it would be appropriate to start today's post with this particular picture because it rather accurately describes my weekend. It was wonderful, the best I've had in an extremely long time. On Saturday I went to the park with my sisters in law from the Polished Edge. It was a  lovely warm and sunny day, just perfect for a picnic and taking blog pictures. I adore this particular park, I've featured it on my blog a number of times and; it's always very beautiful especially at this time of year with the autumn leaves. It's also great to take pictures somewhere other than my usual location. We have many fabulous pictures together for a blog collaboration. I LOVE these girls, they are my best friends ever! 

Firstly,  I'll focus on the outfit I wore on Saturday. I always say it's interesting the way outfits come together. I also believe it's very satisfying creating new outfits with pieces I've had in my wardrobe for a long time and maximising the versatility and potential of my wardrobe. Last week I was thinking of outfits that would possibly be appropriate for work during the winter. Even though I am yet to start full time work, it is always good to be prepared. While in the process it gave me many ideas for everyday outfits that I wouldn't have thought of otherwise.  To me, this outfit represents my usual girly and dressy style but in much darker colours. I don't think I've worn a pair of black tights since I was in high school and for once I actually felt dressed appropriately for the colder months. I actually felt quite classy and well put together dressed in this colour scheme; although don't get me wrong, I will always love excessively colourful outfits too and often one of my main objectives for winter dressing is to look as colourful as possible. I was thinking the other day about what a fantastic dress this has been over the years. It is so versatile; I've styled it here and here before (almost time for a remix post I think) and I like how it can look like both a skirt and a dress. I like how it is slightly more unique than many dot dresses; I remember Modcloth describing it as a bubble dress and I've always found that very sweet. I love how the collar and tie bow looks with a cardigan. Yet again I'm getting more use out of my 'From Pair with Love Bag' and black Alannah Hill cardigan. 

It was extremely fun to work on a blog collaboration together; a very welcomed change to always taking blog pictures on my own. I'm very happy with the way these photos turned out. I wasn't aware we were doing this until after I'd met up with Sara and Tori so I thought it was rather coincidental that our outfits were so well coordinated. I love how they both have their own individualistic style, as represented by the Polished Edge. It was fabulous to be able to share my greatest interest, which is obviously fashion, with my sisters and best friends. Our other sister in law kindly took photos for us all day; I hope my husband, who has taken about 90% of the photos I've posted on my blog, appreciated a break. She had some great ideas for photos that I probably wouldn't have come up with myself. I particularly  liked the concept of pairing my hair flower with the pretty flowers in the trees which appears further down. Thanks for a fun weekend girls, I hope to do it again soon. 

Another enjoyable aspect of the weekend was the opportunity to see and drive  the most incredibly pretty car in the whole entire world which my in laws recently purchased. I felt so cool. Sara is going to  learn how to drive in it very soon and I know she is very excited for the day when it officially becomes hers!  Head over to the Polished Edge for more on that. 

Lovely rainbow butterflies...yes, I have too much free time. 

Autumn leaves are so great; they look cool and make fantastic photos. This was so much fun.




I went a little crazy with photoshop this time




















I'm the only one without a Guess bag...I feel excluded LOL. There's a Guess bag that I really want to buy at the moment but I'll have to add it to the ever growing 'after I get a full time job' list. Whenever I walk past this particular bag at the shops and someone else is admiring it, the voice inside my head instructs them to "put it down, walk away, that's my bag' Then I daydream about the exciting pretty bag magically becoming mine.














I've rediscovered these shoes after having not worn them for quite awhile, anyone remember them from here and here? The small heel makes them very comfortable for daytime wear, I like the cut outs and I love how they can tie both black and navy blue into an outfit. My favourite part about these shoes is the vintage aspect; I just love how many times I've been asked whether these shoes are real vintage which is an ultimate compliment.  I also bought this amazing sparkly nail polish from Revlon late last week. It took many coats to get this effect. I wanted some variety since I only seem to use pink, red, purple and very occasionally gold nail polish. I wasn't sure if blue would suit my style but in a girly and sparkly shade I believe it does. Wow...I can't believe I just wrote so much about a few items of clothing...but clothes are exciting!


