Frocks & Frou Frou

Top: Suzanne Grae

Cardigan: Cotton On

Jeans: Svoboda

Necklace: Thrifted

I am just loving this footloose and fancy-free life.

I think that in the last month I've seen more, explored more, experienced more and drank more than I have in the previous six years.

One of the perils of living a wild social life is that it tends to go hand in hand with imbibing.

Last night, for example, I attended an exhibition opening that included my favourite Melbourne artist, "Ghost Patrol" (you may recognise the name from here). Afterwards I headed home to spend the evening with my VDF (Very Dear Friend) - we'll call her "HazMo's Ma" - and 9 month old bubby who are visiting from Canberra for the weekend.

Much later, after HazMo's Ma & Haz Mo himself had put themselves to sleep I got a surprise invitation from a friend to join the artists at an impromptu after-party.

So, after leaving a note in case my interstate guests woke up and found me gone I snuck out the door and over the river. It's the kind of invitation that I couldn't possibly refuse - the opportunity to spend the evening in the company of smart, young, intelligent artists and intellectuals. Wine, Whiskey and Scintillating Conversation flowed freely. It all felt wonderfully wicked and decadent. And since I was being wicked and decadent anyway I indulged.

I didn't get home until after 3am.

I only got about four hours sleep last night but I woke up feeling fantastic.

Life is Good.

Dress (Vintage): Miss Modular Vintage

Cardigan: City Chic

Belt: Cotton On

Shoes: Zu Shoes

I know I always say "This is my new favourite dress!" but seriously folks, this is my new favourite dress!

I don't usually have a great deal of luck with vintage or thrifted items - usually the range for gals in the size 16 or above bracket is quite matronly, to say the least. But this dress, this dress, with its ridiculously oversized polkadots is the perfect blend of fun and and function. It's made out of some nasty synthetic fabric, by the looks of the seams and the lack of label I suspect it's actually home made. I love the idea of some bygone curvy girl - fed up with the offerings in the stores - whipping it up herself.

If you've been following me on Twitter you'd know that I'm back on the dating market (oh Gods!) It's going remarkably well. This week is the week of 8 dates in 8 days (and I'm three dates in) and I think this dress is just bloody perfect. You'd date me, right?

Dress (with belt): Dorothy Perkins

Top: Giordano

Stockings: Ambra

Shoes: Naturalizer

Blurgh! I'm sick as a dog today, so I've actually pulled an outfit shot from a few days ago that I ran out of time to post.

I meant to tell you all that I finally found a pair of truly opaque black stockings. These are 200 denier (practically trousers) and come from the one pantyhose brand that I can actually tolerate (Ambra).

(blimey! are those my legs?)

Between sleeping, measuring my head to make sure it's not really three times bigger than usual and blowing the contents of my skull out of my nostrils (sorry, gross) I've been browsing the internet for things that I seriously don't need... So I thought I'd share!

Buy these, so Lilli doesn't have to:

Dress: Boden

Cardigan: Boden

T-shirt: Em & Sprout

Dress: Thrush Vintage

Dress: yystudio

Dress: Leona Edmiston

Jacket: Ezibuy

Top: Eshakti

Dress: Bravissimo

Shoes: Hush Puppies

Haven't seen this dress for a while, have we?

It's really not warm enough to wear it, but I'm missing skirts and dresses, so I'm gritting my teeth and bearing the icy winds.

I had a wonderful weekend away in Healesville with a girlfriend and am now looking down the barrel of two very busy months - lots of opportunities to get frocked up, so here's hoping the weather's condusive. Keep your eyes peeled, because there's one or two new items that are yet to be revealed too!

Top: Friends of Couture

Jeans: Piper @ Myer

Boots: Boots for Broads

Thank you to everyone who took the time to post a comment following the last entry, and to those who have taken Sally's original idea and run with it on their own blogs. Hopefully everyone gave themselves a moment to think positive thoughts about their own, wonderful, self. Let's all keep doing that!

For myself, I'm having a wonderful week. I'm holding my head up high, I'm smiling at strangers, and I'm feeling confident in my skin. It really does make a difference, even to the way that other people react back to me.

How hilarious is this sweater? It should probably remind me of my Step-Mum's inherited fox stole (Foxy Loxy) with its disturbing little paws and glassy eyes, but actually it makes me think more of Suki who often drapes herself about my shoulders in just this manner.

I'm regularly lusting after clothing that I see at Friends of Couture (especially the cardigans) but they're not often conducive to housing the... I don't want to say Rack of Doom, because we're all about self-esteem here at Frocks & Frou Frou, so let's just use my Mum's euphemistic phrase "shelf".

