Dresses & Snacks

grand sale, grand sale!

It's that time again..time for me to clear out my wardrobe and hopefully fill up my bank account.

The Details

I've described every item's condition and size to the best of my ability, should you require further photos or measurements just let me know.

My preference for payment is direct deposit, however I can arrange Paypal if need be.

Postage will be $5 per item (regular post, if you require express let me know, of course this will cost more) with the exception of the two leather items, which will be $7.50, if you're interested in more than one item let me know and I'll arrange a combined rate for you.

Like an item but not the price? Make me an offer! (offers including food/puppies will be considered). Like more than one item? Tell me! I'll work out a better price.

suit pants, size 12 -  $8





Cute, creased suit pants made of a synthetic blend. They're missing a button on the back pocket, other than that in great condition.

toile skirt, size 10-12 - $8

This skirt is really soft and comfortable. One of the button has some rust marks (as shown) and the lining of the pockets is worn through in some places, so I wouldn't recommend carrying your change in the pockets. The toile pattern is really adorable too!

pink appliqué skirt, size 10 - $6 SOLD!


I'm not sure what to say about this one. It's hilarious, basically. I bought it intending to make it a bit shorter and never did. Look at those funny little houses, let them go to your house.

zebra print pants, size 10 - $12

I actually bought these second hand as a teenager. I wore them too. I'd suggest these are not the best for the long legged lasses (or gentlemen) as they're slightly short in the legs. Very good condition.

Kookai dress, size 8-10 - $16 SOLD!



This dress is made of a lovely soft and drapey viscose with a pretty gathered detail along the neckline. It's a wee bit skimpy for me and as such I've never worn it so it's delightfully as new.

blue & white check cotton trousers, size 12 - $8



Super-cute, high-waisted cotton trousers, perfect for spring picnics!

Supre green tulip skirt, size 12 - $9

Great vibrant colour and in good condition.

Alba Fan Club Eiffel Tower print dress, size 10-12 - $12 SOLD!



Very cute with Eiffel Tower print and ruffled detail from Alba Fan Club. The dress is a light, cool cotton.

dropped waist abstract print dress, size 12-14 - $12



This dress is so cute and summery! It's made of fine cotton/poly blend so will be nice and cool to wear gallivanting on summer's evenings.

H&M lined skirt, size 12 - $10 SOLD!



A really sweet little skirt with button detail on the pockets, fully lined, mostly cotton with a touch of elastane for a nice fit. Looks just as good with a t-shirt as it does with a crisp white blouse

vintage grey skirt, size 10-12 - $9



Great winter skirt made of a poly/wool blend, perfect for warmth and easy care. Only flaw is slight pulling along one section of the hem, not noticeable once the skirt is on.

tartan skirt, size 12-16 - $9






I suspect this tartan skirt started its life as a school uniform. Nonetheless, it makes for a good winter staple. It has a slight mark (shown in second picture), but it is barely noticeable. It has a partially elasticised waist and nifty little internal buttons (third picture) allow for a very adjustable size.

houndstooth dress, size 12-14 - $9 SOLD!



A nice corporate basic. I wore this with a crisp white shirt, a wide belt and a few strands of pearls. Fully lined so nice and cosy.

nautical vest, size 12 - $6

Sweet nautical vest, barely worn and in as new condition.

Princess Highway dress, size 10-12  - $12 SOLD!




This high-necked wonder is made of a very fine corduroy. The fine geometric pattern and big ruffles make it extra-cute. In great condition.

striped kaftan with belt, size 10-14 - $10

A light and airy kaftan made of a poly/cotton blend. The kaftan comes with a matching belt.

vintage blue dress, size 14-16 - $10





Very pretty blue dress with adorable white buttons. Some light marking as shown in photos, I would imagine a bit of napisan would sort them out without too much trouble.

vintage floral dress with pussy bow, size 12-14 - $12





Gorgeous floral frock, great flowing shape when worn. Dress has two small marks which I'm sure would disappear with a little bit of attention.

white blouse with pleated detail, size 10-13 - $7



Sweet blouse with the pleated detail adding a bit of interest. It does have some extremely light marks on the arm which I only notice when looking over it very closely.

vintage leather jacket, 8-16 - $25



This leather jacket is AMAZING. But I have several others, so it must go to a new home. It has wonderful strong padded shoulders and inserts of patterned leather. It doesn't have any buttons or zips, just the tie around the waist. As such it would probably fit just about anyone fabulous enough to wear it.

glittery long knit dress, size 10-14 - $10 SOLD!



