My New Party Dress & A Wedding

My dear friend Liana married her Irishman Mark last weekend in a beautiful garden ceremony in Berry. It was a beautiful, intimate wedding and thankfully the rain managed to hold out until they'd finished signing the register, after which the skies opened and didn't stop for a few days.
It was the perfect opportunity to wear my new vintage party dress care of Coco Repose. I love the little folds of fabric over the bust, and the skirt has a cute little bow on the front of the skirt. Plus its blue and floral and those are two elements I'm innately drawn too. I paired the dress with some pink satin shoes care of Gianna Meliani.

The bride wore a beautiful 30s inspired Collette Dinnigan dress. The pure white colour really suited her olive skin and the low scooped back was divine.

It was a truly joyous weekend.

Coco Repose goes online

Jessica at Coco Repose has taken her gorgeous collection of vintage treasures online, which means that even if you don't live in Sydney you can now take home one of her pieces (the physical store has now completely relocated to the Sydney Antiques Centre in Surry Hills).
She's uploading more stock all the time, so its worth checking back often. At the moment she's got some lovely frocks up, including this 40s lace gown, two 50s party dresses and a sundress and this 70s day dress, as well as some jewellery. Her range of hats, separates and more are still to come.

My friends Liana and Mark are getting married this weekend in Berry on the NSW South Coast. Rather than being anxiously excited as I was with my own, I'm enjoying the anticipation without reserve (I can enjoy the spoils of the planning without the actual planning!). I picked up a gorgeous frock from Coco Repose a couple of weeks ago which I'll be wearing tomorrow. Photos to follow soon!

Gifts

It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago and each year, as my excitement at getting older diminishes (I'm now 32 but feel like I'm pretty much the same person I was when I was 22 ... just slower and a little more sensible), my befuddlement at the cruelty of ageing is tempered by the joy and love I feel celebrating the occasion with my friends and family.
Today I caught up with my dear friend Liana who missed my birthday get together last weekend because of a chest infection. Damn you winter.
For our lunch date I wore a couple of pieces care of the ladies at Coco Repose: a lovely sleeveless pink shell knit with appliqued beading and an orange boucle jacket which I actually picked up a couple of years ago and which I wear to death in colder weather.
Liana gave me a thoughtful and beautiful gift; the Yves Saint Laurent book that accompanied the recent retrospective of the great designer's work at the Petit Palais in Paris.

My friend Rebecca knows me too well. She bought me this book on vintage swimwear by fashion writer Sara Kennedy. Besides frocks, swimwear is my favourite item of apparel, and this book is a treasure trove of history and gorgeous pics.

And Helen, recently returned from a trip to London and Dubai, was prescient enough to remember my birthday and that I love the artist Banksy. Once I handed this book to the hubby for a peruse, it was very hard to steal it back from him.

Alas all these books are a little too lush for me to take to Fiji THIS WEEK (can you tell I'm excited??).

On the agenda for my long weekend on a deserted island is the new Jonathan Franzen, Freedom, which I was lucky enough to score an early proof of (by all reports it is amazing) and I'm finally going to read Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. Considering how much I loved Remains of the Day and When We Were Orphans it is almost criminal that I haven't read it yet, and now the imminent release of the movie version has spurred me into action. The trailer looks amazing.

Thank goodness for friends

My friends are so, so important to me and I am very lucky that I'm surrounded by such a fantastic group of interesting and loyal people. One of the nicest outcomes of having a wedding is getting to party with all your friends. Having them all front up looking so darn snazzy was an added bonus. The dress code was "glamorous" and many also embraced the vintage theme.

My friends Sonia, Jessica, Louisa and Catherine all looked gorgeous (and the always immaculate Louisa was having a laugh with her Russian dancer routine) and rocked vintage and/or vintage styled looks. Thanks ladies!

My Mum's friend Lynne is a vintage lover who is always on the lookout for lovely pieces, and she hit on a winner with this Hawaiian maxi which fitted the wedding theme to a tee.

My fellow newlywed Erin is another vintage fan who went for a spring like maxi dress with cute pleated sleeves. Very Virgin Suicides.

Our sexy bar girls from Vintage All Sorts were tremendous theme mascots in their Hawaiian print dresses and red lippy. They also put up with a very brisk trade and kept all our hot guests well lubricated (it reached 34 degrees Celsius/ 93 degrees Fahrenheit on the day).

Liana read a romantic John Donne poem during our ceremony and while she isn't wearing vintage, she does look gorgeous in Collette Dinnigan, + I had to include her because she's so cute. She may have been doing the robot here.

And Sonia wisely ditched the heels for some jazz hands and then a romantic dance with her fiance. She also looked suitably tropical in a warm shade of blue ... so pretty.

My friend Catherine picked up this classy sheath from Coco Repose, and many have told me this was their guest dress of the night.

And Jess bought her vintage floral party frock from Mint Condition in Rozelle. She's at a wedding sideshow beach party that I certainly wasn't invited too. Here is more proof of my mates shenanigans.


And here are a few more pics from the ceremony, which I've included mainly to show off our absolutely stunning celebrant Renee. She made the effort to coordinate with the bridal party in a dusty pink vintage dress from Coco Repose. I love the generous pleats on the skirt and the deep plunge bodice.

As soon as I get the professional pics I'll post some more, but this time I'll finish with hubbie and I leaving the surf club. It was truly a fashionable night.

