Corporate Drone

I'm really sorry, I was going to post my outfit for work today but forgot and got changed so I could learn the lyrics for 'Bye Bye Blackbird' and eat some dinner before rehearsal tonight. Why is it that everything in my life seems to happen at once? Started my new job yesterday, have performances this Friday, next Tuesday and next Sunday, Brendan's moving this weekend and a friend's 21st is also on Friday. My schedule the past two days has been something like this:

Monday
730-8:15 band rehearsal at school
9:00-5:20 work
8:00-10:00 drinks with ex-workmates (from the restaurant)

Tuesday
7:30-8:15 band rehearsal at school
9:00-5:20 work
7:00-9:00 band rehearsal with the Sisters of Sass

I haven't even had time to watch Top Gear Australia yet...it's a travesty.

- Robyn

The summer wind came blowing in

How hot has it been in Melbourne this week!?!?!? I am so glad that it's my last week in the restaurant, the thought of spending another sweltering summer in there with the old fans and the barely functioning a/c and being surrounded by motors and coffee machines and dishwashers generating heat behind the bar doesn't bear thinking about.


Singlet - Cotton On; Skirt - Overseas; Cardigan - Overseas; Necklace - Gift.


Dress - er....Temt. Or Valley Girl.

I've only got two shifts left at the restaurant, and have been slowly saying goodbye to all my regulars. Some of them I have to admit I'm glad I won't be serving again, but I'm sad to say goodbye to others as I've known them for more than three years now. I still got asked whether I was new yesterday though...some things never change.

- Robyn

DO NOT WANT.

- really short shorts with the bottom of the pocket hanging out below the hem.
- those low cut tank tops/t-shirts with the really big arm holes where you can see a girl's entire bra underneath.
- sunglasses at night.
- rat's nest hair, as worn by schoolgirls everywhere.
- wrong size shoes, too small or too big. It's just not right.
- LEGGINGS AS PANTS. Unless you are actually a professional dancer (of the Australian Ballet/Chunky Move variety as opposed to the Spearmint Rhino/Goldfingers variety).
- little girls in high heels.

- Robyn

2 girls 1 cup day

(bonus points if you get the meme I referenced in the title, you sick sick human beings).

Kat, my little sister and born events manager, staged a little bit of a Melbourne Cup Day cocktail party on Tuesday, which I also attended as I'm still recovering from my cold and didn't really feel like leaving the house. Thank god the weather stayed nice, and how was the race! So so close. I managed to pick the third place getter (C'est La Guerre) but my friend who was at Flemington forgot to put my bet in, which serves me right for being too lazy to get down to the TAB myself. Anyway, enough about the horses, everyone knows Cup Day is all about the outfits:


Dress - Dangerfield; Belt - Target; Fascinator - mum's; Shoes - Kat's, Necklace - birthday gift.

I don't think I did too badly, considering that I kind of forgot to plan an outfit. Luckily my mum had the fascinator tucked away in her hat box. I should also credit her Nancy Ganz slip which helped me stay VPL-free and tucked into my dress, although I was restricted to steps of 6 inches or shorter.


Dress - Forever New; Belt - Vintage; Hat - Mum's; Bracelet - Myer; Shoes - Basque.

Kat was rocking the adorable 90s fresh faced look. It's very My Best Friend's Wedding, no? Props to her for staying in the heels all day too...mine were much lower yet I bailed after a couple of hours. One of the many perks of staying at home. Of course as soon as everybody left we changed into trackies and cleaned the place from top to bottom :)

- Robyn

BLAAARGGGGHHH.

My family is nothing if not a caring and sharing bunch of people, and the cold my brother so thoughtfully gave to me for my birthday is just the gift that keeps on giving. After karaoke on Saturday night, playing my old high school's speech night on Monday night and playing with the Sisters of Sass on Tuesday night, I pretty much crashed and burned at work on Wednesday, so it was off to the doctors for antibiotics and a blood test (why? I have no idea, but I've had 20 or so by now so one more hardly matters) and I've basically been grounded ever since. I'm admittedly starting to feel better with all this forced rest, and my voice is slowly coming back, although it is terribly frustrating not being able to shout upstairs or indeed hold a decent conversation. Unsurprisingly, I've kind of been living in pyjamas for the last few days, but do have a video for you to enjoy in the meantime, from Tuesday's performance.



- Robyn

PS I have just found out that the lovely Connie, who started the Sisters of Sass, has just started a new blog, The Life of a Lonely Jazz Singer. Connie is definitely one stylin' lady so I highly recommend you check out her blog.

