It finally happened! We finally got some cool weather. As I type this my toes are cold AND I put a cardigan on. I mean, it’s pretty much peak winter over here. Haha. This was great news because I’d been sent (for free, to be clear) a bunch of new season clothing from a few brands and they’d been mocking me in the corner as I sweated my way through some unseasonable warmth.
But my time has come.
Their time, I guess.
On the weekend the knit joggers paired with their slouchy split side top and the white haven emporium patchwork cape. Let’s face it, the cape was a little optimistic, it wasn’t that cold, but it dressed up the outfit enough for us to grab an early dinner in the clothes we’d been lounging about the house in (hence the joggers are a little saggy at the knees).
How’s THAT for a cold weather outfit win?
I’m just going to blatantly rave about these joggers for a moment. You need them. Short version. Change your life, get these babies. The like jeans. Cool jeans with awesome knees stitching and such. BUT they feel like you’re wearing tracksuit pants. I ordered the size 24, which would be my true size at this point. After a day sitting and working in them, they had given a bit in the seat and at the knees, so if you’re borderline size-wise, don’t go up! That’s my hot tip.
I ordered the size 24, which would be my true size at this point. After a day sitting and working in them, they had given a bit in the seat and at the knees, so if you’re borderline size-wise, don’t go up! That’s my hot tip. If you love your anti-fit jeans, you’re going to adore these. Trust Aunty Suger. Haha.
Wearing White Haven Emporium Patchwork Cape in Grey, 17 Sundays Split Sleeve Top and Blaster Knit Joggers.
This week I’ve been approached regarding three denim and jean launches, which is great news for my business, but maaaaan, it’s a billion degrees. And yes I know this is content for the cooler months to come, but I can’t help but think do I have to? Haha. It’s hot. And when it’s hot, you’ll find me in a casual summer dress.
Every.
Single.
Time.
Case in point, this awesomeness from 17 Sundays. They really do keep me in stripe heaven. The back of this dress HAS to be seen (there’s a photo below) and all in all, I’m in love. I’m wearing the Medium, though my normal size is the Large. You’ll see on the model the more relaxed fit.
Which, you know, jeans aren’t. Not for me anyway.
Especially since I’ve been doing my very best job of eating and drinking all the things. At this stage, I’d be lucky if my jeans from last winter button up. Whoops. Ah well, you win some, you lose some. Thank goodness for the summer dress. Which, I am literally wearing right now, in front of a fan because HEATWAVE. That’s why.
Oh, and don’t worry. I’ve looked at the denim launch stuff and will make sure I say yes to some. Because I know you guys are into jeans I will suffer through wearing them on a 40-degree day for photos to bring to you in the coming months. I’m just that kind of girl. Haha. You’re welcome. Anything else you want to see? Snow gear perhaps? Haha.
Wearing 17 Sundays Double Layer Tee Dress and my Converse. Of course. Always.
Welcome back, ladies and gentleman. Here we are, and it’s already the end of January. Some fashion bloggers had their first outfit posts live on New Years Day. I envy those people; I used to be organised like them. Ahhh, the good old days. But enough of that lamenting the good old days, let’s get reacquainted.
How are you!? How is 2017 treating you so far?
I’m doing well if I’m honest, coming down from this blah feeling I had in 2016 took some time. But I’ve bounced back well with some sunshine and lots of visits to the beach. I took the time to focus on what the heck I needed to let go of moving into 2017 and what it is I wanted out of this year.
It has gone a long way to helping me feel less like my life is stuck in a rut.So that’s good news. Already I feel able to write, to be busy without anxiety and to create. If you haven’t done an exercise like that, I recommend doing one now. Complete 2016 and create a plan for 2017.
As part of that, I selected a word for the year, and I chose FULL. Which probably needs some explaining but I’m not in the mood to do so. Haha. Maybe another day. This post is already pretty heavy update going for an outfit post.
Back to getting into 2017, I even found myself dealing with the conversations regarding in inauguration okay. Which is a nice change from the state of disbelief and general WTF’ing I was doing before, don’t you think?
I find it hard to express why it’s impacted me as much as it has, but it did. I’m sure I’m not the only one. But onwards we march, and for plenty of us, that means literally. There’s something inherently optimistic in the air, and I’m going to run with it.
So what’s the outfit?
