Sheer blouse and hair flowers

After many years of admiring sheer blouses on others, I finally bought one of my own...and then spent a lot of time at home, on the couch, writing essays and generally not feeling in the 'getting dressed up' mood. Luckily, the end of uni not only brought relief from having to write so much but it also brought the opportunity to wear aforementioned blouse. Last Tuesday I went to the end of year drinks for my course at the art gallery and, whilst I was dragging my feet a bit about going, ended up being very excited after I had realised it was a great time to wear my new blouse out.

Outfit details: hair flowers - various; cherry earrings - made by me; sheer 1940s/50s blouse - etsy; brooch - Fisherman's Wharf Markets; bracelets - various; belt - gift; 1930s skirt - Red Ruby Vintage; 1950s wedge sandals - etsy.

As you can see I have the annoying 'bra strap falling off the shoulder' problem. Why does that only ever happen with shirts or dresses you can't get your hand into properly to pull it back up again? I wish everything had those neat little loops at the shoulder to keep your bra straps in place - I don't think this is something I could sew them into, either. Ah well. I still love this blouse!

I had really wanted to wear one of my many vintage hats (which, unfortunately, don't see the light of day nearly enough) but none of them sat right with my hair like this. So, I just stuck a whole lot of flowers in, instead! Oh, and I love the buttons up the back of the blouse - I know it's not a necessarily uncommon detail but it's one that I love.

The best part of the night was when they announced the essay prizes for each subject because one of them was awarded to me! The essay that I wrote for Modern Art (about three female photographers from the 1930s and how they explored representation of women through self-portraiture) won me a whole heap of art books, which will make up for the texts I had to buy in first semester. Also, I really love light green & some kind of pink together, right now. I'd be wearing it more but I don't have much in the way of either light green or any kind of pink. Time to get some more, maybe?

As a last aside, I'll be selling off some clothes (ranging from the '40s-now) at the North Adelaide Vintage & Fashion Fair today, so if you're in Adelaide, do pop along! 

Love,

Andi B. Goode

x

Pedal pushers and a record bag

When I saw Tuppence Ha'penny's post on how to make a bag from old vinyl records, quite some time ago, now, I was very excited. I remember having instructions for something similar many moons ago but never got around to making one. This time, I was determined to do it! And, so I did. (Just realised the bag looks tiny in the picture below because my hand is so close to the camera. Ha.)

I used two records: one by James Last which I don't think shall be missed as they are everywhere and one by Liberace which are also to be found in nearly every op-shop I've been to. (I've kept the Liberace cover to frame or use somehow in the future). I also cut up an old (as in, I bought it some years ago, not vintage) dress that has a very cute print and bought some handles from Spotlight. I only cut myself once (when I was trying to change the blade in my stanley knife) and had a lot of fun. I'm not sure it's the best bag for an Australian summer so I'll use it on cooler days or at night when there's no sun to buckle it.

I took it out for a test run on the same day I took my new-to-me 1960s top for a first outing, too. I'm thinking I would like to attach a pom-pom trim to the bottom of the top.

Outfit details: record bag - handmade by me; 1960s cropped top - etsy; pedal pushers - Miss Hussy; shoes - K-Mart.

 

As an aside, I stupidly deleted two comments, instead of publishing them, from my last post. And I didn't even see who left them first! Argh. So, if you don't see your comment on that post, that's because it was deleted. So sorry! It was definitely a mistake.

Love,

Andi B. Goode

x

Friday at Regattas

After finishing all of my uni work, I felt at a bit of a loss as to what to do so I was very happy to have a super fun night out at Regattas, last night, with some great company and very good music as a soundtrack, as it were. I even took some photos of things that aren't me for a change!

I wore pretty much the same outfit that I wore in this post so I didn't bother to take a full length shot - well, there was that and the fact that it was the hottest day of the week and I didn't feel much like posing.

One of my goals is to start taking more photos of my friends, so I made sure to snap a few photos of the very lovely, Miss Kitty Boo.

Miss Kitty Boo's sparkly handbag and strawberry daiquiri.

