Trial and error

Wearing: Vintage blouse, Romance was Born jacket, Target trousers and Chloë Sevigny x Opening Ceremony boots.

If I had a super power it would be owning a lot of cheap, dollar store make up without the cool and ironic 90s colour palette (i.e. icy blue, pearl pink and rare shades of purple and green). This brings me to my next point, note to self: someone with my complexion should never wear this colour gloss.Maybe it would have been more effective if it was a lipstick? Err?? I don't know. The disadvantages of being young and ignorant is that you aren't completely self-aware and know the nuances of your body. I guess the advantage is that there's plenty of time to figure all that out. For now the only proven method I have is trial and error (which I seem to be pretty good at). I thought I'd hate wearing such plain and basic trousers with these two prints but in hindsight it looks pretty good. Plus it's not a total shock when you look at my feet, which seem to be covered in tiny belts rather than an actual pair of shoes.

The Craft

Wearing: Romance Was Born dress, thrifted cardigan and J.W. Anderson shoes.

Today's outfit is equal parts craft techniques and more ethereal ~witchy vibes~. This dress is such a special piece and I always feel so potent and powerful when I wear it. Originally I was inspired by all things haberdashery but extended that metaphor to mother of pearl buttons and yarn for something warm. These are the last photos I took at Philip Island but hopefully I'll be back soon! It was so hard deciding what clothes to being and even though we were only visiting for three days I wanted to make the most of it. I can now see why packing for Fashion Week is such a big deal, and why weeks of deliberation are spent making these decisions. Packing these shoes probably took the most room, but each piece took up a considerable amount of space. In my defense, a winter wardrobe will need to have a little more weight and texture to it. I have every intention of channelling my inner witch next season, which means lots of long flowing dresses with some Stevie Nicks vibes. It's so hard not to feel influenced by the 70s inspiration that swept the runway last season, but as always I've interpreted using my own colour palette and aesthetic.

Swamp Witch

Wearing: Romance Was Born dress (worn as skirt), thrifted bloused, thrifted cardigan, Dr Martens boots and DIY fringe cape.

As I come closer towards the end of my candidature, as well as writing applications for my PhD and completing my thesis I've become more drawn towards problem solving through words as well as experimentation. I know what tasks I have to do but can easily feel overwhelmed and paralysed at the thought of not being able to write well. Dreaming of new outfits has been my escape from academia and through creating a different set of problems has allowed me to work different parts of my brain. The DIY cape was originally a decoration I used for my twenty-first birthday last year but couldn't bear the thought of throwing it away. I was also really inspired by Patience Hodgson's outfit from Splendour in the Grass this year, designed by the lovely Rachel Burke from I make it, You wear it. I wore it with a 70s aesthetic blouse I picked up from a thrift store last year, inspired by the discussions surrounding Slimane as the creative director for Saint Laurent. This outfit has undertones of a rockstar, reimagined with interesting colours and textures. 

Daisy Chain

Wearing: Karen Walker sunglasses, Asos faux fur coat, Tokito dress (worn as top), Cue skirt, Romance Was Born clutch and thrifted heels.

I've absolutely been craving Spring and have an upcoming visit to Melbourne's Botanical Gardens with a botanist friend to look forward to but for now, I present florals for Spring. It's not a terribly original idea and I know Miranda Priestley would most likely shake her head in disgust. Cliches aside I'm rather excited to find the days getting longer and the weather is slowly getting warmer. The pastels also heighten this rather dainty and traditionally feminine motif, but I've enjoyed watching designers such as Moschino and Rei Kawakubo appropriate these motifs for their menswear collections. Talk of abolishing gendered fashion weeks altogether is an exciting prospect but in terms of event organisation it seems that many will be in opposition. I personally can't wait for a time when designers focus on dressing the human body and the concept of gender becomes fluid and malleable. Liberating designers from such boundaries has the potential to spark a renaissance within the fashion industry.

Interstellar

Wearing: Josh Goot dress, Romance Was Born skirt and Lipstik jelly sandals.

First of all I apologise for the clutter in the background but I ran out of time this morning and decided to take these outfits photos at uni rather than at home. Also it was raining this morning and I had too much to do today to wait for the weather to cooperate! On the plus side you can see the archaic (pun intended) folders in the background jam packed with palaeontology papers! While it's not totally inspiring to see my messy office space it does remind me of when I first started reading fashion blogs, particularly The Fashion Void that is DC. This later morphed into Moohoop a Tumblr blog and in 2011 Brooke Kao stopped writing altogether. She was among the first wave of fashion bloggers who really pioneered blogging as a platform for self-expression and although her photos weren't polished, her guide of vintage and thrift stores within Washington propelled her to success. I guess today I just really wanted to be vulnerable and removed from the realm of commercial, air brushed photos and perfect hair.

Poison Ivy

Wearing: Vintage jacket, Romance Was Born skirt, thrifted top and heels.

Please excuse this throwback to an obnoxious 1980s game show host, minus the tall quiffed hair but I was in a mood where I wanted to wear lots of purple and green. This colour scheme also encapsulates many Poison Grass type Pokemon as well as the Batman villain and total badass Poison Ivy- ergo uninspired blog post title. Even though it's Winter the garden has remained lush and vibrant which has really inspired me to spend more time outside. By far the best part of this year has been spent learning more about nature, particularly plants and fungi, in order to better understand how ecosystems interact as a whole. Basically nature is great and so inspiring and I can't imagine a point where I'd be so jaded I'd be incapable of appreciating its beauty.
Also, it's about this time of year that someone either online or IRL tells me that I need to cover my dark circles or do something about the bags under my eyes. Huzzah! I've come up with the perfect solution (although I'm not the originator):

Today I thought I'd share my beauty tip for
1. Buy glitter.
2. Cover dark circles.
3. Free yourself from the patriarchy.

She's a Rainbow

Wearing: Romance Was Born jacket, Discount Universe shirt, Asos skirt  and Dr Martens boots.

The highlight of my week was when my geologist friends called quartz a *basic bitch*. Now I have a piece of quartz but it was given to me as a gift by my big brother. Nonetheless! I wanted to create an outfit in defense of the most common component of our Earth, silica. Let me make one thing clear though, quartz does not offer any health benefits and amethyst can't cure a nasty hangover (unfortunately). It does however make a very cute prop for photos and lends itself to the psychedelic mind-bending period of the 1960s. I hate festival style as much as the next person but I do love the idea of wearing a rainbow outfit in the middle of Winter and basking in the rare rays of sunshine in the comfort of my very own garden. It also gave me the chance to wear this amazing shirt from Discount Universe and cite the premise of one of Susie Bubble's most recent outfits post Seven Colours Take 2. I couldn't quite get the quartz crystal to cast a rainbow on my face but I did have a lot of fun trying!
 
1- road trip photo diary by Chrissie White for Rookie Mag, 2- Bobbi Kelly and Nick Ercoline Woodstock 1969, shot by Burk Uzzle. 4- Devin Troy Strother (Rob Pruitt x Cory Arcangel x Walead Beshty x A Sad Face x 0 Michael Jordans). 8- Rookie Mag Summer of Love, Part One, 9- Rookie Road Trip Diary- Week One. 13 & 14- We followed the sun via Rookie Mag. 6 & 11- Miracle Eye May lookbook 'Electric Ladyland'.