Retail Therapy

Oh, Myer. Despite your moronic CEO's comments about the National Disability Scheme hurting retail, I love your one day sales. The days when consumers can walk into a shop and feel confident that their suspicions that the regular retail price is jacked up so high it's not worth purchasing until it's "on sale" are right on the money.

Anyway, I have been looking for a pair of chocolate brown, flat, knee high boots for a couple of years know, but I have the blasted Curse of the Wide Calved Girl and usually find it impossible to find boots that zip all the way up to my knee.

But not this year!

These are Diana Ferrari leather boots and they fit like a dream. I don't love the panels of elastic, but alas, us large calved girls can't be too choosy when we find a boot that fits, am I right?

RRP $229.95
Sale price: $170ish. Pin It

Retail Therapy - Vintage Jewelry

In September I went to the Round She Goes vintage market. They had a lot of pre-loved clothing, shoes and accessories, but as I tend to do, the jewellery stalls kept grabbing my attention. I'm a sucker for browsing through retro costume jewellery. I don't often buy anything, but I love looking at the kitchy stuff. That day, however, I did find something and as soon as I saw it I had to have it.

It's a vintage 1950s or 1960s (I forget which) Hematite necklace. It was so unique, and the silver and Hematite glinted so nicely in the light that it caught my eye straight away. I bought it from this lovely lady, and she had a lot of other gorgeous stuff.

The pendant is such an unusual shape and texture. I just need to add a few links to the clasp at the back because it sits a bit too high on my neck, but other than that it's in amazingly good condition.

Weirdly, in Googling Hematite I discovered it's a birthstone for both myself and my husband's zodiac signs, and is supposed to ground and protect the wearer. Nice!

The only other thing I wanted to buy at the market was a stunning black knife pleated vintage Balenciaga dress, but it was about $300 and it didn't fit me. It was seriously gorgeous, though! Pin It

Retail Therapy - Quirky Jewellery

A couple of months ago I was randomly browsing a jewellery sale on ozsale.com.au and these three items grabbed my attention.

The earrings are cute for casual outfits, and the necklace is just something a bit quirky and different - I love how the chain of the necklace has little silver joins throughout that sparkle a bit. Makes it more interesting than your usual plain silver chain.

This jewellery is all from Fleur Envy.

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Wedding outfit 1

We have a few weddings coming up over November/December and I was on Polyvore recently looking for inspiration. I probably won't end up wearing anything remotely like this, but I think this dress is perfect for this in-bewteen weather we're having at the moment in Melbourne! And the pop of orange is pretty much all you need to make a splash - a few neutral and gold accessories and you're done.


Although I must ponder why a shimmery gold eyeshadow has a sample colour shown that is purple, but whatever.

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Retail Therapy - More loafers

So...I bought another pair of loafers.Turns out my Winter obsession is actually probably more of a year-round obsession!

But how could I resist? They are a cute blue colour, 100% leather and I nabbed them for $40 on Buy Invite. And they are so, so comfortable. Every time I buy a pair of loafers I think I'll never find a more comfortable pair....and then the next pair comes along and it's like bouncy pillows under my feet. I love them.

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Spring Wardrobe Number Three

Spring Wardrobe Number Three by boredomaboundsbyjulia

I had a lot of fun putting this together. I was imagining a Spring afternoon tea or garden party when jeans just won't do, but you don't want to be the most dressed up gal in the room either.

I actually came really close to buying this dress from Dorothy Perkins a couple of months ago, but ended up with something else. However, I'm just so drawn to the cotton candy colour and the simple white stripes. Paired with a cardi and some simple ballet flats and this outfit will make you look chic and cheerful, with the pink of the sundress popping out.

I kept the make up simple, because the colour of the dress is the show stopper in this ensemble, and a nice neutral bag with sunglasses with tinted frames complete the look. And as always, a girl can never go wrong with a pair of pearl earrings.

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Spring Wardrobe Number Two

Spring Wardrobe Number Two by boredomaboundsbyjulia

This is my ideal work wardrobe for Spring. I love capri pants with a bright top, and the black boyfriend jacket gives it a corporate look without being too unflaterring for a woman's shape. Simple accessories do the trick, and subtle make up with a hint of plum in the eyeshadow would look fabulous with this ensemble.