Karaoke one, my voice nil.

Despite the cold which I am finally battling, I somehow made it to Brendan's and my birthday drinks/karaoke on Saturday night, buoyed by the miracle that is 12 hour Sudafed. While this meant that I could not take any great advantage of Charlton's wondrously cheap happy hour, it also meant that I was well enough to belt out a couple of karaoke numbers. I have a feeling though that belting out Loveshack was my vocal undoing, as two days later I'm still struggling to sound like a normal human being, and have in the meantime developed rather a nasty cough. It was worth it though.



Top - my sister's wardrobe; skirt - American Apparel; shoes - Rubi; bag - Roxy; necklace - birthday gift from Brendan.

Saturday was the debut of my fantastic fluoro yellow skirt, and I'm now glad I went with the bright yellow instead of the mid blue I was going to get instead. The necklace is actually a piece of circuit board, and has gotten comments from customers at work and strangers on the train. For all Brendan's faults (of which there are few), he has amazing taste in jewellery. It's also his birthday today, but I don't get to see him because I'm playing at my old high school's presentation night tonight.

- Robyn

Comic Relief

So, at the moment I'm going for a new job, a customer service position for a Government agency. As of half an hour ago I found out I'd gotten to the next stage of interviews (yay!), having not sucked in the group interview yesterday. Where I had a cold, and had to borrow a suit. Namely, my mum's. Funnily enough, as a waitress/mediocre musician I own not a skerrick of corporate wear. Now, my mum is a pretty stylin' woman (I believe the term is 'uncommonly fetching mama') as the photo below shall prove:



And she looks awesome in her suit. I, on the other hand, looked like I was playing dress ups:



I think I have to get used to this corporate clothing business (oh, and buy stuff what actually fits if I get the job).

- Robyn

PS Cepacol throat lozenges are the weirdest things ever. They're anaesthetic to make your throat go numb but they also do it to your mouth, which is the strangest feeling.
PPS Not to sound like a revhead, but HOW COOL was Top Gear Australia on Monday night! Driving hands and feet free around that Holden test track was rather awesome, as was lawn bowls with Astras.

So you think you can sew?

Well, actually, I really can't sew very well. A few buttons here and there is the extent of my seamstress skills, but I'm determined that this year is the year that I learn how to sew. I've got a couple of dress patterns yearning to be made up, but have started for my first project with the old converting jeans into a skirt trick. These comfy and trusty old Levis saw me through most of high school, but years of wear and tear and badly frayed inner leg seams saw them retired a while ago. Now I'm hoping I can breathe new life into them, with my wonky handstitching (our sewing machine is broken) and a bit of a crooked hem (I just realised that after taking the photo. oh well).



It's taking me quite a while what with hand stitching as slow as I do, but I'm hoping to have it done by the end of the week(!).

- Robyn

PS Thankyou for all the birthday wishes everyone! Unfortunately my brother's birthday present to me was his cold, so I have been spending the day napping, watching TV and sewing. Quiet dinner tonight and Top Gear Australia - woot!

I'm baa-aack!

Hi guys, glad to be back and hope everyone's been well. This is part of the reason why I haven't posted in a couple of weeks:



My mum went rather unexpectedly to hospital a couple of weeks ago having suffered a minor heart attack (she's completely fine now and was only in for a couple of days). It's not every day you get to ride in a turbocharged Mercedes Benz, but next time I would like to be in a sports car rather than the front seat of an ambulance with my mum being poorly in the back. Unsurprisingly, I haven't really thought much about clothes the past couple of weeks (apart from when everyone in my household started clamouring for clean underwear and I spent an evening doing neglected laundry).

Anyway, before all the drama in my house, it was my dad's birthday and my first attempt at orange and poppyseed cake. As with all of my cooking adventures it would not be complete without a very cute apron my grandmother gave to me a few years ago:





That was two weeks ago...it really has been a long time! Today was really the first day I wore something other than the least smelly jeans and t-shirt from the piles of clothing on my floor (my aunty and uncle came to look after my mum from Singapore, which meant my sister was on a mattress on my floor and I couldn't open any cupboards).


Singlet - Cotton On; Skirt - from an old dress; Cardigan - Jay Jays; Shoes - Rubi; glasses - Dotti.

I've also had a haircut but it's hard to see there. It's also hard to style. I'm not sure I like it but oh well.