 
Who else watched Eurovision this weekend? Is it just me or does Emmelie de Forest look incredibly similar to Isla Fisher? (AKA Rebecca Bloomwood!) I thought both Denmark and Russia were very beautiful performances. When I said earlier that the top picture in this post represents my weekend very accurately, I was also referring to Eurovision; my facial expression pretty much represents just how entertaining I found Romania's performance. It was epic. Just wow. I've watched it so many times since. We love it here in Australia. The next time I feel sad, I'm going to listen to it on repeat; I'm sure it would be capable of lifting my mood. 

Don't forget to check out The Polished Edge for more about our exciting weekend.  

Alannah Hill I'm a Little Fusspot Cardigan
Modcloth Serene Bubble Dress
Kmart Hair Flower
Diva Earrings
Prouds Pearls 
Sachi Heels
Forever New 'From Paris With Love' Bag

Linking to What I Wore Wednesday

Wishlist: 4 Coats

It's been awhile since I've posted a '4 items' wishlist. I was thinking about all the previous wishlists I've made; realising that I'd already covered cardigans, dresses, and shoes so I thought what would be more appropriate at this time of year than to make coats the subject of this post. It's certainly starting to get cold here and often I feel so jealous of my friends in the northern hemisphere starting to have some warmer weather! Although I definitely shouldn't complain about the weather in Australia; plus for the first time in years I'm actually enjoying wearing gloves, scarves and coats in addition to beautiful, exciting cardigans. Coats are at the forefront of my mind these days, not only because it is winter but also because the prospect of full time work and public transport in the early hours of the morning are no longer in the distant future. It is going to be a huge change for me; I've only ever been a full time student and I really maximised that concept by sleeping in basically the entire time I was at university. More about jobs later; I don't want to say too much until it has actually happened. So the point is, once I do start working and have some money, a warm winter coat will pretty much constitute a necessity, right? I'm sure it comes as no surprise that all four of my choices  come from Alannah Hill; I just love the quality and the unique colours when it comes to coats.

Alannah Hill Help Me Coat
I thought I'd start with my absolute favourite! I saw this while shopping with a friend a few weeks ago and our first reactions were "it's so pink!!" My love for this coat grew from there; the beautiful unique shade of pink, the white faux fur frim, the oversized buttons and the bow detailing at the pockets. It also has really cool colourful diamond print lining which is always a bonus; I get very excited by the linings of coats and jackets. This coat is so girly, pretty and dreamy; it is perfect. We were meant to be together, just a sizable sum of money stands in our way.

Alannah Hill The Secret of Secrets Coat
I just came across this stunning coat while I starting writing this post this morning. I'm sure it comes as no surprise, after all my recent posts here and here about this colour, that a duck egg blue coat is on my wishlist. I'd had my eye on the shorter version of this coat from months now but I wasn't sure if the flared style in jacket form suited me. But at this length I'd have no trouble and the shape partially draws my attention to this coat. I also love the collar; I adore any form of oversized collar. Again, it comes with the most incredible kitty cat print lining; how could this possibly be any better? 

Alannah Hill The Good Girl Coat
I definitely believe the statement "it's so pink!" should apply even more so to this coat; it is just the most incredible bright and happy shade. Over the years, as my colour preferences and style has changed, hot pink has always remained as one of my favourites. I saw this while shopping last week and the quality also sets it apart; it is so warm and the material  and slight textured effect is simply beautiful. Also, I love the collar. Every winter there seems to be one style in particular that I am drawn to. Last winter most of my outfits revolved around coloured trench coats. This year my obsession is cardigans and coats with faux fur collars.

Alannah Hill Damn You Girl! Coat 
I chose this as the final coat for my wishlist because of the beautiful and bold emerald colour. In recent times I've started to like green a lot more, evidenced by my outfit posts here and here.  I believe emerald is an extremely classy and sophisticated shade and makes a statement. It's so unique compared to anything I have in my wardrobe since I am usually drawn to pink and red coats; and I find this aspect of it very refreshing. I also love the oversized buttons and the buttons on the shoulders and it comes with the colourful diamond print lining too. 

Now I've reached the end of this post, it seems rather strange writing about cold weather and coats. Today was extremely beautiful, warm and sunny and I had a fabulous day with my sisters from the Polished Edge; a world entirely distant from how freezing cold it was when I started this post early this morning. Regardless, winter is definitely on its way!

