Hola chicas. For this week's headwear challenge I want to share some holiday snaps from fair Verona, Italy.
Indeed, the hometown of Romeo & Juliet. My outfit photos are taken from the ancient Roman amphitheater, which is still used to this day for shows and plays! How cool!
I bought this headscarf from a second hard market in Bologna, Italy, for about $2. I love the retro-esque vibe headscarfs bring to an outfit! I was particularly drawn to the intricate patterns and cool colours this scarf portrays.
They sometimes need a bit of readjusting however!
My maxi dress had been featured in a previous post, and is from Matalan, an English K-Mart / Target type shop. My belt is from a leather market in Florence, Italy. By the way, you haven't lived until you've tasted true Italian gelato. Casa del Gelato in Melbourne's Lygon street is the closest I have personally sampled in Australia. While it's pretty good, the native italian icecream is on a whole other waffle cone.
While only a small town, Verona is bustling with tourists in the summer season. All the piazzas are overcrowded with people sipping dayglo orange apperitivos, the signature pre-meal drink of the region.
Behold my yellow outfit! Not too much to say this week, I only own 3 yellow garments and this is the only one I'm yet to feature in a challenge. (See here & here) A colour I have nothing against, and see fit to invest more in. PS. These shoes are the highest I own, and were on sale for like $6! Craziness. On a side note, despite having several black and white outfits in mind, life got in the way and I totally missed last week's Aussie Curves challenge! Silly me.
Hello!! Welcome to my new layout blog :3
Ah swimwear. I have recently come home from a 4-month summer tour of Europe, and have many, many photos of me frolicking in the Mediterranean sun in my latest most fav bathers. I thought I'd share photos from when we were in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Dubrovnik is definitely a place you should visit before you die. UNESCO
World Heritage listed, the old town is a Byzantine celebration of
marble, with the ancient center encased by just shy of 2000 meters of
defensive wall. While back in the day these were heavily guarded, the
city walls of Dubrovnik now make a truly breathtaking backdrop for a
quick swim in the Adriatic sea.
On to the bathers! I'm extremely picky about swimwear as I take tanning
very seriously. I always go for bandeau style with detachable straps - I
think I would actually die of embarrassment if I had strap tan marks! I
find that recent trends are heavily leaning towards laser cutouts and
mesh panels, which I find so impractical for swimwear. Actually I feel
this way about
all summer clothing and footwear I don in the sunshine haha. No weird
cutouts for me unless it's nighttime! I do have a pair of racerback
speedos,
but those are strictly for swimming training. Indoors. (Yes, fat and a
swimmer!
^.^ ) This leopard print beauty however is from a K-mart / Target-esqe
store in the UK called Primark. I have mentioned them before here. Before traveling I lived in the UK for 9 months, and can highly
recommend them for decently priced, trendy clothes (plus sized and otherwise) when in Britain. This one piece was
about $20AUD!
I traveled with my boyfriend, and we were literally swimming amongst ancient ruins. It was such an incredible experience, I highly encourage you all to visit Croatia! And may I just comment, there is absolutely NO stigma in Europe about plus size women going to the beach in bathers. Everywhere we went - all around the Italian coastline to Slovenia then Croatia and Montenergo - plus size women were out on the beach rocking bikinis and bellies and not giving a fluff. It was refreshing, and contributed to me taking on their SO WHAT, I'M HERE TO TAN attitude at the beach.
What's your most beautiful swimming location? How do you like the new layout?
Hola curvettes :D
This week's theme is not something that inspires me, I'm afraid. A (originally short, now somewhat long) explanation as to why:
When I dress myself, emulating current fashions / celebrity style is the furthest thing from my mind. I dress in what I like, regardless of it being "on trend" or not. In fact, the only things that really dictate my outfit choice are what's clean, and the weather! (Which in Melbourne is pretty much a lucky dip anyway.. most of the time I'm in multiple layers!) I like patterns, textures and good quality fabrics. I like brooches and embellishments, I love military-inspired things and interesting & unique pieces. If something is "in fashion" and I like it, believe I'll get it. Remember when epaulettes were a thing a few years ago? I went crazy buying stuff because I loved it! But whatever is trendy is not necessarily what I wear. I shop online, in stores and in op-shops, because at the end of the day I'm really just after interesting/cool items of clothing that I like and think look good on me! I consider the biggest compliment to be when friends / family say that an outfit is "very me" - I believe clothing is a form of expression, so if my style is being identified as unique to myself... doing it right.
