RWC Friday

Can you tell which RWC cup team inspired my outfit today??

Aye, the Emerald Isle.  Vintage emerald dress worn with $7 flowered sneakers from the Warehouse and jade glass vintage styled earrings from Java.  Today I am perched on one of the 'guest' chairs at reception.  

Thanks Tam for taking my photo!!

Here is the cardigan purchased as part of the $2 a bag Port Chalmers School garage sale.

It has a tiny hole up on the right shoulder which could be easily hidden by a big flower brooch

or something similar.  

...and here is the cute turquoise lurex top.  

Don't you just LOVE the sparkley silver bit around the neck??????

Alas my camera ran out of juice as I was about to snap the other items, so I will post photos of these later. 

The white skirt has been snaffled by my dear D, 

she wants to applique or patch a pattern of a skull and a heart.  

In the weekend I plan to adjust the turquoise pleated skirt so that it fits me and de-construct the velvet skirt.

So Dear Readers, what are your plans for the weekend?

Tuesday - things that appeal to me today

Cool Union Jack fabric - found here I want a whole dress made of this fabric - it would look so amazing.  I went looking for flags at lunch time (as NZ is hosting the event which I dare not name [RWC] ) hoping to find a union jack flag.  But, the English flag is the St George - the union jack is the flag of Great Britain!  DOH!

Amazing shower curtains like this one - sadly outside my budget but still very cool - available from Bolt of Cloth.  My dear H loves Martini and this would be a pleasant and amusing change from the aqua coloured one which hangs in our bathroom.  I love the advertising style of this poster and think that it would also look great on fabric.

Weekend Adventures in Port Chalmers

Hello Readers, I hope you all had a good weekend.  I spent a wonderful hour and a half at Christianne's in Port Chalmers late on Saturday afternoon.  Christianne has a good sized store and stocks nearly new and vintage clothing.  Some of it is stock standard chain store stuff - Clothing Company in particular - but there are also some real gems such as Annah Stretton, Calliope Road, Keith Matheson, and Trelise Cooper just to name a few.  The real vintage stock is mixed in and the clothing is carefully grouped into trousers, skirts, sleeveless tops, short sleeved, long sleeved, knitwear and sweaters, coats and jackets, and menswear.  Dresses are on a rack towards the changing room which is discretely curtained off in a corner.  Vintage tins and ornaments, handbags, shoes, purses, hats and jewellry are also on display and a very good 'mountain' of suitcases.  Prices are fair to reasonable.  A swirly patterned 60s shift dress in psychodelic colours was $35 which is pretty reasonable.  Christianne is quite a character and within seconds of me entering the shop she has showing me a Myers long coat.  It fastened at the waist with two large buttons and had nice long sleeves with folded back pointed cuffs.  It made my waist look tiny and my back look narrow and graceful.  I wanted it, but reader, I do not need it.  If it is there next time I go in I might be tempted to try it on again.

Christianne can talk the hind leg off a donkey, but she let me browse by myself for nearly an hour and a half.  My final foray was into a generous basket of clothes - all $4 - where I found a Persil white unworn large tee shirt with a Japanese or Chinese drawing and calligraphy.  Hanging on the counter are a truckload of beads and necklaces and I spied a pearlescent bead necklace of almost spearmint colour for $10.  Really my only criticism is the lighting which is adequate but when one is rummaging at floor level through scarves and belts and shoes, it is a bit too dim and therefore almost impossible to enjoy all the colours and textures. 

On Sunday morning my family and I all went to the Port Chalmers School Garage Sale.  My dear daughter left with 10 Goosebumps books and a smile a mile wide.  I stuffed the following into a supermarket bag for the princely sum of $2
vintage New Zealand made synthetic knit light blue cardigan
vintage New Zealand made turquoise and lurex jumper with scooped back (perfect for showing off my tattoo) and a silver embellishment around the front neckline.
vintage German green suede mens waistcoat which fits Dear H very well, but needs a serious clean
vintage (label removed) turquise pleated cotton blend skirt - circa 1980s
vintage home-made black velvet skirt with unusual buttons - circa 1970s???
vintage (label removed) white A-line but with a gathered waist cotton blend white skirt with pockets!!
vintage red tab Levis for my dear darling D to grow into.....sooner than later at the current growth rate!

and a plastic box that probably used to have Christmas decorations in it, stuffed with zips 13 in total for $1
and the cutest bow brooch in gold - with a mark but not sure what it is for fifty cents

Spent all of Sunday afternoon washing and drying!!
Photos to follow!!!

