these are a few of my favourite things...

Hey guys! Sorry I've been a slack blogger lately, I've had alot of work to do finishing my garments for Mirror Mirror (TOMORROW NIGHT!!!).

So earlier while I was pondering what to wear tomorrow night, I decided it was about time I wrote a blog telling you all about some of my favourite items of clothing in my wardrobe :) So here goes...

I'll start with this jacket from Forever New. I bought it over the Christmas holidays, and it's 100% silk so it's really beautiful to wear, very light and billowy and the colour is gorgeous! I'm really in love with this colour at the moment :) The sleeves clip up so it can be worn either 3/4 or full sleeved.

Next up are these shorts from Bardot (I think I might like that store...hmmmm?). I'm not sure what sort of fabric they are, some sort of polyester I guess, but they're really light too. I love the slight bloomer silhouette they have as well, it's set to be big this upcoming summer. I got these ones at the same time as the Forever New jacket so I spose I was getting ahead of the trends again and found a piece that I can wear 2 years in a row :) I've also been told that "I look good when I walk" in these shorts...whatever that means?

I LOVE this skirt, and always get complimented on it. I got it from Dotti last summer too (I must have done alot of shopping over those holidays). I love the soft pink colour and the way it falls...so pretty! The satin waistband is pleated.

This skirt I got about a year ago off ebay. The brand is Disco Friends (which I'd never heard of before but apparently it's European or something, although nothing came up when I did a Google search). It's a tulip shape so it's a bit hard to sit in coz it's so tight so I don't wear it too often, but I just like that it's a bit unique.


Last up is this ring. I love this ring, although I've only worn it a few times simply because I don't usually wear much jewelery and so my jewelery box isn't a scheduled stop in my getting dressed routine. It's a fabric button fixed on a re-sizable base. I won't bother telling you where I got it from, because I also ordered a necklace from them and they never sent it and were never to be heard from again.


So that's it! Remember Mirror Mirror tomorrow night, 7pm at the Port Office Hotel. My next post will no doubt have pictures (as long as I can bribe someone into taking some for me), otherwise we could be waiting a couple of weeks for the professional photos to come through.

Hope to see you all there!
xoxo

Billabong Project...

At tafe, all second year students are given the opportunity within their swimwear unit to design a small bikini range for Billabong. This involves designing the style and print, making the swimwear to industry standards, doing a photo shoot and lookbook, and then presenting to a panel of Billabong designers. Today, the 5 finalists were announced. Considering I'm not a finalist what I'm about to say will probably make me sound like a sore loser, but not all of the finalist's swimwear is what you would call 'original'. (Because copying a Zimmerman bikini and calling it your own work is not 'original'). Anyway, I won't go into any more detail there, it's just unfortunate that some other talented student has missed out because some people can't think for themselves.

Here are a few pics of my bikinis from the photo shoot we did for my lookbook back in June. A big thank you to my lovely models Emma and Brianna, and to Andrew our photographer.

(Click on the pics to enlarge them)So...who knows what I can do with a couple of bikinis with 'Billabong' plastered all over them? :p

xoxo

ps...if you wanna check out all the other student's swimwear, follow this link (you'll have to scroll down a little bit):
http://designers-closet.blogspot.com/

mirror mirror...

Howdy followers!

I hope you're all in the mood for a fashion show, coz I have one lined up for you! Mirror Mirror is a fashion show created for students and other young'uns starting out in the industry to showcase their work in front of an audience. Each show has a theme, and designers are asked to create 3 to 4 outfits using this theme as inspiration. Anyway here's the details of the next show:

Date: Wednesday 28th July 2010
Venue: Port Office Hotel (corner of Edward and Margaret Streets, Brisbane City)
Time: 7pm
Cost: $10
Theme: Pokemon!

Ok...so some of you are now thinking "Pokemon? HAHAHAHA as if I'd be caught dead at THAT show" (the rest of you love the idea and are really nerds at heart just like me). Before you totally blow off the show, I should point out that THIS IS NOT A COSTUME PARTY. Each designer has picked a bunch of pokemon and have drawn inspiration from these to make wearable garments (and some not-so-wearable but very inspiring garments too). I won't give too much about my designs away, but I'll tell you that the pokemon I've picked are Dewgong, Goldeen and Seaking, and the outcome involves swimwear and a tonne of silk...I'll post pictures up after the show, but please feel free show your support and come along and have a fun night :)

Here's some of my work from previous shows (click to enlarge):

This was my first fashion show ever...the theme was "Paper Dolls"

2nd show...theme: "Moulin Rouge" (these were my diamond dogs and duke)

3rd show...theme: "Sustainability" (I used all recycled materials, all fabrics are from op shops or reverse garbage). This is a pic of me with my 4 planet-saving superheroes ;)


Circus themed garment worn by a statue model for a "Red Polish" fashion show:

Hope to see you all at the Port Office on the 28th!
xoxo

I'm keepin' it!

