I Walk the Line

Isn't it interesting how an item of clothing can be utterly naff in one part of the world, yet oh-so-cool in another?
I'm certain that if I wore this London Underground "Official Merchandise" t-shirt in London, someone would trip me up on the Tube platform.
Yet here in Brisbane, I constantly get comments like "omg your t-shirt's so cool!", whenever I wear the darn thing, which I thrifted for four bucks.
I once wore it to a music festival and constantly got comments.
It actually embarrasses me as I feel it's the cultural equivalent of wearing a shirt emblazoned with a bouncing kangaroo on it, here in Oz.
But I wear this t-shirt as I've always loved the graphic element of the London Tube map.
Practically every second station holds a memory for me.


Still pretty chilly here so out came another cape.
This time another vintage Scottish tartan cape, but this one is crafted from mohair and wool. 
Oh so soft:).
It was thrifted for the, once again, magic figure of $4.
I'm also wearing Bitching and Junkfood leather shorts, thrifted (new) tights and thrifted silver, leather granny shoes.

But I needed to junk it up a bit more so I've added DIY pink arm-warmers, 1960s white earrings and fists full of rings.

You can see a bit more of the shirt here, but if you're British or live in London I can understand if you're thinking "Why?" ;P.

I thought I'd show you the arm-warmers as many of you delicious lovelies are going into fall and they're a great way to extend the use of t-shirts as you drift into cooler weather.
Adding a cape is another great way of adding an extra layer for warmth without the claustrophobic nature of a coat.
Moving from the spare layers of summer into heavy winter layers can have it's psychological barriers, so hopefully I've given you a couple of ideas to play with.


Accessories close-up:

Yes the arm-warmers are tights. 

I just cut the legs off at crotch level.

Then at the toe, snip a tiny slice for your thumb and a bigger slice off the "toe" for the rest of your fingers to pop through.

Do tell:  Which type of clothing gives you cultural-cringe?

House Rent Boogie

I think the shoes came first in choosing this outfit.
How impractical for soggy, wet grass - but it just had to be done.
I haven't worn these wedges for ages.
I bought them about five years ago and thought they were going to be an expensive, regrettable, trendy item that would date after one or two seasons.
NOT!!!
I still love them as much as the day I floated out of the shop with them.
It was a good lesson to learn - who gives a crap about whether they're the latest thing or not?
When it comes to shoes, if they make you feel like a horny toad, then work them.
I really wanted to get these shots done outdoors between the torrential downpours we're having - so I chose something happy to wear to perk me up after a tough day juggling the pennies around.
This is a 1970s old-stock dress I thrifted last year, with its original tag still attached.

I love wearing it - I feel like I should be strolling the streets of New Orleans in this get-up, with some crusty, old busker crooning passersby:).
I've added a 1940s fox collar, fishnets and bangles - of which my collection is s-l-o-w-l-y growing.
I want armloads like Nancy Cunard.

I've added my favourite Mona Lisa earrings which are starting to look a bit worse for wear, 1960s black mesh gloves and a 1960s gold plastic hair clip.

Butter wouldn't melt while wearing my Mary Janes;P.

Shoe porn shot (don't look at my nails - I said don't!)

Trinkets.

Cheeky tip of the day:  Dive into the back of your closet and style something, anything that you find there.  After all, if it's in your closet, why aren't you wearing it? xoxo

God is a DJ

Well it was spring here.

Was.

But the heavens have opened and there've been gales and floods for several days now.

The gods have decreed the people of Brisbane shall have leaky roofs, trees over roads and lines, washed-out festivals, wet feet and bad hair.

Ah but it means I can wear this glorious little red 1950s coat I bought on eBay last year. 

I love the cut, bracelet-length sleeves, big buttons and pockets and lovely wide neckline and collar.

And it's warm.

I had hoped it would be worn more often but I wore my kimonos and furs to the max this winter.

The green kilt is still on rotation and I decided on a cheeky combination by pairing it with a blue, 1960s, wool, sequinned and beaded shell top, fence-net tights and anti-weather Docs.

The coat screams for armloads of bangles but I slipped arse-over-tit in the wet today and landed on my right knuckles, so they're a bit tender.

Oh and do you like my 1950s white, ostrich-skin handbag?  I bought it at a Melbourne flea market for ten bucks. It's big enough to carry all my crap in style.

Look no black clothing!

Shimmy, shimmy.

I took a couple of cms off the bottom of what was turning into a hideous Camilla Parker-Bowles hair-don't and gave it a razor-cut before taking these shots - I'm happy with how it turned out.

And I love how these 1960s whites baubles scream for attention.

