Fantasy Shopping: Part I

When things are slow at work (which lately is most of the time), I like to amuse myself by:

a) Reading random Wikipedia entries; and

b) Fantasizing about the clothes I would wear and buy if I had a few hundred/thousand/hundred thousand more dollars in the bank.

At the moment, I am head over heels in love with this vintage Vicky Tiel dress which is being touted as 'cheaper than Balmain' on the Decades blog. True as that may be, I have a sneaking suspicion that it may still be just out of my price range...but a girl can dream.


In keeping with the metallic/prohibitively pricey/insanely impractical theme, I'm also obsessed with this vintage Azzaro chainmail sweater from Rare Vintage to the point that I am seriously considering throwing a Joan of Arc/medieval themed costume party for my next birthday just to have an excuse to buy it.

And finally, we need something bronze to complete the trio. How about this Shera-esque YSL cuff from Resurrection as modelled by Sasha Pivovarova's evil twin? Sadly, this gorgeous specimen has already been snapped up, but then again the beauty of fantasy shopping is that the concept of ownership is fluid....

What's better than a free lunch?

Free cake for lunch! Especially when it comes from here:

and looks like this:

Thanks to Ramses and the boys from the excellent Bacco Wine Bar Pasticceria for spoiling me! I also got this for lunch:

Ooh, what's inside the bag?

A pretty decadent lunch hour if I do say so myself!

Macaroons and expensive stockings – very Marie Antoinette of me, non?

Get stimulated

Sadly I have not yet received my promised 'pennies from Kevin', but as soon as I get that cheque in my hot little hands the first thing I'll be buying is this awesome t-shirt from the wacky folks at The Surgery. Thanks K-Rudd.

Love Vintage

Last weekend I ventured to Canterbury with my best vintage shopping buddy to visit the Sydney Vintage Clothing, Jewellery & Textiles Show. Despite all my good intentions to keep expenditure to a minimum, the minute I spied the amazing amazingness that is this Lilli Ann suit jacket, I was hooked, hefty price tag be damned.

The on-trend pronounced shoulders drew me in, the flawless silk/wool blend fabric kept me interested but it was those beyond fabulous pleated bell sleeves that had me eagerly handing over my credit card like a junkie jonesing for a fix.

Here's a much better picture of those scrumpdiddlyumpious sleeves courtesy of Lulu's Vintage (wonder what happened to my rhinestone buckles?!)

I was told by the vendor that the suit dated to the 1930's/40's but Couture Allure, which has this great scan of the suit as originally advertised (looks like I bought a vintage campaign piece!), dates the suit to 1955. The vendor also told me that Coco Chanel used to contribute designs for the Lilli Ann label during this period, and while this may have been an erroneous (and totally unnecessary) sales pitch which I have not as yet been able to corroborate, Lady Vintage alleges that none other than Cristobal Balenciaga anonymously contributed designs to the Lilli Ann label post-WW2.

Although the prospect of this suit being ghost-designed by either Chanel or Balenciaga is delicious, it is a simply amazing piece in any case and definitely a worthy addition to my collection. I also bought a gorgeous vintage kimono which was promptly destroyed by my cleaner in an unfortunate handwashing incident – note to self: like gremlins, vintage kimonos must be kept away from water.

Beckerman Bite Plate

I had never heard of the Beckerman sisters or their eponymous label Beckerman before stumbling across this little jewel of a blog but I've since become an instant fan of their irreverent, heavily nuanced style. Beckerman Bite Plate features daily updates on the sartorial choices of each of the three Beckerman sisters - Samantha, Caillianne and Chloe - and presents their sources of inspiration in succinct soundbites that meander from Madeline to Mark Rothko via Melrose Place.

Typical ensembles are composed of vintage YSL and Chanel mixed with flea market finds plus own label pieces all topped off with seriously amazing oddities like giant worry doll handbags, lucite bug bracelets and pom pom bedecked tights.

These girls have a fun and fearless take on fashion that I find very inspiring, especially when contrasted with the black/leather/legging/Balmain shoulder hybrid featured on most 'street style' blogs. Their label harnesses their unique and wacky appeal with more of a commercial bent - you can view past and current collections on their Beckerman website - and I'm kinda lusting over their silk print 'Love' bag, available in white or blue (but not, unfortunately, in Australia).