Big news boys and girls...I've decided to keep the dotti jacket :) I won't be wearing it with any other denim, but I have a cute black skirt it goes well with, as well as an old black dress I haven't worn for ages (I'll need a new belt for it, but that's not a huge expense). It also looks super cute with the sleeves rolled up to 3/4 so I can still wear it when it starts to warm up again. Yippee!!!

The Jacket Saga

Hey all!
First off: a big welcome to 'Zombie Mike' who has decided to follow my blog of his own free will. Good for you! :p To everyone else, feel free to follow his lead.

Well I said I was going shopping this week, so yesterday I ventured into the city to continue my search for the perfect jacket. (A big thank you to Michael for not whinging this time...much). I've been looking for a jacket for a couple of months now, and hadn't been able to find what I was looking for at a 'student friendly' price. What I really wanted was a black (preferably leather, or at least fake leather) jacket that was fitted, possibly cropped, and had LONG SLEEVES. I write this last point in capitals because for some reason or other some fool has decided that it's ok for us to freeze this winter and has proclaimed that 3/4 sleeves are in. Now don't get me wrong, I would happily buy a 3/4 sleeve jacket...if it was practical. Yes, I am well aware that I don't live in Melbourne or somewhere else equally cold, but that doesn't mean that Brisbane doesn't get cold, and I for one am not going to die of frostbite just to look fashionable when there are other fashionable looks out there.

Anyway...I was unable to find what I was looking for because a) the ones I did find that were fitted and leather were about $400, and b) because all the fake leather ones are that baggy daggy bomber style that I'm not really feeling. As I mentioned back in The Boot Saga, I can't pull off the biker look.

So here's what I did find:

Had this jacket been in leather it would have been EXACTLY what I was looking for. This one is a super stretchy denim, and not as dark in colour as I would have liked, but I wasn't going to get much better. It was $80 from Universal (I thought it was going to be $90, don't you love it when you get to the counter and it's less than you thought?). The brand is All About Eve.

I also bought this one from Dotti:

I have no idea why, but I saw this jacket and fell in love with it for some reason. I've never really been into the whole military look, or even denim jackets, so I'm still a little unsure whether I'll keep it or not. Was $100 (yea I know, it was MORE than the brand name jacket). I'm going to try it on with the clothes I already have before I decide if i keep it or not. I've never really been a fan of denim with denim, so I'm hesitant to wear it with my jeans and I'm not sure what else to wear it with. I can tell right now there will be clothes thrown all over my room by lunchtime tomorrow...

Now, I love sale signs as much as the next girl, so I went into Bardot which is plastered with sale signs at the moment and found this dress:

Was originally $60, down to $40, and then down to $30. It's closer to the grey colour in the close up picture, I just couldn't be bothered putting it on so I got the other picture off the Bardot website haha. As with most Bardot items their hand sewing is dodgy (eg...most buttons will at some point fall off their garments)...so if you like Bardot I suggest you get handy with a needle and thread. Some of the bows have come unstuck where they've tacked them down in the corners, so I'll have to re-attach them before I wear it. The only downside to this dress is the design lines. While I'm sure whoever designed those curved seams intended for the wearer to look skinnier through the middle, it seems to have the opposite effect and looks a bit hippy. But for $30 I'm not complaining. I love the lace and bows :)

Ok one last item:I ordered these off ebay for $7 (free shipping) from Hong Kong. I love ebay, however I've gone off buying clothes from there because half the time they don't fit how I'd hoped. However, I love buying accessories. It's also great for buying things for tafe in bulk (I've just ordered over 2500 beads for a studio garment, but thats another story).

Well...thats The Jacket Saga. Let me know what you think of the Dotti jacket, and your opinions on denim with denim, because I'm still not sure...
xoxo

ps...I know the pics are a little hard to make out...but if u click them they magically enlarge! ;)

IT'S BOOT DAY!!!

Alrighty guys this'll be a quick post coz I'm on my way out the door...IT'S BOOT DAY!!! Boot day originated yesterday as a bit of a joke when the tafe girls were paying me out about my blog (I love you guys too btw, and I think you all need to follow my blog as repayment for all the trauma I've experienced in past year and a half since meeting you). Anyway, I believe the conversation went something like this:
Someone: "We should all wear our boots tomorrow! hahahahaha"
Everyone else: "Yes! hahahaha"
End conversation.

So what started as a joke ended up a reality and everyone wore boots to tafe (kudos to Nadia and Stef who didn't know anything about Boot Day but wore boots anyway). So here's a picture of our shoes:
So going in a clockwise direction starting with the white boots we have Nadia, Stef, Kacey, Edith, Dot and me. Now before I go any further I have a question for Nadia and Stef...how do you manage to scuff the tops of yours boots??? I don't pick either of you as the type to play sport, so I'm somewhat perplexed...

