To A T

Wearing a 1950s velvet floral rose-print dress from Trade Me, opshopped cropped cardigan, opshopped fur collar safety pinned onto it, opshopped belt, opshopped McKinleys t-bar school shoes, clear heart perspex hangbag from Etsy and velvet 1950s bow headband from Etsy. I am pulling those faces because my brother was doing some Austin Powers impression while taking these. Wow my face is so wonky around the jaw.

This outfit kinda seems full-on zany old lady to me, and I'm okay with that. I feel like all I need is some big round glasses and lilac hair and it could legitimately be transplanted to a 70-year-old former ballet teacher or something. Also, I've written and re-written a paragraph on the ethics of wearing second hand fur and leather a few times, but everything I say on the matter sounds horribly trite and self-important. Let me leave it at: on a sliding scale which goes from very evil to very good, I think there are a lot worse things a person can do than wear a second-hand, opshopped, 60-year-old garment made of an animal.

A few weeks ago I had a Friday off work because I covered someone's Sunday, and used the rare free weekday to do some opshopping. Jack and I bussed out to Johnsonville, where we have historically had good luck, and we were not disappointed. In the first shop I got these sweet 70s leather platforms. Excuse my pilled old tights. In the next I found this amazing dress printed with sketches of ballerinas as well as these perfect leather McKinleys NZ-made t-bar school shoes. Jack found a super nice three-piece late 60s suit, and we got all that stuff for free because we bought this AMAZING comfy and gorgeous 60s couch for $40!

Lazy photos off my Instagram.

And while I am posting photos from my Instagram, I've got to share this one because my readership is mostly Kiwis. I went to see Ginger & Rosa the other night and in the foyer who did I see being interviewed for a TV show but my favourite political figure, Tim Shadbolt! I stood around 'texting someone' until he was free and swooped in for the handshake and political chit-chat, which turned into us hanging out (!) and walking around Wellington together (!!) until I had to go meet some pals for dessert. He is, obviously, incredibly funny and cool and such fun. I am so happy to have met him! Most MPs I would never approach in public, and when I saw Aaron Gilmore furniture shopping I just gawked, but as soon as I saw him I was like THIS HAS TO HAPPEN.

Ugh soz for the bad photo, my crappy water-damaged phone does not perform well in low light.

 

In the end Tim got my email address so I hope he contacts me! Maybe we can be penpals. I am so starstruck haha. I know this has nothing to do with fashion. Um, I was wearing my blue cape at the time if that counts for anything. That thing brings me amazing luck I swear.

Hello...again...

I am possibly officially the worst co-blogger ever. I haven't posted since June last year. That really, really sucks. If it weren't for Georgia holding the fort this blog would have died a long time ago (so thanks, Georgia!).

But here I am, back in 2013 and ready to blog again! An awful lot of things have happened (and been bought) in the past months that I feel should have been featured here - for example, I've finished high school forever and I now own a Cambridge Satchel (which is beautiful - but more on that some other time). I was considering doing a big update-y post, but today I rearranged my bedroom and created some wonderful new spaces that I really like so I've decided to share some photos of my bedroom with you instead (seeing as I haven't shared any photos of my new house since my family and I moved here in May of last year!).

There's really no one better to grace the door of my bedroom than Patti Smith.

I found myself a desk and put together this new workspace today featuring the blackboard I made myself, a 1950s dining chair, my Instax Mini 8 (a Christmas gift), a Maidenhair fern and my collection of Popular Penguins, among other things. It feels great to have table space without too much clutter!

Hung from a string of fairy lights, a string of polaroid pictures taken with my Instax Mini and pegged to some twine with teeny tiny wooden pegs, featuring a photo of me & Georgia when she came down to Christchurch recently! I love all of these photographs so much.

The very DIY jewellery organiser made from picture hooks and twine that I put together last month, my favourite perfume and Karen Walker jewellery, and a see-through storage box (actually just a recycled Ferrero Rocher box) inspired by this post on Love Aesthetics.

A sneaky mirror photo of my messy hair and $7 thrifted daisy shorts. They were just sitting there, waiting for me. So amazing. Also featuring hydrangeas in an old Coca-Cola bottle.

I love my bed so much. It has a beautiful quilted linen headboard and I love sleeping in plain bedding so I bought a white duvet cover from Ikea when I travelled to Australia last December (amongst other things that I struggled to fit in my suitcase on the way home).

It feels great to have a nice-looking, well-functioning and uncluttered space to spend time in. I also recently had a massive wardrobe clean-out - I've gotten quite sick of having so much clothing that never gets worn or loved - so for all our New Zealand followers, I'll be listing a lot of vintage dresses on Trademe soon, so keep an eye out!

I'm trying to be a better blogger. Really, I am. Hopefully this gets the ball rolling again. But in the meantime...

(PS. This is one parenthesis-heavy blog post!)