What to wear where: work Xmas party

Ah December, you're here - and so are all of my Christmas accessories too! I like to create holiday ensembles with pieces that I wear all year round, accessorized with brooches, hair flowers and bags that lend some festive flair.

An outfit like this is fantastic for a work Christmas party and yet, I wouldn't have to buy a thing new!
I love my Pin Up Girl Clothing Spanish fan print skirt, and wear it often with a red jumper in autumn, or a white tee in summer, but teamed with my red Collectif Dolores top it works for the holidays. Just add some cool heels, a Christmas brooch, Daisy Jean Floral hair flowers and a fun clutch! While this clutch isn't available this year, it came from ASOS who have some cute Christmas clutches again.

When getting dressed up for an outing, just make sure you're keeping it appropriate to the weather, venue, and crowd. If you're in a cold climate - hi European and North American readers - then look for something fun like a felt skirt and cute sweater or a knit dress with some sparkle jewels. The colder it is, I always think a little extra sparkle makes it more fun. Oh hell, let's be honest, I just love sparkles all the time...

The Xmas party check list:

• festive colours like red, green or white
• a clutch bag with definite holiday feel - think metallic, glitter, or a Christmas design
• cute jewellery like a brooch or earrings in a festive design like a santa, tree or gingerbread man
• party shoes that you can dance in

These What to Wear Where posts are a little taste of what goes on in my head; all of those 'costumes' I devise for what I'll wear in the countryside, on a cruise, to a NYE party, and every other possible place I might set foot. Hopefully they'll also inspire you! If you have a dressing challenge you'd like help with, drop me a line on my contact page. To see my other posts, visit the What to Wear Where tab.

Love WTP x

Start your shopping...

Tough love time: Christmas is less than seven weeks away *cue eye twitch*

Christmas shopping can get a little stressful, and it's tempting to go for generic present options to make life easy - department store gift card anyone? But I love finding the perfect gift, and supporting small business, especially those run by creative women, so if you start snaffling gifts now you can get some great pieces for holiday gift giving.

Here's my round up of some great gifts from small, creative or local businesses.

FESTIVE:

Luxulite

Whether it's snowing outside or sunny and hot, you can always channel a little wintry charm into your outfit with this fun Luxulite winter collection pairing! The Mittens necklace and earrings together are £27.  

Baccurelli

Keep things playful with the Bettie Page Xmas Brooch! She's sensual, she's festive, and she's fun and you can also order her as a pendant. She's $46USD from Baccurelli.

La Vidriola

Who doesn't love a statement Christmas necklace? The Christmas Stocking necklace is limited edition by La Vidriola, 59.00 €.

LUXURY:

Jean Jean Vintage

So, who doesn't want to receive a gorgeous 1910s synthetic ruby and diamond ring for Christmas? This navette ring from Jean Jean Vintage is sure to sparkle in the lights, $480USD.

VintageCaf

Basically, this handmade vintage fascinator is perfect for you to wear to the supermarket, or the doctor, you know, anywhere super casual. It's $170AUS from VintageCaf.

STOCKING STUFFERS:

Daisy Jean Floral Designs

Hair flowers are a fantastic extra for any vintage or pin up lover. Daisy Jean Floral signature rose doubles come in a fantastic range of colours to suit every outfit. Shown here is the red rose double, $18AUS.

Lila Jean Vintage

This beautiful keepsake magazine has four gorgeous issues available, and best of all, they're all on sale! Grab Lila Jean Vintage magazines and settle in with a mulled wine for an evening of informative, revealing and reflective reading, $5-$15 per issue.

Revere Folie

Are you nautical and nice this summer? The Anchor Love earrings from Revere Folie are perfect for teaming with your navy and red ensembles and they're just $15AUS.

AUSSIE AND HANDMADE:

Kirbeeart

Aside from being an awesome illustrator, Kirbee's brooches are to die for! If you're anything like me, you dreamed of getting a pony for Christmas, and here's your chance with Buttermilk the Horse Brooch, $35AUD.

Mamoru

Out of all the statement earrings in my collection, I can guarantee none get as many comments as my Mamoru earrings. People are constantly asking me where they are from! And who can blame them, these hand poured resin earrings feature gorgeous details like petals, flowers, leaves, bees, or glitter. Rosaleen has a gorgeous collection currently available but selling fast like these Limoncello Crystal earrings that can be made clip on too, starting from $70AUD.

