Frocks & Frou Frou

Top: Liz Jordan @ Noni B

Vest: Target

Skirt: Portmans

Shoes: Poetic License

Hat: Morgan & Taylor

On Friday my delicious housemate Joss and I had the very great honour of attending our first ever fashion parade!

I'd been invited by Chitra Mangma, the mastermind behind indie Melbourne label "Chitra's Closet" which is described online as "ultra feminine" "colourful" and "vintage", which all sound jolly to me.

The theme of the night was "The Cat's Meow" and it promised to pay homage to the romance and fantasy of the 1940's, with all its nipped-in waists, curvy silhouettes and fishtail skirts.

I got into the spirit of the evening with my most 40's-esque outfit, hat and all, and I ended up feeling quite at home amongst the glamourous models, and Chitra herself, who was decked out on the most adorable ensemble from the top of her yellow hat and polkadot cravat, to the edwardian style ankle boots.

Looking back on my notes for the night they're punctuated with "lovely!" and "gorgeous!" and "the buttons!" and "want!".

Chitra's put together a wonderfully timeless range of clothes for Melbourne's winter season - little details like contrasting buttons, flashes of scarlet silk lining, scalloped edges and kick-pleats - then she gave them names like "Maggie Gyllenhaals Secretary" and "Demure Bodice Ripper" and sent them down the runway on a range of gorgeous girls of all shapes and sizes.

I particularly loved the use of colour, lots of reds & lilacs:

and the little details like the scalloped hem on a vest teamed with pleated cuffs on a long sleeved blouse set my heart a'racing:

So, congratulations Chitra on a beautiful and stylish new season - it looks like it's going to be amazing, thankyou for inviting me to be part of your special night. 

And an extra-special thankyou to Joss as well, who attended as my official photographer and did a stellar job!

Cardigan: Target

Dress: Now @ Kmart

Hat: Morgan & Taylor

Socks: Aussie Sox

Shoes: Chie Mihara (via ebay)

I have a confession to make. I have a Great Big Fashion Crush on Emily from Some Girls Wander. Her style is gorgeously feminine and retro, and she manages to pull off hats, fingerless gloves and knee-high socks with an aplomb that I can only dream about.

Some Girls Wander is the only straight size fashion blog that I read with any kind of regularity, and it always leaves me feeling like diving headfirst into an op-shop, embracing red lipstick and dusting off those hats that I keep buying and never wearing. The last one being a kind of somewhat more discreet version of Aretha Franklin's famous inauguration hat.

I loved the hat. I think I realised at the time that there wasn't much of a chance I would ever wear the hat, but I loved it, so I bought it.

Sure enough it sat on my dresser being neglected, until I picked it up and realised that at some point during the months since I had bought it Suki had made short work of the little veil.

This, combined with a recent post that J over at Fatshionable did on hats, inspired me to finally muster the courage to pay homage to my favourite fashion blogger and take my own foray in Wanderland.