Lady Grey

How do you decide what to wear to big events? Usually (in Melbourne, at least) the weather has a big say in things and I leave everything to the last minute, but the frenetic pace of fashion week is not going to allow me that luxury. So I went through my wardrobe a bit over the weekend in an effort at being even vaguely organised to put some "new" outfits together. Yes, as much as I dislike the expression*, I "shopped my wardrobe".

Usually I'm all about colour, but I've been wearing this simple grey top to death lately (even though a while ago I never wore it and was going to give it to an op shop!). It works so well with everything, including this chocolatey fringed suede skirt and tan heels which you may remember from a few months ago.


Of course I brought a little bling to the equation too via Inca-ish earrings and woven gold bracelets... all this gold is from markets in Sydney and cost the sum total of $25 (actually, that's quite a lot for me, but hey, I go crazy when I'm on holiday).


I realised that I don't often carry bags in my outfit posts, and to be honest it's unlikely that I'd use this one during the day because it doesn't hold even a fraction of the crap that I normally need to lug around. But it works with the '70s lady look, don't you think?

*for no good reason. Maybe because it's just expressing what I've been doing (and I'm sure you have too) intuitively for years... going through stuff that gets shoved to the back of the cupboard and forgotten about, often on purpose, so that a few months later it's like finding something brand new. Yes, fooling yourself costs nothing, and it's fun too! And there's even a month dedicated to being all tricksy... and I've been invited to be one of the stylists for a special event during that month, but more on that later. No good giving you too much excitement in the one hit, is it?

Frida Kahlo had a monkey...

... and I have a cat.


But our outfits are kind of similar. Well, at least I think so.

(photo from here)



I bought this skirt made from Thai silk about two years ago at an op shop (but of course!) and it's been hanging in my cupboard waiting for me to decide what to do with it.


It was a bit long, so I was considering turning it into a dress by adding straps and a bodice at the waistband... and thought about it for ages and ages... but with fashion week around the corner and many events for which it would be nice to have a vaguely new outfit, I decided to finally do something about it.

And of course went with the easiest option of taking up the hem. I'd thought of wearing it all sophisticated and chic, but somehow the Mexican muse got the better of me. Not that anything I'm wearing is Mexican. The top's my mum's from the '70s and it was made in Thailand, and everything else I'm wearing is from practically everywhere except Mexico. But I think Frida would have approved. Let's just see what the Melbourne fashion pack have to say.

A tribute to safari suits

Working in a fairly informal office, my colleagues and I are fortunate in that we can wear pretty much anything we like, which explains why I can get away with outfits like this. However, I was still surprised when one of my workmates turned up in a safari suit the other day. I asked if he was attending a dress up party, a question which kind of backfired for me as he explained that he was wearing the 70s sartorial slip-up to honour a long-gone friend. The friend had had often worn safari suits, and now every year his mates gather for lunch, all dressed in safari suits as a kind of tribute. While the image of a group of men dressed in safari suits down at the local pub is somewhat humorous, it did get me wondering how people would dress if they were trying to honour me. I'd be extremely happy if it were something like this.

(Image of Fulani woman in all her amazingness from jamtan.com)

Yes, you'd be aware by now that I do like me a bit of earring goodness and general bling, the more ethnic-ky the better. But I know it's not to everyone's taste. How about these though? Would you be prepared to wear these at a little "dress like me" soiree?

By Ten Thousand Things


By Lulu Frost


By Lulu Frost


By Kara Ross

All of these and be more can be seen on style.com

Of course the real tribute would be if these were made from old wool and scraps of cardboard and other bits of stuff that you'd had sitting around for about 20 years, because as you know, that's fairly much how I roll.

Weekend in Sydney

Oh my goodness!!

I can't believe I forgot to tell you I was going to Sydney this weekend!!

So... um, yes. I went to Sydney this weekend. But it was not for anything fashion related, unless you count catching up with some of the coolest people in Tokyo and their little one (you met them here), who happened to be visiting family in Sydney.