This dress is a body-hugging, disco dream. It has a very slight hole along the seam on one shoulder which a few quick stitches would take care of easily. It does have a lot of stretch.

geometric patterned dress, size 12-14 - $12



Super-comfy easy to wear dress made of a thickish synthetic fabric to keep you nice and warm.

vintage leather skirt, size 12 - $28

Beautiful butter-soft leather skirt in wonderful condition.

WELL, that's the lot! Hopefully something takes your fancy.

Austin, I could kiss you!

I utterly adored Austin and in the space of a few days fell in love with the city. It's almost a town built for me - good vintage shopping, great food, cupcakes in airstreams and dogs are allowed pretty much everywhere. I will definitely return, hopefully before too long. Here are a few more snapshots of my time in Austin.

My second day started with a delectable plate of brioche french toast from Annie's Cafe just about drowning in maple syrup, delish!

I wore...
vintage dress - New Bohemia
vintage Paloma Picasso sunglasses - present from Mumsy
faux pearls - Diva
belt - from another dress
Georg Jensen 'Offspring' bangle - present from Mumsy and Dad
watch - Swatch
shoes - Goodie Two Shoes
happy tummy care of amazing, incredible milkshake from my namesake ice cream store

Gorgeous and very tasty chocolatechocolatechocolate cupcake from Hey Cupcake! Hey Cupcake! is run out of an airstream, with a rotating cupcake on top (see below). The lady who served us was some kind of beautiful vintage princess.

Isn't it just adorable?

The Avenue Barbershop on South Congress Avenue has old school (babe) barbers in ties and white jackets using cut-throat blades to finish off the back of a gentleman's haircut. There were old posters, an old but still operating coke machine while Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison were on the radio. Wowee!

I'm sure you can tell I'm having an absolutely ball!

Frocktober: days 4 - 9

Hello lovelies!

Here are my Frocktober efforts, days 4-9. Don't forget to sponsor me via the Frocktober donation page and remember to include my registration number (634899) on the Paypal confirmation page. I know it's a truly overused cliche, but every little bit helps.

Day 4.

dress - Revival
    sun hat - Gregory Ladner
vintage Paloma Picasso sunglasses - present from Mumsy
pearls (real this time!) - present

 

Day 5.
dress - op-shopped
sunglasses as above
faux pearls - Diva
belt (from Givenchy dress) - Ebay
shoes - op-shopped

 

Day 6.

dress - op-shopped
sunglasses as above
blue glass 'pearls' - present
vintage Chanel purse - BrandOff, Tokyo
shoes - Sandler

 

Day 7.

dress -somewhere in Hong Kong
headband - Diva
glasses - Temple Street markets, Hong Kong
tights - Kmart
knee high bamboo socks - Ambra

sickly complexion care of the flu

 

Day 8.

t-shirt dress - New York Doll, from YesStyle
glasses as above
watch - Swatch
tights as above
knee high socks as above
shoes - Orbit

 

Day 9.

dress - op-shopped
Atlas necklace, Tiffany & Co. - Present
belt as above
shoes - Kmart

I think posting a photo of me looking like death surely proves my commitment to Frocktober and almost certainly deserves some donations, no? It is for a super-dooper important cause and even if you're not a lady, think about your mamas and your sisters and your friends and so on. 

Pilgrimage - part I

Last week in honour of my absolute dearest friend's birthday, we both headed (very) north from our hometowns to rendezvous in Brisbane. The purpose of our visit (besides celebration and frivolity) was to see the Valentino Retrospective at the Gallery of Modern Art.

We were treated to simply gorgeous weather (minus one torrential downpour), yummy food and friendly people wherever we went. A thoroughly enjoyable mini-holiday all round.