FYI, I love that bag. And those shoes - I never wear super high heels to work, but wedges are infinitely more comfortable than stilettos and would give me a little bit of height to set off the shorter capri pants. Retro sunglasses are obligatory, obviously.

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Polyvore - Spring Wardrobe Number One

Spring Wardrobe Number One by boredomaboundsbyjulia

So, I signed up to Polyvore. I thought it would be a good way to get wardrobe ideas without having to actually go to the shops, and then I realised I could just post my mood boards here to see what you all think. It's a win/win!

Anyhoo, this is my first attempt - Spring is in the air, and while the days aren't always warm, I'm looking forward to updating my wardrobe a little bit. This cardigan costs way more than I would ever pay, but I just love the floral Spring feel. Loafers are my new obsession, as you know, and the accessories are a nice blend of neutral tones.

I could easily wear this outfit at work or on the weekends, it has a nice, seamlessly classic feel to it.

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Beauty Spot - Wet n Wild

When my sister bought me the Urban Decay Naked Palette from the USA last month, I also asked her to go to the drugstore and pick up a handful of eyeshadows by cheapo brand Wet n Wild.

 

And as you can see, she did!

I had heard that this brand has really awesome colours and that the pigment sticks like nobody's business.

And it does! The colours are fantastically bright and the pigment is really thick and easy to apply.  I also love that they have suggestions about where to put them on your eyes (which is super helpful when you're running late for work and you don't have time to experiment). Basically the quality is a lot better than some of the cheapo brands I've tried here.

I really want to try that three colour palette on the bottom right of the picture, but I don't know if I can carry off bright pink eyeshadow. It is a kick-ass colour though, so we'll see.

Oh, and this entire collection cost me about $30AUD. Not bad, huh?

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Retail Therapy - Winter Obsession

In Summer I was obssessed with wedges (and I already plan to buy a couple more pairs this coming Summer, too), but this Winter I've been constantly drawn to something other than ballet flats. Instead, I keep checking out loafers. So I was pleased to see this brightly coloured pair a month ago in the same shop I bought my handbag in up in Sassafrass.

I had chosen my handbag and was on my way to the counter to pay when I noticed a really, really low shelf with shoes on them and a big sale sign. I stopped to check the selection out, and this bright pink colour jumped out at me straight away. Then I tried them on. In the words of Chandler Bing, OH. MY. GOD. These might possibly be the most comfortable pair of shoes I have ever worn. EVER.

Some people might think they're old lady shoes. But I'm seeing loafers more and more in shoe shops where old ladies definitely do not shop. I find them to have more of a European French Riviera feel - all I need to complete the look is either a multi-million dollar yacht to wear them on, or a cute little retro convertible to drive around in with a scarf over my hair and big, Jackie O sunglasses.

Note to self: become rich ASAP.

They are 100% leather, made in Brazil and $205. On sale though? I picked them up for a cool $30.

Bargain.
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Retail Therapy - Handbag

I have been on the hunt for a new handbag for a few weeks now, since I realised just how ripped and torn and tatty my green Kate Hill bag had become. I really wanted a bag from Fossil, because I love the range of colours, but when I went there on Thursday last week I just couldn't find anything that appealed to me (what is with padlocks on everything these days?) So I decided to drive up to the hills on Friday and visit a little shop I only discovered on the Queen's Birthday weekend this year. I was in luck.

This is the bag I coveted when I first went in there that weekend in June. I decided I could live without it and moved on. Turns out I couldn't live without it, from both a necessity and a style perspective. It's gorgeous, soft leather in a beautiful dusty pink colour and I love it.

Best part? Only $115.

The shop I got it from is called Hob Nob and it's in Sassafrass up in the Dandenond Ranges. No website, unfortunately, so you'll just have to go up there and check it out for your self! It's just up a bit from Miss Marples on the other side of the road. They have a huge range of jewellry, bags, boots and shoes, scarves, gloves and clothing. It's definitely worth checking out - the prices are reasonable and the items are one of a kind. Pin It

Retail Therapy - A Wallet

Last year I bought this wallet. I love Olga Berg, and I loved the vintage, worn look that wallet had. But within a week of using it I realised just how unnecessarily big it was and just how much space it took up in my handbag. And yet I stuck with it for a whole 'nother year and a bit. Finally ozsale.com.au had a sale and I nabbed this chic number:

It's from Status Anxiety's Penelope collection, a brand I hadn't heard of before. But the colour grabbed me straight away, since I was looking for something that wasn't beige, brown or black. This is a nice, sophisticated colour, and the cross pattern gives it a really subtle texture, which I love. It retails at $69.95, which is understandable because it's real leather. I managed to grab it on ozsale.com.au for $30. Bargain!

