What I Actually Wore #0082

Serial #: 0082
Date: 12/08/2012
Weather: 16°
Time Allowed: 8 minutes

These are some of my favourite pants to wear in winter because they are made of wool and are so warm. They are so wide-legged too – it’s like wearing a blanket, and they make me think of guacho pants. I usually don’t wear black with colours, but I think this was a happy exception because a) the jumper is knitted in multi-colour stripes, b) there are pompoms on it, and c) it was new. The wool felt vintage fedora and suede shoes add some shots of colour at my extremities. 

I wore the outfit on a day I was running errands in the city, and amusingly some random African-American guy called out to me in the street in great excitement at my colourful stripes, and thought I must be Mexican because of them! I wasn’t aware that Mexicans held a monopoly on stripes, and enjoyed telling my Mexican friend the story – she laughed and agreed that Mexicans are known for their love of colour (and she is no exception).

Items:

Knit: Kookaï
Jumper: Sonia Rykiel
Pants: Ming
Earrings: Portobello Lane
Ring: Dittoday
Watch: Kenneth Cole
Hat: vintage
Shoes: Wittner

What I Actually Wore #0081

Serial #: 0081
Date: 08/08/2012
Weather: 16°C for Cold, very windy and miserable
Time Allowed: 15 minutes

Pants are great for lazy winter days when tights seem too much maintenance, but it’s all dependent on mood, which persona I’m channeling that day. This looks a little bit like winter land girl, with tweed trousers, a cosy cardi, and flat beribboned brogues.

The orange cardigan is by Anthropologie, and I bought it on eBay. At the time I couldn’t decide whether to buy the warm grey version, or the burnt orange and I finally went with the bright pop of colour. Occasionally I wish I had chosen otherwise, as this winter I have gone back to an old love: shades of grey (somewhat less than 50 at a time). As the trousers are wide-legged and loose, I added a double belt for some definition at the waist.

I am wearing a rather eclectic collection of jewellery: my leather necklace knotted with wood and glass ‘beaded beads’ that I hand made myself; my charm necklace and Turkish coin earrings; and the two rings I always wore stacked – the onyx, and the silver concave ring. Sadly I have since lost the silver ring because it slipped off my finger one day walking to work!

The punctured leather brogues I also bought online in a sale store, with the deliberate intention of discarding the boring shoelaces and threading ribbon through the eyelets – not an easy task. I do love that look though – it’s also very land girl: your shoelaces broke? Make do and mend with an old hair ribbon.

Items:

Knit: Kookaï
Cardigan: Moth for Anthropologie
Pants: i67
Hat: Melbourne boutique
Belt: Alta Linea
Earrings: from Palm Beads
Necklace: handmade and collected
Rings: souvenir, Roun
Shoes: Urge

What I Actually Wore #0080

Serial #: 0080
Date: 03/08/2012
Weather: 14°C, cool but sunny morning
Time Allowed: 10 minutes

It’s the middle of winter in 2012, and I am still inspired by the colourful and decorative look of the Ballet Russes. In a bid for interesting winter skirts, I had bought several by Anthropologie from eBay stores: this goldenrod and cream velvet dot skirt was one of them.

Some of my friends called this brown last week when I wore it again, but I deny that I would ever wear a baby poo brown skirt; so goldenrod it is. And because I like the unpredictable colour combinations, I went for a lilac butterfly knit and shades of periwinkle and cobalt in my accessories. It took me a while to locate that lilac knit – I eventually found it in a pile of laundered tops that don’t fit in my drawers (note to self: nearly a year later and I still have this problem, must add ‘clean out closets’ to my to-do list). The basic wool long-sleeved knit underneath is worn for warmth on this chilly day.

Last year I was on a coloured tights kick and purchased quite a few pairs; these ones are ombré, graduating from sky blue at the top to cobalt at the feet. The toes blend nicely into my suede and patent wedges. Sadly the stockings were cheapies from China and didn’t last beyond a single wear – they were so sheer (unlike the photos online suggested) and snagged easily. I fell in love with the shoes when I saw them on a sale website – what a magnificent bolt from the blue they are!

