so i'm planning to go dancing because hello, that is the way hip young things spend their saturday nights. but hip young things usually have hip young clothes. but i haven't got a stitch to wear.

ps, this is not a real photo. i just copied and posted two photos with brick walls in them. amazing, i know.

morrissey and i are so in sync over these things. this is said despite how today i did a wardrobe stocktake and i own twenty dresses and nine black skirts. yes. so that is at least 29 things to wear. but you know, nothing young and hip or whatever.

anyway, i am blogging so i remember the exact moment i decided there was a clothes buy freeze. three months. can i do it? only time will tell....

here are my tips for job interviews:

• pop a breath mint before hand
• take a pen and paper and write down their questions as you go, and as you're answering pretend to tick off the points you wanted to make (people are sheep, if you look like you think you've answered the question, they might too. especially if they have stopped listening)
• remove your chipped black nail polish the night before. noone wants to hire someone who looks like a lazy goth.
• eyemakeup - no amount is too much
• make your panel laugh. which is not necessarily difficult. the hard part is figuring out if it is with or at you.
• avoid making miss world statements akin to wanting world peace as a result of your appointment.
• pause before answering questions to give the appearance that you are thinking about the answer, even if you only have one example left and you were planning to use it regardless of the question.

i can't tell you if these tips work or not. because i haven't heard back from my panel. which is probably not strange since the interview finished at four pm today. i guess i will keep you posted. another tip, which is i think probably best avoided, this morning i realised i look like my mother.


i was just taking my morning selfie, as you do, and lo! i look like my mother in the photos from when i was just born. goddamned nose.

anyway on the topic of selfies, TRAGEDY! this week's fashion challenge was tragically cut short by the scattering of my beads all over the kitchen floor after an altercation between the beads and a door knob. but short as it is, below i present:

fashion challenge!!!!! part iv

week four: candy beads

history of the necklace: i bought this on my sister's wedding day. she was being a semi bridezilla. as in she decided about three hours before her wedding ceremony to go shoe shopping. i blogged about it at the time. but left out the part where i left her and her other bridesmaid and bought this necklace.

it went with the shoes i had bought. plus looked like lollies. who could resist? although really i often wished i had because it is really long and i had nowhere to put it.

day one: purple rain

i thought what would work with such a colourful necklace was to pick the general hue (a pinky purple) as a key piece of the outfit and then have the rest of my outfit as plain as poss. cardi from veronika maine (my fave piece of the summer), top from world season 08, and skirt from the internets. all up cost around $170.

i enjoyed wearing this outfit. mostly cos i enjoyed wearing the necklace. here i am first thing in the morning. overjoyed.

although truth be known i was listening to robert palmer on chelsea clinton so that may explain the smile as well.

i really would have struggled finding another outfit to wear with this necklace. i once had a wardrobe dominated by pink clothes. currently i own one top that is vaguely pink, but actually it is more purple.

the problem with the necklace breaking is that i didn't get to give it away. and pay it forward or whatever. luckily i recovered most of the bigger beads from the kitchen floor. so i may make a bead art work. or just throw them out. i haven't decided yet.

the thing i like about friday night television is that it usually involves some kind of fashion related reality television. which is why i am not really a regular at friday night drinks. but tonight i miss timed it because the blimmin bus was late and i only got to see the end of the fashion police show. i tried to make up for it by watching bridezilla but after thirty seconds it was already unbearable i retreated to my room with yoghurt and blueberries and guidebooks for vietnam.

and my camera. which reminds me: it is your favourite time of the week

fashion challenge - part iii

week three: black beads

history of the necklace: when i first started working after university i had one work outfit: a shirt and a skirt. which i basically wore every day with a cardi when i wanted to look especially professional. (or a suit which was three sizes too big. but i don't count it.) anyway, to disguise the lack of variety in my wardrobe i bought three sets of beads for $10 from kleins. these are the only set of the three beads to survive.

day one: shine on, you crazy diamond.

due to the long weekend, day one was a tuesday. which threw my game some. but like a professional, i gathered my wits and created this ensemble. cardi: the jacqui e cardi i now realise i wear EVERY WEEK, a skirt from the internets and a charcoal slip from carly harris. total cost: $200.

here i am, super fly and rocking the outfit.

even though it officially means i have worn underwear as outterwear at work, this was my favourite outfit of the week. the beads were shining. and so was my slip.

day two: dress to impress

i have already blogged about it, but wednesday was important. i wanted to dress sharp. but i couldn't find a single outfit that went with the beads. i was about to abandon the challenge and offer the beads up to the first person who showed any interest when i decided on this outfit. white victoriana top: from farmers two years ago, black/grey (or is it blue) waistcoat: from century 21 in NYC, black skirt (not pictured) the bargain of the century skirt that, again, i appear to wear every week. all up we're looking at around $100 worth of clothes. bargain city.

and here i am. doing my best miss tyra: being fierce. you will see how i could be so bold as to blame my eye makeup for ripping an eyelash out from its roots and into my eye. talk about overdoing the eyes and underdoing the lips. but actually, the eye makeup is the redeeming feature of this outfit. i shall not be wearing it again. plus i think i will give away the waistcoat. so one more free hanger in my wardrobe. hurrah.

day three: reow! what a tiger.

animal prints. for me it is a bit love/hate. sometimes they are so wrong. but sometimes, like in this banana republic top, they are so very right. i paired the top with my favourite world dress (which, incidentally doesn't come across as slammin in this photo as it is in real life). and kaPOW, an outfit that is a 30% tiger and 70% girly girl with bows. ie 100% me. this is the most expensive outfit of the week, at $400.


and here i am in the outfit. and i just realised that it looks like an actual tiger has bitten off my legs and i am about to passout from the pain. i do not usually look like this. but anyway, great outfit. just not as kaPOW as i was hoping for.

so at the end of week three, i have no fewer necklaces than when i began. next week i plan to pick something deliberately impssible to match. i need some space for all the goodies i will pick up in vietnam.

