fashion

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What I wore: Sick Sad World

I count down to the beginning of October every year.  I like to celebrate Halloween for a full month, and as soon as the calendar flips over to October first, I’m in full-on spooky mode. I get out all my favourite horror movies, flip over to my goth playlist and start working some creepy elements into my wardrobe.

I couldn’t resist wearing this Sick Sad World tee shirt to ring in October.  I love the green spiral detail and the creepy eye peering out from the centre. The fact that it’s an homage to one of my all-time favourite cartoons, Daria, is just icing on the cake.

I am wearing:

  • Sick Sad World tee shirt from Pulp Kitchen
  • Green skater skirt from Princess Highway
  • Diana Ferrari ballet flats (thrifted)
  • Black tights from Target
  • Vintage striped scarf
  • Opal earrings from my grandmother
  • Green beaded necklace from Chapel Street Bazaar
  • Vintage cocktail ring from Faye Bella

I wore this outfit to go grocery shopping, work on some writing and have a coffee date with my boyfriend’s mum.

Do you do Halloween-themed outfits? What do you like to wear when the spooky season rolls around?

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What I Wore: To see The Rocky Horror Show

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while (or have met me, like, ever) you’ll know that one of my favourite films is The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  I’ve had Rocky Horror themed parties, I’ve cosplayed as Columbia and I know every word of the script and all the ad-libs.  But until recently I’d never seen the stage show.

The Rocky Horror Show came to Melbourne about five years ago, just as I was preparing to move away from the city.  At the time I just couldn’t afford to go, so I missed out and I’ve always regretted it.  But last year, it was announced that the show would be returning.  As soon as the tickets came on sale, I pounced.  And so it was that I finally got to see the live performance of my favourite musical of all time.

It took me a little while to decide what to wear to the performance.  I wanted to dress up, but I also wanted to be on theme.  I chose to dress in homage to Eddie, with leather pants, a smattering of leopard print and rockabilly hair and makeup.

 

I am wearing:

  • Leopard-trimmed cardigan (vintage)
  • Black tee shirt from Uniqlo
  • Black leather look pants from TKMaxx
  • Leopard ring from Equip
  • Science Fiction brooch from Erstwilder
  • Black motorcycle boots from Big W
  • Silver chain earring from Sportsgirl
    The show was, in a word, phenomenal.  From the moment the lights went down and the Usherette began to sing, I was hooked.  My grin hurt my jaw and yet I didn’t stop until the final curtain call.  It was an incredible experience and I never wanted the show to end.

 

The show has finished it’s run in Melbourne now but I’m so grateful that I got a chance to see it.  I’ve been able to tick one Rocky Horror item off my bucket list, and now there’s just one left (I want to go to a theatre screening of the film where actors perform the show in front of the screen).  It was an incredible experience and I’d go again in a heartbeat if I had the chance.

If you’re interested in experiencing the show for yourself, check out this live performance from 2015 featuring the London cast and several guests.  It’s the same script, costumes and set as the show I saw.  I’ve popped this on a few time to recreate the excitement of my live experience.

 

 

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What I wore: Fuzzy coats and horror brooch

Every year I look forward to winter, getting excited about finally pulling all my fuzzy jumpers and hats out of the cupboard, imagining myself rugging up in adorable vintage gloves and cardigans and prancing about in tall boots.

 

And every year July hits and I am sick of being cold and tired of planning outfits that cover the greatest possible amount of skin.  I just want to wear something that looks cute without shivering through the day.  Luckily a few weeks back I got gifted a bag of second hand clothes from my friend Judith, and in the bag was this amazing nobbly grey coat. It’s heavy and warm, like wearing a blanket, but it still looks super chic.  I’ve been wearing it non-stop, both to work and on weekends.

 

This past Saturday I adorned my new coat with a brooch from Cherry Loco that I’ve had for months but I haven’t worn nearly often enough.

 

I am wearing:

  • Hogwarts raglan tee from Jay Jays
  • Grey Boucle coat (gifted)
  • Checked jeans from Forever 21 (thrifted)
  • Black motorcycle boots from Big W
  • Redrum brooch from Cherry Loco Jewellery
  • Deadpool locket necklace (gift)
  • Ladybug stud earrings from Louvisa

 

Something about this outfit gives me a bit of a Judd-Nelson-from-The-Breakfast-Club vibe. I think it’s the combination of boots and long jacket and red checks that does it.

