Once Upon an Op Shop

Thursday, 16 January 2014

Aussie Curves - Breaking the rules

Last time we had a challenge like this I wore black and brown together as I've always had trouble wearing the two colours together.

Aussie Curves - Colour Clash in July 2013 - Link here

This time I've chose to break the rule "blue and green should never be seen". I've always hated this rule because it's not true but because it's so catchy you tend to remember it, like that time in primary school when I was taught "'i' before 'e' except after 'c'", but that's wrong, there is exceptions like the word 'theirs'. Because of the catchiness of the rhyme you remember it and think "why would they teach me it if it was wrong?" Well who knows?!? My point? Blue and green can be seen!

When I started with my blue and green outfit I was wearing jeans and I was told they could be seen as denim not blue so I accessorised with navy blue shoes, cardi and earrings to make it obvious that I was doing green with blue not green with denim. In my mind denim is blue. Then I thought people could be fussy and say navy blue isn't blue its navy...my rebuttal is that the rule doesn't specify what shade of blue so :P ner lol

I'm wearing:
Target Jeans - Hand me downs from a friend
Green City Chic Peplum - op shopped for $3 (definitely my find of the year for 2013!)
Navy Cardigan - Op shopped $4
Navy Blue Shoes - Op shopped $4
Navy blue triangle earrings - Diva $3
Green Clutch - Op shopped $3

I originally thought of wearing a bright cobalt blue skirt with this green peplum but it's too much bright colour for me. I have noticed I tend to only use one bright colour as the focus in my outfits and teams that with a darker base colour like black, brown or navy blue...but mostly black. Maybe I need to step out of my comfort zone a bit more this year??

Why I think about that check out this link I found when googling what rule I should break - 26 Fashion Rules you should break immediately ... that is after you check out the other gorgeous Curvettes breaking the rules in the blog hop below of course!

Wednesday, 8 January 2014

Aussie Curves - New Years Eve

Happy 2014!

I did nothing on New Years Eve that would seem spectacular to anyone else but something that I enjoy. I just hung out with some family - that's what is special to me.

It's at this time of the year that you reflect on what and who is most important to you and this year more so for me and I imagine many people in the Bendigo area. A gorgeous little 4 year old girl, Tiya, died in Bendigo the day before New Years Eve when a huge tree branch fell on her and her mother (story here). My thoughts and prayers go out to this family, it is so tragic. It really makes you reflect on what is most important to you and for me that is certainly family and close friends.

If I had gone out and been more social I probably would've worn this Bellecurve body con dress (pictured above) that I got from Target on Boxing Day for $30 (when its normally $69) however I decided to wear something a bit more casual and comfy for lazing about and chilling with my family.

I'm wearing a
black peplum from best n less $12 (boxing day sales)
skirt - free
shoes target - $20 (boxing day sales)
orange bangle - opshopped
vintage orange earrings from a vintage shop - $6

The skirt is actually a dress that I got from an op shop for free because the hem was cut. Im not sure if its not been sewn up, been cutoff or if its supposed to be like that but you can hardly tell anyway so Im not bothered. It would never fit me as a dress; it would never cover my chest area so I folded that part under the dress at the waist and wore it as a skirt. I love the handkerchief hemline, it's so wavy and makes me feel like spinning around like a little girl but it also makes me feel sexy cause it has some see through lace about 20cm up from the hemline which makes me feel sultry and mischievous.

What did you wear for New Years Eve? Something that made you look gorgeous like the other Aussie Curvettes in the blog hop below I bet!

Monday, 30 December 2013

Aussie Curves - Christmas Day

Christmas Day - always a special day.

It was a little different with my family this year as all us children are grown up and everyone (except me) has a partner. Its a bit different to the good ol' days when us four kids would wake up early and hop on Mum and Dads bed at 7am with our Santa sacks! It was still an amazing day, different but still good and I still managed to eat way too much and sleep 1/3 of the day away!

The dress I'm wearing I really love! Its op shopped of course but was a half price bargain for $5 on the last day of work. Its an Asos Curve dress but its small for its size so I imagine that's why it ended up in an op shop hardly worn. I wore it to Church in the morning, which is a tradition and necessity for me and my faith especially on such a day. Worn with some shape wear, Christmas troll earrings, beige coloured heels and a bow in my hair I felt like a million dollars!