On our first day we meandered around South Bank and the Botanic Gardens, stopping for lunch at one of the cafes in the arts precinct (which for the life of me I cannot remember the name of).

For lunch I enjoyed 'salmon bruschetta'. Despite not actually being bruschetta and being terribly over-styled, it was delicious. The dish had a generous amount of hot smoked salmon with a salad of roquette and crunchy cucumber. It was a very enjoyable fresh and light dish, exactly the sort of thing you want on a warm day.

For our lovely, lazy, sunny day out I wore...
80s does 60s cotton dress - op-shopped
sunglasses - Girlprops
faux pearls - Diva
floral belt - op-shopped
petticoat - ebay
shoes - Sandler
leather purse - op-shoppes
Georg Jensen silver bangle - present
watch - Swatch

We finished our day in the best way possible, with a swim and a sauna and a lots of cheese for dinner.

Tabouleh, triple cream brie (is there any other kind?), Persian fetta,  lavosh crackers, Turkish bread, smoked salmon, spinach dip and the biggest knife in the world.

I'll bring you the rest of our adventures in later posts. Until then x

first impressions

I'm a firm believer that personal style is ever-evolving but has its roots fairly early in one's life. I know that almost all the things I like now - be it food, cinema, furniture - has some foundation in my early years of childhood. I thought I would show my lovely readers who I identify as my early personal style icons.

Samantha in 'Bewitched'

(source)

(source)

Samantha had gorgeous everything. Gorgeous gardening clothes, gorgeous pajamas, even gorgeous maternity wear. And her hair was always so voluminous and shiny. I think I was in such awe of Samantha because her style seemed so effortless and still so practical. I guess that's entirely possible when you're a witch with magical powers.

(source)
I also adored Samantha's home. I still do.

Mary Tyler Moore in 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show'

(source)

(source)

Mary Tyler Moore had a killer set of legs, endless cute ensembles and a positive attitude. She was a really go-getter and I think I admired her spirit just as much as her style. I'm still a real sucker for mini-dresses thanks to Mary.

As a small child I thought Mary's studio apartment with sunken lounge room was just to die for. Can you imagine anything more glamorous and cosmopolitan than having your friends over for drinks in your sunken lounge room with shag pile rug?

Cher in the 'Shoop Shoop Song' video
(source)

Don't call child services. My parents did not allow me to watch the movie Mermaids as a child. They did however let me watch music videos on a Saturday morning which is how I saw this video. I fell head over heels in love with Cher's spotted dress and asked for one every Saturday morning after seeing the video (sorry Mum).  Her hair was also a fixation of mine and to be honest, still is.

Audrey Hepburn in..everything

(source)

(source)

(source)
I know it's terrible cliched to list Audrey Hepburn as a style influence, but it's true! I have been watching Audrey Hepburn in films for 20 years and what I so admire is her versatility. She looked just as stunning (and comfortable) in a Givenchy gown as she did in fitted pants and a plain shirt. Audrey introduced me to the idea of vintage glamour as a wee little and for that alone I will also adore her.

And what about you, my wonderful readers? Who do you see as your earliest style influences?

breakfast, baking and britches

I had just about the worst work day ever on Thursday, utterly terrible. I made it my mission this weekend to have a lovely and relaxing few days. What better way to get things off to a good start than a yummy breakfast.

Yoghurt, muesli and baked rhubarb, vegemite on rye toast and plunger coffee with soy milk. Yum. 

The rhubarb was made using a recipe I posted previously. 

For a day of baking and exciting errands like going to the post office and taking pupsie for his romp at the park, I needed something somewhat practical, but hopefully not boring.

I wore..
white t-shirt - Kmart
yellow check overalls - Ebay (and a steal at $15 including postage)
scarf (worn as bow) - op-shopped
glasses - Temple Street Markets, Hong Kong
watch - Swatch
shoes - Sandler

I am just in love with these overalls. I intend to take them to China with me next year and have them reproduced in every colour. Ok, well, a couple of colours at least.

..and a blurry puppy outtake, just because he's so darn cute.

This afternoon I went about creating a new muffin recipe. I had a really crappy muffin during the week and it really puzzled me how cafes (even good cafes) get muffins so very wrong so very often. No more will my afternoon teas be tainted by sub-standard baked goods!

