uke love

I recently got a ukulele, after suffering severe music playing withdrawal symptoms when I was overseas late last year and had no access to a musical instrument. This will prevent that woeful situation from ever happening again, hopefully. So far I can play 'Dream a Little Dream of Me' and 'Imagine', and I'm learning 'Toxic' (yes, as in the Britney Spears song).

I'm also wearing ridiculous shoes today because I probably won't leave the house until I go to my local Indian tonight for Vindaloo Against Violence. I've had these shoes for more than a year and have worn them maybe three times. I had forgotte all about them but just found them when I was looking for tap shoes.


Top: G2000; Skirt: Ice; Shoes: RMK; Ukulele: Mahalo

Pls ignore laundry and general mess. thks.



Also, a friend of mine has pointed me out to an uber uber UBER cool company called Dashing Tweeds, who make bespoke tweeds, including a fabulous fabric called Lumatwill, which looks like normal tweed during the day, but by night or when using flash photograhy, reveals reflective amazingness - perfect for some smart and safe cycling clothes. You can check them out here. They also have a range of beautifully tailored garments for men and women. I'm absolutely in love with their Lumatwill Cape, although at 400 quid I fear it may be out of my price range...


How perfectly lovely!

- Robyn

Of mice and women

Hello lovelies,

I had my last day at BMW yesterday... :( I'm sad to leave there but it just won't work for uni. They said I can come back any time though and they'll find a job for me...That's pretty cool! They also gave me an X6...ok so it was a model of an X6 but anyway...

Here's what I wore on my last day:


Blouse: Quirky Circus; Skirt: Jay Jays; Vest: Dotti; Shoes: Sportsgirl.

Close up of the shoes:

I heart them so much. I'm considering getting them in tan as well.

And here are my two adorable little guy mice, Leopold and Magnus:


They're having a nap in their new mouse palace.

I was going to write more but I have a splitting headache...it's the heat! Tonight I'm going to the Blue Tile Lounge to see my friend Penelope play with her awesome disco band Knight at the Discotheque, then tomorrow I'm life modelling for a friend...how arty of me!

- Robyn

Today's outfit

I seriously can't think of a witty title today my lovelies...I was up at 5:45am to do my uni timetable. I somehow got Mondays and Thursdays off, which hopefully bodes well for a job I'm going for...if the manager who interviewed me ever returns my calls! Tomorrow's my last day at BMW....*sniff*. I've enjoyed this job a lot but it's full time and just won't work with my uni hours. Lucky person who takes over my position...

My only gripe is a pretty common office one...namely that the offices are FREEZING. It's warm and sunny outside and even in my outfit I was shivering all day.



Dress: Witchery; Cardigan: Jay Jays; Sunnies: Oakley; Shoes: Steve Madden.



I honestly don't know what I'm going to do when I wear this cardigan out...I bought it five years ago for $5. It's still going strong...also I have a scary addiction to mirrored sunglasses. Luckily I only bought one ridiculously expensive pair of Oakley Frogskins off eBay...the rest are all cheap knockoffs.

And being all topical, how FREAKING AWESOME is the American winter olympic team's snowboarding uniform for Vancouver...Gore-tex jeans!? Genius! Pure genius. I want a pair SO badly.



If Burton ever sell these to the public, I'm sooo buying some...because I go skiing all the time, *sigh*. Maybe I'll save them for when I other live in Europe or for when I defer uni for a year to live as a chalet girl in the French Alps...

- Robyn

Blingy nails!

After reading Super Kawai Mama's latest blog entry I remembered that I bought some nail jewels while I was in Singapore. I'm kind of fascinated by this particular form of adornment so last night I decided to go for it and bling my nails up. It's a bit of a rough job but maybe with practice I'll get better. Kind of weird having super bumpy nails as well. I'll see how long they last before I rip one off accidentally stuffing my hand in my pocket.



Incidentally, the nail colour is Shortcake from Sportsgirl...picked it up on sale so not sure if they have it anymore, but they do make some cute colours. I'd stay away from the pale, matte ones though...they don't go on very evenly.