A little black vintage dress

I know every woman is meant to own at least one little black dress, but since my rejection of black around 10 years ago - after wearing it to death in the late 90s, when it was almost the only colour you could buy - I have not had a go to little black dress in my closet. Despite my admiration for Audrey, I've never particularly followed her style tenets; there is no crisp white shirt or ballet flats lurking in my wardrobe either.
But yesterday as I ran around the city frantically finishing off wedding errands, I stopped into the monthly Vanity Fair Vintage Market for half an hour, and I was dared to try on this rather flash LBD. Lo and behold it fit and I loved it and when I got home I found it looked rather nifty with my wedding shoes.

Dress: vintage from Coco Repose
Purse: thrifted, gift from my almost mother-in-law
Shoes: Wittner
Bracelets: Sugared Vintage

Sugared Vintage is a brand new jewellery business started by a couple of Sydney lasses who were proudly displaying their wares at the market yesterday. They are importing some gorgeous new jewellery lines from the US, but their collection of new/old vintage Lucite bangles, earrings and more are simply gorgeous. The perfect way to add a pop of colour to any outfit, here are a few of the lovelies I found on their website.

A wedding to warm a vintage heart

I spotted this adorable Sydney wedding over at Real Wedding Ideas. Jessica and David brought vintage touches to their wedding to make it a really special event. The bride's dress is a vintage cocktail length frock purchased from Grandma Takes a Trip and altered to suit, and the bridesmaid wore a dashing electric blue pre-loved number from Coco Repose.

The bride's crinoline looks a treat and the cake topper is super sweet. The photographer for this wedding was Marzena Wasilewska and you can check out loads more pics over at her blog. There are some great up close and personal images of Jessica's dress and her great victory rolls hairstyle.

I'm so excited that my dear friends Lee and Sebastian from sebastian T photography are shooting my wedding as a gift. Lucky, lucky me. And I hope I scrub up just as lovely as this vintage inspired bride did.

A vintage cocktail party and a new purchase

The Sydney Antique Centre's vintage clothing concession threw a lovely little Valentines Day soiree for their loyal customers today. Apparently staff were up until 2am creating the luscious treats on offer, including shortbread with berries and cream and delicious chocolate brownies.

The vintage clothing section at the Centre was launched only a few months ago and provides retro living guys and gals with a whole little "street" of vintage wares from a number of collectors. I've been very restrained this summer and have bought little new (old) clothes or new (new) clothes, come to think of it. But bolstered by yummy treats and egged on by fellow frock lovers, I tried on a few pieces and eventually bought this 1960s shift. It features a very pale pastel print, a low V-neck back and pretty bow features on the sleeves. It is also in great nick and comes with its original belt. I think it's the perfect little frock for the office.

Concession holder Lou Murray Vintage offers wonderful cocktail and evening frocks, including the ones shown here, + a great selection of coats for the coming winter. The lovely Amanda from Coco Repose tried on a to die for 60s swing coat that would be perfect for jumping in and out a convertible.

Grant from Libertine Jewels has an impressive selection of sparkly bits and one-of-a-kind bags,

including a highly collectible Enid Collins wooden box purse.

And the Coco Repose girls keep a concession in the Centre that is delightfully colour coordinated and packed with feminine and frilly goodies. They have a fantastic 1950s Mexican circle skirt on their rack at the moment, but alas it didn't quite fit and my pile of "to be altered" items almost needs its own wardrobe.

If you are feeling low between Vintage Fair fixes, the Sydney Antiques Centre offers a mini version that can easily tide you over. Perhaps just leave the credit card at home.

Holiday Snaps

I'm briefly back in Sydney after 10 days staying at my folks place up North. Next stop is down south to visit the father-in-law to be, and apparently the betrothed plans on taking me to a rodeo for New Year's Eve. That should be an interesting adventure for an avowed city mouse like me. Can anyone help me with an idea of what to wear?

Meanwhile here are a couple of my holiday snaps. My parents have the world's smallest Christmas tree and Santa hadn't arrived as yet when this photo was taken, but you get a good look at one of my new 'old' dresses; a 1950's cocktail frock with a matching sleeveless jacket that buttons up the back. No label, so likely it was handmade. Thanks Coco Repose! You also get a good look at the Vermeer print which I picked up for my Mum at the Mauritshaus in The Hague last year. I didn't realise it was so huge when I bought it. The real Girl with a Pearl Earring is about a quarter of the size!

I also couldn't resist including a shot of me on the beach on Christmas Day with my beloved pug Elsie. Up until Christmas the weather was sparkling and I got in a swim and sun bake every day. Then the weather turned overcast and stormy, probably giving my poor skin cells a much needed break, but even on stormy days, the beaches near where my parents live are stunning. And Elsie always has fun, no matter what the weather.

Party frocks for the silly season and beyond ...

I mentioned on my Over the Top questionnaire that Coco Repose is my favourite store, and here are some pretty frocks that will hopefully demonstrate why.

Jessica and Amanda at Coco Repose have photographed some of their best silly season party frocks, with some lovely red and green numbers here that would be perfect for events where glamorous is the dress code. These frocks are just the tip of the iceberg though; there is plenty more quality vintage to choose from including beautiful hats (featured in a couple of these pics), belts, bags, scarfs and Amanda tells me they just put out some vintage swimwear too.

If you are in Sydney it is worth paying the ladies a visit at 82 Fitzroy Street, Surry Hills. They also have a concession at Sydney Antiques Centre at 531 South Dowling Street, in Surry Hills too.