This was a recipe I made from scratch and as I went along, so no progress photos, only the finished product. Super-easy recipe though and the results are fantastic

Wholemeal Apple, Carrot and Cinnamon Muffins

You will need..
2 cups white self raising flour
2 cups wholemeal flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup raw sugar (use white sugar if you wish)
2 cups milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup grated carrot
1 cup 'pie' apple (found in the canned fruit section of your supermarket)

Pre-heat oven to 180°C, grease or line muffin tins with patty cases. This mix makes approximately 24 muffins.

Sift white flour and baking powder, mix together with wholemeal flour and sugar. Add milk and eggs, mixing until just combined. Add carrot and apple and stir through. Divide amongst muffin tins and bake for 25 minutes until golden. 

For an extra decadent afternoon treat, I enjoyed my freshly baked muffin with hot chocolate made with organic soy milk, Lindt chocolate and marshmallows.

Delicious!

a new frock

I am in a bit of a slump at the moment. Work has been hectic, I'm continuing to battle this gosh darn flu and generally feeling a bit disorganised and lacking direction. I'm sure this will pass as plans for the rest of this year and next year slowly fall into place, I've just never been the sort of person who is content with not achieving and planning the next step forward. Therefore, I haven't been feeling terrible motivated to cook properly or dress in anything too interesting or special.

Having said that, I am a total cliche and will buy a little something-something if I'm feeling so-so. Especially clothing. New dresses tend to make me feel happier, more positive, motivated and dare I say inspired. Oh dear, I really am a ditz sometimes. I'm not saying it's a long term solution, but for a quick pick-me-up a well fitted frock will always do the trick. After a long, long week at work last week this is exactly what I needed, luckily I had a package from ebay waiting for me at the post office.

On Saturday I wore..

vintage Prue Acton cotton dress - from ebay (new purchase)

glasses - Temple Street markets in Hong Kong, fitted with my lenses in Melbourne

plastic pearls + headband- Diva

floral belt - op-shopped

Thanks to the more than ample fabric in the skirt of this dress, it is incredibly good for twirling in.

After a good old twirl around the living room I cooked the pasta and rhubarb dishes you saw over the weekend, tackled my laundry, cleaned the kitchen and my bedroom. Motivation plus!

I have a three day weekend coming up and intend to make the most of it cooking-wise with a few recipes twirling around in my head, stay tuned.  

bagels for breakfast on the balcony

Today is a beautiful Autumn day in Melbourne. Sunny, but pleasantly cool; perfect weather for eating a leisurely breakfast on the balcony before getting stuck into a day of chores.

I enjoyed half a Glicks onion and poppy seed bagel with cream cheese and salmon, berry yoghurt, coffee and fizzygood.

Yummy! Would've been better with some capers though. This is an old cake plate I found at an op-shop last weekend. I really like square plates and it was 50 cents, so why not.

I have a bit of a fetish for re-purposing glass containers. Big jars with lids are fantastic for cute and practical storage in my rather deep pantry, and I love re-using old bottles for vases or to hold milk.

While I was out on the balcony wasting time, I took some photos of some new plants I put in recently.

Very vibrant marigold.

Tuscan kale! They were itty bitty seedlings a fortnight ago and almost ready to eat now.

Broad beans! No beans just yet, but the plants have tripled in size in the last two weeks.

After pottering around on the balcony for long enough, it was time to get dressed and head off to the greengrocer.

I wore:

lace-detail blouse - op-shopped

wool plaid full circle skirt - op-shopped

belt, from vintage Givenchy dress - ebay

vintage Paloma Picasso sunglasses - present from Mumsy

silver ring - present from Mumsy

lipstick, Barcelona Red - Chanel (which the dirty bastards have now discontinued, I say with some authority this is the ONLY matte lipstick in this shade)

So very happy it's cool enough to wear this skirt again, I adore it. There's just so much fabric, it's very fun to wear and extremely good for twirling in, as you can see. It even has pockets, pretty much my dream skirt.

