Life through the viewfinder

Click on any picture to enlarge it - all photo's were taken by me (unless otherwise stated)so please ask permission should you wish to use any of them :)



Some local wildlife of the feathered variety



I haven't taken any outfit pictures lately, there are shots of me at a recent event but I am awaiting the photographer's permission to use their photo's on my blog.

UPDATE: one pic - not so flattering but I love the jumpsuit :) by this stage my hair had gone flat (darn Melbourne wind) and the free alcohol was taking it's toll!

Photo taken by Amaresh Wardha


Photo by Hamish Crawford of T-Shirt Garage


Silk Jumpsuit by Seduce clothing
Belt - gift from my best friend


Other than that I have this little snap shot which was not taken for blogging purposes but will suffice for now. Taken at a party in the pop up store .


Hat - can't remember
Dress - Portmans I think?
Singlet under dress - can't remember
Earrings by Joolz


I love this pic because I think if I had any photoshop skills whatsoever I could look like a vintage Hollywood starlet with a little work (ok maybe more than a little work lol).

Nor have I written any articles on delicious historical fashion items.

I have however taken a few shots out and about in Melbourne that I thought I would share since most of my readers are not from Australia.

A little glimpse into my view of the world if you will.


A View over the Yarra

These were not taken for the blog but rather because I was playing with the camera settings!


Graff Art near Lygon st



Somewhere in Fitzroy ....





The bar staff are friendly (these guys actually found my camera and took this shot of themselves before tracking me down and returning it)


Would anyone like to see some outfits from my past? I just found some funny pictures of what I've worn over the years ... perhaps I'll put it to a poll!

'O' Vintage handbags!

For the last 71 years The Oroton name has been synonymous with luxury, quality and style in Australia.
Creating everything from Sunglasses & lingerie to Jewellery and of course beautiful leather, mesh and crystal bags.

I have been recently informed that Oroton will for the first time ever release some items from the vault.



Some of these bags have been locked away since the 70’s! Some old favourites and one off samples too expensive to go into production at the time will be available.
This means you could score yourself a genuine one of a kind vintage bag!
The V-50 Clutch will also be on the list (made to celebrate Vogue’s 50th anniversary).

New items will be released weekly until Christmas and for Australian order shipping is free!

There will also be two “very special” items released where 100% of the sale proceeds will be donated to the charity of your choice if you buy one!








A little brand history on Oroton (well historical fashion is my thing!)

Oroton began as a sole trader business in 1936 and emerged as a public company in 1939 under the name of Boyd Lane & Co. Pty Ltd. By importing luxury fabrics and materials from Europe in the early days of Australia’s fashion scene Oroton distinguished themselves as a brand of class and elegance from the outset and has scrupulously kept to their ideals of quality and timeless classics; unaffected by trends.

Note: This blog post was not in any way paid for by the Oroton Group. I was contacted and informed of this shopping event and being a fan of the brand felt it worthwhile sharing with my readers. The images displayed are used with the permission of the Oroton Group. It is unfortunate that I don’t have any pictures of their leather bags but check out the link above to see their range.

A Very Vintage Christmas

Here's a little poem I wrote for Super Kawaii Mama's Vintage Christmas competition.

Part one of my entry -

The night before Christmas




T’was the night before Christmas and all through the land
Super Kawaii mama readers reviewed the vintage Christmas they’d planned




Seamed stockings were hung beside a real Christmas tree
Not an ornament plastic, only crystals, ribbons and canes of candy to see.



The cookies and puddings were baked and prepared



Hand made with home grown ingredients no effort was spared

The candles are lit; not a fairy light to be found
Time to cheer our hearts with a mellifluous sound
Now Bing Crosby’s silent night from the gramophone blared





Lovers young and old under the mistletoe meet
Holly and ivy on the door bound in a wreath



The family gathers round to sit by the hearth
To share stories of the cheer from Christmas’s past








The children to bed
Their heads filled with dreams of St Nick
While we candy the apples and
make sure the decorations look schmick.

Third time is a charm!

For the Melbourne spring racing carnival I attended one event this year and that event was Oaks day.

I had a stunning one of a kind Anna Campbell dress that was created for Melbourne Spring Fashion week.
However when I was getting ready that morning the straps (on the brand new dress) both broke.
With no time for repairs I went to my back-up dress.
A lovely Betty Page dress in Navy with a white collar, only to discover once I had the dress on that there was a bright red lipstick stain that the drycleaners had failed to remove!

