Take me to the pilot

Dress - 1950's plaid from Canterbury Vintage Fair

Heels - Vinnies (originally Betts)

Hat - Antique store in Epping

Petticoat - Vinnies (Pennant Hills)

The belt came with a dress from Target, but I reversed it so you can see the velvet

I was all set to wear my lovely 1940's hat today but low and behold, the weather took a turn for the cold. Instead, before university, I had a quick change of heart and luckily, it allowed me to embrace my current obsession with scarfs! (and also lucky that my mother happens to have some lovely scarves of her own locked away, waiting to be worn!)

Petticoats are too much fun, it's hard to resist flashing strangers a peek...

But petticoats can get caught up, and then it's time for a re-fluffing!

My hat!

 The scarf was inspired by Chuck from Pushing Daisies, my other current obsession. This short lived television series features a man who can bring back the dead, a lost childhood sweet-heart and a pie shop called "The Pie Hole". It's full of delightfully witty puns, adorablely sweet characters and quirky vintage styling's. Its mix of absurd and beautiful is superb, a perfect hour away from reality. I've fallen in love, and I wholly invite you to do the same.

That aside, wearing a silk scarf in this undecided weather certainly has its benefits. It protects your "do" from rain, frizzle and wind. (And just between you and me, it can also conveniently hide the lack of said "do"!) 

While I am a bit unsure as to whether I look more like a fifties dame riding in a jazzed up convertable or a rugged up Babushka doll, I have to admit, I am having too much fun to really care! What do you think? 

Undercover! Clearly I've been watching too many detective shows... *high five to any Bones fans* : P

Blueberry Hill

Ah yes, another post with pyjamas and bed hair! I'm off to experiment on my peers and manipulate their minds, so I suppose I'll eventually have to get dressed... Stay tuned for the outcome (of the dressing, not the mind-bending, I believe that's confidential... *raises eyebrows shiftily*)! For now, enjoy some roses and a recipe!

One of my favourite flowers, Peace. It's a beautiful rose, with big flowers and a delicate scent. It was developed in the late 1930's by French horticulturist Francis Meilland. Supposedly, "When Meilland foresaw the German invasion of France he sent cuttings to friends in Italy, Turkey, Germany, and the United States to protect the new rose. It is said, that it was sent to the US on the last plane available before the German invasion, where it was safely propagated by the Conard Pyle Company during the war". Publically named on the 29th April 1945, the day Berlin fell and the end of the Second World War. At the inaugural meeting of the United Nations in San Francisco later that year, each of the delegations was given a rose with a note reading:  "We hope the 'Peace' rose will influence men’s thoughts for everlasting world peace"

I think these words are haunting and no less true today than they were over 60 years ago.

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_%27Peace%27)

Blame it on 7TWO's screening of Martha Stewart, my recent Stepford wives obsession or the influx of coolish weather, whatever the reason I've been cooking crazy this weekend. First of all it was some frangelico flavoured meringue bossoms, complete with pink nipples (which unfortunately didn't turn out as perfectly as hoped, I blame the addition of alcohol... Yet, they still tasted okay and provided a laugh for the birthday boy)! Then on Sunday it was a nice tuna quiche for lunches throughout the week and Base 'n' Berry slice; a new invention by yours truely. I've written down the recipe and hopefully its success will repeat! If you give it a try, please tell me how your results were!

Base ‘n’ Berry slice

For base

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
• 1 egg

For top

• ½ cup of apple juice
• 1 cup approx of rolled oats
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• At least 1 cup of frozen berries

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch, apple juice and oats (enough to make mixture sufficiently less runny). Gently mix in berries. Stir into remaining dough mixture. Spread on top of base.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 25 - 45 minutes, or until top is golden brown. Serve warm or cold with cream, custard or icecream! Store in airtight container (don’t refrigerate... I think it would go soggy)

The trolley song

I thought I’d finally try my hand at writing a tutorial! The hairstyle I’ve worn that’s garnered the most comments has got to be my take on “Bettie-bangs” or the Faux Fringe roll.

So let’s begin (excuse the pyjamas, they are my favourites!)

Before. Helps to have slightly dirty hair, even works great with super oily hair simply give it a quick spray of dry shampoo for volume.

Materials

Brush

Tail comb

Hair bands

Bobby pins

Mousse

Hair spray

Start by separating the hair you wish to use in the roll. Any amount will do, the more hair, the bigger the roll, the more dramatic the effect! Today I’ve split the hair just above my ear, but I’ve done it further back, using hair from near my crown. Make the section a large triangle or square, ending it an inch or two about the ear (the hair below can be swept back with the rest of your hair into a high ponytail, bun or twist). Spend some time pretending to be Cousin Itt.

Uncanny!

Next get some mousse, spread through hair and brush forwards so it all sits flat.

Ignore the crazy eyes

Begin the rolling process. Bundle hair and make a loop, pushing ends underneath and continue the roll up towards the head. If you can’t get the ends to sit under, make a loop halfway up the hair and roll the stray ends in as you go.