The troll earrings and the bow in my hair are both op shopped aswell, surprise surprise. I really love the Christmas troll earrings! I wear them every Christmas, they always get me compliments and are a great conversation starter!

After church I slipped of the shapewear and heels and replaced them with some comfier leggings and thongs - Havaianas of course! They're the only thongs I wear. I'm so glad I changed. I would've been hot and uncomfortable otherwise.

This Christmas was extra special because there was a brand new addition! My Godson, Elijah, pictured in the above photo with me. The next few Christmas's will be so much more exciting with a toddler around!

I had an amazing day with family and friends and couldn't think of a better group of people to share my day and outfit with! Merry Christmas y'all!

Friday, 27 December 2013

Aussie Curves - Cocktail

The theme for the Aussie Curves challenge this week is Cocktail. I've always wanted to know what length a 'cocktail dress' is supposed to be but it's not been until now that I've actually looked into it.
Google defines a Cocktail dress as 'a smart dress suitable for formal social situations'. However that doesn't help me with the length. Whilst browsing Google I found an Ebay guide (see here) that had some handy hints for dressing in a cocktail dress according to your body type. It also stated that 'cocktail dresses have a range of lengths from a few inches above the knee to a few inches above the ankle'. I also found a handy little diagram (see here) that shows the names of those different dress lengths, all of which are included as 'cocktail dresses' excluding the floor length dress which I imagine falls under the evening gown category.

Now, knowing that, the dress I had in mind fits perfectly as it's in between tea length and ankle length. When it is almost touching the ankle it is supposedly called Ballerina length.

My dress is an Autograph dress that I op shopped for about $5 from memory. I love how light the skirt is and how it flows which is great in this weather, unfortunately it shows quite a lot of cleavage which has stopped me from wearing it so much.

The shoes are from Target and are more than I would usually pay for shoes like this (especially from Target) but I've really been trying to find some black shoes that are dressier than thongs but not super dressy with a huge heel. These seem to fit the category so I bought them for $20 (which is apparently half price of $35 ?!?!) and so far so good.

...and that pretty much sums me up for cocktail week.
Have a great one!

Friday, 20 December 2013

Aussie Curves - Resort

The Aussie Curves challenge this week is Resort.

A resort outfit can mean a lot of things but to me I picture what I would wear when on a resort holiday. Not a beach holiday, not the local pool but at a "resort", most likely overseas in Bali, Hawaii or Thailand. Now the only time this is likely to happen for me is on my honeymoon and considering I haven't even found Mr Right yet this is not likely to happen soon.

I imagine I would spend most of my time in the honeymoon suite but other than that I would probably be in the pool. Overseas I wouldn't know anyone and wouldn't care who saw me in my bathers so the majority of the time would be spent naked with my man or in my bathers in the pool. In between I would probably need to pull something on over my bathers to cover up from the sun and to show a little respect to the locals; this is what would be my resort outfit.

Walking would likely be the mode of transport (that or an Elephant!) so my footwear would need to be comfy, easy and convenient, like my trusty Havaianas! I have these thongs in so many different colours, they are the best! If you haven't tried them I strongly suggest you do!

My skirt is my bather bottoms from my Swimwear post (see here) from Autograph which could easily be worn around as a skirt. The top is one I op shopped the other day for $7 from the Red Cross when I was looking for something especially for this challenge. I think it works perfectly. Its probably a little small as it doesn't fully reach across my bust but its light and breezy and when your on a resort holiday or your honeymoon your allowed to show a little extra skin, right?

I love the arms of this top they are so breezy and make me feel a bit like a Goddess or Princess!

I've added a little decoration to my resort outfit with these gorgeous black birdy earrings I op shopped a while back but lets face it I would probably not even bother on my holidays (unless they were something new I bought there) cause otherwise I'd have to take them out every time I swam and then put them back in etc. etc.

So that's my Resort post! Oh and believe it or not, I've had my belly pierced for nearly 13 years and don't think I've ever shown it in an outfit, until now! Aussie Curves - You have changed me, Thankyou!

If you're interested in Aussie Curves then check out the facebook group here or check out some of the other gorgeous Curvettes rockin' their Resort outfits in the blog hop below!