Outfit

Thanks for your comments on my last post; I love learning more about fashion and I feel quite the expert on chevron, or Missoni, print now. On Sunday I felt inspired to wear my chevron printed dress which I purchased from Modcloth a couple of years ago. It feels great styling a dress that I haven't worn for ages and maximising the potential of my wardrobe. I realised just how many different possibilities there are for this dress such as white, black, red, green and yellow accessories. When deciding which of my many cardigans to pair with a dress, I often think about which colour would be the most obvious choice. To me, red stands out as the most in this print; I've worn my red cardigan with this dress many times and I accessorised with red when I posted here. However, sometimes this inspires me to choose a colour, which still matches, but is not necessarily the most obvious choice and that's how I arrived at this green lace cardigan. In recent times I've started to love green especially a beautiful emerald shade; this is evidenced by the fact that I seem to post more green outfits these days here and here. With my love of green in mind I searched my wardrobe for a pair of emerald heels; wishful thinking, I guess I was hoping such shoes would magically just appear. Is it just me, or are green shoes one of the hardest items to find? The closest I have are my Seychelles heals which I posted here but they are much more of a teal shade. Suddenly I thought, why not be more creative and bring out all of the bright and fun colours in this dress? That's how I arrived at the combination of yellow heels and a red hair flower and bag. I LOVE colour; there can never be too much colour in an outfit I say!I have a few particular bloggers in mind who I believe would agree.

















 A few weeks ago here, I mentioned that I don't always carry a bag because my husband's pockets often function as my handbag. After I told him this, he wanted to be featured on my blog too. Just look how big that pocket is at the front; perfect for my camera and Iphone which don't actually fit in my red circular bag. I thought this would be a good time to post this photo because on Sunday we were almost a matching couple; I'm pretty sure there are some small elements of chevron print in his outfit too. One of the aspects I love about Rydog is his quirky personality and individualistic sense of style. Yes, this is a poncho and yes, it is a woman's poncho; in fact I quite enjoy wearing it around our apartment since it's so comfortable. It is such a fun piece, we loved buying it and it's always great to see other people's reactions to this very unique poncho. I hope you all had a great weekend. I enjoyed catching up with family including my sisters at The Polished Edge. Check out their blog!


Alannah Hill Having Said That Cardigan
Ark & Co dress via Modcloth Steal the Game Show Dress
Zu Heels
Thurley Bag
Kmart Hair Flower
Sportsgirl Necklace 

Linking to: What I Wore Wednesday,  Trending Pretty, Marionberry Style

Latest Discovery: Chevron Print

I always find it interesting the random little facts we learn every day. The other night my husband asked me what the word chevron meant. I told him not to be so ridiculous, surely chevron isn't a word; it must be yet another word which he has made up. Still not entirely convinced, we decided to Google the word chevron and, to my surprise (and delight!) we found that chevron, among other meanings, is actually a really pretty amazing print. As someone who claims to know a lot about fashion, it is quite terrible that I didn't know this! Now there is a whole new realm of patterns I could incorporate into my wardrobe. I totally want a chevron dress now, it is such a fun print and a great variation on stripes.I could totally DIY a pair of shoes with a chevron heel; there are so many possibilities. While creating these sets I enjoy discovering new designers and online stores. Unfortunately I think the Matthew Williamson items will be out of my price range forever but there are a whole range of much cheaper alternative chevron printed items. As usual my favourite place for chevron printed dresses is Modcloth; I could easily have filled this set with Modcloth dresses alone but I thought I should implement some variety. While browsing the Internet I also came across many chevron printed home wares; I have become much more excited about pretty items for the apartment in recent times.Another aspect I adore about chevron print is that it is somewhat versatile; I believe a classy sophisticated look could be created from black and white, while the more colourful designs are extremely fun and playful.

Photos from Modcloth, Chiara Fashion, Matthew Williamson, Sincerely Sweet Boutique, Bionda Castana, Missoni, Amrita Singh, Joss and Main


I was looking through my wardrobe during the week; since I really shouldn't be spending on clothes at the moment and I realised that this dress which I posted here in January 2012 would probably constitute chevron print. So maybe my dreams of owning a chevron print dress are much closer than I thought; literally in my wardrobe right this moment. Don't you just love it when that happens? The exact same thing happened to me a few years ago when I desperately wanted a polka dot skirt. Now I feel inspired to wear this dress again and I'll pair it with one of my Alannah Hill cardigans to create a different look. The discovery of the word chevron has opened up a myriad of opportunities and provided me with many ideas for blog posts!

So tell me, are you a fan of chevron print? Am I really the only person in the world who didn't know the name of this print?