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Why don’t you…?

* Wear a skirt to the gym? A flirty little pleated netball number? A flashy ice-skater tutu? A snazzy little jersey mini?

* Paint your nails beautifully? So you can admire your manicure as you grip the rail on the stepper?

* Tuck your locks into a wide stretch headband? Leopard print? Floral?

* Buy silver sneakers? Wear them with short socks?

* Slick on a little mascara? A tiny dab of nude eyeshadow? Rock up to pilates looking polished?

* Accessorise? Funky sweat bands while jogging? Leg warmers in yoga?

* Wear a 1950s floral bathing cap while swimming laps?

* Choose a palette that’s exclusive to your workout? Pastels? Slick racing stripes? Varying shades of grey?

Have a great work out!

Carly

x

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This evening I attended a fundraiser for the Social Studio on Smith Street. Basically it’s an amazing organisation that assists immigrants with specific fashion construction skills to design and sell ethically sound clothing and to keep them out of the slave labour trade. Brilliant. The event was appropriately hosted by the divine Lee Lin Chin who made an eloquent speech about how high fashion houses have a moral responsibility to use ethical means of producing their wares and that consumers cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the origins of their wardrobe. The clothes in the fashion parade were stunning and original – there was a breathtaking purple silk, one shouldered maxi dress that caught my eye. Although I imagine it will look far less spectacular on me than on the six foot four Somalian goddess modelling it…

* Dress by Nina Ricci
* Shoes by Nine West
* Perspex bangles from Equip
* Circle scarf Smaggle Made

Love Carly

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Naught or Nice – Which one are you?

The Ugly Crush

A few tips on how to thrift…

How to Steal the Style of Betty and Veronica

What were you wearing when?

How to Make a Necklace Out of Laddered Tights and Stockings

A Brief History of the Life of Coco Chanel

What are your best features?

Fat Fashion and Positive Body Image

Style and Manners for Meeting the Parents of Your Lover

Enjoy!

Love Carly

xxx

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I’ve received no less than five lovely emails in the last week asking me where my outfit shots have gone! My every day style is a little less fabulous than a few years ago because my life is well… dirtier now and I’m not sure if you all want to see my studio outfits but lets try it and see shall we? Here is what I wore to the studio, the post office and all afternoon as I sketched and wrote…

* Dress from DFO in Melbourne.
* Tights are actually thermal marino underwear from Big W. I wear them as tights and they are so toasty.
* Boots from Shoo Biz.
* Scarf Smaggle made – You can learn to make one here.
* Cardigan from Country Road.

It’s also hideously freezing here in Melbourne so most of my outfits are covered in jackets and scarves. I can’t wait for cardigan weather…

Oh and please let me know if you want more outfit shots of the work/studio persuasion.

Love Lady Smaggle

xxx

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I’ve been doing some research into the meaning of colour for my next jewellery collection and I’ve been utterly addicted to combining the descriptions and deciphering the meaning behind the different hues.

Here is my summary -

Black

- Proud, elegant, strong, ambitious.

Red

– Energetic, powerful, determined, passionate, desirable.

Purple

– Regal, noble, luxurious, mysterious, creative, wise, magical.

Pink

– Youthful, fun, exciting, immature, childlike.

White

– Innocent, clean, pure, organised, proud, independent.

Orange

– Joyous, enthusiastic, fascinating, happy, attractive, successful.

Yellow

– Intellectual, energetic, cheerful, warm.

Green

– Harmonious, fresh, fertile, inspirational, restful and healing.

Blue

– Deep, stable, trustworthy, loyal, wise, confident, intelligent, faithful, truthful.

Grey

– Timeless, practical, solid, reasonable.

My question is… what colour are you?

Think about it.

Love Lady Smaggle

xxx

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Why don’t you…

* Buy a beautiful tin of artist’s pencils? A magnificent sketchbook filled with blank parchment paper? Fill the pages with delicately shaded scribbles and patterns?

* Take a class? Millinery? Leather work? Embroidery?

* Spend the afternoon at your library in the DIY section? Home interiors? Gardens? Fashion?

* Keep an old fashioned scrap book? Filled it with torn pages from magazines? A whole page of colours you love? A page of beautiful blondes? A page of coffee tables?

* Colour code your wardrobe? Start with neutrals hanging at one end of your wardrobe and slowly work your way to patterns and brights?

* Get out your sewing machine? Whip up a few cushion covers? A couple of pretty head scarves? Some drawstring bags to keep your delicates in?

* Make a cake? For no reason? Decorate it with marshmallow flower petals and pink coconut?

* Paint?

Have a beautiful weekend!

Love Lady Smaggle

xxx

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Ladies and gents, allow me to introduce you to the author of my new favourite blog, Might and Main. The incredible Michelle writes the most inspirational articles over at her site that I just had to have her guest blog here at Smaggle. We did a little swapsie so visit her today to read my guest post on How to Be a Perfect Planner. Today, Michelle writes a kick butt post on how to stop getting overwhelmed.

