black on white

VPL Insertion bra / 3.1 Phillip Lim silk shadow shirt / Camilla Skovgaard ankle wedge boot

I seriously think there is nothing better than the clean simplicity of black and white. This shirt pretty much sums up my entire reason for living, pure unadulterated heaven in garment form.

[all images from tumblr]

what to wear with: bomber jackets

T by Alexander Wang bomber jacket / Linda Farrow x The Row aviators / Topshop cashmere tank / 3.1 Phillip Lim trousers / Elizabeth and James sand pumps

Topshop floral bomber jacket / 3.1 Phillip Lim 31 hour bag / River Island dress / Asos Harlot sandals 

A.L.C. wool and leather bomber jacket / Stella McCartney sunglasses / Topshop foiled jeans / Topshop tee / Asos hightops 

Topshop pastel silk bomber jacket / Clare Vivier fold over clutch / T by Alexander wang tee / VPL curvate skirt / Jeffrey Campbell hanger bootie

Bomber jackets are perfect for 'sporting' up an outfit but I find that if you don't get your proportions right with your botton half then the whole look can get out of whack badly! I think you need to keep it short and sweet or slim and long, carrying through the sporty theme in small doses- think aviators and hightops. I have a great basic navy blue vintage bomber by Pierre Cardin found by someone (not me) in an op-shop. It's technically not mine (it was being held ransom in the depths of my brother's wardrobe before I rescued it!), but I have claimed the beauty and promise to do it justice. I think I'll go the Alexander Wang route and team it with bright pants and pointy heels. Experimental outfit post soon!

shift to bright

Cobalt // Dion Lee silk form shift

Tangerine // 3.1 Phillip Lim silk dress

Cherry // Bec & Bridge lace backless dress

Rose // Acne satin shift

Four delightfully simple bright shift dresses to get me out of my early winter blues. Cobalt is always going to be my first choice though, and the incredible Dion Lee dress is on sale at Green With Envy.. So tempting!!

what to wear with: tan leather

- Acne romantic tan leather skirt / similar here -

Jil Sander circle clutch / Asos gold cuffs / Surface to Air louna art deco V2 / Equipment signature silk shirt in lime punch

- Balmain skinny tan leather pants / similar here -

Asos metal collar necklace / Marc by marc Jacobs bars & bells bag / Alexander Wang emina sandals / Altuzarra outboard chunky knit

- Acne rise boot in tan / similar here -

Karen Walker patsy sunglasses / Motel jordan jeans / Asos triangle grab bag / 3.1 Phillip Lim detachable panel blazer

- See by Chloe tan leather shorts / similar here -

Elizabeth and James wooster sunglasses / L.A.M.B iowa platform wedge sandals / Alice + Olivia halter bodysuit / Sass & Bide strong foundations jacket

- Acne Ryah tan leather jacket / similar here -

Topshop floral print shorts / Asos brass collar / Jeffrey Campbell clift boot / Current/Elliott the perfect shirt

So I'm starting a new weekly style post that documents what to wear with tricky items. This week it's tan leather. Not something that I'm particularly fond of, seeing as most things made in tan also come I black as well, and I'm all for black leather! But there is a time and a place for tan (well away from the 70s) that, when done right, will produce some seriously worthy results.

b.f.w

I've decided to be completely un-Melbourne and support B.F.W: Brights for Winter, a totally fictional program I've just made up that supports advocators of bright clothing in the colder months. None of this gloomy depressing stuff, I have challenged myself to give up buying anything in black/shades of grey as of now. I'm tossing up whether shoes and bags count, but for the purpose of this post I don't think so (metallic silver does not count as grey). Also, the (grey) neoprene jacket I just bought from Asos doesn't count, but none the less I'm dying to wear this magnificent beast with some crazy brights underneath. Will do an outfit post when it arrives (hoping tomorrow, fingers crossed).

Topshop ombre trousers

Romwe jumper

Acne Corinne silk bomber

Zara sandals

3.1 Phillip Lim Lark zip clutch

P.s. Sorry posting has been so slow lately, I've been up to my neck in uni work. I'm hoping, come June, I'll be back sewing again after the nasty onslaught of assignments and exams is finally over!

in search of the perfect silk shirt

I've recently been on the hunt for the perfect silk shirt. Quality is something I'm willing to justify forking out a lot of money for, so when I see something is 100% silk I'm very happy to pay the price. But this often isn't the case for a huge majority of big-name designers who are more than happy to make a fully polyester shirt and slap a $250 price tag on it. I'm not an idiot, you may have called the fabric 'crepe', but I can read a label and it definitely doesn't doesn't say anything about silk. I'm not trying to hate on polyester, it has it's place in a vast amount of my wardrobe and it serves it's purpose well, but it's just not a fabric with which I associate luxury prices and quality fabrics.

So the dilemma still stands as to what's a reasonable price to pay for a silk shirt. Plain, single colour fabric I would be willing to go up to $150, but I'm more interested in printed silk, namely digital, as I know this a hell of a lot more expensive to produce. Depending on how nice the print is, $300 is about the ball park for me, but that's honestly not the sort of money I have to throw around at the moment.

I thought long and hard about buying the Sara Phillips printed dress shirt in the top image, which was $495 down to a sweet $250, but decided it was probably best to wait until I'm feeling a little more affluent! For now I might settle for the beautiful green water print shirt from Asos, a steal at $73!

Top image: Sara Phillips digital print silk dress shirt

Bottom image: Clover Canyon printed chiffon shirt

Emma Cook denim print silk/cotton blend shirt

Asos Premium silk water print shirt

3.1 Phillip Lim silk crepe shirt

Equipment daddy printed chiffon shirt