I hit the panic button! with my hair and make-up done I had one 20 min's before the car arrived in which to find a suitable dress and accessories for a warm sunny day with very chilly winds.

So here it is an old Kamikazi dress I dug out (it's kind of my emergency dress).

Not the glam ensemble I had in mind but passable!

Details:
Dress - Kamakazi from about 5 years ago
Belt - Alannah Hill (hooker in the Alley belt)
Heels- Custom made
Pashmina - Borrowed from a friend
Necklace and Earrings - Joolz
Bracelet - Vintage
Headband - Anna Campbell
clutch - unsure

Had a lovely day in the birdcage but the wind played havok with my hair!



A. Hill - Hooker in the Alley Belt



Joolz Necklace - got so many lovely comments on this one. I LOVE it!

My earrings were by Joolz too (Pic below)









hehehe check out my moon tan lol

Here comes the sun ...

Sun Cloth from the Crags in South Africa.



I have recently discovered an inspirational business called Langa Lapu (Xhosa for "sun cloth") created by Pru Bolus and her team of local artists.

Working in a machine free environment with non toxic and recycled materials the ladies of Langa Lapu have combined creativity and environmental awareness with a successful business model



Langa Lapu’s cloth can only be created on very still, hot days and due to the weather requirements the production is limited to the months between September and May.

The cloth is laced with light sensitive (non toxic) dyes and laid out in the sun with a selection of native leaves, seed pods and ferns placed on top.


After a few hours in the hot South African sun the leaves are removed and the design is revealed.
Each bolt of fabric is a one of a kind artwork due to the unique method used in creating the patterns.

Langa Lapu has stockists all over the world; for a list of stockists click here. just imagine all the beautiful dresses you could create with this kind of fabric.
If someone sent you a bolt of fabric from Langa Lapu what would you use it to make?

Contact details are as follows
PO Box 119, The Crags, 6602, South Africa
Tel/Fax: +27 44 5348827
Shop: +27 44 5348612 (Teresa/Barbie/Pru)
Mobile: 072 904 8819 (Pru)
E-mail: info@langalapu.co.za
www.langalapu.co.za

Please note that this post was in no way sponsored by Langa Lapu however I did obtain permission to post pictures of their work and to publish this article on my blog.

I won't go breaking your heart

Arriving at Dani M’s launch party for her new collection ‘I won’t go breaking your heart’ I was so excited I made my way through the crowd to the display case like I was at the Boxing Day sales. I love jewellery.

As I reached the display case I spied designer and moved in for a chat. Danielle Maugeri has been coaxing delightful figures from hand coloured porcelain and sterling silver since 2001 and her jewellery is now available from a selection of stores in Melbourne and around the country or online.

This collection is a treasure trove of love hearts, triangles tear drops and more. On first impressions the porcelain appears to be a modernised portrayal of Gems shaped in the style of Ancient Egyptian cuts. They are however inspired by Art Deco shapes (which were in turn inspired by the Ancient Egyptians). The many facets of these porcelain treasures sparkle in the light every bit as dazzling in their own way as the ruby or the sapphire.

The inspiration for her other pieces in this collection come from an entirely different place…Wonderland. Alice in Wonderland that is! After having been involved in a project for which she created biscuit shapes for a ‘Mad Hatter’s Tea Party’ theme Dani then revisited the shapes she used for this exhibition to create an enchanting collection of shapes.

This young Australian designer is definitely worth another look.

The original article can be found here - with more pictures of her work.

Unfashionably late

Hi All, I've been going through another rough time in my personal life lately and while I don't like my personal life to get in the way of my blog there are times when you just can't help but neglect some things in order to take care of others.

Some lovely girlfriends have given me some spectacular make-overs during the last few days (some attractive options and some just plain hilarious) unfortunately I've taken no pictures to show you.

Such a shame since I have yet to debut my new hair (massive changes) and some pretty vintage dresses, I still have some Melbourne spring fashion week pic's I wanted to put up too.

So while I pull myself back together I'll be a little slower on the posting.

But I will leave you with some of my favorite pics of the Hopeless hotel runway show from Melboune Spring Fashion Week - as mentioned in my article for style Melboune which can be found HERE ( the photo's on here are of a much higher quality) enjoy.







