Flowers in her hair...

Leopard print shorts, vest and shoes, all Mr Price. Waistcoat, Woolworth., Earrings, Diva.

The previous outfit I created with this specific leopard print shorts from Mr Price has been my most popular post as of yet...Exactly why this post is so popular just completely baffles me, we shot those pictures at the spur of the moment at the end of a long day.

So I decided to create another post featuring these unexplainably magical shorts. While considering where I wanted to photograph my outfit I noticed that the fields all around Pretoria are so beautifully green and filled with graceful blooming flowers. Therefore I decided to shoot this post in a field just outside my parents’ house. We had so much fun with this post, shooting in the field, picking flowers and tucking them behind our ears that I simply have to suggest you do the same...Take a stroll somewhere unexplored, with flowers in your hair and a smile on your face...

Thank you for making it real...

To all my lovely, faithful readers: I wish you a merry Christmas and a joyous new year! I thank you all for making my first few months of blogging the best few months of my life. Being able to share my thoughts, my ideas and snippets of my life with you has been a rollercoaster ride of absolute elation. Sharing is my passion, my love, the  only thing that's ever made me this happy...and without you, my readers, this blog would still be just another far off idea. Thank you for making it real... xxx

PS: These photos are some pics I snapped of our Christmas decorations!

Getting into the Christmas spirit!

It’s about time that this blog joined the all consuming Christmas hype...and what better way to get into the Christmas spirit than with a great DIY project!

By joining my widely proclaimed enthusiasm for all things handmade with my somewhat questionable sewing skills I was able to create this pretty Christmas inspired headband! If I can do it, anyone can do it...so here’s my step by step guide!

1.     Gather your tools. You’ll need:

A piece of stretchy material

A ribbon to match

Needle and thread

Scissors

2.     Measure and cut the length of material you’ll need.

3.     Use a pin to indicate where you should cut.

4.     Keep at least a centimetre at the one end.

5.     Fold the excess material at the end up to the pin.

6.     Now pin the two ends to form a circle. The folded end should stay folded.

7.     Sew the two ends together as you’ve pinned them.

8.     Once you’ve finished sewing, stretch the material to check the strength of the bond. (The sewing itself doesn’t have to be perfect, as you can see from my own lopsided attempt. In the end this part will be at the back of your head!)

9.     Measure a piece of ribbon for the bow.

10. Fold a pretty bow with the ribbon.

11. Cut the excess.

12. Secure the bow by sewing the knot.

13. Put the headband on and measure where you’d like the bow to be. Indicate the placement with a pin.

14. Now sew the ribbon onto the headband.

15. Pinning the ribbon onto the headband while sewing will make this part alot easier!

And there you have it...your very own DIY Christmas spirit headband in a few easy steps! Why not make a few of these for easy, affordable gifts?

Trendy tribal.

In a previous post I ranted about not being able to find anything to satisfy my lust for the tribal trend in South African stores. Well, it seems our stores have finally caught on and I’ve been spotting more and more trendy tribal items in all kinds of shapes and sizes. One of my favourite items that recently caught my eye is this tribal jumpsuit from Identity that’ll only cost you a wallet-friendly R250!

Happy shopping to all my lovely readers!

For the love of Fashion #2...In memory of the empire line dress.

The greater part of 18^th century fashion was governed by tightly bound corsets and heavily adorned full skirts, but at the turn of the century during the period 1800-1815 fashion was ruled by one of my personal favourite styles, the empire silhouette. Dresses were closely fitted to the torso up to just below the bust, falling loosely below. Evening dresses were extravagantly trimmed with excess of lace and ribbons while so-called ‘morning dresses’ were kept slightly more subdued.

The empire silhouette made a comeback in recent years with lots of designers taking a leaf out of the 1800 seamtress’s book.  

Check out my previous trip into the fashion history books here. All photos are from Old Rags, an awesome fashion history blog.

Purple Pulse

I have a confession to make...I’m actually quite the nail polish addict and beyond being a nail polish addict I’ve recently turned into a bit of a wannabee nail polish snob. You see a nail polish snob is someone who only wears expensive nail polish like Essie or Chanel or YSL and would never ever be caught dead wearing a cheaper brand... And yes, I add the ‘wannabee’ to that sentence because even though I lust after Essie and Chanel nail polish, as a student with little to no money I simply can’t afford it! So in the end I resort to finding less expensive versions of my favourite snob nail polish.

My most recent cravings include ‘Chanel Paradoxal’, which was the first purple nail polish to become a Chanel bestseller and ‘Essie Sexy Divide’, a fantastically sexy purple that is so aptly named!

