Outfit Love: Autumn Colours

What amazing Autumn weather we are having! It's raining and the wind is trying to blow our house down… I just love it! It's still quite warm at times, so if you're living in the Western Cape be sure to have a cardi or scarf handy. Layering is more than a trend here, it's a necessity. My friend Natasha says that since they moved here from Gauteng, she's been keeping a spare outfit in the car just incase. The weather is so unpredictable here! Today, I got a good workout from putting my jacket on and then taking it off…putting it back on and then taking it off again. 

- I love this look! Everything just seemed to go together, almost as if they were purchased together-

• you might recognise my winter flower brooch from this post
• the corduroy blazer was a gift from my aunt Zelda - love it!
• Autumn Foilage dress from my HMM post here
• leather "biker" belt, thrifted
• turquoise tights from Woolworths
• mustard flats with cutesy bows from Cotton On

-here's a pic without the blazer, so you can see how cute the dress is! I can already see soooo many outfit possibilities forming around this dress, I can't wait to play with more colours and textures-

  

-these colours have inspired me to make more of these flower brooches, I still have a few bits left of this fabric…some new wintery accessories might be born from this outfit yet-

Hope you had an amazing Tuesday!

xxx

Happy Monday Makings #12

Monday-Monday… We had the loveliest rainy day today, I just adore this weather. It leaves me feeling quite nostalgic. Todays Happy Monday Makings (HMM), was inspired by a pin from my board, for me to sew and some vintage-looking thrifted fabric. The pin took me to Pretty Prudent where I found this really easy tutorial, The Most Flattering Shirt Dress DIY.

-This was my first try, working with bias binding but the tutorial was so great I did it…no probs! I couldn't do the shirring in the middle as I have yet to find the elastic thread needed for the job, but it works well with a belt for now. I love that the print on this fabric is that of a vintage themed Autumn-

-the fabric I used is more of a quilting cotton which makes it a bit rigid, so when I fit the dress on I had Buzz Lightyear shoulders. This was not good! I had to do something about those flying shoulders, so I put little pleats in-

I must say I'm quite chuffed with this dress, I loved this tutorial so much I might just make another dress from it.

Are you favouring any tutorials lately? Please share, we love getting the diy scoop!

xxx

Outfit Love: Bohemian Blue

Although the season is changing, the chill has crept into the once warmer breeze… we still have relatively warm days. It's a very confusing time "wardrobe wise". You have to constantly layer on and then take all the layers off again. But then again, our summers are much the same here. Our weather changes by the hour. I must confess, though, that I quite welcome Autumn. As most of you already know, I like to learn new skills as often as I can. Though I have done it before, I was never really good at it…that is why I decided to formally take on knitting this year. That's probably why I simply cannot wait for Winter to come!

Back to the outfit then, I always tend to lose track of what I intended to share with you. Guess it's like speaking to an old friend…sometimes I just have so much to share, I don't know where to start. Well, today I just wanted to share my half-bohemian outfit with you. I have always had a fascination with the attire of the Gypsies in the movies of old and the Bohemian folk in the movies of late… Sadly, I have never been able to pull it off myself. I still where my odd pieces merely because I love them. At least when I wear my Gypsy attire now, people don't think I'm crazy anymore. Back in the day, people would stare and think I'm weird. I tried and I learned to tone down my style to fit into society but now I wish I hadn't.    

-now, I have ended up with a strange mix of modern/retro/bohemian and sometimes a bit of rock in my fashion style. I seem to love way too many styles and cannot always create a whole identity for myself. One of my aunts once commented that I wear a totally different style every day, but that I make it work. I know this was a compliment but I thought to myself, that is exactly how I feel! Split into so many interests that I think I might have become lost in this sea of possibilities-

-wow! I'm really rambling on, aren't I? My cute shorts, flowy tank and gladiator sandals are all from Mr. Price from a long time ago. My bangles all have different stories: the chunky mosaic one is from an African Market in Natal, the wooden one is thrifted from Matchbox and the bronze one was my mother's. The shell beads are from a holiday spent with my best friend at the time, Katinka, at Sodwana. The textile necklace was made by me and the lovely cotton-knit overcoat was hand-me-down from my Gran. My Mom had given it to her for her birthday a year or so ago, my Gran says that she had picked up too much weight to fit into it anymore. It really is lovely and when I wear it I think of her-

I hope I didn't make your head spin too much, for some reason I have a lot to say tonight.

Well, I hope you had an amazing day, thanks for reading my story.

xxx 

Lucky Friday Finds #11

Well-well… it's Friday! The weekend is upon us and I hope all of you have awesome plans for this one. Here in South Africa, Autumn is in the air! I've been sensing a change in the way the sun (although scorching hot) shone with a dimmer light… Then, last night we had our first Autumn rain! Man, I just love it! The sound of raindrops trickling down the window panes, the smell of the wet soil and just as the rain stopped (during the early morning hours) I heard our "friendly neighbourhood" owl break the silence with his calm hoo-hoooooo. Around here, the Cape Spotted Eagle Owl is the most common. We've seen them on many occasions. Amazing birds of prey!

