Denim Land

So there I was, minding my own business.

It had been a long day on the wines. Lunch was spent with my new workmates at a lovely little place in Mosman, on the water. I had to have a few glasses, you know, to "bond" with the people I now share an office with and be team player. OK so I am easily encouraged at the moment, and knowing I was catching up with an old friend later that evening at a wine bar, I figured "why not?"

OK...I know, I am getting sidetracked. Just for a change.

So my lovely friend (alco)Holly and I met in Darlinghurst at a pretty cool new wine bar called Love Tilly Devine. Yes, I might be a little obsessed with Underbelly. Anyway, having wanted an excuse to check it out for a while, I suggested we head there. Unfortunately it was closed for a private function. But we did get to have a quick squizz in and it looks awesome. Definitely be checking it out for real soon.

Anyway due to said unforeseen circumstances, we went to another bar Holly knew of, Pocket. Pretty cool place. Great food, and definitely great wine. After polishing off a bottle of Pinot Noir, when the waitress came over and asked if we wanted more wine and my partner in crime looked at me with those "c'mon....another won't kill you" eyes, let's just say I *may* have been easily influenced. So...several wines into the day/night, I looked at my watch and figured that if I wanted to be in any decent state to go to work today, I should probably call it a night. Not all of us have the luxury of being on long service leave *ahem Holly*.

So we walk up to Oxford St so I could hail a cab. Standing at the corner of Oxford and Crown, waiting to cross the road, and I must have had WAY.TOO.MUCH.WINE.....because I stood there, completely oblivious to what can only be described as being someone straight out of the '80s. Actually maybe not even out of the '80s - there is a good chance he is actually stuck there. Permanently.

How I missed this, I will never know.

Lucky I had my trusted friend, alcoHolly, to point out what should have been the obvious. Just in time for me to get a photo.

I present to you....the Denim Bandit.

Yes...that is denim on denim.

Matching colours.

And I very nearly missed it.

So there you have it. Oxford St is well known for it's fashion....but I can't say I have ever seen a denim suit being sported anytime since 1982.

Some random bar in Sydney

OK so I am a self proclaimed shit-at-consistency blogger. It's not that there haven't been any subjects worth photographing...on the contrary actually...I have just been very, very lazy.

Anyway I was recently at a bar in Sydney (forgive me, I have no idea what the name of it was, I *may* have had too much sangria with dinner before venturing to said bar), situated on Kent Street.

Anyway there I was being the pool shark that I was (amazing what a few drinks will do for my pool playing skills) when the following was pointed out to me by my accomplice...

Firstly, let me apologise about the quality of the photo. We were in a not-very-brightly-lit bar at night, and were trying to be inconspicuous in our photography efforts.

But YES. They ARE floral, almost carpet-esque 3/4 pants.

Floral pant wearer was accompanied by a friend who was wearing what could best be described as a giant doiley, however I was unsuccessful in obtaining a photograph of that one.

This bar was full of treasures - I might have to return there after the big move.

SYDNEY

I have been in Sydney a bit recently, and on a trip I made a couple of weeks ago, I stumbled across a person I couldn't help but photograph. I give to you...um...this:

So I was cruising on the escalators when she popped in front of me, and who could resist the opportunity of a photo? Now take note, readers. The pigtails are NOT indicative that this is a child. Nor do the fluoro, mismatched coloured hair elastics. Oh no - this lady was, I would estimate, possible in the 40's age bracket.

I am not sure if I like the hair or the jacket better.

I will leave it with you to decide.

RED

So along we were walking one lunchtime, after an hour of piss-taking on the streets, only to come across this ripper. Casually chatting on his mobile phone, unaware of the looks...(well he was probably aware of the looks he was copping - you don't dress like this for zero reaction)...

Yes, that is a red jumper. Yes, it is teamed with red pants. And yes, the look is finished with red shoes.

But wait, there's more.

Unfortunately you can't see it that well here as I had to be as inconspicuous as possible, BUT...yes, his hands and face are painted red. Actually, his entire head was painted red (he had a buzz cut).

Maybe he likes red. A LOT.

I have nothing left to say on this.

...The 'Trendy' Shops...

So of late, I have noticed that some of the more popular clothing retailers are retailing some very interesting fashion lines. Many of which I think make one look like they are draped in, well, curtains. Or a rug.

There is only so much a girl can do on an hour lunchbreak every day, so on days where boredom sets in, or shit days where we need cheering up, me and a colleague will venture out to the world of retail, and play dress ups in the items we find amusing.

So, I give to you, a collection of pictures. Clothes, headwear, and shoes.

Let's start with the shoes...

I give to you, the peeptoe tassel shoes. Unfortunately, due to the black colour of the shoe, the tassel detail is not overly noticeable. But believe me, they are there, in all their glory. Very 90's with chunky heels.

Next, we have the zebra print. Not only is it zebra print, but it is furry, and with wedged heel. Now I know animal print has made a comeback of late, but there are certain things that should have stayed in the zoo. Furry zebra printed wedges included.