I hope you're well-rested and stepping into the new week looking utterly gorgeous. xo

I'm No Angel

First of all I want to say thank you to all you bloggers who have commented here on my blog.  Your words of encouragement always make me smile and give me a right ol' giggle.  I admire all of you - it's not always easy to keep up with the frantic pace of life, be creative AND blog about your creativity.  You are amazing for hanging in there. xxxx


After a lone, five-hour round-trip by train to collect a wheelchair today, I'm feeling surprisingly perky and have a little energy left for my outfit du jour.
I think it's fitting to do a little tribute to my new Black Milk wet-look catsuit that the Phoenix bought me following much secret and silent coveting on my part.
I couldn't afford it and he surprised me by buying it for me on the last day before the collection was taken offline in readiness for BM's upcoming range, which I understand will include swimsuits (torture!).
BM made one especially for me coz I needed just a teeny more length in the leg - and it arrived yesterday!
The Phoenix is a keeper and a darling.
This is the first new item of clothing I've had for countless months.
No complaints as I love thrifting and making my own gear, but it's such a delicious treat to have something brand new!
Shiny, black parcel arrives ...

Containing a shiny, stretchy, cheeky little number ...

The raw product: one catsuit.

Now for the styling part.
We all know how tricky an all-in-one can be to manage especially when a bathroom stop on the run is called for.
Soooooo, the secret is to keep the layers reeeeaaaaly simple.
Forget layering using skirts with a waistband unless you want your skirt falling in a puddle in some dingy pub loo.
Think elastic, elastic, elastic.
'Course if you're game to wear the catsuit on its own, then by all means do so with pride and confidence:) (and show us pix please!).
But I'm new to this naked-without-being-naked piece so I'm covering up a bit.
A loose tunic is fine as you can whip it off quickly then wriggle out of the catsuit.
I've chosen to wear it with my Storets cotton, ruffle shorts and my bronze bustle skirt seen at right of each pic.
Unfortunately though, the skirt elastic is baggy and needs replacing so I'll post pix once I've done that job.
Do you remember my kilt that I shortened here?
You should recognise this same fabric here then.
Yes folks the kilt is part of a suit - a cape suit!
Perfect for catsuit-wearing, vintage, superhero antics!

Worn with 1950s hairpiece I call "the birds nest", Storets ruffle shorts, jet beads and velvet platforms.

See what I mean about being easy to get on and off?  Think about it.
Another styling idea.  Different vintage headpiece and a cotton scarf.

Silk flower hair clip, rings and bangles galore.

I'm sure there are more ways to style a catsuit.
Here I've created a bit of a tuxedo version, the catsuit is worn on its own with an Etro blazer, 1950s lace collar, chunky bangles and sky-high heels.

The collar fastens up at the back with a pearl button.  Ladies used to wear these collars to decorate plain sweaters.

The ruffle shorts are back on and I've added pearl ropes, plus a purple glass and pearly bead vintage necklace.

A blond fur cape for all you readers heading into autumn.

I hope you're all having a fantastic Friday and looking forward to sparkling weekend xo.

Tagged you're it!

If you haven't read Vintage Vixen's blog yet, then get thee there pronto and feast upon her daily vintage clothing finds and more.
You'll never look back.
Meanwhile the gorgeous woman herself has tagged me and I have ten questions to answer.
What's your favourite fashion accessory?
It would be a toss-up between jewellery and hats but I guess jewellery would come out on top.
I feel naked if I'm not wearing some kind of bauble that clatters or jingles and I'm known to go thrifting and acquire bits and pieces along the way which I end up wearing while I'm out.  Most days I come home in a slightly different outfit that I set out in.

Hat or jewellery?  I'll take both thanks.


Who's your fashion role model?
I don't have any role models as that's not what I'm about.  I'm actually inspired by the clothes hanging in my closet or that I see/buy in flea markets, charity stores or on eBay.  I see something, it flicks a switch in me, I fall in love and we go home together.  From then on, the piece is ready to wear there and then, it may get a bit of refashioning work, or it waits patiently until I'm in the right frame of mind to style it.  Sometimes the last option takes a few years.  I guess my earliest role model was my older sister M who taught me about fabrics, quality of cut and not giving a damn about what others think.  She also taught me to dance unashamedly while sober, something I've found most women of all ages have difficulty in achieving concurrently.  During my teens I had a girl-crush on Madonna who was a major influence on my style and I loved Prince's fashion sense too.  I love fashion mags but they do wear a bit thin with me as I have a very short attention span and get bored with the same-old-same-old.  

Time-warping in this post.

What do you always carry with you?
Red lipstick, iPod with lots of techno/dance, notebook and pen (you never know if a good story is around the corner), silver Glomesh wallet, spare rings, phone and sunnies.


