What I Actually Wore #0154

Serial #: 0154
Date: 26/10/2013
Weather: 14°C / 57°F
Time Allowed: 15 minutes

I remember nothing about putting this outfit together, but I do recall an amusing incident at the end of this evening – but I’ll get to that later. I was going out to dinner and the theatre with a friend, and dressed up accordingly.

I really liked this black wool dress. I bought it in a thrift store, and had never (nor have since) heard of the designer, Charlotte Eskildon. It had some pretty ruching on the cuffs and around the waist – I say had because it didn’t take me long to admit that the dress was simply too big for me, and it returned to the op shop whence it came.

It’s pleasing to note though that I still own almost all the other items, although the polka dot tights inevitably became holey and ran. They have been replaced however with an identical pair that I confess I am reluctant to wear for fear of ruining them also! The op-shopped shoes died as well, but I fortuitously was able to replace them with an identical pair that were also from the op-shop and unworn. (How lucky am I?!)

The cashmere coat is a marvel, and I will never get rid of that – I am often likened to Red Riding Hood when I wear it. Parts of the label are very worn, and I have only now bothered to examine it closely with the aid of a magnifying glass, and have managed to make out it says ‘Weil der Stadt’, in addition to the fibre content and the ‘Made in Germany’, which I had read previously. Weil der Stadt is a town in the state of Baden-Württemberg, and is often called the ‘Gate to the Black Forest’, which is a very evocative origin for my fairytale coat. I bought the coat in a vintage store in Melbourne many years ago, in celebration of winning a pitch for a freelance job. I suspect the coat is not that old at all however, for some time after I bought it, I came across a Vogue magazine ad for designer coats in which there was one almost identical.

What does make me chuckle however, is the memory of travelling home by tram that evening: the tram driver – a regular bloke – had to stop the tram and access some interior maintenance panel. It was late at night, and there were few passengers on board; on his way through the tram, he saw me and exclaimed loudly, “It’s Miss Fisher!” That was at the height of Miss Phryne Fisher’s fame, and a few people nearby smiled, while I imagined his wife inveigling him to watch Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries with her, and him feigning disinterest. Although I am sure I had not thought of her when I dressed, I knew Phryne indeed had a coat very similar to mine – the tram driver was clearly paying attention to the show!

Items:

Dress: Charlotte Eskilden for Designer Remix Collection
Coat: vintage
Headband: Morgan & Taylor
Bag: vintage 60s
Tights: Basque
Shoes: Scooter
Earrings: self-made
Necklace: souvenirs
Watch: Kenneth Cole
Ring: souvenir

Photos: January 2014

What I Actually Wore #0153

Serial #: 0153
Date: 23/10/2013
Weather: 16°C / 61°F
Time Allowed: 10 minutes

I wore this outfit to work, and to Cinematheque, a club for cinephiles in the evening. I was glad of the coat and scarf going home, for it was freezing.

I like to sometimes dress in almost all monochrome – as long as it’s not all black, which is very un-Melburnian of me. If you’re not confident about mixing colours, going monochrome is a nice easy way to put an outfit together, with perhaps one or two other complementary colours in your accessories, such as the red I have used here. Black and white are of course non-colours, and they go with everything.

Whenever I do a story on these archival outfits, I amuse myself discovering how many of the items are still in my closet. (I am photographing current outfits, but I am running years behind!) In this case, some of these items are still in my closet, and the others have replacements.

I still mourn the loss of this vintage 70s white leather trench coat that I won for a song maybe a decade ago on eBay ($40) – I wore it out until it looked more grey than white, not from dirt but from actual wear. I still sort of regret culling that, although I would not wear it even if I still owned it, so that’s silly. (Call me sentimental.)

The red wool beret was a gift, but it was actually too small for my head; maybe it was a child’s hat. I have replaced it with another from the thrift store. The shoes, which I originally bought in an op shop, wore out, but I found a pair by the same brand that were almost exactly the same except for having a punctured brogue pattern – also from the thrift store, and never worn. Such a bonus because this Aussie shoe brand no longer exists: some kind of fashion miracle! These socks were a favourite cashmere blend; while I darned the toes several times, they eventually wore out beyond repair.

All the other items I still own, although the cardigan (note the Juliet sleeves) has been in a darning basket for some time, with moth holes in the tie belt that need repair. Emptying that basket out is one of my winter resolutions, so this picture is a timely reminder.

Items:

Top: Kookaï
Cardigan: Nanette Lepore
Skirt: Celia Vela
Coat: vintage 70s
Hat: vintage 80s
Scarf: souvenir
Socks: Philippe Matignon
Shoes: Scooter
Earrings: self-made
Necklace: souvenirs
Ring: Roun

Photos: January 2014

What I Actually Wore #0152

Serial #: 0152
Date: 19/10/2013
Weather: forecast 26.5°C / 80°F
Time Allowed: 10 minutes

It was a Saturday evening on quite a warm spring day, and I had a date with a friend to see the 1945 film Brief Encounter in a pop-up outdoor cinema at Federation Square. I had not planned to dress up, but my friend insisted I had to, so I wore a new secondhand dress I had bought on eBay, by Australian brand Witchery.

