My austerity drive

I am in the midst of my annual 'austerity' drive. This usually comes around every year when (a) my work offers to send me overseas and (b) I realise I am penniless and cannot afford to pay for my share of the 'personal holiday' bit of my travel (because, surprise surprise, I have spent all my money on vintage!) This is where my desire to have a wonderful time in Italy and Canada overrides my etsy obsession (and who of you can blame me for that?!). This time however, the austerity drive is going to last quite a long time as my hubby and I are saving to buy a house next year. Ouch!

Unfortunately I am not naturally frugal with money. For me, money is there to be spent on wonderful things. When I could have bought a house in my 20s I instead spent all my savings backpacking around the world. It was totally worth it and the best thing I ever did (just the night making out with the handsome Canadian welder in Hanoi was worth it alone!!)(I will spare you the details don't worry)(unless you want to hear them - that will cost you $5 a minute - ha ha!)

But when I do have to save (and I usually need a reason), I actually find it quite therapeutic. Although etsy have great stuff, and it is difficult sometimes to resist its allure, it is actually nice to just enjoy the things you have without having to buy things all the time. And it allows me to take a good, long hard look at my wardrobe and realise I have waaaaay too many clothes anyway - why do I need anymore. Exhibit A - my wardrobe:

Now I have to be honest and say I probably have the equivalent of another of these wardrobes stored in various parts of the house so I cannot tell myself that I don't have enough clothes. And some of them I have worn only once or twice so I really need to work on better utilising the wardrobe I have. I am also starting to find it hard to look after all the clothes I have - make sure they are all mended and clean and free of moths. Another reason for my austerity drive!

Of course, austerity drives are vintage in of themselves. During World War II, rationing was very strictly controlled and there was a public push to 'make do and mend'. . .

Of course this philosophy is also great for the environment. The less I consume the better it is for the health of the world.

But of course, saving and not consuming is not always easy. So if you are interested, these are my personal keys to saving success:

(1) Get creative and feed your soul
There is a good reason why the best pop music ever made was in Britain under the rule of Thatcher in the 80s. Everyone was poor and depressed. Result: genius pop music creativity. Now, we don't want to go back to Thatcher (do we?!). But it is an indicator that not buying stuff helps your creativity. So utilise your free time that you would otherwise waste buying things - write a short story, read 'War and Peace', join a Toastmasters or book group. I have had such a great time this past month reading books - I have been devouring about one a week. They have all been brilliant and made me so happy (if you are stuck for recommendations - start off with the No. 1 Ladies Detective Series by Alexander McCall Smith - brilliant. Then go on to Dickens!)

(2) Learn how to bake a cake
One of the best ways to spend your time, and save money too, is to bake your own cakes, and make your own pikelets, scones and pancakes. Your family and friends will love you for it and home made food is much better for you than processed stuff (it is also less fattening as it is more natural)(believe me, its true!). Start off with the Women's Weekly series or recipes by the Country Women's Association (CWA):
http://www.cwaofnsw.org.au/merchandise/home.do;jsessionid=1E13DD59631A48C130F1F6960995A54D
Don't go for smancy fancy, just plain honest home cooked fare your nanna would have made. Delish!

(3) We are all in the same boat
Sometimes I read blogs where the writer seems to have limitless money with which to buy fabulously expensive vintage clothes all the time and they live in an enormous house and you think 'where do they get the money for this?'. The answer probably is: debt! We all know about the GFC (Global Financial Crisis). My husband is Irish and many of his family and friends are under financial pressure (another reason for my austerity drive). So I try and remember that everyone has to save - not just me!

I could go on and on about this, but there are a few hints to help you out if you are interested. Hopefully I can stick to my austerity drive and make it to Italy for my trip. You may see me curled up on a park bench in Pisa if I don't start saving for my hotel bills so I had better do it!

Happy saving!

Pretty blue (and green, and red and . . .!) floral vintage dress

I tend to say this about all my vintage dresses, but this really is one of my favourites summer frocks . . .  

 It is actually one of my very rare finds from an op shop (Brotherhood of St Laurence in St Kilda, which is really a 'vintage' op shop I guess - although don't expect to find any treasure there now, it has changed a lot since I bought this dress many years ago).

 Although this is not in the class of a designer vintage dress (think Adele Simpson and the like), this is just a great, versatile and wearable dress. And, importantly, the cut is quite flattering. Although I have a small-ish waist (which I work on, believe you me), on the downside I also have a fairly large behind (it sort of sticks out at the back - my ballet teacher was always hounding me 'pull your bottom in! I wanted to say 'I can't, its just like that!!).

Anyway, the cut of the skirt on this dress is quite flattering to my rather fullsome rear-end which is nice (the cut that is!). If I was handy I would make a few copies of this dress, but I can't sew (and really don't have time to sew more importantly!) so I will just enjoy this version.