How would you describe your style?
Completely normal.  Doesn't everyone wear Edwardian petticoats with 1950s head pieces, a leotard and platform wedges?  Because I'm guided primarily by the tactile nature of fabric,  I basically "feel" my way through my wardrobe.  I think that's why my outfits are never matchy-matchy.  Colour is important too of course, but proportion even more so.  I guess I would describe my style as Dress-Up Box Style.

Spanning the 20th century in this post.


What's your favourite?  Jeans, sunglasses or heels?
Well, I cannot live without sunglasses because it's very sunny here in Brisbane, so they're not really optional.  I have a basketful picked up at various op-shops and flea markets.  My favourite would be a white pair with black, glass lenses that I bought at an Auckland (NZ) flea market about three years ago and wore them to my Nana's funeral.  She loved bold colours and prints so I really went for it at her funeral.  She would have approved.  The sunnies belonged to a woman who had bought them in the late 1940s.
After the funeral with two of my sister's and me old mam:

Between jeans and heels, it would have to be heels.

What inspired you to blog about fashion?
I think women started coming over to my house to look inside my closets instead of visiting me - I'm kidding.  But friends, acquaintances, women I worked with or bumped into everyday seemed fascinated with what I wore and wanted to know more about each piece.  They'd become speechless or gob-smacked and I didn't know whether it was because they liked an outfit, hated it or were in a state of disbelief.  I suspect it was a bit of everything with a bit of horror in there too.  I had a huge upheaval in my life recently and really wanted to keep writing to stay sharp so decided to write about what I love the most.  Clothes.

Mum's 1940s suit is still wearable - more here.


What is your favourite fashion store?
My closet.  I love thrifting and I do a bit of online shopping using eBay mostly, a bit of Etsy and the odd emerging designer type stuff - usually because they're cheap.  I do have a Black Milk Clothing addiction which I keep in check through lack of funds - otherwise I would be in big trouble.


What is your favourite fabric in clothing?
What just one?  Not fair.  It would have to be silk.  But leather, cotton and fur are close favourites.  I have a now-dwindling collection of 60s and 70s clothing in man-made fibres as they are utterly impossible to wear here because of the humidity.  I've had to let go of some pieces that I loved but just couldn't wear anymore.

Some of my favourite fabrics here.


Who are your favourite designers?
Whoever is versatile enough out there for me to style my own way.  Give me a chance, I would stock up on Romance Was Born and Jean Paul Gaultier because I think they're versatile enough for me to put my own stamp on their pieces and use them to create something that's "me".  I don't like being told how I should wear something.


Who or what inspires your style?
I am utterly hooked on old movies.  I'm watching Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box and I've been YouTube-ing Clara Bow and Jean Harlow because I love their humour and sassy style. The older the movie, the better.  I think parents and grandparents have completely bullshitted us on the morals and habits of people who lived during the first half of the 20th century.  Just look at the talkies that were made before Hollywood studios were forced to take up the Breen Code by 1934.  Pretty raunchy stuff.  European film was not affected in the same way thank goodness, while pre-WW2 1930s Berlin was a cabaret hotbed.  I don't believe our generation is quite as "immoral" as many would like us to believe.
So I guess I'm inspired by subversion.
Style Like You is a great place to see others talk about their clothes, memories and evolving styles.

Another mash-up of eras here.


Would you choose to buy something high quality or make it yourself if you could?
It depends on whether the high-quality item is something that is versatile enough for me to style my own way.  I appreciate good workmanship, but I won't wear something I don't like just because it's well made or a certain label.  Then forget it.  I'll make it myself.

I wanted a tartan skirt, so I made one.

I'm tagging the following inspirational blogs:

• Idee Fixe
• Mademoiselle Robot
• The Style Rail
• Mispapelicos
• Seamstress Stories
• Sewing Pixie
• Skipping in Heels
• Candycane is Married
• The Well-Appointed Catwalk
• Oranges and Apples

Little Fluffy Clouds

My favourite hobby is kissing the Phoenix who unfortunately will never appear here as he's a bit shy.
So I can't show you pictures of me engaging in my favourite pastime but I can share my second favourite thing with you and that's playing IRL dress-ups.
Since my pledge, I've started to look at clothes in a different light.
I'll grab a random piece and tell it: "Your turn - now go find some mates you can play with today".
Like these gloves.

These rich purple, satin, super-long, 1960s gloves were given to me by my first boyfriend's mother when I was 18 - altogether now, aaawwwww.
She wore them to a British Army dinner and ball in the early 60s and she told me what a nerve-wracking experience it was as she wanted to make a good impression on her boyfriend and display her good manners and breeding;).
Ladies did not remove their long evening gloves during formal dinners, instead it was the done thing to tuck the "hands" back into the wrist on the top of the glove.
Except she tucked them in the wrong way around and didn't realise until the soup course was cleared that her gloves had been swimming in the stuff.
Never mind, she ended up marrying the bloke and as far as I know they're still happy today.
She never had a daughter and my reckless swanning about their country home in a black tutu didn't deter her from sharing many stories and more gloves.
Something as simple as a pair of gloves can have a story.
Isn't that the magical thing about collecting?


