Smaggle Style

I do love a bit of Betsey. Her ready-to-wear Fall 2008 collection makes me love her even more. The look is slightly trashy and very vintage with unexpected lines and versatility through out the collection. I get so bored when designers pick a fabric and repeat the same dress 10 times with slightly different shapes. Yawn. Not the case with Ms Johnson. Each of her outfits have an individual personality, much like characters out of Rent - waif like band groupies who do drugs and steal but you love them anyway because they are fabulous and tortured. The kind of girl who carries a massive bag everywhere because she is homeless and all the clothes she wears are borrowed or stolen yet she still manages to look like she fell straight off the catwalk and into a bar. Her make up is flawless, her diet consists of champagne and cigarettes and she is stuck in an abusive relationship with a guy she is love with. Oh and she has a hidden talent like singing or painting that she either lives to pursue or haalucinates about while dying from an overdose. Her life is made all the more fascinating because the girl you love to hate is wearing red lipstick, a beret, platform shoes, blue nail polish and fishnet stockings…   

Here are a few covetable items to assist you in the pursuit of the ‘Bad girl with a heart of gold’ look…

* Blue nail polish - It makes you look a little like a corpse but lets face it, it’s kind of the look we are aiming for here.

* Fish net, polka dot or lace stockings. They give the appearance of nakedness and they never cease to make an outfit look naughty.

* Fringing. Perfect for swirling on the dance floor or strutting down the street in your platforms.

* Crimped hair. Am I the only person who still thinks this is cool? If I had straight hair I would do this every day.

* An expected accessory. A beret, a man’s watch, a scarf tied around your waist. You want to make it look like you just stole it from somebody else. You know because you’re just so crazy like that…

* Platform shoes. None of this stiletto crap. You need the extra stability for your slow motion running scene.

* A piece of sentimental jewellery like a locket or a ring that you wear all the time and you get misty eyed and elusive whenever someone asks you about it.

I’m breaking out the blue polish this week…

Love Lady Smaggle

xxx

Yeah look… I don’t have much to say about today’s outfit except that it looked really good last night when I was throwing it in my gym bag. Mama Smaggle even liked it. I think we need to have a chat later. I look like Bozo’s phsyco girlfriend clown. Anyways this afternoon I’m off to an appointment at the gym then having drinks with my lovely friend before she goes to Texas to talk about very intelligent things. Then it’s dinner with the Mr and then I’m off to bed early because I have to work my little butt off tomorrow…

* Yellow opaques from Myer

* Black skirt from Valley Girl

* T-shirt from Itrip Iskip

* Black top from Cowboys and Angels

* Fabric bangle Smaggle made

* Yellow Bangle from Diva

* Boots from Nine West

Not a good day in the land of Smaggle Style…

Love Lady Smaggle

xxx

P.S There was the cutest little Chinese girl in the toilet today that was singing a cheerful little song while she went about her business. It totally made my day!

* Queen Marie over at Kingdom of Style shows us how to use left over fringing for a funky necklace…

* Liebmarlene led me to this fabulous headband tutorial…

* Fashionfillers makes me wish it was summer so I could wear gladiators with red polish on my toes…

* Over at the Vintage Society Beth asks her readers what their trademark is…

* My all time favourite wardrobe_remixer nemrešpobje?odnedjel continues to astound me with her incredible thrifted style…

Love Lady Smaggle

xxx

I did a naughty on the weekend. I paid $180 for one pair of shoes. I know it’s evil. I could feed a small African nation for months on that amount of money but I can assure you I had no choice in the matter.

These are the shoes. Disappointed? Yeah so was I. I LOATHE spending money on shoes that I can’t dance in. They don’t even sparkle. If I’m spending above $30 (yes, I am actually that tight) I want the most spectacular shoes on the planet - gorgeous, comfortable, make me drop a dress size in seconds and they should come with a free overseas holiday and a packet of Jelly Tots. As you can see I’m having difficulty coming to terms with the fact that I just spent about a years worth of thrifting money on ugly shoes. Ugly shoes that GAVE ME BLISTERS!!! Blisters in my rolling high arches. I have HIGH ARCHES that ROLL. Does that sound like a contradiction to anyone else? In case you haven’t caught on to my bitter tone I started my fitness course this morning. My trainer is a sadistic prick. I can’t remember exactly what it was that we had to do in the obstacle course (my brain tends to block out pain) but it went something like this - Run a kilometre, stab yourself in the thighs with a fork, run a kilometre, get your legs run over with a lawnmower, run a kilometre, break some bricks with your butt cheeks, run a kilometre, have a whole football team stamp on your arms, run a kilometre and then finish it all with a lovely session of being punched in the guts. I had to run through this obstacle course 10 times in one hour with no breaks wearing the Fugly Blister-maker shoes and the jerky trainer refused to administer morphine for my pain. I have a plan though. If I manage to make it though my Monday, Wednesday and Friday sessions every week for the full 6 week period I will allow myself to buy the beautiful shoes…

It’s a happy coincidence that they are released just as the course is finishing and I don’t even mind that they don’t come with a free overseas holiday… or a packet of Jelly Tots.

