That Old-Town Feeling

Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting Christie in her lovely new home. As the central city now no longer exists (thanks, earthquakes) it can be difficult for us to spend time together so it was so wonderful to catch up. She is such a wise old soul, and gets me completely... I've missed her way too much, and we talked non-stop for many many hours.


(Christie wearing a Dotti skirt, Glassons knit, vintage boots, thrifted white leather backpack and crystal pendant.)

(Me wearing a thrifted dress, thrifted belt, DIY scarf, Evie Kemp tote won from her blog giveaway, vintage jacket, Columbine woolen tights and Goldenponies oxfords.)



As usual, Christie looked elegant and statuesque and I looked horribly unkempt. We hung out with her hilarious cat Spice and got coffee at her local, and explored the lovely setting of her new suburb. It's so beautiful and quiet out there, it was lovely to get away from things for a few hours. After dinner we headed to the Lyttelton Festival of Lights.






Lyttelton is a lovely little port town that was also devastated by the earthquake, but lots of wonderful people worked hard to have it up and running for the evening. We enjoyed churros and real hot chocolate and The Eastern, and as cheesy as it sounds, it was awesome to see all of Christchurch come together to support each other. It's become a pretty depressing place really, and being in Wellington last week reminded me of how amazing and natural it feels to have venues and art galleries and bars and life everywhere. I can't wait to call that place my home.

And today just gets better, because my family have returned from Cambodia with three huge bottles of Sriracha for me! Thanks guys ♥

Crowns Clothing shoot!

On Thursday evening I flew to Wellington, courtesy of Morgan from Crowns Clothing, to style the photoshoot for her Spring/Summer range! It was so much fun- Morgan and I are total kindred spirits, and stayed up until the wee hours giggling hysterically and doing last-minute sewing jobs. Needless to say we were very tired for the shoot on Friday, but it was still seriously fun.

(The drive to pick up our model, Daisy, was so beautiful.)


(The shoot location was a beautiful, sprawling villa built in the late 1800s, full of nautical trimmings. It had the perfect vibe for the shoot, and was lots of fun to explore!)


(It was COLD. Morgan tried to keep poor Daisy warm- modelling a summer range in July can't be that much fun.)

(These capes are beautiful and warm though, and we all refused to take them off at varying points in the day. You can get one of your own at Foxes!)

(Louise's 'human tripod'.)

(I was somehow duped into doing hair too, as I was the only one there who knows how to do a fishtail braid.)

Us all together! L-R we have Louise Hatton (photographer), Daisy Lockhart from Red11 (model), Georgia Rose Munn (me! styling and hair), Grace Howarth (makeup), and Morgan of Crowns Clothing.

Crowns have some very exciting things coming up in the future, including but not limited to the release of this lookbook, so keep a look out for updates here or at Morgan's blog.

Oh, P.S.

It's snowing. There goes my plans for the day! Goodbye university, hello Mad Men Season 2.

P.P.S. The sweet Jessie of Strawberry Moth did a little interview with me! You can read my answers here.

Burgundy

New things, one outfit post minus me.

I love these colours, very wintery but not cold.

The book about rocks, minerals and gems is wonderful and has rusty coloured stains and beautiful illustrations all through it. The platform wedges are great because they make me taller without simultaneously making me topple over.

Spending money on myself never felt so good!

The current snowy ground makes it difficult to get anywhere, but with nowhere to go I am very happy in staying exactly where I am.

c

x x

Blogger Interview: Jessie of Strawberry Moth

I haven't been reading Strawberry Moth for long, but Jessie has quickly become my go-to source for vintage inspiration when I'm feeling tired of dressing up. Her impeccable styling and seriously enviable wardrobe always remind me of the pleasure that good vintage can give, and her blog goes above and beyond traditional outfit photos into all sorts of amazing tutorials and tidbits. She was sweet enough to agree to a little interview with me!



-What is your best thrifted find ever?
An illustrated fashion plate from the 1890s! These detailed illustrations were used to bring the latest fashion trends to the general public! I nearly cried when I saw it and it now hangs proudly on a wall in my studio!


-How do you get inspired when you feel burned out?
I put on a Billie Holiday record and rifle through my button drawer. There is nothing more inspiring than a drawer full a buttons! I start to get ideas when I look at each and every one, like "oh this would look lovely on a blouse, or a i could put this in a collage" Its so funny how the smallest things bring the biggest ideas!



-If you were given $100 right now, how would it be spent?
That $100 would definitely be stashed away and saved for my upcoming honeymoon. Mr. husband-to-be and I are going to Paris over Christmas! A bottle of Chanel perfume from the city of love is calling my name!


-How did your love of vintage style begin?
I would spend long weekends at my Grandmothers when I was very little. I was always in the attic digging through old trunks filled with fur stoles and lace gloves. I would dress up in whatever I could find and wear it until it was time to go home. My nickname given to me by my Grandparents growing up was Kleine Motte, which is German for Little Moth, because I could always be found fluttering around dark dusty corners. I love the stories vintage items tell, the past lives they've lived, and a piece of history that is touchable and slowing dieing. Vintage clothing brings so many possibilities to creating your own individual style, you can create something uniquely your own.



-Are you on the lookout for anything in particular on vintage hunts lately?
Gosh, I seem to always have a list as long as my arm! Most of the items on my current list are to be used as details for my wedding in October. We are using a lot of vintage bits to create something truly special. Right now I'm trying to find some intricate antique lace to make hairpieces with for all my lovely bridesmaids!


