Jo Copeland Frocks

I posted a beautiful 1949 advertisement for Pattullo - Jo Copeland the other week and I thought I would follow that up with this selection of gorgeous vintage frocks from the label which you can buy right now.
The black 1940's dress above is from Shrimpton Couture and is for sale for AUD$271.72.

This unique 1950s satin cocktail dress with velvet bows is from Mercyvintagenow and is available for AUD$230.18.

This dress from Fab Gabs is Indian inspired and features a beautiful brocade. It is AUD$407.16.

And this day dress with the unusual neckline is currently up for auction at Basic Threads. With only two days to go, if you love it, you better jump on ebay now!

A Bit of Winter, A Bit of Spring

Here's one of the outfits I've been living in this winter, sans the usual stockings and boots. I mentioned this vintage skirt before when I first picked it up from Twig Vintage on Etsy. It matches perfectly with the cropped periwinkle blue jumper I bought from John Macarthur at Purl Harbour in Bondi. There are some things I really miss about not living in Bondi anymore, and John's shop is one of them; he really does create the most divine knits, worth the investment. Plus this particular jumper I had imagined in my own mind before I event met it, and so when I did I was ecstatic. There are lots of over sized knits doing the rounds this winter but, for outside of the house wear, I much prefer something that doesn't disguise the waist.
In a nod to spring, which I'm willing on with all my might, yesterday I decided to pair this outfit with my new aqua blue Gorman clogs. Gorman always has some interesting pieces and I love the label's experiments with colour. How cute is this spotty outfit from their new Spring collection? Perfect with flats for a chic weekend away.

Pretty Purchases

I've been a bit slow on the blogging front of late as my days have been consumed with work. I've been travelling a bit, am about to travel some more (I'll be in Melbourne, Brisbane and Noosa this week), and things aren't really going to quieten down until the end of August. Such is life, and I just have to take each day as it comes and look after my health and sanity as best as I can during this busy time.
I have managed to get a bit of online shopping done though as, whilst I'm not loving the global recession, I am enjoying the strong Aussie dollar. Just arrived on my doorstep today is not one, not two, but three new period dramas for me to enjoy (hello Downton Abbey) and two new floral skirts to mix and match with knits for winter, and which are sure to take me into Spring too.
Thanks muchly to TWIGVINTAGE and Becky Drolen.
Do you like?

Planning For My Winter Wardrobe

I put my new winter coat on lay-by today (a beautiful shade of crimson) and now that the cold weather has hit Sydney with sudden and full force, I'm thinking about my wardrobe for the next three months. I need knit dresses, but I also crave comfy cable knit jumpers as per the one worn above by Tina from Violetville Vintage. What do people think of a cable knit jumper paired with a cute floral skirt (thanks Astaire Steps Vintage in Bendigo) and opaque tights? I think I may be onto something here.

Dress Crush

I spotted this 1940s Sally Milgrim dress over at Timeless Vixen Vintage and instantly fell in love. How beautiful are the appliques on the bodice and the bottom of the skirt? How divine is the big bow at the back? This lovely dress would suit a garden party wedding I think. I just love knowing that pieces this lovely are in existence, whether they ever make their way to my wardrobe or not.

Sally Milgrim had a famous dress shop on the corner of 57Th and Fifth Avenue in New York for many years. She made clothes for many of New York's well-to-do ladies + celebrities too. She famously made the dress that Eleanor Roosevelt wore when her husband was inaugurated as President.

Happy Holidays

You might have noticed that I went off the air for a little while recently, and that was because hubby and I ventured up Far North to a little place called Mission Beach. It was the second time we've holidayed there in the last 18 months, and this time we stayed at a divine house called Sejala, which is owned by one of the hubby's clients. It was a real treat, not only because the house was luxurious, the beach and rainforest beautiful, and the Great Barrier Reef was on our doorstep, but also because I got to wear swimsuits everyday! I think on the first day I went swimming about ten times!
Here I'm wearing a 60s cotton bikini I purchased from Fraulein Marlene over on Etsy. I had been longing for a vintage swimsuit for some time, and the cute pattern on this one really caught my eye. I was a bit worried about how it would hold up when actually wet, but it was actually more durable that I thought it would be, though I can see why the invention of lycra was so revolutionary.

And now for something completely urelated to style, here are some holiday snaps ...

A few days after we came home, Mission Beach was devastated when it was hit with the eye of Cyclone Yasi. The hubby is now back up there, helping to put Sejala back together; the beach has disappeared, trees and debris litter every property, and many people in Mission and surrounding areas have completely lost their homes. It is heartbreaking, but it makes me even more determined to visit this special part of Australia again.

If you want to help the victims of the cyclone, you can donate to the QLD Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal here.

