Tag: style

Posted on by — 6 Comments

Navy

navy

I’ve been thinking about solid colours a lot lately. I’m stash busting with a vengence this year and it’s come to my attention that I barely own any solid colours. It’s all prints all the way round here.

So in order to think a bit more about colours, each Friday I’m going to share my thoughts on some colours. It may not lead to a big colour revelation but at the very least we can look at some pretty clothes.

I used to hate the colour navy, well hate is a strong word but I just never considered it. To me it was boring, functional and held no charm at all.

These days I love it for its inky wonder, it can be rich and vibrant, makes a perfect companion to many of the bright patterns I so love but is equally well matched to sweet small prints.

So why for so many years was it banished from my wardrobe?

I wore a navy skirt to high school. For 6 years I pulled on a navy box pleated skirt, a white over blouse and a navy tie.

Functional yet oh so boring. While not featuring in the style stakes at all, it was however incredibly comfortable and fairly well suited to our hot and humid climate.

My only issue was my tie which I was forever covering in ink, paint or something from art or design class. After awhile my mum got sick of trying to keep it mark free and I ended up with 2 ties. One to wear on any day I had a practical subject and one to wear on all other days.

Now that I have got past that time I can appreciate navy for all it’s good qualities and love pairing in unexpected ways or in a wacky silhouette. Next trip to Japan I’m scheduling in some time to indulge my navy fascination by seeing a traditional Indigo Dyehouse, surely the ultimate form of navy?

Voluminous Navy skirt via We the People Navy Lace Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton via Fashion 156 Navy head to toe via The Sartorialist Navy and red trim coat via Lauren Moffatt

To see more Navy in all it’s hue’s take a look at our Pinterest board

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Mini Obsessions – bold cushions

I’m in the market for some new homewares.

bold cushions

1 – Jonna x Kangan 2 – Castle 3 – Harvest Textiles 4 – Bonnie and Neil

My love of cushions and pillows is well documented, but lately it seems that super big oversize patterns have been catching my eye.

Admittedly many of these are featured in utterly pristine white apartments that make me sigh in envy. Though immediately after the sigh I always crumple my brow and think where do they fit all their Stuff? Like bikes and sewing machines and endless pairs of runners?

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Sewing Adventures

After last week’s musings on skirts I decided to jump right in and make one on the weekend.

green skirt layout

I had this pattern from one of those buy one get one free sales that Spotlight occasionally has. I had thought to make it up as a work skirt sometime?

The fabric is a vintage cotton with the pattern being printed on (including the green lines that appear to be the weave of the fabric, all printed!). I picked this up years ago at a thrift store and there was miles of it! So far I have made caps out it, dresses, this skirt and there is still heaps left. It is a great sturdy weight cotton and sews up a dream.

Now to the skirt. I omitted the waist tie as I thought this fabric would be too bulky for it to look good, and I added a contrast bind to the top edge instead of a self bind. Just for a bit of a pick me up on the duller green of the fabric. Fit wise the high waist takes some getting used to and the skirt is a bit too straight to be able to ride in (admittedly only an important factor if you ride your bike to work) but for general wearing is quite good.

One thing I didn’t factor in though? All my tops are prints! I have absolutely zero to wear with this skirt that doesn’t make me look like some kind of colour explosion (and  I mean more than I normally do).

So I’ll be keeping an eye out for something to match to this and in the meantime will also be keeping an eye out for other potential skirt patterns?

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Mini obsession – necklaces

As part of my determination to bust my enormous stash of fabrics down to a mere molehill instead of a mountain. It sometimes means I am making up garments in less than flattering colours and patterns.

Some of the colour risks have paid off, some of them need a bit of a pick me up.

Then I discovered the power of a good necklace.

The transformation is sometimes amazing and sometimes it’s just enough to take an ok garment up to acceptable.

Here are some of my favourites

necklaces

1 – Fable and Lore 2 – Homako 3 – I made this one! 4 – Memi the Rainbow

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Mini Obsession – coloured hair

It’s coming up to getting my hair done again. This is a very regular occurrence but I still love it. Ben my hairdresser is brilliant and I have been seeing him for years.

I’ve been almost every shade of blonde, pink, purple, lilac imaginable. I’ve been blue (looked fantastic till the first wash then was a weird dishwater colour?) I’ve been red which made me look far more like raggedy Anne than I care to. I’ve even had a flash of neon green.

I never decide what I’m getting done I just go in and relax and come out with amazing hair. But still these images have been providing some strong inspiration.

coloured hair

lilac hair, long pink hair, pink hair, mint hair

Promise to let you know what colour I come out this time!

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Summer dresses

Today is going to be a scorching 39 degrees Celsius here in Sydney.

So naturally I’ve been up early, put up heavy sunblock curtains on the windows that face the sun and had all the blinds pulled down low since the sun came up.

With a day packed filled with meetings I did my weights session early, got the washing out on the line and selected a cool cotton dress to wear.

Walking into the city I saw so many women dressed in the most simple and stunning dresses. A red patterned strapless maxi dress was paired with a cleverly tied lightweight cotton scarf to create the illusion of straps and offer some sun protection.

A mustard multi layer voile dress had a fitted bodice and a tightly gathered skirt and looked the picture of summer ease, as it was atop a mint green step through bicycle with a wicker basket on the front.

Even now on the train I can see a zip front navy sweetheart neckline dress with teeny tiny yellow flowers scattered across it, a simple shift in a Liberty style floral and I’m wearing my pink Cynthia Rowley.

Thank goodness for the ease and style of a nice dress, it really makes the heat easier to cope with.

Stay cool today and try and avoid the heat!

(Update: what I had thought was a simple shift in a Liberty style floral, actually had a front filled with inserted lace details. Pretty!).

Here are some fantastic summer dresses, photos by The Sartorialist

summer dress