A little bling for your fingers? Yes please!

Now that's some bling and a half, right? A gorgeous chunk of stone, wound with silver wire on a double-finger band, thanks to the wonderful site that is ASOS. Awwwww yeah. Man do I love knuckleduster rings. And chunks of stone. 

This not-so-little beauty won't be finding its way into my jewellery collection any time soon, though, because it's up to be won! Yes, seriously. You could be rocking this out like the badass I'm sure you are. Let's just see another couple of pictures, shall we?

Oh yes. That's a fantastic ring and a half there. Go on, click those pictures and make them bigger, you know you want to.

How could you fossick this away into your own jewellery box? Well, rings are a fantastic way to draw attention to your hands, and there's no better way to add even more bling than through an amazing manicure. Just look at those stunning nails above (painted in OPI Your Royal Shine-ness), thanks to my best friend modelling this hunk-of-lovely. She's like some kind of fantastic cyborg assassin with blades in her fingernails. I am so jealous of those long nails.

So, to be in the draw, I want to hear your ultimate manicure to go with this ring. Would you go for gleaming silver foil, like my friend here? Perhaps a bit of sparkle and glitter? Or maybe a colour to coordinate or contrast with the beautiful purple stone? Leave a comment describing just what you'd do, and the winner will be announced on Wednesday.

Warm and snuggly... it's time for a winter lookbook

So, like, is it wrong that in February, supposedly the middle of summer here in the southern hemisphere, I'm already planning my winter wardrobe? Cos I am. I think in part it's because summer this year has been truly terrible - it's never really gotten above around 25 degrees (Celsius, clearly), and I can count the number of times on both hands that I've actually been able to go out without a pair of leggings, and there've been multiple occasions where I've worn boots. Boots, in the middle of summer. Eff you, seasons.

In OTHER reasons-for-planning-winter-clothes-obsessively, it's because getting a winter wardrobe sorted means jumping on that shizz as soon as it drops instore, so the last couple of weeks have involved watching my favourite couple of stores' websites for their winter collection lookbooks with a HAWK EYE, and going so far as to ask "So, um, this leather pencil skirt, and this jacket, when will they be in please?" and maybe perhaps pencilling that date in my diary so I know when to go in and layby all of the things. Yes, it might be overkill, but come on. LEATHER PENCIL SKIRT. There is no way I'm missing out on that goodness.

So what does my winter wardrobe look like, thus far? Basically empty, but here are just a few amazing things that I'm counting my pennies and plotting for. Oh, you want a rundown of these pieces? Let's see. Everything's clickable to see larger versions, just bee tee doubleyew. So from the top, we have:

Ricochet: Leather pencil skirt (OHMYGOD YOU GUYS, LIKE, SERIOUSLY I WILL WEAR THE SHIT OUT OF THIS). Woolen merino draped dress with a low back, which I can see being excellent for work and for schlepping around (I do love Ricochet for this kind of stuff, I have to say. Nice clothes that I'm not afraid to lounge around in? That's a win in my books). [Possibly suede or shearling] black leather jacket with waterfall front - the salesgirl wasn't sure what it's made of and it's not instore yet, but assuming it's either leather or a very good imitation thereof, it seems like exactly the thing to sate my Rick Owens cravings without actually having to pony up two and a half grand for a RO piece. My lovely flatmate keeps giving me a Look for this (because Rick is sacred or somesuch and nobody should own knockoffs, I don't even know), but when a girl's going back to uni and thus onto part-time hours, what's she going to do? 

Miscellaneous jewellery: Flat silver knuckleduster ring from Meadowlark, which I basically have no real hope of owning, but it's in there nevertheless because maybe I'll win Lotto or something. Black-finish crow skull pendant, via Etsy, which I do own because my best friend is amazing and gets me fantastic Christmas presents. Black quartz Stone and Honey ring, via MFP, which I swear to God I will own at some point in the next two months. I'M WATCHING YOU, RING.

