The Wind Will Change and Your Face Will Stay Like That

I was sitting across from The Stylist this afternoon.
She looked me up and down and piped up, "That's pretty over the top even for you Mum."
I guess I did look slightly OTT for a wander down to the servo for a loaf of bread.

Yesterday I did a thing with my hair.
I mixed a couple of teaspoons of Manic Panic's Violet Night into a handful of conditioner and spread it through my hair.
Hello Mrs Slocombe!

We sat down for a coffee at a nearby takeaway joint and people gassing up their vehicles copped an eyeful of two mad-looking wenches.
Clearly, from the reactions it was a bit much for a nondescript, mid-afternoon Sunday, but it will give them something to mull over for the rest of the day.
If I displease or shock then too bad, I'm shocked by the overwhelming number of people who look like clones.

Lips earrings - Bones Couture

Sequinned top - gift from dear Heather

Massive gangsta necklace - gift from gorgeous Ada

1940s slip - eBay

1950s handbag - op shop score

Shoes - flea market, now in the bin coz I HATE walking in them.

Two days ago I ran out of milk so off I trotted ... 

1950s coat - flea market
1930s satin nightie - Etsy
Tassel necklace and silk scarf - op shops
Melissa shoes - shopped by dear Suzanne
Earrings - Bones Couture

Several days ago I decided to dress for urban guerrilla battles circa 1937.
The Stylist took these rather creative photos.  
I swear that girl is going places with a camera.

Vintage beret - Etsy

Silk scarf - op shop

"Perfect" badge - gift from lovely Tralala

Cotton shirt - nicked it off The Phoenix

1950s men's trousers - eBay

Doc Marten boots - retail

I'm linking up to Sacramento's awesome thingy.
Love,
Desiree xoxoxo

At Least You Won't Have Time to Be Bored

Well commuters had some free entertainment as the traffic snarled past this afternoon.
The Stylist snapped off our first outdoor pics at the new house and there was much slack-jawed staring and shaking of heads.
I was pretty impressed with our neighbour who's a paramedic and seen it all.
He just smiled and said "party time?"
Actually he's bang on there.
Today I'm celebrating being alive after carting a 15kg sack of potting mix home about 2km.
Then I did it again (sans sack) at a much brisker pace to pick up the lassie from school.
Funny though, we had more energy after our hot, humid walk home than we used to when we drove.
She did star jumps, I may have done three.

The scales tell me I've lost five kilos.
So do my leggings.
Hopefully I'll be able to wear them again this winter.
I rapidly gained weight when I was prescribed lithium late last year, but aside from that, the drugs knocked me for six.
Couldn't drive, finish a sentence, remember words, stay awake, hold any kind of conversation.
My brain had a "holiday" that's for sure.
It's nice to be a bit more switched on and active again.

1940s men's top hat - De Mille Vintage, Melbourne

Jacket - gift from the amazing, talented Georgie at Retro G Couture

1950s cotton bra - DIY dye-job

Tutu skirt and belt - op shops

Flamingo earrings - gift from Vintage Pip

Leggings - Black Milk

Shoes - market

Necklace - second hand

Clock - The Stylist

I'm linking up with some awesome wenches:

Citizen Rosebud's Shoe Shine, and 

I'm a bit ahead of myself, but I'll be linking to Sacramento's Share-in-Style: Watches, which runs from Saturday.

I want you to know how grateful I am that you pop over here to visit and I really, really love reading your comments.
I'm feeling the love!
Molto baci,
Desiree xxx

In The Beginning ...

I adore old houses filled with much-loved objects acquired from flea markets, op shops, jumble sales, garage sales, hand-made and gifted.

And in our last house, boy I really loved to fill every wall with all the things I adored.

It was earmarked for demolition so banging nails in the walls was never an issue.

But now we've moved, I haven't been able to bring myself to put up all the stuff again and replicate the style we had only a few weeks ago.

This house is about the same age, a post-war weatherboard family home, with a good-sized backyard and plenty of room.

But it's just been repainted, the floorboards gleam, it has clean, new blinds and it feels ... nice.

Storage is a problem: there isn't any, so I've been ruthless in moving on even more household stuff we weren't using or saving "just in case".

For now, I'm enjoying my houseplants as they make the place feel homely and loved and I've put up just a couple of paintings as it's what feels right for now.

And I have a horror of having to sift through mountains of clutter when we do have to pack up again.

Ivy Black Chat has a Shelf of Shite brimming with wonderful oddities she's collected over the years and I feel that will be my plan for when the clutter-bug in me strikes once more.

But I'll probably end up with a house strewn with junk anyway.

Here are a few pics of our lounge room so far.

This is Bruce the scotty dog.  I bought him for my sister in New Zealand, but he seems to have become stuck to the couch.

The start of The Phoenix's music corner ... there's a fretless bass on its way here, he's pretty excited about that.

Just a simple house, but it's home for now.

One of the views from the back deck.
It's such a lovely spot to eat, paint, draw, read, chat and drink endless cups of tea.

Dashed off to the city on Friday for a doctor's appointment in a typical last minute mish-mash of clothing.

1940s frock and green skull necklace - markets

1940s bed jacket and earrings - Etsy

Blue spiked bracelet - gift from Vix

Granny bag, glass bead and fruit necklaces - op shops

Creepers - Dolls Kill sale

I hope you've had a wonderful weekend.
Desiree x

Cracks

There's no doubt about it, Eva Green is resplendent in her measured portrayal of Miss G in Cracks.
No wonder Miss G's diving students had girl-crushes on her; she's uber-stylish, witty, defiant, exotic, exciting and she let the dorm girls dress up and get boozy in a secret midnight feast.
"You can achieve anything you want, you just have to desire it."
I desire her wardrobe.  And her sitting room.

Cracks is set during the 1930s in a remote girl's boarding school, a place where the minds of adolescent girls are receptive to Miss G's thoroughly modern ideas on womanhood.
She dresses in flamboyant, colourful scarves, silk velvet coats and *gasp* trousers!

She entertains her special girls in her private sitting room by ordering their books to be put away, dancing to gramophone records and holding sway with "tales" of her far-out, glamourous adventures abroad.

Of course, all good things must come to an end and Miss G's triumphant reign as queen of fantasies and dreams is bound to reach a crisis point.  We can see that right from the start.

But I still want her smudged eye makeup and bitten nails, right up until the end and beyond.

I fancied a more vibrant version of the 1930s bohemian style and it all came together when I rediscovered a long, fine, silk scarf while I was unpacking.

It quickly became a Miss G-style head wrap paired with my crumpled vintage haori worn inside out and a wispy-thin silk onsie frippery as a top.

Haori silk linings are always so beautiful.

I had an absolute ball wearing this outfit yesterday, I didn't want to take it off.

Pink haori, 1930s silk onsie, jet beads - Etsy

Scarf, rings, beads, 1970s lurex flares - op shops and flea markets

Oh you want to know about the eye shadow?
It's Neon Green glitter shadow by Callas Cosmetics on Etsy.  I wear it with their glitter glue so it stays on my eyelid and not my cheeks, although there are usually strays that I fail to catch with a tissue.
The diamante-studded eyelashes are from a two-dollar shop and I'm wearing Lime Crime's Velvetine lip paint in Suedeberry.

Frida's always keeping an eye on me, I think she'd love some lime green warpaint don't you?
Baci,
Desiree x