Flowers for the Wedding

The last few weeks have been extremely busy with getting everything ready for the wedding which is now only five sleeps away! One of the best parts of the wedding prep has been visiting the flower markets. I could visit the flower markets every day and if only I could afford it I would love to fill my house with fresh flowers! We have been working with a modest budget for our wedding and one of the ways we have managed to cut cost have been to get flowers at the flower market rather than a florist. At the end of the day all flowers are beautiful and the more the better - you really can't go wrong! The difficult part has been working out which flowers and narrowing it down, which is hard when there are so many wonderful flowers to choose from and I wish I could just have all of them!

On my first visit to the flower market I was in for quite a shock when it turned out that the majority of the flowers were kept in special cold rooms - the sort of cold where you can see your own breath. Needless to say I was not prepared and did not last longer than a minute, so we ended up coming back on a different day when I had a cardigan. This cardigan is by lovely UK Vintage Reproduction company Voodoo Vixen who many of you may already be familiar with, and if it is fall now in your part of the world - this is one brand you should definitely get to know! A couple of months ago Voodoo Vixen gifted me a few of their cardigans and I was so impressed that I promptly went and bought a Pippa cardigan in every colour. I guess that says a lot, right?

The faux fur collar on the cardigan is removable but I love keeping it on for the instant glamour that a fur collar adds, and because it feels so wonderfully soft. My reasoning for buying one in every colour is that they really go with everything and I like to keep one in my bag at all times to manage with the unpredictable spring weather we've been having. Best of all, these cardigans are very warm and wearing mine the other day meant that I was able to concentrate on all the different roses in the cold room, without running out shrieking about frostbite and that I don't give a damn whether there are any roses at the wedding or not!

Cardigan - courtesy of Voodoo Vixen

Dress - courtesy of Bernie Dexter
Bag - Sunjellies

Shoes - Vivienne Westwood

Sunglasses - ebay

Riding in Heels

Some of you may already know, but a few days ago my lovely partner Hugh surprised me with this beautiful new bike! My old bike could never handle the hills in the area we live in too well, and after one too many problems getting the breaks to work I decided to play it safe and retire it. So as you can imagine I am extremely excited to start riding again, and having a bike that can actually make it up some of the steep hills in our area makes it even better - not to mention give me quite a work out, which is also appreciated.

When it comes to bike riding, the outfit I wear always depends on where we're going. I definitely don't always get dressed up like this to go for a bike ride unless we're going somewhere in particular, such as a nice cafe or restaurant, otherwise I am more than happy to ride in work out gear. Not pictured in these photos is my helmet, although I most certainly do wear one at all times - even if it leaves me with helmet hair. However, I'm working on combating this by wearing a scarf under my helmet, and this way my hair doesn't go all over the place when I speed down the many steep hills in our area.

Playsuits are my absolute favorite thing to wear on bike rides for comfort, and obvious practical reasons, so fortunately there are a number of those in my wardrobe and they will all be making an appearance this summer. I love this two piece Tara Starlet set because not only is it extremely flattering, it's also very comfortable. There are a number of sets like this in the sale Tara Starlet have at the moment and I am very tempted...! When it comes to wearing heels while bike riding - this is something that is totally doable. However I prefer to wear chunky platforms or a stumpy kitten heel, something that won't get caught in the pedals the way a higher, thinner heel could.

Top and Shorts - Tara Starlet

Shoes - Novo

My Dress Unicorn

Normally when I buy something I go back and forth a bit umming and ahhhing about whether or not I should. However when this dress came up in my Facebook feed from Miskonduct I think it took me an entire 10 seconds to add the dress to my cart and check out! For the longest time, I have waited for someone to create a Russian doll print dress, in this exact cut, so I was pretty damn ecstatic to own a dress that I had literally dreamed of for the longest time. Everyone has their dress unicorn and I was so happy to finally have found mine!

Something you wouldn't have seen me with before on the blog is a bag. I'm usually not really into bags - I don't particularly like carrying them around and I have a hard time matching them to what I'm wearing. I like to just have one bag that I use for everything and that's usually what I do, until it reaches the point where the bag becomes full of trash...receipts, several umbrellas, old assignments, museli bars...which is what happened to my last bag. RIP.

So because I really do still need a bag, I decided to give the Sunjellies bags a go - and got three in different colours to match nearly everything. One thing I really like about Sunjellies bags is that I know right away what I actually have in my bag, and so does everyone else - meaning I can't get away with filling it with rubbish. And, the fact that they go with almost anything is a major selling point, so you can expect to see more Sunjellies bags on the blog in the future!

