Special installment...to visit the Queen

Our colleague Sarah was off to visit the queen this morning at an exclusive, invitation only event. What better excuse to pull out a good frock. Both Sarah and Liz rose to the occasion, Liz in her lilac number and Sarah in this beautiful black/floral frock - so fitting for Floriade. I'm sure her Royal Highness appreciated the glamour and we certainly appreciate her sharing the pictures with us (even if it was under duress...)

Day 18 & 19, 2011

The frocks have been a bit thin on the ground over the last few days, but luckily Libby and her cousin Ellen have been keeping the frocks flowing.

I've just worked two 10 hour days with 10 sweaty boys (not as pretty as you are imagining), my feet are sore and I have a splinter in my right thumb.

So after returning to my temporary home, I peeled off my dirty jeans, showered and went out to the local vietnamese restaurant for some good food in some clean clothes.

I was a bit unsure when I got this skirt, it is rufflely and purple and floral. But I liked it and I'm trying to wear less red. Plus, it matches lots of different colours too!

Day 19: Blue sky

 Cheers to finishing the day with drinks at Knightsbridge with good and handsome Steve. This sky blue frock is a vintage one (possibly slightly edited) that I picked up in Melbourne when I was stranded there because of the volcano (a terrific hardship that led to extended shopping). And knightsbridge, with its street art finishing, was just the place to make the frock feel it was back in its natural environment.

Oooooklahoma! Travelling frock

 This installment of Frocktober comes all the way from Oklahoma where my cousin Ellen is joining in on the fun. She picked up this incredible 60s/70s dress at a garage sale for a dime (only ten cents!) As Ellen tells it the garage sale was "in the woods in the middle-of-nowhere-Oklahoma. This lady had lines and lines of authentic 40s-70s clothing draped through all these trees in a random house off the side of a highway. She was selling everything for a nickel, dime, or quarter." By the sound of this it's lucky I didn't run into that garage sale - I would have come home with my body weight in clothes!

I suppose technically this is more of a visiting frock than a travelling frock, since we didn't send it over to Ellen. But, it will be travelling soon - all the way to London, when Ellen goes over to join her husband!! At least I assume it will be going with her. I don't know about you but I could leave a dress like this behind. So all of you reading in London keep an eye out for this gorgeous lady and this psychedelic frock.

Day 18: Second Hand Rose

Would you believe today's frock was my Year 10 formal dress?!  Can you believe someone who wears dresses as ridiculous as those featured on this blog would wear a plain black dress to her formal? Well, it's true. However, I must say, as simple as the dress is, it's cut so well that it is extremely flattering. Evidently I'm not the only one who thinks so as I managed to garner a whistle from a passing motorist as I walked across the car park at work. You might think it's not hard to attract a wolf whistle in a light industrial suburb like Mitchell. And you'd be right. But this was somehow a very polite, even charming whistle that made me feel like it was the 1930s. And gave me and my colleagues a good laugh.

Anyway, back to the important details - the dress was a generous hand me down from a friend of my mother (so my formal dress might not have been weird but at least it was second hand). Today I've matched it with a waistcoat a bought at a second hand market, and another pair of op-shops shoes. Making for an almost entirely second hand outfit. The exception being this gorgeous floral brooch given to my for my birthday by lovely Lottie. Oh and the ice cream was first hand too :-)

Day 17, 2011: bringing sexy back

I spent most of today in a high vis vest. Sexy. My workmate Sean and came up with a theory today. One day high vis will be in the majority AND fashionable. I took my high vis vest off for our morning coffee. When ordering coffee the cheeky barista saw said vest in my hand and said, "Sorry, you'll have to put that on, I can't see you!"

To make up for my lack of frock, I checked out the Mad For Fashion exhibition on display at Enex100 in the centre of Perth during my lunchbreak. So many beautiful frocks as worn by the ladies of MadMen, Betty, Joan and that other young girl who's name I never can remember!

Day 17: Instant happiness

You know what really brings people together? Polka dots. Women and men, young and old, polka dots are a uniting force that brings a smile to all their faces. Which is, of course, why so many people like this frock. It's an 80s op-shop find I've had for years, that comes with its own polka dot belt. But I must say I much prefer it with this new red belt of mine (which matches a new dress you'll see soon). Between the colourful belt, the frock and the delicious pavlova I'm eating in photo number 2, what else could a person need to be happy?