Kate Sylvester: So KS's winter collection is based on the film Secretary. Um. HOT. The best things I've seen thus far are these black merino studded 3/4 sleeve sweater and long-sleeved cardigan (cardigan shown in white because the photo detail was better). I need some new knitwear, including a plain-ish and warm cardigan, and these are so perfect. Plain but with spike studs around the collar? Um, yes please. In the middle is a sheer ink chiffon dress with a black buckled collar, which I would not wear straight over my undies, but which in person has a fantastic balance between edgy and demure. Below is a sheer chiffon blouse with black detailing, which I've included more for the outfit (leather pencil skirt in KS too, clearly I'm onto a good thing here) than for the blouse itself. I have two different kinds of sheer print fabric waiting to be turned into secretary blouses. One of them is ink-blue with an orange, pink and coral-red abstract planet print. AMAZE.

Miscellaneous pieces: I just received in the mail today this M6 for Maison Margiela knotted black wool dress, which is not my usual thing but is really rather fantastic in its drape/structure. And let's be honest, no lookbook of mine would ever be complete without a Deadly Ponies bag - black nubuck Mr Bone Mailman. I don't know whether I'll ever own it, but I wistfully hope that I do.

Scarves and boots: Because no winter collection would be complete without a variety of boots and layering neck-warmy bits. From the left, we have Ann Demeulemeester black riding boots, which oh golly swoon are beautiful but also like fifteen hundred dollars, so clearly I threw them in here based more on wishing than logic or sense. But they are SO BEAUTIFUL. Next are the black platform ankle boots with wooden heel, from Ultra Shoes. SUPRRISE. Remember the Ultra Shoes coordinate competition I posted about way back when? Yeah, I won. BOOYAH. So now I own these sexy beasts, and oh boy are they fun to wear. Five inches of beautiful black leather bootie lets me stand 5'10" and stalk around my office in the best of ways. Third in the boots-I-must-have lineup are the actual boots I'm planning on acquiring this winter, the Frye Veronica engineer boot in black leather/suede. Frye don't ship to NZ, is the only bastard thing, but nevertheless, I'm sure I'll be able to wangle it somehow with the power of the internet.

Scarf-wise, I love the idea of cowls this winter (because in the wind, long scarves that unwind at the faintest gust are a bastard and a half) and both of these (from KraeO on Etsy) are fantastic. The grey knitted chain cowl looks excellent for properly cold days, while the hand-dyed cotton cowl looks like it'll become the thing I live in through autumn.

*tear* It's SO BEAUTIFUL. God I love winter. Not so much for the cold and the wet, cos honestly I can kind of leave that (I'd be perfectly satisfied with cold, and if Wellington did cold dry snowy winters I would be a lot more pleased, but we can't have everything). No, what I love about winter is its layering options. And its boots. God do I love boots. I kind of maybe love them a little too much, because I have five pairs of boots currently in my stack-o-shoes, and am eyeing up two more for this winter. Heels might be fantastic, but a girl can never have too many pairs of boots.

Look, it's an ombre dress! And a semi-ombre (okay, colour-blocked, but whatevs) sweater! And ... is that some ombre hair?

Yes. Yes it is. As of last Friday, I've got motherfucking blonde, y'all. I <3 it something fierce. You can't tell properly from this angle, but there are deeper coppers all through my fringe and top section, and almost-white blonde streaks coming through underneath in the tips. My hairdresser (Tracey at Shape Hair Design) did a fantastic job, I am super-pleased. And also considering that next summer might be a proper truly blonde time. I know, right. I reckon I could do blonde for a bit.

Details (click picture for larger version): Pink haze ombre dress, Ricochet. Two-tone coral knit, Cotton On. Black leggings, Glassons. Pink patent wedges, Number 1 Shoe Warehouse. Citrine pendant, Etsy.

Art nouveau supermodel

And Evelyn Nesbit is a babe.

Seriously, though. Babing. And I have hair envy.

Double daily outfit - some monochrome for December

I'm back! Actually, I basically never left, but not owning my own camera kind of put a spanner in the works when my flatmate took hers away over Christmas. SO thoughtless of her, right? I know, I know, it's like she owns it or something. I should really buy my own. Especially as she's moving out in a few weeks. Gulp. Anyway, have a couple of last month's outfits. I have a special secret to tell y'all soon, but it's going to have to wait just a couple more days. :D In the meantime, Happy Christmas/New Years/non-denominational holiday of choice. I ate many things, and have greatly enjoyed my time off thus far.

