I particularly loved this backwards blouse and rhinestoned shoes.

To be honest, I was a little disappointed in the men’s fashion. This poor bastard was sent around the circuit FIVE TIMES in the same pink shirt.

Ninaribena and Lady Smaggle. Ninaribina is wearing her gorgeous SJP top and I commissioned her to make me one! I wore it all weekend and I LOVE IT!!!!

I’m wearing…

* Top from Stock Jeans

* Skirt from Munkey Business

* Shoes from Sportsgirl

This is a gorgeous gal I met called Viktoria, the self proclaimed Imelda Marcos of Canberra. This gorgeous thing owns over 400 pairs of shoes and makes hair pieces and fascinators. Splendid!

It was a totally pleasant morning and such a delightful way to spend the first weekend of spring! Thanks Ninaribena! You made my weekend! Mwah!

Other things I did this weekend…

* Kissed the crap out of Mr Smaggle… he just returned from a two week trip to the USA

* Lazed in the sun eating jelly lollies at a BBQ

* Drank one too many glasses of wine and told almost all of my friends that “I used to hate them but now I love them and isn’t that great???”

* Had Yum Cha to celebrate Baldren Smaggle’s (my brother’s) birthday.

* Watched Dancing with the Stars while colouring in a My Little Pony activity book

* Baked a coffee layer slice

What did you do over the weekend my pet???

Love Lady Smaggle

xxx

* For God’s sake wear pants that fit – Sloppy pants are terrible. Do you want people to think that you wear nappies? Are you perhaps using the excess room for storage? Are you hoping to grow into them one day? No? Then burn the bastards and get some pants that hug the parts we ladies so admire. Your bums. Not the other things… Never wear pants that hug those.

* Don’t be afraid of accessories – Hats and scarves boys. Hats and scarves. Both at the same time if you’re feeling a little devilish. I find the difference between a well-dressed gent and a stylish one is usually as simple as a hat or scarf.

* Don’t be afraid of colour – If the colours of your wardrobe are black, grey, brown, green and blue it’s time to start thinking in technicolour. Think red, orange, pink (carefully) and yellow… That’s right I’m talking all the colours that hang on the wrong side of the colour wheel. Little splashes of colour in your belt or your shoes is all it needs. A funky red watch, some crazy neon yellow trainers or a thick dark pink leather cuff. Seriously you will be beating the ladies off with a stick. Actually the men too because they’ll be trying to steal your fabulous man accessories.

* Dress to your body shape – If you are 6 foot 4 and built like a pre-pubescent girl wear skinny leg jeans like a mofo. If you are a gym junkie wear long sleeve collared shirts rolled up to your elbow to show off your amazing forearms. If you are short and cuddly go for tailored shirts untucked with well-fitting pants and a hat to balance you out. It’s not rocket science just look in the mirror and figure out if what you are wearing is flattering. Take a bitchy girl shopping with you. Sisters and mothers are ideal.

* Get your clothes tailored – Don’t give me your ‘I can’t afford it’ sooky-la-la bullshit. It costs $20 to $30 to have a shirt taken in at a tailor and around half that for having pants taken up. Quit your whingeing and just do it. Is $30 (the cost of a few beers and a burger at the pub) worth it to have a shirt that fits so well that ladies will caress it as you walk by…? I thought so.

* Add your own funky twist – Dye your hair a funky colour or wear lots of rings. Maybe wear a short beaded necklace or a long string of leather wrapped around your wrist? If you could send one message to the world what would it be? Try to convey it through your clothing. You don’t speak to everyone you see so give them a visual message about who you are and what you stand for.

* Get over it – I know you love your stinky grey hoodie. And that t-shirt with the marijuana symbol on it that you wore every weekend in year 10. And your first ever $100 suit that you wore to your cousins wedding. Throw it all away. Right now. Anything faded, stretched, sans elastic, too big, too small or half devoured by moths has to go. Anything with Loony Toons, Ren and Stimpy or South Park should probably be confined to bed wear. Unless you want to get laid.

Be observant. Next time you see a guy whose style you admire try to pin point exactly what it is that you like about it. Try and figure out if the look will work for you and experiment with different things. And check out these street style sites that regularly feature classy men in their natural habitat. Here are a few looks that I love…

Hel Looks

His braces look fantastic and they match his shoes. Uniformity on a man makes me weak at the knees. He is also a well built guy with short legs and the braces paired with straight black elongate him making him appear taller. And check out the beard and moustache combo. What an extraordinary man he is.

Hat and scarves! Hats and scarves! Okay I admit the pants are a little scary and perhaps you shouldn’t try them at home but look at how much the red scarf lifts his ensemble. He has combined accesories AND colour. This guy is a genius.  

Skinny leg jeans look fabulous on skinny guys. His t-shirt and jeans fit perfectly and his accessories are awesome. Obviously this look may not be quite right for you but he is still sticking to the general rules. 

Face Hunter

This look is fabulous. Clean, well cut and lovely use of muted tones with a splash of rich mahogany. And look at him working his body shape! Oh yeah!

Now this look may be a little Edward Scissorhands for you but he is still working the rules. Well fitting pants, chunky shoes to balance his body shape, fabulously unique hair and excellent use of accessories. The slightly arrogant charm is also working wonders for him.

Great use of colour and very brave accessories. Is anybody else impressed that a guy can pull this off and not look totally homosexual? I mean he could be gay of course (not that there’s anything wrong with that) but the point is he manages to rock a rather feminine look while keeping his sexuality elusive. The saucy devil.