Dress - Tatyana via Miskonduct Klothing

Shoes - Vivienne Westwood

Bag - Sunjellies via Gwynnies Emporium

Sunglasses - Ebay

Evelyn, Esme & Mildred

This week I had the pleasure of finally meeting the wonderfully talented Evelyn Wood, the designer of Evelyn Wood Vintage Fashion House and her adorable little dog Esme! Evelyn Wood is a Brisbane vintage reproduction designer and her current collection features a beautiful selection of dresses, coats and capes that range from the 1930s to the 1950s, all of which are made locally right here in Brisbane by professional seamstresses. The quality of the workmanship of these pieces is absolutely superb and is so far the closest I have seen a vintage reproduction brand come in style and quality to authentic vintage pieces. This is because all of Evelyn Wood's designs are based on vintage patterns with every garment put together using dress making techniques of the past, giving the clothes a true vintage feel without the anxiety that comes with wearing a vintage piece.

Although spring is here, as a result of missing most of winter I have not had the opportunity to get many plaid outfits in and couldn't resist wearing some plaid one last time before it gets too hot. The Mildred dress is possibly the most perfect 1930s dress I have had the pleasure of wearing - I mean look at those bows and the incredibly figure flattering cut! I am a little jealous of those of you for whom autumn has just started as it is the perfect time of year to start wearing dresses such as this one! The Mildred dress will soon be available to order from Evelyn Wood Vintage Fashion House and comes in two lovely colours - and if you are in Brisbane you can pick up one for yourself at the Wooloongabba Antiques Center where Evelyn Wood currently has a pop up shop full of her stunning designs and will be there until next Monday.

For those of you who live outside of Australia you'll be pleased to know that Evelyn Wood most certainly does ship overseas, and, has a great selection of luxurious velvet winter dresses and capes in store right now that will keep you warm and glamorous.

1930s Beach Dress

Contrary to how it must look, with it being rare that you will ever see me in a hat - I actually really love wearing hats! My only problem is that its not often that I am able to find a hat that I like and you would be surprised how much time I actually spend online looking at hats.

Dramatic hats with a wide brim are a favorite of mine, and I would wear them more often if only I could figure out how to keep them from flying off my head. I especially love hats from the 40s and 50s and spent this weekend pawing through hats in antique shops with disappointing results, so I was pretty pleased when I came across this one in Myer!

This elegant Collectif maxi dress is reminiscent of 1930s beach wear and was extremely glamorous to wear for a walk along the promenade. The fit of the dress is nice and loose with light flowing fabric and in summer it would be perfect to pop on over a swimsuit and lounge by the pool - cocktail in hand of course.

Hat - Myer

Dress - Collectif

Shoes - Novo

Landgirl

One thing that I regret, is not having got myself a pair of dungarees sooner! As you know, I love my Freddies of Pinewood jeans that I already own, and these dungarees might be a new favorite. Like the other Freddies jeans, I bought these based on waist measurement and found them true to size. I am lucky because I have never had any issues with Freddies jeans when it comes to how they fit and always go by my waist size. These dungarees have come into my life at just the right time as in a few weeks we are moving and there will be a lot of cleaning and putting together furniture - activities that require something more practical than a dress!

Top - Freddies of Pinewood

Dungarees - Freddies of Pinewood

Shoes - Kmart

Sunglasses - Vintage dead stock

My Bridal Shower High Tea!

With the wedding almost upon us, this weekend my bridesmaids and I were treated to a beautiful high tea prepared for us by the fabulous and incredibly talented, kind and absolutely lovely staff of QT hotel on the Gold Coast. I am incredibly lucky to have these beautiful women in my life and the bridal shower was the perfect opportunity for everyone who hadn't yet met to spend a fun afternoon together and get to know each other before the wedding. There was much to discuss; hair, flowers, shoes - and the tea and champagne helped to make those difficult decisions a little easier!

Earl, our wonderful chef brought out a delicious selection of handmade sweet and savory treats that were almost too beautiful to eat - and tasted just as they looked. For me personally, the highlight were the savory tomato and basil macrons - an unusual combination of flavors for what is traditionally a desert that go so well as a macaron. With such a wide selection of food on offer from miniature donuts topped with rare wagyu to pumpkin and pine nut quiches, there was something to tempt everyone, and with such a large amount of food the struggle was real to try a bit of everything!

There were several moments where I had to resist the urge to pinch myself because it all felt like a dream - only unlike the dreams where one is about to sit down to a delicious meal only to wake up soon as the food reaches your mouth - I could actually taste the shortbread and scones. It was wonderful to spend the day drinking champagne with my favorite people and it makes me even more excited for the wedding! With it's fabulous 1950s aesthetic QT is the ultimate place to visit for vintage lovers and I would absolutely recommend treating yourself and your loved ones to the brilliant QT High Tea.