the perfect little black dress
I’m not a super fashionista – I don’t really like to THINK too much about my clothing. Whilst I adore fashion and love feeling like I look well put-together, more often than not, my yearning for comfort and speedy getting ready wins when I’m getting dressed.
I tend to buy things that are incredibly easy to wear, since I hate layering, matching, and the stress of coordinating items. I’d much rather buy statement pieces that stand on their own, rather than having to create a “look”. This is especially true of event outfits and dresses – I want to be able to throw something on and feel fabulous in 5 minutes flat!
Here’s one of my favourite dresses that I can throw on and forget about, add a pair of earrings and black heels, and run out the door.
I bought this from Zampera, a great little boutique in Ivanhoe, a few months ago. It was affordable (under $200), extremely well made, and best of all, fits comfortably enough for me to have a GIANT meal, and still not look like I’m wearing a maternity dress. S really hates when I wear shapeless dresses, whereas I love them because well, I love to eat. This dress is a GREAT compromise!
Plus, I love it because it’s a little black dress without being a little black dress – it’s lacy and racy, feels glamourous, and can be just slipped on with little fuss. On this occasion, (as you can tell from my terrible hair) – I got ready in about 20 minutes flat (put dress on, sweep hair into a clip, simple makeup). In fact the thing that took longest was pulling on stockings without getting runs in them. (Yes, I’m hopeless. And it was winter!)
Best yet, it’s not a dress that will date or go out of fashion, and understated enough that I can wear it to various kinds of events without feeling like I’m looking the same old, same old. Ultimate bonus – S thinks it’s smokin’ hot. Done and DONE. It’s made me realise I need more such pieces in my wardrobe, simple and elegant, glamorous yet super easy to wear.
Do you have such items in your arsenal? One that you can just throw on, forget about, and feel great in? Where did you get it from, and what makes it perfect? SHARE THE DETAILS WITH ME PLEASE – what is an item of clothing that you adore?
fragranced
I was talking to a girlfriend last week about our shopping weaknesses, and she confessed that she had makeup and beauty product addictions, and bottles of potions lay about in every nook and cranny of her apartment. Whilst I’ve gotten my product addiction down to control (I think!) – my perfume one is insatiable, and if I don’t have my basic “wardrobe” of perfumes on my dressing table at all times, I feel a bit empty.
Ah yes, the joys of first world problems.
I love perfumes, because there’s nothing better than when a beautifully scented person walks past you and your nose, a sense that’s often subjected to cruelty, is indulged with a waft of heaven. Also this quote I found, is just pure honesty:
“The sense of smell can be extraordinarily evocative, bringing back pictures as sharp as photographs of scenes that had left the conscious mind.”
Baby girl insists that I have a signature smell, despite the fact that I use an array of perfumes, and have kept switching as the years have gone by. Well I hope this signature smell is a GOOD one, because I certainly can’t tell.
These are my basics, tried and true ones that I’ve been using over the past ten years, and keep buying when I finish them up. Of course, there’s others in rotation, but these are my favourites.
L-R Top row: Chanel No 5 Eau Premiere, Chanel Coco Mademoiselle, Estee Lauder Pleasures
L-R Bottom row: Victor & Rolf Flowerbomb, Prada Eau de Parfum, Ralph Lauren Romance
As you can tell, I love sweet florals.
Do you have a perfume wardrobe? Do you have similar perfume leanings as I do? Anything you’d like to suggest for me to try? Tell me. My wallet is eagerly awaiting some suggestions!
cute lil’ carry bags
I, like most women I know, used to have to carry just about the entire contents of my house in my handbag around with me, day after day. It’s incredible what a resourceful woman can fit in her handbag, and even more the random items that can accumulate in there after days of use! Sunglasses, over the counter meds, tissues, makeup, eye drops, every card for every store known to mankind – ask me for it, and I’d usually have it!
Yes, I used to be one of those women, but since my back injury, I’ve had to rethink this model and how useful it is. When I started venturing out of the house again, the single biggest factor to my fatigue was that heavy, dastardly thing dragging my shoulder down and bumping into my hips. I wondered just how I would fare with the basic necessities, and here’s what I carry now:
1. Phone
2. Keys
3. Lipbalm (just ONE)
4. Small card holder – contains ID, credit card, cash
(I have another small card holder with all my store cards, and I only carry it if going to the shops).