 

I can never get enough Hogwarts tees.  This is the only long-sleeved one I own.  I wear it so often because the colour palette means that it teams with lots of colours that I typically wear: red, blue, purple and black.  This one is a staple of my winter wardrobe.

I thought about doing a smokey eye to go with my slightly grungy look but instead opted for a clean copper eye.  I watched a makeup tutorial the night before where Detox did a fierce copper eye look and it reminded me how much I love wearing copper eyeshadow.  It’s a very eighties shade, but it’s so flattering on blue eyes and looks brighter than black or grey shadows.

 

This warm, textured coat is breathing new life into my winter wardrobe.  It’s been the perfect thing to pair with so many lighter-weight dresses and shirts to make them winter-appropriate and I’ve loved experimenting with it.

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What I wore: body con dresses in winter

Lately I’ve found myself in a bit of a wardrobe rut.  Winter has begun and it’s been icy around these parts.  As such, I’ve found myself reaching for the same warm and cosy clothes over and over.  And that’s fine, but it’s making me feel bored and a bit sluggish. I’m the type of person who needs to dress up once in a while, to put on something fun to sweep the cobwebs out of my brain.  For me, trying something new with my clothes is like a cup of coffee for my soul.

I pulled out a body con dress I was given by a friend a few months ago.  I wore it a lot in summer, but now that the weather has cooled off, I hadn’t reached for it in a while.  I decided to pair it with thermal leggings, boots and a slouchy jumper for a sassy winter look.

I am wearing:

  • floral body con dress
  • Black fleece-lined tights from The Reject Shop
  • Black knitted jumper from Cotton On
  • Black vegan leather boots from Ebay
  • Moonstone ring from Louvisa
  • Dr Frank brooch from Erstwilder
  • Vintage silver earrings.

This almost all-black ensemble felt like the perfect backdrop for my Dr Frank brooch.  He’s one of my favourite Erstwilder creations, and I’m particularly smitten with his tiny pearl necklace.

I paired a few makeup products that I don’t usually wear together- a smokey purple eye with a pink lip and I was pretty happy with the result. I have been wearing a lot of dark lip colours lately and it was a refreshing change to wear something a bit punchier.

It’s so easy to update your summer clothes for the cooler months.  Adding warm legwear, a jumper or cardigan and boots brings your body con dresses forwards into the new season and means that you can get twice as much wear out of them.

 

Do you wear body con dresses in winter?  How do you style yours?

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What I wore: royal purple

A few weeks back I was on my way to pick up the office’s stationery order when I passed the local Red Cross shop.  In the window was a gorgeous long-sleeved vintage 70’s dress in the most lovely shade of purple.  It was a fairly simple design, a straight skirt, boat neckline and button detail, but my eye was instantly drawn to it.  The following day I made the decision to go to the shop in my lunchbreak and pick up the dress.

Alas, when I arrived it was no longer in the window.  My heart sank when I realised that it had probably been sold, and I resigned myself to taking a quick look in the store to see if I could find a consolation purchase.  And there, on the rack with the other dresses, was my purple marvel.  Silly me!  It hadn’t been sold, they’d just changed the window display!  I snapped it up for $5 and walked gleefully back to work with my treasure.

I am wearing:

  • Royal purple vintage dress (thrifted)
  • Black boots from Ebay
  • Mrs Doubtfire pin from Amy Blue Illustration
  • Celtic knot brooch (gifted)
  • Art deco earrings (thrifted)

I wore this particular outfit for mother’s day brunch with my family.  I chose my jewellery carefully.  These two brooches are to pay tribute to two mothers who are important to me but who weren’t present for Mother’s Day this year- my late Nana Dot and my ex-mother-in-law-now-friend Judith.  The Celtic knot was a gift from Judith and I always think of her when I wear it.  I chose Mrs Doubtfire for Nan because it was a film that she loved and we used to laugh our asses off watching it together.

 
I’m thrilled with this dress.  I have very few long-sleeved vintage dresses, so this was the perfect addition to my winter work wardrobe.  The colour is superb and the slight stripe texture makes it a bit more interesting than just a block colour.  I can see myself getting a lot of wear out of this now that winter is here and the temperatures are dropping.