The other reason I love this dress is that the pattern is very very cute. It also has a number of great colours in it, so I can team the dress up with various nice bright cardis and accessories to make up different outfits. Love that.

 I am not sure of the date of the dress as it is evidently handmade. I would say the 1970's? Definitely not the 50's. But I don't mind either way, its just a great, individual day dress which can be worn almost anywhere - even to the park with my troublesome, headache-inducing 2 year old son! (who at this moment is headbutting my desk computer - God help me)

 And of course, an outfit would not be complete without some gorgeous vintage Trifari earrings (part of a demi parure, that is, comes with a matching necklace). I love Trifari jewellery. Pity the size of my wallet doesn't allow me to buy more of it - it is very well-made and great design.

Outfit details:

dress  Brotherhood of St Laurence, St Kilda (years ago when it was a 'vintage' type op shop and had great stuff  - no longer like this, a lot of tat)

Blue cardi Saba (their cardis are good)

bag Old Hat Northcote

earrings etsy

Pink and white stripe pleats

I have been home all this week after I had a little knee procedure done last Friday (so sorry for delay in posting!).

I do jazz ballet (or should I say 'did' - that may have to be in past tense now!) - hence my bad knees. After asking how old I was (I will admit to being 'late 30's' to you all!) my doctor 'tsked tsked', shaking his head and said 'no more ballet!' so Natalie Portman can feel safe and secure - there will be no menacing 'Black Swan' pirouettes from me!

But I digress, although it has been fun to stay at home and catch up on some great films and read good books, it has been soooo depressing not to be able to go out in my fab vintage outfits. So it was great today to go out for a latte and get dressed up for a change. Unfortunately I had to go out with crutches, which did not really go with my outfit - but at least I was in a dress!

I looked at my wardrobe last week and thought 'I really need to have a big cleanout and sell some of these dresses on ebay' (I really do have too many clothes). From time to time I have these brilliant bursts of thought and then I try some of the said dresses on and think 'no! I can't possibly part with this!'. This is one of the dresses I was going to cull - it is actually not great to wear on a hot day as it is polyester and totally un-breathable (is that a word?). To be honest, the pleats also make my already generous butt look seriously huge (!), but it is very cute, so its staying put. Also, I just can't be bothered selling anything on ebay (I am a buyer through and through!)

I am not sure who I am trying to channel with my pose here - I look like I've swallowed a lemon! I would be terrible as a model! (don't worry, I am not going to give up my day job!)

Outfit details:

60's dress (I think?) ebay Australia about 5 years ago

white cotton cardigan David Lawrence - again many years ago

handbag vintage store in Northcote (Old Hat I think its called?)

earrings Sydney Vintage Clothing fair (they are great, but they hurt like hell!)

My wedding dress (vintage peachy pink)

This is the peachy pink vintage dress that I wore to my wedding in 2003 (that is my hubby on the right!). Now wearing it again in 2011!

I am pleased to say that I still fit into after 8 years which is nice (thank you Pilates). I have not had the occasion to wear it again since my wedding so I took it for a much awaited outing to a 'Debutantes Dinner' in Melbourne last night, organised by the lovely ladies at the Lindy Charm School. 

I searched for a vintage wedding dress for ages before I found this dress (in a little French-style shop in South Melbourne). This was before shopping online was as easy as it is today - there are now lots of vintage wedding dresses to be found on etsy. I actually don't think the colour of the dress does much for my skin tone - a deeper, mauvy pink probably would have suited me better, but it was such a lovely style, I couldn't resist it.

This is a close up of the embroidery/flowers on the dress:

 The flowers have a little diamonte/rhinestone in the middle of them so I wore a pair of vintage diamonte earrings to set that off. The fabric in the dress is a sort of stiff, papery-type material which drapes beautifully, but is quite delicate and prone to tearing, so I am always careful when putting it on. I probably should have ironed the flowers to make them sit down a little flatter on the bodice but I was a bit scared to given the delicacy of the fabric. I will have to do that when I have some time and space to concentrate on such a task (which is usually never!)

I hope you liked looking at my wedding dress!

Outfit details:

Vintage (1950's?) wedding dress Little French-themed shop opposite South Melbourne markets

diamonte earrings Callie, Camberwell markets

fake fur stole and vintage purse ebay

gloves modern - Myer

handsome husband from Dublin, Ireland (picked up for a song in a little hostel in Rome, 1998!)