Surprisingly, i have ADORED the liberation from fishing through my bag for things. I no longer lose small (or large) items in there. No more fumbling for my phone when it rings. No more wondering if I’ve got everything on me. I always know whatever I’m carrying at any given time – if my sunglasses aren’t hanging from my collar, then I don’t have them. There is no chance they’re hiding in my little 6inchx4inch handbag I’ve been toting around. I haven’t missed anything I used to carry around – anytime I’ve needed a Panadol, a mint, or a tissue pack, I’ve simply bought one – we do after all, live in a modern city with stores everywhere.
I think I’m a convert.
I’ve been carrying around a little handbag with a long shoulder strap – an LV one that my gorgeous mummy loaned me – I love it, but it’s a tiny bit small. When I’ve got both my phone and my card holder in there, it’s a bit snug, and I’m terrified that my keys will fall out everytime I gently manoeuvre anything out of it. I’ve been err, perusing these others too. Just for inspiration, of course. Pretty, no?
mmm... come to momma...
1. Chloé – Marcie Small Calfskin Mini Bag – AUD 710
2. Marc Jacobs – Quilting the Large Single Leather Bag – AUD 652
3. Marc by Marc Jacobs – ‘Classic Q High Schooly’ Top Handle Satchel – AUD 516
What do you think? Could you go bare with your bag? Try it – feel your back and shoulders thank you for it!
saved up wishes
When you were a kid, did your mum or dad ever let you play “office” in their well, real, grown up office? My mum did – and I spent endless happy hours in her office, drawing Very Important Sketches on her whiteboard, pretending to answer her old school round-dialler phone, and paper clipping sheets of paper together. In a very official manner, of course.
One of the things I loved most was when she gave me access to her little basket of rubber stamps and ink pads. Oh my. Now THAT was fun, and I’ve always harboured a secret wish to have a job that let me stamp bits of paper that were Very Important.
Of course, with the advent of technology, no desk job I’ve had has allowed me to stamp things – everything is PDF-ed and tagged and meta-searchable and all that jazz. So with all my heart, one of my saved up wishes has always been to have a rubber stamp of my own.
Incredibly enough, technology now allows me to pick and choose exactly how I can live out this little wish. Last night I was having a browse on Etsy, and found a formidable array of worldwide options for custom made rubber stamps. Here’s what I found, and even though I can’t order any (self imposed spending bans really suck) – I can wish a little more – especially now that S and I have our forever home and our forever address!
by "stampoutonline" on etsy
This one above is by a shop called stampoutonline on Etsy and is just $27.95 (USD). I love the handwriting scrawl of it – it kind of mimics my (very bad and erratic) handwriting!
by foryoo on etsy
This one above is by foryoo on Etsy, and I particularly love its clean lines with a splash of calligraphy – and is so well priced – just $19.95 (USD).
also by foryoo on etsy
This one above is also by the talented foryoo, and I adore it! – just $20.95 (USD)!
another rubber stamp by foryoo on etsy
I may as well just out myself as a “foryoo fan” right now – this one above is by the same seller, and I can just imagine a “Sharon & Steve” stamp in this design given the giant “&” flourish! *squeal* – $21.95 (USD).
Lastly, one that’s a bit less girly (because I think S will DIE if all our outgoing correspondence looks so swirly and purdy):
a clean, minimalist one by foryoo on etsy
Yup, this one would look extremely nice and professional whilst still being drool-worthy. I love good design! This one above also by foryoo, and just $19.95 (USD).
So what do you think? Which one is your favourite, and why? And most importantly, should I convert my saved up wishes into a current reality? Can you imagine me very happily stamping away on everything I own?
naughty wants
Have been flicking through the MNG Autumn-Winter 2010 collection, and the below are things I covet – hopefully they’ll still be in the Singapore stores when I’m there in February!
Want want want. So naughty. WANT ANYWAY!
entertaining
Recently we hosted S’s family here for dinner, the first time I’ve done a proper sit down dinner at our place and had the dining table actually filled. S’s mum cooked the bulk of the meal, and all I had to do was the roast vegetables! Spoilt!
