|G O I N G  S P A N I S H|

The Shep and I had the lovely pleasure of being invited to best friend's of ours wedding in beautiful Spain.  The wedding was in Marbella and probably one of the lovelies weddings we have been to. Obviously, I was pretty excited about what Spanish fashion finds might be waiting for me.

So the holiday was pretty full on, we had so many exciting things planned with great friends that we have not see in too long (some we had not seen since we moved to Australia - 4 years now).  However, The Shep and I do like to make some time for a bit of shopping (thankfully he still needed to get an outfit for the wedding so we HAD to go shopping).  So we spent the day in Marbella town from looking at lovely little independent shops in the city to larger chains in Parque Comercial La Canada, which is a huge shopping centre just outside Marbella Town.  

I was already a fan of Zara, Mango and Bershka but little did I know that there were so many other amazing clothing chains waiting for me there.  I even said to The Shep at one point, 'I could totally be Spanish, I love the clothes'.  I had always known that Spanish women were renowned for their fashion but little did I know how excited I would be about it all.

So here is my little Spanish review:

P U L L  &  B E A R 

OMG I actually love this shop it has mostly casual clothes with a few dressy items in between.  I absolutely fell in love with their jeans and just had to get a pair.  I tried on a couple of pairs, a pair of boyfriend jeans and a pair of skinny jeggings with ripped knees.  The decisions, the decisions . . . what do I do . . . which ones do I get as they both fitted perfectly.  The problem was not that they were expensive, I could have bought both pairs if I really wanted.  The problem was, the luggage gods were calling and telling me with my modest luggage allowance, I could only get one pair.  So the jeggings won (The decision was made easy by reminding myself that I had my eye on a pair of One Teaspoon Boyfriend Jeans - case closed . . . for now).  An absolute bargain at only 20 Euros. 

I also fell in love with the pretty little bracelets Pull and bear had they were so adorable that I wanted to get them all but I limited myself to one set.  At 5 Euros I was pretty happy with my purchase.

So although I love Pull and Bear there is only one problem . . . they do not deliver to Australia (insert sad face) but they do deliver to the UK so, sorry Mum looks like I will be sending a delivery your way.

P E D R O  D E L  H I E R R O 

Again I totally fell in love with this shop.  The layout of the shop had me hooked as it just looked so neat, tidy and minimal so automatically in my head I thought . . . hmmmm expensive . . . but no I was wrong.  Take every exclusive piece in Zara (not Zara basics but those one off numbers they do, like those amazing embellished jackets they have at the moment) and double that . . . no triple that - this place was great.  So again with the luggage gods - hmmm what do I get that will fit in my suitcase?  Ah I know shoes (well I had to (sadly) get rid of a leopard Witchery pair in London as they died in the rain (bloody British weather)).  I fell in love with a stunning black leather pointed toe pair of flats with a cork sole, that would fit perfectly in my luggage not to mention my feet.

Again I can, however feel an online shopping coming to my poor Mum from here as they do not deliver to Australia - come on Spain we love you too!!

I could go on and on about all the lovely things I wanted to buy in Spain but I will leave that up to you to explore, as Spain is a must for any fashion lover.  I have one tip for you . . . get that extra baggage allowance.

| N E W  O B S E S S I O N |

OMG I am absolutely obsessed with the Label Amuse Society!!  I stumbled across the Label when I was in Fremantle a few weeks ago when (at the time) I fell in love with a nameless Kimono in Three Stories.  I did not buy it on that trip and it is so true what they say in Instagram world "Nothing Haunts you like the things we didn't buy" and that beautiful blue nameless Kimono was certainly haunting me!!  So a couple of weeks on and The Shep and I were staying in Freo for our First Wedding Anniversary (awww) and I was hoping - seriously hoping that Kimono was still there!  

I was in luck there it was and only one left!  I could not be happier and I was certainly not leaving it behind this time that was for sure!!  I had it, the Brooklyn Kimono.  It was made for me and so my obsession with Amuse Society was to begin!