Fashion Icon Friday - Penelope Garcia from Criminal Minds

The RWC won't last forever, so I have decided that I will start a new series of posts entitled "Fashion Icon Friday".

Today I will feature a character from TV - Penelope Garcia from Criminal Minds.  She is smart and funny and wears some amazing clothes.  She sure knows how to accessorise!!

This is the best article I have found on her fashion style is here: link

Interesting, but expensive graphic tees

http://www.barkersonline.co.nz/ProductDetail.aspx?CategoryId=3&ProductId=3834

RWC Inspired Friday

Can you guess which team I am supporting today???

Vivienne Westwood Red Label Pagan Kiss T-Shirt

(guiltily purchased from Hervia.com)

Vintage Floral Skirt

(ReStore $4 approx)

Vivienne Westwood Lady Dragon Heart Shoes

(40th B'day present from Belle Bird, Dunedin)

Red Rose ring (Equip) and Turquoise Rose earrings (Java Hair)

Polyester shirt dress discovery - during a sunny Dunedin lunch-hour

At lunch time today I popped out in the car to visit the newly refurbished Salvation Army Family Store on Princes Street.  The store has moved slightly (a matter of meters) into a much bigger, brighter room which used to be a car show room I think(there is the name Morris or Austin in tiles on the floor on the corner!!)

Anyway, it was lovely and light and very well laid out.  I did my circuit in a matter of moment, noticing that the "Retro Clothes" rack does not appear to be anywhere which suggests that it depends on stock being supplied and the bulk of items are the MICC which I have bored you with before.  That being said, there were quite a few people shopping and I think the Sallies do an amazing job and I very happy to support them, knowing that they provide services the government do not. 

I then popped around the corner to ReStore which is run by the Malcam Trust and Habitat for Humanity.  This store is crowded and I mean absolutely jam packed full of stuff.  There are tables which are practically bowing down to the ground laden with plasticware, woodenware, microwave containers, NZ ceramics, glassware, plus several racks of slightly upmarket clothes and at the rear about 10 racks of clothes which are so tightly filled it is impossible to look at items without accidentally snapping the plastic clothes racks.  I did see a spectacular lavendar paisley dress with a pleated skirt and a shirt top with a pussy bow tie.  It was lovely, but it was a size 18 and I don't need it.  What I did find though was another polyester dress with one of those border hem patterns which changes up the dress.  It is mainly white, with a black pattern.   It was in the 50 cent area, but because I cannot tell the difference between the NZ 20 cent and 50 cent coins (myopia and stubborness) I gave the lovely lady $1.  Gold coins I can handle.

In other shopping news I scored an original Mary Quant Eye makeup container off TradeMe and last night, to my complete surprise won an auction for some black Melissa heels for $15. 

Lastly but no means least I went to the petshop to get some upmarket cat food for my pair of cats who turned up their noses at Whiskas steamed sardine casserole this morning.  I found the most adorable puppy.  Emphasis on all of those words.   It was a maltese terrier crossed with something else and honestly it looked like toy dog, it had cute button eyes and fur like a teddy.  It was so small I could have easily put it in my handbag if it were not stuffed with purse and sunglasses and the like.  I wiggled my fingers at it through the bars and made coochy coochy noises.  Oh reader, I think I fell in love :-)

Collections of Penny-Rose

 

1. frosted glass ~ mainly English Bagley from 1950s onwards, in black, white, green, blue, aqua, pink, yellow and amber 

2. coloured glass trinket boxes ~ mainly Japanese in green and amber (some of this collection was sold to make way for No1 and No 3) 

3. bambi and deer ornaments ~I just love the innocence of Bambi

 4. elephant ornaments (collected as a child but no longer add to this) 

5. polyester dresses ~ my first dress was a $1 Miss Jennie in grey with cigarette burns, now I have one for every day of the week and more :) 

 

6. retro knitting patterns ~ most inherited from my mother-in-law 

7. vintage sewing patterns ~ random op shop purchases for the pictures on the front 

8. broken pottery and sea glass from beaches I have visited ~ I am a magpie  

9. peonies ~ tree peonies x 3 and tuberous peonies too many to mention 

 

10. vintage sewing books: McCalls, Singer, Vogue, Better Homes and Gardens, and Simplicity (2 different editions)

What about you, what do you collect?  What captures your eye?