-What advice do you have for other vintage ladies wanting to get into blogging?
Don't be your worst critic, you have a voice and you should be proud to share it! Its easy to get discouraged when looking at bigger more successful blogs who seem to be doing everything you want to. Use those lovely ladies as inspirations, not as intimidations! If you have a question about anything don't hesitate to contact them, don't forget that they love vintage just as much as you do (and vintage lovers are the best kinds of people!) and who knows, you might make a new friend!



Thank you, Jessie! See more of her lovely style at Strawberry Moth, or check out her vintage for sale at Time Traveling Empire.

Love & money

I want to apologise for my absence from the blogging world over the last couple of weeks! I invariably get sick when I travel long distances and this time was no exception. I still feel unwell from my 30 hours in transit, perhaps added to by the fact that my wallet was stolen on a plane so my brother and I spent most of those hours unable to eat or drink anything. Sorry, James! We made it home safely eventually, if not a little hungry, and now I'm back at uni and busier than ever.

Now. May I present to you the most terrible blog photos I've ever taken. My boyfriend is working in some backwater town for the week and my brother has gone to Laos (I think) for a fortnight, so I have to try to take them myself!




(Vintage brown tweed jacket was a gift from my dad via Clever Nettle Vintage, skirt tailored for me in Vietnam, thrifted sheer blouse, grey woolen tights by Columbine, thrifted belt, thrifted mustard wool beret, vintage necklace from Logan and t-bar flats from Trademe).

Pretty bad, huh? I hope you get the gist anyway. It's so hard to get the focus right and stand in the right place when you don't have a tripod! I'll have to enlist a friend who doesn't think this blog is ridiculous to help next time, although I don't think I have any of those left- especially after the looks on their faces when I ran into the lovely Helga on Tuesday night. Non-bloggers just don't seem to understand 'we know each other from the internet'.

This skirt is one of the things I got made in Ho Chi Minh City. I know it's pretty basic and I could've easily made it myself, but at the price offered I kinda couldn't resist letting someone else do the work. I got the lovely 40s-esque fabric for 40,000VND at a market in Vietnam, which is less than $2.50.

I also wanted to share a couple of recent bargains!




This amazing dress that I thrifted last week is a much brighter mustard colour in real life. I'd actually tried it on several times but it was priced steeply, as the ladies who work at that shop know good vintage when they see it. However, one of them took a shine to me when she saw my trying it on for the third time and offered it to me at half price, which I couldn't resist. I'm a sucker for vintage New Zealand labels, and I feel like it's the kind of thing I could wear to job interviews... when I eventually finish my degree.



I also finally got one of these Penguin Classics mugs! They were originally $30 which I think it a ludicrous price to pay for something I will probably drop and smash pretty quickly anyway. However I ducked into a local book chain to pick up another copy of The Secret History (my go-to birthday present for friends) and saw them on the sale table, and through some twist of fate got it for $1.50. And I haven't even broken it yet!

Finally, on Thursday I found my dream dress on Etsy. It was far more than I'd usually consider spending on a single garment but... it was love. I ummed and ahhed over it for about 24 hours, before taking the plunge and buying it. I justified dropping this large sum of money by immediately beginning a 6-week shopping ban, which will end on August 27th. That means no thrifting, no Etsy, no Trademe, no anything! I know lots of other bloggers have also done self-imposed shopping bans, does anyone have any tips? I've already got Logan to change my Etsy password to help me resist temptation.

Travel II: Ho Chi Minh City

It's so good to be in Ho Chi Minh City again. Last time I visited was 2009, and so much has changed even in these two years- especially lots more infrastructure, and more tourist facilities. I'm a little sick, so thought I'd take my time sitting in the apartment to make another update.




(There are 9 million people living in HCMC, but only 500,000 cars. Almost everyone rides little motorbikes or scooters, and they follow their own unwritten and very loose road rules.)



(It's an awesome mix of old and new architecture here. The French colonial influence is still strong, and there's tonnes of beautiful dilapidated villas interspersed with the fancy apartments and traditional narrow buildings.)

(Uncle Ho still has a stronghold, and his image adorns most street corners.)



(We checked out L'Usine, which is a boutique and cafe housed in a factory built in the mid 19th century. I managed to sneak in a couple of photos before I was told not allowed!)


(Last night we went for cocktails (at $2.50 each) at a waterfront bar, but the humidity made my lens fog up and yielded some pretty interesting photos.)

Although I haven't been feeling amazing, we've been pretty busy. I brought some vintage fabrics with me to get made into dresses while I'm here, and my dad sent me to his tailor... who only do suits. Thanks, pops. Thanks to the power of Google, I found a womens' one, and have a couple of very reasonably priced things on the way to me. We've also been scouting markets for presents for people back home, and I've been rather successful. Those who have sent me emails and kept me up to date with the happenings in Christchurch will be rewarded!

I had a slightly embarrassing encounter at a market stall that was full of sweet twee dresses with cats and bunnies and apples and things on them. I found a lilac peter-pan collar blouse with a heart print and asked if I could try it on, which resulted in the cute, tiny girl who worked there telling me in broken English that I was too tall and fat for all her clothes... oh. I mean, I am absolutely a lot larger than your average Vietnamese person, and I know she didn't mean it as an insult, but I still felt good proving her wrong when the blouse fit me beautifully!

My time here is going by way too quickly. This time next week, I'll be back in the frost and rubble of my hometown. Time for a gin and tonic now- sure to cure what ails me, right?