So as any girl who has found a fabulous label she was unaware of before does I took to the net I  M U S T  S E E  A L L by Amuse Society and it did not disappoint.  On my shopping list from them is:

Ok so I am that obsessed with The Brooklyn Kimono that I want it in E V E R Y colour.

However, they are all sold out but thankfully there is an option to email and ask for a notification when you size comes back in again. Fingers crossed.

I'll keep you posted . . . 

| S N E A K  P E E K |

Women's first duty in life is to her dressmaker.  What her second duty is no one has yet discovered.

Oscar Wilde

So I know this AMAZING dressmaker called Beata from Chein Noir Dezines but the question is . . . have you heard of her?  Beata's dresses are simply the best dresses, I should know I married The Shep in one of her fabulous creations.  She makes a dress you want to get married in not just a dress you should get married in.

But enough about my amazing dress, I am way too excited to show you the sneak peek for the next creation by the lovely Beata.  Do not worry, you will not have to wait too long to see the full thing.  . . well, that is if you are planning on heading to Wedding Upmarket this weekend at UWA.  I am so honoured that Beata has asked me to wear this beautiful lady at WUM on Saturday and believe me she has out done herself with this one.  Also the even more exciting news is I get to wear my gorgeous dress again too.

See you all on Saturday . . . you will regret it if you miss out!

Jules xx

|  C H A N E L ... I S H |

I really do have 'Champagne tastes and Lemonade pockets' . . . I love Chanel!  I have a couple of fab Chanel pieces but I would love SO many more but dropping several thousand on Shoes and Bags on a regular basis is not really an option for me.  So this is where Chanel . . . ish comes in.

The Shep bought me a pair of lovely Chanel signature earrings for Christmas last year and unfortunately the plaque on one the back of one of the earrings came off so I took them into the Chanel Store in Perth to be fixed.  While I was in there I had a look around (it would have been rude not to after all) and I fell in love with a pair of shoes.  They had my name written all over them . . for a start they were black leather boots with metal detail on the toes and that metal detail was GOLD - I do love a bit of black and gold (have too much of it in my wardrobe - but you can never have too much of a good thing . . . can you?).  However, again I needed to pay rent that month so they were not an option (I think the lady in Chanel may have been thinking the same thing when I looked a them - 'yeah I use tissues to blow my nose not $100 notes').

Chanel Calfskin Short Boots with Metal Cap Toe

These lovely creations continued to haunt me . . . so $2,470 . . . hmmm I wonder how many weeks Chanel would let me lay-by these shoes for . . .?  So you can imagine my excitement when scrolling through Instagram, a pair of shoes just like these appeared in my feed - OMG I need to get them!!  To make it even better they were only $100 (more lemonade than Champagne so that worked for me).  Even more exciting I had found myself a fab new  website stacked with goodies Choies.

Shoes Choies, Trousers Paperscissors, Top Paperscissors, Necklace Colette & Bag Mulberry Effie

So you really can have Chanel . . . ish at lemonade prices.  Next on my hit list are these little babies:

Chanel Kidskin Suede Slippers

Again not sure that Chanel Perth would let me Lay-by for SEVERAL months but not to panic I have found a lemonade version, enter Jessica Buurman 

I feel a new blog post coming on soon . . . .

K A F T A N S

Camilla with love or Kaftans with Chain Mail . . .

I am absolutely in love, again, with Kaftans!!  I just cannot get enough of them!!  My Kaftan passion has to be Camilla - those Kaftans are to die for but I may have to sell my soul to be able to afford them (ok slight exaggeration, but I do need to be able to pay rent from time to time).

Camilla Kaftans

So some months back (before it was summer and Kaftans were not quite my new, but old obsession) I was in Subiaco with The Shep and I went into a little Boutique I had not ventured into before (sadly, I cannot remember the name and the lovely little shop has since shut down - grrr Subi and your high rents)and there in all it's glory was this amazing orange tribal print kaftan and she was in the sale too.  I just had to buy her.  Since then she has been cooped up in my wardrobe waiting for her moment to shine.  She found it, New Years Eve - perfect!

