We Are All Made Of Stars

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Dress: Anthea Crawford cotton pique

Heels: Wittner laser cut leather

Bag: French Connection suede with silver hardware

Belt: That Shop patent leather & elastic

Hinged Bangle: Wallace Bishop silver

Twisted Bangle: Showcase Jewellers silver

Watch: Guess silver

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If there is one main blessing in my life, it is that I have a strong & supportive family around me that I absolutely adore. Honestly, I love them to the moon & back. As I've gotten older, the relationship with my mother has changed from a purely mother/daughter one (as it should be when you are growing up & need guidance) into one of a close & enduring friendship. We love to go shopping together, catch a movie, peruse art galleries & eat at a variety of funky cafes & restaurants. On this particular occasion, we headed to Brisbane for some retail therapy & whilst on our way to lunch at one of our all-time favourite Thai restaurants, Phat Elephant, we stumbled on this massive art installation outside City Hall called "One Million Stars" by Maryann Talia Pau. Created as part of Festival 2018 celebrating the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, it is a vibrant work drawing attention to the need for peace & as such, peaceful activism in our world.

After marveling at the intricacy of the one million individually folded paper stars, I decided to take some outfit pictures wearing this gorgeous monochrome spotted dress with cold shoulder neckline - made from stretchy & comfortable cotton pique -  from Anthea Crawford, cinched at the waist with a thick black patent belt from That Shop in Coolangatta (specialising in all things retro, pin up & rockabilly), matte black laser cut leather peeptoe booties from Wittner & boxy suede handbag with oversized silver handles from French Connection that has pretty much been my go-to since I bought it for under $30 in the pre-Christmas sales. When it came to jewellery, I kept it simple & silver - a chunky, androgynous watch from Guess, twisted thin bangle from Showcase Jewellers & thick hinged bangle from Wallace Bishop to up the ante on daytime shine. After all, we ARE all made of stars, you know...

And a few pictures from our delicious lunch...

Thirty-One-Derful #1

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Dress: Gift, vintage woven

Wedges: Novo suede & rattan

Bag: Vera May vinyl

Cuff: Gift, silver & agate stone (from India)

Cuff: Gift, silver Ganesh

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Finally posting pictures from my "Thirty-One-Derful" birthday celebration dinner at iThai Restaurant on Saturday night. It is safe to say that I was extremely cuffed to be able to bust out this ah-mazing vintage dress - a gift from a dear friend's mother - that I had been saving for a special occasion for quite some time. Avid readers of this blog will know how much I love mixing patterns & basically this dress does it all for me, blending glittered gold spots & eclectic stripes to really make an impact... with the added bonus of making me appear taller, which as a 5 foot tall petite little "Gidget," is what I consider to be a fashion WIN! 

Below you can see close-ups of the dress' low v-neckline which serves to elongate my neck & show off my decolletage, the pleated, puffy sleeves that even out my slightly sloping shoulders & under-bust darts that create the illusion of more shape. 

To keep the look smart-casual & match the original era of the dress, black suede wedges with rattan heels were chosen, complete with thin leather ankle straps & to carry all my goodies, a funky vintage-style vinyl handbag in shades of black, silver, grey & gold.

Mixing metals was the order of the day, with statement silver jewellery pieces for contrast - a thick, rectangular cuff with multiple pieces of circular agate stone in a variety of colours & a thin, silver cuff with oversized elephant head depicting Ganesh, said to be the Indian god of good fortune, beginnings & remover of obstacles, associated with benevolence, intelligence & strength.

 Scroll down to check them out in detail:

"...I could make you happy, make your dreams come true; no there's nothing that I wouldn't do; go to the ends of the earth for you, to make you feel my love..."

Make You Feel My Love - Bob Dylan (1997)

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In addition to the pics of my outfit, here are a few of my gorgeous mother, Joanne, who gave me life 31 years ago... We didn't mean to be matchy-matchy but, you know, great minds & all...

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Keep scrolling to see some snippets from the evening, spent with my beloved family. Birthday celebrations don't get much better than that...

Beef & Cashew Stir-Fry

Duck & Mushroom Stir-Fry

Spicy Green Curry

Beef Massaman Curry

Yellow Chicken Curry

Enjoying my meal in the bustling restaurant...

Thank goodness for the appallingly-named "doggie bags," as the food was both delicious & plentiful... & wonderful for lunch the next day.

Finishing the night off right with a fabulous Tea Fusion milk tea with tapioca "pearls"

Loving the rapidly cooling Autumn evening weather that has FINALLY found us here in the Sunshine State, particularly when wearing this amazing woven poncho...

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