Love Lady Smaggle

xxx

Today was quiet in my little office because Browny is away. And it really sucks - I feel like I have been in solitary confinement all day. I went over to my friend Ted’s office to get her to take my photo and we had a little chat about our bridesmaids dresses. Oh yeah I totally forgot to tell you - I get to be a bridesmaid in November! For two of my most favourite people in the whole world who are getting married! And the bridal party is made up of my best mates! I can’t express my excitement through exclamation points but I am sure you’re getting the jist of it!!! This afternoon I am going to my fitness assessment and then I am having coffee with my lovely friend Sally. Tonight I’m cooking a lovely tofu stirfry that I invented for Mr Smaggle and we’ll drink tea and watch Grey’s Anatomy…

* Black skirt from Tree of Life

* Black singlet from Cowboys and Angels

* Black top from Target

* Black wrap top from SES

* Brown flats from Payless

* Black opaques from Myer

* Belt from BCBG

* Ring from Dinosaur Designs

* Scarf from Sportsgirl

* Black headband from Diva

* Green resin necklace (under scarf) Smaggle Made

Love Lady Smaggle

xxx

My delicious friend Ged passed this store in my direction and I am seriously considering packing in my job, moving to Japan and becoming a Master of origami… and I’ll probably eat a lot of sushi too.

The store is called Fruccidesign and is based in San Francisco. Go and have a gander at the store it’s pretty spectacular. I want the bangle to wear when I own an art gallery and I’ll start drinking short blacks and smoking mini cigars…

Love Lady Smaggle

xxx

I signed up for a 6 week fitness course today. Moron. I’m going in for an assessment tomorrow afternoon. I can’t even slack off because one of my ultra fit friends is doing it too. So please think of me on Wednesday when I’m dragging myself out of bed and into my frost covered car for some early morning torture…

* Dress from Melbourne

* Cardigan from Stock jeans

* Black opaques from Myer

* Scarf from Sportsgirl

* Earrings 21st birthday gift

* Headband from Diva

* Boots from Boots for Broads

Until then I am going home to drink tea and clean out my bead box!

Love Lady Smaggle

xxx

I’m hideously lazy when it comes to updating my links page but these ladies will join the list as soon as I can tear myself away from the third season of Grey’s Anatomy…

Whimsical Nerd - 

This is Natasha from Chicago. She is quite simply adorable. Her style is super unique and I can just see her reading novels at old cafes and drinking tea out of a pot. She is a master of the head accessory - hats, scarves, pins - she totally rocks the cranial style.

Le Blog De Betty -

This is Betty from France…I think. Most of her posts are in French but she often translates them into English. She is so cool I almost hate her. She gives excellent styling advice and manages to wear the most controversial of pieces with such casual French ease. Her photography is awesome, her outfits are irritatingly cool and she is hot. And French. Damn it.

Strawberry Kitten -

This is Nadine from Germany. She is SO addictive. Like a little cartoon character…  she looks like she stepped out of the pages of a whimsical fairytale book. Her style is so surreal but still so versatile. She makes me want to wear Alice in Wonderland style dresses with bows in my hair. She also makes most of her own clothes. Puts Lady Smaggle to shame…

Fashion Fillers

This is Renee and I am not quite sure where she is from but she lives 5 hours away from Amsterdam. She is only 17 years old but her style is so developed it makes me cringe thinking about what I was wearing when I was 17. She wants to be a fashion designer and already makes a lot of her own clothes. She also wears high heels to school. Man, I just want to rewind my high school years and re-do them as her…

Kingdom of Style -  

This is Queen Michelle from Scotland. I am seriously slow on discovering this site but Queen Michelle and Queen Marie are goddesses of the blogosphere. Queen Michelle has that super tall, long legged, pouty style icon thing happening that makes me want to straighten my hair and commit to a life long diet of cabbage. They are like the cool kids at school that you were too scared to talk to… except that these ladies are lovely and they share all their coolness tips with you.

I have them all on my favourites and it’s part of my morning ritual to read their updates while drinking chai tea… It’s a lovely way to start the morning!

Love Lady Smaggle

xxx

Here are a few fashion tips I picked up while wandering through the city last night. Just a few things I think everyone should know…

* If you can see your cellulite through your skirt it’s too small.

* Boys - If you want to get laid do not buy pants from Allens, Big W or K-mart. Especially ‘dress’ pants.

* It’s probably a good idea to put clothes on over the top of your underwear if you plan on appearing in public.

* Chunky glitter eyeshadow is nasty. It looks like that gel crap that came with that enlarged Barbie doll toy that terrified the children of the eighties. The one that was a life sized doll face that you practiced make up on and it looked like a severed head? 

* Flat shoes are more attractive than stilletos that have dug a deep ravine in your heel causing you to walk like you have a bar stool shoved where the sun don’t shine.

* Wash your hair.

Love Lady Smaggle

xxx 

I’m really bored today. Like a twitching little kid stamping their feet kind of bored. It’s really irritating because I actually have a lot of work to do and I am just all frustrated. Anyway I am about to head off and meet Mr Smaggle for dinner and see a silly movie. It’s a real Friday night for me this week which means I don’t have to work tomorrow!

* Skirt from some store in Melbourne I think

* Lace edged singlet top thrifted at Salvos

* Lace high necked top from SES

* Brown wrap top thrifted at Salvos

* Grey head band from Diva

* Yellow bangle from Diva

* Yellow opaques from Myer

* Earrings from Diva

* Shoes from Payless

Love Lady Smaggle

xxx