We apologise for the delay...

Due to a technical difficulty (namely that Scarlet is computer illiterate and her hubby isn't here at the moment to fix the upload issue) there will be a short delay with yesterday's post. And maybe today's. Who knows really. For some reason my computer is now refusing to recognise my camera as a suitable device. I guess they had a fight? Some kind of domestic? Who knows what goes on behind closed doors when I'm not here.

Anyway, to make up for the delay, here is a photo of a lovely duck.

Spanish flair

I guess I know myself better than I thought I did. As you can see, no weekend post has been forthcoming. Procrastination at its best people!

I did get one photo from the weekend, and that was a selfie of me wearing my adorable teddy/mouse/koala beanie. There hasn't been a general consensus on what furry critter the beanie represents, so it's still up in the air. It's adorableness has not been disputed.

Today to work, I wore a skirt that I didn't realise I hadn't shown you! It's a Lolita piece from Milanoo (which they no longer sell, hence no link) but everyone calls it my 'Spanish' skirt. I have to admit, it does have a Spanish feel to it, so I can't really deny it.

It's hard to see in this pic, but I had some lovely patterned fishnets on to go with it, and some big dangly earrings I got from Lovisa on sale (again, no link as they don't seem to stock them anymore). Totally over dressed for work, but this is how many fucks I give about that.

Double whammy

I was tired yesterday so even though Christian took my photo, I couldn't be bothered booting up the ol' puter to do the post. That means tonight you get two photos! Aren't you lucky!

I'm feeling pretty tried tonight too, so there won't be much chit chat on this post. Aren't you doubly lucky!

Thursday was wet and stormy and blue.

Today was a casual goth kind of day.

Have a great weekend! I'll post if I get around to it, but my track record of posting on the weekends isn't exactly stellar...

Blast from the past

So, according to one of the nurses at work today, I looked like I stepped right out of an 80's music video clip.

It's the gorgeous Librarian Assistant dress from ModCloth which you may remember from this post. The weather has cooled down a lot, and so I figured I'd wear a pair of tights so colourful, they can't even be compared to white :-P It's a pity my hubby is so much taller than me though, as the dress only comes to my knees but from the angle he takes the pics, you can only see me from mid-shin down. There was a lot of red!

Apologies for the lack of a smile. It took me well over an hour and fifteen minutes to get home today (usually takes me roughly 35 mins) and all I wanted to do was get out of my clothes and into some jarmies. Perth drivers are complete morons when it comes to the rain :/ I was royally miffed!

The cadinal sin of tights

Okay, so maybe not the worst sin (that would be thinking that tights are pants. They are not. And by pants, I mean trousers, weirdo people from the UK) but I broke a pretty big one today.

White tights.

There is an unspoken rule that white tights are for school girls and grannies. No one knows whence the rule came, but it whenced it's way into our lives and heads roll when the rule is broken. It's a bloody, and gory scene, let me tell you. Children hide behind their mother's skirts and tweens desperately click away on their mobiles so they can upload to Instagram later. Grown men cower, and old timers are hard pressed to one up the scene. Dark days, my friends. Dark days.

Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating just a little. Maybe.

I thought I could get away with it. I'd wear my orphan Annie dress, my lovely new red shoes that arrived yesterday, and the white tights would be a lovely balance of red and white.

This plan hit a slight snag when I realised that my lovely new red shoes were too big. Guess which dimwit ordered the wrong size? Okay, all is not lost. I can wear my new black Mary Janes. It's not too bad, is it?

The Regional Manager was in today, and she always passes comment on my outfits. If they're not over the top enough, she calls me 'as boring as bat shit'. A lovely dress flounced up with a petticoat isn't enough for her - she wants bright tights and big shoes. She looked at me today and said 'Oh, I don't like those white tights.'. I responded with 'Well, to be fair I was originally wearing red shoes but had to take them off as they were too big. It looked much better with the red shoes.'. She shook her head and said 'Oooh, I doubt that.'

I went to the nurses for their opinions, and it turns out that that it was pretty universal. White tights look too much like surgical stockings to be taken seriously. My bold decision back fired and slapped me in the face with a dead fish. Lessons have been learned today, my friends.

