DIY Tibi-Inspired Silk Singlet

The DIY bug hasn't been very active in my neck of the woods for a little while, but here's my latest offering - my Tibi (and Sass&Bide) inspired tank top!  I saw this Tibi racer-back tank on Net-A-Porter, and thought it would be relatively easy to make out of some silk I bought from China.  At the same time, I was also in love with the longer back hem on this Sass & Bide tank, so I blended features of the two tops together.  

As you can see, it needs a good re-iron (amongst other things...), but you get the drift of how it's supposed to be.  Plus it matches my S&B jeans as well as my eyeshadow!

DIY Tibi-inspired Silk Singlet - drop some moolah on a similar one here
Sass & Bide Jeans - buy them here
Russell & Bromley black patent pumps




Some more DIYs to come soon!!

xx T

NYFW AW'12 Shopping Inspiration: Phillip Lim & Sass & Bide

Spice up that minimalist look with a contrasting colour, as seen at 3.1 Phillip Lim.

These S&B 'Outside The Box' pants do the trick - get them here.

xx T

Black & Ruby

I really really need a flower-brooch intervention.
I mean, I'd hate to be added to the list of people who are known by their obsession with wearing something, like "the guy with the hat" & "the Alannah Hill girl"* & plenty of other characters I've come to know.

*On that note, what is it with "Alannah Hill girls" and wearing solely Alannah Hill? Is it, like, a secret cult or something?  CAN I JOIN??

Once again wearing my trusty DIY Ruby Slippers, tutorial here.

Wearing:

Sportscraft mesh top

Diva flower brooch

Cheap Monday jeans

Rubi slippers - DIY'd here

Vintage belt

Pardon the messy hair, I was going for this but pretty much failed.

See my double-wrapped belt?  It is the one and only hand-me-down I've ever received from my brother!!  He doesn't even know where he got it from, but now it's all miiiine :)

xx S

Weather for Leather

This quality over quantity business seriously kills the drive to shop very much, which in my case is a bonus as I have things to save up for.  However, I have decided what my next investment purchase shall be, in preparation for the winter months here in Australia.

I would like a leather jacket - but no ordinary piece of hide it shall be.  (It shall also not be pleather or vegie leather, whatever the hell that is.)  A cool cut or an awesome colour would do the trick, and lately I've been quite partial to wool sleeves...  And so the hunt begins.
My prediction is that ox-blood, blue and white leathers will be popping up all over the place following the trend from NYFW.  Of course, classic black leather jackets will always be around, so why not opt for a coloured option to add inject some eye-catching hues into your winter wear?

See below for some (affordable and not-so-affordable) inspiration:

1 - creamy perfection by BB Dakota

 2 - relaxed bomber by Ellery
 3 - sweet and structured by Elizabeth & James
 4 - My Favourite: bold colbalt (perfect with tangerine and white!) by Zero + Maria 
 5 - wool-blend sleeves by BB Dakota

xx T

Rodeo Show

Happy Friday!


This outfit from last weekend is what my Dad has dubbed the "cow girl" outfit, despite the red glitter loafers & a glitzy gold necklace (not shown).  This bargain plaid shirt from Primark has become quite a regularly worn item; it's funny how a £10 cotton shirt can become more useful sometimes than things costing $100+.

Shirt - Primark

Shoes - DIY'ed from Rubi Shoes

Jeans - Nobody

Belt- thrifted

Now I wish glittery shoes were permitted in the hospital!!  Booo.

xx S

Adding Spice

Ahh middle of the week, how I loathe thee.

Please go away and bring me the fresh start of a Monday, the excitement of a Thursday (nearly weekend!) or the sigh of relief of a Friday.  (Or, for that matter, the weekend.)

Fuchsia flower brooch - Diva

Tortoise shell headband - Mimco

Red leopard belt - Portmans

Purple flower headband - Diva

Above is a little collage of accessories I've been using to de-boring-ify clinical outfits without becoming known as the-girl-who-always-colour-blocks or a similarly ridiculous title.

Happy hump day readers & guess what... tomorrow's Thursday! YAY!

xx S

NYFW Fall Winter '12 Collections: 3.1 Phillip Lim

Hmm it looks like these NYFW posts are just going to have to be spammed here until we can get onto London Fashion Week.  Oh well, Phillip Lim is a nice re-hash anyway.

Gold boots, leather jackets with non-leather sleeves (on my lust-list), wide plastic belts and plastic collars.
3.1 Phillip Lim blows me away every time.


Pictures from Style.com


xx T

NYFW F/W '12 Collections: Details at The Row

Details at The Row.

Makes me want to wear sandals with everything, and update all my accessories in red python-print and nude leather.  Some DIY inspiration with that leather pouch as well! (probably a thousand-dollar fanny-pack right there.)


Definitely one of my favourite collections in terms of accessories for this NYFW.

xx T

Happy Sunday!

Trout-pouting in the carpark

We had a night on the town yesterday, at a friend's 21st!  We both didn't have our respective other halves with us, so we could do a little rampaging.  That was, until we both felt fatigued at the very late time of 12am and thus proceeded to MacDonalds for a midnight snack.

Anyway, we've got some uni assessments popping up, but we'll still be posting as regularly as possible (pretty much every day!!) so wish us luck!  What's in store for this week will be some final round-ups from NYFW, a quick outfit post, and whatever else takes our fancy.  

Tune in tomorrow for a new post!

xx S & T

P.S. we both have Instagram (@lefanciulle and @stephvdm) if you feel so inclined to have a look into our daily lives!

