by Candice DeVille | Jun 5, 2014 | Beauty Reviews, Tutorials-Video
I’ve been shopping again and came up with 3 fab and cheap beauty finds! Here in Australia we know that our beauty products are significantly more expensive than the rest of the world, so I’m always on the look out for effective and inexpensive alternatives to share with you.
Today I’m back on my video game, and have three fantastic finds to share with you. Some you may have heard of before and some that may surprise you!
Just which product gave me this incredibly quick and effective look? Find out in today’s video episode.
by Candice DeVille | May 29, 2014 | Home & Garden
My back yard currently looks like a sink hole; or a dig site in Jurassic Park. Yes folks, we’ve finally kicked off the BIG renovation. The beginning of a 2 (or so), year project to get this house into the shape we want.
It’s taken slightly more than six years of living here to really get a feel for it and know the kind of things we wanted to achieve. My Pinterest boards of inspiration range from the extremely creative to the wildly expensive, so I’ve had to reign in some of my thoughts and get down to business. Sometimes the hardest part is just starting for fear you may make the wrong decision and wake up wishing you’d chosen an entirely different new roof. (We had that done last week) But having a clear vision of what I want to achieve in the bigger picture, has helped me make critical decisions along the way and not get to tied up in the detail. I say that now though, and we are only three weeks in.
So back to the sink hole.
In a massive effort to change the lay of our land, we are levelling out a hugely sloped block and creating a new look. We know how all the big ticket items will work, but I’m in the process of designing various garden areas that will work for my personal taste. That taste is a hard one to explain to a garden designer, so in true DIY form, I’m tackling my Mid Century Modern meets Oriental influence, low maintenance garden!
Here are the inspirations floating my boat at present.
Lattice work and breeze block panels, fabulous Japanese gardens and wonderful Stag Horn wall plantings!
Flame Maple trees!
Insanely fabulous sun room area! We had a sunroom with cane chairs and grass matting as a child in the 1970’s and I’ve always wanted one. This may be what I do to our back patio.
The (hard to find) MCM Bullet planter and the easy to grow Monstera. (We also had loads of these growing up)
Bright and colourful vintage garden furniture and accessories.
If you have any Australian suggestions of cool suppliers or resources, please let me know in the comments. I’ll be hunting down even more treasures than I currently have squirrelled away. It is so much harder in Melbourne to find these great pieces than in Queensland for example, and even more so than the vintage treasure trove of the USA. No doubt I’ll be (over)sharing this whole process with you, but if you enjoy all this eye candy be sure to follow my Pinterest board where the real overload is happening. Oh, and if you know of some great vintage look gumboots I’ll be needing those too!
by Candice DeVille | May 27, 2014 | Self, Vintage Shopping
I took a day off last weekend for a special occasion; the Love Vintage Show was in town and I really needed new vintage style inspiration! It is hard to explain to Mr.SKM why I need to go to another vintage shopping event when my closets are overflowing, but more often than not, these events are really about socialising for me.
Whether it is a vintage show, a music festival or even a classic car event; it is the one time I get to see friends from all over the country and catch up about our mutual obsessions. This Sunday was no exception, and I wanted to treat my styling team to a big day out of “fancy old things”.
Sometimes I head to these events with a budget and an agenda, but this time it was really about finding new inspiration for me. We all go through times when we are sick of looking at our closets, no matter how much variety there is, and I’ve been struggling with this of late. I really adore vintage everything, but occasionally it is like I’ve overdosed on it and just need to press the reset button. That has been my last few months.
With a serious lack of storage space, I’ve had to pack up the majority of my vintage collection to make more room for Miss 6’s bedroom, and I found by putting everything away and out of eye line it gave me a bit more clarity. I’ve stuck to the same few basics and gone for function over high style, to give myself the ‘no frills’ time I needed to get on top of some major projects happening at home. (By major I mean heavy machinery and no roof!)