Christmas Cheer

Wouldn't this gorgeous 1950s frock from SweetMoonlightShop make the perfect outfit for a warm Aussie Christmas?

And wouldn't I just love for my life, for the rest of my 9 DAYS OFF WORK, to resemble this vintage coke commercial? Okay, maybe minus the coke, because after all I can't drink it and if I could I'd have to spend hours running up and down the beach to burn off the calories. I will be running over my holidays, but hopefully at dusk after spending the daylight hours chilling on a beach towel with a thick novel.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all!

Still fixated, still gorgeous ...

I love when I discover a new store on Etsy with lovely frocks for me to drool over. In this case Sweet Moonlight Shop, which has 50s Mexican dresses (so hot right now), mod minis, 40s and 50s wiggle dresses and circle skirts galore, most particularly caught my eye because of their fantastic collection of vintage Hawaiian and Tiki frocks. Check out the Kamehameha (1, 2 & 3) and Alfred Shaheen (4, 5 & 6) dresses they've got on offer at the moment, and which I would snap up in a second if money fell from the sky into my lap and the husband suddenly transported me to Oahu or back to Fiji ...

Okay, okay, back down to earth from fantasy land. I've also got to include this no brand name Hawaiian stunner because of my love of bright covers. It's like psychedelia meets snazzy beach BBQ. Now there can't be anything wrong with that.

Tropical Isle Novelty Prints

My crush on vintage Hawaiian inspired prints continues unabated, so I was a little bit excited to find these frocks on Miss Mucho's E-bay store. From the 40s and 50s the auctions for these to die for numbers are about to end, and because they are so unique and so collectible, I expect they'll go for a pretty penny.

I love the painterly print on the halterneck above.

And this strapless sarong frock below looks like a souvenir from a tropical island holiday. A nice way, perhaps, to remember days filled with sunshine and languor.

This cute play-set is available from Miss Mucho's etsy store and mixes in a musical score with its hula girls.

My dear friend Jess - a regular blog reader, well aware of my obsession - recently picked up an Hawaiian novelty print dress at the Rozelle Markets for me. While all the prints above are on cotton or rayon, this dress is silk (!) and is covered with gorgeous Aloha's and little Hawaiian scenes, including Kings and Queens, maps of the islands, and the sexy Hula girl featured here.

Isn't that a thoughtful gift?

An even more recent gift was this Sulu from Navini Island in Fiji where the hubby and I just enjoyed the most relaxing holiday ever. A sulu is like a sarong worn by men and women alike, but especially on lovo feast night (lovo is where meat and vegetables are buried in the earth and cooked under hot coals). The prints are all different, but are generally inspired by the beautiful flora of the islands. I think mine is very pretty indeed.

And I promise I won't go on about my holiday anymore (believe me, the serenity has been completely obliterated now. I just spent my Sunday afternoon at the office), but here is a pic of the view from the dining room at Navini. This is a view I could never get tired of.

Coat of the Week: Lady in Yellow

I'm currently fighting off a flu and while I spent the morning on the couch completely engrossed in the 24 hour media coverage of the labour leadership spill, our Governor Generals sartorial brilliance did not go unnoticed.

I've long admired Quentin Bryce's style (hooray she loves colour!) and she looked particularly gorgeous today in this long wool suit with a violet flower brooch.

Our first female Governor General swearing in our first female PM; all politics aside, today was a symbolically important one.

At RAFW my colleague Eliza and I spyed a woman wearing this Lisa Ho mustard coat and we've been in lust ever since. Alas Lisa Ho is a little out of my price range right now, so I just had a quick trawl of Etsy to check out some yellow-tastic vintage numbers which are a little more budget friendly.

From LizsVintageSoffita there is this delicious 40s coat; from TractorDog you can buy a very mod 60s number; and FabGabs camel mohair 60s suit is all kinds of woolly goodness.

I'm loving sunny yellow as the perfect antidote to winter blues.

Prints to Cherish

Miuccia Prada apparently has a textile library that is the envy of fashion types the world over. I fantasise that it is housed in a gilt edged dungeon hidden behind multiple heavy oak doors.
The gifted Miuccia has drawn on this library for a new limited edition Print Collection. Comprised of a 50s inspired sun-dress, a shoulder bag and ballet flats, each item is identical apart from the pretty prints. Lovely, right?

Grazia Daily is ecstatic that the frocks are all priced under 500GBP, which is mighty cheap for Prada, but at around 800 Aussie dollars, is still a tad too expensive for me. And it is possible to find unique vintage prints on quality fabric for a fraction of that cost.

I found all these cotton frocks over at Clever Vintage on Etsy. Priced between $80 and $150, I reckon these pieces are mighty collectible too. The half Dutch in me loves the tulip prints on the first two.