What quickly became glaringly obvious though, is that 8 years of apartment living and “buffet” style entertaining have left me with plenty of cooking tools but sightly inadequate in the face of proper servingware for dinner parties.
The thing is, all the missing things weren’t necessities, nor things you’d actively think to buy. They were nice-to-haves, all little items that you only feel the absence of in the face of needing-them-right-now moments. I’ve compiled a little list so that the next time S and I go shawping, we can grab and go as we find the perfect little objects (we like to entertain!). I want things with little gold accents on them to suit the dining room – injecting a little bit of glamour with the mundane! 
1. Gravy boat
2. Cake cutting knife for birthday cakes
3. Olive oil/balsamic drizzling bottle for salads/breads
4. Butter dish
5. Ice bucket & tongs
6. Spare dining table seats that aren’t white & foldable!
7. Enough placemats for the whole dining table *shame*
8. Bread side-plates that fit on the table *more shame*
gift guide – the old fashioned way
My dad is an old-fashioned, gentlemanly kinda guy, and if there’s one thing he’s always done, is buy my mum gifts of not just shoes or not just a bag, but a matching set. One of my favourite memories of gift shopping with him for the -perfect- gift for my mum, was when he specified a red handbag, and we went traipsing all over town to look for it. When we found THE bag, he had a cheshire cat’s grin on his face – he knew she would love it.
The only problem?
It didn’t come with matching shoes.
My dad was a little bewildered. What had the world come to, that designers didn’t make handbags and shoes that matched? What was a self-respecting lady to do? How on earth was my mum going to cope with *gasp*, just the handbag? Surely it was going to be impossible to present her with such an awful, lonely gift? Wasn’t it fashion suicide to have mismatched shoes and handbag??
I still giggle thinking about it, but truth be told, his idea of old world charm really touches me. So just for the old-school, style-lovin’, matchy-shoes-&-bags lovin’ amongst you, I went and had an online rove with my shopping eagle eye.
WORK:
Christian Louboutin patent leather pumps; Prada soft calf satchel
WEEKEND:
Burberry buckled strap sandles; Marc by Marc Jacobs convertible strap satchel
NIGHT:
Christian Louboutin Maralena pumps; Diane von Furstenberg Lytlytton clutch
gift guide – for your man
I don’t know about you, but my man is one of those ones that is really hard to buy for. Avid shopper as I am, I still struggle ever Christmas and birthday to figure out what to get him. Still though, I DO have fun looking! Here’s a bunch of stuff I found that may suit the needs and Christmas wants of the special men in your life.
1. Emporio Armani Ceramica Chronograph watch – AUD $574
2. Burberry cufflinks - AUD $157.98
3. Ermenegildo Zegna wool scarf – AUD $173.78
4. Gucci Bi-fold wallet – AUD $300.16
5. Lacoste casual sneakers – AUD $50.13
gift guide – splurge on the lucky lady!
Hello boys and girls, have a special someone you want to splurge on this Christmas? Well here’s some lovely ideas to start with…
perfect gifts for the girl in your life who's naughty and nice!
1. Bose SoundDock portable music system – AUD $549.95
2. BowerHaus “Chao” necklace (keishi pearl with aquamarine) – AUD $300
3. Burberry bracelet watch – AUD $415.89
4. Valentino patent leather d’Orsay pump – AUD $679.11
gift guide
Need to find some last minute gifts? I had a lot of fun tonight putting these gift guides together. To start with, here’s some ideas for someone you know that loves a pop of colour and fun in their lives, and all pretty affordable too!
the best part? you can buy these all online!
1. Marimekko tea towel set (2pce) – AUD $39
2. Abode Aroma Blood Orange candle – AUD $12
3. Fitz & Floyd salt & pepper set – AUD $12
4. Bodum travel press mug – AUD $22
5. Envirosax Bloom eco-friendly bag – AUD $8.50
6. Annabel Trends shark shower cap – AUD $8
7. Accura electronic kitchen scale – AUD $38
8. Mor soap gift tin – AUD $32
9. Amalfi table runner – AUD $11
Happy shopping!
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