Trench Coat Fever

Went into Zara today with some friends "just for a quick look", as one of them had never been before and was keen to check it out after all the hype. As usual, couldn't help myself and possibly picked up the most perfect trench in the world (second to Burberry of course!).


This trench is the perfect colour too- neutral!
Classic shapes create a great silhouette! Looks great from the back too!

From the rack to my wardrobe- this piece will surely get heaps of wear!

I've been on the hunt for a trench like this for a couple of years now- but the colour/ fit/buttons/length/price was never quite right. I think I am just Too Fussy! This trench is the closest I have come to meeting all the criteria, and hopefully I won't find a better one now otherwise I will cry!

I think the trench is one of those versatile pieces that can be worn with anything. I think I will be channeling my inner french lady, with breton striped top, blue jeans, black ballet flats and oversized sunglasses. The trench is also great for work over pencil skirts, shift dresses, and cigarette pants. Perhaps you may even surprise your husband with super high heels, a trench, and a little lacy somethin' somethin' underneath ;)

The celebs are fan of trench coats too. They all seem to be styling them very simply, and letting the trench be the star of the outfit and speak for itself. Jessica, Gwen, and Camille have all jumped on the bandwagon.


Kate Middleton adds a touch of regal elegance to hers with a little frill at the bottom.

Charlize, Demi, Kate, Hayden, Maggie, J-Lo (nearly wrote Jwow hehe!) and Kate all don their trenchcoats in neutral too.

Emma Watson, the face of Burburry, wears their trenches expertly. Loving that studded arm one! Maybe the next trend is matching your trench to your hand bag? Studs galore!

Mary Kate Olsen doing her best bag lady impression looks stunning in this oversized trench.

When Victoria Beckham wears a trench, you know that it is in the height of fashion :)

And of course, when you see Miss Piggy wearing one....well, you know you simply MUST buy one! ;) (I think she does it better than the celebs!)

Do you own a trench? How do you style it! I would love to hear some suggestions!

Having A Moment...

Whenever I make a trip to the GPO, I always find myself in Karen Millen. I have been a big fan of her formal dresses for ages, and having bought one of them myself, I can vouch that they are well made from beautiful fabrics, and usually a very flattering fit. Respect.

I think this season they are having a Moment, with some really lovely pieces in stock right now. It took most of my self restraint not to try things on, becuase once that happens, all other considerations fly right out the window!

Here's my favourite picks from the current collection, pictures courtesy of the website:

I love every piece of clothing in this picture. The Jacket. The Dress. The Clutch. The Shoes.
Damnnnnn......

I'm in CHARGE!

I really like houndstooth print and patent, so this clutch ticks all the boxes for me.

Cute everyday wallet for the minimalist in all of us. Tan makes it more relaxed with the buckle keeping things sharp.

Who doesn't love a red peplum dress? Work, Cocktails, Weddings, this dress will have you covered.

In the words of Rachel Zoe, "I Die!". This coat was MADE for me. Unfortunately, the price was not. $745 and waiting for a sale...

This cutie also comes in black, another great classic coat which can be worn anywhere for any occasion. This one would only look good all belted and zipped up I reckon.

Do you like Karen Millen? Have you ever bought from the store? Tell me below!

Wednesday Winter Wishlist!

Despite all the lovely warm and sunny weather that Melbourne is getting right now, I still have Winter fashion on the brain! I have been browsing the chain store websites this week to see what the stores are peddling, and have found some gorgeous pieces that I might have to go in and try on.

I think about 3/4 of my current wardrobe is probably from high street chain stores, and places like Myers and David Jones. 15% is from little independent boutiques, and the remaining 5% from online stores. The few rare designer pieces I own don't count as this would be less than 1%!

Anyway, heres a quick wrap up of some fast fashion that I'm craving:

Saba Houndstooth Skirt. I love this! The metallic makes it dressier for night time, and it looks great just with plain black tops and tights. Having said that, I dont know what else I could wear this with.

Saba red dress. Gorgeous!!!! This deep cranberry hue is so seductive! Would be a killer first date outfit ;)
Saba bag. I quite like this! I have a feeling this is a designer imitation/inspiration piece, but can't picture which one exactly. The pony hair makes it a bit more visually interesting texture wise.

