Giving All You Can Give

I adore Christmas. I put it down to the wonderful childhood memories I have of this time of year.

The smell of pine needles indoors, big family get togethers, excited children, long lunches and longer dinners. Delicious food everywhere. What's not to love?

Waking up on Christmas morning to see all the lovingly wrapped gifts under the tree was always a highlight as a child. Giving and receiving presents is, lets face it a whole lot of fun.

But now that I'm all grown up, my take on Christmas is slightly different.

While not wealthy by any stretch, I am comfortable. I have a roof over my head and cupboards of food. I have a close, loving family and a wonderful group of friends. I don't want for anything in my life. I don't need more stuff.

So while giving and receiving gifts is still part of my treasured Christmas routine, I no long buy lavish gifts. This year each member of my family will receive a small, inexpensive gift plus a donated gift, in their name, from one of these charities:

• School Supplies for a Child from ADRA Australia ($11.00)
• A chicken or goat from World Vision Australia Smiles ($6 & $39 respectively)
• Gift of Sight Card from Fred Hollows Foundation (min $25)
• A toy for a hospitalised child from Starlight Children's Foundation (from $15.50)

So, I'm just putting this out there. I'm not a perfect person by any means, but I do know how truly lucky I am and this is just my small way of sharing the Christmas love.

xx

To Market, To Market

I had a bit of an adventure yesterday, as I explored the Camberwell Market in advance of hosting a stall there next weekend.

While I was there I picked up some rather excellent bargains, including some that shall be dutifully wrapped and placed under the Christmas tree for others. Yay. Don't you just love giving presents? Watching someone open gifts from me is actually my favourite part of the whole Christmas experience.

Here is a sample of my haul:

Christmas Baubles: $2 per box

Silver Bag: $5
Freshwater Pearl Necklace: $29
Silver Ballet Flats: $12

I only realised after I got home that most of my purchases were silver. Weird. But pretty - no?

I also found the most AMAZING 70's red linen wrap skirt and separate cropped jacket that matched, but that's for another post.

Retro Friday

Like many corporate offices, mine embraces the "Casual Friday" tradition.

There's nothing quite like rocking up to work in jeans and an old t-shirt. But casual shouldn't mean sloppy!

My special touch was this merle grey bonds t-shirt that I decorated myself with a fab retro iron on transfer from the 70's:

While I'm not exactly a Bulldogs fan (I'm actually a Tigers girl), I love the glitter outline, the slick print and the fact I took something new and gave it it's own retro look.

It just goes to show, even if you think you're not creative, there are a myriad of ways to incorporate your own personal style into what you wear. Sew old buttons onto fingerless mittens and jacket lapels, take that costume jewelery piece and turn it into your own custom brooch for your jeans, berets, scarves headbands. Tie that neckerchief around your belt loop or hair bun. There is no limit to your imagination - give it a try!

T-shirt - Bonds, decorated by me
Jeans - Jag
Sequin ballet flats - eBay

And The Winner Is...

Thanks to all those who left me their fashion disaster stories over the last couple of days in response to this post.

As promised, I chose what I thought was the best fashion disaster story. You know what? It was a difficult choice!

There were some of you who wrote about the outfits you are now embarrassed about, but I don't think these were disasters. They were expressions of your influences and those of the times and should therefore be embraced - you were at the forefront of fashion at the time!

Although honourable mention must go to Cat of Impossible Colour, I have awarded Rosey my cute hoop earrings with heart, squiggles and pink details for her true fashion disaster, from which she recovered with true fashionista aplomb:

"When something so wrong becomes so right....

All I knew for sure was the color; I wanted to wear something soft lemon to a x-mas party a couple of years ago. I envisaged a dress; gorgeous, flowing, sexy and a bit quirky, so I raided my cupboard in search of something to work with....(rather something that my miracle-worker dress maker could work with) I came across a fabulous vintage - lemon color - nightie(!) from the 50's that I had bought at Hunters and Gatherers years before.

I took it to my dress maker and asked for an ethereal, flowy yet sexy design and sketched it with lots of arm movements to support my vision. I bought some really good quality silk for the lining and she dutifully worked her magic.

A week later I went back for a fitting and I've got to tell you, I was disappointed. As I took it off in the dressing room I noticed that the lining material and stitching was so immaculate - the inside was perfect!!
I put on the dress inside out and it was STUNNING! In her 30 years as a dress-maker she had never made a dress perfect by turning it inside out! It was a one of a kind dress that stole the show on the night! Moral of the story - yes, buy that fabulous quirky piece, have a good dress maker and always spend money on good quality lining!! "

Congratulations Rosey, these babies are coming your way:

It's All In The Details.

I shrugged on one of my vintage cardigans to brighten up my outfit today.

Click on images to see them enlarged. Sorry about the state of my lighting and location today!




It's one of the reasons why I adore vintage clothing. It's all in the details. Soft lambswool, hand stitched lining and thousands of tiny beading over the front, collar, cuffs and waist band, without the 'bedazzler' look. They certainly don't make them like they used to.

Here's a close up of the white version of my earrings, courtesy of Lady Melbourne's Vintage Emporium that I posted about the other day. Once again it's the detail of these that really make them special, don't you think?


Don't forget, you still have a whole day to tell me your fashion disaster story and secure your chance to win a prize from you to me.

Things That Make You Go Yay (Follow up post)

And then.... I broke a g*d@mn nail.

Could this day get any worse?

Well, as it just so happened, no it didn't. In fact, it got a whole lots better.

In the mail a little package was waiting for me, some darling earrings from Lady Melbourne's Vintage Emporium - Hooray!

There were two pairs, one red (which I put on straight away) and one white.


And it got me thinking. This a little package in the mail lifted my spirits and made me smile.

So I thought I'd share the love with you, my dear reader.

In light of my confession of a fashion disaster in my previous post today (the one about the LBD and lack of Hollywood tape), I will award the best fashion disaster story with this gift from you to me:

In order for you to win these cute hoop earrings with heart, squiggles and pink details, leave your story in the comments section of this post, Then email your postal details to me at vintageverve@hotmail.com.

The winner will be chosen solely at my discretion and announced on Friday 5th December 2009 on this blog. My decision will be final and no discussion will be entered into.

My comments section is open to anyone and everyone so tell your friends! However I can only post these babies to addresses within Australia or New Zealand. Thank you for understanding.

Things That Make You Go Arrrgh!

Sigh. Today is one of those days.

You know the one: you over-sleep, forget your lunch, the traffic is a nightmare and the boom gates to the parking are not working.

You end up running late for your first meeting of the day and then someone points out this:

ARRRRRRG! How did I not notice this? While I understand that it is not the end of the world and more of an annoyance, it took away from my black skirt with the cute pleats at the back:

"Dry you eyes, Princess" I told myself sternly. After all, it isn't the most embarrassing fashion misfortune to befall you. That award is strictly reserved for the time I wore a cute LBD I bought in Italy to an awards dinner that should have been accompanied by Hollywood tape to keep "the girls" contained..... but that's another story!

Skirt - Portmans
Turtleneck - Portmans
Black Cardi - MNG (London)
Shoes - Midas