In the end I resorted to wearing the just as fantastically purple Rimmel Lasting Finish colour called Purple Pulse. Pretty isn’t it? Let me know of other pretty purples out there that I should try!

Singing in the rain

“I´m singin´ in the rain
Just singin´ in the rain,
What a glorious feeling,
And I´m happy again.
I´m laughing at clouds
So dark, up above,
The sun´s in my heart
And I´m ready for love.”

‘Singin’ in the rain’ by written by Arthur Freed

It’s been raining cats and dogs in both Pretoria and Joburg the past week so I’ve had to dust off the old umbrella in order to ward off frizzy hair and ruined shoes. In the process of searching for my slightly disabled, three year old umbrella I realised that waking up to pouring rain shouldn’t hamper one’s inherent fashion sense and the happiness we find in dressing in something pretty each day...No! Instead we should be singing in the rain, viewing brightly coloured umbrellas as the newest fashion accessory and matching your umbrella to your outfit just like the hip ladies of the 60’s matched their lip colour to their nail polish.

So I stepped out into the rain under a pretty green umbrella from Woolworths that perfectly matched my earrings and ring. It’s the umbrella revolution..and it’s time to join in! And what better way to join than by getting your hands on one of these two brightly coloured umbrellas I found at Woolworths!  

In search of...Fabulous Fashion!

Let me describe the average South African fashionista to you. She spends hours with her nose in fashion magazines, lusting after all the trendy yet unimaginably expensive items plastered all across those glossy pages. Yet most of us don’t have the million dollar trust funds required to pay for that pair of nude Jimmy Choos...and come on, who doesn’t love a bargain? This is exactly what Legit means to the average everyday fashionista, a store that brings you spot-on trends and at a price that doesn’t break her sexy red leather wallet.

I’ve taken four trendy items from my recent shopping binges at Legit and mixed and matched them to create some key looks that’s set to take you from your classes straight into the clubs!

Graphic printed tees should be the cornerstone of every fashionista’s wardrobe. You can dress it up with a sexy bright skirt or keep your outfit casual, fun and flirty paired with leggings or tucked into high-waisted denim shorts. I wear this tee with fun bow-detail sandals from Legit.

Another trend that’s spreading like the proverbial fashion wildfire is the cropped top. This is a trend that you can dress up or down with great ease. For a more dressed up look I pair this beautiful gold-flecked pink cropped top with leopard print high-waisted shorts and heels. Leopard print is great for adding instant glamour to any outfit! The top looks just as fantastic dressed down, paired with casual loose fitting pants and the super trendy tribal print scarf I also found at Legit!

This is a geust blog post for the awesome Legit blog: Check it out here: here

Tie the knot!

I recently discovered a random piece of material lying around my room that’s too long to be a scarf and too thick to be a belt. As you know I have hard time letting anything go without first trying to incorporate it into my wardrobe, hence the pair of keys I turned into a necklace in a previous post. So I decided to transform it into a necktie/necklace type accessory that works perfectly to spice up a dull outfit or a monochrome t-shirt! So here’s my step by step guide to the necktie/necklace:

1.     Take a long piece of material. (In hindsight I realised a thinner, more stretchy material would possibly work better!) and let it hang around your neck.

2.      Loop the material loosely around your neck.

3.      Take the two ends and tie it onto a knot.

4.     Position the knot at a slightly tilted angle or tie a pretty bow.

And there you have it...another creative DIY project by pretty little pigeons!

Beautiful Birdie Brooch

As you know this past week I’ve been madly inspired by the fashion of the award winning television series Mad Men. One of my favourite characters, the feisty red head Joan, is constantly seen wearing a beautiful brooch pinned to a sexy jewel-toned dress.

So today I decided to emulate the fashionable Joan and wear a brooch of my own. I inherited this birdie brooch from a family member a few years back and until watching Mad Men I’ve never really been inspired to pin it with pride. Now I’m completely smitten and even though by mid-morning it was sweltering hot outside I persisted in wearing the cardigan I’d pinned it to so everyone could admire my pretty heirloom.

Of course I simply couldn’t rant and rave about my beautiful brooch without letting you guys in on where you could get your hands on your own...so I hopped onto the fantastic bid or buy website (where I’m told you can find almost anything!)  and found brooches in all shapes and sizes, ranging from vintage to brand new. Why not try a pretty vintage brooch as a thoughtful yet fashionable Christmas gift?

(All photos below from Bid or Buy)