Polyester Purchases - revamped and refashioned

Town Trend polyester/crimplene sleeveless dress ~ Purple Rain $5

 Eek!  I am well aware that this is not a flattering photo - and the stripey socks were worn for comfort not for comparison.  Once I had reattached the bodice to the skirt where it had come unstitched, this is the vision of loveliness succumbed to my stitch ripper and had the bottom frill removed.  Then convinced it was too short, I added a band of fabric back on - at 1/2 width of the original frill.  So a compromise has been reached.  Its hard to see in this photo but I also took in about 1/2 inch from waist to arm allowing a better fit. Also there is a faint grey stain in the centre front which is barely noticeable except to my eagle-eyed Dear H.  This I intend to disguise with a strategically placed necklace or brooch. 

Helen B polyester sun dress, sleeveless with wide bias skirt ~ Yellow Shop $1

 The socks remained on for the second photo - here I am modelling a dress which was in need of some tender loving care in the form of removing the waist elastic and re-sewing the waist seam.  As you might be able to see from the photo the neck line is very high -  I do have prominent "trapezoid muscles" and I think the neckline was very slender originally.  The interfacing which was one layer of fabric was also discoloured and coming off, so I assisted it further and removed the whole front section.  This then allowed me to re-cut the neckline (nothing so fancy as re-drafting in my vocabulary) which I then finely hemmed, and adjusted at the shoulders as well.  A long soak removed most of the stain which splashes across the front.  Photos of finished items to be taken this weekend. 

My final refashion was more of a total remake from a very large skirt from a dress made from blue turquoise knitted fabric purchased from the Presbyterian fabric sale earlier this year for the princely sum of less than $1.  I crafted this lovely warm fabric into a below-the-knee skirt and interfaced the waist with a cheerful complimentary pink and turquoise quilt cotton bought at least 8 years ago when I had the hope of making something cute for my toddler Dear D.  The hardest part of this project was the ironing - I found it really difficult to get the iron temperature just right so I was pressing the fabric but not making a horrible shiney pattern on it!!  I envisage wearing this skirt with the awesome socks I bought from Sock Dreams.

Planning for RWC Themed outfit Week 2 ...and the dilemma of the leather skirt

Yesterday at lunch time I meandered down to the Presbyterian Support Yellow Shop on St Andrew with the intent of finding an item of clothing to inspire me for my proposed Georgia'n themed outfit to wear on Friday.

I spent a lot of time in the "lower shop" looking at the $1 clothes, but nothing caught my eye.  Then I trawled around the rest of the shop with inspiration eluding me.  I was awoken from my slightly bored daydream by a loud voice saying "You bought that dress here".  The manager of the shop was staring at my skirt which was recently refashioned from a maxi dress with Paul Klee paintings on it.  It transpires that the dress once belonged to the manager and she wore it to death and then donated it to the store.  I confided in her that I was on a mission - so far unsuccessful - to find an item to be the base/foundation for my Georgia'n inspired ensemble.  She produced a mid length white leather skirt with some sort of leather flower embellishment on it - presumably the front as sitting on it would be might uncomfortable!  Unconvinced that it would fit me, I put it back on the rack.  

But, dear reader, skirt is haunting me.    

Something unnatural about the skirt has preoccupied me and I am in half a mind to go back and try it on. The other half of my mind keeps sayng "don't be stupid its a blood and chocolate magnet which will hug every curve and be very hot to wear".   I have a very stylish colleague who has a lime green knee length leather skirt which she pairs with a black skivvy and tights and looks amazing. I just did some "research" on google and leather skirts can be very stylish and classy or tacky.  Length and colour are the primary "tacky" factors with short black leather skirts being universally tacky.  High waisted purple leather on the other hand....

So dear reader, what do you think.  Yay or Nay for leather skirts? 

Steampunk HQ, Oamaru

This old steam engine looks a bit weird from a distance....

.....then as you get closer and closer you realise that something is not quite right...there is a dragon on the front and missiles

on each side.....

...and a crazy looking skeleton....

....look closely in the window and you can see the ghoulish train driver!

Melbourne purchases

Off white top with back neck opening and lace detail.  Purchased from Harry Wragg, Brunswick Street $15

Amazing 1970's shirt with flared collar and extra long cuffs ~ RetroStar Vintage Clothing $25

Review of The Oddity, Waikouaiti

My family have driven past "The Oddity" so many times I have lost count.  Nine out of ten times it has been closed.  The shop is into two parts - a large couple of rooms on the left (not visible in pic above) and then the main shop.  As with many "second hand" shops, it was bulging full of a variety of items.  The first rooms had mainly furniture including a 1950s perfect red vinyl set of kitchen chairs with chrome legs for a staggering $300!!!!!!