Silk Trouser Cravings

Trust Sass & Bide to create a pair of perfect bright silk pants... they seem to have mastered the art of the luxurious casual-wear & these are no exception.  The ultimate test will be the try-on to check the length to see if they fit a giraffe-frame without looking cropped!

Sass & Bide blue silk pants here

Sass & Bide green silk pants here

I would style them like the ever-cool Frida - a plain white shirt & some basic accessories.

Photo from AltaMiraNYC (old - circa 2009)

xx S

NYFW Fall Winter '12 Collections: All-Over Print

Phew! 

Don't do away with the head-to-toe print pant-suits just yet - it's still cool!  Brocade brings a new refined spin to the print-party, and score extra kudos if you continue to clash prints as well.

As seen on the NYFW AW12 runways of:

Diane von Furstenburg, Jason Wu, Jen Kao, Timo Weiland, Suno, Helmut Lang, Rag & Bone, Suno, Derek Lam 


But if you're already itching to get your hands on some print-suit action (and have about $1000 lying around), then this Lisa Ho ensemble will definitely take the cake.

Flower Basket pant - Flower Basket jacket

See all the runway shows on Style.com

xx T

NYFW Bright Outerwear

They (whoever they are) say brights are now passé, but in my books (& judging by NYFW street style) block colours will never go out of style.  For an Australian girl in the heat of Summer, I sure am drawn to the block-coloured outer wear a strangely large amount.

Pictures TommyTon for Style.com

I'm hoping to do my elective term somewhere rather freezing in December-January this year, so this post may not be so useless after all. Fingers crossed!

xx S

NYFW A/W12 DIY Inspiration: Dean Quinn

Easy DIY inspiration from Dean Quinn:

1. Thrift or make a skirt

2. Cut bilateral thigh-slits

3. Put in some gold zippers if you're feeling fancy

See the full collection here at Style.com

Or, as a variation on a theme, try the same thing on a maxi-skirt like these Fall '12 Ellery skirts.

xx T

NYFW Fall Winter '12 Collections: Colour Trends

Despite the fact that it usually takes a good year or so for trends to trickle down from the runway to the Perth fashion scene, I love the fact that the showing of the new collections come just before we Southern Hemisphere folk head into the respective seasons.  To keep me sane for the next few weeks whilst I live through 5:45am wake-ups and hour-long train rides, I will be doing some round-ups of what the Fall/Winter collections have to offer.  First up, some colour trends.

Judging from the first 3 days of New York fashion week alone, shades of red from bright poppy to broody maroon are the go for the upcoming season!  There is indeed a shade of red for everyone.  I personally love maroon and will be digging out my darker pieces for this season.

Not as viral, but nonetheless popular - blue has also popped up a number of times out of the 30-odd shows that have already been.  In particular, cobalt seems quite the popular choice, as well as the ever-classy navy blue.

Last but not least, as a change from the usual sea of black - winter white takes centre stage.  How will you wear your white this season?  Will you attain a dress, slip it in with your neutral ensemble, or wear it in a patterned variety?  Team it with pewter a la St John, and if you're feeling it, white-on-white is always a winner.  

xx T

Runway pictures from Style.com
Collages by me

Full On

Somebody buy me this skirt STAT!

As worn by Late Afternoon & Atlantic Pacific (my two absolute favourite blogs). 

Pictures belong to Atlantic Pacific & Late Afternoon

I want a closet full of circle skirts and ladylike accessories. T & I have noticed we've been very anti-pants lately... maybe we're getting old and turning into proper ladies?

xx S

Lapis Lazuli 1.0

Once again we bring you DIY Friday!

When T brought home these Lapis Lazuli stones from her China travels, I immediately thought of the magazine cover (below) that she posted here in December.  After a complete fail attempt at beading them myself, I recruited lil sister to put it together for me using her gold beading wire.  (She is the beading pro in this neck of the woods.)

What we used:

Round stone beads

Gold beading wire

A clasp

Pliers

Lots of beading skill!!

There are plenty of simpler ways to put this beaded necklace together if you, like me, can't do this nifty wire-work. Threading a ribbon through with a bow at the back would look really good.

T will make her necklace soon, so watch out for Lapis Lazuli 2.0!

xx S

3.1 Phillip Lim Resort

With out COTM being Tangerine & 3.1 Phillip Lim being, you know, the bomb... we thought it'd be appropriate to show you this combination:

3.1 Phillip Lim Resort Collection 2012

All images from here

Probably a bit a lot out of our price range, but still fun to look at!

xx S

New Year's Resolutions: Quality Over Quantity

S & I have discussed this topic at length over the past year, and it seems that our blogger pals share similar thoughts to us (see here and here).  It is high time that I stopped wasting my money on pieces that are poor in construction and quality - yup, I'm talking to you, chain-store polyester!

Usually after my huge annual wardrobe clear-out, I'm tempted to restock as quickly (and as cheaply) during sale time.  However, I kept my quality over quantity mantra on repeat inside my head as Simon & I browsed at David Jones.  After much deliberation, I ended up walking away with two pastel jumpers and the most comfortable pair of loafers (suitable for clinical wear too!).

Leather Milana loafers

Pastel pink and aqua Polo RL jumpers, thanks to Simon's insistance that I should wear more girly colours.  
Little does he know that pastel is IN!

True - the total cost of these three items would have equated to some sort of rabid shopping-spree at Supre, but being the material-snob that S has transformed me into, I can happily revel in my newfound investment pieces.

What is your opinion on the quality versus quantity argument?  Will you be making it one of your New Year's resolutions like us?

xx T