outfit & review: Vivien of Holloway 1940's swing trousers

Hat & sweater - thrifted, trousers - Vivien of Holloway, shoes - Wittner

I was super excited at the end of last week to finally receive my Vivien of Holloway 1940's Swing Trousers. I had been weighing up purchasing these beauties for some time now, and decided to finally take the plunge a few weeks back.

I went for the "Black Fleck" colour, as I thought they'd be fairly versatile in my current wardrobe, and would also have the least chance of showing up too much cat hair (the reason I hardly ever wear black anymore!)

The colour looks pretty much exactly as it does on the site which I am relieved about - I had read a few reviews for other colours saying the shade was completely different in person.

The trousers are a super-flattering high-waist style - I was a bit apprehensive about the crazy looking measurements at first but after trying them on I am really happy with how they make my waist look extra tiny and then lightly skim my hips (and bulkier thighs). Also that little pocket fits my iPhone perfectly! Probably not it's intended purpose but an added bonus for sure haha.

Now on to the (very few) downsides; the fabric of this particular colour is an almost nubby poly/viscose blend, unlined, and boy is it ITCHY!! I've washed them already with a fabric softener but it didn't make much difference, so I resorted to wearing stockings underneath. This is fine for now since it's winter here, but it would be nice to be able to wear them without anything underneath because the fabric is very thin and light so would also be nice for cooler summer days too.

They also feel.. hmm it's hard to explain but it feels like one side kind of pulls around more than the other, making the seam up the behind not exactly centred. It is very subtle though, so after a few minutes of wearing I didn't really notice it much.

I also had to sadly take down the lovely folded cuffs (but didn't iron them, as you can see...) because they were just slightly too short for my tastes. This is obviously not the fault of VoH, at 5'6" I'm no giant but I do tend to have this issue every now and then, especially in tailored trousers.

Overall I love the look they give and think they are great for the price! I'd love to get some more in other colours and I'd also consider purchasing a pair from Heyday although they are a little more expensive, as I have heard really great things about them.

In other news, I've been featured on scarveswraps.com as one of their Scarf Style top 10 bloggers for June, which is super cool!!

Hope everyone has a great week ahead! I'm thinking of starting up the Fat Mum Slim Photo a Day challenge again come tomorrow.. lets see how well I stick to it this time!

outfit: 60's pastel & houndstooth

Cardigan, dress & scarf - thrifted, shoes - Windsor Smith 

Hiiiii guuyyyyyys!!!!

So life is crazy, nothing unusual, I've been neglecting my blog just a wee bit (ahem).

Anyway, this 60's shift dress is an old favourite that I haven't worn in ages because I could never bring myself to wear it while I had pastel hair.. It just looked a liiiittle to frou-frou for my tastes.

I love the little bow on the front, and you can't really see but it also has a scalloped neckline. So cute.

I also got my hair cut this evening, in the closest thing to a middy cut I could manage. The hairdresser actually did a pretty decent job considering she obviously wasn't sure about the style I was going for - she listened to what I wanted and checked with me each time she wanted to do something. I think it's actually the first time I've come out of a salon feeling like I actually got what I wanted!

So now I am off to experiment with pin curls and/or rollers - I might even update you all tomorrow on how it goes (no promises haha).

outfit: polka dot and floral layers

Top - Asos (part of a two-piece dress), dress - Princess Highway, belt - thrifted, necklace - eBay

I just keep finding more and more reasons to love this dress. It  It's not only gorgeous on it's own, but is also so versatile and great for layering various tops and sweaters over.

The top I am wearing is the top half of this dress from Asos, which buttons to the matching skirt at the waist. I bought it to wear to a wedding a while ago and I'm pretty happy with it's versatility too, the only issue being that the skirt is a teeny bit big for my waist so wearing it on it's own requires a bit of strategic belting-and-tucking.

Today was typical dreary Melbourne day. I bought a new umbrella on the weekend which I was rather excited to try out, however due to being stuck inside all day I missed the delicious rain and still have yet to even open my new brolly!