A pretty purple floral and lucite purse

I love pink . .  and I love purple so I was very happy in my outfit today. This is one of those dresses I have had in my wardrobe for ages, waiting for (a) being slim enough to wear it (my excuse: I have had two children!) and (b) having the right accessories to pull the look off. I wore it to Chadstone, one of our big shopping malls in Melbourne, where I took my 7 year old daughter to see 'Yogi Bear' and have lunch. I had to have a stiff red wine when I got back home . . .! (I am not a fan of modern children's movies, give me Disney's Snow White anytime)

 I bought this dress last year on ebay and at first did not like it (sometimes things look a lot different from what they appear online!). The texture of the fabric is shiny, so it looks and feels like a bridesmaid dress (perhaps it was?!). I was going to give it away, but in fact, I have found that with some hot pink shoes and a pink cardigan it looks quite nice (excuse the non-ironed cardigan by the way, as usual I had to get dressed in rather a hurry).

 Of course, an outfit always looks good with a matching hat and earrings. I got this hat from etsy for a song (as the netting has deteriorated). I bought these earrings from the Sydney Vintage Clothing show - one of my batch of $10 pairs - I love these chunky clip on style earrings - really fab (although I can only wear them for 3-4 hours before they start to hurt!)

I am only 5 foot and a half feet tall (note the half, very important!) so I find I the 'teen' vintage outfits fit me the best (and I think this was made for a teenager). Otherwise I have to pay my tailor to adjust everything and that can prove a bit costly if shoulders need to be adjusted etc. Still, I do find it is worth it to have something fit really well.

Last but not least, one of my two vintage lucite bags. This is not a 'designer' lucite bag from the 50's (not a Wilardy or Rialto which are highly collectable) but it is still very cute. As you would know, some lucite bags can cost $200-300 dollars, but if you look around and don't care too much about whether the purse is signed or not, you can get one much cheaper (this was $59 on sale on etsy). The only thing I would say is careful of flaws such as cracks and odours with lucite - those things are hard to fix (always ask about any chemical odours with lucite as this is a sign the lucite has started to break down).

Oufit details:

dress vintage of uncertain age (handmade) - ebay Australia

cardigan Cue

shoes etsy

hat etsy

earrings Sydney Vintage Clothing Show Oct 2010

lucite bag etsy

A pretty pink and silver grey floral

This is one of my favourite skirts - a lovely pink and silver grey floral that I picked up for a song in St Kilda.  I am not exactly sure what era it is from - it looks home-sewn and has no label. I have always loved the colour combination of pink and grey - it was hugely popular in the 80s - and I am a child of the 80s - so that may explain things!

I have teamed it with a silver grey tshirt from Myer (Basque label) and a little bolero (Jacqui E)(middle of the road cheapish fashion stores for my overseas readers!). I don't really go shopping at 'normal' shops anymore, but I have a collection of little cotton and wool cardigans and boleros that I have picked up at various sales at department stores over the years and I do admit they come in very handy.

And I do have to say that the tshirt material does wonders for my bust (which after two children is a shadow of its former self I can tell you!)

 And of course,  great way to end is to show a close up of the cute 50s earrings I bought at the Sydney Vintage Fair in October last year. Many of the things there were quite overpriced (in my humble opinion)($350 for a 50s dress is waaay too much in my book!)(etsy has spoiled me I know). Anyway, I did manage to pick up some cheap little 50s earrings - one was this set - for only $12 each pair. Now that's better!

Outfit details
vintage skirt vintage store in St Kilda - no longer there unfortunately

t-shirt Basque label, Myer Department store

bolero Jacqui E women's clothing store

shoes rather ugly but comfortable flats from Myer

earrings Sydney Vintage Clothing Fair

Pink Polka Dots and Hairspray

Hello everyone and sorry for my extended 'holiday' from blogging! Happy New Year!

Now on to more exciting things . . . vintage dresses!

This is a little number I have had for years. I bought it off ebay when vintage dresses were still cheap, so I got it for a song! If you take a good look you might be able to see that the buttons are little ceramic roses - very cute (but they are not the original buttons and so don't 100% fit into the buttonholes, they therefore do have a tendency to open of their own accord - as a result I am always looking down at my bosom)(possibly not a good look!)

I wear it with a little cotton cardigan/bolero that I got from an Australian department store called 'Myer'. I hardly go into stores these days, as I can get everything I want online (yaay!). However, little cardigans like these are good to get from modern 'real' stores and they are very handy for when it is cold in the morning and warm during the day (that is Melbourne weather for you)

I am wearing the dress with $10 vintage earrings from Clara Fox vintage in Fitzroy (another 'yaay'!)

This dress is actually a 'junior' dress I think as the waist is quite high and bust is very small. However, as I am only a little over 5 foot it is perfect for me! The dress has a lovely cotton petticoat inlay - a very nice touch.

I wore the dress to see the Melbourne production of 'Hairspray' on the weekend which I really enjoyed. The dancing was quite extraordinary. There were a few dancers from the Australian version of 'So you think you can Dance' (which is my favourite show!) and they were amazing - I have trouble doing one turn and they did about ten!

It is great to be back in blogging land and I am really looking forward to posting lots of photos up for you this year!

Vintage Suburbia xx