For the last two weeks I've been working at my local BMW as Service Concierge...it's just a temporary position while they look for someone permanent. My last day is this Friday. I'm going to miss getting paid $25 an hour to meet and greet customers in the morning then spend the rest of the day on the phone to the previous day's customers, but I'm not going to miss 7:30am starts (even if they do come with 3:30pm finishes!). I had to do an emergency corporate wardrobe search as I'd not worn my work clothes since quitting Centrelink in late November, but I think I'm making a passable effort.


Blouse: Witchery; Skirt: some hippy shop in Newtown, Sydney; Shoes: Steve Madden.

I'm going to dinner tonight with some girlfriends...would much rather heat up a bowl of leftover pasta and watch the winter olympics, but that's not deemed socially acceptable...maybe I will have a nap before dinner. I'm so rock and roll.

- Robyn

I heart Sportsgirl shoes

I find their clothes can be a bit overpriced, but Sportsgirl shoes are absolutely where it's AT. I just got these adorable black leather oxfords - very useful for my current (and unfortunately very temporary) job as Service Concierge at my local BMW dealership, because I spend the first three hours of every morning standing up and ballet flats just don't cut it then, and I'm lusting after their black suede high heeled over the knee boots like nothing else.





Tres adorable, non? I've worn them out (apart from work) once, and already got comments on them. When I finally get paid for my job, after paying off all my debts, those OTK boots are MINE.

- Robyn

I'm baa-aack!

Hello my darling blog readers, yes all two of you,

After a long, long absence, I am back in the blogosphere. I do apologise for leaving without so much as a goodbye, but I trust that my sister Kathryn has been taking good care of the place while I've been gone, and to be honest most of the interesting stuff I got last year she's posted in her outfits anyway.

Last year I worked full time for Centrelink, a job which I would wish on very few people. It takes a special sort of person to withstand 7 and a half hours of phone abuse every day, and I am not one of those special people, but having worked there gives me a new admiration for anyone who can. Sartorially speaking, I saw a big change in my wardrobe, from good excuse to play dressups to something a little bit more corporate. I also didn't feel I could post a lot of my outfits, seeing as I went from Jay Jays and Kmart to Witchery and Cue, which are arguably chain stores, but not in the super tight budget way that was the original spirit of this blog.

HOWEVER. This year I'm returning to full time study, and having so far been unable to find a job to see me through the year, I've dived back into chainstore shopping with a vengeance. I'm starting an Automotive Engineering degree at RMIT in the city in a couple of weeks time, which admittedly is not the most conducive environment for some of my more...shall we say....creative styles, hopefully once my fellow engineering geeks are used to me I can slowly start breaking out the fun stuff again.

Anyway, this blog is worthless without pics, so I humbly present to you a selection of my most recent chainstore purchases:




Enjoying a terribly civilised day at the tennis. T-shirt: Cotton On Body; Skirt: Dangerfield; Cardigan: Country Road; Hat: Mimco (which was reduced from $230 to $50. Yeeeahhhhh.)




Braving a night out in the city in heels - I am not a heels wearer. For good reason. Dress: Charlie Brown (OK again not a chain store, but it was $25 down from $200....); Heels: Rubi; Bag: vintage.




Another night out on the town...dress: H&M; Bag: Vintage.

I went to Europe in December, a few days in Paris, skiing in the French Alps and a week in London. This blog would be a lot easier to write if I lived over there....Primark and H&M are possibly my two favourite shops in the world. When the cooler weather comes my Primark purchases will almost certainly be making an appearance...

- Robyn

The last dregs of spring..

From an extremely warm day yesterday to cold and rainy today, spring is seeping into the first days of summer. I guess we should be thankful for it because we are definitely in for a VERY hot summer. The Sartorialist is in Melbourne for his book signing and i was planning to go after some goodbye drinks for a friend, however, although i'm an adult, mum wouldn't let me go by myself. So i was stuck in an overly dressed outfit for drinks at my friends place. oh well. 

blazer: G2000, t shirt: Bonds, skirt: Alannah Hill,flats: Tony Bianco

to market, to market

Queen Vic markets have awesome night markets every wednesday until February 24th, there's heaps of food, music and the atmosphere is unbelievable. The police band plays and they have songs from the 50's to now. For example they played I'm a Believer by the Monkees and then Good Girls Go Bag by Cobrastarship! And they're really good!