Due to fog in Melbourne on Saturday morning when I was meant to leave, a planned trip to Rozelle market in Sydney did not really eventuate, and in fact most of the weekend was spend wandering and eating. Nothing wrong with that, although it made me pretty lazy and I didn't take many shots of anything except above-mentioned adorable baby and an exhibition at the gallery of NSW. Oh, and this shot which was taken for me ... check out the massive boulder next to the stairs!

These stairs are next to housing commission flats which have a seriously amazing view over Sydney Harbour.

Anyway, the rest of this post is just of pics from the David Aspden exhibition at the gallery of NSW - it's free, so if you like these and are in the area, drop in!

They were quite popular with this little lady...



Arty pic with me reflected in the glass...







I can totally imagine Marni or some other print-loving label turning these into textiles for a future collection...


Although this one might be handiest in combat....don't look at it for too long or you'll get a horrible headache!


Oh, and just in an aside - I also checked out the shopping exhibition at the State Library of NSW which is also free and pretty interesting... and there is a CAT statue outside the library. Got to love a library with a cat statue.


It's not just any old cat... it's Trim, Matthew Flinders' feline. Maybe the most famous ship's cat in the world?!



What did you get up to on the weekend, and perhaps more importantly, what would you put as the caption for a statue of your cat?

Felt balls for Nepal

Through my work for the Fair@Square festival fashion show I've met a lot of great people, one of whom is Stephanie Woollard. She has a fair trade business working with women in Nepal, which you can read more about here. An extremely inspirational young lady, I think you'll agree.
Not long ago I went to visit Stephanie to see her products and she asked if I had any idea what to do with the felt balls that the ladies in Nepal make.


Yes, they look cute here, but not exactly something anyone over the age of five would want to have much to do with, I think you'll agree. We wanted to turn them into something that could work for adults too, so I've had a go at making a few (crappy) prototypes which Steph will take back to show the women in a few days.




I sketched a few other ideas for jewellery and accessories and also made this necklace out of the felt flowers that are another product that the women make.


Let me stress that all of these are extremely badly executed and that they looked much better in my mind. For example, this little guy (who would be cute on a kid's keyring or as a brooch) had limbs and a tail...


Anyway, hopefully my efforts will at least give the women some new ideas... (hmm, perhaps of what not to do??)

Fame in Nomad's land

Everyone knows that a picture's worth a thousand words, but I wonder what this picture of me and the DJ from the Nomad launch party is saying? Possibly "we never met until a few seconds ago and yet we're being made to smile and pose like we go way back"? That's what it should be saying anyway! And next time, I should stick with just the picture... what on earth was I thinking when I said that I think about icecream when my mind wanders...?? (admittedly it is true some of the time...)



I was at the party last Thursday for work, and if you like you can read my little party piece here.
Nomad is a new boutique at 194 Bridport Street, Albert Park which has a decidedly Mexican flavour. What this basically means is that it is fabulously colourful and I loved it.
Here's a little guided tour!

Silk scarves with extremely intricate patterns...







Embroidered cushions by indigenous Australian artists...



Furniture from I don't know where, but it's certainly very tricky on the eye!




A long cool corridor (I'd guess the shop was once a house, and a lot of the houses in that area are very long rather than having a wide frontage).



The kitchen full of Mexican knick knacks...











The courtyard with huge mosaic/multi media works by an artist whose name I did not find out, annoyingly. I love these works, as they are so unexpected and they create such atmosphere (great lighting! My camera usually can't cope at night!).


This one has broken plates as the backdrop...


The mosaic tiles in this one are bits of mirror...


This one was my favourite, I think the tiles in the backdrop are pieces of mirror. Don't you think the model looks like Maggie Rizer? (Now that's a blast from the past!) I love the satin sheen on her huge puffy baby-blue sleeves.


And one more for luck where you can see how the works fit in with the great outdoors - I love how they look exactly right on the white wall with the tree branches framing them.