Outfit/ Chi Chi London Review

Today I wanted to show you my new favourite dress which I received courtesy of Chi Chi London ; this was an extremely exciting experience and I couldn't be happier with this beautiful and fabulous dress.  I adore the style of the dress; I'm sure it's very obvious from my blog that I'm quite partial to dresses of this shape and with lace overlays. It is so incredibly pretty, romantic,  exquisite and girly; everything I'd look for in a dress! It's sophisticated and classy too. I love the lower back, the slight shimmer to the black lace and how the lace graduates into a more transparent design at the top; it's details like this that really set this dress apart from the rest and make it a statement piece. It's wonderful that this dress fitted me perfectly and I believe it would be flattering on many people.  The colour is stunning, a gorgeous powder pink which looks beautiful against the delicate black lace. This dress is described as being ideal for cocktail, party, evening and bridal occasions and it most definitely would create a special and statement look. However, it is also very versatile. After these pictures I had to collect a parcel from the post office so I changed into some ballet flats and wore an open pink trench coat over the top of this dress. It made me think about a whole wider realm of possibilities for this dress; dressing it down slightly enhances the versatility. As well as a stunning evening dress; it would also be suitable for slightly more casual situations if paired with a cardigan and / or ballet flats. I always regard a piece of extremely valuable if it can be styled in a myriad of ways to suit different occasions. Despite loving the dress from the moment I saw it online, I was even more impressed when I actually saw it in person. I would regard this dress as a truly quality piece; the lining, layers of netting which create the skater shape, concealed zip and padded bust, all lend themselves towards this conclusion. The quality of a dress is very important to me and I can happily say that quality of this Chi Chi London dress is amazing. I highly recommend checking out their website. Thank you so much for the experience and I look forward to future opportunities.



















Gala Dress c/o  Chi Chi London
Wittner Latanya Heels
Alannah Hill hair bow
Peep Toe Bag
Diva Earrings

Linking to What I Wore Wednesday

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!