Best part? My Olga Berg wallet was quite literally an inch and a half thick. This one? About 1.5 centimetres Such a difference!

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Beauty Spot - Direct from the USA

My sister just got back from two and a half weeks in the States. I only had one request: get me some make up. 

One item in particular:

If you saw my post on Twitter last night, you'll know exactly what it is....

Exciting, yes?

I'm not a beauty blogger, so I'm not going to swatch it up or go into extensive detail (mostly because I haven't had time to properly apply any of it, but here's another picture of it:

A few of the colours on the left half of the palette are actually more gold than they appear in the photo. I played around with it last night and the pigment is pretty good - it goes on smoothly and the colours are lovely.

It cost me $51AUD. I've seen some on ebay going for $85, so I'm pretty happy with that price. Oh, and apparently my sister walked into a Sephora, didn't see any on the shelf, asked the sales assistant and he declared he was "going to take care of her" (but not in a creepy, mob way - more in a very camp male sales assistant way thank goodness) and ran out the back to get a couple for her. Easy peasy!

Oh, and that last colour, the blue at the far right? AMAZEBALLS.

There. How's that?

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Anyone for Tea?

I don't drink tea, but I have such an obsession with pretty teacups. So when I spotted a display stand with piles of pastel coloured teacups and saucers at a second hand shop near work I couldn't resist going in for a better look.

 

I walked out with these three gorgeous sets for a grand total of $25. I was desperate for a pale pink set too, but apparently there is a Bride-To-Be in the area who keeps going in and buying all the pink crockery for her wedding. While I admire her good taste, I also secretly think "Challenge accepted" and want to go around buying up pink crockery so she can't have it. Yes, apparently I am That Kind of Person*. So if you see a cute, cheap pale pink cup and saucer somewhere let me know ASAP!

Anyway, aren't the lovely? I love the pastel shades and the different shape and texture of each set. Something to start off my props box, I think.

*note: I won't actually do this. I just had mean thoughts about doing it momentarily as the purchase was rung up. And possibly a few more times since then.

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Fancy China

We've been using the ivory and gold Mikasa dinner setting I inherited from my grandmother whenever we have guests over, and while I love it, I wanted something a little bit more colourful and less precious to use for dinners that aren't super formal. Not that we have formal dinners at our house where everyone wears tuxedos and evening gowns and costume jewellry - but how awesome would that be?

So when I spotted this dining set at Myer a couple of weeks ago I fell in love with it. The colours suit our house perfectly, and although is was a bit feminine for my husband, he caved in and said he would be happy to use it as our guest China (there may or may not have been a coversation that involved me saying that I can't live in a house full of neutral tones without COLOUR).

Maxwell & Williams Kimono setting

Also, we needed one that was microwave and dishwasher friendly. Because handwashing all that bone China after having guests over when you're tired is a recipe for disaster.

I love it. Pin It

Retail therapy - silver things

There is a shop I drive past every day on my way to and from work that has enticing luxury items that are totally useless but insanely expensive. Just before Christmas they had a huge sign up on the window saying "Closing Down" so I pulled over and went in to have a look. I came home with a necklace that was originally $59.95 but I got it for twenty bucks. I visited the shop several more times before it closed down and each time I came away with some really cute jewelry, all reduced down to twenty bucks.

 

This was my last purchase before they closed their doors. So cute and delicate, and the little diamantes give it a little sparkle. Also, who would pay more than twenty dollars for either of these? Crazy people, that's who.

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Bargain Buy

Wandering around a local trash and treasure market on the weekend to look at plants for the garden and I spotted this:

I've always loved glo mesh - even since I was little and my sisters and I envied the gold Oroton glo mesh purse and cigarette case my grandmother had. At vintage markets you usually see it in silver and gold, and often beige, but I had never seen it in midnight blue before. It's not second hand, and it comes with a sticker saying "Made in Hong Kong", but for $5 it was a steal.

