Jeffrey Campbell Lita in Butterfly

I've been toying with the idea of buying a vintage kimono to wear as a shrug or light Summer cardigan and I found the perfect shoes to wear with it. My prayers were answered by the one and only Jeffrey Campbell making a pair of Litas in a beautiful butterfly print with a royal blue background. I love them do death and have been searching for the perfect pair of Litas to buy and I'm so glad I mindlessly scrolled around on Solestruck.com in a vain attempt to try and find some other shoes by the American label.

The structure has been recreated in so many different patterns and colours I've sort of been saving myself to find the perfect pair and I'm so glad I did- butterflies are a special motif to me. You have to be patient for them to come towards you and in Greek mythology they represent the soul and Psyche, the lover of Cupid. When I was a child and my Uncle died, I drew a picture of butterflies for his widow to cheer her up and I still have the thank you note after all these years. Butterflies are just these amazing impossible creatures of beauty and they're one of my favourite exhibits to visit at the zoo when I go.

I would love to wear them with a long and colourful kimono to really channel the oriental appeal of the prints but both items cost over one hundred dollars and without having participated as a referee in the big basketball tournament, I can't quite buy them without being able to know for certain I'll earn the money back yet. Still, they're in my size and I can pay via Paypal (one of the greatest inventions since online shopping) so I'm perfectly content for the moment. I can't wait to have a pair of heeled shoes I can wear with confidence! The butterfly ankle Litas are one of my favourite variations on what might possibly be one of Jeffrey Campbell's most famous shoes.

JWB1D Butterflies from Pigeonhole

Let me introduce to you, just some of my favourite picks from the online store, Pigeonhole! In a nutshell, Pigeonhole is like a smaller version of Etsy and sells home made and crafted items such as jewellery, bags, lots of gorgeous stationery and home wares. There's even Polaroid film made new by The Impossible Project and you're own vintage Polaroid 600 camera you can pick up. Today though I would like to focus your attention on products from JWB1D, in particular their butterfly brooches and earrings.

When I was but a child and didn't really understand the mechanism of coping with death and loss, I drew my Aunt a picture of a butterfly when her husband, my Uncle had died. I still have the thank you note she replied to me with even after all these years and it says "butterflies do cheer you up don't they?" I have a more emotional link with them and this past Summer I have chased more butterflies than I can count with a camera in hand to try to capture them on film. Their numbers seem to have exploded within recent weeks, I spotted five together in once place just yesterday.

There's butterflies of all shapes and sizes and in a few different colours as well if you had a favourite colour or preference. My favourite of the brooches is the large white brooch first pictured for the amount of detail and depth of the scales of the butterflies wings. The grainy lines fan out so naturally, I really like that quality about the brooch. There's not a lot of background information given on the Pigeonhole website, but what I can tell you is that all the butterfly pieces shown today are 50% off and that you can purchase them here.

It's been a long time since I wore a brooch and when I do wear one I tend to place it in the middle of my collar in a sort of a vague Victorian style. As beautiful as these wooden looking brooches are, I think I prefer the earrings myself although I can never remember to change my earrings when I go out and usually stick with the same studs I wear day-in day-out. These studs would look very cute when worn with hair pulled up in a bun and maybe a bandanna- I'm still sort of looking for something to wear with an ear cuff in the shape of a dragon but I'm prioritising that below over pretty things I want to buy.

It must be difficult if you were to make these shapes from wood, particularly for the bird wing butterfly which has two slender and different parts to its wings. The earrings only cost $14 AUD and the brooches are $17.50. with the 50% off discount so hop to it and snag a pair for yourself! If not for yourself, than either of the earrings or brooches would make a killer gift for a leading lady in your life be it your mother of sweetheart.

Versace: 90s Butterfly Jeans

I'm not too sure what it is, whether I am reverting back to what some may argue to be somewhat primitive grunge and 90s style but when I first saw this jeans for sale on Claire Inc, an Australian site I first came across after searching a few different links on eBay. Claire Inc are a company that sell the best quality vintage finds that are available for famous brands, eg. Chanel, Cacharel, Sonia Rykiel, Karl Lagerfeld, etc. They do favour some brands more than others but I think my heart just may have stopped when I spotted these gorgeous white Gianni Versace jeans with the butterfly print. The bright colours that maintain a lot of their integrity after a decade of being washed and the strong design is just so good. I wish I had been born in the 80s and had lived my teenage years throughout the 90s. I look over my simplistic child guides to photography in which the styling and clothing everyone wears from that era is just so humorous to someone who has only ever known the time period I love in.

My love for the butterfly jeans was rebuked upon spotting a similar pair, size 6 (hence why I couldn't buy them apart from not having the funds available) in green with striking orange and yellow. For some reason I really like the way the butterflies down the middle of the crotch seem split down the middle to either leg. It's really eye catching and sweet without drawing too much attention to that area. I love symmetrical things so that may be why they speak to me on such a level. The top worn with statement jeans such as this has to be minimal but I don't really like the black sheer top the green/orange/yellow jeans are worn with. I think it would be better to find a black t shirt with a worn loose look to it to really emphasise the grunge 90s style. Or wear a shirt in the same shade as the jeans, predominantly green. The smaller size six pair in green sold for $170 whereas the larger size of the white butterfly jeans from Claire Inc sold for $340 I believe. While it is better to buy a pair of jeans that actually fit you, that is a marginal mark up.

The good thing about vintage is that it does make brands such as Chanel and Versace more affordable and the items are usually in good quality but there are poachers out there that will snatch up all the good vintage pieces before the rest of us can even find them. That, and we are also stuck with all the dud vintage pieces that don't seem to classify as cool. Although vintage reselling is a cool concept in terms of recycling and reusing etc. I don't want to pay horrible mark ups for rad pieces when all I need to do is search hard and quickly before anyone else can!