I've moved...come join me?

Hello Everyone!

I bet you're all wondering where I've been or even perhaps who I am...did you even subscribe to this blog?

It certainly has been a while. It wasn’t intentional, rather just life getting in the way.

2012 was a very hard year for me. I honestly needed to take a break from a lot of things – blogging, socialising too much, running myself into the ground and trying to do everything all at once.

I lost two people I have known and loved my whole life – in the space of a month. One was expected but heartbreaking, the other a complete shock and equally devastating.

These events led me to a dark place - I fell into a deep heartache and I didn’t know how to heal. I lost myself in the grief and it would hit me in the most unpredictable of places.

Seeing a ginger chocolate bar I’d shared with one of them in the David Jones confectionery section brought floods of tears.

Hearing a car that sounded similar to theirs, made my heart jump out of my chest.

The thoughts of ‘I need to visit him’ and ‘I’ll have to ask her next time I see her about…’ and the sense of loss when my brain finally caught up that there would be no next time.

It was a very, very difficult time and was further complicated with an unhappy time at work and a stressful home life. 

Not exactly conducive to ‘Keeping calm and carrying on’.

But after a long overdue holiday, a move to a new apartment and some all important ‘me time’ I feel as if I am finally out of the dark and on a new path.

The people that I lost will be in my heart forever and l know I will always miss them but I am choosing to live how they both did – with love and laughter, a sense of fun, adventure, and a passion to make the most of everything.

So opens a new chapter, and a new blog – my beautiful friend Ina and I are now blogging over at Adventures in Colour and I'd love for you to stop by and say hello...perhaps be my friend again? 

I promise I won't go MIA again - I have too much planned for 2013 and I hope you join me on the journey.

Lots of Love

xxx Kirst

I won!

Hey Everyone, just a quick one because I wanted to share some exciting news...I came joint first place in Katy Potaty's Valentine's day nail art competition. WOOT WOOT! I was so suprised because i thought my entry was crap commpared to everyone else's. Needless to say I am stoked! I certainly don't need any more polish but I always want more and winning it is extra great :)

How did I achieve this amazing joint first-place feat? I used OPI's That's Hot Pink underneath a couple of coats of OPI's Excuse Moi. If you want to buy your own (they are both wonderful and essential items in any nail polish collection) you can get them at a reduced price over at The Glossery. Here's a dodgy instagram pic of my nails and then a slightly better one of my Valentine's day outfit. I went for pink because I adhere to Faux Fuschia's style guidance that channeling the Fashion Icon that is Barbie is perfectly acceptable and in fact encouraged.

Alannah Hill Top (so old), Vintage Bally Belt and hand sewn pencil skirt.

How did everyone enjoy Valentine's Day? The Boy and I don't really celebrate as we like to express our love for each other throughout the year. We got Mexican take out in our gym gear. Not super romantic but it was still awesome because we were together :) I really do think you can feel the love in the air on Valentine's Day don't you?

Anyway, sending my love you way
xx Kirst

A Belated Birthday Post

Last week was my Birthday. I is old now. But not too old. I had to go to work but I still had a lovely day. To celebrate on the day I went to Dinner with my family at Moo Moos Restaurant in Briz-town. It was superb. They surprised me with this amazing dessert.

It was great to spend the day with my family after having my annual joint Birthday party with the beautiful B from Style from the Suburban Intellect and another friend of ours at Limes Hotel. Here's some pics from the occasion (I wore this which you can make too!). I must stay Sarah at Lime's was super amazing, helping us to organise our little shindig so a big shout out to her!

This is Hilly. She blogs about music over here.

Birthday Girls!

The ever lovely Jane from Suburban Intellect too

Thanks also to all my wonderful friends, The best Boy in the world and my family and followers for making my Birthday such a lovely (and extended affair).

xoxo Kirst

Lustworthy: Gorman Autumn/Winter 2012

You all know I love colour...and Gorman.  So it's no surprise I am lusting over pretty much everything in the latest collection.

And I'm certainly not the only one. The splashes of colour and mix of patterns has been well received by Bloggers and fashion types across Australia.

I have taken a particular fancy to the yellow coat and black and white spotted dress...and the coloured jeans! I am jumping on that trend despite the protests of some of my friends. Bring on the saving, I'm gonna get me some Gorman.

Which is your favourite?Are you looking forward to new season dressing? Tell me everything

xx Kirst

A-dressing a Dilemma Part 3: The Engagement Party.

So it’s been months. MONTHS since I’ve posted one of these a-dressing a dilemma posts…but you know what? Now they’re back on the blog as an occasional feature.

So first up. With three couples I know planning on holding their engagement parties this year, and more and more people I know announcing their plans to wed and settle down I thought I’d address the dilemma of what to wear to an engagement party.

