I Can Hear the Bells

by ilikeyourshirtfashionblogFebruary 22, 2013

There’s really nothing like a wedding to get you thinking about your own one. Last weekend I had the honour of attending my beautiful cousin’s wedding to her lovely partner. The ceremony took place at the stunning botanical gardens in Melbourne with a picturesque backdrop and an accommodating, clear blue sky. Despite the day’s high temperature (and the drops of sweat making their way down my spine), all of the guests were in awe of the radiating couple who were so obviously in love that I almost acquired a headache, though that might have been just the overexposure of sunlight. As I was listening to the couple’s words that were soaked with such mushiness that it can only be tolerated at a wedding, I began thinking about how I would plan my own wedding if I ever decided to get married. And then the relentless aching in my feet made me wonder if wearing high heels had any other significant purpose other than to appear more attractive to the opposite sex and debated if the positives could override the searing pain and discomfort. By the third hour I was highly doubtful.

A view of where the ceremony was conducted.

The ceremony concluded and we went to the reception a few hours later. The reception was held at the scenic Sandringham Yacht Club which offered a fantastic view of the sunset and a particularly elegant function room. Three delicious courses and several mushy words later, we discovered the location of a fun-filled photo booth and spent the rest of the night dancing and having a fabulous time.

The dress I wore is based on a design that I loved for ages, so I decided to get it made in Vietnam when I was there over a year ago. Considering it is a relatively formal dress, I hadn’t found an opportunity to wear it until this occasion. Needless to say I was extremely excited to wear it, although it was sweltering hot at times.

Dress- Made in Vietnam Shoes- Guess Bag- Vintage Earrings- ? Necklace- Swarovski

My gorgeous sisters and I at Sandy Yacht Club.

It was one of the loveliest weddings I have experienced, and I wish the happy couple all the best!

Denim Days

by ilikeyourshirtfashionblogFebruary 13, 2013

Jeans are eternal, but anything else denim has it’s moments. Fortunately for the lovers of the rugged blue material , 2013 is allowing for a denim domination in any form or size. This season’s runways have produced denim jackets, dresses, vests, shirts, pants…oh and despite an army of people’s desperate call for the extinction of this look, double denim is still on the cards. I can already hear the yelps of excitement. Just look up ‘Zac Efron double denim’ and he’ll show you how he (seldom) managed it in the past up until now.

I channeled my denim look through an acid-washed dress that looks like it came straight out of the 80’s. Talking about the 80’s, has anyone been watching the Carrie Diaries? She has fabulous style. Back to the topic, I rarely wore this dress out casually because I originally determined that it wasn’t specifically suited for informal outings, but then I discovered how useful a belt, cardie and hat really was. And that’s a fashion note right there- basic accessories can completely alter a look. You’d be surprised with how much you can downplay or elevate a dress or outfit with only a few extra touches.

Dress- Refuge

Jacket- Alive Girl, a find from a fashion store at the South Melbourne Market, Melbourne

Shoes- Inui Bag- Vintage Hat- ? Belt-?

4/02

by ilikeyourshirtfashionblogFebruary 4, 2013

Melbourne weather truly baffles me, which is ridiculous because I am well aware that it is the temperamental one in the relationship. One week it is constantly at high temperatures, and then suddenly it drops below 20 and I am reaching for jeans and a jacket. Um what.

The jacket I reached for was one of mum’s oldies. The other day she was shuffling through her wardrobe and flung numerous items of unwanted clothing onto the floor then boldly announced that they were for the taking. Accustomed to my mothers frequent wardrobe rampages and the treasures and trash that are likely to be discovered, I investigated. Amongst the heap of outdated and untouchable clothing lay a decent crème jacket that I immediately snatched. Fortunately I was able to wear it earlier than I anticipated due to the stupid weather. I matched it with a bodice style top, accompanied by high-waisted jeans and clog sandals.

Jacket- Vintage Bodice- Minkpink Jeans- Wakee denim Shoes- Sportsgirl Bag– ?

Those jeans and the jacket probably won’t be making an appearance outside my closet for a while- the weatherman says it’s back to beach weather!

Up with the Birds

by ilikeyourshirtfashionblogJanuary 24, 2013January 24, 2013

Going back to my dandy adventures in the Gold Coast once more, we traveled to Mt Tamborine to see what the brochures were on about. Apparently it is a must-see tourist spot that offers exceptional views and activities amongst other things, and considering I had never been after all these years, I was curious to see what all the fuss is about.