On a completely different topic, Melbourne readers should check out the Songs for Stories Benefit Concert being held on the 25th of August by the Melbourne Writers Festival and the Indigenous Literacy Project. A few of my favourite musical entities will be playing, including Cat Empire, and all proceeds go towards a cause that's very dear to my heart. The Indigenous Literacy Project is a new foundation that is working to provide remote communities with books and other resources to help build stronger literacy levels throughout our Indigenous population. If you're not in Melbourne but still want to be involved, maybe have a think about hosting a Book Swap in September...

Dress: Cast Couture

Boots: Boots for Broads

Shrug: Igigi

So what do you think?

It's pretty hard to think great things about yourself, isn't it? We're so trained to reach higher, achieve the impossible, be the most beautiful, the slimmest, the sexiest, the most competent that sometimes we forget what a miracle we are, just as we are. We focus on the negative instead of embracing the positive. And worse, we take the positive and make it a negative. If we're fair we strive to be tanned. If we're curvy we want to be straight. Tall girls want to be short, petite girls want a few extra inches. I know there's a lot of women out there who would love to possess my DD's but I'd love to downsize to a C cup.

Apparently I have low self-esteem.

I'd never really thought of it until someone pointed out the language that I used to describe myself was consistently negative. I'm square. I'm a bit of a doormat. I'm pretty nerdy. I'm overweight. I'm not fun to be with. I'm shy. Cold. Standoffish. I don't party, drink, play computer games. No wonder it's so easy to walk all over me - if I don't value myself, how can I expect other people to treat me well?

Well, it's got to stop.

So, in the style of Sally, here's what makes me great:

I'm smart. I'm loving. I'm generous. I'm beautiful - maybe not traditionally so, but I have excellent skin, a pretty smile and lips that were made for kissing. My hair is great. I cook really well. I'm full of joy. I have lovely hands and long elegant fingers that know how to play piano. I have a decent singing voice and a good ear for music. I'm good at my job. I'm easily liked. I treat people well. I'm trusting and loyal. I've got good fashion sense. I like to share. My body is well shaped and operates well. My legs are inordinately strong. Animals love me. I laugh all the time.

All right folks - your turn. What do you love about yourself? What makes you lucky to be you?

Top: Giordano

Cardigan: Dream Diva (remixed)

Jeans: Embody Denim

Shoes: Em & Sprout

It's partly the ironing situation (i.e. I don't have one), and partly that I'm sick to death of my winter wardrobe and want desperately to get back into my trans-seasonal and warmer weather gear.

Mostly though, it's that I'm not dressing for myself anymore, so I'm overthinking every item of clothing I put on my body. I'm trying extra hard to look good when I leave the house just in case I run into The Ex, the future Himself, or worst of all the Pretender to the Throne. (i.e. my arch-nemesis who I loathe, which is quite exciting because I've never hated anyone before.)

So I spend so much time standing in front of the wardrobe going "I don't know!" that I end up running so late I have to simply throw on the first ensemble that presents itself to me and hurl myself out the door.

Also - the fact that I have a whole wardrobe now means that my clothes seem to be expanding at a great rate. Especially the jeans.

The ones I'm wearing today haven't been worn for a while - actually I couldn't even find them on Frocks & Frou Frou so they may have been shelved pre-blog! I shelved them because they just got a bit too tight but they weren't retired because I couldn't bear to part with my first pair of Embody Jeans. Imagine my surprise when I put on what I thought were my Svoboda skinnies turned around and realised I'd fit back into the Embody's instead.

Here's a bit of pre-F&FF history for you: When I bought these jeans all those years ago it was also the first time I had the hairygodmother's amazing blunt-fringe bob cut. You can even see it because Natalie put my picture up on the Embody Website... see if you can find me!

Also, because I promised a reader I'd put more photos of my accessories up, here's a close-up of my earrings:

Top: Liz Jordan

Vest: Target

Trousers: Jacqui E

Shoes: TUK

Oh Noes! We're five days into August already and this is my first spring post and it's not even a floral!

My apologies for the long break - I've been wearing lots of different outfits (obviously!) but either I've run out of time to photograph them, I haven't liked the photos once they been taken, or it's an outfit repeat from within living memory!

Speaking of repeats - are you sick of this blouse yet? This is the third time I've posted about it in less than two weeks. I'm loving it because there's so many different ways that you can wear it. And also because it doesn't crush. Because at the moment I'm sans-iron. The pile of clothes in the to-be-ironed section of my laundry cupboard is starting to teeter, so I may have to succumb soon. It would be a bad day if the ratio of clothes-in-wardrobe to clothes-in-laundry swung any further towards unwearability.