And I needed a purse to put in clutch bags when we go to weddings, etc. Usually I just stuff money, my drivers licence and any number of random items in the side pocket and hope I don't lose anything, but now I can arrange things nicely in my clutch, and I won't have ten thousand bobby pins, an array of $2 coins and bandaids falling out whenever I open it.

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My New Addiction

Wedges. So Summer. So funky.

 

Wittner Kindred Wedge in Buttermilk. Purchased before Christmas for $139.95, but I daresay you could pick them up for under $100 in the sales.

If anyone sees a black peeptoe wedge with a wooden heel like these ones let me know! Wittner only has black in suede or in styles that are too high, but I want leather, and preferably not too high.

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Pretty Things: New Make Up

Ahhh, is there anything more satisfying than purchasing brand spankin' new make up? I had my make up done at Mecca in Chadstone a little while ago for the cost of about $80. Of course, I got to take home the equivalent value in product from the shop, and I was in desperate need of new eye shadows. I'm not particularly adventurous when it comes to eye shadow colours, but I do like a nice variety of neutrals and soft colours to wear in the office, with a few dramatic shades in the mix for nights out.

As my complimentary product, I chose a Stila refillable 3 pan compact. The compact alone (that is, without any of the colour discs in it) was $25 and each single colour disc was $38 each. Now, $25 for an empty palette is fair enough, because you're going to use it for a long time, but I found the $38 per single colour disc a bit hard to swallow. Particularly afterI checked out the American Stila website and found that they exact same items would have cost me about $50AUD if I'd purchased it overseas. I have since found a couple of online discount make up supplies that stock, among other well-known brands, Stila. When I need the compact refilled I'll be heading to those sites first rather than paying nearly $40 for one colour disc!

But, cost aside, the colours are really lovely. From left to right above, the colours are Barefoot Contessa, Shell and Poise. The brown has a slight bronze in it, and the pink is really soft ad blends in nicely with both of the other colours. The aubergine colour made me a bit nervous, but it's not as dark as it looks in the disc.I often use the pink shade with just one of the other colours at work, but blend all three for a more striking look on weekends. The compact is magnetic, so the discs snap into place inside the palette, and there is little hole underneath each circle so you can pop out the discs with a pin once they're empty, which is a great design feature.

The other two eyeshadow pots you see are my bargain buys from last week. I happened to be in the chemist near work and was wandering around near the Napoleon Perdis make up section when I spotted a little bargain bin of marked down NP items.I poked around in it and found a heap of eyeshadow pots reduced by  half price or more. Some of them were cracked and crumbled, but I managed to grab the above two colours which are in near perfect condition. The silver colour is Iridescent Silver and the green shade is Golden Khaki. The silver lives up to it's name and is very, very iridescent, but I think it will be a nice accent colour for the inner corners of my eyes. The khaki is a really nice mossy shade and has a hint of bronze in it, which will go nicely with my MAC gold eyeshadow (the name of which escapes me!) Both these NP eyeshadows were marked down to $15 each - score! Pin It

The Gap Has Arrived. Yay? Sort of.

On a whim, I decided to visit Chadstone, the fashion capital here in Melbourne because The Gap opened its first shop in Australia there today.

It wasn't too crazy - busy, yes, but not insane. A girl greeted me as I entered the shop with a perky "Welcome to The Gap!" and there was another sales assistant on the other side of the doors handing out Gap branded chocolates. It was all very cheerful, and I began browsing in the ladies section.

The shop is laid out like any other shop at Chadstone. It's worth noting that there are two levels, with Baby Gap upstairs (I think, I didn't actually go up there because there was a bit of traffic on the escalators), but the lower level has the men's and women's wear.

This is the only photo I managed to take inside the shop on my phone before I got told politely that "We can't allow you to take photos in the store. Sorry, the manager will get really angry." Will he? That's too bad - so stressed out on the first day of business, my heart bleeds for you! The guy who told me this was wearing a headset, so I presume he reports any illicit photo-taking directly into the manager's ear so the Angry Manager can come down and shout at people.