*****

as an aside: do you love how i'm just casually dropping in to the blog how i'm going to vietnam? cos it is true. i am in the final stages of booking tickets to vietnam. and i'm being very practical about it and everything. take today for example, i bought a tog bag for my togs when i'm in vietnam...


sooooooo at the top of my MUST HAVE list. ride 'em cowboy....

desperate times folks. i had ONE task tonight - update my C.V. so far i haven't even got close.

but i have compiled this week's FASHION CHALLENGE photos.

Fashion Challenge - part II

week two: blue plastic beads.

the history of the necklace: someone moved house or left the country or something and tried to get rid of a whole lot of things, like crap jewellery. and hrc thought of me, and took this treasure, which she then gifted to me. lucky. or so i thought... finding three outfits was quite the challenge.

day one: casual monday



red top - bought years and years ago from jacqui e. skirt an american acquisition and jacket, not pictured, a farmers bargain. all up this outfit cost around $200.00


i thought the outfit kind of worked but was a bit tame really.


here i am in the outfit...
the sweaty look is courtesy of a walk home on a humid day. the necklace looks good, not sure about me though.

day two: dressing up for andrew bird.

remember how i love purple and green? i thought andrew bird might too. so i prepared an outfit that was a bit daytime/nighttime barbie. i don't think in style magazine would feature this in their piece on how to take office wear to the clubs but still i was happy with it.
cardi: veronika maine (worn last week too, talk about limited wardrobe), singlet that looks like a body suit in this photo: world and skirt off the internets. all up this outfit cost about $180. plus i got flowers ages ago and i saved the ribbon and guess what: PERFECT MATCH.

here i am in the outfit. i was smarter on tuesday and took the photo before i left for work, the point at which i theoretically look my best....
i look a bit glum, but otherwise i love this outfit. note that my handbag (slung over my shoulder) matches too! plus my ipod (the earphones for which you can see) is green and matches like a dream.

day three: fashion crimes


again, i found the third day very very hard. i was being picked up for work by cal and had a very set time limit. which i nearly didn't make. anyway, cardi is a marc jacobs cardi i foolishly paid retail for, skirt was the bargain of the century skirt, which i referenced last week, and top is my new WORLD top bought at the sale last week. plus an additional set of beads i bought from country road about three years ago. total cost: $500. someone at work suggested wearing an additonal set of beads was cheating. they were willing failure though because they were hoping i'd give them the blue beads. not a chance.


anyway, apparently i looked a bit like a gypsy today. i am not sure about the fashion crime of blending navy blue with black. but i loved my cardi.

not that you can tell from this photo, cos again i look miserable.

anyway, week two of the fashion challenge is over. phew. this is much harder than i'd expected.

tomorrow i may go without a necklace just to not have the bother of trying to match outfits to jewels. also, a necklace may get in my way when i dance like a maniac to fergie at the police concert. i hope she plays my humps!

fashion challenge!!!!!!

when i cleaned up my act and got organised i discovered i had about a million necklaces and half a million rings and a further 75,000 badges, brooches or buttons. and i couldn't part with a single one. so this week i turned my accessories cull into sport.

the rules: each sunday i pick a piece of jewellery and i have to wear it at least three days that week with outfits that match sufficiently well. the outfits must be different each day.

the prize: if i successfully find three outfits that match the jewellery AND that i'm prepared to wear in public i get to keep the piece of jewellery. if i can't do it, the jewellery gets given away or thrown out or sold (in the case of anything that actually might be worth something).

week one: the peapod necklace.

the history of the necklace: bought from etsy for $9 (although it is currently selling for $10US and interesting the seller is not shipping to NZ any more). i am not sure what made me buy this other than from mid-last year anything green caught my eye. plus i love peas. which not everyone can say. i think i MAYBE wore it twice in six months... until the fashion challenge that is.

day one: end of the holidays

although it wasn't my first day back at work this year, monday was for most people in my office. and i gave them such a treat with this ensemble.

dress: $85 from brooklyn industries (???) last year in (what do you know) brooklyn, ny. cardigan $unknown, bought about three years ago from jacqui e.

here i am in the outfit. have to say overall i thought the outfit successful although noone commented on the necklace.

Day two: the colour purple

in the early 90s i thought no colour combination held a candle to purple and green. which is why i owned purple tracksuit pants. but anyway, that was a lifetime ago. today i paid homage to that colour combo with this outfit.


cardigan $95 from veronika maine (on sale!) top $75 from world (on sale!) and skirt (not pictured) $20 (reduced from $120). so basically this is my bargain of the century outfit.


and as you can see, i work this outfit. comments abound for the necklace with people SURPRISED at its price. as in they probably thought it was a priceless collectors piece. again, i count this outfit a success.

day three: crunch time

anyway tomorrow is d-day. i spent 45 minutes scouring my wardrobe for another outfit to match the necklace. and i have to say... it was nearly impossible. in the end i decided on this...

tee: $15 from cotton on! adelaide (august 2006), singlet $? from glassons about three years ago, skirt $100 from gregory at least two winters ago.

i haven't put them all on together yet so not sure that it will work. but i'm fairly confident i'll at least make it out of the door tomorrow morning in the outfit, therefore meeting my "wear it in public" criterion. and i obviously think they go together sufficiently otherwise i wouldn't wear in public. therefore: week one is a success and the peapod necklace stays with me. hurrah.

** prices are included where possible because i'm totally obsessed with my fashion budget. it is the unintended consequence of trying to be more fiscally responsible.