Yoko Ono, you are cool.

If this was Twitter, I would hash tag it "what I want to look like when I'm 78". She is one bad-ass old lady.

I am colourblock, and so can you!

So apparently colourblocking is in this season.

This is from Fashion Week Animals in Hats over at The Hairpin. The entire thing is awesome, as is The Hairpin in general, so I recommend checking it out. What is also awesome is colourblocking. My good (excellent) friend over at Pearls in Vinegar is very keen on it, and she's just generally made of awesome herself, so I was all like, "Self, you need to try out this colourblock thing! You wear too much black recently! It's spring! Buy bright things and wear them with each other! You too can be like the Tarsier (which I think is maybe like a kind of lemur?) in his jaunty little hat." And then I went and bought a bright yellow belt from Trademe, and was all like AWW YEAH.

Readers, given the amount of dark colour above, I am not entirely sure that this counts as full colourblocking. In my defence, the dress I am wearing is really truly honestly navy, not black (according to the tag, it is 'ink'), and I wasn't planning on adding the leggings until a) I realised that both my pairs of sheer stockings had runs in them (DO NOT WORRY, I have now bought some more, everything is okay) and b) it's still actually rather chilly at the moment despite the sunshine. And I've somehow misplaced the strand of hot pink metal beads I was planning on adding, which would have been another pop of solid colour. My life, it is difficult. (This is a lie.) In any case, regardless of whether I can claim to have achieved colourblock nirvana, I still think it was pretty awesome. And that's what counts, right?

My eye makeup, though, that was pretty. And colourful. The colour is, sadly, a little washed out, but essentially this is matte pink on the inner corner, with a gorgeous, shimmery blue blended over the outer corner and crease, a slightly-sparkly teal highlighted across the middle, and a swipe of gold-green under the lower lashes. With a smidge of black liquid liner along the top lashline, and generous black mascara. All of it is MAC - the three on top are from the Devoted Poppy compact, and the gold-green is 'Juxt'. Applying shadow with a wet brush is the Best Thing Ever. Except for tarsiers. I think they might even be better than pug dogs, and that is saying a lot.

Details (click pictures for larger version): Navy draped dress with lace panelling, Ricochet. Yellow leather waist belt, Trademe. Black leggings, Glassons. Hot pink/cream high heels, Ultra Shoes. Pink rose brooch, handmade, via someone on the EGL sales community. Pink/white/black chain necklace, gifted handmade. Green wool capelet, Frutti.

Time for some grunge

This, my darlings, is the "Grunge and Glory" Vogue photoshoot. From December 1992. Oh yes. Marc Jacobs for Perry Ellis, shot by Steven Meisel, with Naomi Campbell, Kirsten McMenamy and Nadja Auermann. Just a snippet of fashion history I thought I'd share a bit wider, especially given the grunge-revival currently gaining strength. My take on the matter? Nothing with that many stompy boots can be all bad.

Some magic for your Sunday

No, I don't believe in magic proper (despite the number of "You're a wizard, Harry" jokes made at me), but Sunday seems like a day for some sparkle and whimsy, especially when it's been a bit of a grey and rainy day. Click the pictures for extra pretty :)

Ceramic unicorns from Madame Fancy Pants, one of my favourite local stores. They'll never stop getting shout-outs (blog-outs?) from me, as long as they keep stocking such twee-ly adorable things. So, pretty much forever then.

Jelly Shot Test Kitchen is full of super-amazing jelly shots. Alcohol mixed with gelatine? Clearly not just for student parties anymore. I've been debating making some jelly shots for my flatmate's birthday party next weekend, but I doubt any of mine will look as fantastic as these (from left to right: rainbow cake with whipped cream sprinkles; flirtini with edible gold leaf; blackberry cosmo with classic (pink) and pear (white) cosmo in background). More foods should definitely come with sparkles and/or glitter.

Lissie Elle's photostream over on Flickr is absolutely full of beautiful, whimsical and sometimes dark photos. With many more lovely shots I was tempted to add!

Speaking of beautiful photos, how about this magical shot by Tim Walker, via the Emma blog? Imagine a midnight tea party in this garden...

