And throwing it away again. I made it to the end of April without breaking my shopping ban! It was very short but I stuck to it and I’m pleased.

I went to Centrelink today to demand arears I was owed due to their clerical error. Not a big day out but I decided to test-run the fluffy-puff shirt, in it’s de-puffed glory. I don’t really like how I’ve worn it - the pants are too hipster and the cardigan is wrong. This shirt is best worn with a high waist and unadulterated sleeves.

?? Cardigan - Vintage Shirt - Jeans West Velour Skinny Pants - Forever New Ballet Flats

Also, a skirt I bought on eBay arrived today from Hong Kong, and I’m really unhappy with the fit. It has elastic for a waistband and it’s just super-tight. If I could stretch it out that would be ideal but I don’t know how.

In any case - my case for arrears was granted so I’ll be getting a little extra cash this week. Perfect for that new winter jacket I need.

Tags: Online Shopping, What I Wore Today by Alicia
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Kmart Satin Dress - Cotton On Singlet - Sportsgirl Bag - Wittner Shoes

I forgot to do my WIWT for Anzac Day. Went out for drinks, turned out to be a bust - no one was out and the weather was sketchy. I really love this outfit, I feel it’s very successful, even though none of the pieces are designer, or even very expensive (except the shoes). Will definately be wearing this outfit again.

Tags: What I Wore Today by Alicia
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Dear sellers,

Thank you for spending countless hours trifling through thrift stores and op shops to find choice vintage items to sell online at awfully inflated prices so I don’t have to.

If you could see your way to not belting EVERY SINGLE DRESS in EVERY SINGLE PHOTO I’d really appreciate it. It’s very hard to tell what cut a dress is if there’s a belt around the waist. I understand you’re trying to demonstrate how to style it, but one shot out of the seven hundred photos you’ve posted of yourself prancing around in the dress like you’re Sasha Pivovarova that’s a complete unadulterated shot of the dress as it is, would be awesome. Front and Back.

Thanks.

P.S. Yes I’m still on my shopping ban, but I might break it tomorrow, one day early, because after spending today wearing four layers and still freezing my butt off, it has become evident I’m in desperate need of a warm jacket.

Tags: Online Shopping, Vintage by Alicia
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I’m on a self imposed shopping ban. After impulsively spending another $160 today I have faced the fact that I have a problem.

WIBT - more tan accessories.

Sportsgirl Bag

Wittner Heels

In my own defense - I saw the bag at least two months ago and considered purchasing it then, however I didn’t have any other tan accessories and felt the purchase was unnecessary. Then it sold out and I felt very sorry for myself that I missed out. So when I saw it by accident at Sportsgirl today I couldn’t resist. And as for the shoes - I saw those yesterday but was put off by the price. So imagine my surprise when I went to perv on them today and found them 30% off? It was a sign from the shopping gods.

I also bought the Jemma Kidd Makeup School Lip & Eye Dewygloss from Kit. I had that on back order and it happened to arrive today. I’m so excited to use it on my eyes and brows! I hardly ever buy makeup, I’m a fashion fiend but beauty really takes a backseat for me. So a makeup splurge every once in a while isn’t so bad, is it?

No more fashion purchases. Well, ’til the end of April.
Let’s be realistic.

Tags: What I Bought Today by Alicia
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But I’ve still been drinking. And by drinking, I mean shopping.

Mister J was sick over the weekend which gave me a rare opportunity to hit the Camberwell market on Sunday morning. I woke up at 6:30am and drove myself down there for the first time (an adventure in it’s own right). I picked up a skirt, three dresses and a shirt for $59. I was specifically after “obviously” vintage clothes. Not just second hand clothes.

The only problem with a ‘trash and treasure” market like that is there’s nowhere to try things on. It was not until my return home that I discovered three of my five purchases had ‘fit’ issues.

One of the dresses just didn’t fit at all, and is currently up for sale on ebay. Another of the dresses has potential but is far too large and needs to be attacked with the sewing machine. Since I only paid $15 for it, I’m really loathed to have it altered by the tailor who quoted me $50. The worst by far was the shirt I bought, which had some amazing embroidery, and, to my discovery once I tried it on at home… ridiculously hilarious puffy sleeves. This one needed to be altered by the tailor badly, it was no do-it-yourself job.

