This Will Make You Smile!

Toil And Trouble

Another pitiful Sydney winters day, bright blue sky that promises warmth and the shock of bitter wind that freezes any exposed skin when you step outside. I may have fallen prey to the plaid shirt trend although I justify it by having spent a mere $6 on the shirt, rather than the $80 for a near identical shirt from General Pants, and now sing the plaid shirts praises from the heavens. Or perhaps mutter it's praises under my breath on a noisy street.
Most plaid shirts make me think of cowboys or Nirvana but this one made me think of Luella, the season with the witches hats and crimped hair. It reminded me of what I always thought Halloween in America was like, very gothic and warm like Hocus Pocus. What a brilliant movie.


PS. Read this blog:
Fatgrrl→ A completely friendly, funny and intensely informative blog. What a terrible description! But wow, how did I not know about this damn site before!? The bloggers, Morgan and Ellie, write about life in a thin-crazy world but it's not a 'Wah wah, why am I fat?' kind of blog. I particularly like a recent article of theirs; Breaking up with a friend. Because sometimes it kind of needs to be done.

Late Night Copy Cat

Every time I see runway makeup or styling that I really like I get the overwhelming urge to try it myself, no matter how silly or exaggerated it may be. I bought Cleo magazine for the first time in a LONG time a few days ago and opened it up to an article about wearing runway hair in everyday life and it reminded me of my attempt to recreate the awesomeness of the Dior HC makeup (minus sticky taped eyebrows, porcelain skin (foundation be damned!) and general model looks).


What has this taught me? I find black and dark cherry lips strangely alluring and excessive winged eyeliner doesn't necessarily equal Amy Winehouse/whoever the latest husky voiced, Golden era mimicking girl+band is.
Also, my love of Mac Fluidlines has once again been confirmed.

What I'm Watching: Return of the God-Warrior!

Otherwise know as Marguerite Perrin, she was part of a swap on Trading Spouses. Her first round consisted of swapping roles with a new agey family, who she attempted to convert to Christianity. When she got back to her family she went CRAZY, calling herself a "God warrior", "spiritual warrior", and "prayer warrior" (I totally stole that off Wikipedia).
Then the God Warrior got gastric bypass surgery, released a CD, followed by Hurricane Katrina followed by another episode of Trading Spouses! In this episode the trade is between her family and a black nationalist family and the God Warrior seems to have gone slightly Hollywood, her husband name drops like mad when he meets his new wife for the week. He met Flavor Flav!

Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

Trembled Blossoms

Today the gardeners (for the apartment complex, not my enormous manor house!) are laying manure and the smell is repugnant. But without the manure the plants won't be as lovely so.....alright, it's disgusting. There's no upside to the unholy stench and no manner of positivity to change that.
A fantastic distraction is this video, the result of the collaboration between Prada and James Jean with music by Cocorosie. Yum.

Winter, my love

Winter does strange things to me, it's as though a little seedling of romance and warmth stirs, starts to grow, little by little each day. Simple things make me happy and I suddenly find myself enjoying the most terribly mundane activities. Yesterday I found myself smiling every time the bus stopped as it was making a "phew" noise, like it was grumpy about being made to work (I have a tendency to attach human attributes to inanimate objects). Then I dropped by my friend Candy's house for a cup of tea and the combination of coming in out of the cold to a warm little house and a warm little drink felt heavenly. This morning I sat outside in the winter sun, cup of coffee in hand, reading 'The Black Dahlia' and moving my chair over as the sun moved and everything just felt so right.
In case you can't tell, I've been in a wonderful mood this week. And I thank winter.


I am also developing an unnatural obsession with Sonia Rykiel's shows, they are so girly and charming and bright. I always thought butterflies were slightly tacky, mostly because of the plethora of girls with a butterfly tramp stamp (IE. tattoo above their arse) but I can now say I have fallen head over heels in love with the fairytale combination of butterflies, flowers and cascading curls. Oh, to have a garden in my hair!