What it really comes down to is that I'm very much against the whole magazine / celebrity gossip culture instilled upon women as a whole, so while there may very well be celebrities in existence who share similar style to myself, I guess I'm just anti-celebrity copycat as a general life rule. So there we go!
However alll that being said, I do have one impromptu celeb copy cat pic to share with you all, straight from Liverpool, England:
I feel very Aussie Curves wearing predominantly Australian & New Zealand labels in this week's pink challenge! I must admit, I'm not too 'pink' of a person. This dress and one top completes my pink clothes range in fact. But OHMY, can we just pause and discuss this dress. It is def one of the cutest garments I own. I bought it a few years ago, when I was holidaying in New Zealand. It is by the amazingly talented and whimsical Kiwi designer Annah Stretton. Being "inbetween" plus and straight sizes at a chubby-yet-lovable size 16/18, I was at first reluctant to enter the boutique, but I was lured in by the romantic/feminine/detailed aesthetic. Please admire here. I'm so glad that I ventured in! Size XL fits me rather comfortably and I adore the ruffled lampshade that is this dress! Could not help but include a hairflick photo to fully convey how fun it is to wear it. The military-esque Sportscraft jacket is a cashmere blend, I love it. The earrings, Melbounre-based Tilkah, the Annah Stretton of the accessories world!
I'm back home in Melbourne as well, after 15 months living/studying/traveling in Europe! yay!
**** BONUS IMAGE ****
When I was 15 I went through every concieveable haircolour. This is a photo from my debutante ball where it was a very hot pink! My mum made me a complementary vintage pink lace bolero. Unfortunately for me my partner was an extremely flourecent redhead, we clashed terribly ahah.
Harro everyone! Love this weeks theme, I'm a big festival fan. Already got my ticket to Soundwave 2014! The latest festival I've been to is the Cannstatter Volksfest in Stuttgart, Germany. In fact, I was there about 3 days ago! Cannstatter Volksfest is a beer festival / carnival - essentially a smaller, less touristy Oktoberfest. (Which I also went to this year - perhaps an outfit post on this day to come!)
Haha why for I be grumpy? Anyway, this was my outfit of choice, actually most of it I purchased in Germany. Dressing for a bierfest is rather different to summer / concert / music festivals as 1) its cold outside, but warm in the beer tents 2) most people are wearing lederhosen (think traditional German attire) and 3) it's basically a giant, stein-themed night out. I was actually considering buying lederhousen, but my suitcase is already dangerously overweight. So instead, I opted for layers. The jumper was a real find at just 10 euro (circa $15) at a random shop near a supermarket (lol) but I'm REALLY in love with this amaze hand painted brooch I discovered in an antique shop in Augsburg, Bavaria. I thought it was very appropriate to wear!
Obligatory lebkuchenherzen - gingerbread heart - le boyfriend lovingly purchased for me. Sadly only 3 days in my suitcase and the lettering has deteriorated a fair bit. Perhaps I should just eat it instead of trying to bring it back to aus?
The festival in of itself was pretty sweet, and both of us prefered it to oktoberfest. We had heard that for both beer festivals you should make sure to get there really early to secure a table (as beer is only served to those who have a seat - whether sitting or standing on it!) However as it was just the two of us travelling we found it really easy to turn up, ask for a seat and find one! I suppose the beer tents were looking to make money and we were looking to drink beer, so it worked out pretty well. Also, may I just comment, the food available was (expensive, yet) SO DELICIOUS. I am thinking I will make a post eventually about the food.
That's it from me, in less than a week I'll be back in melb for the first time in 14 months! Rather excite. Also means I can introduce all you lovely ladies to my full wadrobe, which is something I'm really looking forward to reuniting with. :)
Location : Melbourne, Australia
Age : 22
Body Shape : {pleasantly plump} hourglass
Body Size : 16-18
Clothing Style(s) : texture, pattern, embellishments
Clothing trends : selective, yet lean towards anything military, classic silhouette, generally extraordinary
Ambition : + level confidence
Like (s) : Cats, traveling, exploring, photography, crepes, true crime books, sleep, fine jewelery, tanning, going on an adventure, olive oil, reminiscing, watercolours, roadtrips, Ned Kelly biographies
Hate (s) : BUTTERFLIES &/or MOTHS, people with ulterior motives, pain, suffering & hopelessness, untrained dogs, peas, when you go to a restaurant [or stuff up cooking] and your food is disapointing
Location : Melbourne, Australia