Every single item I am wearing – barring the jewellery – was bought online in fact. The periwinkle velvet bandeau is vintage 50s, but all the other items are contemporary, although only the beige knit is secondhand.

As for the jewellery, the wooden necklace was found in a charity store, the ring was a gift, and the earrings I made myself (from components actually purchased online too).

Items:

Long-Sleeved Tee: Kookaï
Butterfly Top: Witchery
Skirt: Maeve for Anthropologie
Hat: vintage 50s
Stockings: eBay
Necklace: charity store
Earrings: handmade
Ring: NGV giftshop
Wedges: Mollini

What I Actually Wore #0079

Serial #: 0079
Date: 02/08/2012
Weather: 15°C for C-c-c-cold!
Time Allowed: 12 minutes

It’s a very chilly day in the depths of winter, but with the sudden influx of packages from overseas I am spoilt for choice. I go for bright blocks of colour, starting with my new red skirt by Anthropologie that I bought from an eBay store. I choose accessories that are a complete contrast – both in colour and texture: a white rabbit fur pompom scarf, wool beret and suede boots. It’s a cosy look in unconscious response to the white sky outside.

I don’t think this outfit immediately recalls any particular past era – I certainly wasn’t trying to evoke one, and not a single one of the items is vintage, unless the classic beret which I’ve owned for the better part of two decades classifies as vintage. However, a work colleague admires my retro style and suggests it’s sort of 1950s, sort of après ski, and working really well for me. I’m happy to go along with that!

Items:

Top: Maxstudio
Skirt: Girls from Savoy for Anthropologie
Hat: Melbourne boutique
Scarf: souvenir
Stockings: Columbine
Necklace: pendant from Portobello Lane (the Melbourne boutiques have long-since closed down – this France-based online boutique may or may not be allied)
Ring: Etsy
Watch: Kenneth Cole
Boots: Robert Robert

What I Actually Wore #0078

Serial #: 0077
Date: 01/08/2012
Weather: 15°C, a cold day with fitful sunshine
Time Allowed: 15 minutes

It took me about 10–15mins to get dressed this morning, what with searching frantically for my ‘Sweet Cherry’ sky-blue cashmere jumper, only to find (when I finally located it in my darning pile) that it didn't suit the skirt at all, being loose and floppy. So I tried on a strawberry pink silk and wool knit, and that didn't look right either. Finally I went with the layering option.

It wasn’t going to be warm, I knew, so I wore a striped long-sleeved tee from Free People underneath an old well-loved top – a diagonally-striped blouse from one of my favourite Aussie labels, Veronika Maine. The double layer turned out not to be nearly enough, so it was lucky my new ‘Sunset Sails’ cardigan arrived in the post that day. It is so soft, so cosy, so comfy! All the girls at work admired the new arrival. The cardigan is by Anthropologie which I purchased on eBay. I love this label, but it is pricey, so I shop for older season stock in eBay stores at a much-reduced rate.

The 1940s wool felt hat was also purchased online on eBay (the seller has a store, The Mad Hat Lady, on Etsy now), and I absolutely adore its little bows, the cutouts at the back, and the robins egg shade of blue. The colour is such a lovely contrast with the orange stripes, and the shape creates such a lovely silhouette. (Looking at these photos nearly a year on makes me excited that it is autumn and time to bring out the cool weather hats again.)

I’ve matched my jewellery to the hat this time: blue chalcedony earrings made by myself, a chalcedony pendant necklace, my charm necklace and my blue turquoise stone ring bought in Barcelona. The shoes I have deliberately chosen because they are green and don’t match – I love to break conventional fashion rules as much as possible.

Items:

Tee: Free People
Blouse: Veronika Maine
Skirt: Veronika Maine
Cardigan: Lill’s Closet for Anthropologie
Coat: vintage 70s
Hat: vintage 40s
Stockings: Columbine
Earrings: handmade
Necklace: Melbourne jewellery boutique
Rings: souvenir