Simple and clean lines to work in with his body shape. The shades are all kinds of perfect. The jeans are a little saggy but I forgive him because of his delicious olive green coat.

Why not double layer two hoodies on a cold winters day? Start thinking out side the box babies! No matter what kind of jeans you wear make sure they fit well! And what a wonderful way to wear a tie. You could almost get away with this in an office job.

Love the pants and the orange vest. The tailored jacket is divine. His confidence is also incredible.

And what’s a men’s style post with out a little Depp? (Ladies this one’s for you…)

Johnny Depp

Most Stylish Men

USAToday

People

Oh Johnny. No other man can ever compete. Okay I can hear the cries of protest from you lads out there wondering what is so special about the way he dresses. I know he sometimes looks like he is wearing pajamas but all I have to say is this…

Meet Vanessa. Johnny’s partner. She’s French. Just something to think about…

Oh and if you choose to ignore my advice and dress any way you damn well like I beg you to do it well. If you are going to spite me make it REALLY SPECTACULAR. Like these fancy fellows…

Hel Looks

I will leave you with a quote from the beautiful Diana Vreeland…

‘Never fear being vulgar, just boring’

Dedicated to Arran.

Go forth and prosper my little craftmeisters! With all the decorative stuff in stores at the moment the world is your D.I.Y oyster…  

I got a stupid amount of hits on my blog today.  Well not stupid but pretty impressive for a narcissistic little style blog like this and to celebrate I decided  to buy myself a present. In my current state of hating EVERYTHING at the moment I struggled to find any clothing worth buying. I have also overdosed on Etsy accessories so I am not really wanting for anything in that department. So as I was walking out of the mall I found a ProfessioNAIL salon and went in for a quick manicure. It cost $18 (friggin bargainous!) and she filed, buffed, polish and cut my cuticles. She also sat there patiently while I ran back and forth between the nail polish table changing my mind about what colour I wanted. Everytime I came back with a different colour she would raise her eyebrow quizzically and say ‘Red again?’. It may have seemed like all the colours were ‘red’ but anyone who knows Opi nail  polish knows that all the reds are totally different and that it’s a big decision between ‘I’ve “red” the script’ and ‘An affair in red square’. Anyway I feel positively indulged and decadent. The manicure is perfect and I didn’t smudge it before it was dry. Seriously if you have never had a manicure before just do it. It’s marvellous. And it will look much better on your normal sized woman hands rather than on my enlarged baby/midget pudgy hands.

Sam wearing a hat from Mrs Dewson’s Hats and Mikimoto Pearls

Charlie wearing Mellisa shoes

Steph

Alex wearing a hat from Mrs Dewson’s Hats

Jess

Stuart

Dave

Azz

We spent the afternoon playing poker and eating cheese. As one does on Melbourne Cup Day!

Today was the worst washing day I have ever had so I am posting yesterdays outfit instead. Yesterday was lovely – Mr Smaggle and I dragged our hungover selves to the Kingston Markets where we ate Ethiopian food and chocolate covered strawberries. I then visited my lovely friend Matt at the Glassworks. In the afternoon we saw an anime film before having bangers and mash for dinner while watching The Office at our mates house. What a pleasant weekend. Today I worked and then visited my auntie on the way home. She has a very cool secret fashion related business opening soon that I can’t wait to tell you all about…

 * White blousy shirt from Newtown

* Denim skirt secondhand from Ebay (has a James Bond picture and the words ‘The missing link is moving underground’ written on it in permanent marker)

* Black sandals from Marco Gianni (or Giovanni… can’t remember)

* Wood dinosaur necklace gift from friends from Itrip Iskip

* My new ring that I adore!

When I went to the Glassworks my lovely friend Matt (who works there) gave me my birthday present. It’s this gorgeous glass ring by a Japanese artist called Itsuka Ito. She was studying English at the ANU and came into his work and asked to make some stuff to sell while she was here. These pictures are pretty bad but I had to get up close to show you how it looks different from different angles.

I know the photos are terrible but this ring really is stunning. It’s all smooth and bulbous like a drop of rain on a flower petal. It’s also a total mind spin because at different angles it can be all black, black and purple, clear with slashes of black or completely clear. This ring is so structurally perfect it’s just a completely satisfying piece of art. Thanks Matt and Ged – massive kisses and love to both of you!

The unfinished floors, damaged clothing, bargain bins containing unidentifiable chunks of fabric and that feeling that the sales assistants are actually spirits of former retail workers destined to serve in the hell of consumerism for all eternity, all send me running for the door.  But these feelings do not last long, and in the months between my visits my brain erases the emotional pain that outlet shopping invariably produces. 

Once these memories have receded, my brain is free to sing all the merry tunes of Outlet Land and off I skip on my fantasy shopping spree. Seconds after I walk in the door the repressed memories come flooding back and after purchasing mandatory Bonds supplies, I find myself back in my car and speeding towards the nearest mall to find clothes that are stitched all the way to edges and are not inspired by the Russian Olympic ice skating team of 1989.

Wedding Outfit

After spending the afternoon with the bride and bridesmaid I managed to find 5 minutes to get dressed before I ran to the ceremony to warn the groom that she was on her way!

• White shift dress from Big W
• Black 3/4 sleeve top from Valley Girl
• Red wedges from Big W
• Black opaques from Myer
• Black chunky chain necklace from Itrip Iskip

 All in all it was a lovely day and the bride and groom are very happy together! Congrats to the MacFunks!