Anyway, like I said, I began browsing and made a couple of notes in my phone (I didn't dare write anything down in case I got reported for writing things in a little notebook, SHOCK HORROR) about the prices and such.

First of all, they do have a nice collection of casual and dressy casual wear, which I liked - a lot of good basics for the wardrobe. A lot of it in the women's section tended towards the Spring/Summer wardrobe, which I was a bit disappointed with. I had hoped to see a few more Winter-y things like jumpers, but they did have plenty of long sleeved t-shirts, jackets, trench coats, button down shirts and blouses, and a couple of cardigans. They did also have bikinis, a few pairs of shoes and general accessories like hats, scarves and bags.

The most obvious flaw I spotted straight away is that they've stuck with US sizing in the Australian shop, which is hideously confusing and, I suspect, not accurate against our sizes. For example, the jeans are labeled as size 0/26 (or whatever size 0 equates to), which is kind of stupid. I was asking the girl to explain the sizes to me and she gave me a brief run down on what each one is, so I asked her what a size 14 or 16 would be and she told me "We don't actually stock anything over a size 12."  

They DO NOT STOCK OVER SIZE 12 in jeans/pants. Some of the most common clothing sizes in Australia are not catered for, immediately ignoring most of the female population. Well done Gap, well done. But wait! I was told, as I held up a teeny, tiny "size 12" pair of jeans that they're a "loose fit." Phew! I was worried there for a second! 

Insert eyeroll here.

Anyway, I continued on through the shop and found a couple of super cute floral shirts (very Felicity Porter-esque), so I reached up to feel the fabric. It was paper thin people. I put my hand inside the shirt and could actually see it fairly well through the fabric. I checked the label: made in China. Not really a surprise, but given the shirt was $79.95 I would have expected slightly better quality.

There were a couple of cute jackets and trench coats, but again, they were very thin. There were a couple of nice maxi dresses, and a good array of denim jackets, which a lot of people were checking out, as well as short shorts, singlets, t-shirts and other Summery things. Towards the back of the shop there were a few racks of buttons down shirts that were slightly more business-like, but still quite casual, which I really liked. There were also some tables with sleeveless dressy tops, as well as a couple of racks with cardigans and long sleeved t-shirts, so they seem to have most of their bases covered. 

I am a dork and noted down the prices for a bunch of items and came home to compare them against the items on The Gap's US website, so here is a quick sample list of clothing stocked in the Melbourne shop versus the prices online on the American website (note that the items I looked up on the USA website are similar, not the exact same item).

Denim jacket

$129.55 (Melb) vs. $22.54 to $78.63 (US prices converted into Aussie dollars)

Ladies jeans

$99.95 vs. $28.17 to $78.36

GAP hoodie

$79.95 vs. $16.90 to $44.54

Shorts

$69.95 vs. $16.90 to $56.37

Bikini

$39.95 per piece (top or bottom) vs. $6.76 to $28.17

Cargo/capri pants

$89.95 vs. $16.90 to $67.10

Button down shirt

$79.95 vs. $20.29 to $67.10

So you can see that the Melbourne shop has jacked up the prices a bit in most cases. Obviously they have overheads and import costs/taxes to deal with, but I don't really think a paper thin shirt should cost almost $80. Call me cheap, but when I'm shelling out what is nearly $100 for a casual shirt, I don't expect it to feel like it will fall apart after two washes, especially when I could visit Jeanswest or a similar shop to purchase something for nearly half that price. I think that while people will making a lot of purchases there for the first couple of months, come November or December and The Gap will start slashing prices in pre-Christmas sales, and that's when I'll wait to grab a few bargains.

It's also worth noting that The Gap's US website now ships to Australia, so you can potentially pick up a lot of bargains there (however I'm not sure if they ship sale items overseas).

The verdict? Iffy. Prices are a little bit too high when you compare them to the quality of the garments, and limiting the sizing to size 12 and under for women is a HUGE mistake (apparently the tops ago up to a size 14, but I didn't see any in the store while I browsed). While I think The Gap will be a nice novelty for a little while, by the end of the year I think they'll be having huge sales and/or sending a lot of their stock to the factory outlet store at the DFO in South Wharf.

Have you been to check it out? What did you think?

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