Girl about Town

While stalking one of my favourite eBay sellers and spotting a whole glorious bunch of vintage clothing I've gotten into a bit of a sweet and girly mood. My favourite dresses I spotted were full length and in black, but when I dressed this morning to receive and exchange gifts with my boyfriend for Christmas I dressed in a 1960s inspired dress in purple and paisley- if that's at all an indication of my current mood. I'd really love to collect all my socks from school and sew on to them my own strips of lace or raid American Apparel but right now it's staying at home and enjoying the company of my family and waiting around for Christmas.

 

At least I've been given time to recuperate and recover from working close to fourteen hours for the last two days and bask in the air-conditioned lounge room- also it's nice to catch up on all the goings on of blogs and post some stuff up. I'm also considering what places to hit up in preparation for the Boxing Day sales- there's plenty of gorgeous vintage clothing I now have my eye on but I want to check out Alice Euphemia if I'm not working or going to the movies. There's lots of great online pieces of clothing I'm dying to buy- makes me wish I had sorted out the pieces of clothing and books I had to sell weeks ago to come up with some extra money in preparation for the biggest sale of the year on the Australian calender.

 

I love this photograph because I'm dying to have a girly piece of furniture like a couch or an armchair when I move out and my style sits somewhere in between the sweet schoolgirl style of the little girl and the dark grunge of the teenager. It represents how I feel sometimes with my own personal sense of style- stuck in a purgatory world in which I can't decide to wear clothes that are light-hearted and flirty or dark vintage. Some days all I want to do is wear my old socks from school with my leather Vans and a nice skirt of dress and others all I can think of is wearing my Ashish for Topshop jumper with spiked epaulets and all black. I'm sure next year I'll manage to be more distinct in my style of clothing but for now I'm all over the place admiring both the sweet vintage style as well as the witchery style of magic and gaudy pieces of jewellery and candle burning.

 

I was very excited when I spotted one of my favourite New Zealand labels, the Stolen Girlfriends Club bow ring in gold featured in Vogue. I've only ever seen one of these rings, the silver edition hit eBay and the bidding was rather fierce so I think I may treat myself to buying one of the rings from the Superette online store, perhaps the silver body bow ring which is gold plated. I get all the glamor and sweetness of a gold ring without the extra expensive price tag to it.

 

Blogger Nicole Warne adding a touch of confetti to a field on what looks to be a promising and flawless Summer's day. I love the fringed and lace sleeves of her shirt as well as the bright red lipstick and matching nail polish. It's photographs such as this that make me want to abandon the black clothes within my wardrobe and absorb the sun but Summer in Australia can be at times, unforgiving and feel terrible and sticky despite looking lovely and bright. I may stick somewhere in between the two styles and wear long black dresses in a bohemian and airy fashion leaving versatility between the two looks depending on the shoes and jewellery I wear as a reflection of my mood at the time.

I was very impressed with seeing three of my favourite brands all on the same page for an extract of Harper's Bazaar magazine featuring golden high heels with a cut-out heart motif on the side by Marc Jacobs, a golden bow necklace by New Zealander Karen Walker as well as a silk skirt sporting a water colour print by Karla Spetic. I'm not a big fan of the Lolita seen and most often I think heart shaped sunglasses look cheap but I do love the inclusion of bright gold accessories as well as a skirt I've been chasing up for months. Just out of interest there is an amazing matching blazer to go with the Karla Spetic skirt too.

I love full length dresses when they're made out of a light-weight material and this sheer dress covered in white daisies looks so great when teamed up with scuffed and dirty combat boots. This is the style I would love to embody in my own personal life- that gentle balance and combination of a hippy dress as well as tough and grunge accessories. As I've said before I have my eye on two necklaces; one is a cow skull and the other a small cameo. Both could be worn with this dress it's just a matter of your mood at the time an the way you choose to style it.

Lovely Hair

After looking at many different photographs that star girls with artificial colours in their hair, it's nice to get back in touch with nature and look at what's natural and normal to see in someones hair. It's reassuring to see that you don't need to be far-out and wild to be considered beautiful and unique. I guess I sort of feel like I'm settling for something ordinary by embracing natural coloured hair, but I pride myself on the length my hair now has and also the sheen to it. I should really stop using conditioner meant for coloured hair since I outgrew my streaks, but for some reason mum keeps buying it and it makes my hair look shiny and healthy anyway so there's no real problems with it.

I love drawing hair in this vain- it's like the grain of wood full of lines and texture. It's kind of hard to execute but with a little more practice I think I may get the gist of it.For that type of drawing I've found that using a pencil is near-hopeless since it smudges quite easily and don't you dare even think of using something like a highlighter for a job like this. You're better off sticking to using a no-nonsense fine liner to sketch out all the fine lines and details of each strand of hair.

I suppose it's not at all possible that all of that jet black hair within that plait can be real- I think I can almost see pieces sticking out from when one extension ends and another begins. One girl at my old high school (my old school now that I've finally finished) was one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen in real life. She had long hair down to her waist in a dirt blond colour which was more of a becoming and charming honey brown really. Sometimes my friends at lunchtime would complain about the impractical nature of her hair while I'd be sitting quietly, chewing on a sandwich. Quiet with dreamy admiration and hope that my hair would too become as long and pretty as all that. Believe me, it was a sight to see and very impressive.

I must admit, I had the thought in my head that to not dye your hair is boring and you'd be full not to try it- you'd be a Plain Jane really. But none of that assumptive tripe is true since if you have never dyed your hair before then it doesn't make you any less interesting. Likewise, just because you dye your hair doesn't automatically make your personality any better either. It would be nice to have a long set of locks, long and my natural colour. In my opinion it sort of shows your devotion and willingness to stick out that style and that your not flippant, constantly changing your look. Or maybe I'm just being daft again.

Another wonderful thing about masses of natural hair is that when you put it into a bun you get the neatest and most round and full bun you've ever seen. On the rare occasion when I tie up my hair I lose maybe an inch or two of it's actual length when I braid it and my bun is getting nice and bulbous, although I still haven't worked out how to hold it all together without the assistance of a comb.

This is the kind of look I think every girl dreams of waking up to- those curls are so perfect, so luscious and bodied. This is what makes me sad about having straight hair; there's no real texture to it and there's no bounce to it either. I love how the ends seem to taper and wither away, it's a much better look then simply have dry and crackly ends that are screaming to be lopped off by the hair dresser. The black and white editing of the photograph really lets the texture of the hair show, the way it plays with the light and the variation in colour you get. I only got a look similar to this when I had my hair plaited over night, undid it and then went to the beach and splashed in the water. Imagine being gifted with such looks and natural beauty. Some people have all the luck.