Outfit the first... is a "casual day at work followed by going to a rock gig (and oh hey, btw, it's raining all day so those massive heels you wanted to wear? yeah, no way)" coordination. It's a very technical descriptor. Anyway, despite the rain, I loved the gig, and was ultimately pleased I'd gone for flat boots, because despite them, by the time I got home around midnight my back had utterly seized up on me from standing so long in a crowd. I suspect that heels might actually have crippled me. This dress is one that I bought when I went out shopping one day with the intent of buying jeans. I still don't own any jeans, but I fucking love this dress, so I think everything worked out okay.

Details (click picture for larger version): Cream/black silk chiffon dress with lace panel detail, Salasai, via Service Depot. Black cotton leggings, Glassons. Black suede ankle boots, Ann Demeulemeester.

Outfit the second, and I think this was a work outfit (I connived at getting my boss to let us all wear casual-dress for December, and it was a Good Idea). Monochrome black and grey is still summery if I wear nude espadrilles, right? What I am also wearing is my Christmas presents from my two best friends: a cast crow's-skull pendant in an amazing blackened silver, and a skull-and-bones bracelet. I would like to lay it out there that this fashion direction was slightly unpredictable as of a year ago. Blaaaaaaack. Blaaaaaaaaaaack with a bracelet made of the thumbs of my enemies. It's kind of awesome, I have to admit. Also, check out the slow progress of tattoo ink down my arm. Original plan was for both half-sleeves, I may now be eyeing up my forearms speculatively.

Details (click picture for larger version): black shirt-dress, Company of Strangers, via Service Depot. Black cotton leggings, Glassons. Grey draped merino cardigan, Glassons. Nude faux-patent espadrille wedges, Number 1 Shoe Warehouse. Blackened-silver crow-skull pendant, gifted, via Etsy. Bone bracelet, gifted, via Service Depot.

The ultimate Ultra party outfit

So Ultra Shoes, one of my favourite shoe stores in Wellington, is having a Facebook competition at the moment. The rules? To put together your ultimate party outfit, including a pair of Ultra shoes, and you could win the shoes featured in your coordinate.


Hmm, I said. Hmm. An ultimate party outfit, you say? Well. Let's try this out then.

As I said in my post to their Wall, "it's not Wellington fashion if it's not black", and really, when you have this much sparkle and glam, who needs colour?

The shoes, of course, are from Ultra - they're the 'Will' by Nude booties, and I figured that even though it's supposedly nearly the height of summer, Wellington weather laughs at 'summer', and therefore a pair of excellent black booties never goes awry. The dress is from Asos, and is just a wee bit fantastic. I mean, seriously, I love sequined dresses, but compared to this, sequins are baby spangles. This is entirely covered in SQUARE PAILLETTES. 

I immediately started thinking about what jewellery I could coordinate this, and Meadowlark delivered with these faceted drop earrings and onyx stud knuckleduster. Oh, Meadowlark, if I didn't have bills to pay, you could totally have all of my paycheques for the next ... like, six months, and then maybe I'd have enough jewellery to satisfy me. Maybe. Adding to the dark, rough-glam aesthetic is the black quartz ring by Stone and Honey, available up at Madame Fancy Pants, and a party outfit isn't perfect without an awesome little bag to hold your lipstick and phone. Kate Sylvester's Willa bag adds a great pattern to the look while keeping to the monochrome colour scheme, and with a thick chain strap, it has the delicacy of a clutch without the annoying "I have to hold my bag all night long and it takes away my function to drink gin and eat nibbles at the same time" issue.

For makeup, I just today popped into the MAC store and found their Glitter and Ice collection, and these five shadows are part of a six-colour palette I'm totally eyeing up for payday (the other colour is a warm, deep maroon). A perfectly smokey eye with highlights of silver on the browbone, and dirty gold on the inner corner, would work ever so well with red hair, and match the slightly-edgy glitziness of the rest.