My two (non-alcoholic) strawberry drinks. They were both very yummy.

Betty Jane hiding behind her gorgeous Jane Russell handbag...

but I managed to snap a shot of her, anyway!

Lots of people were dancing but it was still too warm, even after the sun went down, for me to do anything but sit back and soak up the atmosphere.

Also, be sure to check out my guest post at Casey's Elegant Musings - I only had time to write up an outfit post, but I was super chuffed that Casey asked me as she's been one of my favourite bloggers since before I started blogging myself.

Hope you're all having fabulous weekends! I've got some blog reading to catch up on and comments to reply to, so I think that's how I'll be spending my Sunday.

Love,

Andi B. Goode

x

My newest obsession...

One of the things that kept me going through my blog's disappearance, as well as the last few weeks of uni, was my latest obsession (or, perhaps, 're-obsession' is more accurate!): Barbie. I'm not going to say every little girl loved Barbie growing up because I hate generalisations like that but I can tell you this little girl did! I realised I must have had nearly 30 dolls (including 4 Kens and various friends & siblings) plus cars and caravans and a disco and a horse...plus lots of clothes for them as well as a couple of books and comics. It's kind of embarrassing to realise I was actually more than a bit spoilt.

A few weeks ago something spurred me to get out my old dolls and the pangs of regret over culling my collection by nearly half a few years ago were so strong that I set out to find all the dolls I used to have but got rid of. One thing led to another and I've found myself collecting Barbie dolls in earnest again, though I've mainly been buying vintage/vintage reproduction ones (I do have one that I had as a child on the way, though, and a few more on my watch-list!)

Anyway, I thought I'd share a few photos of what I have so far and hopefully it interests at least a few of you! (If you want a little more info about the dolls, you can click on the links below each photo.)

{The Original Teenage Fashion Model Barbie Doll, 2009}

I actually bought this doll when it was first released in 2009 - I was so excited as I'd admired the original Barbie doll ever since I was a little girl but had never thought about collecting vintage dolls. I remember when I bought this how happy I was - she has pride of place on one of my bookshelves and is still in her display box.

{Campus Spirit Giftset, 2008}

I remember seeing this giftset in the shops when it first came out but couldn't bring myself to spend the $120 it cost on it. So, when I was browsing eBay and saw that a local store (as in, there is a physical location near me) had it for only $70 I had to go grab it! A lot of serious collectors wouldn't have taken the set out of the box at all but I'm not fussed about that sort of thing at this point. Plus, it was easier to photograph! They do still live in the box, though, just because it's one less thing for me to dust. Oh, and Ken's speech/thought bubble says 'My favorite part of the game? The huddle with Barbie!' Corny, huh?

{Vintage Straight Leg Skipper Doll}

My first actual vintage Barbie purchase was this vintage Skipper doll, dated between '64 and '66. She's Barbie's little sister and I think she's rather sweet. She's now dressed in her original swimsuit & red flats, which my mum bought for me, but I don't have any other photos of her, yet.

{Vintage Dramatic New Living Barbie Doll}

My second vintage purchase was this mod-era Barbie. I love her rooted lashes and 'groovy threads'. That gold and silver swimsuit is something else, no?

 

{Solo in the Spotlight reproduction Barbie Doll wearing Fancy Free}

This is the latest eBay arrival - I bought her to model some of the vintage Barbie clothes I've bought (only this dress has arrived so far) while they're not on my other dolls. I'm a bit in love with this dress - I wish I had Barbie's early wardrobe all in my size! I probably could have done a whole 'outfit' post just of this dress on this doll. You can see more photos on my Flickr stream.

One thing that's rather tickled me is learning that Barbie and all of her friends have last names and everything - Barbie's full name is apparently Barbara Millicent Roberts.

I hope that was fun to look at. Would anyone be interested to see semi-regular Barbie updates from me? As I get new dolls/clothes and as I learn a little more along the way. Or should I just keep the photos to Flickr and the occasional Tumblr crossover? (And I know this is my blog, but I like to post things others are interested in as well!)