Today, I thought, I'd briefly share some goodies I acquired while visiting in Pretoria last year. My cousin, Zandienne and I spend the day galavanting in the area we used to live and of course had to pop in one of my favourite haberdashery shops. The shop is called Ruby's and they stock almosts anything you need for your crafting pleasures. They don't have a website, but if you're in the Pretoria North area, this site has the address and phone number.

-I really had to hold back, I would have emptied my account in this shop! But since I had to fly back home, my luggage space was limited. Good thing I had a reason, ha! These adorable handbag charms, I got as gifts for my friends back home. I don't know if you can see, there's a funny looking keychain between the stork scissors and the red knitting doll… It's a dual screwdriver, the one side is a flat and the other a star. I got that for David as he can never find his in times of crisis, he keeps it on his house keys and has actually used it a few times already. I thought it a very nice "stocking stuffer" for the guys. The rest of these goodies are cute necessities, except for the necklace, that one's mine! I couldn't resist-

-Have a lovely Friday and an awesome weekend- 

xxx

Outfit Love: My thrifty silk shorts

There is nothing quite like finding a beautiful silk item in a thrift store! The sheen of silk attracts me like a light attracts a moth. Although silk is very fragile, it is one of my favourite natural fibers. It feels amazing against your skin, it's light and airy, perfect for summer! I just added leggings to make my outfit a bit warmer for our nippy Autumn weather. This pair of shorts is also ideal for our windy conditions, you don't have to worry about it blowing up like a skirt would.

• Textile necklaces - OddOneOut, these range from R60 to R200
• Vintage leather belt, this super awesome belt, I found in a thrift store in Pretoria, East-lynn
• Vintage floral silk shorts, found these beauties at Matchbox (see my Friday Finds post, here)
• Leather wedge sandals, these edgy wedges I found at the Rage factory shop in Pretoria, Atterbury

-just love the stud details on the belt and on the wedges-

xxx

Outfit love - love Autumn

Well, it wasn't that cold during the morning but I had to put my jersey on later. Our days are becoming colder by the minute, especially after the cold and rainy weekend we just had! I just love the changing of seasons!

• My lovely birdcage necklace from Skermunkil is really a work of art, I just love it!
• Florals & polka dots dress - this lovely vintage looking dress, I found in the maternity section at Mr. Price. I just couldn't leave it alone, besides, who says you have to be pregnant to where one of these? I say "rules are meant to be broken"!
• Resin & bone bangle, this one I bought while on holiday in the Natal. I always try to get something small as a token to mark certain times in my life.
• Wooden bangle, this one stood out when I visited my friend at Matchbox and it hitched a ride home with me.
• Ankle boots, these I got from Mr. Price last year, just as the winter ended. So I'm real happy  when I get a chance to where them.    

-love-love-love-

xxx

Outfit Love - warm in autumn

The strange thing about this outfit, is that every item has been in my closet for quite some time now. They are odd pieces that never went with anything else, yet I couldn't get rid of them. Then out of the blue they all just came together, like they'd been waiting for each other :)

• Leather necklace(trio of hearts) by OddOneOut @R100 from MishMash. This is one of my favourite pieces, it simply goes with everything
• Silk scarf a gift from my Gran, it is hand dyed using the Batik method
• Yellow tank top from Mr.Price, I bought this one a year ago
• Plum cardigan from Meltz, I bought this one two years ago
• Floral skirt from Smiley's, I bought this when I was still in school. Smily's doesn't even exist anymore but I love this skirt, it's made from a lovely Viscose fabric
• Brogues from Mr.P, they are so comfy and versatile, I sometimes don't even notice how much I really wear them<3  

There's nothing like a pretty outfit to make you feel good!

xxx

Autumn is here...

Oh, dear! I'm so sorry that I didn't post my Outfit L.O.V.E. on Tuesday... We were on the road back from George, after spending the Easter weekend with Dave's parents.  It was quite the chilly weekend, rainy with the wind blowing like crazy and just freezing weather. Now we're back and it seems the turn of the season had snuck up on us over night... This outfit love is a perfect Autumn outfit and the orange is so fitting as the leaves start to change colour.

• Textile necklace @R140 in turquoise& orange is part of my latest range of Textile jewellery by OddOneOut available at MishMash
• Crop-sleeve knit, I bought from Mr.P quite some time ago
• Crochet Bracelet/bangle @R50 is always a favourite accessory by OddOneOut available at MishMash
• Turquoise dress with frill detail I bought from Exact a while back
• Leggings with Lace are from a local shop
• 50's Style heels are from Edgars, also bought some time ago

  Love this fun yet sexy little number<3

xxx