stay in school

Now this is a massive call, but I'm prepared to make it; this shirt is undoubtedly my best online purchase. Ever.

Consider, will you, the sheer scheme of this statement in light of the thousands of dollars I have spent on clothes, shoes and accessories online over the past 3 years (before which I did not a) own a debit card, or b) been introduced to the devil that is Asos), this shirt is the most perfect lightweight, washed cotton, boyfriend-style shirt in the history of mankind. And it cost me a measly $24.

From the glorious fantasy land that is Korean online store Style Nanda, it may just be the most confusing/annoying/cute/madness-inducing website I have ever visited but there are some serious gems hidden amongst the bad designer rip-offs. Now I know the Australian retail industry is going down the gurgler, and I'm not helping, but we really need to step up our game if Korea can churn out these ridiculously lovely articles for next-to-nothing!

The shorts are also NANDAAAA (to be pronounced in a squealy voice whilst making 'peace' signs with both hands), the combination of which made me look like a legitimate schoolboy. This is a just-for-fun, comfort-of-my-own-backyard, oh-shit-there's-someone-at-the-door-quick-get-changed-don't-let-them-see-me kind of outfit, but considering there is pretty much nothing that won't go beautifully with this shirt I can guarantee it won't leave my body until the threads start to unravel.

[wearing: Style Nanda shirt & shorts, Target sports bra]

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]

key lime

Staying true to my vow to take a more colourful approach to winter wardrobe, here's some pics of my latest Asos purchase. I had been deliberating over this one for so long, leaving in my saved items for what felt like a century, that when it miraculously went on sale I almost cried. Not that it was expensive to start with, but that was just the thing to push me into it. This shirt is definitely not the same colour in the pics on the website.. a lot more blue-green than citrusy, but I am definitely not regretful. It is the loveliest silk, just the right weight, softness and transparency you need in a silk shirt. The watercolour effect is kind of strange, but gives this shirt character that means it will lift any outfit out of banality.

The shoes are another newbie from Siren. They were heavily discounted (still on sale at the moment) and I was seriously in need of a proper 'grown up' heel so these seemed like just the ticket; super simple with the sweetest little ankle strap. As you can see it was seriously windy today so taking photos was a big struggle. I didn't have a lot to choose from as most of the pics were affected by a little blurring and a lot of hair-in-faceing! I ended up doing a couple of indoor close ups which turned out a lot clearer (not to mention warmer). I think I'll have to do a whole lot more indoor posts if this chilly wind keeps up.

[wearing: Asos silk shirt, Cheap Monday jeans, Siren 'fallen' heels, DIY copper twist rings]

white out

I've never been a white girl. I mean, yes I'm incredibly 'white' in both my skin tone (thanks winter) and culturally, but I'm not a big wearer of the shade. Maybe it's Melbourne's influence or there's simply not that much good white stuff about, but I thought I would give this whole sporty/crisp/luxe business a go.  So from the VERY few white clothes I have in my closet I put together this outfit. The sheerness (nonexistence?!) of the tee really helps to break up that blocky, sterile feeling that makes full head-to-toe white hard to wear. Skin is good, and white just so happens to give the illusion of slightly tanned flesh which is very handy in the middle of winter. I went minimal with black boots and bag, no jewellery and slicked hair (wet not greasy!).

[wearing: thrifted shirt and reworked jeans, Asos tee, Witchery bra, Office London boots, Life with Bird bag]

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

collar crazy

Went a little collar crazy this past week after being inspired by one of my all time favourite blogs A Pair & a Spare, so much DIY collar inspiration it's quite overwhelming! My friend kindly gave me her childhood box of sequins so I could make a crazy sequined collar. Very happy with the results, but to be honest it took about five times longer than I expected! Went with the totally 'random' approach, which involves methodically placing the different colours and sizes so nothing doubles up. I left the stand on the collar (which was cut off an old denim shirt kindly donated by my dad) because I didn't want it sitting flat around the neck, but they look just as good without the stand.

The second collar I did wasn't much trouble at all, since I had this strip of silk I had painted when I was in high school! Also found an old (op shop) Country Road shirt hanging around the back of my wardrobe, it has a lovely frill at the neck, but the collar was stained which made it perfect for a collar makeover! After I finished sewing the fabric onto the collar I realised that the silk was probably painted with ink, meaning I can't get the collar wet or the ink will run all over the rest of the shirt. Woops! I'll just have to be super careful when I wash it.

Hope everyone's enjoying their weekend!