On a completely unrelated note, I have a lovely pair of US size 9 red shoes, never worn for sale for $50!

 

You know you want to!

Great Scot! That's a lot of frills!

I think this is my new favourite dress.

Pretty, huh? It's from my latest Milanoo order and it's pieces like this one (and my new shoes that you'll get to see tomorrow) that keep me coming back to this site despite my many issues with it.

I love the bar wench neckline and bust. I swoon over the tartan print. I adore the frills. So many frills! The cap sleeved have captured my heart. Is it possible to wax lyrical any more over this dress?

Probably. But you're looking bored so I'll stop.

Bask ion the glory of the dress people. Bask.

Review of Milanoo

I promised a review post this weekend, and that's pretty much all you'll get from me. Yesterday I was out and about, not wearing anything fabulous, just awesome lol I didn't get a photo, but it's my new hoodie from Red Bubble with this on the front.

 

Today I'm actually staying in, lounging around in my jarmies, drinking peppermint lattes and listening to some sweet sounds that my mate, Eselle has put up on his Soundcloud page.  You should check him out, he's pretty good. My faves are The Flow and Six. But enough digressing...

Milanoo.

More specifically, their Lolita collection. For those of who who are unaware, this is from the wiki page on Lolita fashion - Lolita fashion is a fashion subculture originating in Japan that is based on Victorian-era clothing, but the style has expanded greatly beyond Japan.^[1] The Lolita look began primarily as one of modesty with a focus on quality in both material and manufacture of garments. The original silhouette is of a knee length skirt or dress with a "cupcake" shape assisted by petticoats, but has expanded into various types of garments including corsets and floor length skirts. Blouses, knee high socks or stockings and headdresses are also worn.^[2] Lolita fashion has evolved into several different sub styles and has a subculture that is present in many parts of the world.

I've bought many items from Milanoo over the years, and to honest, I've found it extremely hit and miss. 

I love their shoes, and the quality of those is amazing for the price you pay. If I could even find anything of the kind here in Perth, I'd be paying at least three times the amount I pay on the site. Yes, there are some horridly garish shoes on that site. For instance, there is such a thing as too many bows...

There is also such a thing as just plain silly. 

There is also the 'Oh, God why? Why does this exist?'

 

But if you tread carefully (pun most definitely intended), you can get some unique, comfortable, affordable shoes. 

The clothes are what I've had the 'hit and miss' part with. The sizing is all over the place, and I just couldn't get it right. It's a Chinese run site so yes, their sizes run very small. Though the shoes are wide enough to fit my enormously wide German feet. And a bracelet I got from there was so big it just fell off my wrist. So now I just picture a country of tiny waisted, flat chested women running around with huge clown feet and their stupidly big wrists dragging along the ground.  

I only just figured out the other day why I was having so much trouble with the sizing. Take the dress I wore on Friday for instance (that is stubbornly refusing to be bloody centred!)

 

The sizing chart won't copy over here so let me give you the measurements for the XXL (the size I got). 

Bust - 115-117cm

Waist - 95-97cm

Hips - 123-125cm

Now, take this outfit below (which also refuses to be centred).

I fell in love with this a while back, saw it came in XXL and was about to buy it when I saw the size chart for it.

Bust - 90cm

Waist - 68.4

Hips - 96.3

Now...that's a bit of a difference. In fact, the first dress is roughly a US size 16. The sizes for the second dress are equivalent to a US 8. That's FOUR dress sizes difference! For clothing not only from the same site but made by the same people. You understand that there can be some variation in sizes between brands (but generally not four bloody sizes difference) but to come from the same factory? That's just asking for trouble.

I'm really not too sure what they were thinking, and not being a fashion designer, I can't make any educated guesses. As a consumer, I just know that it's bloody annoying. 

The quality has also been hit and miss. Some of the items I've bought have been very well made, others...not so much. One dress I got was so thin that even with a petticoat underneath, you could see right through it. Another that was supposed to be long sleeved actually came with the sleeves completely detached. They were more like gloves, I suppose. It was weird. Anyway, if your not going to sew the damn sleeves on, you should explain that in the item description. A blouse I bought arrived with most of the buttons bearly sewn on. Another blouse had a decorative bow on the front that actually turned out to just be held in place with a safety pin.