Having this little hiatus has given me the sartorial palette cleanse I needed. It’s allowed me to look at my collection with new eyes and decide what I should part with and what I truly love. Spending time in the company of my other artistic inspirations, gives me room for new ways to interpret and mix those old favourites. As vintage lovers with the internet at our disposal, it is all to easy to live exclusively in our own style microcosm; but without keeping your inspirations fresh, things can quickly go stale. And that was how I was feeling, stale.
Fast forward to a few months later, (now) and I have a sense of enthusiasm and refreshment that you just can’t fake. The kind that keeps you up sewing frustrating vintage patterns until midnight or more. And that is why I love these vintage shows; spending time not only browsing beautiful wares, but browsing the way other people interpret their take on vintage style.
Vintage will always hold new and fresh ideas for me, but it is important to know when and how to look after your style mojo. I’d guess I’m not the only one of us who goes thorugh this, and I’d love to hear what you do to keep things fresh!
Outfit Details
Purple “Ava” dress from Pin Up Girl Clothing
Berry suede heels from Airstep
Hand bag from Prada
*Photography by Helen McLean*
by Candice DeVille | May 22, 2014 | daily outfit, Vintage Remixed
I am well and truly back in the saddle with this week’s outfit. Two of my favourite Las Vegas purchases have found yet another way to be worn.
Whenever I go to Las Vegas (not that it is every year, it’s a long trip!) I always head to Boot Barn on the outside end of the strip. It is nothing like anything I’ve seen here in Australia and has the ability to make me come over all crazy cowgirl, even though I don’t ride. I adore vintage western wear but it isn’t easy to work the more full on ensembles into an everyday suburbanite lifestyle, so this is my modern take on a look I love.
If you wear cowboy boots you’ll know just how heavy they are, so buying these at the beginning of my last trip was quite a commitment. Not only did it mean I had to wear them every time I had to catch another flight, it also meant I had to take them off at every airport security check! I had to carry a wooden boot remover in my handbag so I could get them off in a hurry in those nasty queues. Trying to wear the boots, the shirt, a hat (so it didn’t get squished) and still look like myself was quite the challenge; until I decided to pair them up with a dress like this. Hence, a new favourite western look was born.
Outfit Details
Rose embroidered western shirt – Scully
Red & white “bubble” dress – Savers find
Fancy embroidered and Swarovski boots – Boot Barn (a splurge at the sale price of $399)
Vintage horse shoe necklace – Etsy
Diamonte and gold horse shoe earrings – Lovissa
Lip Colour – MAC Russian Red
Red velveteen hair flower – Bexterity
Do you have a secret fashion style you love but just can’t seem to work into your daily looks?
Spill and maybe we can all help each other!
by Candice DeVille | May 15, 2014 | daily outfit, Shopping, sponsors
I went all out today and decided to get into the feel of the Trashy Diva Obi Dragon dress by playing the 1940’s lounge singer role in the studio with Helen. It was the perfect opportunity to road test evening looks for some upcoming Winter’s night events and see just how they’ll work. Often times I plan outfits to go dancing in and I usually sacrifice functionality for good looks. This is one perfect dress that doesn’t ask you to make that choice; just take a good jacket if you’re in Melbourne!
You saw the cute polka dot 1950’s style dress from Trashy Diva last week, well this week I wanted to play around with this new release of the Obi dress. You may remember I first found this style back when I was in New Orleans, and the decadent, floaty silk was too much to leave behind.
Not only is the fabric on these dresses simply gorgeous, but the sleeve design makes them perfect for dancing! No problems stretching, twirling or even over heating. The full skirt flows beautifully and the obi belt design forms part of the dress, so you won’t loose it on the dance floor.
Outfit Details
Obi Dragon Dress – Trashy Diva (kindly provided as a gift)
Red strap shoes – Tony Bianco
Drop earrings – Vintage
Lip colour – Mac Russian Red with Lime Crime Carousel gloss on top.
Swanky Photography by Helen McLean
If you have any questions about their dresses or other things you see on the website, like finding out about fit or care, feel free to ask away in the comments. I have loads of their pieces and have worn them for several years, so I can fill you in on all the little details.