This firescreen immediately caught my eye.  Yes, it has a Bambi on it, but it is not needed in my house so I passed it by, with only a couple of backward glances!

 In the main shop the large ground area contained fairly standard stuff - but it was the creaking narrow steep staircase at the back which revealed treasures.  The tiny attic had mirrors on the walls to give the effect of larger space.  I was intrigued with the old toys and dolls, the posters on the walls, and the selection of vintage shoes, still in their boxes. 

This charming Pears Ad ($100) was on the wall up the tiny stairs which were so steep it was more like a step ladder!!

 

 The skirt hem marker and soap advertising were in perfect condition (above) .  I love the graphics on this air pump (below).

 Imagine trying to cook a meal on this!!

 The famous Tiger Tea!

All in all, I enjoyed visiting the store.  The prices were a little high but the charming attic was worth looking at - almost like being in a museum.  I think it might be worth an annual visit. 

The event which shall not be named: RWC Dress-up Friday Week 1

Blurry this picture may be, but it still captures the joie de vivre of Island dressing, don't you think?  

The golden vintage textured polyester skirt (made from a maxi skirt Savemart $6) evokes the sand of Tonga, the red belt, necklace, red shoes and ring, the white tee shirt are a pay homage to the Tongan rugby jersey.....topped off with a truly gorgeous vintage St Mark polyester island print shirt (Savemart $4).  How much more Tongan could I be? 

Thursday Slurpday

Window shopping: Jewels | Stuff.co.nz

Just read this article about Rockbourne Jewellry - I so have to go there this week. I need, I mean I really need a treat.

I have entitled this post Thursday Slurpday because I feel pretty worn out and could be slurring my words. The words are definitely blurring on my computer screen.

I will be posting photos of the fashion modification I did in the weekend. It was not so much re-fashioning as just "tweaking". I have a lovely polyester (yes what else) dress with a wide skirt which was $1, and the bluey purpley mauvey orangey mod-ish dress I bought from Purple Rain for $5. The former dress required the waist to be resewn and the neckline to be adjusted - my neck must be wider than others because I felt like I was choking. The latter has had a hideous gathered frill removed from the bottom and is now very short. I also carefully adjusted the side seams to make it fit better in the bodice. Alas now, I feel it is too short and am seriously considering putting some of the awful frill back on....

On a Spring matter, I am wearing 3/4 pants today and wore bare legs earlier this week. Blossom is dotting the trees in my back yard, and some peonies are sprouting out through the dirt looking like red tentacles. The sheep in the paddock behind the house are lambing too which is lovely.

Thanks to the amazing Desiree from Pull Your Socks Up, I have discovered Sock Dreams and ordered,(amongst other things.....) these lovelies:  What do you think??

 

 Ok Readers, time to finish this post.  Tomorrow we in the office are dressing up (if we want to) to support a team as part of the RWC (from now on known only as "the competition which shall not be named".  I am not a great fan of rugby, but I have seen the Argentinian team from less that 10 meters when I encountered some team members outside the hospital earlier this week.  Very fine specimens they were too.  Anyway, I have decided to support Tonga tomorrow, so I will be wearing something suitably "Island-ish". My camera will accompany me to work so there will be evidence of my costume and any brave colleagues who agree to being published in this fine blog. 

 Hope you are all having a good week!!

What to wear on Friday?

http://chzhistoriclols.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/funny-pictures-history-dont-know-what-to-wear.jpg

Mad, colourful and wild, New Zealand fashion house WORLD is coming to the masses....

Mad, colourful and wild, New Zealand fashion house WORLD is coming to the masses. The high-end boutique has collaborated with Number One Shoes to create a small but perfectly formed collection of women's fashion footwear. 

This item caught my eye today, as it shows that high end designers can create items for a wider market.  Number One Shoes was originally named "No 1 Shoe Warehouse" and now the "warehouse" has been dropped and there is a definite change in the marketing.  You may recall that I bought a pair of "Twiggy" shoes from my local store the other day.   The stores also sell hosiery and shoe products such as cleaners, insoles, shoe laces, and also hats, gloves, scarves and handbags.