Frocks & Frou Frou: etsy

Showing posts with label etsy. Show all posts

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Ruffles and a Rant

Blouse: Victoria's Secret

Cardigan: Glassons

Skirt: Love To Love You

Stockings: Ambra

Shoes: Naturaliser

I told you it wouldn't take me long to rectify the whole no-black-cardigan situation. This one from Glassons is pretty good, though I've found that it stretches out of shape pretty quickly. Glassons is one of those stores where I can just about... sometimes.... fit into their largest size. Which is sometimes (not always) a 16. It's frustrating when I'm loving a top or a dress in there, only to discover that it only goes to a 14. Why do stores do this? Barkins is the same... they go up to an 18. Sometimes. And never in the things I want.

At what point do the clothes manufacturers go "OK. So only our customers with this bust/waist/hip measurement and smaller are allowed to wear this item." Even my favourite UK store Dorothy Perkins is occasionally guilty of it, and I often hold them up as an example of what I'd like to see all clothing retailers should do (i.e. offer everything in sizes 6 to 22, rather than offering a separate - read dowdy - "plus" range).

The things that most bothers me is when the range that caters only for the smaller sizes is considered to be an exclusive premium range. Better quality fabrics, nicer cuts. There is nothing I hate more than feeling like retailers consider me to be a second class citizen because of my size. Don't bigger girls suffer enough indignity without being forced to forgo the silks, cashmeres and linens of high-end ranges for synthetics and jerseys?

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Dress Me, Darlings!

Long Sleeved Top: I.D.S.

Short Sleeved Top: Barkins

Skirt: Love To Love You

Stockings: Ambra

Shoes: Naturalizer

Brooch: Made By "M"!

Here's a confession: I'm both utterly enamoured, and totally stumped by this skirt.

I've been looking for tops to pair it with for weeks, but apart from black I'm kind of struggling!

I bought the long-sleeved top that I'm wearing today expressly to wear with this skirt, as the little blue dots matched the main body of skirt perfectly. But even so, it took layering a black sweater over the top to make it work.

So I'm open to suggestions - how would you wear this skirt? Give me some ideas!

Meanwhile, doesn't the brooch match beautifully? It was made for me by a wonderful reader, M., who handmade it and sent it all the way from the other side of the world. Thanks M., it's adorable and perfect, and I've been getting nice comments on it all day!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Harvest

Cardigan: Target

Dress: Sohomode

Shoes: Chie Mihara

I've had my eye on the beautiful custom-made tea dresses at Sohomode for, oh, ages.

Originally, after discovering that I had procrastinated too long and that the fabric I'd had my heart set on was gone, I contacted the seller to ask if she'd make the dress in another fabric of my own choosing. I was told kindly, but firmly, that Louise sources her own vintage fabrics, and that she would not make the dress for me out of the fabric I'd chosen.

And I thought, well fine then.

But I kept coming back to the dresses, and the library of approved fabric choices... and then I spotted it.

It was called "late summer", and it was in the gorgeous golden, mustardy tones that I have such a hankering for at the moment.

I made the order immediately.

And now that I've got the dress in my hot little hands I can't imagine why I waited so long in the first place!

It's probably the most beautifully produced item that I've bought on Etsy, and that's really saying something, because the designers and craftspeople that I've dealt with in the past have been extraordinary.

Louise was a pleasure to work with; because the fabric was quite heavy compared to her usual fabrics she recommended that we make the skirt a little less full, and include pockets (pockets!) which all sounded fine to me. I put in a special request for the contrast piping on the bodice, then sent my measurements off and when the dress arrived few days ago it was perfect.

The dress has the wonderfully flattering wide neckline that I love so much, and the belt's fully detachable, which means I can swap belts around, or wear it without for different looks. The bodice is fully lined with a lovely feature back that is going to be a dream to wear in warmer months.

And it goes perfectly with my Chie Mihara Shoes!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Pass The Parcel

Top: Sussan

Skirt: Love To Love You

Boots: Duo Boots

It's been a few days since my last post, but I have an excuse: It was my birthday on tuesday! Hurrah! Happy birthday to me!

I had such a lovely day, punctuated throughout with little messages of love from friends and family - I really am surrounded by the most wonderful people, and I feel very lucky to have them all.