Forever new chain knit! I will definitely be going to try this one on! I love a good grey knit, and this one again has metallic through it for a more dressy look. Black skinny jeans and a scarf and this jumper will shine!

David lawrence top. Great for work with a pencil skirt or pants, the colour again is strong and vibrant. Orange to me is such a power colour, it screams "Don't Mess With Me!"

Marcs leopard ballet flats! I love these for knocking around on casual days, great with a pair of jeans and a slouchy top. Even better if the outfit is monochrome, then these babies will really pop!

David Lawrence trench. Love a good trench. Enough Said.

Love a good trench in Blue even more.

I have been umming and ahhing over this Rebecca Minkoff MAC for ageeesss. Should I just bite the bullet and BUY IT?

This Nicholas Dress is stunning. If you have a spare $530 please wire into my bank account.

So thats my chain store wish list for this week. Which pieces do you like? Which ones do you think I should buy? Which ones would YOU buy? Comment Below!

The Little Old Lady who Lived in a Shoe!

So this weekend I spent an hour cleaning out my shoe collection and polishing up all my shoes. I am fussy about keeping all my shoes in order, so hence all my shoes live in their original boxes, which means they are labelled with their style names, colour, and a picture on the front of the box so I can keep track of what is lurking inside.

All my shoeboxes used to live in one single Ikea bookshelf which was bought especially for storage of shoes, however my collection has amassed to such a point that in addition to an entire bookshelf, they also reside in my wardrobe, under the bed, stacked up the side of the wardrobe, and also in the spare room!

I actually do wear all of my shoes quite regularly, and if I know I haven't worn a pair for a couple of weeks, then they get some special attention and an outing haha! All of my shoes are still in excellent condition despite being worn a few times each, and I think that this can be attributed to consistent maintenance and care :) Nothing worse than seeing a great outfit with old worn shoes in my opinion! Shoes are that final touch that can make or break the outfit!

I got sick of cleaning, so the other half of the collection will be photographed later on!

So, while I had half of my shoes out, I took a photo! I can't believe I have so many! This is only HALF! The thing is, every single pair is different! Different heel heights, heel shapes, platform hidden/outer/no platform/platform height, colour, decorations etc. Argh! Now I know why I'm always broke! It's a bit like that episode of Sex and the City where Carrie figures out she could have paid an apartment deposit with the cost of her shoes. I don't think that I would have spent quite that amount, but I definitely could have gone on a few holidays! At the very least, maybe I could start an insurance policy in case anyone ever robbed my closet?! Becuase, yknow, thieves would go for the shoes before the TV or the laptop.....

The Wizard of Oz had it spot on, even all the way back then...

Part of me thinks maybe I should sell some of the shoes that I don't love as much, or maybe the older fashion-wise styles. I can't bear the thought of parting with my babies! No point in selling shoes I still wear right? Maybe I will just restrict myself from buying MORE shoes. Yeah, that sounds like a good start! Now lets just see whether this will hold up in practice....!

So Tell Me:

* How many Pairs of Shoes do you own?
* Do you have a thing for a certain type of shoe? (Clearly from my photo I like black shoes....)
* How do you store your shoes?
* Would you buy second hand shoes? Do people do this?

This Christian Louboutin may very well be my dream shoe. For today at least....

What I Bought!

Like I mentioned in my previous post, this past week I have been up in Sydney. I was lucky enough to be staying in a 5 star hotel across the road from the beach, and between all my relaxing, sightseeing, and shopping, didn't really have much time to access the internet! So below is a few bits and pieces that I picked up along the way.



Dotti Lace blouse with Peter Pan Collar

Jacqui E Shirt. People think that this is an 'old lady' store, but I freekin' love this store!

David Lawrence Dress. Great for work and cocktail parties. Can accessorise this one in so many ways i think!

Forcast green blouse. This'll be great for work tucked into a pencil skirt with a chunky chain necklace.

Another work blouse, this one from Ojay. This'll work back with black, grey, and navy skirts.

I love a bit of leopard. This shirt is from Forever new, tucked into a black skirt, or even with jeans. Reow!

The linen finish on this jacket from Witchery makes it more casual. Will possibly wear this to work over a dress, or with jeans for cocktail nights!