Well, perhaps these shoes too. Another op-shop find, I saw them from afar and almost fainted when I tried them on and found they fit as though they were made for me. Cute as a button (or a pair of buttons, I suppose) they fetch compliments at every wearing, and make me smile every time I look down.

Day 16: Lazing on a Sunday afternoon

 After a wonderfully lazy Sunday afternoon catching up with friends over a BBQ and cider and enjoying Alison's latest podcast, I took my cup of tea for a walk around Downer. Since it's the Rugby World Cup tonight we thought it would be appropriate to get a photo with the rugby goal posts at Downer oval. Although apparently the game is not going so well for us. I guess this photo just rubs that in - sorry.

 Today's frock is a floaty chiffon one that's perfect for summer. For the slightly cooler weather I've paired it with what I can only describe as my purple short sleeved safari jacket. Every girl needs one! I picked mine up at Down Memory Lane in Fyshwick and if you haven't been yet you should go. You'll find vintage treasures galore and a very sweet dog that helps mind the store.

 Also paired with Mum's old turquoise bracelet. How lucky for me she doesn't wear much of her jewellery anymore, so I can give it a second life.

Day 16, 2011: wild, wild west

Sunburnt, tired and a little homesick, all I want to do today is lounge around watching bad tv or reading books. A standard lazy Sunday. My problem is what to do between 10am and 2pm? Between check out and check in time. And might I add, its 34 degrees and windy in the west.

So what did I do today? After I got off the couch at 10am...
- I went to the cinema and saw The Thin Match Man, part of the Italian Film Festival
- I had mango and lemon gelato for lunch
- I caught a train from Freo to Perth
- I went to Art Gallery of Western Australia and saw Princely Treasures from the V&A Museum

And I did all this in a red light summery comfy frock!

Day 15, 2011: islands in the stream

On my day off in between Kalgoorlie and Perth I headed down to Rottnest Island for a fun and relaxing day of sunshine and bicycle adventures. My skirt even matched my hired bike! I got this skirt from Funky Junk in Bellingen. It actually was a long top type thing, but I cut a section off and made a scarf out of the remaining fabric.

I took lots of silly photos whilst trying to ride and I couldn't resist posting a few below.

Day 15, 2011: Scarf it up

I have a little confession to make...today's frock is not really a frock. But in my defense, I didn't know that when I bought it. Back then I tried it on and liked it so much I brought my sister back to inspect it. She agreed it was a lovely dress and together we imagined all the places I could wear it and decided I must own it. It was only after I'd bought it and the shop assistant was wrapping it that she said 'I hope you enjoy it, it's such a lovely shirt'. A shirt you say...well....now that you mention it, it is rather short....but...but...I had such hopes for it as a frock...

I have tried to adjust to its new status as a shirt. But sometimes, when it's warm out and I'm feeling particularly disobedient I go with me first instincts and wear it sans trousers. What do you think - can I get away with it??

You'll see I've paired my shirt frock with this wild 60s-70s scarf of my mothers'. That's because, this Saturday Alison and I were celebrating 'Scarf it up' Frocktober, with our friend Emma. See her blog for more gorgeous scarves and interesting ways to tie them. To begin with I wore mine as a head scarf, showing off its psychedelic spot details.

Then later in the day, as the weather cooled down, I transferred it to a belt, tied at the back. The lovely Ruth was also wearing a beautiful frock, brought from a Danish op shop, and agreed to join me for a photo or two. It's vaguely possibly we had had a little wine by the time these photos were taken. But you can hardly tell, right?

Guest Frock: Safety First

Friday afternoon treat - guest frocker! This is Rachael in her brand new skirt sent all the way from Melbourne. For those of you in Melbourne visit the Rose Street Artist Markets to pick one up for yourself. The lovely seamstress will even custom make one for you - as she did this one for Rachael.

Note that even on Frock-up Friday it is still safety first at the museum, and Rachael has paired her beautiful skirt with her handy steel cap boots. I was wearing mine with my gown half the day too.

Day 14: Step on up

As you can see, today I had some frocking help from the lovely people of Mitchell. Which is to say the lovely people of the National Museum at Mitchell. The rest of Mitchell (one of Canberra's light industrial suburbs) no doubt remains a sea of high-vis vests.

Many thanks to Janet, Jen, Lisa and John for joining in with their frocks (and kilts!)

My frock is a plain black one but paired with this blouse it reminds me of this outift on the right worn by Ingrid Bergman in 'Casablanca'. I can't find a film still of it so you'll just have to watch the clip

Day 14, 2011: sunshine on a cloudy day...