Once you get to the top, pin in place. I like to slide pins from either end as well as one straight through, from the front. This means the bobby pins get locked together and don’t slip about. This part is the hardest and can take a few goes to get right. Don’t be afraid of un-rolling and starting again, you can never have too much mousse of hairspray!

When you’ve pins in place, it might look quiff-tastically like this...

Bo-ing!

Don’t fret, to get a nice rolled effect grab your tail comb and gently wiggle it through, coaxing the hair to spread evenly. Don’t go to deep or you’ll upset the underneath pinned roll.

When you’re finished it should look something like this...

Not brilliant, but fine for a demonstration.

Liberally coat in hairspray, a tip for staying power is to spray straight down the middle of the roll as well as on top, thus securing the pins further.

There are alternate ways to achieve this look, Aubrey London ties the hair up in a high topknot before rolling (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpF1Aacnldo) and Fleur from Diary of A Vintage Girl uses a hair roll (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfhhXW_iDn0). They all create slightly different looks, just as pinning the sides down creates two distinct looks. You can either pin the hair up so the roll is visible,

Ta-Da!

Or smooth down like so...

In the city with the lovely Ivana

Here’s some more photos of my hair out and about...

You stole my heart! The excellently bubbly Emma.

Hope this was helpful! Please tell me, is there anything you’d like me to write about more (or less)? Is there anything you long to see a tutorial on or perhaps a review? I’m all ears (or to be more precise, I’m all eyes reading and brain aiming to accommodate your woes and whims).

Until next time, here is Judy Garland showing you how these bangs can be worn!



Love

Hello baby!

Grrr! This weather is killing me! Sure it's hot and humid, but blue skies on my day off!?! Honestly, how I long to be at the beach in some adorable swimmers; laying in the sun, eating icecreams on a gingham rug, dancing to this song!


Instead, I'll leave you with some photos from yesterday and get to work on the next assessment. One down... who knows how many I have left to do!

Bums! My veil has a hole... Still love it though, it reminds me of broken spider webs.

Wanted to show you some pictures of the back of my hair, but sorry the quality is so poor because the bathroom mirror needs a clean. It's quite easy, but I think, quite effective style (especially useful if you like the look of low buns but find your hair always slips out, like mine!). I'll try to do a tutorial, if you'd like?

What do you think of my mum's old spotty tights? I was obsessed with them today! As I'm sure you'll be able to see in the next few pictures...

Top - S.E.S.

Skirt - Vinnie's (Pennant Hills)

Belt and Tights - hand-me-down from Mum

Shoes - Target or K-mart, can't remember, it was a very long time ago!

Hat - Vinnie's

My 1940's suit jacket, that I'm tragically yet to wear. Weather, listen Mr, it's time you shaped up and gave us some real summer or real winter! Much love, Sarah

Splish splash

Overwhelmed by group work and underwhelmed by the weather, I leave you with a brief outfit post and a promise of more exciting things to come.

Skirt - hand-me-down

Singlet - Target

Sweater - Forever New

Shoes - Modcloth

Knitted bow - handmade by me

Necklace from Blue Mountains

My cinderella necklace, a personal tribute to my favourite book Ella Enchanted

Undisclosed desires

Finally the weekend, and with it comes the hope for relaxing and the guilt of unfinished assessments. Today was fairly quiet, just how I like my Friday seminars! This week I've been snacking on Ali Smith's The whole story and other stories, which I'd recommend if you're looking for a quick, but different read. As a collection of short stories, it utilises a variety of experimental  techniques and in doing so, challenges your perception of relationships and narrative itself. It's a good book to dip into and then discuss, I've been fascinated by all the different interpretations a few pages can create.
Anyway, enough jabber! Here's some outfit shots and I wish you the best for the weekend!

Top - Target

Pants - Portmans

Shoes - Melissa

Fascinator - Vinnies (Newtown)

These pants are perfect for autumnal weather; the length provides some warmth while the loose nature allows for some breathing room.

A photo showing how well my pin curls held overnight

A girl like you

Following me around yesterday was Edwyn Collin's "A girl like you", a perfect accompaniment to dreary university and then delightful dining! I even managed to squeeze in a bit of shopping between the two.

Bought this cute fascinator from Vinnies (Newtown) but more importantly, look at the design behind it! I found this wrapping paper by British company "Dupenny" and couldn't resist! It's my dream to look that adorable when I'm at home playing the housewife! Though it looks a little odd having a big square of wrapping paper posted on my wall, everytime I look up from my computer I can't help but smile. 

These lashes were a bargain! I love the look of false lashes but don't wear them often as they tend to be quite expensive (as well as attention grabbing). These styles are a little more avant-garde than I'm used to and so they might be a bit too dramatic for me, but at only $12 for the lot I thought they were well worth a try! I'll be sure to take pictures of the results.

Finally, here's a quick picture of what I wore yesterday. Unfortunately it's not a great photo, my camera doesn't seem to cope well with night time. I put in pin curls the night before but by the time I got home and got around to taking the picture most had dropped due to humidity. Still, it gives you a rough idea of my day yesterday...

Anyway, for those who have Fridays off, have a great weekend! For those (like me) destined to university, only one more day till the weekend! Thank goodness it's Friday!