Well, it’s just a simple summer dress, tucked into my trusty 17 Sundays denim skirt (if you ever find one of these for sale or if they restock, get yourself one, so good) with sneakers. A very summer me outfit. Casual and comfortable has been the order of the day, I’m not sure if you heard, but Queensland has been kicking our ASS heat wise lately. It hurts. Send iced beverages and air con repair men.
I’m not sure if you heard, but Queensland has been kicking our ASS heat wise lately. It hurts. Send iced beverages and air con repair men. It’s been a wee bit unbearable. Even steadfast, born and bred Queenslanders like me, used to weathering the storm, have been wilting and threatening to perish.
But don’t worry too much, I caught a break in the weather and we shot some photos. So brace yourself for the blog to be back to its regular programming. I’m planning to do right by the blog in 2017, so watch this space! And if you made it this far (well done, firstly) make sure you let me know how your summer has been so far.
Wearing Avella for BigW Dress (as top – sold out online, try this or in store), 17 Sundays Denim Skirt (sold out) and Converse Sneakers.
And yeah, did you notice? Undone shoelace. I’m all over this details thing. Gosh.
Winter finally dipped a tentative toe into the waters that are my hometown this week. We even lit the fireplace a couple of times. Whoa. Progress. So when I took an early mark from work (post-holiday blues have hit me hard), Mr Suger and I decided to grab some dinner out and forget our grown-up problems for a few hours. Because that’s what grown-ups do.
We settled for sushi at our local with nothing to see at the local cinema and a cold evening settling in. And sushi always calls for the slouchy, stretchy goodness that is my current favourite. So, excited to pull out some cold-weather gear, I went straight for pleather leggings and a slouchy knit. The slouchy knit happens to be a dress, actually, but well, at 178cm, it’s a little short on me but works well as a tunic. It’s super cosy.
And I wore sneakers because my boot situation has hit critical levels. I have my Bared Footwear boots (too flat, too black for this outfit) and my ancient Bare Foot Tess nude boots (too dirty from work visits). But that is IT! Last season I had like ten pairs of boots. I’ve let my boot game slide as I’ve worn down all my favourites until they met an untimely end in the wheelie bin. Someone remind me to go boot shopping, please? Seriously, seen any great ones about?
But yes, outfit. And since I was all dressed up, my hair had been washed and dealt with. I grabbed the camera on the way out the door; we diverted past my new favourite grey wall and, hey presto, an outfit post. A side order of isn’t our life interesting and worthy of a blog post since we went out and got dinner. Blog life, man, blog life. Haha.
Wearing 17 Sundays Ankle Freezer Coated Leggings and Knot Front Dress (sold out, try the slouchy black tee for the same sort of look) and my trusty (somewhat crusty) Converse sneakers.
This grey skirt has been making the rounds on my Instagram lately. Mostly with a certain t-shirt with the F-bomb on the front. Which is pretty much my favourite tee of all time. So when I wore it again, with white this time, I thought why not post one more, man I love summer type outfit before we officially break out the boots for the year, yeah?
But what these photos don’t tell you is that by the time it came to take them on our way out to get dinner I was annoyed. I was annoyed at life, at how hot the day had been, at my car for being dirty, and especially at Mr Suger who was entertaining himself snapping photos of me being a grumpy bitch.
I’m not sure you can understand what goes on in my head sometimes. I get that Mr Suger taking photos is a favour to me. He doesn’t have to. Sure he loves me and should help me out, but he doesn’t HAAAAAVE to. I try to be grateful for how involved he is. How willingly involved he is. But some days I just huff and puff and eye roll and nothing can stop me.
And grateful, well that’s just a distant memory. Eeek.
Sooo, if I look a little grumpy, I am.
If you’ve noticed there are less photos than normal, there are.
But let’s face it, anytime you take a simple white tank, pair it with a simple grey skirt and some white converse sneakers, it must be documented. Even if you’re having a bitch fit and it’s being captured on camera. Maybe even especially if that happens so you can remember that you’re just a jerk with a keyboard. Not the Queen of Sheeba. And perhaps some humility would help. Right, Mr Suger? Haha.
Wearing Target Australia Basic Tank, ASOS Curve Wrap Midi Skirt and Converse Sneakers.
Mr Suger was not harmed in the making of this post.
