Now That's What I Call a Frockin' Surprise!

Good things come in shiny pink paper with oodles of leopard-print ribbon.
And with a postcard of The Phoenix and I water skiing on our honeymoon in Florida of course!
Early this week I received this surprise parcel from my favourite trolley-bitch, Sarah Misfit.
What an absolute legend that woman is!

But what's inside?

A fecking amazing 1960s frock to out-frock all my frocks!
Perfect for Frock on a Friday:)

See?  Yellow and gold ... oh if only I had this for our honeymoon evenings of dancing to Tony Bennett after long languid days of water skiing and bonking!

That is one HELL of a bow!

Oh yes I know you spied the coconut bag I double-bagged with my velvet granny bag.
Isn't she a peach?
Enough of that, let's take another gander at that bow.

My, my I can't believe it stretches right across the front of this awesome frock!!
I wore this baby out with my blue VW Melissa's, the double bags and my orange brolly.
One woman stopped and joyfully cried "Why doesn't everyone dress up, why don't they just do it?".
Why indeed?
I was just taking my very exhausting handful of scalliwags to school and doing the grocery/medication pick-up.
It simply cannot be done in black capri pants (I counted eleven pairs today - blurgh!).

The green Barry M nail polish is from wet dream hostie, Vintage Vixen.

The white ring and Freida earrings are from Melbourne.

Now I have a confession to make.

The frock, which of course shall be known as Marti, arrived with a fabulous detachable hood for those cool pool-side evenings.
Due to family health issues, we've had an absolutely hellish week causing me to forget the fundamentals of being a normal human being.
I popped the hood in a "very safe place so I don't lose it" and promptly forgot where this mysterious safe place is.
I think I'm going around the bend!

Darling Sarah, your gift arrived at a time when I most needed cheering up.  
Thank you darling and I hope Mr Fiennes is still up to his old tricks!
I'm slowly getting back to all you lovely, beautiful creatures - but much sleep is needed for now.
Molti abbraccio e baci.
Desiree xoxo

Rumble in the Jungle

With the promise of a blindingly hot day, did I strip down to cut-offs and a tank top?
No, I figured I could stay cool in silk and decided on my interpretation of a modest lady in Zaire, circa 1974.
You know, do some market shopping before the Ali versus Foreman match, then on to bump and grind to James Brown at the Zaire Music Festival - "this man will make your liver quiver".

 Number Three Son took the first three shots before school this morning.

Then off for a bit of op-shopping where I found this gorgeous saint bracelet.
The saints have disappeared from my black bracelet, probably because they frown upon my disgraceful get-ups.
I wonder how long Mother Theresa and Pope John Paul II will hang around this time.

 I also picked up the green velvet bangle for a buck.
Oh yes, that most certainly IS silver nail polish - I bought the last bottle ($3.50) coz all the local bitches snapped them up super-quick.

 Yes there's a lot going on here with my African and Indian jewellery mash-up.
Among several compliments from strangers who wanted to touch everything, a very elderly woman in bright colours turned to me and said "I think it's wonderful to just dress for yourself".
Dear of her.

 The silk dress, scarf, bag, brolly and jewellery were all thrifted, while the VW Melissa wings were on sale at Amazon.
Now I'm ready - we're gonna have a funky good time!

 Something tells me modesty is getting short-shrift.

Yep, it's all gone to pot now.

There's just way too much music rattling around my brain for my skirts to stay still.
The saints are just gonna have to wait.

Yep, fling ya skirts up girlies and let the sun shine in.
Do if for Ali!  Do it for James!
Do it for me!

A big thank for Sacramento of Mis Papelicos for choosing me as her November feature bloggett.

She's recovering from knee surgery so pop over and wish her well:)

Desiree xo

Nighty Night

Is it a frock?
Is it a nightie?
Is it a disgrace?
Why yes it is!
I was a day out for Frock on a Friday, but I snapped these off as soon as I got home yesterday because I felt so awesome swanning about in this 1930s bias-cut satin nightie.
The seas parted, the queues shrank and the traffic stopped to let me cross the street.
Thank you strangers.

To compliment my gown (create subversion), I popped on my Norma Kamali leather vest that I bought on Etsy last year, Melissa mary janes ($20!), one of my DIY floral headbands, I double-bagged it and put on a shite-load of jewellery.

Ooooooh what have we here?
Hornbag Helga made me this AWESOME leopard-print bow tie **swoon** and I really, really, really believe it looks just as good as a bracelet.
The agate and feather necklace was handmade by Liv of Original Seed aka Wham, Bam Fuck You Man.
Liv is such a talented re-fashionista and sells her creations in her online shop - just go there.

Thanks to my awesome new nude granny knickers, it was a case of "nothing to see here folks"!