Break up overwhelming tasks into small, easily attainable goals.

I just finished reading a great book about climbing, No Shortcuts to the Top by Ed Viesturs. One section that really stuck out to me was when he talked about how awful climbing Mount Everest would have been if he viewed it for what it was. Instead, during the 10 or so hours it took him to get to the summit on the final day, he would pick out rocks or other nearby landmarks and tell himself that he just had to make it to that point. Then, once he’d reached his goal, he’d pick another close mark and not stop moving until he got there. By breaking up huge, overwhelming tasks into smaller goals, he climbed the 14 highest peaks in the world. Just imagine what you could do if you applied that same strategy to your life!

When you’re working, do your absolute best.

So many people put less than their best effort into working, and it really shows. A task that could have been completed in 2 hours instead ends up devouring their entire workday. This is especially important if you’re a freelancer or self-employed. Think about it this way: Would you rather work your hardest for a couple hours and have the whole rest of the day free to enjoy yourself, or would you rather drag it out all day and have little time left to do whatever you want?

Remember to take time for yourself.

It’s easy to get caught up in being busy all the time, but without taking breaks to recharge, you won’t be doing your best work. If you’re going to work your hardest to get what you want, great! But make sure you’re enjoying yourself too. Read a good book, go for a walk, head to the gym, eat a really delicious meal, grab a drink with some friends…the options are endless. Take a break before you get burnt out. That way you’ll head back to your work charged up and ready to go.

Most importantly, surround yourself with good people.

No matter how busy or stressed you get, good friends and family will stick by you and support you. Make sure you have friends who you can call or text whenever you’re feeling overwhelmed. If the people around you now aren’t supportive of your goals, find better people. Read blogs of people who have similar goals, follow them on Twitter and strike up a conversation. Even if you don’t end up being best friends, at least you know of someone who’s doing something similar to you who you can consult if needed.

If you loved this post please do share the love and pass it on!

Love Lady Smaggle

xxx

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Are you in a canoe? Paddling in sync with your partner? Or are you in a kayak? Flying solo?

Canoes are powered by two people. Double the strength but double the weight and entirely dependent on both parties to keep paddling. If one person stops the canoe goes around in circles.

Kayaks are a one man show. Light, speedy… but if the captain stops the kayak stops. There is no back up plan. No team spirit to keep the boat moving.

There are benefits to both modes of transportation but you need to know which boat you are in.

If you are in a canoe you want to make damn sure you’ve got a good partner.

If you are in a kayak you want to make damn sure you’ve got the juice to keep you moving up the river.

Are you in a canoe? Or kayak?

And are you happy about it…?

Love Lady Smaggle

xxx

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* Make a big pot of cleansing green tea? Drink it lying on the floor and chatting to your girlfriends?

* Get a fringe cut? Long and thick? Have it brush your eyebrows like a silk curtain so you can peek out from behind it?

* Make maxi dresses your signature clothing item? Wear wooly grey tights and cropped cardigans with them in winter? Long beaded necklaces and chunky clogs in summer?

* Order a sambucca on ice?

* Wrap a scarf around your head? Throw on some giant sunglasses? Cherry coloured lipstick? Wind down the windows and go driving without a destination?

* Smile?

* Make gifts for the little babies in your life? Hand sewn bibs? Little embroidered baby booties? A tiny teddy bear?

* Order Chinese food? Eat it straight from the containers? On a picnic blanket in your own backyard?

* Try navy instead of black? Forrest green? Dark grey? Rethink the basics?

* Floss your teeth? Twice a day?

Love

Lady Smaggle

xxx

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For my non-Australian readers I thought you’d like to know that the fashion community down under has had quite a controversial day today. A wee little while ago Mark McInnes, CEO of David Jones (big swanky department store chain) resigned from his position because he had displayed sexually inappropriate behaviour towards a female staff member. It was completely his own decision, no complaint was lodged but he made a personal choice to resign over his behaviour which I thought was pretty noble.

Now, this Kirsty Fraser-Kirk lass whose allegations inspired the resignation has decided to press charges. She is trying for something ridiculous like 37 million dollars and it’s in court and very controversial.

Today, at the annual Spring/Summer fashion parade, when questioned about the incident  women’s clothing designer Alannah Hill quipped that she wished McInnes ‘would touch me up’ and then had a seemingly humorous little dialogue with designer Alex Perry pretending that the CEO had propositioned her.

Naturally the media went berserk and Hill is experiencing the wrath of angry, abused women and hungry media moguls.

My question to you is… have we lost our sense of humour? Is what she said really that bad?

Do read the article that I’ve linked to above and let me know what you think!

Love Lady Smaggle

xxx

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