You get my point.

The other gripe that I have about the site is the processing time. When you place an order, you're told that international orders will take 7-10 days to arrive. Fair enough, you say. That's pretty standard. What they don't tell you, is that this time frame is once the order has been processed. It can take weeks for your order to be processed. One order I placed took over three months to reach me! I was in the midst of arranging for a refund when it did turn up. 

Overall, as much as I love some of the items I've gotten from Milanoo, I'm going to give it 2 Scarlet Stars.

Is it a doll? Is it a cake? No, it's Scarlet!

Today was a girly kind of day, and what better to wear than one of my newly arrived dresses from Milanoo?

This frilly piece of total girlyness is, depending on how you look at it, totally adorable, or horribly garish. Since I'm wearing it, I'm sure you know which is my opinion!

I didn't get any negative comments about it today, so I think people at work liked it (or they're just too nice to say anything, which is probably more to the point). However, there were descriptors used, and with a dress such as this one, well I'm sure you can guess what sorts (even if you can't guess, you've probably read the title so...). I was told by several people that I was very Alice in Wonderlandesque today. I didn;t quite see that but still. I was also told, again by more than one person, that I look like a doll. It's Lolita fashion, so they got it pretty spot on. The lovely Tania said I looked like a cake. I pissed myself when she said that. Because it's true!

I had some trouble finding tights to go with this dress. Not because I wasn't sure which colour to go with (black or white were the only logical choices) but because I had so much trouble finding a pair of plain, black tights in my vast collection of tights. Pink - check. Purple - check. Heart pattern - check. Stripes - check. Tartan - check. Fishnet Spiderweb - check. Black with silver glitter spiderwebs - check. Red fishnet with roses - check. Blue - check. Black with diagonal patterns - check. Black with diamond pattern - check. Nude with roses - check. Where the fuck are my plain, black tights???

I did eventually find them...

I also wore my bird cage earrings which are totally adorable and are one of my staple pairs of earrings. I got them from Lovisa and I love them.

If I survive been eaten by random wedding guests, I shall do a post this weekend reviewing Milanoo. Stay tuned!

Pinkie!

Today felt like a Pinkie kind of day :)

I had a parcel arrive from Red Bubble and inside was my new Pinkie Pie shirt. Watch out for evil zebra enchantresses!AJ is by far my fave pony, but Pinkie ties for second place. Unfortunately, I forgot that my gigantic boobs tend to distort images on tees so she looks a little weird, but oh well. It's Pinkie! She's always a little weird!

I paired it with one of ChicStar skirts and some gloriously bright pink tights I picked up at K Mart. Everyone knew exactly where I was in the office today - even with their eyes closed!

I also had a parcel arrive my Milanoo today so I have new pretties for you tomorrow. It'll be a bumper post as I'm also dyeing my hair again tonight. Yay for change!!!

So, maybe I haven't...

Pretty sure I haven't shown you this dress as yet :)

It's my Hell Bunny sailor dress and it's the ultimate swing dress. The skirt is so full that my ChicStar petticoat just doesn't do it justice. It really needs one of their own petticoats under it to give it the full flounce it deserves! I bought it off ebay (as one does) but I'm so nice that I found a linky for you.

The cardi is from Target and the shoes are from Milanoo. I was wearing my GEEK scrabble necklace with it as well, but I had to take that off so my cute chiro could massage my neck. It's a hard life ;-)

Gothic encore

I've pretty much run out of clothes to show you all now...so it's time to mix them up a bit :)

Today it was my lovely lace up jacket and a plain black skirt.

Short and sweet :)

Swinging style

I love the full skirted swinging style of the 50's. There's something so feminine about a twirling skirt and layer upon layer of tulle. I own several dresses that could be described as 'swing' dresses and I thought I'd wear one of them out today for a leaving do in the Swan Valley (okay, fine, I wore it yesterday. No, I didn't make this post on the day I should have, but I was drunk. What are you going to do about it? Huh? Yeah, didn't think so. Back in your box!).

I got this dress from City Chic and it's actually now on sale if you like it! I was surprised it was still around as I got it quite a while back.