70's throwback

Last weekend my sister and I drove out to Black Rock Beach to do a little photo shoot with our amazing photographer friend Amy.

It was freezing, but the sky was clear and the sun was out (so bright I could barely keep my eyes open), shining over the water and creating dramatic shadows in the concaves of the water-sculpted sand cliffs.

Here are a few photos from the shoot - I love Amy's photographic style, the images came out so dreamy and gorgeous. Not only is she incredibly talented but she is probably one of the nicest people I know and just all-round awesome!

Ahh theses photos make me miss my purple hair just a little! And how insanely model-esque is my little sister?!

Check out Amy's website to see more of her work!

outfit: fruit skirt and bumper bangs

Oops! It seems I've neglected this little space a bit lately.. I'm going to blame that on work and the utter lack of daylight, I literally wake up and leave for work in the dark and then get home and it's dark again! So depressing..

Anyway, I have actually been inspired to do some more creating lately and I have a few projects that I want to start which will make great craft tutorials, so I will do my best to share if and when that happens.

In the meantime, here is what I wore today to have brunch with my sister and best friend. We visited our favourite local spot Lady Bower and ate delicious poached eggs with various accompaniments before saying goodbye to my friend and heading home for an afternoon of kitties next to heaters and mending sweaters (they are sorely needed at the moment, brrrrrr!)

Scarf, belt & cardigan - thrifted, earrings, gloves & t shirt - Target, coat - Princess Highway, skirt - made by me, shoes - Wittner

Notice anything different about me?

I've gone dark again!

I'm still getting used to it, and I do miss the pastel, but the bleaching was taking its toll on my poor hair (I have a lovely little rats-tail at the base of my neck from broken hairs waaahh) so I've decided to give it a rest and grow out the damage. What do you think?

Also, speaking of rats, this is my first successful bumper bang using a hair-rat. I bought it aaaages ago but for some reason just could not get the hang of it. I was very pleased this time though!
I've actually managed to set my hair each night the past week and I must say I've been loving a bit of a 1930's/40's pageboy-esque do with my new darker hair, it definitely feels a bit more vintage (not to mention my hair looks a lot healthier).

ooh double jointed elbows >.<

Do you like my new skirt? I made it from some adorable fabric I found at Spotlight in the clearance section ages ago and I am quite proud of it :)
I've been working on collecting a few extra pieces to take with me overseas as part of my little "capsule" wardrobe (which I will also post about soon) so I'll be bringing this new creation along!

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

outfit: red obsession

Cardigan, shirt, skirt & belt - thrifted, shoes - Windsor Smith

So I have just noticed on uploading these photos that I am just a teensy bit obsessed with the colour red.. seriously, I wear at least one red item of clothing almost every day, and if I'm not wearing red clothing I'm probably wearing red lipstick!

outfit: sixties polka dot

Hello!

I can't believe it's already June - this year is flying by and it is only a meagre 3 months until we embark on our 3 month trip! Aargh!!!
Luckily I just finished booking all of the necessary flights/cars/train trips/insurance today (just need to sort out our visas for Vietnam), and so now I am obsessing constantly over what clothes I will take, how much polaroid film I will need (and which cameras to actually bring with me) and all of the silly, fun details!

The weather here in Melbourne has been rapidly cooling down, which is lovely, but also has been very VERY wet. There was a most epic thunderstorm the other night which scared our cats and caused people to acquire swimming pools overnight.

Once again I have a few outfits to catch up on (oops), but this is what I wore to work today - I was feeling a little 60's inspired after purchasing a lovely new (well, old) late 1960's dress and perusing countless websites for Edie Sedgwick-inspired hair tutorials. More on that later this week!

Everything thrifted except the tights. I think they're from Myer.

Also please excuse my weird pose here.. I'm not sure what I am trying to do - fake a tiny beard perhaps? 

I was literally running around the garden trying to get photos in before it got too dark and these were the best of the batch.. ugh. You get the idea.