HOW I STYLED WHITE DENIMS FOR A DINNER PARTY

Hello my dear readers and fellow bloggers, hope you are all well.

My life has been rather hectic lately, what with the arrival of my first granddaughter and my younger daughter being on school holidays, I sometimes didn’t know what to do first.

One thing I know for sure is that after seeing so many pictures of my fellow bloggers wearing white jeans, I wanted to have a pair of my own.  I didn’t want to buy them in summer as it was too hot to wear them anyway but now that summer is over and the days are cooler, it is a perfect time to don a pair of whites.

When I finally made it to the shops, I had spent a fair amount of time choosing a pair of white jeans that was right for me.  This time I stayed away from anything that was distressed, torn or frayed.  I wanted something less trendy and more classic, something that could last me for a couple of seasons and could be easily dressed up and down depending on the occasion. I will be experimenting with the looks as the time goes by so expect to see more about them.

I settled on a pair of white denims from J Brand, without any bells and whistles, not too skinny or cropped, in other words exactly what I was looking for.

A few days later I had an opportunity to put them to the test.  We were invited to dinner at a restaurant that could be described as fine dining without the highly starched table cloth – an ideal place to wear designer jeans providing that your accessories are top notch.

I figured that the best way to go would be to revert to the classic combo, black and white.  Traditionally, you will wear black on the bottom with white on top but tonight I decided to wear them in reverse.

I contemplated wearing my pearls but thought that they would be more suite for a “going to the Opera" look and chose a black and white scarf instead.

It belonged to my late mother-in-law and I felt very privileged when my father-in-law, who lives in Cape Town, asked my husband on his last visit if I would like to inherit her collection.  When my husband returned home and unpacked his bag to show me the collection, I lost my speech.  I knew that she loved scarfs but I couldn’t imagine the extent of the collection.

I have started fashioning them on the blog lately (here, here and here) but it would take me many posts to share all them with you.

I loved this scarf the minute I took it out of the suitcase.  It brought back the nice memories of seeing these graceful animals in their natural habitat in the game parks of South Africa that we visited during our annual visits to Cape Town to see my husband’s parents when my mother in-law was still alive.

When I looked at it, I thought it was just a simple zebra print but on the closer inspection I could see an animal’s head with its big brown eyes looking directly at me.

Sadly, when I tried to tie around my neck the bandana in a way to show off the zebra’s head, it looked like I was wearing a bib, so I had to turn it around.

I deliberately kept the black and white monochrome throughout my entire outfit, the only colour pop that I indulged were the red soles of my Christian Louboutin shoes and a red gloss on my lips.

Don’t you think that this scarf is adorable?  Do you like wearing scarf or prefer to leave them out of your outfit?  Would like to hear your take on it.

Until then.

Anna

xo 

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy, Seeking Sunshine, Living on Cloud Nine, High Latitude Style, Not Dead Yet Style

HOW I WORE FLARED CROPPED PANTS

Hello my dear readers and fellow bloggers.  Hope you all had a good break over Easter.

I have fantastic news to share with you all – last Sunday I became a grandmother for the first time to an absolutely gorgeous baby girl, name yet to be determined.  I can’t begin to describe how happy I feel for myself and my daughter who desperately wanted to have a girl but was repeatedly told by everyone that it is going to be a boy.  So it was a double joy for all of us involved.

I think, under the circumstances, you will forgive me for this post being extremely short.   In anticipation of becoming a grandmother and knowing that I wouldn’t have much time left for blogging, I’ve had the photos taken earlier so all that was left was to write the blurb, so here it is.

As I mentioned in my previous post, last week my husband and I went to see the opera, Carmen on the Harbour, which was absolutely sublime.

 

I must’ve still been under its spell when I was at the department store passing through the Women’s Fashion section of David Jones department store on my way to buy a toy for my granddaughter that I spotted these cropped flare pants hanging off the rack at the concession shop of Beck and Bridge and felt an irresistible urge to buy them.

Flares have been on trend for quite a while and I’ve been thinking of buying myself a pair for the coming winter season so here was my chance to do just that.

I didn’t have much time to try them on so I just quickly paid and left.

By the time I reached my car in the parking lot, I new exactly what two items in my wardrobe would look perfect with these pants.

"

I MUST HAVE STILL BEEN UNDER ITS SPELL WHEN I SAW THESE PANTS

"

Firstly,  a silk blouse in a gorgeous burnt orange colour that when wrapped around the waist like a kimono style can be tied up in a big bow and secondly, two toned high heel strappy sandals.

I had about an hour at my disposal before going to the hospital to see my girls, so I quickly put all the three elements on and asked my husband to take photos.  And voila,  a Carmen inspired outfit was born.

