The madness that is The Outnet birthday sale!

I have patiently been waiting at work all day with my gmail open in the corner for the outnet $1 sale to start.  I even missed a Friday tradition of a long lazy office lunch to make sure I didn't miss out.

I don't even know why! Does that put me in the same crazy bin as the 2,000 mad people trampling on each other at the American Apparel sale in the UK?  I usually make fun of people like that.  But the whole craze just caught up with me and I felt I had to be a part of it... sad :(

The email arrived around 4.30pm Melbourne time, I jumped on, scrolled to page 3 (there was 13 pages worth of stuff on sale) and placed the first thing half way down the page into my shopping bag.  I avoided items on page one as I know most people would have gone for them first.  I had my credit card details ready to copy and paste, and hey presto, it was done!

This is what I've ended up with!  A gray bateau-neck silk dress by Roksandra Ilincic.  It will be perfect to wear to one of my best friends weddings in July with lots of sparkly accessories.  I think it would suit a winter wedding nicely.

For a grand total of 1 pound + 16.50 shipping.  According to The Outnet, it retailed for 685 pounds.  The site has since crashed and it's total chaos.  With the far reach of social networking like FB and Twitter I have no doubt that thousands of women would have been doing the same thing as I was!

Did any of you manage to snap anything up?

In the world of photoshop, is it really necessary to put 17 year old Karlie Kloss, in a swimsuit, into a NY blizzard in February to shoot a photo to go with a Vogue story about how difficult it is it buy a swim suit? 

gawker.com

The Hidden Pizza Restaurant

The social networking world has been abuzz with news of Hidden Pizza. 

The trick is locate the restaurant "the way you would any business" (ie yellowpages etc).  You ring the number, place an order for one of their simple pizzas (nothing fancy unfortunately - margherita, vegie, prawn etc).  You are then SMS-ed the address and expected to turn up any time between 5.30pm and 10.30pm.

Being inquisitive as I am, I had to go check it out!

The "restaurant" is located off a laneway in Fitzroy and there are people and cameras everywhere, because hey, there's no such thing as a free lunch!  I still do not really know the purpose of it?  Is it market research?  Is it advertising for the yellow pages?  I do know that it won't be around forever, it's a pop up restaurant!

The line to get in at about 6.30pm was not too bad.  About 10 minutes... a disclaimer is signed that you're ok for them to photograph you - you place your order and you're led into the basement to wait for your pizza, with little stools around the room where you can sit and eat and sip on little jars of home made lemonade that they also provide complimentary. 

The whole room is made out of recycled materials and the walls are made from yellow pages books!

And the pizza was pretty good!

I didn't take my camera, so you will have to put up with my iphone photos which didn't work well in a dimly lit, crowded room.

The 15 or so minute line to get inside

The pot plants

Home made lemonade

Recycled light fixtures

Working hard (they field over 250 orders an hour)

Yellow pages = wall materials

All recycled

Ralph Lauren opens a store in Paris...

...on the Left Bank!  Another thing to put on my Paris to-do-and-see list.

In an old noble town house impeccably restored, Polo Ralph Lauren will unveiled its largest store to date on the Boulevard. The hôtel particulier is, naturally, particularly stunning- rich carvings and ornamentations, classical 1600’s French architecture, limestone, French white-oak paneling, “Versailles” style parquet flooring.. In a bid to make sure the reconstruction of the building’s architecture not stray from the original, Ralph Lauren says:

“I wanted to create a unique environment that captures the glamour, culture and the artistic spirit of the Paris that I have fallen in love with. Now, with this store opening, in the most romantic part of the city, I finally feel I have been able to tell my whole story in Paris”.

In addition to the various collections of Ralph Lauren, the 13,000 square-foot space also offers you fine dining in the very first Ralph Lauren restaurant in Europe- “Ralph’s”

 

 

images and text via google and style.com

I have a lot to post about in the next few days, and all of your blogs to catch up on - forgive me, I have had problems with my internet connection and my Macbook has been playing up - needs a new battery and mouse.  And I won't even bother you with the horrors of the office net connection. 