Today is our last day in Kal. We've been blessed with sunny warm weather, 27 degrees, which is perfect for frocking! No need for steel caps and jeans today, as we'll be heading down to the museum to move some crates, do labeling and finalise paperwork, then it's off to the airport back to Perth.

Today's dress is from Salvo's Mitchell. Yes, where most of my frocks come from. It has a bit of a Mexican feel and is a super comfy dress, perfect for drinking margaritas or as we had last night, a cocktail called 'Kalgoorlie Sunset'.

Day 13, 2011: all that glitters is gold

Day three in Kalgoorlie. Everything in this town is about gold so a gold dress from Sassy Sue's Vintage Clothing was the order of the day. We popped in on our lunch break and Sue's is the best shop in Kal! Everyone in town knows Sue too. I picked this gold late 60s, early 70s frock and found a gold headband to match. I must confess, it was hot and itchy, so I didn't buy said dress. But I loved the pattern and it reminded me of the lino in the miners cottage display at Kalgoorlie Museum.

Day 13: Model behaviour

I picked up today's frock (ok, ok, skirt) in Melbourne from The Social Studio. The Studio does great work with Melbourne's refugee community, including fostering their talents and varied cultural influences to create a small line of beautiful clothing. All the clothing is made ethically and uses reclaimed and upcycled material. This hounds tooth number is 100% wool and I love it's interesting pelpum and sash detail. Although it does make me feel like I'm wearing an apron and I constantly have to restrain myself from wiping my grubby hands across it.

Thanks to Katie for letting us borrow the photography studio and molest their mannequin for today's shots. She (the mannequin, not Katie) was a bit standoff-ish at first but by the end of the shoot we were great friends. Tomorrow is Frock-up Friday at Mitchell so perhaps I'll have to bring a dress in for her too!

I also need to make special mention of my accessories today. My favourite red shoes I've had for a decade and this gorgeous bird brooch from Daniel. What a cutie (the bird that is, although Daniel's not half bad either).

Day 12: Ridin' along on my pushbike, honey

 Sorry for the late update eveyone. I know, I know, you stayed up all night checking the blog and waiting for my post. Entirely understandable.

 

 

Yesterday was ride to work day and it was signifcantly more successful than last year's event when I got absolutely drenched and had to spend the rest of the day in my steel caps and borrowed socks, not to mention putting up with a soggy torso. In contrast yesterday was a beautifully warm and sunny day - just right for this floral print dress. Alison picked up this frock for me form the op shop. She's got good eyes because not only is it gorgerous, it fits perfectly. Photos of the dress in riding mode will follow.

Day 12, 2011: are we there yet?

My body clock is entirely out of wack, I've been awake since 3.30am (6.30am Canberra time), but to make up from my tiredness, I've been working with a great bunch of people at the West Australian Museum at Kalgoorlie.

I've just got back to my circa 1970s hotel room after dinner with my fellow workers. I've made it to 10pm (1am Canberra time) yay!

For dinner, I wore a red Grecian style dress, with some great accessories - firstly an obi belt (made from two 1970s ties) by Rachael. Strangely enough, even though Libby is on the other side of the country, she wore her Rachael obi yesterday. My red patent leather espadrilles finished everything off nicely. By the way, the dress came from Mitchell Salvo's and the shoes from the Anglican op shop in Bellingen.

It was so nice to be out of sweaty, grubby work clothes and steel cap boots!

Day 11, 2011: part two

Just when you thought I'd done with a blog post today, I couldn't resist, as my fellow traveller Prue, gave me a book called The Secret Lives of Dresses at 5.30am at Canberra airport. By 3pm and 3 flights later I've read half the book.

And I saw this cute (some would say creepy) child mannequin in Suzy's Vintage clothing shop in Kalgoorlie. Think I may have to make a visit in my lunch break tomorrow.

Day 11: Going to the opera

To make up for yesterday's lazy look my lovely photographer Claire and I thought we'd try for something more glamorous today. Success?!?....well, OK, maybe I didn't quite pull off the Marilyn poses. But we did have a good laugh.
There must be a small measure of glamour in the outfit, because when Claire first saw me this morning she said I looked like I was on my way to the opera. I do agree a long dress like this one brings some extra class to a work day. However, I think it's the obi belt that really makes this outfit and turns the 70's synthetic dress into something with panache. Many thanks to Miss Rachael who custom made the obi for me - from men's neckties.