This is the hour. Ours is the magic. Ours is the power

Pink and gold is giving me strength right now. I can't tell you what it means to have the sun still up when I come home at 7pm each night, and having to wear my pink Karen Walker sunglasses when I leave home in the morning, and again in the evenings. I sense a change in myself, generally spurred on by watching Man Repeller's youtube videos. For the first time I want to become a simpler human being. But I'm still attracted to very pretty things, and want to buy all the strange and unusual objects I once did. But now, I think styling them will become slightly more reductive than before. I also want to know what looks good on me- and before I didn't really care I just wore what made me happy. But maybe this is important, to understand more about myself. And does that make me a sell out? No. I don't think people would look at how I dress and sneer that I am doing this to seek the attention of men. I want to wear things which make me happy and look at my reflection in shop windows and feel good about myself.

1- Meadham Kirchhoff, 2- unknown, 3- Kailey Flyte, 4 & 5- Flossgloss Baby Baby Lookboo, 6- photo by christinawinkelmann, 7- unknown.

Heart Breaker

Wearing: Saddle shoes by Ati Lin, Dangerfield dress, Target sweater, Nasty Gal faux leather jacket (handpainted by Esther Kim of estherlovesyou) and Meadham Kirchhoff X Topshop handbag. 

I can't believe I've had this jacket for months now and haven't worn it once! Well that's not completely true I wore it once but hadn't looked at it since then. However, it's the first time I've featured it on this blog and I bet you're all dying to know where it came from! The jacket is faux leather made by Nasty Gal and the back panel was hand painted by artist Esther Kim from estherlovesyou. Esther ran a competition on her instagram several months ago now and lo and behold- I was the winner! This outfit was actually meant to go with this moodboard but I kept putting it off. I was worried that it might feel too cliche or whatever, but I also felt like my old hair wasn't really on par with the whole outfit. Since having it cut and colour I feel much more confident in my own body, but also my ability to create outfits which aren't for the male gaze and are purely an escape from the mundane. Hence why this outfit is more like an exaggeration of the final scene from Grease (1978) with some Cry-Baby (1990) thrown in for good measure but movie nostalgia aside this look was inspired by real women.

Funny Face

Wearing: Meadham Kirchhoff X Topshop sweater, Target trousers and hat, Nicholas Kirkwood X Meadham Kirchhoff shoes.

Today's look was partly inspired by Grimes's recent interview with The FADER Magazine in which she simultaneously tackles criticisms and everyday sexism within the music industry while looking like a total badass. Another surprising influence was the style and ease of Yves Saint Laurent and what Hedi Slimane envisions for the future of the house. Truth be told YSL doesn't consistently challenge me or embody what I like about fashion, it represents a commercial venture which more or less profits from women's insecurities. Keeping all that in mind, I can appreciate the minimalism and attention to the cut and silhouette from YSL collections which is inherently used as fodder for the high street. Unlike my glittery pink, platform boudoir heels from Meadham Kirchhoff the special pieces from Saint Laurent are more likely to be the couture dresses or leather jacket which buyers will maintain for years and years. You will also notice that my hair is now PURPLE and not orange. The change is subtle enough so that it goes unnoticed by my colleagues in academia.

White Widow

Wearing: Meadham Kirchhoff X Topshop dress, Meadham Kirchhoff X Nicholas Kirkwood shoes, POMS earrings and thrifted wedding veil.

I miss the presence of Meadham Kirchhoff collections at London Fashion Week so so much. I feel like they left the fashion industry so suddenly we were never really given a chance to protest or express our indignation and now the only thing left to do is mourn. I know it sounds childish to miss artists whose work I never experienced first hand, or met in person but I still feel a real sense of loss both for the fashion community but also teenage girls. For the latter their work was the most informative and influential, it brought together pastels and Riot Grrl movement in perfect synergy. For many it introduced the idea that personal style as well as music could express political ideologies and the self-proclaimed feminists set Instagram on fire when they announced an open casting for what was to be their last collection. I don't think we'll see anything quite like them in the future, and anything that does look similar in aesthetic will certainly miss the same stage presence brought to each of their shows.

Snug

Wearing: Cotton On beanie, Sweater from Disneyland, Vintage coat, Meadham Kirchhoff X Topshop skirt, American Apparel socks and Nike shoes.

We're well and truly in the middle of Winter now but I refuse to wear anything which will keep my legs warm and remain fiercely opposed to the notion of Melbourne CBD business culture. For those who are unaware there's this awful cliche about everyone wearing black in Winter which is awful because it's so true? Basically I wanted to challenge myself to dress in a way that contested these preconceived notions, but wear comfy clothes as well. I mean sure my makeup isn't threatening to melt off my face and I'm not sweating in front of an air conditioner but I still want to be relatively comfy. I realise that a glittery pink PVC skirt with pastel blue faux fur trim is not what everyone immediately thinks of when they think athleisure but I couldn't resist wearing Meadham Kirchhoff. It matched my vintage coat and wearing shades of blue and grey made me feel like I was the embodiment of a cloud which seemed fitting on this overcast day.  

Real witches don't wear black

Wearing: Meadham Kirchhoff X Topshop dress, deadstock tights, POMS earrings, Topshop zebra print jacket and Atilin saddle shoes.

One of my favourite things to do is take a well-known troupe and deconstruct it and then rebuild it in my own image. Witchy chic is one of those things normally associated with lots of black, dried rose petals and wooden trinket boxes but instead I decided to make it more cute and kitsch. While I admit this look definitely needs like a cute pentagram necklace or something I am happy with how it turned out. I've been so busy wearing my Asos faux fur coat that I totally forgot about this zebra piece for a little while. It's not exactly versatile but it is super fun to wear with other patterns such as this dress. The weather is finally cold enough that I can wear these cute tights again and I no longer feel that it's necessary to wear a petticoat with this dress. I think it demonstrates that slowly I am growing in confidence not just in terms of my outfits but also my body type.