Calm Sights and Sounds

Ancient woodland, sunlight pouring through a canopy of trees, the gurgling of a tiny water-fall and a tranquil pond at the foot of it surrounded by mossy rocks. This was the place I spent my birthday this year, dressed in comfortable cotton block-print, carrying a fabric bag and dozing by the beautiful sounds of birds and nature.

Jungle Vibes

I almost blend into the foliage in this top, it was made with fabric from a blouse piece. I love the bandhani saree it came with, the parrot green colour looks stunning worn with anything but I'll probably say that about any bandhani piece, I love bandhej in every colour. I have bandhani sarees in many shades of green, love wearing the all kinds of sarees as well as blouses/ cholis together as well as separates as you've seen here, here, here, here and here.

I believe that sarees as well as their blouses make great statement as well as staple pieces, it just depends on the styling. Trust me if anyone tells you otherwise they have no idea what they're talking about. This bright orange carpet bag is what dreams are made of and I've had it for ages, but love it more everytime I bring it out to play. As usual I am wearing nothing special but tried and tested pieces that will stay with me for many many years to come, I have no desire to shop for a new wardrobe every time the season changes, I will just continue to buy hand-crafted goodness when and where I can find it.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week, I've spent the day stomping about in fern covered jungles, so I am happy. Have a great Saturday!

Roadtrip Day One: Mountain Sunsets

We're back from the outback and really inspired from all that we saw and experienced; being away from most things modern did us a lot of good.We started off from the city and crossed the Blue mountains region to the very centre of NSW and camped in the middle of no where with dusty red earth, barely any cellphone network and a whole lot of fun.

The trip was visually inspiring but also so much more in the sense that one gets so much time to think and reflect while driving past spectacular fall foliage and quaint small towns. Lately I have been feeling the urge to maybe reduce the burden of having so many belongings and go back to having a smaller collection of things that are fabulous to me. Lets see how far I am able to pare back.

I have always been drawn towards comfortable clothing in natural fabrics that let my skin breathe and accesories that mean something to me. The earings in these photos were something I admired long ago on a friend from Columbia who promptly took them off and gave them to me, this vintage beaded belt was something picked up on travels and my various sweaters have so far been worn in multiple continents. I hope to continue to love my things, resist picking up things from impersonal shops and build a collection of truly eclectic items that mean a lot to me.

Here are a few pictures from our first sunset from the trip. Hope everyone had a relaxing break.

Under paid labour and summer whites

One of my favourite blogger friends posted this the other day and I couldn't agree with her more. It expresses everything I think about global brands exploiting desperate people in poorer countries and I hope we as consumers show some sympathy for the people literally killing themselves so our tee-shirts cost five dollars less.

I know the whole issue isn't as simple as that but you know what? It kinda is. These people are asking for their monthly salaries to be a hundred dollars and their work conditions to be a bit more humane. Is that too much? And to be honest our buying habits will make these clothes producing juggernauts sit up and take notice if we choose to buy less and less of their inhumane-ly produced, over-priced must-haves!

To people who say style blogs are frivolous and one should do better things with their time I have something to say. Yes, I know that this blog isn't helping solve issues of world hunger and poverty and believe me I wish I could do something to help. But I do think in a sea of blogs that claim that the latest Phillip Lim is a must have and one's minimalistic wardrobe is incomplete without Wang, sitting in a little virtual corner with people who wear vintage and thrifted items makes the world a fun place.

I know I have a long way to go before my materialistic tendencies are fully curbed but being part of a bunch of women who have their own style identity makes me happy. So yes, I do believe sharing one's point of view is important even if the topic of discussion is frivolous according to some. And I can't wait to share more and interact with these positive women who keep re-inforcing the joys of thrifted treasures and DIY delights.

Okay mini-rant-type monologue over and on to clothes that haven't contributed to the exploitation of people. To me nothing says spring summer like white linens & cottons with splashes of colour and heaps of jewellery. Hope everyone's had a wonderful start to the week.

P.S. Please ignore the unsightly scabs on my knee, tumbling off the bike and wearing shorts don't go hand in hand in the unblemished knee department.












Shorts: Tailored in Thailand, Shirt and Bag: Thrifted, Jewellery: India

Sunset meanderings

Change of seasons mean allergies plus flu, I may be really excited for spring but cant for the life of me take the blocked nose and perennial exhaustion anymore.

On to better topics, sick days call for warm and comfy clothing and it can't get comfier than soft merino sweaters and oversize cardigans, the turquoise fabric bag is just to keep things cheerful. Nothing is better to cheer oneself up than to sit by crashing waves and drink beer

Hope everyone's had a great weekend.

Jardin d'hiver

Just the other week the boy gave me a wonderful gift; a bicycle to ride around town and hopes at some point we will go mountain biking together but trust me that day is faaar away. So far we've been riding around our neighbourhood and on Sunday went to the beautiful park by the water. It is by far one of my most favourite places in the city, think tropical jungle, a beautiful fernery, wonderful cactii and succulent garden, all in all paradise.

I am tired of wearing winter clothes so my block print obsession has returned with a vengence and I am doing most of my layering under my dresses/tunics these days.

Here are a few photos of what I was wearing plus beautiful plant friends and I went a bit over board with the pictures so be warned, a LOT of images coming up...





















Block print tunic: My beautiful sister, Boots: Sportsgirl, Denim jacket: All saints, Morrocan backpack: Glebe Markets

If you find something you love, wear it over and over again

The weather has been super cold and rainy lately so taking any sort of outfit photo is impossible, all I want to do is curl up in bed read, watch movies and draw. Therefore these random photos of things I find fun will have to do in lieu of an actual post about anything.

These vintage leather shorts are my most loved pair in leather, my most comfortable pair of suede wedge heels, the Ikat bag and the cowrie shell bracelets made the whole outfit more me. The woven bag in the last two pictures and the crochet dress are in regular use summer or winter.

It makes me really glad that I re-use and love my clothing and accessories till they literally fall apart and the quality of most vintage things are better than the cheap fast-fashion a lot of people seem to favour. I really don't get the idea that one should wear clothes or accessories just once, if you found something you really treasure wouldn't you want to wear it over and over again?

I hope everyone's having a great weekend, Monday is going to be hard with the freezing temperatures here...

Block print and cardies

Cotton block print tunic: Gift, Cardie: Vintage, Bag: Thrifted, Boots: Gift

Its no secret that I love Block-print little tunics but combine them with over-size grand-pa cardies and I am in my comfy heaven. Add a bunch of friendly puppies to my favourite cozy outfit and I've got the essentials covered to long-lasting happiness. All I can say right now is TGIF! Have a happy weekend world.