I got to wear something Very Special, too, because the day before I got a parcel in the mail... something I'd bought myself, but Loni from Love To Love You wrapped it up nicely with a little card and everything so it really felt like a birthday present. From me. Thankyou, me - I love it!

Loni's shop came to my attention when I was originally looking for bustles - her "Ruffle Bum" skirt popped up and caught my eye:

I contacted Loni about custom sizing - wonder of wonders, she does them AND she doesn't charge extra for it either! And she's fantastically patient as well. I was one of those annoying customers who didn't know exactly what I wanted and somewhere along the way I decided that actually I'd rather have the little ruffle front skirt instead.

It's adorable, and beautifully made in record time - I bought it on the 8th, and it arrived - from the US! - less than ten days later. Wowsers!

I got another present too....

It's a BookBook! Thanks Mum - I LOVE it!

Monday, March 29, 2010

Black Betty

Dress: My Black Dress

Stocking Socks: Jonathan Aston

Shoes: Wittner

Dear oh dear, I'm really, really in serious need of a haircut aren't I? I'm looking much too scruffy for such a schmick dress-and-stockings ensemble.

Never fear, with easter coming up I've scheduled an appointment to drop in and see my hairy godmother before I start looking too much like the human embodiment of Grug.

I've been really lax lately responding to comments - I'm so sorry! Life's been busy busy busy, but I just wanted to let you all know that I read them every day, and I appreciate everyone who takes the time to leave a comment. You guys rock. Seriously.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Follow The White Rabbit

It's been SO DAMN HOT in Melbourne over the last few days (43 degrees celsius yesterday, 34 today - that's 109 farenheit & 93. No kidding) that I haven't gone anywhere but bed to cold shower to lounge room to fridge to lounge room to bed to cold shower. Rinse & repeat.

Between laughing at the cat for acting like it's the END OF THE WORLD so we may as well just fall over sideways and DIE and feeling sorry for myself because it really is pretty unbearable out there I've been killing time on that most excellent of procrastination sites, Etsy.

I've been trawling through everyone else's favourites lists and have found some really great items, so I though - in lieu of a an actual wardrobe shot - I'd share these instead.

Skirt: Anayana

Dress: FablesByBarrie

Dress: ouma

Dress: Porsche's Place

Dress: yystudio

Dress: ouma

Dress: AudreyandGrace

Dress: yystudio

skirt: device

Dress: AnnabelandRuby

Dress: The Garbologist's Wife

Have any great etsy shops to share? Post 'em below!

Friday, December 25, 2009

Frockapalooza: Day 29 - Merry Christmas

Dress: Jane Bon Bon

Shoes: Zu

How was everyone's Christmas?

I had a lovely one - very different from years past, with some new faces and new surroundings which seems particularly apt for a year which has heralded such epic upheaval in my own life.

Just a quick one today, as it's Christmas Day, and one for spending with family and other assorted loved ones, not a day for sitting in front of the computer.

I hope you all had wonderful days, overindulged to the point of feeling ill, and got spoilt terribly.

Love,

Lilli

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Frockapalooza: Day 28 - Here's One I Prepared Earlier

Dress: La Madeleine

Cardigan: Portmans

Shoes: Zu

Sorry folks - bit of a cheat here, with a Frockapalooza entry that I prepared for you back in Melbourne. When I packed my bags for Canberra I realised that I wouldn't have enough room to include all the remaining frocks, so I took a few emergency back-up photos instead.

I've spent most of the day today lolling about in my pyjamas and steadfastly ignoring the fact that tomorrow is Christmas Day and I still have one or two little bits and pieces to buy (gulp!)

How are you all going with your own Christmas preparations?

Friday, November 7, 2008

Unmentionables

There's not a big range of "Unmentionables" (read: knickers) for curvy girlies. Not fun ones, anyway.

The range for gals 16+ seem to fall into two categories: Pornographic or Practical.

Personally I prefer the "practical" style, so my knickers drawer is made up of sensible cotton panties from Target and K-Mart. The most adventurous of them have (gasp!) floral or polkadot patterns.