The two salvagable items I bought was a floral skirt which I plan to hoist up and wear as a dress, and a pleated skirt that my favourite fashionista declared as “very dior-esque”. It’s hard to see the pattern on the skirt in these pictures though.

Ahaha those poses are almost identical, and they were taken on two different days.

The puffy-sleeved shirt came back from the tailor looking much more normal.

WIBT was a tan coloured thick waist belt (made of 50% PU and 50% leather, bizarre combination, I guess it’s leather “lined”, I hate PU and try not to buy it) from Dotti (I scoured the chain stores thinking this would be an easy item to acquire and boy was I wrong!), some long cream knitted fingerless mittens (which will be perfect for driving to uni with on cold mornings!) also from Dotti, and a skinny elasticised and patent black PU belt from Portmans (on sale for $5, how could I resist?).

I also spent the morning calling up Witchery to chase that skirt up. Only four interstate stores have it in my size, I don’t know if I can justify the $110 for the skirt and another $15 only to find it doesn’t fit, I’d be devastated. They did let me know it’s an older style and they have no plans to release more in the future.

Finally, I bought a vintage dress on Etsy a week ago, it arrived in the mail today! It fits like a glove, I can feel it will be my new favourite dress.

Tags: Online Shopping, Vintage, What I Bought Today by Alicia
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Something out of the blue inspired me to visit the Witchery website and check out their latest collection. I found a skirt that struck me instantly as being “perfect” only when I clicked on the tumbnail for more details I discovered it was sold out.

Pleated Skirt with waistband detail by Witchery but in black.

Yesterday I made my way to a Witchery store in the hopes of finding the skirt in person. I was shocked and surprised when the sales assistant knew exactly which skirt I meant and took me to where they had several in stock! She flicked through the rack only to find there were none in my size. They looked the details up on the computer and discovered the skirt was sold out in my size all over Australia.

Devastated!

I made my way around the entire shopping centre visiting many stores desperately trying to find another skirt in the same vein as the Witchery skirt but was sorely dissapointed. I had had visions of wearing it out last night so alas to my wardrobe when I came home empty handed and then had to rush to piece together an outfit with what I already had (which, I am discovering, is very very little).

What I Wore Today to friday night drinks.

MH Originals Orange Earrings - Forever 21 Babydoll Tee - Supre Skinny Cardigan - Cheap Monday Jeans - Joanne Mercer Shoots - Mimco Jetson Hip Bag

I was a bit concerned because I was feeling very “dark”. The jeans are such a dark inky blue and the black combo made me feel very heavy. Luckily the outfit worked for the bar we went to, which is usually busy but was quiet last night. I really need to work on getting some dressier tops to wear with jeans.

Tags: What I Wore Today by Alicia
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I’m feeling pretty uninspired when I get up in the mornings and to be honest my most recent outfits have been pretty boring. Apologies in advance for the poor picture quality!

Op Shop Navy Blazer - Witchery Two Tone Tank - Stussy Jeans - Dorothy Perkins Ballet Flats - Mimco Bird Brooch

I wore this outfit to go out to lunch with my mother on her birthday. Then later I met my sister and we went shopping for her birthday present. I found myself getting very hot and flustered with the blazer on, but because I have a little pot belly, I felt too uncomfortable in the fitted tank to take the blazer off. I was unhappy with the black ballet flats with this outfit, I don’t like navy and black together. I have picked up a pair of tan flats for next time I wear this outfit.

Ink Wool Cardigan - Dotti Dress - Miss Shop Belt - Target Tights - Dorothy Perkins Ballet Flats - Mimco Crystal Stud Earrings

This dress has really voluminous sleeves. The first time I wore it a friend remarked that I looked like a muskateer. Even though she didn’t mean it as an insult I’ve never liked it since that day. I will only wear it now if I cover the sleeves up with a cardigan. In any case, I don’t know if voluminous sleeves are really in this season. I picked the cardigan up on sale from $279 to $99 at the end of winter last year. It is easily my most expensive cardigan (even at the sale price) and while the wool is lovely and soft and warm, but half the buttons have fallen off! I’m such a lazy consumer, I should have taken it back when the first one fell off. I guess this is what frustrates me as a sales assistant, is that some customers return items for the most trivial reasons, and I often won’t return an item even when there is a legitimate fault.