Kat trying to disguise her poorly cut work trousers with some leaping about:


It's my birthday tomorrow, and I'm taking next Saturday night off work to go out. I've got an AWESOME fluoro yellow denim skirt from American Apparel (so freaking expensive, but I do love it) which will be making its debut then, but hopefully I'll be back to wearing interesting outfits before then...so long as no more members of my family are carted off in ambulances that is...take care!

- Robyn

Hiatus

Hey guys,

Just letting you all know that I won't be able to blog this week, but will be back next week with some new posts. Take care til then.

- Robyn

Two Kinds of Right

Woohoo! My internet connection is finally working again (I think) so hello and sorry for not updating or reading many blogs this week, I'm back with a vengeance now! Just a quick one with Sunday's and today's outfits.

Sunday we went to St Kilda (again) to meet up with some friends visiting from Auckland. Ate at Big Mouth, great food and slow service because of a busy day but they shouted us coffees so we didn't mind. Their BLT is ah-sum, as was Brendan's pumpkin and coconut soup, which I ended up finishing (I was kinda hungry). We tried a walk on the beach but it was terribly windy.


Dress - some surf shop; Jacket - Op Shop; Boots - Nine West

Today mum and I finally went to see the Art Deco exhibition at the NGV before it closes on Sunday. There were some beautiful pieces of art, furniture, cars and clothing - my favourite was a cream beaded dress which had a very clever effect to make the fabric look like it was folded in pleats. The weather started out nice but it's all grey and rainy now so I changed about four times before leaving the house.


Skirt - my sister's; Shirt - Jay Jays; Cardigan - Target; Shoes - Rubi.

Also, I've been meaning to post this but haven't been able to because of my dodgy connection, but the fabulous Laura from Jezzabelle's Women's Clothing Store has created a special discount coupon for all you bloggy blog readers. Use the code 'Chainstorewhore' to get a 10% discount - this also applies to sale items. There is some great stuff in the store and I am particularly loving this minidress from VOOM by Joy Han:

Cute, right? If I had the money to go to the races this year I'd wear that with ballet flats and gloves and a little headpiece. If only.

- Robyn

PS Two Kinds of Right is a Grates song - I'm seeing them next Friday! Yay! Anyone else going to that gig?

blahhhh

My internet connection has been super dodgy lately...everything's taking forever to load. I haven't been able to read many blogs because photos aren't appearing for me...sigh. I miss my bloggy goodness! Anyway here's what's been happening sartorially for my sister and I the last couple of amazingly warm days in Melbourne.


Dress, shoes and vest - Sportsgirl; sunnies - Dotti. Bad outfit choice - it was pretty windy and I walked around holding onto my skirt all day.


Dress - some surf shop; Top - Cotton On; Shoes - Converse

Yesterday Kat and I headed into the city to meet a friend (hi Jess if you're reading this) and score some bargains at the sales. I got a pretty awesome pair of purple faux snakeskin pumps from Myer for $17, and 2 check shirts from Jay Jays for $25...lucky I waited so long to get them. We also went into the magnificence which is the new Sportsgirl store on Bourke St. I can imagine injuring my already dying bank account there once I start working more hours, and had to tear myself away from a sparkly Minty Meets Munt miniskirt.

Shorts - Target; T-shirt - Billabong; Shoes - Big W

Kat likes to jump, even after eating lunch.

Shorts - Sportsgirl; T-shirt - Target; Shoes - Converse.

Today I took my grandmother to lunch in Springvale for enormous bowls of Vietnamese Pho so dressed down a bit...the AFL Grand Final's just started and apparently we're watching it. I feel like a country music star, especially in my Wranglers, which are lovely and soft and dangerously close to developing a hole in the crotch after three years of wear and tear....sob.

Jeans - Wrangler; Singlet - Cotton On; Shirt - Jay Jays; Sunnies - Target; Guitar (AKA my pride and joy) - Maton.

- Robyn

Today's outfit

Man today was SLOW at work. I spent my whole shift cleaning and reorganising stuff. My boss is back from his month or so in Europe (lucky guy) and says he will start giving me more shifts next week...one can only hope as I am flatter than flat broke at the moment and a Nine West has opened next door as is mocking me with its brightly coloured shoes and doodads. Kat and I went for coffee this afternoon to make the most of the absolutely beautiful weather and made fools of ourselves singing random songs there and back (half an hour each way).


Dress - Secondhand; Belt - Vintage; Jacket - Op Shop; Sunnies - Dotti.
I also wore my sportsgirl gladiator sandals and they are super comfy and didn't give me blisters so I'm happy :) I felt like I was going to go to a summer music festival in my outfit - the dress is just above knee length and very light thin cotton.