I wore my Hell Bunny red petticoat underneath, and added a bit of height with my old faithfuls from Milanoo (who are having a Mother's Day sale and you can get these lovelies at 40% off. Dammit, I only placed a new order a couple of weeks ago...). The shrug I got ages ago, can't even remember where from now.

Bonus photo for quieting your whinging about being a day late. Me in a tree with this dress on! And lots of other pretty ladies!

A little bit of gothic flair

The weather is starting to get a bit cooler, which means lots of pretty stuff starts to get hideen. This makes me sad :(

But what if you can have pretty outside things too? *gasp* Is such a thing really possible???

What if I told you, yes?

Okay, so this doesn't look that great in the first picture as the flash has really shown the contrast between the singlet and jacket. Trust me, it looks prettier in real life! I may need to invest in a better photographer...

This is one of my latest ChicStar purchases and I'm actually really happy with it. It's well made, relatively warm (this is Australia - it doesn't exactly get cold) and so pretty. It also comes in burgandy and also two types of jacquard. I went with black as it's more versatile, but at only $55 it's a pretty good bargain. I may need to add another at some point.

A few of the proto items on the site have caught my eye and methinks once they're in production they may also be getting added to my wardrobe.

There's this Steampunk inspired double layered jacket...

 

This dress (which they are saying is Steampunk but in my opinion is not)...

 

This double layered Steampunk gear skirt...

And finally, my favourite of the protos, this absolutely gorgeous military style dress...

 

What do you all think?

Hair, hair, hair!

I started to put this post in the last one, and then thought, what the hay, since I jipped you all on posts for the past week, why not have two! The post was born from the fact that I dyed my hair tonight.

I used to have long hair, and would have loved to have gone crazy with it, but long hair is just too much effort. It also gets way too damaged with constant bleaching. With short hair, I bleach, the bleach grows out but by the time I bleach again, I've had one or two haircuts. The old, damaged stuff gets chopped off and it stays relatively healthy.

 The dye I use is Crazy Color and it absolutely killed me spelling that without the u...Anyways, I digress. Kate's Clothing has the most fabulous multi deal on it. One bottle bought from here (home) costs me $24 AUD. I can get 4 for ten pound from Kate's Clothing so with postage it converts to about $28 AUD. You'd have to be crazy to pass that up!

The colours I have in my extensive collection of this dye are Vermillion Red, Pine Green, Capri Blue, Hot Purple and Pinkissimo.

The first time I dyed my hair, I used the Capri Blue, and had it done at a hairdresser. They told me that with bright colours, you need to do several applications of them before they will start holding. Well, I must say, I was a little surprised that I went green. I did love it, but still, I had wanted blue...

I did get my hair pretty blue for a while after that, but for some reason I don't have a photo of it. In that time I was given the nickname Smurf, so I Pinkie Promise that I'm not lying!

After plain blue, I went purple, using the Hot Purple dye. I rather liked it.

After that was the rainbow stage. Blue at the front, pink and purple alternated at the back. No idea what it looked like from the back, but I loved it.

 Then came the red. When I bleached my hair, I found that for some reason, the blue in the fringe wouldn't bleach out. When I first dyed it red (using Vermillion Red) the fringe went black. Over time the red faded from the fringe and it went blue again. I did re-dye the blue at one point too, so most of the pics I've had up on this blog have had me with a blue fringe and red hair.

To celebrate finally being able to raise my arms above my head again (FREEDOM!!!) I thought it was high time I dyed my hair again. Red seems to be everyone's colour of choice for me, but I get bored with the same old thing, day in, day out. So I figured I'd try out the Pine Green I had in the cupboard and see how it would go in my fringe.

You'll get to see how it pans out in my photos from the next week or two. It doesn't seem very bright at the moment, but the wonderful thing about semi-permanent colours such as these, is that they evolve all the time.

Apologies!

So, I've not posted for over a week. Bad Scarlet! I went away for the Easter long weekend, and WiFi was pretty much non-existent where I was. I also hurt my neck and back while away so I've not really been in the mood to post, plus it hurts like hell to sit in front of a computer for long. It's starting to feel a bit better now so I thought I'd share some photos with you!