Every girl needs a relaxed slouchy knit for cold winter days. This warm jumper should hit the spot.

This leopard cardi from Portmans is a winner. Love the soft angora that it is made from. Channelling my inner 60's cougar with this one!

I did buy more, but I'll save those ones for another day! What have you bought lately? Anything special? Let me know!

Busy Week!

Apologies for the lack of posting this past week! I've just gotten home from a weeklong Sydney trip! I've been staying all week up there without internet access so haven't had a chance to post anything. I have, however, been on a shopping spree while I was up there (naturally!), so will take photos of my haul and show you all very soon!

After a busy week, I'm now back to reality, starting with a new gym membership and a personal training session tomorrow night! I'm not big on exercise so hopefully the trainer starts off easy on me! Scary!

Future Music Festival: What I Wore

This weekend was a long weekend in Melbourne, so it was a great chance to do all the things that normally take a backseat to everyday working life: lots of socializing, watching movies, baking, and of course, shopping! The weather was unusually lovely this weekend, which was great as most of my plans were indeed outdoor based!

On Saturday, I did some baking with fresh figs from our overflowing tree in the backyard. They were deliciously ripe, so I whipped up a fig tart, as well as some fig jam for future use! For mornings, we have been devouring fig and fresh ricotta on top of raisin toast, drizzled with a bit of honey, and crushed pistachio nuts sprinked on top. Becuase the tree is so full of fruit, and I hate to see such good food go to waste, our household has literally been eating figs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Fig overload right now!
!

This isn't my picture, but a pretty accurate replica of how ours looked (only better!). Source: http://www.sydneymarkets.com.au/recipes/Figs%20with%20ricotta%20&%20honey%20on%20fruit%20toast.pdf

Saturday night was watching The Decendants with George Clooney (sigh!) with the girls, followed by a few cocktails at Tuscan bar, a gorgeous little rooftop bar in the heart of the city. Whilst cocktails can be slightly on the pricier side of the drinks spectrum, these ones at Tuscan bar are so delicious that even one or two are worth it! They do some lovely big jugs to share too, as well as mezze plates for nibbles.

Taken straight from their facebook page, this Limoncello Torta cocktail was absolutely divine!

Sunday was the highlight of the weekend for me, being lucky enough to have tickets to the Future Music Festival. This festival marks the end of the summer festival season for the year, and every year a group of us jump at the chance to see some great DJs and bands play live! This year was no exception, being a thorougly enjoyable day filled with some great acts. For me, the highlight was The Wombats, a little indie rock band from England. I've been a fan of theirs for years, and this was the first time I had seen them live, and they didn't disappoint at all! The crowd energy was simply amazing! Other great acts included Swedish House Mafia, Skrillex, and Fatboy Slim, not to mention Holy Ghost! and eighties flashback band New Order. After the festival finished, we were still ready for more, so kicked on into the city for some more dancing!

We were somewhere right up the front, dancing about 5 rows back from the main stage! Source: http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2012/03/11/1226296/479815-future-music-festival-2012.jpg

Festival fashion is often a hotly debated topic, with some girls going for comfort, some for style, some for crazy costumes, and others just to dress like S*****s. I try to go for comfort mainly, as being there all day, as well as being in the moshpits, can be more a practical issue than going for glam. Closed in shoes are essential to avoid people stepping on your feet, shorts and tshirts for hot weather, sunnies for the glare, etc. However, I saw no end to the multitide of sins, including girls in heels (umm whaaa...its a festival!), girls carrying massive bags in moshpits, and girls practically wearing no clothes at all! Below is a snapshot of what I basically wore:

Today was a perfect end to the weekend, going into the city to check out the Moomba festival parade with friends, followed by a lovely brunch by the Yarra river. Throw in some quick window shopping on the way home, and wow, what an end to a lovely weekend. I wish I had have been able to see the fireworks they are having tonight, alas, there just isn't time! I'm off for a quick catchup dinner before it's back to real life again tomorrow morning!

This little fruit salad arrangement was a favourite of mine! Loving the colourful costumes!
Source: Herald Sun Galleries

I think every weekend should be a three day weekend! What did you get up to on your weekends? Do share!