I am linking-up with Elegantly Dressed and Stylish, Style Nudge, Fashion Should be Fun, Colour and Grace

GOING PREPPY

Hi everyone, hope you all have had a great weekend

My Saturday was fabulous.  My husband and I went to see Carmen on the Harbour.  It is an outdoor event set on the shores of Sydney Harbour and let me tell you It was spectacular – from the beautiful voices of the cast to the stage settings, costumes and a lot of lighting and pyrotechnic effects, not to mention having the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge as a backdrop made the night even more magical.  Luckily for us the weather was perfect too so all and all it was a night to remember.

We didn’t have any plans for Sunday as my older daughter was due to have a baby but nothing happened so I had time to have a couple of photos taken wearing two different outfits (one for this post and one for a future one)  and I did a bit of writing.  I knew only too well that once the baby arrives, there would be not much time left for blogging.

I describe today’s look as “preppy” and I have no reason to explain why I chose this look.  All I know it’s all started after I saw a great number of images on Instagram and Bloglovin' of women wearing dressy shoes with socks so I wanted to give it a try too.  And it went from there.

This is not the look that you can often see on the streets of Sydney unless you are around one of those highly expensive private schools and the reason for it is our warm climate and relaxed life style, so this outfit is an entirely my interpretation of the look.  A quick reference revealed that one of the main attributes of the preppy look is “a simply classic look with just few key accessories to tie it together” and armed with this piece of knowledge I embarked on the challenge.

It is the first time ever that I have experimented with this look and because of that, I didn’t have any particular clothes or accessories in my wardrobe that contributed to a preppy look nor was I sure of what exactly this look involves so I had to rely on my instinct but I figured that socks worn over smart kitten heel nude colour shoes could be a good start. 

Happy with that, I shopped my wardrobe and found a silk A-line skirt that looked right for the look.  The last piece of the puzzle came in a form of a plain round neck jumper in a dusty pink with side splits that I wore loose over the skirt.  My key accessories were a silk scarf that I wrapped around my neck and tied in a cute knot and white pearl earrings.

“

ONE OF THE MAIN ATTRIBUTES OF THE PREPPY LOOK IS A SIMPLY CLASSIC LOOK WITH JUST A FEW KEY ACCESSORIES TO TIE IT TOGETHER

“

I am sure that this is not the perfect preppy look and some might argue that it is not at all, but I felt comfortable and quite pleased of how it all came out.

What do you think of my look?  How would you describe it?  I would like to know your thoughts.

Until then,

Anna

XO

Linking up with Elegantly Dressed and Stylish, Shelbee on the Edge

A PERFECT DRESS FOR A SUNNY AUTUMN DAY

Hello everyone, hope you are all well.

For those of us who, like me, live in the Southern Hemisphere the weather seasons are always in reverse to the rest of the world which means that why people of Northern Hemisphere are looking forward to the upcoming summer, people who live below the equator are in the second month of autumn, aka fall which does not excite me in the slightest.  I just can’t stand that at four o’clock in the afternoon it is as dark outside as if it is midnight.   And although the temperature is definitely cooler than was a month ago, it is a perfect time of a year for wearing transitional clothes which is very similar to what I see a lot of my fellow blogers from Europe and North America wear once the winter is over but the summer is yet to come.

It is around this time of a year, that I like to sort out my clothes, store away shorts and singlets, pack away sandals and thongs and get winter pants, jumpers and coats out of the storage room.  It is also a time when I take a stock of what I have for the upcoming season, throw away the old clothes that I know for sure I wouldn’t be wearing and decide whether I need to buy some new clothes that will last me through the months of winter.

It is during this evaluation process that I realised that I need a new so called “transitional” dress, the one that I can wear without a coat and don’t feel cold and will be able to layer as the weather worsens.  I wanted a street dress, not too casual or too dressy, something I will be able to wear almost everywhere and I think this dress from Zara ticks all the boxes.

It is made out of a light fabric and I like the fact that the patterned flowers are relatively small and don’t distract attention from the silhouette of the dress.  It has ballooning sleeves gathered by a wide cuff and while the front is rather simple, all the action is focused on its back which has multiple pleats loosely bunched together by the skinny belt.  If you look at it from behind, it falls mid-calf while the front is about 10 cm shorter and fleetingly comes right above the knee.

As I said, it is autumn in Sydney and this dress is absolutely perfect for a cooler day no matter what season is outside, I will have plenty of opportunities to wear it.

That is the kind of dress that when you are in it, you don’t take yourself too seriously and that was exactly what I wanted.  To keep the mood light and a bit naughty, I paired it with fishnet stockings and ankle boots but I am pretty sure that it will look equally good worn with smart shoes or high-heeled boots.

NO MATTER WHAT SEASON IS OUTSIDE, I WILL HAVE PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITIES TO WEAR IT.

A simple necklace suspended from the rope and a bright red lipstick are my only accessories.

Linking up with Shelbee on the Edge, Fine Whatever Blog, Not Dressed as Lamb