                                      scarf: mum's, t-shirt: Bonds, shorts: Espirit, sandals: Big W, bag: Fossil

I bought a bag from Alannah Hill, i just couldn't resist.  I'd spotted it in Brisbane and was going to save money for it first then buy it in Melbourne, but the day after i get home i get a text from the store, "20% storewide at Chadstone store today only!" and next thing i know i'm rushing off with mum and bought the bag (plus a skirt...:P)                  sunnies: Oakley, top: (unknown), shorts: Espirit, bag: Alannah Hill, sandals: Big W

Back of the top:

i love this bag so much...*sigh*

Yay for Big W!

i love cheap finds in stores like Target and Big W (hence the chain-store whore...), surprisingly through i found Big W had better stuff and cheaper too! I'd been looking for a cheap pair of sandals that don't look half bad and i think i did pretty well for $24.99...

  sunnies: Urban Outfitters, top: Big W, belt: Portmans, shorts: Jay Jays

sandals: Big W

I had to wear the belt otherwise it looked like i was wearing a REALLY short dress...

SCHOOLIES 09!!

So, my schooling life has come to a close and to stay with the Australian tradition, i went to schoolies. I wasn't planning to go at all actually. I couldn't afford it and i was going to get my wisdom teeth out! But i canceled my operation because my surgeon is retiring and dad wanted to take me up to coolum anyway to check out the golf course he'll be competing at next year. and coincidentally all my friends were partying it up in Noose, a 15 minute drive away! So i planned with two friends to surprise the girls and i made it to Schoolies 09!
The weather was fabulous resulting in a magnificent tan which will last for the rest of summer. Now i've got my sister brigning me 50SPF back from Singapore so i don't get skin cancer. Some people complain of not tanning at all, i complain because i tan WAY to easily. The photo i have of this dress isn't fantastic. Because it's so dark you can't really see how well my tan goes with the yellow :P
dress: Peter Alexander
My sister and i are going through a Peter Alexander craze. We've bought a day&night playsuit and 2 day dresses. Loving the new day stuff, all bright and colourful for summer :D

7 days!

7 days of school to go! 

then exams...then I'M FREE!!

Found this and realised i never posted it:

                       top: Target, pink croptop: Bonds, belt: unknown, jeans: Lee, shoes: Alannah Hill

The Ultimate Party Frock

It started off with me wanting a black tulle skirt, nice and puffy and not too pricey. but the closest thing i found was $200+! So, i set my heart on making my own, and to my surprise, it took me an hour and cost me only $16.50 and it is PERFECT. Chance would have it, my dad bought a really beautiful necklace for my mum, which i was given permission to wear before her. A week before Lucy and Alice's 18th, i had planned my ultimate party outfit. and voila:
leotard: Bloch, skirt: ME!, bolero: Review, shoes: Steve Madden

The necklace:


I had to wear a skirt underneath coz it was a bit see-through and i was crossing my fingers that i wouldn't have to go to the bathroom the whole night because i was wearing a leotard! I got compliments on my outift the whole night, and minus the necklace, its one of the cheapest ones in my closet!

Chrystie's 18th

This was a few weeks ago now but i haven't had a chance to post it.
The shoes got cut out of the photo but they are the same one's i wore for my birthday (previous post)
hat: Mimco, bolero: Portmans, dress: Cue, shoes: Steve Madden

i'm mourning the loss of Steve Madden, one of their shops was right next to the restaurant i worked at and so wheneve i served someone outside i always got to look at gorgeous shoes. and the shop assistant, gave THE BEST discounts for my sister and i.

I'm finally 18!!!