Kat suiting the colour scheme in a Cotton On top.

Nice weather the next couple of days here in Marvellous Melbourne - hopefully I can come up with some good outfits to match!

- Robyn

St Kilda Sun

Today Brendan and I decided to head into the city for lunch. We were going to take the train, then figured we could probably drive, but after 45 minutes of being stuck in jams and finding car parks which charged an arm and a leg (literally) decided to high tail it back to St Kilda away from the hordes of suits and high school kids on holiday. Hopefully I looked suitably indie, although St Kilda is so gentrified these days it hardly matters. We had pretty good Mexican food at Amigos and picked up some goodies for a friend's new flat at the homewares store. And it was much nicer than being in the city.


Grates T-shirt - from a gig; Cardigan - Jay Jays; Jacket - Big W; Jeans - Sportsgirl; Belt - Some market; Glasses - Dotti; Shoes - Converse.


I wanted to go to Luna Park but Brendan said no.


Brendan in his very restrained colour palette.

- Robyn

SUNday and a costume odyssey.

Yesterday was quite nice as far as Melbourne spring Sundays go. Mum and I were going to go to the Art Deco exhibition at the NGV but arrived a little late so decided instead to kick back with hot chocolate, coffee and a cheese platter at Walter's Wine Bar. Excellent hot chocolate (my mouth is watering just thinking about it), delicious cheeses, SLOWEST service ever. I had to chop my head out of the photo because it was weird looking (weirder than usual, I mean), but came outside for a photo for the first time - just to prove my house has an outside.


Dress - Supre; Cardigan - Jay Jays; Belt - Vintage; Scarf - Vintage; Shoes - Rubi.

I have also been inspired by the gorgeous Rachael of The Life Aesthetic, who posted some very cute photos of her as Alice from Alice in Wonderland, to post a couple of photos of various costumes I've worn over the past couple of years. I like to dress up, what can I say.


My birthday last year, a friend's house, alcohol, a gachupin suit. Recipe for awesome!


Chinese New Year's parade in the city this year. I got the papier mache goat, lucky me!


Every year our family goes away with a bunch of other families for an Easter weekend of fun, and the last night is always a costume party. This time the theme was loud - I went as a shiny space alien robot and my sister was some crazy ass Japanese girl.


At the first Split Enz gig in Auckland this year. Apparently heaps of people dressed up in full costume and makeup for the Wellington and Christchurch gigs, but in Auckland I was one of two people who made the effort. Funnily enough people were giving me weird looks all night. Blouse - Cotton On; Shorts - Roxy; Tights - Target; Shoes - Joto; Bag - Rip Curl; Glasses - Aotea Square Market (I smashed out the lenses).


Split Enz, 2nd gig - It would be remiss of me not to wear a different costume! Vintage dress of my mum's.

For anyone who's never heard of Split Enz, they were a seminal New Zealand band of the 70s and 80s. Tim and Neil Finn were both in it, and Neil went on to form Crowded House (the lineup of which included Tim at one point). They used to wear some crazy and wonderful theatrical costumes courtesy of percussionist Noel Crombie:

So I wasn't just dressing up for no reason!

- Robyn

Everything old is new again

On my recent jaunt to Ballarat, I picked up, along with that awesome denim jacket, a perhaps not quite so awesome skirt. On the hanger it looked fine, a dark blue floral print maxi skirt, so I ponied up $7 and thought no more about it until I got home and put it on. Turns out it's size 18 and as such has an enormous amount of unflattering hip accentuating fabric billowing out of the waist. I have absolutely no idea how to sew (except for perhaps the odd button) so was prepared to send it back to charity, then on a whim, hoicked it up over a shoulder, added a belt and voila:


Sandals - Sportsgirl; Belt - some market.

What was a hideously unflattering skirt is now (with the addition of one little crafty safety pin) a cute one shouldered dress. I'm waiting for some warm weather now.

Meanwhile yesterday my sister was taking advantage of her 50s curls, which with the assistance of half a can of hairspray survived the night:


Top - Cotton On; Cardgian - Target; Jeans - Sportsgirl; Shoes - Myer.

Unfortunately my sister and I are different sizes, which means we can't really share dresses. I stole her Stella dress to try on but could only make it work by cinching it at the back. Sigh. Curse my flat chestedness.

It works so well with my Hot Topic combat boots, yes?