Caitlin She

You might be familiar already with the gorgeous portraits by Aussie artist Caitlin Shearer, but I am loving her clothing! Who doesn't want to prance about in this gorgeous Frottage Full Button-up skirt featuring an original Caitlin She design? It's $200AUD.

NOVELTY FACTOR:

Pollydot

I don't have a land line, but if I still did I would be ALL OVER this gorgeous blue Classic Corded Telephone from Pollydot. Imagine the saucy things that could be said on that handset! It's a special order item and comes in several other colours for $124.99AUD.

The Story Book Rabbit

Where other people see lone, sad patterned vintage plates, Kelly of The Story Book Rabbit must see delicious possibility. Her illustrations are added to vintage plates, and are perfect for hanging on the wall. This Baby Bunny and Chicky plate is $50AUD.

BONUS:

My ETSY shop is linked on the right side of this page, and I'm giving all my readers 10% off this month, so just enter the code HOLIDAY at checkout, valid until midnight November 30th, 2016. And yes, more goodies are shortly to come, so keep an eye out.

So tell me, what's on your Christmas list?

Love WTP x

Blue sun

I am so excited I can FINALLY share this dress with you. I bought it in Stockholm this time  last year (!!!) but it needed TLC before I could wear it. It's my dream 40s dress. The shoulder pleats, the tiny fabric covered buttons, the bow, the full-ish skirt. It had some holes and once I got them beautifully darned, I then went through the painstaking process of hand washing with my metaphorical fingers crossed to get some marks off the shoulder. And it came off the line without shrinking and stain free. Phew!

So when I slipped it on today it felt like a small triumph. I couldn't resist adding victory rolls and hair flowers to give it an authentic touch. It makes me wonder who in the 40s was wearing this dress. Was it from a Swedish woman, who remained neutral through the war? Did she have strong views about the world around her, or was she just relieved to be relatively safe? How did she wear this dress, did she have nylons and a jaunty hat? Was she blonde, how old was she? Somehow that question seems so much more poignant where this dress is concerned in compared to my 40s dresses from the USA.

Wearing...
1940s dress bought in Sweden, Irregular Choice heels, Daisy Jean Florals Signature Rose Double in blue, vintage opal earrings, 1930s Czech glass ring, Jean Jean Vintage Edwardian bangle.

Plum path

Apologies for the quiet on the home front. It's always the way... quit your job and think you'll have all the free time in the world, only to find you're busier than ever working at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week and freelancing your little tushie off. But that's not what this post is about: it's about the fact that I don't actually wear heels in the bush.

I know, that's insane.

I ended up shooting this outfit on the first few metres of a bush trail though because it was windy and cold and threatening to rain so I wanted to grab the pictures before the weather got even worse, and it was on my way home, so, please don't be fooled into thinking I'm either a heel wearing superwoman bush walker or completely impractical. While I am proficient in my heels, I'm not into broken ankles. Nor suede and dirt as a general rule.

Still, for all the cold and the eventual brief shower just as I got in the door, I was glad to be back in my cool weather wardrobe again. This dress has been on the blog before but it's been a great purchase, doing regular rotations during the cooler months. Having seamed stockings back in my wardrobe again also makes me rather happy. But I couldn't resist a touch of tiki with my orchid hair clip.

Sometimes you've just got to keep a little summer all year round.

Love WTP x

Wearing...
ASOS dress, Wittner Luscious heels, What Katie Did retro seams, Daisy Jean Floral Designs Felicity orchid double, vintage koi mother of pearl earrings.

Daisy Jean loves your face

 

The pics from my first shoot with Daisy Jean Floral Designs have come through and reached the website and I am honestly so excited about them. The day was a huge one but I'm so happy with how it turned out - especially given how out of sorts I've been. Call it Flower Power! Ok, that was corny, I'm real sorry about that Dad joke.  

I felt like a kid in a candy shop when these pieces started emerging from the boxes and being sorted for shoot. Its hard sometimes to tell in photos, but the quality really is above and beyond and well priced. I love the big pieces most of all, don't be afraid of them, they're ironically easier to style than small flowers.

Keep your eyes peeled over the next few months too. There's another shoot to come and I will give you a hint. There's going to be Autumn, Easter and Anzac Day pieces ;)

If you want to grab a little Wild Tea Party style for yourself, don't forget to pick up my signature fascinator, the Miss Ellen! I can't wait to see how others style it!

For more information on the pieces worn here, visit Daisy Jean Floral Designs. There's even free Australian shipping for purchases over $30! 

Love WTP x

All photos here taken by Billy June Photography