It doesn't stop me from pining over the fun prints, colours and ruffles that can be found two racks over in the "regular" section; so after living vicariously for years I approached etsy seller TouchMeNot (http://touchmenot.etsy.com/) and asked her to make me an entire lingerie drawer of fun - but practical - knickers.

Mary worked very closely with me - even going so far as to send (for free! From Canada!) a trial pair, to make sure we got the sizing right - and my finished results arrived today.

I honestly couldn't be happier - my parcel was a veritable candy box of colours and prints, different styles and cuts, and even a pair of ruffle-butt tanga knickers. Ten pairs in total, which means I can chuck out my entire collection of boring cotton nana-pants and replace them with a cornucopia of Mary's wildly comfortable and tantalizingly flash-worthy creations. Of which the following is a tiny sample:

If, like me, you're keen to overhaul the knickers drawer and treat yourself to some fun new panties drop Mary a line - she also has a blog: http://pedal-pushers.livejournal.com/ which gives you a tasty little glimpse of her full range

Friday, October 31, 2008

You'd Better Watch Out...

Dress: Crossroads http://www.crossroads.com.au/

Shoes: Zu http://www.zushoe.com.au/

Oh God! Surely it's not Christmas-shopping-time already?

Christmas in Melbourne seems to officially start after Cup Day, which is.... Tuesday. So I guess that's yes. It's time to start the Christmas shopping.

The one thing I love better than getting presents myself is giving them to other people. It's such a buzz when you find that perfect something-special, and nothing makes me happier than seeing people open a gift that I know they're going to love.

Present-giving is a very important part of my family's Christmas routine: We open them one at a time, with great pomp and circumstance, in front of the whole family. I love this, because there's nothing worse than spending days hunting for that amazing one-off gift for someone, only to miss the big unveiling.

Of course, I get that the only reason we can do this extended (there's always at least seven of us, so it always takes hours) present-opening ritual, is because the youngest sibling is twenty-four. Even I don't expect the average six-year-old to patiently sit quietly while there's brightly wrapped boxes of goodies with their names on it going to waste!

But I digress. I love giving presents, but I find shopping for them agony. Which is weird, right? I mean; I love presents and I love shopping, ergo I should love shopping for presents. But the pressure of trying to find that amazing, perfect, once-off, didn't-even-realise-you-wanted-it-until-you-opened-it gift is stressful to the point of giving me a breakdown.

With the Aussie dollar barely clawing back ground after its dramatic nose-dive earlier this year my usual go-to place for special presents - etsy (www.etsy.com) - is probably more or less off the list.

However I still like to support craftspeople, and those amazingly creative local designers whose handmade wonders really do make the best presents of all.

So here's a couple of Australian alternatives to etsy:

www.madeit.com.au

has over 130 independent Australian designers and sell everything from toys and clothing to jewellery, craft supplies and home wares.

The quality of the product can be a bit iffy, and it's a bit of a marathon to navigate, but if you have the patience to wade through the dross there's a few treasures to be found:

"Felt Storage Box" - 049design

"Mix & Match Brooch Set" - Shelbyville

"Babushka Cushion Cover" - Sketch

www.leeloo.com.au

Has slightly more maneuverable search options, and there's a couple of items that caught my eye, including:

"Purple Robot" - MyLittleOogabooga

"Pink Noodle Salad Flies a Kit Brooch" - The Likkle Girl Who Wuves Pwetty Things

(I should add the totally irrelevant disclaimer here that I find the seller's name almost annoying enough to discount how cute the brooch is. Almost. Not quite, but almost.)

I think the pick of the bunch though, is the delightful GeorgieLove www.georgielove.com.au which was the first online store specialising in Australian handmade gifts. Sally (or maybe her gorgeous dog, George) handpicks the product that the store stocks, so the quality of the range seems to be heads and shoulders above the others.

"Blue Crane Bangles" - Madz Has Runway

"Boy and Balloon Brooch" - Allira Tee

Of course, this is meant to be a fashion blog, so as a nod to the Frocks and the Frou Frou - what are you planning to wear on Christmas day this year?

Personally, I'm thinking I might have to splurge on this fantastically red sheath dress from Sportscraft www.sportscraft.com.au

Dress: Sportscraft www.sportscraft.com.au

I'll keep you posted!