Secret Garden

"If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden..."

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Dress: Ankoa cotton lace, buttons

Ankle Boots: Renee Loves Frances leather

Bag: Nautica nylon, vinyl with silver hardware

Bracelet: Tibetan silver (from Maleny boutique)

Bangle: Vintage, Retro Metro Paddington silver

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Feeling just like Mary Lennox from "The Secret Garden" in these absolutely beautiful photographs from a divine winter morning spent exploring both Nerima Gardens & Ipswich Nature Centre with my father in my hometown, wearing the stunning white lace Prairie dress from sustainable, slow-fashion, independent Aussie label Ankoa. When styling the look, I allowed all of those hours pouring over Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1911 masterpiece of rejuvenation, regeneration, spirituality, belief & the healing power of the natural world come to the fore, teaming the dress with a pair of vintage-inspired sturdy, black leather ankle boots from the Renee Loves Frances boutique in Bulimba that are, quite frankly, only getting better with age & wear, a black nylon & vinyl crossbody bag from Nautica to carry all the essentials while keeping my hands free to roam, a chunky Tibetan silver bracelet from a little nameless store in Maleny & a thin silver bangle from Retro Metro Paddington for that final bohemian touch.

Scroll down to share the journey...

"Her heart was a secret garden & the walls were very high..."

"I am sure there is magic in everything, only we have not sense enough to get hold of it & make it do things for us..."

"She made herself stronger by fighting with the wind..."

"She should never forget this first morning when her garden began to grow..."

"Everything was strange & silent & she seemed to be hundreds of miles away from anyone but somehow she did not feel lonely at all..."

"At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done - then it is done & all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago..."

"Much more surprising things can happen to anyone who, when a disagreeable or discouraged thought comes to mind, just has the sense to remember it in time & push it out by putting in an agreeable, determinedly courageous one. Two things cannot be in one place..."

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"& the secret garden bloomed & bloomed & every morning revealed new miracles..."

"Sometimes since I've been in the garden, I've looked up through the trees at the sky & I have had a strange feeling of being happy as if something was pushing & drawing in my chest & making me breathe fast. Magic is always pushing & drawing & making things out of nothing. Everything is made of magic, leaves & trees, flowers & birds... & people. So it must be all around us. In this garden - in all the places..."