Anyway last night I was meant to be working but it was terribly quiet at the restaurant (combination of footy finals and school holidays) so I got off at 8:30 and headed into the city for drinks. I probably could have used my cardigan but didn't want to have to lug it around in a bar. We went to this classy place on Lonsdale Street called Seamstress, all decorated with chinese silk garments and bolts of fabric and wooden tiles. There's a sister bar downstairs called Sweatshop, which we didn't visit, but imagined that the drinks would be served by big eyed skinny five year olds chained to the bar and cowering in the presence of their sinister middle aged boss. Or maybe not.


Skirt, T-shirt and Jacket - Jay Jays; Shoes - Rubi; Bag - vintage.

- Robyn

Yesterday's outfits

Sorry for not updating for a little while, I couldn't find my camera. And completely off topic, but the new iTunes is AWESOME. That Genius playlist thing - Genius! Anyway. My little sister Kat had a partay to go to last night where they decided to get all glammed up (I guess when you're underage this is meant to be fun) which for me meant an hour or so of hair and makeup to achieve the 50s glam look she wanted.


Dress - Stella; Shoes - Betts; Shoobits - a gift from the fabulous Fashion Hayley.

I had optimistically dressed for a warm day which turned into rather a cool evening. Oh and I had my hair cut on Thursday. I didn't really know what I wanted so I just told my hairdresser to go for it, and came out with a rather modish bob - I feel like I'm channeling Miss Karen :)

Dress - a market in Malaysia; Belt - Vintage; Jacket - Op Shop; Shoes - Rubi.

- Robyn

A party and the ballet.

On Sunday the lovely Fashion Hayley held a spring fashion week party at her amazingly decorated apartment. I was admittedly slightly nervous to be meeting such stylish bloggers but had a wonderful time talking about everything and eating delicious food that everyone brought, playing pin the pussy bow on the blouse (which was very funny!) and playing with Hayley's adorable dog Hachiko. Hayley was the perfect hostess so many thanks to her for hosting such a great event.


L-R: Super Kawaii Mama, Lady Melbourne, me, Fashion Hayley, Esme And The Laneway, Aus Style.

Phew! That was a lot of HTML. The dress code was our interpretation of spring trends, so I wore high waisted denim shorts belted with a red plaited leather belt and a floral blouse from Target, my trusty green Jay Jays cardigan and silver ballet flats (I forgot to take a proper outfit photo, sorry!).


Lady Melbourne and Hachiko


Hayley pinning the pussy bow on the blouse


Super Kawaii Mama, colour coordinated even when blindfolded!


Hayley's gorgeous little papillon Hachiko

Tonight we went to the ballet to see Manon, last one of the season...always a slightly melancholy affair. I'd been dying to wear this dress ever since I bought it for $20 at Target...like a year ago...so tonight was finally the night! Sadly I didn't get to wear it with ballet flats because of the abysmal weather (gale force arctic winds for anyone lucky enough to not be in Melbourne today) so I ended up looking like a Pirate Madam.


Dress - Gail Sorronda for Target; Boots - Basque; Necklace - Mum's.


Yay for spinny big skirts!

My sister continued the theme of spinny big skirts with a skirt I bought from modcloth.com a while ago and haven't managed to wear - it hits mid calf and is terribly unflattering on me. I have to get it shortened.

Skirt - Modcloth.com; Top - Cotton On; Jacket - Miss Shop.

Hmmm I just realied Kathryn is wearing all my clothes...

- Robyn

Spring has sprung!

Yesterday in Melbourne was amazing! It was 25 degrees with just the right temperature breeze, and sunny and completely perfect. And of course, I was stuck in the bloody restaurant covering for someone. sigh. At least it meant I had last night off (which is not a hugely common occurence) so me and the boy headed into the city for dinner, and found this tiny little Japanese place on Corrs lane where we stuffed ourselves (well not really) with gyoza, sushi and daifuku with ice cream. We met up with a friend and on such a mild night the best place to be was outside James Squire Brewhouse with pints (for the boys) and pots (for me) of some fine beer. Like...Golden Ale or something (I can't remember now). Thanks to my responsible boyfriend, I had Panadol and water before bed and woke up with only a bit of a hangover to come home and make brownies :)

Hope the rain stays away today!


Skirt - Jay Jays; Top - mum's; Jacket - Op Shop; Bag - Rip Curl; Necklace - Kookai; Shoes - Rubi.


Flinders Street Station, 12:03 am (we're old and like to get home early).

And Sushi modelling a new season scarf from Sportsgirl:

I think she pretty much has the blue steel look down pat.

- Robyn