I can't make a Harry Potter reference in my intro and then not post this! Iterations of the golden snitch necklace are all over the internet, but I really like this one for its delicacy and simplicity. From Starbright Girl.

Finally, look at these utterly incredible art nouveau/steampunk pendants made out of butterfly wings over at Harem Royal on Etsy. (From left to right: butterfly, dragonfly, luna moth; dark butterfly fairy wings; brown steampunk butterfly). Butterflies only have a lifespan of a week or two, so using their laminated wings in jewelry isn't as weird/awful as I first imagined, and these really are stunning (with a pricetag to match). My birthday's coming up - perhaps if I wish really really hard the universe will decide I absolutely need one of these!

My skirt has ears! Or, Maxi-skirts for maxi-win

I want to tell y'all a story, right. This story is about how you should Shamelessly Watch People All The Time And Steal Their Style. Yesterday I was standing at the bus stop, waiting for the bus (I see my frieeeeends oh wait no let's not), eating olive bread, and I saw a young woman in the near distance coming towards me. She was excellently dressed, in the tradition of Wellington High Fashion Black, and was wearing what appeared to be a pair of dropped crotch, draped, billowy black pantaloons. But in a good way! "JELUS," I thought, chewing my olive bread. "I BET THOSE ARE FROM ZAMBESI OR SOMETHING." And as she came closer, I shamelessly checked out her outfit, especially these awesome pants. And then I realised! That no! They were not pants at all, but a maxi-skirt, cunningly knotted at her knees to hitch it up into an interestingly draped below-the-knee hobble skirt. The same maxi-skirt that I owned, in fact. "Hmm," I thought. "Hmmm." And then I got up this morning and I cunningly knotted my maxi-skirt, and threw it on over leggings and a t-shirt with a loose cardigan for a casual Friday, and called it good.


So what, then, is the moral of this tale? The moral, dear readers, is that you should (as previously mentioned) Watch People and Steal Their Ideas. I watch people all the time. When I'm sitting on the bus, I keep an eye on what pedestrians are wearing. Sometimes, walking down the street, I will tell somebody that they look fantastic and then keep walking. Sometimes, confession (because I can be a wee bit of a giant bitch) I think "Oh honey no", and then I mentally pick apart what it was that didn't work. You can do this via the internet, of course, using style blogs like The Sartorialist or Hel Looks (awesome) and these are very cool because a helpful team of photographers and editors have already gone through and edited out all the boring people in suits/sweatpants/jeans-and-a-t-shirt, but keeping an eye on people In Your City is useful in a way that the internet kind of can't be, because you're much more likely to pick up, as I did, on somebody wearing a local chainstore item in a Really Fucking Cool way. And that is pretty awesome.


Details (click picture for larger version): Hawkshead moth print t-shirt, Kate Sylvester. Black chiffon maxi-skirt, Glassons. Black leggings, Glassons. Brown peep-toe wedge heels, Overland Shoes. Brown belt, Glassons. Black metal beads, Bling. Black cotton textured scarf, vintage gifted. Pink cardigan, Glassons.

OMGSHOOZ

Awe yeah. Check out those sexy wood-platformed high heels of sex and win. You want dis? You so want dis.

What's that? A close-up? You want a close-up of how hot these shoes are? Well. Okay.

Oh yes. Those are some hot shoes right there.

These are the '70s Living' by Skins at Ultra Shoes (ultrashoes.co.nz). Click the pictures for extra sex and win. I am completely without shame in admitting that I have the black pair on layby and am eyeing up the red, despite the fact that I don't tend to wear red, because SHINY and PATENT and WOOD, oh my. This post may also make more sense in context of Kate Beaton's Stupid Rooster comics. I may be being the chicken again. Awe yeah girl.

They're not pants, but they are awesome

It is time, you guys, to talk about leggings. Because leggings, they are awesome. What is this, I hear you all say. They're tubes of cotton and lycra. People wear them to the gym. Or with puffer jackets and ugg boots and it's just all kinds of wrong. Well, yes. Leggings are all of these things, but also they can be so right. A good friend of mine recently said, "You know, I never thought I was a footless-leggings-and-high-heels kind of girl, but I guess I so am!" You know why she came to this conclusion, dear readers? Because Leggings Are Awesome.