This summer has been the summer of the double denim. Thanks to this skirt and a chambray tank, there has been very little else in high rotation over the past few months. You know, when I’m not wandering around my house in my swimmers because it’s a billion degrees of humid and I just couldn’t deal…
I was thinking about the double denim challenge with the Aussie Curves girls. Who remembers when that was the thing? Every Monday morning my post would be ready and raring to go. That post is from 2014 and I was well and truly into my love affair with denim on denim, shades of denim on shades of denim by then. But it’s fun to look back. I don’t even block it now, I’m all in.
Kinda like my white converse obsession.
Let me tell you, Mr Suger is regretting the day he purchased these babies. Haha. Not only because he’s had to remind me on more than one occasion that no, perhaps the converse aren’t exactly work shoes, nor are they suitable for weddings and such.
I’m nothing if not consistent. Haha. I take an outfit I like and I wear it over and over again. Have you seen my work outfit instagram hash tag? It’s pretty much the same handful of items over and over again. Because, well, I’m a creature of comfort and I know what I like.
And I REALLY like easy.
Wearing 17 Sundays All Night Printed Shirt (22) and Denim Skirt (22 – similar ), sneakers from Converse (as per).
Check out this very same outfit on Instagram if you want more detailed look at the shirt print/wash. The light this afternoon was nice, but a little full on for such things. You’ll also note the ponytail, it IS summer after all and we all know my hair can’t be trusted to behave for long in humidity. Haha.
When the fine folks at Boohoo offered me a few pieces from the new collection, it took me a little while to decide what I wanted. With an idea for an Australia Day post (that, whoops, never eventuated) I chose from red, white and blue sections of the websites. This top was something I came back to time and time again. Not really my style but I’d seen other plus bloggers wear the style, and I was curious enough to give it a go.
You know me, I’ll try anything once. Even girly maxi dresses. Ha!
When it arrived, I had big plans to throw it over some denim cut off shorts with my sneakers for some Australia Day festivities on the beach. But errr, those plans got cancelled and I was instead on the couch watching copious episodes of Vampire Diaries loitering on Snapchat watching everyone else have fun. Sigh. Such is life sometimes.
But that meant I had a little longer to decide how I wanted to style this rather unique looking top. I mean, most people can manage a thigh split, but a bra level split? Well, that’s a little different. It certainly was for me. And the more I thought of it, the more I decided to pair it with my 17 Sunday anti-fit jeans (the blue of the denim was just too perfect with the colour of the top) and my sneakers. I pinned my hair back because as you might notice from the photos, it was windy AF.
Even after I wore it, I still reached out to a friend to confirm that it worked. Was it just an attempt to force a trend piece into my wardrobe where it didn’t fit or was it actually (wait for it, eye rolls ready) cool? She assured me that the styling made it very me and that it worked. Satisfied with that I started to prepare this post. What would be my tips for incorporating a trend piece into your personal style? I came up with the following;
Looks familiar.
Build the outfit from pieces you often wear, even if it’s not the way that others have paired it before, by incorporating my jeans and sneakers (total wardrobe essentials for me) it made the whole thing very me, even though everything about the top isn’t.
Try it out.
Keep looking for different ways to style the piece and shuffle it around with items until you find something that works. This top would have looked great with the shorts; I think but I would have paired them with ankle boots now that I’ve thought about it more. Give it a more 90’s vibe. So if you have a new trend piece and it’s not working, keep looking for options within your personal style to make it work.
Phone a friend.
Ask a friend about it and not just in the do I look alright in this kind of way, but in the does it look like ME kind of way. Especially if you have rad fashionista friends as I do (and you do, my inbox is always open, ask away). Have some fun with it and get their suggestions keeping in mind that you want to look like an updated YOU not a trendy them.
Wearing Boohoo Split Side Maxi Top, 17 Sundays Anti-Fit Jeans, Converse Sneakers and Quay Australia Sunglasses (similar).
Well, like the title says, I feel like this outfit is a little bit dress up. Who from their 90’s childhood doesn’t remember overalls, overall-dresses and all that jazz? I know I do. So this is the outfit where I dress up like an extra from 90s TV. Haha. And you know the best part about it? I can.
I can do what I want while wearing a size 22/24*.
And the first time this look came around (in my lifetime) I couldn’t wear it. I was a 14/16 and that was the top end of the standard sizing. Throw in a long torso and well, I was up shit creek without an overall in site. And that’s the thing, right? These days thanks to the internet and a wee bit of diversity in the bodies being represented by fashion types, plus women get to wear whatever their heart desires.