New Years Eve Kaftan Fun

I teamed her with some killer black and gold heels from Zara, a beaded tribal bracelet from H&M  and finished off with an ear cuff sent from heaven (ok maybe not heaven, actually Colette).

Colette Ear Cuff $8.95

This lovely Kaftan of mine, I feel screams Camilla but at a fraction of the price. 

Camilla Kaftan

With this Camilla orange beauty in mind I thought I would camilla-fy  my Kaftan.  Camilla loves beaded detail a lot of time in gold.  There really is no need for a necklace with a Camilla Kaftan (so really I would be saving money as I would not need to buy a necklace to go with it . . . nope still need to pay rent) so I decided what about a bit of Chain Mail (acceptable in a Necklace, not so much in a tops - I hope I never eat these words) and that is really all you need.

The lovely orange Camilla-fied Kaftan with a Chain Mail necklace from the Hello Parry Bloggers Sale ($2 bargain) and a fab pair of vintage sunglasses with earrings built in from Beleza Vintage in Perth.  

All this has taught me that I will still continue to constantly stalk Camilla Kaftans and maybe pin way too many on my Pinterest, but I think I found an alternative that works.

| B O H O  B E A C H |

Guaranteed the second it hits summer I, as always come over all boho or as my mate Dave says free spirited, and I love it.  Out with the short statement necklaces, in with the long beads and a little feather here and there never hurt nobody.

So as it was a high of 31 degree in Perth yesterday, the beach was a perfect place to be.  Armed with my trusted leopard print bather from Myer and my fab new bag from Sports Girl, which was a gift from one of my besties Janine, I was good to go.

Swimmer Myer, Shorts & Kimono Paper Scissors, Necklace & Bag Sports Girl, shoes Havaianas 

I am in love with this bag from the lovely Janine the pom-poms and the tassels are screaming out for a boho beach outfit

Since the summer has only really finally arrived in Perth there are many more things on my boho beach shopping list they are:

This fab headband from ETSY as let's face it who washes their hair before the beach so this is absolutely perfect for a beachy up do.

Next is this coin belt also from ETSY.  I saw a picture of a belt like this ages ago on Pinterest and I have been hoping to find the real thing and I am so pleased to say I have!!  This may have to be my next purchase.

The next couple of items on my list are maybe only for wearing when hang out after the beach having a drink or to wear on the way to the beach as the tan lines with these beauties would be interesting.  

Anklets from Free People

Arm candy from Free People

Happy boho beach shopping.

| I M P R O V I S I N G |

The culotte jumpsuit

So as I said in my last post I am obsessed with Culottes . . . 'Hello, my name is Jules and I am a Culottes addict.'  They say the first step, is admitting you have a problem - yeah I have a culotte problem.  

I decided I needed to combine my two of my favourite items of clothing at the moment, the jumpsuit and culottes.  So the hunt was on - I must have a culotte jumpsuit. I searched, what felt like all the shops in the world (well just Perth CBD really) with not one culotte jumpsuit to be found.   There were plenty of jumpsuits but the legs were either tapered or flared, not a culotte leg in sight.

What to do?  It's simple really, get a full length flared jumpsuit and just, get it taken up.  So this I did.  However, rather than getting an expensive jumpsuit, which I was still going to have spend money altering (and also not knowing if this would be successful) I decided I would hit the cheap shops (the jumpsuits are never long enough for a giraffe in a cheaper shop anyway).  So with this thought in mind I headed to Ally.  I was in luck, I found a grey and black plunged neckline (crazy neckline for me) leopard print flared jumpsuit in the sale for on $20 - bargain.  I got them altered for $28 which is a total of $48 for exactly what I was looking for.

Teamed with a beaded necklace from Valley Girl and some fabulous sandals from Rubi Shoes (which by the way are exact copies of Soles Shoes but a fraction of the price) and my trusty Effie Mulberry Bag and I was good to go to my Boss' Christmas party.

I think I may need some more items of clothing that start their lives in a different form, but that is how fun improvising can be.