Outfit

Hi everyone, it's time for a very colourful outfit. I've mentioned many times before that I find it interesting to see the way in which outfits come together; I often end up pairing pieces together which I acquired around the same time but may not necessarily have put together otherwise. This is definitely the case with this outfit. The dress is one of the pieces which my friend had made for me in Hong Kong and the cardigan is a recent DIY/customisation project. I have very rarely, if ever, seen anyone wear this colour combination; it makes me feel like I could be a presenter on the children's television show.  I absolutely love this dress and, being a completely different material, I hope it's different enough to the green velvet version which I posted here. Orange has been such an underrated colour for me up until recently. I used to hate orange and, as a result there is very little orange in my wardrobe. This is my second orange dress and I have an orange bag but a pair of orange shoes would be pretty cool. I love that orange is bold and makes a statement. It's great that it's such a happy and positive shade. It's like my relationship with yellow. I hated yellow until last year and now it's one of my favourites colours; it's becoming like that with orange too. The other reason why I chose orange polka dots  is because I almost bought a dress of that description not long before I had this one made.. It was really exciting to receive a piece which I so desperately wanted. 

I've been interested in sewing lately; not making clothes because that would involve too much effort and skills which I don't have. However, I love adding beads, buttons, sequins and trim to cardigan. This has been a hobby of mine for many years but on a very off and on basis. I posted a couple of the my earlier customised cardigans here and here. This is my favourite one I've ever designed, assisted substantially by the existence of these beautiful fun beads in Lincraft. It was great fun and I was even a little sad once I finished it but that is ok because I have a number of other designs in the making. To add even more brightness to an already colourful outfit, I decided to show you my new bag which I received courtesy of Tidebuy. The colour is very beautiful, as is the diamond design. The large practical size means it will probably come to work with me a number of times. 

In other news, I recently came across a site called Cuponation which offers fashion discounts as well as beauty coupons and deals. I love discovering new sites; it's one of my favourite parts of having a blog and spending so much time on the Internet. I've always liked the idea of these coupon codes but have never known where to find these deals. I even noticed a few of my favourite stores on there like clutch bags for $7 at Colette, 50% off the clearance section at Florsheim and 70% off wallets at Strandbags. I look forward to making use of these codes and doing some shopping soon. I like to share these discoveries with you.






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Custom Made Orange Polka Dot Dress
Customised Cardigan from Review
Wittner Queen Heels
Colour Square Block Satchel c/o Tidebuy 

Linking to: What I Wore Wednesday, More Pieces of Me, On The Daily Express, Simple Sequins, Whatcha Wearing Wednesday, Confident Twosdays

Handbags 101

Recently I came across a resource called the Handbag Style Guide by Rue La La. It has a great deal of interesting and important information about handbags including a history of different styles through the decades, a description of iconic designer labels, tips on how to care for handbags and an outline of the different types of handbags. I definitely recommend you take a look at the site.

This got me thinking about my own handbag collection. I thought I'd start off by showing you my handbag essentials. Inspired by the typical 'what's in your bag' post, I often find it interesting to see what others carry in their bags.

My Handbag Essentials
-Guess Wallet
-Frozen Coin Purse
-Ted Baker Makeup Bag
-Hair Comb
-Security Pass for Building Access at Work
-Red Lipstick! (and clear gloss)
-Keys
-Earphones
-Phone 

The handbag guide also shows some of the designer label signatures. I find this particularly interesting given my recent interest in designer handbags following the time I borrowed a real Chanel handbag. 

The handbag guide outlines the different styles of bags so I thought I'd show you my favourite types to get an idea of what works for me:

The Clutch 

I love clutch bags; they are so adorable and sweet. Of course they aren't the most practical of bags (I even have a couple that can't even fit in a iphone inside) but I try and make them work as much as possible. They are great for a night out and sometimes I take them into work in addition to another bag. I have so many clutch bags and here are some of them:

The Tote

I definitely believe the tote is the most popular type of bag out there; that's no surprise given it's so useful, practical, large and versatile. I especially love my tote bags by Guess and I can never resist adding a new one to my collection. I favour the tote bag over the hobo style bag because I like the structure of the tote.  Here are a few of my tote bags:

The Pouchette

This style of bag appears to be what I would call a flap bag. I was very interested to read that the shape is inspired by a loaf of bread tucked under a French girl's arm (how crazy is that?!) I don't have too many pouchettes but I do like the style and would definitely like to add more to my collection. I love that it reminds me of many of the classic Chanel bags. Here are a few of mine:

Check out Handbags 101 here.

Outfit

Hi everyone. Unfortunately this is my last post with the gorgeous, beautiful, pretty, exciting and perfect Chanel bag. I would like to borrow her again but for now she is back with her rightful owner. The opportunity to borrow a real Chanel bag for a couple of weeks was very dangerous for my future bank account; it has  made me want my very own Chanel bag ore than ever before. I maintain hope that I will have my very own special treasure one day (even if it is extremely far into the future). My dress is another piece which my friend had custom made for me in Hong Kong. Like my yellow coat from my last post, this piece is perfect for me and holds the excitement of being designed exactly the way I wanted it. As I mentioned, I used the opportunity to have items made that I've searched for over the years but have never been able to find. I am a massive fan of velvet and always believe there isn't enough of it around. It is frustrating that velvet only ever seems to come in black, navy blue and burgundy (as much as I love my dresses in those shades, a little variety would be desirable too). I adore the elegant and regal feel of velvet and I believe those elements are intensified in emerald green. Wow. There are so many styling possibilities for this dress. I especially love the combination of Chanel and velvet; to me it seems very elegant and classy...There's not much else to report here. My life is about work, work and work right now. It's a good job I like  this place so much.














