What I Actually Wore #108

Serial #: 0108
Date: 21/02/2013
Weather: 27°C/ 81°F
Time Allowed: 10 minutes

My very good friend Sapphire invited me to dinner along with some of her other friends to meet her dad while he was visiting the country. It was a warm summer evening and we were going to a Chinese restaurant in the city.

I decided to give my black gladiator boots an outing, since they don’t get to go out very often. They need to be worn with a short dress to really show off, and since I don’t own many minis, the black silk kimono-style was the go. The dress is by Luela – an Australian label which may now be sadly defunct; I can't find any current information about it. I wore it with black onyx jewellery, and carried a black patent bag, so it was a rare occasion that I found myself in an all-black outfit, apart from my pearl ring.

The boots attract a lot of attention during the commute, and from the male guests at the dinner party. After I inform them it's a rare treat for the boots, they all declare they are fabulous and deserve to go out more often.

It always amuses me how excited men get over certain knee-high boots. Of course there are certain obvious connotations, but you can easily offset that by pairing edgy boots with something demure and minimal makeup. Result: wink, rather than kink.

Photo: April 2013

Items:

Dress: Luela
Earrings: hand made
Ring: Autore
Watch: Kenneth Cole
Shoes: Wittner

Garden Party

On a warm day in October 2004, I took my mum to the botanic gardens near my home for lunch to celebrate her birthday. Mum is wearing her sensible shades of brown, but I am dressed rather more flamboyantly.

My outfit has a Fifties flavour, owed to the trifecta of hat, scarf and capris. I wore the enormous cartwheel hat by Mimco to protect my delicate complexion; a black tank (since worn out); denim capris (ditto); green suede sandals with grosgrain ribbon ties by Country Road (also departed for the place that beloved shoes go when they die – the trash); a tomato-red, reptile-embossed, patent leather purse by Oroton (tragically RUINED long before its due date by an unfortunate babaganoush incident at a picnic); and a silver sequin scarf still in circulation.

I adored that purse that looked like an envelope. It had a wrist strap which made it so convenient. It has become my Holy Grail of purses, but I have never seen its like since. For a long time after the tragic accident, I trawled eBay for a new one, but I never found one. (Although this one would not be a bad replacement!)

On the other hand (or head), the fabric hat was an investment that has served me well for more than a decade, even travelling with me overseas, for it is completely uncrushable and can be easily folded up and stashed in a suitcase. People always compliment it when I wear it.

The funny thing is though since I’ve segued back into minimalism (somewhat), I’ve discovered a new-found liking for neutral shades of brown. It used to be my most hated colour. Maybe it’s true what they say – I’m really turning into my mother!?

Spare Parts, or Lace Camouflage?

I am rather like a magpie when it comes to jewellery. I have collected a lot of pieces in my travels – literally, overseas; vintage and second hand pieces in boutiques and charity stores; and modern pieces by contemporary jewellers and labels, both in brick-and-mortar stores and online.

It is unusual and curious pieces that catch my eye. This white enamelled cast metal bead necklace was one such piece. It attracted me because it made me think of lace, or filigree; it was sculptural; and it was white, a favourite hue of mine to wear. I had also thought that perhaps I could pull it apart and use the components to repurpose into new jewellery.

The only time I donned it was for a photoshoot to accompany a story on the colour Wedgwood blue (although I didn’t use it in the final shot). When it came to actually wearing it out however, I didn’t. It just never felt right. There was something about it that seemed somehow dowdy – I could imagine old ladies wearing it with their Laura Ashley floral dresses. I liked the necklace as an object, merely, it seemed. I also like it as a picture, especially camouflaged against the lace fabric – maybe that is the answer, to wear it with a lace dress?

Hmmm, this calls for further experimentation. The fate of this necklace hangs in the balance!

Photos: September, 2013

What I Actually Wore #107

Serial #: 0107
Date: 25/03/2013
Weather: 27°C / 80°F
Time Allowed: 7 minutes

I don’t remember where I first heard the fashion lie that pink and red don’t go together, nor do I recall when I had an epiphany that they in fact look great together – but they do! You may yourself have once come upon the statement that colours within the same family harmonise – perhaps in a fashion magazine – and it cannot be denied that pink and red are in the same ‘colour family’; ie, they sit next to one another on the colour wheel. So I love the bright splash of colour this outfit makes.

I love the bright splash of colour this outfit makes.

It was a fine summer day. As I often do, I decided what to wear while I was in the shower, and the outfit started with the skirt. The skirt is by New Zealand label Obi. While it has since been culled from my closet, I owned and wore it for years until the day I ruthlessly decided that frills no longer gave me thrills. (The frills do not extend to the back however.) For the same reason that tank top also disappeared from my wardrobe. 

The vintage 50s headband is made from velvet, with a net and a decorative bird made from feathers. Apart from this frivolity, I kept my other accessories in simple black. The patent vintage bag is a long-term standby, and the shoes are still in regular circulation.

While I am still firmly against the girlish superfluity of frills, I still like the simplicity of this silhouette – it manages to offset the decoration to a degree almost to the point where I’m wondering: Was I too ruthless after all?! Too late.

Photo: April 2013

Items:

Top: Jump
Skirt: Obi
Headband: Joseph Horne Co., vintage 50s
Earrings: handmade
Rings: onyx – souvenir from Vietnam, silver – jewellery label Roun
Watch: Kenneth Cole
Bag: vintage 70s
Shoes: Gorgeous Shoes

Into the New

Early on New Year’s Eve, I had a lurid dream which in once scene had me running through a deep forest down a narrow but well trodden path that followed the curve of a slope. In the dream, I thought: “Oh! This reminds me of that other beautiful forest I have run in before – and I’m going to be there tomorrow!” And within the dream, my mind’s eye pictured this other forest; far more beautiful than the one I was in. It was an untouched wilderness, the green so vivid, the grass so lush, the trees like dryads dancing in the wind – you couldn’t believe it was real.

In past days I had been pondering the coming new year, wondering where it would take me, down what adventurous roads. A forest, in dream symbology can represent the unknown, losing your way or perspective, and the concept of infinity, the great out there. A new year always seems full of infinite possibilities, doesn’t it? We take a step out of the old year, and into the new.

A new year always seems full of infinite possibilities, doesn’t it?

Late this afternoon I walked to the botanic gardens nearby, to my favourite place, a ‘lawn’ of oak trees, elms, and pines, covered in long, lush grass: a pocket wilderness in fact. (Also in fact, the long lush grass was slippery, sticky and stingy; and hidden underfoot were great spiny seeds, and I was wearing thin-soled sandals. I hope that’s not a metaphor for the coming year!)

It was so beautiful there, lying in the grass under the trees, with the wind blowing through the leaves; a lovely start to the new year. I’ll just make sure to put on sturdier shoes when there are hills to climb.

Happy New Year!

Photo: Yesterday