Looks We Love: Parisian Chic

Jodi Gordon for Sunday Magazine

Kate Sylvester coat $695

Scanlan and Theodore blouse $350

Therese Rawsthorne shirt $320

Scanlan and Theodore belt $550

Tony Bianco boots $320

“First we make our habits, then our habits make us.”

It is no secret that I wear a lot of black and neutrals. As much as I try to move away from my habits, when I see something I love it is usually black, white, cream or grey. And if I do adore something that comes in a different colourway, I always pick one of the aforementioned colours as I know it will go with most of my wardrobe. That is not the case with accessories! I love coloured jewels. Lovely statement pieces that break up the monotonous nature of a well thoughtout look.




These jewels by Vita New York tick all of those boxes and are very reasonably price. I don’t expect to see them copied by every high street store!

Human life runs its course in the metamorphosis between receiving and giving.

Packages are always a great way to brighten up a chilly autumn morning...

Contents to be shared with you in an upcoming post!

While contemplating a few weeks in Europe in July...

Net a porter tempts me with some gorgeous summer sandals...

“Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.”

Thank you for the feedback about some of changes to the layout.  I will continue to tweak with it to make it a bit more simple and user friendly.

As promised to myself and to you all, today was a productive day dedicated to a wardrobe clear out! But it was not all hard work.  B was out the door due to various commitments before I even woke up, so I walked down to my favourite neighbourhood cafe Las Chicas for a coffee, fresh juice and an eggs florentine.  I will do a proper review of this magnificent establishment at a later date.  It has been discovered by the masses and B is very impatient when he is hungry and doesn't like the wait for a table, but in my opinion, Las Chicas is certainly worth it - I'm there every chance I get!

Honestly, the hollandaise sauce is perfect and makes this meal!

So... back home to the wardrobe and this is what I began with!

Lately, everything was just placed back after it's worn in no particular order... I blame it on exhaustion at the end of each day when I can't wait to dive into bed and fall asleep.

Shoes languish at the bottom of the wardrobe :(

But not anymore!  Things are back in order.. suits, work dresses, tops, jackets are sorted together... belts have been sorted.  Shoes are back in their boxes!  Weekday clothes in the bedroom, play clothes in the spare room.

With that, I've rediscovered some old favourites and this is some of the stuff I'm looking forward to wearing over the coming, cooler months...

Helmut Lang shift dress with a low back... on it's own with a jacket or over tights and knits.  Got this at Century 21 in NYC last year... I found it difficult to shop over there as it was SO big, with so much to choose from that it gave me a head ache most of the time!!

French Connection angora cropped cardi

MK2K faux fur vest

The vest as styled in US Elle... love!

Black Halo dress - fell in love with when Lauren wore it in Paris on The Hills!!

YSL 'Lauren' suede booties

Sergio Rossi eel skin pumps.. a gift from my B :) These can be seen during the opening sequences of Devil Wears Prada when all the girls are getting ready - hahah toooootally random fact!

Mollini copies of the Chloe bow flats - these are totally knackered but I cannot let them go :(

I also cleaned out my underwear and tights draw and threw out 3 pairs!

On my shopping list for winter

• a new, black pencil skirt (threw 3 out today which are too big and ill fitting).. saw one at Scanlan & Theodore and I think it maybe the one
• new, black, fine knit turtle neck... S&T again, can't go wrong!
• Wolford tights - I'm going to give in
• Black sheer stay ups
• A large, Burberry cashmere scarf
• Another dress I can layer for winter
• A MaxMara suit... June sales ;))

Clocking some couch time tonight - doing a double session a the gym tomorrow - body attack AND body balance... ouch!  Hope you're all having a fab weekend x

Natasha Poly - Vogue Paris 2010

All images are scans from Paris Vogue