A pie and a half later, we had strolled down the busy streets filled with the usual weekenders and tourists, poured over beautiful vintage brooches and had bought $30 worth of mouth-watering fudge. Needless to say things were going excellently, and then we were offered the opportunity to crash a tour and explore a rainforest which completely enhanced our thrilling Mt Tamborine adventure. We were given a guided tour by a friendly and informative man who had been running these tours for years, and boy did he have a lot to say. There were some particularly intriguing facts he explained about the history and the local flora, and the rainforest itself was absolutely magnificent.

Luckily the clouds remained non-threatening which meant that I could take out my camera and go into pro-photographer mode which really consisted of taking numerous snaps of the beauty around me and different angles.

Looking up at the Trees

Waterfall at Mt Tamborine — Ain’t it pretty?

In a Tree — Yep, there were spiders in there.

A native turkey — Watcha doing there, Turkey?

It’s difficult to see, but there’s the coastline of Gold Coast in the background.

Top: Ice Shorts: Lumiere Shoes: Miss Shop Bag: Vintage

…And on the car ride home, we devoured most of the fudge.

Away and Away

by ilikeyourshirtfashionblogJanuary 14, 2013

Okay yes it has been a while. But no one can blame me for taking a couple weeks off from blogging whilst holidaying in Queensland with a serious lack of wi-fi and motivation to get off the beach, hm? Furthermore, holiday mode impacted my ability to actually care about what I wore, so without further ado I picked off pretty outfits and opted to cruise around in basic swimsuits and shorts for the majority of the trip. And damn did it feel great to let go of your appearance and walk around with chlorine-soaked hair and a pair of shabby thongs.

It didn’t last impressively long to the point that a dread started forming, as eventually the more dignified part of me gave me a nudge and reminded me that a person should still make an effort and with the way I was going I wasn’t going to impress any of those cute surfers. Which was fair enough because I didn’t touch my hairbrush for a while. I have slowly noticed that people these days in the Gold Coast really make an effort to look hot compared to when it used to be the bathers and thongs look, which put pressure on me as I only achieved to look hot with a red-as-a-tomato sunburn. But then again the shopping is so superb that it is easy to afford to look good, and truth be told I do a large portion of clothes shopping up there. So I finally made the grueling decision to let go of my freedom and embrace looking decent on holiday. I think a surfer even looked at me after that.

The dress that I’m wearing below wasn’t in fact from the Gold Coast but I bought it in Melbourne *shock* at full price. I saw it and loved it, and everyone knows that you cannot be deterred from love at first sight, which applies to clothing. I even reminded myself that I already have a white maxi dress, but then I reminded myself that *pfft* it’s completely different. I don’t know if it’s the subconscious ‘wedding dress’ appeal to it, but I am attracted to white maxi dresses. It was great to wear in the heat and humidity as the fabric is so light.

white dress 2

Dress: Peace Angel from Tree of Life Bag: Forever New

Wishing you a belated happy new year!

I’m Dreaming of a Warm Christmas…

by ilikeyourshirtfashionblogDecember 22, 2012December 22, 2012

I am a self-confessed christmas junkie. I positively adore decorating the tree, putting up the lights, singing along with Bing Crosby to cheesy carols, making and bingeing on delicious food, completely over-adorning the house with ornaments, the summer weather, giving and *especially* receiving presents….the whole lot.

So naturally I am aware that there are only THREE days till the big day, and I am super excited.

The other day I travelled to the city to indulge in the yearly christmas festivities in Melbourne. Decorations were draped above the busy streets, buskers were belting out xmas tunes and the city was bustling with people eager to finish their shopping. The spirit of christmas was in full force, and I was like a kid on red cordial feeding off from the high of it.

As per tradition, I have been indulging in christmas cooking and began with making white christmas whilst coincidentally listening to the song White Christmas. I love americanised christmas carols, and although they don’t necessarily coincide with what an aussie christmas is like, they always describe the (for the lack of a less corny word) ‘magic’ of christmas. So here in Australia we don’t have snow at this time, don’t drink eggnog and don’t put snowmen on our roofs, but it’s still special and christmasy in a slightly different way. It’s usually celebrated outdoors in the sun, and of course involves a turkey! Mmm turkey…

Switching to a less christmas-orientated topic, for the outing I wore an old skirt of my mum’s. Occasionally I feature vintage clothes from my mum in this blog, simply because her wardrobe was so great and this is another item that I wanted to showcase. I love the vibrant colour and the beading action.