Yay the day has come and gone, not without the party though! After working on my parents i managed to have a 60 person party at our house. It was epic. Especially my cake. I had a TARDIS from Doctor Who. It began to tilt dangerously on one side and BARELY made the cake cutting! Afterward my sister took me gay clubbing with my cousin and it was hilarious.
My workmates are the bomb. They got me a chocolate mousse cake at work, a bunch of roses and a cd. and of course special treatment throughout the day (ie. lots and lots of food, i work in an italian restaurant)
My dress was one of my highlights. As a present from my family i got the Meet For Tea Cake Dress from Alannah Hill and a belt.
dress and belt: Alannah Hill, shoes: Steve Madden

My friends were amazing and got me a Fossil handbag (which i confess i did ask for), a $200 Alannah Hill gift card, $300 (for travelling next year) and other little tid bits.

I LOVE the Spring/Summer collection Alannah Hill has designed. I've already selected a a cardi to get with my voucher, the Face to Face Cardi in cherry. yay for spring!

Just out for the day...

Just going to the shopping centre to print out my invites and get ingredients for a hospitality mocktails assessment.... jumper: Country Road, jeans: Sportsgirl, shoes: Big W, scarf: Unknwon

If you ever go past an Evia yoghurt place try the tiramisu yoghurt. 96% fat free heaven.

Girls and their cars....

Apart from my love of clothing, i also love cars (and a big, healthy dose of scifi -I LOVE DR WHO). The love began last year when my sister really started getting into it. We'd watch Top Gear every week, gushing over the Maseratis, Aston Martins and Mercedes etc. Then this year we got into motorsport, first Formula 1 then everything else (we can get a bit obsessive but it wouldn't be a passion any other way would it?)
So it was a dream come true when my friend's dad offered to give us a ride in the new Camaro that has come out in America only recently and not in Australia yet. There's only 8 in Oz at the moment and we got to ride in one. Its the same car as Bumblebee in Transformers, it was even the same bright yellow (just minus the racing stripes). I could go on forever, but long story short, IT WAS AMAZING. (we even had little kids taking photos of us in the car next door!) dress: Kookai, shoes: Basque, car: Camaro

Afterwards i had an 18th to go to (there are still plenty more to come, as well as mine!!) It was a massive Greek-fest and it was AWESOME. the food was phenomenal and the dancing was insane. i got to do the zorba and other traditional dances, it got a bit dangerous as there were 30+ girls in stilettos tittering around in a circle, a girl's foot got stabbed. I think i stepped on my own toes a few times...so painful...

Fluro to Vintage

Friday night saw the annual Year 7 social between my school and our brother school. Hormones were raging at the BGS centenary hall, the fluro theme brought plenty of glowsticks and FGS contributed the dj. Epic. Fail. He's a cool guy but if he keeps calling out "What's up Brighton!!!" i will actually make sure he gets no more gigs. It was actually a really fun night being a chaperone. I danced on stage in front of a lot of my teachers. How embarrassing. I left the social at 8.30 to head off to yet another 18th. It was Vintage/Op Shop themed so i donned a mod-60s-esque look. (i had forgotten about the fluro theme of my 'before party')
t-shirt: Bonds, skirt: Volcom, flats: Betts, headband: unknown

You unfortunately cant see my earrings and make up too well. The earrings are the only authentic vintage i have, i think. Just some black and white metal circles

Girls Night Out

Yesterday night was Ellie's 18th. For once we got to enjoy a night out (well actually a night in) with just us girls and party the nigh away. I took advantage of the guy-free zone by wearing an extremely short dress, confident that i wouldn't catch any wondering eyes. I went for a 60s-mod look. Unfortunately the toll of having a party on friday, work on saturday then a party that night was that i was really pooped the whole evening. But i had my party hard moments and had fun taking ultimate jumping shots on the trampoline...
jacket: Jay Jays, dress: Fusion (Target), heels: Wittner
(i can't work out where my right foot went....)

No, you girls will never know how you make a boy feel

It has started. The overly productive parents of christmas and new years have thrust upon us the wrath of countless 18th birthday parties. For the next 10 weeks i have 12 18th birthday parties (including my own). A few weekends have 2 18ths! Everyone in my group is suffering from the annual birthday bankrupcy. Last night was James' 18th, my first party with the new hair, which i was very excited about. i had slept in braids overnight and wore them all day at school to 'curl' my hair. Tonight i have Ellie's 18th!dress: Basque, shoes: Wittner