I have long liked woven ikat fabric, and also watered silk, and this dress combined the two effects prettily. It is a rather shapeless tunic and I wore it with a grosgrain ribbon as a tie-belt as a leather belt felt too heavy for the delicate silk fabric. Although it was still balmy, I took a wool cardigan just in case – another eBay purchase. It has Juliet sleeves – that is puffed in the shoulder and then tight to the wrist – and delicate patterns down the front. (My knitting knowledge is practically non-existent so I don’t know what that technique is called.) I omitted to photograph it on, but you can see the cardigan here.

As I was walking, I needed a pair of comfortable shoes, and I chose this ice-blue pair of wedges and took them on their first outing. I ended up giving them away to a different friend as they were too big for me. Sadly this is another brand that has since closed down.

I still own my other accessories: chalcedony earrings and pendant necklace, the turquoise ring which was a souvenir bought in Barcelona, and the green eelskin bag, which I bought from a thrift store. I was carrying it so much during this time that one of the straps became detached – it’s been languishing in a basket for quite some time, awaiting repair. The dress though, as much as I loved the print, I ended up giving away as I just didn’t like its shape. I do like the summery sorbet of colours in this outfit though.

Items:

Dress: Witchery
Cardigan: Nanette Lepore
Bag: vintage
Shoes: RMK
Necklace: Portobello Lane
Earrings: self-made
Ring: souvenir

Photos: January 2014

What I Actually Wore #0151

Serial #: 0151
Date: 10/10/2013
Weather: 21°C / 70°F
Time Allowed: 10 minutes

As always, if I wear a lot of black, I add some pops of colour to brighten it. I wore this black and cobalt outfit to work, with the rhinestone cat ears headband added for evening as I was going to see a play at the Melbourne Festival. My friend, who came with me, was delighted by the whimsical headband.

The black knit top has a subtle lurex thread going through it; it and the skirt are both great basics. The top I bought from a warehouse store on sale, and the skirt came from a thrift store. I still own all of these items, except for the silver ring – a favourite – that slipped off my finger one day (in action like the One Ring, although it didn’t make me invisible!) never to be seen again. As the night was cool, I was also wearing my beloved white leather trench coat (you can see it in this gallery), which I forgot to photograph.

It was a fun night – the play was an enjoyable UK production of Brief Encounter, after the film – and one of the actors even complimented my outfit out in the foyer of the theatre, probably because of that eye-catching headband.

Items:

Top: Country Road
Skirt: Kenneth Cole
Headband: Diva, now Lovisa
Shoes: Mollini
Earrings: self-made
Ring: Roun (silver), souvenir (onyx)
Watch: Kenneth Cole

Photos: October 2013

What I Actually Wore #0150

Serial #: 0150
Date: 09/10/2013
Weather: 27°C / 81°F
Time Allowed: 5 minutes

I don’t wear all black like many Melburnians are purported to do, but I do happily wear all white, or white and black together. Here is an outfit born of my minimalist phase, although that enormous vintage 70s cartwheel hat is rather maximalist, as are the gladiator boots. Both of those accessories were problems. But let’s start from the top, meaning clothes first, accessories second.

The white cotton dress was a favourite for many summers. It is by Australian brand Witchery, and I remember buying it in a warehouse sale. It was only retired when it started looking worn. It’s actually a little bit too long for these boots, and that was the problem: I didn’t really own any dress short enough for the boots that was also work-appropriate (some might say the boots weren’t work appropriate, but luckily I work in a theatre, so no one really blinks an eye at what I wear), so I wasn’t 100% happy with this pairing. But I was desperate to wear these new boots that I had paid remarkably little for in another warehouse sale.

I do remember wearing that very light straw hat that day because it was so blustery the hat simply would not stay on my head as the brim is so wide. It behaved like a sail catching the wind. A hat to be worn on dead calm days, I decided.

The sunglasses were also another warehouse find, while the vintage 60s bag, one I’ve owned and used for many years, came from a thrift store. The silver jewellery was from a now-defunct label called Roun, where I bought a few pieces. I loved to double up the concave silver ring with my onyx band on one finger, but tragically the former slipped off my finger one day en route to work. I never saw it again.

Vainly I still look for it even today, with someone’s anecdote in my mind – I think this was my brother-in-law’s mother’s tale – of losing a ring in the bush and stumbling upon it nine years later. So I still have hope: it’s only been five or six years since I lost it after all. I walk to work with fingers crossed now – for two reasons!

Items:

Dress: Witchery
Hat: Josephine Tripoli, vintage 70s
Sunglasses: Calvin Klein
Bag: vintage 60s
Shoes: Zoe Wittner
Earrings: handmade
Cuff: Roun
Ring: Roun (silver), souvenir (onyx)
Watch: Kenneth Cole

Photos: January 2014