blue dress

Shopping for a present for a friends birthday; meeting up with said friend for birthday drinks; going to show late that evening.


This is my first vintage-style, modern-made dress. I love the teal colour with the white details, and it is handy being able to chuck it in the washing machine. I have been look at other vintage dresses – such as those Stop Staring ones – for ages. How to choose?



A reader asked what the back of my hair looks like, and here it is – or was, on this particular night. It was left down during the day, but as it was poker straight, rather than curled as I'd prefer, I made a little bun and added some flowers. I am looking for some big flower hair pins, and have almost found the perfect ones by Flamingo Amy, but they don't ship to Australia... pity!

And finally, to counter my oh-so-serious pose in the first picture (I was in a hurry, and had a look-normal-and-relaxed FAIL) ... this is what happens when I get camera timer confusion! :D

Good night! I look forward to doing some serious blog catch ups tomorrow! xxx

dress – ebay
tights – thrifted new (they are sheer white tights, even my legs aren't quite that pale! ;)
shoes – target

music johnny cash orange blossom special

brrrrr... keeping snug in uggs

Winter has well and truly come to Melbourne, and it was especially cold today.


You may have seen Uggs doing the rounds on some other blogs. When the offer from Whooga arrived in my inbox, it was actually quite refreshing; I would be sent a pair of Uggs to review, and they wanted me to be honest – if I didn't like them, I could say so. It was also observed that I don't seem the type to wear Uggs as outdoor shoes, but might enjoy them as slippers...



... they were spot on. Obviously I would never wear these out – no, not even to go and get my mail – but for me that's not the point of them. Warm, soft and snuggly, with a hard sole and sheepskin lining all over the inside, these are delicious to put on when I get home. After a cold day, a hot shower, a good book and a nice cup of tea help warm me up. Babycat helps, too!

music gentle ben and his sensitive side the shimmering hand

For a chance to win a pair, click here.

6th June – D Day

Today is the 65th anniversary of D Day. After a thought of thanks to those, including, like many people of my generation, both of my grandfathers, who made what we enjoy today possible, we plan to celebrate extra hard this evening. There is a Blitz Party in London that looks like heaps of fun, and I hope to go one year. But it is good that I won't be going tonight, as I would be dressed all wrong :) I am wearing a '70s dress I thrifted a few weeks ago that has quickly become a favourite.


D can perhaps, in this case, also stand for dots, a pattern I associate more with the '50s than the '40s. We have a big dinner party tonight, and I need a comfy dress to allow for plenty of cheese, roast lamb and red wine. This swirly, soft dress is perfect. I have, however, rolled my hair (and have been all week). This pic was taken after a day of running errands, so yay for the rolls that stayed in place (no product! just pins!) but boo to the flyaways... still, practice makes perfect.



D can be for dresses, too... one of the things I did today was hand wash three vintage goodies that have arrived recently, including two forties dresses – much more appropriate for today.



I have had a bit of a moment with one of them, though – its crepe-y, rayon-y fabric shrank before my eyes to child-size proportions as soon as it got wet, and became very stretchy, a bit like leggings. As the dress itself is pretty robust, I decided to try and stretch it back to my size by putting it on while it was still wet. This was just about as comfortable as it sounds, but definitely helped. Lesson learned: not absolutely everything will like being hand washed. If any of you knowledgeable ladies have any tips for me and my poor tiny dress, please share them with me! xxx

wool cardigan – witchery
1970s dress and maroon ribbed tights – thrifted (tights unworn and still in their packet, of course)
my beloved peep toes with ankle strap – zu
maroon velvet bow tie worn in hair which I have helpfully not photographed but is the thing you can see sticking out under my ear in the top pic ;) – vintage

music the smiths these things take time (more time travel!)

back to my roots?

Ah, well kind of :) I have gone back to being a bottle blonde. This is something I've done a couple of times before in the last ten years, and I've always loved it. And I love it now! Getting this right isn't easy, but the hairdresser did a great job – better than I expected. (And they got it up in one go... as anyone who has gone blonde before will know, this is impressive. Especially on my stubborn hair). As well as being a colour I really like, the change to my hairs' texture means I can actually do things with it. I naturally have really silky, fine, slinky, dead straight hair – and tonnes of it. NOT ideal for, erm, any kind of styling at all, really. I did some pin curling and what not last year, but my hair just couldn't hold it for long – no amount of product, curling etc could give it the structure it needed. Today, I tried super kawaii mama's faux victory rolls, and added a little roll to my growing-out fringe (bangs). With the extra challenge of doing this at sparrows*, and even less time than planned thanks to Babycat hiding my box of bobby pins at some point during the night (thanks, Lou Lou**), just 5 pins and two combs held this in place all day – including a couple of hours with headphones. I can't wait to try more :)

And what picture do I have to show all this? Um, it's not great – sorry :) It's an imperfect world... Until I am next near a camera during day light, you'll just have to take my word that the colour is very nice...

Oh and I was in fact entirely dressed for most of the day – black mary janes with pink bows and my black cape. xxx

*Australian for dawn
** Babycat's other name is Little Lou Lou – just to keep things simple ;)

blouse – thrifted
1940s wool pencil skirt – etsy

music edith piaf – and last night's amazing big band at the rainbow