I have photos of all of the Barbie dolls I currently have up on my Flickr, too, for anyone interested. Oh, and I tried to think of some kind of snappy, clever title but this is the best I could come up with. Ha.

Love,

Andi B. Goode

x

This Filthy World

I did say I wouldn't be blogging until after Monday, when my final essay is out of the way, but I'm on a study break so I figured I'd write up a post because I've missed blogging so much. One of the most exciting things that I did whilst my blog was down was going to see John Waters do This Filthy World at Her Majesty's Theatre. I've been a fan of his films for quite a while (I watched Cry Baby quite a few times as a child though it wasn't until I was about 19 that I began watching his films in earnest) and have watched the recorded version of This Filthy World so I was beyond excited to finally get the chance to see him in person.

 

 {I need to go to IKEA and get a nice big frame for this soon}

The last time he came to Australia, he didn't come to Adelaide and I'm pretty sure I cried a little bit about it. So, when one of my friends told me about this show I jumped at the chance - and she got us front row tickets, too! I had planned on getting something new and fabulous to wear but ended up wearing something (still fabulous) that I already had.

 

Outfit details: necklace - mum's; 1960s dress - Red Ruby Vintage; belt - gift; bracelets - various; stockings - unknown; shoes - Rubi Shoes.

I've only worn this dress a couple of times - I don't generally wear straight skirts so much, just because I find full or circle skirts more comfortable - but it's a beauty! The colour is just so vibrant; I bought it as new old stock so I still have the tags for it around somewhere. I can't remember exactly where it was made but the fabric was made in Sweden - I looked up the company that made it and they're still in business! I was going to email them with a photo of the fabric but I never got around to it.

It's only just struck me now how much I like the combination of the blue of my dress with the pink walls of my room.

A close-up shot of my eye shadow - I don't usually wear anything other than a creamy beige colour but felt this gold was more in order for the occasion.

{My hands were shaking and my knees were weak...}

As for the show, it was fantastic - possibly the best night of my life, thus far. I can't remember the last time I've laughed so hard (though I tend to laugh easily) and at one point my friend had to lean over and ask if I was okay because I was laughing so hard. I thought I was going to pass out! It was brilliant. Laughing is one of the best things ever and laughing uncontrollably (when it's not in a situation where that might be awkward) is just so wonderful. Sorry for gushing but thinking about it still makes me smile. And you could tell he was enjoying himself, too - especially in the Q&A session at the end.

As you can see from the photo above, John did a signing after the show and my friend Jacoba and I got our photo taken with him - I was too nervous (as my caption may indicate) to say anything except for 'Andi...with an 'i'' when he asked who to make the signature out to. But I'll cherish that moment forever, just as I'll cherish the photo. I was brave enough to ask a question (on behalf of a friend who'd already asked one) in the Q&A session, though! I'm rather proud of myself for that because I usually wouldn't.

I could honestly write pages about how great the show was but I shall restrain myself and leave it at that. Now, I should probably get back to that essay...

Love,

Andi B. Goode

x

Andi B. Goode is back!

Hi blog followers! As you may have noticed (and I know many of you did because I got lots of concerned messages) my blog has been M.I.A. for the past few weeks.  I won't go into details of what happened because I've typed it out so many times already but the important thing is it's all restored! I'm not sure how long it's been back but it is and I couldn't be happier. I still have a fair bit of work to do so I won't be able to do a proper blog until after next Monday but I wanted everyone to know that I'm back and have a lot of catching up to do! (Including reading over a thousand posts in my google reader...oh my.)

Until then, here's an outfit post from before my blog was removed:

Outfit details: flower - ?; sunglasses - Dangerfield; top - Ella Moss via Salvos; belt - gift; skirt - refashioned 1970s dress; bangles - various; 1940s shoes - etsy.

Thanks to everyone who sent me concerned messages and showed me support during this period - I was so lost and upset without my blog but knowing so many people cared really helped me get through it! (As did my new obsession which I will post about next week, I think.)

Love,

Andi B. Goode

x