And if it got really cold? Well, I guess I'd just have to layer on a black leather motorcycle jacket. Something like this Paul Smith studded version would work perfectly. Oh yes. Now, I suppose, the only problem with this is that even if I did win the competition, I suddenly wouldn't be satisfied with just a pair of shoes. In fact, just putting the damn coord together has made me go OH MY GOD DARK EDGY CRYSTAL AND SPANGLE DRESS, and the unfortunate truth of the matter is that this involves $1400 just in jewellery. FML.

Five days five hairstyles

You guys, I have a problem. I'm addicted to messy topknot buns. I know, I know, it's an extremely first world problem, but a dilemma nevertheless. They're just so easy to fall into the habit of, especially in a city where Wind is a factor (yes, wind with a capital Wuh), and before I know it I make posts like these and while the outfits are many and varied, five of the six involve a topknot. It just won't do. Clearly, a style challenge was in order.

I can do it, I said to myself. Five hairstyles in five days. WHAT, I hear you cry. SHE'S MAD WITH POWER. SHE'S NOT READY FOR NIBBLY PIG A CURLING IRON. And yet. Despite a bout of rainy, windy weather in the middle of the week, I scraped in, even if I did fall back on "loose straightened hair" as a hairstyle. Shush, it's not a topknot, and that's all that counts. It's my blog, and I'll straighten if I want to, or something.

Day One: Curled low side ponytail

The beginning of the challenge looked promising, with a low, sleek side ponytail with neatly curled ends nicely coordinating with a particularly office-y dress. This is a style I started doing a couple of weeks ago, and I can already see it becoming my work version of topknot (because really, I am a wee bit aware that the best kind of topknot looks a little like I scraped it up into a haystack, and that's not really office appropriate except in my office where people wear jeans...). It looks nice enough just sleekly pulled to the side, but curling the ends ups the adorable factor to eleven, and given that I usually have permastraight hair, a curling iron is a huge novelty.

Day Two: Side fishtail plait

I hit a snag here, because my initial plan was to run with the residual curliness from yesterday and have loose, pretty curls. But then Wind struck! And somehow all the curl had fallen out of my hair, despite me perfectly transitioning last week from a curled side ponytail one day to loose curls the next. Stupid hair not doing what I want. And stupid weather. Somewhat luckily, though, I'd watched a Youtube tutorial for fishtail plaiting just the night before, so instead of a basic side plait, I kicked it up a notch with a fishtail braid. Looks good man.

Day Three: Plaited topknot bun

By Wednesday I really rather wanted a topknot, you guys. Especially because leaving my hair a) out or b) "dressed low", as L M Montgomery so charmingly describes it in Anne of Green Gables, just wouldn't have looked right with my outfit. My life, so hard. But I was determined not to fall back on the basic scraped-up-like-a-haystack twist, so instead I played around until I got this coiled plait topknot which looked adorable, at least while it was pinned up all neat-like.*

Day Four: Retro high curled ponytail

When wearing a fifties-style floral circle skirt and adorably twee ruffled top, how else was I going to style my hair but in a ridiculously bouncy high ponytail? This especially had to happen because it was a special request of a coworker. Apparently she loves how Sandra Dee it is, or something. In any case, I aim to indulge.

Day Five: Loose, sleek and straightened

I swear to God that "loose and straight" can be a hairstyle, right? Right. There's really not much to say about this, because the picture says most of it, except that I managed to keep this going the entire day, including a ramble about the waterfront this evening. (Wellington produced one of those rare evenings where the full moon twinkled on the still harbour and everything was a little bit too well-produced romantic film to feel properly real. There were fireworks. I mean, really.) Also, I have great hair. Great. Lookit all shiny and stuff. Aw yeah. Laydays.

*Warning: on letting my hair out from this style, I managed to startle a friend with the sheer volume of hair I had somehow produced. Viz:

A-yup. I look like Hermione. Book Hermione, where her hair is actually frizzy, as opposed to Movie Hermione, where her hair is charmingly voluminous. My hair is so big because it is full of secrets.