Chanel Bag (borrowed!)
Custom Made- Emerald Velvet Dress
Wittner Queen Heels
Multi Colour Rosette Necklace c/o OASAP
Pandora Bracelet  

Linking to: More Pieces of Me, What I Wore Wednesday, Whatcha Wearing Wednesday,

New In

Hi everyone! Today I'd like to show you my new yellow coat. While all additions to a wardrobe are generally pretty exciting, this piece is extra special since it is custom made. A few weeks ago my friend visited Hong Kong and, appreciating my love for clothes, she asked if I'd like any clothes made. I certainly couldn't let that sort of opportunity pass me by, it felt like a dream come true (almost like being a fashion designer for a day). There have been many pieces I've searched for in the shops for a number of years but have never been able to find so I used this as a starting point. The most notable piece in this category was certainly a yellow coat (you may remember my post here where I wrote about narrowly missing out on a yellow Alannah Hill coat in the sales). In total I had five pieces made (three dresses, a coat and a skirt). I wanted to get hundred of clothes made but I didn't want to go too crazy since my friend was already going to so much effort on my behalf. I also got all the dresses made in the same pattern for a similar reason (but I think they look different enough being in contrasting materials). The process involved selecting one of my existing dresses (for example), then I purchased material and asked for a dress in the exact same design. If I ever end up visiting Hong Kong, it could be dangerous in terms of the amount of clothes I'd want to get made. While I was certainly looking forward to receiving all my new clothes I didn't imagine them to quite as spectacular as they turned out to be. It was so fun seeing my ideas come to life. The part that impresses me the most is the extent to which each piece resembles the item it was modeled from. I have no idea how they get it so accurate but each piece is absolutely identical. This coat isn't exactly the most simplistic design with the gathered waist and the beautiful collar. I can't even explain how impressed I am by those skills. My new yellow coat was modeled on my Alannah Hill 'Secret of Secrets Coat' which I posted here. I must say I like the yellow version much more. My friend selected the pretty pearl buttons which are perfect. I couldn't possibly be happier with my new coat. It is one of the stand out pieces in my wardrobe.









Soon I will show you the other clothes I had custom made.

Admission as a Lawyer of the Supreme Court of New South Wales

On Friday 10 October 2014 I was admitted as a lawyer of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. I still can't believe it: I never thought this could ever possibly happen. It means so much to me because of all the struggles along the way. I never felt good enough to be in this career and experienced indescribable anxiety and depression along the way. I almost quit university on numerous occasions because I was so incredibly miserable there. I also never expected to go undertake post graduate study which is also necessary to become a lawyer; that was the big decision I made this year to study at The College of Law. Friday was a very lovely day. The weather was warm and sunny. The admission ceremony was interesting. The formalities were a great experience; I loved it when the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court read out my name and officially admitted me as an officer of the court. I had lots of family there to celebrate. I wish the day wasn't over.

In terms of my outfit, I selected this dress for the occasion many months ago. It's from Kitten D'Amour and as soon as I saw it in the store I knew it would be the dress for my admission (not that I by any means needed a new dress but becoming a lawyer is a pretty good justification). The dress code for the event was business attire but for me that simply wasn't going to happen (I hate business clothes and don't even wear them to my actual job). I thought this dress was a good compromise between business attire and what I would have worn had there been no dress code). In my mind I certainly justified it as the perfect dress. As it turns out business clothes is often interpreted rather broadly. I love this dress so much I believe it's very elegant and classy. The velvet ribbon detailing (which is present on so many Kitten D'Amour pieces), the stripe design, the cameo, the lace and the neckline are all such gorgeous details.



















Kitten D'Amour High Society Opera Dress
Chanel Bag (borrowed!)
Wittner Queen Heels
Prouds Pearls 
Pandora Bracelet 

Linking to: Fashion Item Friday, Watcha Wearing Wednesday, What I Wore Wednesday, More Pieces of Me

Outfit

There are two very notable and exciting parts to my outfit today. The first is that, yes, I am holding a real CHANEL bag. Unfortunately I do not own it; my life long goal is that one day I may own my very own Chanel bag. It belongs to my mother in law and she's allowed me to borrow if for my admission as a lawyer tomorrow. She mentioned this near the beginning of the year and it's an aspect of admission I've looked forward to ever since. Because I am so in love with it and I don't know when the next time I hold a Chanel bag will be, I decided to take some pictures with it. Can you tell how much I love it from the pictures where I'm hugging this treasure? I am super in love with her (this bag needs a name); the perfect quilting, the beautifully crafted hardware, the perfectly structured logos and the classy deep red lining are all stand out features. It's so classy and the ultimate fashion piece. I also believe it would make a wonderful decoration for the house.

Next I have my new skirt by Pho Sizzle Threads. I've written a few times about this fun and creative emerging label. After owning my namesake skirt, 'The Imogen Skirt', I decided it was time to add the Berry Pencil Skirt to my wardrobe.  The print  is just the best. I adore the scalloped hem and the blue pocket/trim detailing. It's lovely quality; a structured design while maintaining flexibility. There sure is a lot going on in this outfit and I can't quite believe that of all the items in my wardrobe I chose to pair chevron with this skirt. But I love creating combinations which are unique. I wanted a thin top so it wouldn't look bulky under a pencil skirt and this chevron design just happens to be very slim lined. Chevron is a great print, I should really wear more of it.
As soon as I paired the two together I knew this would be the winning combination. 













  
Chanel Bag (Borrowed!)
Pho Sizzle Threads Berry Pencil Skirt
Kmart Chevron Top
Pin Up Couture Heels via Kitten D'Amour (The Countess Kitten Shoe)
Prouds Pearls  

Linking to: Watcha Wearing Wednesday, What I Wore Wednesday, More Pieces of Me, Fashion Item Friday, Throw Back Thursday,