Next on the radar is - well - I am not even sure what I would call these. Bowling-shoe-meets-sandle-meets-corset-meets-wedge-heel. Not even sure I need to say any more than that - I will leave the thoughts to you guys.

And now we will move onto head wear.

I am actually blaming Carrie Bradshaw for this one. She can pull off a lot of fashion faux-pas and make them look fashionable, but this is one that should have stayed in the dressing room. The fake turban. Now - I am all for people sporting turbans as part of their tradition - but for goodness sake - it is certainly NOT a fashion statement - and I couldn't care less if Armani himself declared otherwise.

OK - time to remind you all that I live in BRISBANE. That's right - NOT RUSSIA. Brisbane doesn't exactly have the same kind of climate that Eskimos are used to. It's a cute hat but seriously - where the f**k does one wear it?

And finally, the picnic rug-cum-blanket-cum-poncho, teamed with what else but a Panda hat? I mean, why wouldn't you?

I would at this point like to thank my lovely workmate for being a good sport and letting me post her picture (OK so I had to smudge her face to protect her identity - I think more because she didn't want people seeing her dressed like this than anything else).

So, I say, welcome to Brisbane people.

Melbourne

So I have had a few special guest contributers of late, and this post brings another. Credit to the lovely Mish for sending through this rather special find from St Kilda in Melbourne:

This, my friends, is what I call a major SCORE!!!

Let's start with the person on the left, let's call her 'Subject A':

This is the lesser of the evils, by a long shot. I can't see much of what she has on but I think if I could, I would probably actually like her dress - it does look quite cute. Unfortunately it is being hidden by what I could only call a very hideous bag. Kind of looks like a sack of potatoes, which appears to be shades of red with blue? flecks. I am thinking we were trying to colour co-ordinate with the red shoes, but missed the colour. By a mile. Shame - I probably would have liked the ensemble otherwise.

Let's now go to the figure on the right, which to save on confusion, I will refer to as 'Subject B'. There is so much going on right here, I'm just gonna start at the top and work my way down.

So Melbourne is cold, and therefore it's natural to rug up, specially in winter. But there is a difference between rugging up, and doing your best Big Bird impersonation (there is, isn't there??)

So then we go to the skirt. Black skirt - not a bad choice. Probably my second favourite part of the outfit (I quite like her bag. Maybe not with the outfit, but I do like it). So we have a canary yellow top matched with a black skirt. The colour combination once again is fine - if you left it at that. When you team them up, and think of animals, you would probably think 'tiger'. Well I would. Unless you then throw some leopard print tights into the mix. Confused much??

But wait...there's more!!

Ankle cowboy boots, complete with badges. I *think* they may be suede (or faux suede) - but whatever. I don't even know if I can comment further on this. I leave it with you, readers.

The Gym

Now, there are many an outfit I see at the gym worthy of a blog post of their own. Unfortunately I don't tend to have my camera and/or phone most of the time while training. So one of my lovely friends managed to get one for me on my behalf today.

Firstly, let me begin by saying that I am not really a fan of lycra on men unless they are either swimming or out on the road cycling (or unless they have a body say, like, Vin Diesel). In the gym?? Not a huge fan. Maybe in a Spin class it is acceptable but outside of that - in my humble opinion - not a good look.

That's my start.

But wearing transparent lycra...over the top of what I can only describe as a wrestling-type-overall thing...and tucked into more lycra...well...

I'll let you be the judge...

Stripey Land

I don't have very many words to describe this combination. Bone shorts, orange belt, purple top, purple, orange, pink and red stripey footless tights, orange heels - and there right up the top, you can just see the green beanie.

At least the shoes matched the belt.

The accessories store

Clearly, this chick was stocking up on more high-end fashion.

I spotted this chick in an accessories store. I wasn't sure whether I liked the tights that kinda blended in with the floor (maybe she was trying to get a job there??), the gold shoes (also blending in with the floor), or the combination of the pair.

Her hat was pretty awesome too, but I couldn't get a sneaky pic of it sadly.

I probably also should have taken note of what she was looking at - might have been a matching bangle, or better yet, a fascinator.

I am going to try get some new material in my lunchbreak today - haven't really been venturing out this week. Stay tuned.

Queen Street Mall...the Original Paper Bag Man

Got something to say, but not quite sure of the best way to get people's attention? Or just not quite sure how to say it? Or maybe, what you have to say will make you look like such a big tool, that you don't actually want to be recognised? Maybe - you feel that what you have to say is so damn important that you need to say it, but fear the consequences of showing your face.

Whatever the issue - there is now a solution.

Simply place a paper bag, with your message inscribed on it, over your head.

Problem solved. The best part is, since your message is written on the paper bag, if you also speak your message out loud in the middle of, say, Queen Street Mall, you are catering for both the deaf (through the writing on said accessory) and the blind (through your voice) - as well as everyone else. Champion.

Photo One...The Skirt

So, you want to wear your favourite skirt, but have eaten too many pies in the last few months? No biggie. Just wear it, with the zip at half mast! Problem solved!

NB: I do apologise for the dodgy/blurry photography however this was taken while walking, trying to be discreet, on my mobile phone.