I've been a bit lazy and not fastened the pearly buttons on the wrists, but the gloves are seen here worn with Black Milk Great Wave leggings, green silk blouse and my trusty Docs.

Wreaking Havoc

I'm told that growing up in New Zealand during the 1970s was in fact like winding back the clock at least 30 years.
I wouldn't know about that, I was just there and didn't know any different.
I wore the cable-knit cardigans, duffle coats, patent mary-janes and kilt pinafores.
I still have a terrible weakness for those same scratchy, heavy and pinching wardrobe items - I can't explain it.
Normally I won't tolerate any discomfort whatsoever - but I'm prepared to put up with a heavy kilt.
But I won't abide any kilt granny-fication.
So when my favourite kilt - if you know the tartan, please sing out - was recently discovered with several moth holes in it, I gnashed, screeched and sulked before popping it in a plastic bag and into the freezer for a few days.
I read the cold kills eggs and larvae.
Evidence of the little bastards' activities.

It was a sign that it was time to do something about making the kilt more wearable.  
I bought it about three years ago and had never worn it - too long and I felt like a granny in it - just loved the colours.
So after the moth-munch, I umm-ed and aah-ed for about two weeks, spent hours last week hemming and pressing the knife pleats to shorten it, thereby disguising the holes.

Until this morning when I took the scissors to it and walloped six inches off the hem.

It got rid of the moth holes (front and back - the little shits!), resulting in a new skirt that I wore straight away.
I've fallen in love with my "new" kilt.
In a way the moths forced my hand.  I loved the kilt but wouldn't wear it at calf length.
It can take me years to get up the courage to change a vintage garment dramatically.
Normally if I don't think a refashion will work, I sell pieces on eBay.
But in this case, creating a huge hem made the kilt bulky, so a chop, zig-zag and 1cm hem later and I was off out the door in my new pride and joy.
I'm wearing it with my Norma Kamali OMO leather vest, 1930s chemise and Docs.  The little 1960s red, vinyl handbag accompanied me out to scour op-shops today.

Accessories close-up time:
My favourite beaten-up old, leopard-print velvet hat; vintage pearls and ropes; 1930s earrings; thrifted plastic bangles.

Doesn't Jean Harlow make simply everything look beautiful?

Surfing on a Rocket

I'm still in a spacey mood in a non-hallucenogenic kind of way, thanks to my boys.
It's all happening here in Space HQ - Lego monsters and robots are taking over the floor, they're making more silly robot films to upload onto YouTube and eating everything in sight.
Which leads me to believe they are harbouring alien babies in their bellies.
I know you peeps and anyone that knows me IRL would probably snort with suppressed laughter at this revelation as I'm clearly a frustrated female drag queen in my get-ups.
But I like my kids to know that taking pride in what they wear is really important - more for the way it can make them feel inside, rather than what people think.
I always know when they've spent too long with their dad, when they start wearing crocs and tracksuit pants - aaaarrggggghhhhh!!
So I lead by example - OK you can start laughing out loud now - and dress in what I know will make me feel good at that moment.  
No compromises.
I took a look at my boys today while we were out getting groceries and going to the library and I smiled.
They get it.
They were happy in their own skin.
They looked comfortable, colourful and awesome to me.
Here's a shot of my nine-year-old wearing what he wants to express, just minutes before stepping out the door.
I bought that cute t-shirt from a small boutique in the Valley here in Brisbane.
I made the little messenger bag and it's a permanent fixture on my little guy.
Covered in badges, it carries all sorts of goodies like change, gum, Tamagotchi, book, whatever.  
See what I mean?  

Anyway, my Black Milk Galaxy leggings got an airing today and I added a 1930s silk blouse (which I'm finding incredibly versatile) bought from Etsy; green 1970s leather jacket from a Melbourne flea market, Docs and assorted jewellery plus 1960s sunnies (no scratches!).

A close up of the Galaxy print.

And the accessories shot - 1950s Egyptian-style necklace from Etsy; multi-chained necklace and crucifix earrings are thrifted and the assortment of rings (including my fave 70s rainbow-coloured rings) were found in markets and thrift stores.
It's getting hard to pick up vintage rings at giveaway prices now - they used to be EVERYWHERE.  
But people are paying good money for them now so I'm glad I started collecting rings a few years ago.

Slap on some red lippy for the mid-week slump and get out there gals!