I think of teenage me and her obsession with snap side ADIDAS track pants (my husband still wears those pants!) and all things sporty spice (later to become a beach babe version akin to baby spice with a tan, gag). I think of the cycles of disordered eating and mania driven over exercising and I think, maybe some overalls would have helped. Maybe she would’ve felt that little more acceptable if she could fit in. Less peasant skirts, less shopping in the men’s section, less limitations in general.
Everyone wants to fit in, right?
But thanks to that I learnt my lessons young and I learnt them hard. I wasn’t going to be the same as everyone else, so I sure as heck better figure out how I was going to be me. I shook off the ideas I’d formed early on about what I should and shouldn’t be and started to decide for myself. The problem was that I still didn’t have anywhere to buy those clothes that I WANTED to wear. There was never anything I wanted available when I wanted it.
Then at 20 something, I found ASOS. And bless that website, the rest is history. Next came plus blogging (read that post if you want to know how that happened), Facebook, Instagram, eBooks and Style Challenges… All the things. Until now, when I can stand in front of my (again ridiculously overfilled) wardrobe and say, who do I want to be today? What do I want to wear? Not, what fits? What would be appropriate? What can I hide or cover?
There’s freedom in that ladies and gents. I see the conversations around me every day. The things women talk about and berate themselves and others about. The conversation about size and shape and age and who is doing right and wrong and everything in between. My aim is for you to have some fun with fashion. Wear something that makes you laugh, smile, feel like the head boss of boss-town. Whatever.
And you might as well, we’ve never had it this good. And tomorrow, all going to plan, is going to be even better. Get on board. Show your teenage you some love. Let her take over the show and see what shows up. Who cares? Have fun. I highly recommend skirts that are (too? meh) short and sneakers that are white for that. Haha. But then, of course I would.
*Regular visitors will note this (my size) has increased a little. Whoops. Being totally accountable and all that, it doesn’t really work for me actually. I started this summer soooo unfit it’s not funny. Many near drownings at the pool since have whipped that a little bit into shape. But it’s like I’ve said time and time again. You have to invest this time in your health and well-being. Only you know how and when you body feels good to live in. I highly recommend getting yours moving if it hasn’t been.
Heya team. I’ve devised a new strategy for getting more outfit photos on the blog more often. It’s this white wall. The light is always pretty good and it means Mr Suger and I go driving around less so we are more likely to actually do it.
And we all remember the first Suger dress, right? When that happened I pretty much felt like I’d made it. As you do. Here was this really cool dress and it was named after me. Awesome. So when the team told me that they were reworking it and releasing it again. I was super excited. Suger 2.0. And it’s in black (like here even though it looks navy) and white and the white larger stripe with navy.
And with sneakers, perfection.
I’ve been talking to a lot of folks on Facebook and Instagram who are asking about sizing. Now. I’m wearing the large and when I first wear it, it fits like this. After a little bit of wear, it gives a bit and gets a little slouchier. So a medium would’ve been fine (more so if I was shorter). A lot of the ladies ARE sizing down, so keep that in mind. And now, some photos!
Wearing the Suger Tee Dress by 17 Sundays and Converse Sneakers.
Ladies and, well, ladies welcome to spring! Eeekk, I know right? Thank goodness. Because after spring comes summer and I cannot wait. So when the team at beme approached me to share the beme spring lookbookwith you all I heard spring/summer and was like YES! I’m in.
After taking a look through the lookbook, I chose a few items that I wanted to put together into an outfit (there’s another post coming, get excited) to share. Because we all know that me in the dress with sneakers is always going to look different to the model with her blow-dry. Not that that’s a bad thing…
So for the first post I chose this cute, comfortable and brightly coloured dress (it is a lot of colour for me right? Tis the season to bust out the colour). It was perfect for my first outing with Mr Suger on his return as we hit the supermarket deli section for a cheese platter type assortment to end all assortments. Thank goodness he’s home team, thank goodness.
And the dress? Well true to size I’m wearing the 22 and it fits perfectly. It was plenty of room to move without being too slouchy that it loses my shape. I think this will join the lineup of summer dresses I drag around from the house to the beach and back again. Non-crush fabric too, that’s a win in my books.
What else can you expect from the new season at beme? Lots and bright and breezy pieces, some kaftans loving and a few pairs of shorts I’ve got my eye on. There are swimmers with power mesh and more than one great dress to add some colour and va va voom to your nights. In fact there a multi-coloured maxi in there that I know you guys are going to love. So if you want to check out the new arrivals, head over here.