But moving on...
Special mention goes to Kacey, for updating last seasons boots by cutting off the tassels from under the studs:And to Edith for her super cool boots...I approve :)

Thats all for now...hopefully going to the city either tomorrow or friday...hooray for shopping!
xoxo

The Boot Saga

Soooo the last few days haven't been very successful shopping wise. This story starts on Friday when my Aunty gave me money to buy some boots (my ballet flats are starting to fall apart so she decided I needed something a bit warmer). Anyway I set out to Chermside dragging Michael behind me and found the perfect pair of boots:
Or not so perfect...turns out they only had a size 6 left, which I definitely am not. So after this set back I wandered around for awhile half-heartedly checking out the other shoe shops (and of course finding nothing even the tiniest bit similar to those shoes and refusing to settle for anything else).

So I ended up back at home with nothing, desperately trawling the internet for a similar shoe (and of course with my luck finding nothing). It turns out that unless you can pull off the biker or cowgirl look there's not really a boot suitable for you this winter (unless your willing to settle for something plain, which I'm not). At this point I should mention that while I am a very picky shopper, I also had criteria I had to fill, because while I had found many adorable booties, by 50-something year old Aunty standards they're not really practical.

So I set out again today (optimism renewed) to DFO. Long story short, DFO sucks right now, so I dragged Michael back to Chermside. Determined by this point to settle for something, I tried on these boots despite the fact that they had studs on them and I was trying to avoid studded boots since I already just bought a pair:
Turns out they were super comfy (and the last pair left in the store which just happened to be my size) so I bought them. They were 50% off so I payed $60, which is pretty good for boots I think (especially since it wasn't my money) :p

So there you have it...the boot saga! Next up is the jacket saga. I've been looking for a jacket for months now, but like I said I'm really picky and have yet to find anything that matches my strict criteria. Hopefully I'll be going to the city on Wednesday so I'll let you all know if I find anything.

Oh and on a side note, I found the boots I bought for $40 from target (see prior post) for sale at Novo for $100 and Pulp for $80 (go Target!) :p The only difference I could find was that the more expensive ones have a zip, which I'm not really fond of in a shoe anyway unless it's a design feature.

Til next time...xoxo

PS...a special shout out to Michael, for following my dejected self around the shopping centre several times...

My Recent Buys...

Hey kids! So I promised you I'd show you what I've bought recently, but I've come to realize that that's very little. But I'll show you anyway...


Ok so I've had this one for a couple of months now, so not NEW new, but still new by my poor standards lol. I bought this Bardot jumper from Myer for $35, pretty damn good (and that's not even a sale price!). It also came in white or black but since I already have a jumper in both of those 'colours' I opted for the grey. I love the pleated raglan sleeve (slightly GaGa inspired?). And yes it may look a little plain, but guess what, detailed sweatshirts are gonna be big next winter so I've gotten in early and found myself a piece I can still wear next year. Yay!

Ok so next up are my new boots! I bought these about a fortnight ago for $40 from Target (their shoe department is surprisingly fairly decent). I've been wanting ankle boots for a few years now but never found any I really liked. And these ones have studs! (A new love of mine, although this is the only item of clothing I actually have that has studs lol).

Finally, my new t-shirt. I got this one for $10 from the Threadless online sale a few weeks ago and it arrived on Monday. I love it so much I even bought my boyfriend a matching one (note: we won't be wearing them at the same time lol). I love the print, it's innocent at a first glance, but look again and you'll notice the gun ;) You can check them out at www.threadless.com
Well that's all for now. I'll finish with a pic of me and my boyfriend Michael taken yesterday when we went to the Ron Mueck exhibition at GOMA. If you're in Brisbane you should really go check it out, its running til the 1st of August. His work is so life-like! And look out for the Valentino exhibition opening there on August 7th - just in time for fashion week :)

Oh and before I forget, while your over at Southbank go visit the cafe at QPAC...you haven't lived til you've had one of their brownies!

Love xoxo

Welcome!

Hey guys! Welcome to my blog! I was inspired to start a blog after reading a friend's, you can view her's here: http://free-kitten.blogspot.com/ please follow both of us!

I should start by telling you a little about myself. I'm currently in my 2nd year of TAFE, studying fashion at MSIT. I'm a dancer, I love the theatre, and I'm absolutely crazy for the musical 'Wicked'. (For those of you who are familiar with the musical, or have read the books, I will always believe that those ruby red slippers should belong to Elphie...however I refuse to believe that Dorothy killed Elphie by 'accident'...she's just a stupid brat).

Despite studying fashion, I struggle to find my own unique style. I blame this on a lack of funds, it's hard to forge your own identity when you're forced to wear the same clothes you were wearing 2 years ago. I get by by telling myself that one day I'll be rich and able to buy whatever I like (whether this happens or not is another story).

I should finish by telling you that I plan to base this blog around my experiences as a student designer, by sharing with you my work and whatever cheap items of clothing I can manage to buy on a student budget. In my next post I'll show you what I've come across recently!
And finally a picture of yours truly with my siamese cat Ceasar (yea I know that's not how you spell Ceasar but it's how the vet spelt it and it stuck lol). Also he doesn't normally look possessed, apparently the red eye reduction doesn't work on cats...

Til next time...xoxo