Goodbye!

There's no way to say this other than rather bluntly - I've decided to stop blogging. There's a very good reason - I just don't find it fun anymore, and a hobby that's no fun is kind of pointless. And, maybe some other bloggers have experienced this too, but I was beginning to feel a bit like I was dressing for the blog sometimes rather than for myself, which doesn't feel right.

I'm not going to take down this blog, or my old one, and I'm still going to be visiting and commenting on all of the lovely blogs out there.

Thank you so very much for visiting, and for your support - it's been a wonderful experience. And who knows, in a year or so I may feel differently and start up again, I can't say.

In which I'm an invalid

Apologies for the lack of posts in past week, I became quite ill last Thursday and have been housebound/too sickly for photos since then. I'm still coughing up nastiness - which might be why I looked angry in every photo from today except this one;

Pearls - Gift
Top - Sussan
Skirt - Vintage via Ebay
Belt - Op Shop
Shoes - Country Road
Bag - Vintage via Ebay

Today I learned that no matter how hot it is, and no matter how sick I am of my scoop neck, cap sleeve knit tops, tank tops are not a good idea, because a) my shoulders get burnt and b) my shoulders look kind of manly (I really don't love my shoulders).

And, yes, my hair is different - it was an accident that turned out rather well. I was getting pretty sick of my side fringe anyway, it never sat as it was supposed to, even with hair spray and blow drying (which are too much bother for every day, for me). I'll probably grow it to just above my eyebrows after I get it fixed up by a hairdresser (the rest of my hair is pretty desperate too). I've always been a bit of a fan of impulsive home hair cuts though, since I cut off all of my hair on the left side of my head, right to the scalp, when I was three. (Guess who wasn't allowed scissors again for a long time?)

Also, in my long weekend of illness, I made a tote bag during my many hours of medicinal Buffy the Vampire Slayer viewing;

It will be handy on days when I need more space than my brown satchel allows but I'm too lazy to carry my big black bag (which only has a handle).

In which it's very nearly scarf weather

It wasn't quite cool enough to wear a scarf today, but I did anyway, partly in the hope that the act of wearing a scarf would somehow make it scarf weather after all, and partly because, well, I liked the way it looked with the dress. My hair looks a bit funny in the picture; I need a hair cut. I had one recently, but not enough was taken off, it seems. I'll probably start hiding it under various woolly hats until I get it cut again.

Dress - Vintage (altered by me)
Scarf - Hand-me-down from my mother
Tights - Target
Shoes - Vintage via Etsy
Bag - Vintage from an Op Shop

The dress is one I've had a while and tried to take pictures of several times before, but they've never come out very well. It was originally much longer and had longer sleeves, too. I also altered the neckline, but it's not visible. I don't think it was intended to be drop waist, but it's quite a few sizes too big, and so that's how it works on me, which I like a lot. I love the print so much;


I'm also quite enjoying the whole triangular scarf thing - I haven't worn one before. I was really put off by the whole desert/keffiyeh scarf trend, but I think I like them provided they're not of that kind.

Finally, Timothy has given me official permission to pimp his blog, so here it is;

Old Standards

(Looking at makes me ashamed of my lack HTML customisation - soon, soon!)

A Glorified Sack

I used to have something of a prejudice against shapeless dresses, but these days I'm pretty keen, provided they're in some way visually interesting. I like this one that I bought recently very much indeed, and it's quite short, so I can show the world that I have legs, even if I appear to have no figure.

Dress - Cue via Rozelle Market
Beret - Myer
Tights - some terrible brand that laddered too easily
Shoes - Big W (amazingly enough!)
Bag - Vintage

It was supposed to be cold today, so I gladly donned my black tights and beret, but it was really rather warm, and so I was uncomfortable all day. Also, my shoes were not uni appropriate. They're new, so I needed to test them out. I like them very much though;


I paid the princely sum of $29 for them at Big W, and now I can enjoy the bootie trend to my heart's content.

Also, exciting news - Timothy has started a blog of his wonderful outfits and thoughts about life, which I will link to as soon as he gives me permission.

In which I'm inspired by the landed gentry

I apologise for my posting absence; it was due in part to the fact that I spent most of last week painting the inside of my mother's house, and was thus wearing old clothes covered in paint (not exactly blog worthy).