Well, I must get back to my chores and some cooking for a post tomorrow. Until then x

a very excellent Easter

Well I don't know about you dearest readers, but I had just about the best Easter possible. My weekend was full of being spoiled rotten with presents, delicious foody treats, delightful company and PUPPIES, so many puppies. After this post I may very well need to change my blog name to Dresses & Snacks & Dachshund.

Where to start? As I don't have any photos of Friday (I was obviously too distracted manically giggling and sipping late night milkshakes with the greatest friend in the world to grab my camera), so I'll skip forward to Saturday night. My brother treated the whole family to his savant cooking with his amazing gnocchi and lamb ragù.

His gnocchi is absolutely made from scratch. I provided moral and photographic support while he put in the hard yards turning the above into dough.

Don't they look fantastic already? I'm so impressed with his consistency, the one time I tried to make gnocchi I don't think any of the dumplings were remotely the same size.

This is the secret to really delicious gnocchi, you need to first boil the gnocchi then fry in butter.

This delicious ragù was made using lamb that had been marinated for most of the day and slow-cooked in the oven for nearly 2 hours.

Here is the finished product, served with shaved parmesan and a handful of roquette. There are not words to describe the deliciousness of this meal, only unintelligible sounds which cannot be accurately communicated in written text. I don't have my brother's recipe for the gnocchi or the ragù, but I will ask him to send them to me for your eating pleasure.

This absolute feast was to be followed on Sunday by a very leisurely long lunch at Grazing in Gundaroo, which is just over the NSW border outside of Canberra. Before we arrived at lunch however, there was a small, extremely cute and very long awaited detour. A dachshund detour.

If you've every spoken to me for more than five minutes, you would know I love dachshund with a passion. Our family have two dachies who live with Mumsy and Dad and I'm now (finally) in a position to have a pup here in Melbourne. I had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of a litter from our breeder and they were finally born (two girls, four boys) in early February this year. Easter provided the perfect opportunity to go and meet the pups, who will be ready to come home in around 6 weeks. So without further delay I will clog your bandwidth with teeny, chubby puppies.

Dad holding the biggest, extremely docile boy of the litter. Look at his giant paws, argh. 

You will never, ever see me smile this much unless I have a puppy in my lap. This is one of the girlpups having a snooze.

One more for good luck, this is the same boy from before being snuggled by my gnocchi-master brother.

The breeder still needs to select which boy he will be keeping, which should happen by the end of the month, at which point I'll know which dogbaby will be mine. He should be able to come home at the end of May at which point I will snuggle him so much we wont need the heater on over winter.

After the dachie-detour it was on to a slightly fancy lunch, for which I felt a slightly fancy outfit was needed.

I wore..

my old favourite,vintage 50s cotton day dress - The Vintage Clothing Shop

cashmere/silk cardigan - Zara

vintage Paloma Picasso sunglasses - present from Mumsy

plastic pearls - Diva

belt - somewhere cheap and horrible

vintage Chanel purse - Brandoff, Tokyo

suede flats - Sandler

watch - Swatch

Georg Jensen 'Offspring' bangle - present from Mumsy and Dad

Grazing is restaurant run by the husband and wife team who were previously behind Sage at Gorman House in Canberra. Babies lead to bit of a lifestyle change for them and they've developed Grazing. along with its expansive and beautiful kitchen garden, in the restored Royal Hotel in Gundaroo.

Before our table was ready, we had time for a little drinky in the gardens and we took the opportunity to wander around and marvel at all the incredibly vegies, herbs and fruit, not to mention the palatial chook shed. 

There was an entire garden bed of this lush basil, well and truly puts my small terracotta pot to shame.

I was very taken by these adorable yellow tomatoes.

Who better to watch over a kitchen garden than a chef scarecrow.

After a morning of snuggling pups and wandering in the sun, it was definitely time for lunch to get underway.

Dad and I shared the 'Charcuterie for Two'. As you can tell, I started devouring it before I thought to take a photo. We munched on 'handmade sopressa, Poacher’s pantry prosciutto, duck liver parfait & truffled rabbit rillettes with little pickles, French mustard and crackers'. Yum, yum and yum. I know this sort of food isn't for everyone, especially the parfait, but it was a truly excellent start to the meal. The parfait and rillettes were creamy and gamey, which balanced excellently with the cornichons while the saltiness of both the lamb and pork prosciutto was well matched with the French mustard. This really would have been enough food for three or even four people.