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What I wore: no capes

It’s been a couple of years since my last cosplay.  After a stint as Tank Girl at Supanova I unintentionally took a hiatus from cosplay.  I didn’t make a conscious decision not to do it anymore, I just no longer felt excited about creating and wearing costumes.  But recently I started feeling the itch to cosplay once again.  And Free Comic Book Day presented the perfect opportunity to rock a new character costume

I’ve got a short list of characters I want to cosplay, and Edna Mode from The Incredibles was at the top of that list.  I adore Edna’s super sharp style and lightening wit.  Like so many cartoon characters, her look is simple but instantly recognisable and pretty easy to translate into a cosplay costume.

Naturally, an all-black ensemble was vital.  Edna’s outfit has an armoured look to it, and it’s very structured.  I chose this heavily sequinned dress for the bell-shaped skirt and the rough texture.  I added leather-look pants with pleated details on the knees and thighs for a tough look.

I actually bought new glasses specifically for this costume.  These are the 7001 from Derek Cardigan.  I normally go for very square or cats-eye glasses, but Edna’s frames are extremely round and heavy.  I actually really like the way these frames look and they’ve become my go-to glasses lately. It’s great to step outside your comfort zone and wear something you haven’t tried before.

Edna’s makeup was kind of tricky, because in The Incredibles she doesn’t appear to be wearing makeup. I kept my look polished and fresh, making my brows heavier and doing some more extreme contouring that I do for day-to-day.  I contoured my cheeks and around my mouth to make me look a little more jowly and shaped my nose to be a tad rounder to recreate the shape of Edna’s face. I kept my lips light with a slick of nude lipstick.

 

I picked up so many new comic books on Free Comic Book Day.  My favourite offerings were The Mall, which was a very nostalgic 80’s teen romance mixed in with a crime story.  Crush was gorgeous, a tale of a young man dealing with his first crush and I really enjoyed the lightheartedness of the Adventure Time Fiona and Cake story.  Naturally, I loved Tank Girl as well.  And the artwork in Street Angel’s Dog was unlike anything I’ve seen before.

After a very long day of standing in line, waiting in stifling shops and lugging bags of books I was grateful to jump on the train back to my boyfriend’s house.  He’s never seen me in cosplay before so that was a hilarious first for us.  I was ready for a long shower, a shampoo and a Marvel movie with the man I love.

 

I loved being Edna for the day and allowing myself to jump back into cosplaying.  I felt a bit disappointed with myself when I lost interest in cosplaying, because it used to be something that brought me so much joy.  But sometimes we grow out of hobbies that we used to love.  And sometimes we just need some time and distance, and suddenly our interest bubbles up again and we get to become reacquainted with that fun and creativity that we used to know.  And when that happens, it’s an awesome feeling.

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What I wore: Come up to the lab, and see what’s on the slab

When Erstwilder announced that they were releasing a Rocky Horror-themed collection I was beyond excited.  The Rocky Horror Picture Show is one of my all time favourite films, and I adore the aesthetic of the movie.  I had no doubt that Erstwilder would do an amazing job of translating that vibe into a line of jewellery.

 

Overall I wasn’t super impressed with the Rocky Horror collection.  Unlike the Grease collection that came out last year, I thought that this collection lacked range.  There were a lot of “portrait” style brooches and fewer conceptual pieces that evoked the general feel of the film.  I felt like this collection was a lot more literal, with more actual representations of characters rather than subtle winks to the theme. There were a couple of pieces that I just flat out didn’t like (such as the Riff Raff brooch) and some that were kind of cute, but that I wouldn’t personally wear (such as the Damn It Janet nameplate necklace).  I ended up getting two brooches from the collection: the Dr Frank  and the Science Fiction Lips.

I thought long and hard about what to wear Dr Frank with for his maiden voyage.  And I thought he’d be most at home amid a sea of kisses, leather look trousers and sky high heels.

I am wearing:

– Dr Frank brooch from Erstwilder

  • Kisses blouse from Target
  • Leather look jeans from TK Maxx
  • Red rose heels (thrifted)


I bought these jeans a few weeks ago to use as part of a cosplay costume. I’ve fallen head over heels for them.  I never expected that I’d want to wear a pair of leather-look trousers, but these are just so freakin’ comfortable.  They fit like a second skin and they stretch and move with you.  They’re also incredibly warm so I expect they’ll become a part of my winter wardrobe.  They’ll be perfect for pairing with teeshirts or vintage blouses for a tough edge.  I  love them.

Did you snap up any of the Erstwilder Rocky Horror collection? Which pieces were your favourite?