Sunnies from Melbourne.
Speaking of food/vintage paradise, thank you to all you beautiful creatures for your kind words about my family in my last post.
It was such a memorable holiday for all of us, well unforgettable really considering The Phoenix and I went there to get married!
And a special squishy arse-squeeze to my new followers - you're welcome!
The Phoenix and I will be having a weekend away in the mountains courtesy of the Haemophilia Foundation so I'll be back to say hello early next week.
Unless either of us gets treated by a therapist like Jill.
Warning: you may piss your pants.
Love Desiree xo

Kiss kiss, nom nom, fun fun.

Melbourne was such a trippy trip that upon our return to Brisneyland, we were ready to turn around and fly back to explore some more.
Alas, the money tree shrivelled up in our absence and we'll have to coax it back to life once more.
Onwards and upwards we go to Melbourne!

Mmmmm ... pointy boobs got some VERY cheeky looks.
BTW, I've purchased some pointy inserts for this week's bullet bra problem ... jeez I'm a ditz when it comes to all this vintage booby stuff ... thanks eBay.

Galaxy leggings seemed very appropriate for flying high.

Look at my leather boys - aren't they cool?
The Phoenix had women chasing him around both airports admiring the Dali t-shirt I bought him from Etsy.

Those are the faces of "I've never been on a plane before, this is sooooooooooo awesome!!"

The three spawn got a special visit to the cockpit of the brand new 737 coz they were first-timers.
It occurred to me while planning this trip, how much westerners take travel, particularly air travel for granted.
For financial reasons, it's not something I've been able to offer my children and I'm glad they appreciated the significance of such an occasion and the fact many children don't even know what it is to explore a new town, city or country!
The kids were all eyes and ears during the whole trip so I hope we've managed to instil a longing to visit new places.

I know, I'm weird but I was really excited when I found out the apartment the children were staying in with Number One Son and Danni-Long-Legs, was just across the road from Melbourne Cemetery in Carlton.
The bedrooms had graveyard views!!!
As soon as we arrived and settled in we went for a walk as I just knew The Stylist and at least one of the boys would love exploring and discovering the incredibly old and crumbling graves.

The modern family graves mainly belong to European families, many who settled left their homelands such as Italy and Greece to escape the post-WWII hardships.
Melbourne is an incredibly diverse, cosmopolitan city as a result ... and a wonderful place to try nearly every type of cuisine on the planet.

"Gee thanks for bringing me to this old cemetery Mum, this is so much fun."

We had a lovely reunion at the best Italian restaurant I have ever eaten in - Il Cantuccio, on Lygon Street (careful, there's some super-cheesy music on their website).
I want to eat there every week, and resort to wearing just kaftans and muu-muus.

Danni-Long-Legs and Number One Son are the most loving couple I have ever seen.
Beautiful!

Thank the lord, some real food instead of that shite Mum feeds me.

 "Look what it boils down to is that god really IS a DJ".

Very shortly after this pic, Number Three Son almost fell asleep on his plate.

"Mum, I'm going to be an actor and a teacher and I'm going to lots of poor countries and starting up new schools"
Oh jay-sus, what have I set loose on the world?
Bless her heart.

The next day was spent exploring Fitzroy.

I'm wearing the magnificent jacket gifted to me from my favourite zoo-keeper, Sarah Misfit.  The jacket caused quite a stir and there I was thinking I would just blend in with the crowd!
The top is covered in pin-up girls but sadly no boobies to be seen and the purple flares and scarf were thrifted/flea marketed.

The Stylist, much to the annoyance of her brothers, commandeered the camera - I love the sort of things to catch her eye.

At last a decent pic of the Sally Hanson leopard-print stick on nails - I had girls constantly asking me where I got them from - Brissy!

Spot the future ravers.

Who farted?

I'm still insulted they didn't have my size!

Yes, it has a knitted cover.

Amen!

"If you're patient in this one last shop, I'll take you to the aquarium" - there's no harm in bribery.

The following day, I took a walk on my own and thought I'd better check out Zara since it's the only store in Oz and it's "really amazing" right?
Bored, bored, bored.
A couple of cool stripy jackets but other than that, niente.
I must say the Zara menswear range was pretty horny though and I bought The Phoenix a stack of t-shirts.
Other than that, I cannot understand why women were going crazy, snatching up boring beige pants and generic t-shirts ... sorry, I just don't get it.
Gimme a mucky boot sale or a stinky old, cramped vintage store any day.

The one great thing about Zara?
I was accosted by a sweet woman called Meredith who raced up to me and said "omg you're wearing the Cathedrals, they're so much better in real life!" 
She was also wearing Black Milk, the Pulp Sesame swimsuit, seen here too.
She was in Melbourne from Adelaide for a gig and we both thought it rather amusing that we'd travelled such long distances to spot one another.
Ain't that sweet?
I hope you're having a beautiful day.
Baci, Desiree xo