For my next course, I had the 'Turkey and Speck Pie'. I was far too excited about eating this to take a photo before I messed up the plate, I'm sensing a theme here. The pie was unfussy, peasant-style food. The pastry was very buttery and crispy while the filling, which could have been too heavy, was lightened and freshened by the inclusion of roasted tomatoes.

To finish the meal, my brother and I shared the Easter dessert special - 'Hot Cross Bun Bread and Butter Pudding'. Funnily enough, we ate the whole thing before I thought to get my camera out. You'll have to trust me when I say it was decadent, fragrant and perfectly teamed with cinnamon ice-cream. Definitely a dessert for two people, or one bottomless pit. 

From start to finish, Grazing was a fantastic experience. I would strongly recommend you visit if you live or ever visit Canberra, Grazing is only a half hour drive from town and definitely worth the trip.

Just in case I hadn't snuggled enough puppies or consumed quite enough calories, I also had the pleasure of visiting a friend on Monday for morning tea, however that little adventure will have to wait for another day..

And that, ladies and gentleman, was my very excellent Easter weekend.

a wonderful wednesday

Today I happened to be a very lucky lamb and had a suprise day off work, Not a pretendsie-sick day, a genuine, authorised, totally official surprise day off. I enjoy my weekends immensely, but having a day I'd imagined to be consumed with work instead being filled with walks in the sun, coffee, shopping, etc etc..well that's just extra fun isn't it?

I lazed away part of the morning in bed with coffee and pastry before finally deciding to get dressed, which I did at a very leisurely pace to a soundtrack of Dusty Springfield, Petula Clark and Etta James - perfect!

I wore..

cotton knit sweater - op-shopped

wool skirt - op-shopped

gold leather belt - op-shopped

vintage Paloma Picasso sunglasses - present from Mumsy

painted ceramic pendant - op-shopped

smoky quartz ring - hand-me-down from Mumsy

favourite red lipstick - Chanel

After doing some chores and running around near home, I decided a break for coffee was definitely in need before heading into the city. I am indeed a creature of habit as I went to Green Refectory on Sydney Rd (again).

I had coffee and a simply monstrous piece of carrot and walnut cake. The coffee was fine, but as I'm treated to the amazing coffee from Cafe Vue almost everyday, it was a touch below par. The cake on the other hand, despite being enough for two people, was very lovely. It was very moist and fresh with plenty of crunchy walnuts and unlike my disappointment at Sugardough, the cream cheese icing was done perfectly. It was no surprise that I couldn't finish this, so I bundled up the remainder into my handbag for afternoon tea. Turn up your nose all you like, I'm not silly enough to let delicious cake go to waste.

My afternoon was consumed with more chores and running around, including buying supplies for, and completing, a crafty-diy-y gift for a friend of mine. I wont go into detail because she reads my blog (or at least tells me she does..) and it would spoil the surprise a touch. It was a very quick, affordable and successful project so once I've handed it over to its rightful owner I will definitely be posting some photos.

On the weekend, I had my last day at one of the two jobs I've been juggling for the last month. I was completely taken by surprise and very touched when I was presented with a very beautiful, very thoughtful gift. So, this afternoon after a relatively productive day and feeling a little bit tired it seemed the perfect opportunity to use my special present.

a gorgeous red teapot and 2 little teacups

I truly adore this little set. It came from the Oxfam shop and all the pieces were handmade in Vietnam which makes it even nicer. As I tend to have my tea in something closer to a trough than these delicate little vessels, I will probably use them for milk and sugar when serving afternoon tea. 

Well that's a bit of an all-over-the-place entry for a bit of an all-over-the-place day. I'm going to have an extremely early dinner and take myself to bed for a good night's sleep. In case I don't get a chance to say so again, I wish you all a happy and safe Easter, whether you celebrate it spirtually or with chocolate or just enjoy having four sleep-ins in a row, I hope you enjoy the long weekend as best you can.