I have justified my incredibly boring outfit with the fact that I wore it for a total of 1 hour today - to and from work. The perils of having a work uniform! When I own my own store I plan to be really creative with my outfits and will encourage my employees to do the same. I’m going back to studies for two months in June and am really looking forward to the creativity I’ll be able to explore with my clothing at that time - within reason, after all I’ll still need to dress practically!

Tags: What I Wore Today by Alicia
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I love reading blogs where the photographer goes around the street taking shots of people whos style they admire. My favourite is Style Sightings. Eddie has such a sharp eye for quirky hot trend dressing that sings to me.

So without further travail, here are some shots he’s taken of people who’s style is a great inspiration for this winter for me.

I love this mish-mash of layering. The leather jacket over the two cardigans over the skirt over the skirt over the tights under the boots. I will definately be trying this one out.

This outfit is too fabulous for words. the Cream coat and red detailing is perfect… and the parasol? Divine!

I have never owned a trench coat before but this woman makes me want one desperately. The outfit is so secret-agent-sex-bomb. Love it.

This outfit is terrible but it’s terrific. I think I could channel it and pull it off… I just need to find the perfect cream EGL skirt.

Tags: Style Inspiration by Alicia
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WIWT Friday night drinks.

H&M Dress - Miss Shop Waist Belt - Vintage Boots

I picked the dress up when I was in New York (♥) last year. It’s a smock dress so it basically has no shape. I remember thinking that it looked awesome (and I loved the print) when I tried it on and didn’t hesitate to buy it, but when I got home I was really distaught because it looked terrible. I had planned to wear it to my favourite fashionista’s birthday back in August but never ended up wearing it - ever.

In a panic last night I ended up belting it and was so excited when it actually looked good again! I think I will be getting much more wear out of it.

WIBT “shoots”. A cross between a shoe and an ankle boot!

Joanne Mercer Paula Shoots

I have had these shoots “on order” since Monday. I was hoping to wear them out on Friday night but they didn’t arrive on time. I picked them up Saturday. I love them so much. They are the perfect shoe to wear with skinny jeans and the heel is a good medium height.

WIWT Seeing a band with Mister J.

Dganit Hen Moon Earrings - Supre Skinny Cardigan - Target Empire Jersey Dress - Target Cotton Tights - Joanne Mercer Shoots

The venue is a really anything goes environment (I counted over half a dozen mohawks of all different colours) and I think I had planned on wearing skinny jeans, but since I was desperate to wear my shoots and I hadn’t broken them in yet, I decided to wear a dress and tights. The outfit turned out to be really comfortable and appropriate for the venue which was great.

Tags: What I Bought Today, What I Wore Today by Alicia
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Considering how little I’ve worked recently I really feel like I’ve been going for broke when it comes to spending. The eternal catch 22 - when you have no money all you do is shop and when you have money to burn there’s nothing worth buying.

WIBY was a slim fitting red leather jacket. Another leather jacket?! Can you believe it?

In all fairness I’ve been wanting a red leather jacket for over a year now. I’ve been scouring ebay recently but everything around is straight out of the 80s, and as my favourite fashionista remarked - “red leather jacket? what, are you trying to channel michael jackson?”. While I really couldn’t afford to buy this jacket I also felt like I couldn’t afford NOT to buy it. The cut is quite classic (which is why all of my leather jackets are similar), I feel I will have it for years and it won’t go out of style unlike some of the trendier cuts around at the moment in cropped and bomber styles. I already succumbed to one cropped style this season. Also, it was half price. Ca-ching!

WIWT going for coffee with my previously mentioned favourite fashionista.

Forever 21 Top - Cotton On Leggings -  RMK Heels - Luxe Bag - Mimco Fob Watch Necklace

I really love this Forever 21 top, the detailing on the sleeves is subtle but funky. I’m also really pleased that I wore heels today, even though the left shoe really ate up my little toe. I know that leggings as pants are a fashion faux pas but frankly they’re absolutely so comfortable and more stylish than tracksuit pants, which I would rate as equally comfortable.

I popped into Joanne Mercer today and was told that it’s unlikely my shoots will come in before next week, which frustrates my patience but pleases my bank account.

Tags: What I Bought Today, What I Wore Today by Alicia
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