She Does

My Mother Dearest is getting married, under the hot hot heat of the Dubai sun, which means a sleeping pill/tranquiliser ridden aeroplane journey to the UAE and pondering the details of the wedding itself.
For starters, I wonder what my Mum will wear. Because that's obviously the first stop on the thought train. Second wedding for both and they're keeping it casual but what will she wear?
Selfishly, I then wonder what I'll wear. I have a theory that a person must cover more skin than the bride. Obviously the bride isn't going to be wearing a boob tube and short shorts, but if they're showing a gleaming shoulder then you're covering yours. It's along the same line as not wearing white to a wedding. You just don't follow the same clothing road that the bride has gone down.
All the mention of weddings has me thinking about wedding dresses again (I went a few months without dreaming about creamy lace and magnolias) and thus I present more lovely photos I have saved to my computer and forgotten where they came from!

One Year Ago

Flicking through my Flickr (ohhh, now I see why it's called that) I realised that it had been a year since I found these two magnificent bargains. A book of Tennessee Williams plays for $1 and a Chantilly lace top with a big bow for $6. It seems as though I always buy to a theme, because the top reminds me very much of Blanche Dubois. I have always relied on the kindness of strangers!

Anglomania!

I won't lie, I'm a mad anglophile. I love all things Anglo, but it only happened once I stopped being teased about my lack of pigment and "carrot top" hair (somewhere between 14 and 16?) and learned to accept that I'm just never going to be exotic or tanned or have visible eyebrows, that's simply not how genetics work. Pesky little blighters. But the point is obviously that my interest in D&G was peaked by these ads. Tartan and Spaniels (because there seems to be nothing more Anglo than living in a countryside manor and going pheasant shooting your gundog), argyle and a scarf knotted under the chin to keep back your pesky locks while you're riding side saddle...perhaps not.
To add to my frenzy, there are Brogues in the Vivienne Westwood/Melissa shoe collection which look as though they would melt into the shape of your feet with a single wear.

Coco Rocha dances at Jean Paul Gaultier Fall 2007 show (Irish dancing to Scottish music....?)

JPG Fall 2007, very highland fling.

Abaete Fall 2008, reminds me of the Crusaders (because that was such a good period in history....hmmm, maybe not)

Carolina Herrera Fall 2008, Maid Marion if she had been allowed to chuck the corset and join the Merry Men.
And obviously, at the end of the day a true Anglomaniac should be spritzing oneself with Anglomania by Vivienne Westwood. And drinking Earl Grey. Or English Breakfast.

What I'm Watching: The Bridge

The Bridge is a documentary film about a collection of people who jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge during 2004. There are interviews with family members, friends and as a result of filming the bridge during daylight hours the crew captured 19 suicides. It's not for the squeamish, it's a film about suicide after all, but I found the reactions of the people walking by the jumpers as the most disturbing element of it all. It's definitely an interesting watch though.

Christian Dior HC F/W 08.09 Part 2!

Oh, the hair, the makeup and the hats. Heaven!!!!

My Bag Upside Down and Inside Out

Everybody seems to do an "Inside My Bag" post, I'm a big bag switcher, and I carry all sorts of different lip glosses and balms because I have the tendency to throw one in everytime I go out. At one point I had 11 different lip products in my bag, which is...well, excessive.
I'm using a clutch as my wallet at the moment, it fits everything and the kitchen sink. I have a tin of mints, a couple of pens and my cards and money and all sorts of bits of paper.
The lip gloss hiding behind the mirror is Palmers Cocoa Butter Dark Chocolate and Peppermint Lip Butter and it is as delicious as it sounds. And shiny.

Christian Dior HC F/W 08.09

As soon as I saw the arched eyebrows, dark plum lips, black chiffon and fantastic hats I knew I was developing a clothing crush, more than a crush, lust! Just when I think John Galliano has lost his touch he does something like this and I start wondering if I can get away so dark it's almost black lipstick and dressing like a black widow who has just inherited her suspiciously dead husband's millions. No, instead I'm sitting at the computer, eating Pocky and wearing...well, not Dior Haute Couture.




Stay tuned, I uploaded almost the entire collection to flickr...courtesy of style.com of course!