Skirt: Charlie Brown Top: Forever New Shoes: Inui Bag: Vintage Sunglasses: asos

Have a very merry christmas!

Baby It’s Cold Outside…

by ilikeyourshirtfashionblogDecember 14, 2012

My perception of cold may be a little different to what other people are experiencing outside of Australia, and I understand that 20°c doesn’t call for snow or is even considered slightly chilly, but it was unseasonably cool today. So maybe it’s not actually cold outside and it was a slight exaggeration and maybe I wore shorts when going out today – BUT I did wear a jumper. In summer in Melbourne. It really is nearing the end of the world.

This jumper is similar to a poncho with the fact that it’s virtually impossible to be unhappy while wearing it. No really, ask anyone who’s worn a poncho and they will recite the illuminating experience to you. I quite like the word illuminating. Anyway, my mum discovered this jumper in a marketplace in Hong Kong, and as soon as she brought it back I had claimed it as my own. It’s colourful, furry and not unlike the sensation of wearing a ragdoll cat on your body I’d imagine.

It probably wasn’t even cold enough to wear it, I just really wanted to wear my happy jumper.

jumper 1

jumper 2

jumper 3

I opted for a cute vintage brooch on my hat. Recently I’ve been really into brooch collecting, I have quite a collection forming.

jumper 4

jumper 5

Jumper: Some marketplace in Hong Kong Shorts: Minkpink

Shoes: Sportsgirl Bag: Vintage Hat: ?

Summer of ’12

by ilikeyourshirtfashionblogDecember 7, 2012

Aaaaaand summer has officially begun. Which means that Christmas is near (18 days precisely) and the new year soon begins, which means that I’m a very happy camper. In my opinion this is undoubtedly the most exciting part of the year, especially when the hot summer days roll in and call for long summer nights. Beach and a BBQ anyone?

For a Friday night outing and considering the lovely warm temperature, I opted me some bare legs and a tinge of bright colour. Fortunately, lots of colour for summer will never change. It’s just making that transition from endless winter days and coats to warm temperatures and vibrancy that’s proving to not be easy. Meh I’ll get used to it.

Top: Farenheit Skirt: Bardot Bag: ? Shoes: Steve Madden Belt: Ladakh

22/11

by ilikeyourshirtfashionblogNovember 22, 2012

Brighton Beach, Melbourne

*An excuse to experiment with the sunset mode on my camera

I realise that I haven’t updated my blog in a while (woops!) but in the meantime I have been taking lots of photos and have been enjoying the excruciatingly brief glimpses of summer.

Talking about that extraordinarily beautifully warm season, I’ve decided that high-waisted shorts will be one of my staple items for summer. Ever considered wearing shorts somewhere but decided that they’re too casual? Well luckily for you, high-waisted shorts exist, and if you team up the dressier kind of HWS (in other words, not denim) with a fantastic blazer, you have an outfit that even Blake Lively would be proud of.

Three Top Tips:

-The short HWS style have the effect of elongating the legs. YES.

-You can even wear a crop top with them and they still appear classy.

-Don’t attempt to be ‘indie’ and leave your shirt untucked.

Top & Shorts & Bag: Forever New Necklace: ? Shoes: Steve Madden

Plainness and Charm

by ilikeyourshirtfashionblogOctober 17, 2012

White is every spring/summer’s colour. It’s light, classy and compliments sun-tanned skin, but not so much sunburn (although there is nothing healthy about a tan, ahem). After examining my wardrobe and attempting to colour-code it, I discovered that a large portion of my summer gear consists of white materials, hence the overflowing pile. I discovered that I am a devoted fan of the colour (or shade, whatever floats your boat) but felt the need to throw something else into the mix. To change it up a little, I did the obvious thing and splashed some colour into the sea of blankness.

It changed me from a plain white table-cloth to a table-cloth with some personality.

White (which is described as “the absence of colour”) pretty much creates happiness with any colour, so go crazy and get colouring.