As I've said before, Timothy and I are still firm friends, so we spent yesterday browsing Newtown's many secondhand bookstores, reading lists for our new uni subjects in hand. I didn't find single thing on my required reading list (neither did he), but it was lovely afternoon and Timothy is still happy to take pictures for me.

Pearls - a gift from my mother
Top - Valley Girl
Skirt - Op Shop (much altered by me)
Belt - Op Shop
Bag - Vintage via Ebay
Scarf - Op Shop
Shoes - Pulp

I was inspired by this page in my scrap book, taken from Vogue Australia (no idea which issue);


The scarf I'm holding is testament to my inspiration, but when I put it on I didn't look like any of the magazine pictures so much as I looked like an elderly Slavic peasant woman. Oh well, fashion is all about experimentation, and thus making mistakes.


I think he looks quite the country aristocrat - and I'm pretty sure everything is second hand, either from op shops or eBay.

A pleasant Sunday afternoon to you all, and I shall hopefully now be back to regular posting.

Retreating into my cave...

It's been a week since I last posted, so I think I should explain the absence. I'm very sad to say that last Saturday (yes, Valentine's Day) Timothy and I decided to not be "together", as such. However, we are still the very best of friends (as we always were) and he will continue to appear from time to time on the blog. However amicable it all was, I've still been feeling rather sad and low, and have gone into a mini hibernation, where my primary activities have been cleaning/tidying/sorting out my room(s), mending and altering lots of clothes and spending a fairly large amount of time watching Buffy accompanied by large cups of tea and deceptively small croissants. Not very conducive to blogging, I'm afraid. I think I'll be "back on track" some time next week.

Today, however, I thought I'd share some pictures of one of my bedrooms, particularly given how much time I've spent in it.


My Dad put this on my door, I think partly to inspire me to have less clutter. I agree with the sentiment very much, however difficult it is in practice.


My bed, with its Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady covers is where I write most of my posts. I almost always use my laptop on my bed, never at my desk. Very bad of me.

The top half of one of my bookshelves, and the top of my chest of drawers, and my string of pictures (now held on with tiny pegs, not tape). The picture on the wall is a print of an illustration from Tolkien's "The Hobbit" - I've had the print since I was a little girl, and I like the mix of pastoral scenery with fantasy.


A close up of the top of my chest of drawers. I know the skull looks a little morbid - it's ceramic, and his name is Yorick (of course). I blame his purchase entirely on Brideshead Revisited, but I rather like having him as my little memento mori.


These are framed postcard pictures of Oxford University, they hang (in a not very straight line) above my desk. They provide a certain inspiration when I'm at my desk, working on things for university.

So, please forgive my need to retreat for a while - I am sure I will be posting again quite soon.

In which I pretend that it's winter.

Today was reasonably cold, and there was a wonderful gusty breeze, so I took full advantage and embraced the black and tights I've been wanting to wear for months. Timothy and I went out op shopping, which was largely unsuccessful, as the chief find was very cheap Oreos. I really do like it when op shops have surplus biscuits, chocolate and sweets for sale. We went to the Anglicare depot in Summer Hill (that sells clothes by the kilo), and I discovered I'm just not a rummaging person. Things need to be in some semblance of order, or hung up, for me to want to look through them. Oh well, it's my loss! Anyway, it was extremely entertaining to wear my faux-Winter outfit (which Timothy said was rather "bat like"), so it was still a good day out.

Scarf - Hand me down from my Mother
Dress - Vintage (Surry Hills Market)
Bag - Vintage
Tights - Johnathan Aston (lace) and Columbine (cream)
Shoes - Pulp

The dress is one I've had a while, and posted pictures of before, but today I cut the elastic out of the middle so now it just flows down, smock-like. I think I like it better this way, it's infinitely more flappy and bat-like.
Close up of the dress and scarf. The scarf has short fringe around the edge, but I don't think it's visible.


The tights are my absolute favourites, two ladies commented on them today (favourably!). I think I probably wear them at least once a week, I should get another pair.

On a side note, this evening I made a list of every kind of fashion item I would like to possess. Not specific branded pieces, just things like "black round toe mid heel pumps" and "prairie/hippy dress to shorten". I did it by going through all of my scrapbooks of magazine cut outs and then everything from off the top of my head as well. It was terrifying - 76 items! (And some were possible multiples, like "pastel blouse(s)"). So, I'd like to ask;

Do you have a wish list? How long is it?