Why? Why are they awesome? I have to justify my love for leggings? I suppose I do. WELL THEN.

• Ankle-length leggings make your ankles look Super Dainty. Really truly. My best friend is, by her own admission, large-framed. She is of Dutch-German heritage and has a good three inches on me. Yet in a pair of footless leggings and heels, her ankles look as tiny as the twee-est of Disney princesses. 
• The seasons, they are changing. If you're in the southern hemisphere like me, the twinkling of spring is probably beginning to make you flirt with the idea of changing up Sturdy Boots for cute little peep-toe high heels, and if you're up in the mystical lands of the north, it's probably not quite cold enough yet to justify putting away all your cute summer shoes. But either way, if you try to go barelegged, or even add a pair of sheer stockings, you will Probably Freeze, especially if you're anywhere with something as tricksy as a Wellington southerly. Leggings (especially with a pair of sheer knee-high stockings layered underneath) work excellently for letting you break out awesome shoes while still keeping your legs unfrostbitten, and let's be serious, frostbite is never the new black.
• Footless leggings let your shoe be the statement. You might have read the above line and thought, with a snort of disgust, "Yeah, but thick, opaque black tights will keep me warm and aren't leggings!" This is true, and I have an undying love for opaque black tights. But sometimes they Just Don't Go. My Fantastic Pink Shoes, for example, just wouldn't work with thick black stockings - they're peep-toe, and a light colour, and obviously meant to be worn with bare feet (or, let's be honest, sheer stockings. I very rarely go completely barelegged, and I think Kate Middleton has the right idea about sheers.) I'm not saying you can never wear dark stockings in light shoes - I love rocking my white lolita wedges with contrast black tights - but leggings add excellent versatility. AND, if you have a pair of dark-coloured shoes, wearing black tights often turns the shoes into sneakily invisible ninja shoes. This can also be a great look, but to let the shoe really shine, blocking it with a peek of bare skin works wonders.
• Leggings are utterly invaluable when it comes to layering. For something like a short dress or a long tunic, even the thickest of opaque tights might still be a wee bit too risque for anything short of a night out on the town. They're not pants (as legions of internet complainypants have pointed out ad nauseum) but they're very close to, so my take on the matter is that if you're covering your bum with another layer then you're good to go. They're generally more slim-line than even the most fitted of jeans, so you can layer over them without weird lumps and bumpy sticky-out zip bits.
• Okay honestly I cannot legitimately make a post about how great leggings are and not mention this because I would be a LYING LIAR: they are really super comfortable. As just mentioned, jeans have lumps and bumps and sticky-out zip bits. And they're a nightmare to shop for, and you either get low-riding awfulness or, as a delightfully down-to-earth shopgirl in a rather high-fashion clothes shop here said to me recently "They're high-waisted and they squish your uterus and it sucks". Indeed, such are my trials with jeans. Leggings, dear readers, will never squish your uterus. Cotton-blend leggings do need replacing more often than the nylon version (they fade and get shabby fairly quickly), but they are soft and gentle and you don't get static cling from long skirts and are generally just all kinds of comfort to wear.
• You can get fantastically awesome printed leggings to liven up a plain outfit. No, seriously. Look. BlackMilk have the Best Ever, including galaxy print (DO WANT) and sequins (also DO WANT). Sometimes I find myself falling into a slightly-lazy outfit involving All Of The Black (yes, it's very Wellington, but a bit of pattern or colour always makes things better) and I do think that these awesome leggings have a place in my life.

So there, you guys. Six inarguable points on the merits of leggings. GO FORTH IN YOUR NEW KNOWLEDGE.


Details (click picture for larger version): Turquoise/cream print dress, handmade. Black patent belt, Cue. Black leggings, Glassons. Brown peep-toe wedge heels, Overland Shoes. Black and pink metal beads, Bling. And because I liked it, have a semi-informative shot of my makeup and general face. That's some liquid eyeliner right there.