This was my Easter getup for Thursday at work. I kept the ears on the entire day. Not because they were cute and fun, but despite the god awful headache they gave me, they also gave me ear hair!
It's my fave jeans, and also one of my favourite blouses. I got it in a clearance sale at Target forever ago, and I adore the Victorian collar and neckline. My sister calls it my grandma shirt (thanks Chicawil :P ) but I ignore her and carry on wearing it!

This is the way my face looks when I'm trying to smile through lots of pain. I also had to turn a little, not because of the lovely design on my stockings (that's just a bonus) but because I couldn't straighten my neck and looked like Lurch.
The shirt is from Target and the skirt is from K Mart and the stockings are from Myer so it's pretty much a department store outfit. Classy as ;-)

So, my sister and niece went down to the south of the state for the long weekend. I packed light and stuck to jeans and a lot of Father Ted tees. I also took my Applejack hoodie (remember people, AJ is best pony!) and couldn't resist getting a photo of me wearing it in the apple centre of WA! 

I've been on a strict rest regime the past few days and it's been driving me batty. I'm not a homebody and get so bored. However, lounging around the house does imply a certain casualness and I've spent most of the time in my jarmies. I got these cute slippers from K Mart the other day and have been wearing them to death. Since they're from K Mart, I give em a week before they start falling to pieces...

I promise to get back on track with a post every day now, and that's a Pinkie Promise! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!

Late again...

But at least this time I have a photo.

A horrible photo, but it's up nonetheless.

I got the dress from Mystic Crypt, a site I stumbled across a while back. They have a great range of plus sized alternative clothing, as well as a whole lot of other stuff. Definitely worth a check out.

The necklace I was gifted by a friend in Scotland, so I'm not sure where that is from. I did see it on a site at the time, but it was a couple of years ago now and I can't remember which one.

Short post today as I have to get going to work. Have a good one :)

Loaded with disappointment.

This post is a day late, plus has no photo of me.

I'm pretty shite at this blog thing, aren't I?

Christian wasn't well and was asleep when I go home yesterday. I wanted to go for a walk, but I wasn't going to wake him up and demand he take a photo of me. It's very inconsiderate of you that you wanted me to. I mean, seriously, where are your manners??? I'm questioning our friendship right now.

To somewhat make it up to you, here is a link to the skirt I was wearing.

I was also wearing the top I wore in my derp post.

One of the nurses at work calls this outfit my 'KGB Call Girl' get up. I know it sounds nasty, but she actually means it as a compliment. She's rather lovely and I won't hear you say these awful things about her! You're really pushing it, buster!

I'm really starting to run out of unique outfits to wear, and will take a leaf out of that hussy, History's, book and start repeating myself. So rest assured, faithful reader, you will see me dressed as a Communist hooker soon!

Purple haze

Okay, so I wear a lot of black. I admit it, maybe I have a problem? Oh well...

Today, I've offset my black with a dash of purple!

The tee I got from the Hard Rock hotel in Singapore, but you can get one from any Hard Rock shop. I'm so nice that I've even got a link for you!

The skirt I have no direct link for as I picked it up from Crossroads last year. It's a multilayerd, flowing goddess of a skirt and I love it.

The shoes are from -  you guessed it, Milanoo. I have huge, wide, German feet and I don't fit into many shoes. When I find a style that I actually fit into that don't cripple me, I get them in every colour I can!And yes, these are pink, not purple. So I'm wearing a dash of purple and pink. God, you are so finicky!

The earrings are one of the best bargains I've ever found, and I have them in multiple colours too. They're just over a buck! With free shipping! Bargain!!! Do yourself a favour and order some! You know you want to.Ah go on. Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on. GO ON!

Big cheating cheater

I must confess - I had no photo taken of me today. It's not because I'm dressed horridly -- in fact, I'm wearing an old, but lovely blue summer dress of mine. It's just that, well, we have people over and I've just not had a chance to have one taken.

I don't want to pike completely though. So here is something that adorns me at all times. It's my favourite part of me; the one part of my body that I'm not ashamed of.

