Hello! I just (didn’t) step out of a time machine.

Greetings again dear readers, those of you who have emigrated with me. Apologies for the long silence as I have been very busy working on populating the professional sections of my website. (Please feel free to have a look at the portfolio.) But for those of you who are here only for the fashion, ta-da! Here is a little ‘fashionistamatic’ taken of me three weeks ago.

Since I last was consistently posting here, my personal style has evolved once more, and it is the 1930s era that I have become enamoured with. I won’t wax lyrical about it just yet, as it deserves lots of paragraphs: I’ve been thinking of writing a little series on why I think the 30s are the most stylish era EVER – perhaps a grandiose claim which will require copious justification to allay some skeptics.

I do own quite a lot of original 1930s garments and accessories, which I have bought both online from vintage boutiques or eBay, and a great many – remarkably – from op shops (thrift stores) right here in Melbourne. I have a theory that most of the volunteer staff, while au fait with 40s or 50s fashion, really do not know how to identify original 30s items because they confuse them with the 1970s. (The Thirties did have a big influence in that era too, via films such as Bonnie & Clyde.)

I’ve always said that I would hate to look like I have stepped out of a period film, or out of a time machine, and one way I have tried to maintain some semblance of modernity is by mixing eras. Hair and makeup styles help too. However, if I could have an entire wardrobe of original 30s garments, I would not hesitate to wear it head to toe, all day, every day. (1930s shoes are the most comfortable I’ve ever worn – they don’t make them like they used to!) Unfortunately, availability and cost hinder me somewhat.

Here I am wearing a 1930s straw hat trimmed with black velvet and celluloid berries, which I bought on eBay. The berries make the cutest clicking sound in my ear as I walk – like billiard balls. The blouse is modern, and the silk scarf is actually from an earlier period – the seller thought either Edwardian or even Victorian. Neckline embellishments such as collars, scarves and bows were huge in the 30s though, literally and figuratively. I’m also wearing a pair of vintage earrings (not sure of era) that match the celluloid berries really well. Those and the blouse were op shop purchases.

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PS You’ll see now I’ve added a blog header, and an archive drop-down menu so you can find things a bit more easily (the section header temporarily enlarges when the menu is opened, which seems to be unavoidable). I have also transferred most if not all of the old Look Book galleries, accessible in the main navigation. Unfortunately something very weird happened to the Ten Commandments on style stories in the migration from my old site, so that is temporarily inaccessible as I will have to lay that out in its entirety afresh when I have time. Please also note that there will be some weird formatting on any posts older than this one; I will try to fix these if and when I have time, but there is ten years’ worth of blogging below here!

Break the Rools with a Bajillion Jools!

You may have heard of that old adage – attributed to Coco Chanel – ‘take one thing off before you leave the house’ … today I am going to declare war on discretion! I pooh-pooh Parisian chic! I flout thee, minimalism! LOAD EM UP! More is more is more – the more the merrier, I say! Why wear one WHEN YOU CAN WEAR THEM ALL?

I own a lot of costume jewellery – mostly bought on holiday as souvenirs or in thrift stores – and for a long time I have been hesitant about wearing a single strand of beads because it just feels too 90s to me. A much more fun way to wear them I have found is to wear lots and really make them a feature of an outfit rather than a discreet accent.

But there is a secret to wearing a bajillion jools without looking like a Christmas tree, and it is this: pick one hue or theme and stick firmly with it. In these three examples of excess, I have done just that.

The first outfit included a holey wool top, and I decided to embrace the circle theme and wear a jumble of wooden necklaces of similar tones and shapes. In the second example I am wearing three brooches at once, all white, and all birds – note the silver earrings are feathers! And in the last, I am wearing three different green wooden necklaces on a fairly plain cool grey wool dress.

Be mindful to not go OTT with your other accessories to keep focus on just one area. Or you can say hell with that and go all out everywhere! Just be prepared to be goggled at.

Photos: August 2018/October 2018/May 2019

School Lessons

I have rediscovered a novel way to wear socks! Step 1: don big fat long socks. Step 2: scrunch down to ankle to form monstrous ankle warmers. This is how we actually wore socks as a fashion statement during one mad phase in high school, only our school uniform decreed they were white back then.

I don’t actually walk around like this, never fear. On days which suddenly turn warm and I feel like I’m about to pass out from heatstroke of the shins, I take a surreptitious breather under my desk for a few minutes. In fact I did so this very week. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do!

Photos: April 2017

Sweater Clips DIY

I have always wanted a pair of sweater clips, for those times you want to draw your cardigan close, but not button it up, or for those garments that do not have closures, such as vintage 50s outerwear. I’ve searched in thrift stores to no avail, for they are an item one just does not see in Australia. Maybe they simply were never a popular fashion accessory here. I have searched online of course, but with such high shipping costs (when buying from America in particular), they became ridiculously expensive.

So I decided to make my own. First I found a pair of giant 1980s pearl clip on earrings. Then I scoured op shops for a suitable chain. And I waited patiently. And I scoured some more. Finally I found a gold necklace that had a more interesting chain than the usual link. I already had some suitable gold findings from a previous repair, and at last I set to work with some jewellery tools.

I’m really pleased with the result. It’s been a very mild autumn in Melbourne and I’ve yet to break out my vintage cardigans, so I am looking forward to using the clips now that the weather is finally becoming cooler.

Colours of Happiness

Today is the International Day of Happiness! And I have spent today and much of the last few days in bed, or otherwise resting, as I have been sick with a horrible chest cold – hurrah! My workplace was having a morning tea in celebration of the day, and we were told to wear yellow; while I didn’t make it to that, I still managed to wear yellow – my kimono is yellow and white gingham.

I shall share instead some pictures from Saturday, when I visited my parents for lunch and wore a new favourite vintage 70s dress – a cotton voile spaghetti-strapped straight dress, belted at the waist. Its standout feature is the gorgeous print, in colours that really do make me happy! The dress is in very good condition; I found it recently in a thrift store. I am also wearing 40s sunglasses, 50s hairclips and am carrying a vintage Chinese paper parasol.

The label is Miss Jo Melbourne, and I surmise that was inspired by Jo from Little Women, the famous book by Louisa May Alcott. I don’t know anything about the label’s history unfortunately, and have only spotted one other dress – a brown polka-dot, 30s style frock – at Le Sourceress on Etsy. With such a romantic name, I’d love to know what else the label produced.

Photos: March 2019