Such a darling collection - if only my photo's did the garments some justice!

Mid week memo

Alright I have a few things to post about today - the first installment of Melbourne Spring Fashion week posts, an award, a competitiion and a guest blog post. Enjoy!

Fashion Week
First up as part of Melbourne Spring fashion week I attended Pandora's Wonderland Spring Fashion & Racing Carnival Launch last Thursday night on behalf of Style Melbourne (you can read my article here).

CLICK ON ANY PIC TO ENLARGE


Kuwaii

















I discovered that fashion photography is hard work (and not my strong point). All photo's in this post are by me - if you want to see some professional shots click on over to Style Melbourne and check out my post there (including some fantastic shots by a real photographer). For my blog I have just posted some of my favorites (where the pictures turned out alright) as above and the following pic's:


K.B.A.D (Karin Bochnik Altman Design).

In my next post I will share the resortwear, lingerie and menswear portion of the parade.


Award
The Amazing and talented JoolzGirl creator of Joolz jewelry has honoured me with the Kreativ Blogger Award.

Now instead of listing another 7 facts about myself I thought I would link to a previous post for those who are interested to have a look at.

Now to pass on the award I'm only passing it on to one person(I'm not much of a chain mail person)and that is Hexotica who is a very creative person and so I think she deserves this award. She creates some very cool accessories - check out her blog and Etsy store (link on the blog).

Giveaway
Over at 'The Diary of a Vintage Girl' the lovely Fleur De Guerre is offering a giveaway. Visit her blog for details.

The history of the crinolin - Part two: what's that blowing up my skirt?

Continuation of the history of the crinolin (link). On to the victorian era.....

A young Queen victoria

The Victorian era begins
With the ascension of Queen Victoria to the throne in 1837 the fashionable women in Britain looked to their queen for affirmation of new fashions and indeed to set trends.

Under the influence of the new queen the style of dress changed from the voluminous billowing sleeved confections with bonnets covered in ribbons to lean toward a more austere elegance.


1859 fashion plate of both men's and women's daywear, with seabathing in background. He wears the new leisure fashion, the sack coat.

A low waist and sloping shoulders characterised the style, along with wide sweeping skirts which required layer upon layer of crinolines to keep their shape.
This was both uncomfortable and unhygienic and most likely the full production was only endured for visitors and outings. At home an abbreviated version would have been worn in most cases.



Technology brings change
With the development of sewing machine in the 1850’s the production of women’s clothing was made immeasurably easier and much faster.
As such new designs could be experimented with as demand could more easily be met leaving room for experimentation.


Early advertisment for a sewing maching from around the 1950's

The focus shifted from the waist to the skirts during this period and skirts became wider and wider leaving the crinoline unable to bear the load.



A satirical cartoon by the great George Cruikshank of an early version of the inflatable crinoline published in ‘The comic Almanac’ in 1850 before inflatable crinolines were widely used.


Enter the inflatable crinoline. Patented in May 1856 this baby had to be inflated with a bellows; then deflated when you sat down and reinflated when you got back up again!
Due to the fact that inflating, deflating etc was so impractical this invention soon developed into steel cage or whale bone structure.

There is a common misconception that these structures were cage like and led to women being restricted in many ways, such as being unable to climb a narrow stairway or sit down easily.
This however was not the case; the steel cage was actually far lighter than the old horsehair crinoline and incredibly flexible.


Cage crinoline, with spring steel hoops covered in off-white linen. British, from about 1860


This allowed ladies a freedom of movement as the cage would simply move and bend should a lady sit down or brush past a solid object.


Fashion plate from the Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine, 1865.

To be continued...

Masqurade

pictures from my sister's modern masquerade birthday. Please note that these pictures are drunken happy snaps and were not intended for the blog (hence the awful shots and blurry pictures, but I had to post this anyway because it was so much fun and it was the debut for my tailcoat (even if I didn't get a good picture of it).

I wore a vintage swallowtail coat with velvet accents (bespoke)
Silver and black structured dress from seduce
black leather gloves
A mask of course (hand made and decorated and imported from Venice so the retailer tells me).
Bronze custom made leather peep toe sling backs and a white lace fan.

Black and white is so much more flattering!