It's my wolf tattoo. He looks a little different now. He's faded a bit as he healed, plus I've got somewhat slimmer ankles now. But I love him today every bit as I did the day I had him done. He is, and always will be, my favourite accessory.

Costumey goodness

Apologies for the delay in getting this post up. I wanted to wait until after the party for the post, otherwise it would just be this rather boring photo of me in jeans and a tee.

It's a Father Ted tee, but still, pretty boring nonetheless.

The costume party we went to had much more exciting outfits!

Christian went as Ace Ventura (a little hard to tell, as he doesn't have the hair) and I went as ALF!

I have never looked so adorable before, ever! Or being so stinkingly hot either!

I'll have Sunday's post up for you a bit later - when I get out of my jarmies!

Too hip for school

I love books. When I was growing up I wanted to be either an author, or a librarian. I'm 35 and have just finished writing the first draft of my first novel, and although it will probably never see the light of day, I've kind of fulfilled one of those dreams. For the other, well, there's this dress.

It's the Library Assistant Dress by ModCloth and I love, love, love  it. It's sweet, and girly, and even though it screams HIPS, it's just fabulous. It doesn't come with the belt, that's one from another of my dresses, but I felt it needed something to cinch it in just a little.

It received great reviews on the site, except from one lady who said 'This dress is well made... but I think the style is very young. Suri Cruise would look adorable in this! I felt silly in it.'
Errrm, did you even look at the picture before buying it??? Because it's pretty obvious that the style is sweet and innocent and young. Don't go blaming the cute dress for your lack of observation skills!

The shoes are from Milanno, and I love them, but rarely wear them. The  strap around the ankle chafes after a couple of hours and can wear a nice little hole in your skin! I didn;t have a red belt though, and felt that this outfit needed more red, so red shoes it was!

Now, you can't see it in this photo, but I'm wearing one of my favourite necklaces.

Christian got a little creative with the angle here, but it does the job. It's my GEEK scrabble necklace made by Candy Envy Accessories, a local Perth business. When I had long hair, almost every hair bow and accessory I wore was from here. It's really worth checking out. Yes, she sells a lot of stuff you can get from anywhere, but some of her original pieces are fabulous. I especially love the Pacman necklaces she does (and own the blue one).

Well, it's booze-o'clock so I will love you leave you. I'll have a special post for you over the weekend as I'm going to a costume party Saturday night so there will be bonus costume extraordinaire photos!

Beating the budget

I often get asked how I can afford such an extensive wardrobe, as I have so many different outfits. My husband and I are DINKS (double income, no kids), and as we don't smoke, rarely drink, and our idea of a great night out is actually a night in with friends, we do have some room to spare in our budget for new clothes now and then. I have had a larger than normal influx into my wardrobe for the sole reason that after losing 27kg, nothing really fits me anymore and so I kind of have to buy new things, otherwise I'd scare the natives with my pale, saggy butt!

Having said that, I don't go crazy. I don't really buy name brand stuff, and it's rare for me to spend more than $50 on one item. I shop mainly online where things are generally cheaper, and I rarely will get something unless it's discounted or free shipping. There's no point paying $20 for something online that's at the local shops for $30 if I'm paying $15 in postage!

The fact that what I wear to work is also what I wear on a general basis, means that people I work with see a lot more of my wardrobe than one normally would. A lot of people probably have just as many clothes as me, but when you wear a uniform to work, no one at work sees anything but the uniform.

Also, having just started this blog, I'd bore the shit out of you if I wore the same three things day in, day out. Are you not entertained???

So, justifications aside, here is what I wore today.

This outfit is crazy cheap. The dress I picked up at K-Mart for probably $15 about two years back (yes, if I lived in the States, I'd be a WalMart shopper. Now take your judgey eyes off me and go back to reading :P ). It's just a simple fit and flare dress, and I'm hoping they have more this winter because it's getting slightly too big now but it's a staple of my winter wardrobe.

The socks are super cute, but since you can't see them in this pic, I took some special photos just for you!

These were about $5 at one of those sock pop up stores.

The earrings and scarf I got on ebay for about $2 each - with free shipping might I add! Bargain!

The shoes I got from Milanoo (I think I mentioned that previously) and I wear them to death.

Overall, one of the cheaper outfits I could put together :)