As it’s a special occasion you need an extra special outfit, but what does one wear for such a celebratory shindig? And what happens if you’re a little strapped for cash? Well first things first - you need to dress to fit the venue - and be classy about it.

Engagement 1 by kirst84 featuring sparkle skirts

If it’s at a fancy cocktail bar

Glam it the hell up but try to limit the cleavage and legs on shoe – you are not the centre of attention today. I tend to gravitate towards colour but I do think it's nice to be a bit girly or to rock a 'softer look' at an engagement party. Of course this depends on your style but I would say a fluro pink body-con dress is probably not appropriate at most engagement parties held outside of Vegas.

Strapped for cash? 

Why not breathe life into an old skirt or dress using this tutorial. Dip dying is simple and can look great paired with simple accessories.

Sit down dinner at a restaurant?

It pays to look polished. Your outfit should be chic but still comfortable (preferably with room to hide a food baby).

A sit down dinner may limit the time you’re on your feet mingling and result in potential outfit crushing so I would definitely go with a fabric that doesn’t crease if possible.

You can afford to make a statement with accessories here – those killer heels you can’t stand up in for long, some massive sparkly earrings or a chunky necklace will catch the eye and lift a simple outfit.

In a park or back yard?

Relax a little. A pretty summer dress with some cute sandals or some structured pants with a printed top and flats are perfect for this kind of occasion.

So what would I love to be wearing to some of the engagement parties I've got coming up? Probably any of the above. A little romance and girlieness makes up my perfect party outfit...especially if there's a little sparkle thrown in there! I can feel a sewing project coming on...

xx Kirst

Sewing with Gorman

Way back in September or October (it’s so long ago I can’t actually remember which month it was) QueensPlaza did a promotion with Gorman where they ‘gave away’ a free Gorman dress pattern.

When I say ‘gave away’ I mean you signed up for a promo email and they sent you instructions on how to download the pattern and instructions.

Well I’ve finally got around to making this dress and let me tell you it was not easy. I am lucky I have a wonderful mother with superior sewing skills to mine who saved the day!

The first problemo?
The pattern was out of scale. Sure I can hear you ask ‘Maybe you printed it wrong?’ Rest assured my friends I did not. I followed the careful printing instructions laid out for my by Gorman (as did some friends of mine) and the pattern was still not right. Luckily I actually already owned the Backgammon tea dress of which the pattern was for (you can see it here) so I was able to use the cut out pattern and my actual dress to mark and cut out the fabric.

The second problemo?
Man those instructions are hard to understand! Trying to sew a dress without some printed ‘how to’ steps accompanied by instructions was a first for me – and my mum who’s been sewing for about 35 years.

It was like reading a foreign language to be honest.

"Join front and back fabric bodice side seams and join front"...join front what?? Can you be a little clearer?
It was about here that my mum took control of the situation, decoding the instructions, advising me what to do and basically taking over the whole project.

And thank god she did. If I had persevered any longer I may have fallen into the ‘danger zone’ *

The third problemo?

I was too god damn tired (and a little unwell) which is never a good time to start a new sewing project. Sewing when you’re not in the mood is pants.

But it was all worth it because look what I (ok so really my mum should have most of the credit) made.

I really wanted to buy this Gorman dress because I love the fabric so much but instead I used it for fabric inspiration and ended up with this.

Ain’t she a beauty? What do you think? I wore it for my birthday party this weekend and everyone loved it just as much as I do. Also please excuse the wrinkles in the pics - I was too tired to iron before outfit photos.

How are your sewing projects going? Have any of you tried sewing your own Gorman dress with the free pattern? How did you find it? And more importantly have you seen the latest collection? I LOVE Lisa Gorman for always giving us patterns and colour and I promise I'll do a post on the Winter Collection soon.

Until then, Happy sewing everyone!


*the point at which sewing makes me so crazy frustrated I resort to eating peanut butter from the jar and crying during the advertisements for the new series of ‘Biggest Loser’.

Jason Wu for Target

Whilst Australian shoppers have been lucky enough to see Target's Designer collaborations with Stella McCartney and Collette Dinnigan in the past, it looks as if we will be missing out (like Missoni) on the Jason Wu capsule collection that is due to launch in a few days.

I for one am very disappointed. The collection is really polished and whilst it’s always hard to determine the quality of fabric and fit when online browsing, it looks as if Mr Wu has put together some beautifully feminine and softly structured pieces.

I would wear all of these.They're girly and fun but still sophisticated enough for the office or a special occasion.

WHY OH WHY can't we get these in Australia?!?! I have a feeling there will be lots of ebay browsing going on in the next couple of months!
You can view the entire capsule collection here. And if you’re so desperate you want to get your hands on some pieces now rumour has it that some sneaky fashion editors are selling it on ebay…for 5 times the price.

Happy shopping…or if you’re in Australia happy dreaming.