My fashion sense clearly can't make up its damn mind

So these are outfits from two consecutive days.

Outfit the first: all of the black and drapey. Because a mass of black is kind of hard to photograph, I'm going to state here that I am wearing a skirt. It is an awesome black stretch cotton mini with leather panels on the sides, and I got it for all of $12 brand-new from Recycle Boutique. I am also wearing leggings, a camisole, boots and a drapey black silk blouse, because layers were where it was at yesterday. The boots, just by the way, are second-hand Ann Demeulemeester, and I am kind of ridiculously in love with them. They're similar to my knee-high black suede boots, in that they're flat and black and suede, but they have a fantastic amount of buckles and slouch and super-soft suede. Hooray for boots. (In December, because Wellington laughs at your idea of seasons.)

Details (click picture for larger version): Black skirt with leather panels, Sussan, via Recycle Boutique. Black silk blouse, Ricochet. Leggings, Glassons. Black suede ankle boots, Ann Demeulemeester, via Trademe. Amethyst pendant, via Trademe and Madame Fancy Pants.

And then there was today, wherein my fashion sense swung wildly from one apex of my personal style preference to the other. The one where all my love for twee and bows and ruffles and floral print still hides out, waiting to strike. And strike it did, in the form of a floral circle skirt, high heels with bows on, a pink, ruffled top which my flatmate has told me makes me look like "some kind of delicious strawberry dessert", and a curled high ponytail. I know, right.

Details (click picture for larger version): Pink ruffled top, Temt. Black floral circle skirt, handmade. Black tights, supermarket. Cream bow heels, Ultra Shoes. Lilac belt, Glassons.

It's a business dress! Or is it?

This is a new dress, one I've been working on for the last wee while (although I've had the fabric stashed since probably about this time last year? Who knows. A length of time). It's a pattern I've made before, with one twist - this version has a super-low scooped back and exposed zip, just to sex up the otherwise extremely conservative cut in the front. It has the nice side-effect of suddenly showing off another rather large tattoo to all my workmates, because that's how I roll. AND it has pockets. Pockets. The joy of a dress with pockets cannot be overstated.

I finished the dress this weekend, full of determination to wear it to work today. With these shoes and that belt. Of course, Wellington then had to put on the showery rain all day, so I had to wear sensible closed-toe shoes during my trip from home to work to avoid suede getting rained on (I hear it's not the greatest, hey), but you better believe I took these in in my Bag of Holding and changed into them once I was at work. When pink suede heels are in the offing, who could choose sensible shoes?

Details (click picture for larger version): Black/grey linen/wool-blend dress with scoop back, handmade. Black cotton leggings, Glassons. Pink/cream suede heels, Ultra Shoes. Black patent belt, Cue. Pearl strand, vintage via Trademe. Pink rose brooch, from EGL sales community. Tattoos, Dan at New Zealand Tattoo.

Hi, stud (or: Sandy from Grease is way hotter at the end of the film)

So this morning, with the weather all bloom-y and warm and lovely (Wellington weather, y u do dis with the changing of the seasons constantly) I decided "Self, it is time to rock some 50s retro style. Get out your winged eyeliner and your preppy knit shirt and your floral circle skirt. And let's do a high ponytail with the ends curled." Not having the time or inclination to argue with myself that early in the morning (well, 10.30, which is not really early by any stretch of the imagination but still) I faithfully curled my hair, and winged my eyeliner, and put on this adorably twee shirt. 

And then I got to the point of putting on a floofy petticoat, and held up my floral skirt, and something in me rebelled. Sandy is way hotter at the end of Grease than at the beginning, it said. And not owning a pair of tight leather pants, a ruffled leather miniskirt was the next best thing. Aww yeah. Admittedly, the shoes I wanted to wear were my super-high black wooden platforms, but when my flatmate cautiously agreed with me that yeah, they might be a little too trashy, combined with the short leather skirt, for my workplace, these little floral brogues were the next best thing.

Details (click picture for larger version): Pink/black silk shirt, Fred Perry. Leather ruffled miniskirt, Ricochet. Black tights, supermarket. Floral brogues, Shoe Connection.