You are Free

Love heart boots -Price $0 - Manly Council Cleanup 2010

Mambo Jumbo

Mambo Bag -Price $0 - Dump in front of Charity Bins 2010

Winter Woolies

Susan Woolen Sweater- Price $1 each - Vinnies in Manly

 I just could not believe my eyes to have found a $1 Woolen Susan sweater www.sussan.com.au at the Vinnies store and neither could the elderly lady behind the counter. She said I wish I would have seen this 'I would have gotten it for myself'. 'Susan' is a well known and respected brand in Australia by the more classical woman over thirties. With winter fast approaching anyone would love to have a wooly in the cupboard. I wear this sweater right now while typing away on my blog. It's cold and rainy outside. Most houses in Australia are build for summer and do not have a heating system in place. People use portable heating systems to warm up the house in colder months. The house we live in is built around the 1920. It's amazingly cool during hot summers and in winter it's not that bad either.  In our house, in winter, we only use fleece blankets in the evening or early morning and throw on an extra layer of clothing. I feel so much more healthy now than when I was living in the Netherlands with all houses having central heating systems. You always were living in an artificial conditioned living circumstanced environment. Your body never had the opportunity to naturally adjust. I was terrified during my first winter in Australia when friends would sit in the living room with the doors wide open. It made me cold till my bones. The funny thing was last time when I was in the Netherlands in wintertime I was sitting in my Tshirt in the house while everyone was wearing thick winter clothes. Friends and family found this strange as I was the one actually living in a warm country. How come I was not cold in winter? Because I have a natural body clock now and I bless myself for such a great health it also has produced at the same time. I can advice anyone to chuck the heather out of the door and live this way. The planet will be greatful to you too! Your health will improve immensely. Have fun trying! Let me know your experiences on the heating issue.

Our Local Habitat

Whitchery Singlets - Price $1 each - Vinnies in Manly

 Whitchery singlets www.witchery.com.au are made from 100% cotton and actually market for around $40 each new. There is nothing better for your skin than cotton, it feels nice not artificially modified if you know what I mean. Great for summer but even better for winter. They are fab to wear under a sweater as they are of a long lenght and will cover your lower back and keep it fabulously warm. I love the round necklace line of the singlets, it's a gorgeous shape and nicely double stiched. The light blue and soft brown are really tender colors. They make you feel peaceful and earthy as you are a tree in the center of the universe breathing the light blue sky. The mannequins in the photos are kindly donnated to me by Robyn Millward, project manager, from the Manly Environmental Centre for my recycle awareness project. I can use them to show you the full shape of a fashion item when I am unable to step in and photography myself in eagle eye view. As remember I'm the one woman photo studio with a simple consumer hand held camera (with a timer). The MEC is a great local organization as it raises awareness about environmental issues and works towards preservation of our beautiful local habitats and surroundings. As an Artist I have been involved with the center for quite some time with the Ocean Care Day festivals and recently also the Lagoon and Cabbage Tree Bay festival.

Young at heart

Pink Dress - Price $1 - Vinnies in Manly

 

Every girl love pink. At least little girls do! I'm still a little girl at heart. Recently I read Actrice Demi Moore's secret to being eternally young. She said it was not botox or plastic chirurgery but that she still felt like a five year old inside. I really believe this to be true! At least it is for me. I've never grown up and even as a 44 year old I still feel this eternally blissful child. I have a hard time being around adult behaving so seriously. It does not mean you can't be responsible, it does not mean you are a child but you feel like a child in your heart or your spirit (which is eternally young anyway!). I love Demi as she is a fab mum of three gorgeous girls and has a beautiful man in her life (Asthon Kutcher) 15 years her junior. Between me and my partner are 16 years. I would be classified a 'cougar' in the current media trend. I consider myself more the eternally 'young' girl like Demi and as such we attract spirit ful young men. It's not only about attraction, it's actually about building a valuable relationship between two human beings. The colors I'm wearing in the photos should actually clash according to the color rules. I don't know who made those rules? As for me they go fabtastic together. I believe as long as you find orange and pink flowers together next to each other in nature than anything goes. Or should nature have it wrong? Does right & wrong exist in the natural environment or is it just another invention of the human mind.  I love my colors, they brighten up my day. The label is cut out of this cotton dress and as such I stay clueless about it's branding heritage. Maybe you recognize it?

Intimates are Undies

Peter Alexander Intimates - Price $1 - Salvos in Manly

Peter Alexander is a well know Australian Designer www.peteralexander.com.au, well known for his different style of pj's which are pyjamas. Here in Oz, we like to abbreviate every word. Anyway I found those fab intimates as Peter will call them on his website for only $1 in the Salvos store. New I guess :-) I imagine someone must have got them as a present and did not have a clue who Ozzie Pete was. Or they must have had them thought plain ugly or thought that their bum looked big in it. Lucky me!! As I adore this style of 'undies', just plain cute. They even look like shorts with a singlet on top. You feel real comfy strolling around the house with them. NOTE; I live with five males! (all family though..) The flowers are cute as and have a romantic Victorian or fifties feel. Mr Alexander is born in the same year as me. Only difference at our fab age now  is that he has two dogs and i have four kids :-)  In 1992 Peter was named Australian Designer of the year! In Australia I love the way people love the fruits of their own lands and as such I mean what they produce in human beings. In my home country I would have found it unthinkable to read something positive about Art, Fashion & Creativity on the front page of a serious news paper such as the Sydney Morning Herald. Here you see it all the time and it delights me again and again. That's also how I learned about 'old' Pete. Peter has also a Facebook page as you do in the modern digital age, I've added my found treasure (date 20 may) to his page and I hope he's happy his 'intimates' from the Salvos store get a second life on my butt. (By the way the babe in bra is from Pete's website just to illustrate his style how it fits with my 'intimates', The bum is mine though, partly as it's a matter of my personal privacy :-)

Horizontal stripes on the fat horizon

Striped Beach Dress -Price $1 - Vinnies in Manly

You can't go wrong with a blue and white stripe. It's a fashion statement that returns again and again. It's the classy marine look or funky beach girl babe strut.  I think they have some sort of theory about horizontal stripes making you fat. Really? I don't know anyone who's body get's made fat by stripes. You are fat because you are overweight. That's the only reason. AND the only solution to that is to put less food in your mouth. Me personally I get a bit sick of looking at all those magazines with dieting stories and recipes or programs as the 'Biggest Looser'. As long as there are people starving on this planet, consider a bit of compassion and put less food in your mouth and more in someones mouth who really need it. It's a mental issue and in the end it's a choice. I grow up in a farmer's community. Overweight issues were not a problem, people worked on the land and eat the food of the earth. You still can do this if you choose too, even in a city. I guess most people don't even know anymore how to actually grow food! Yesterday the Daily Telegraphy ran an article that you would need $100.000 a year to live in this City. This city is Sydney Australia.  Wow isn't that amazing how addicted we all have become to money. Money actually is value put to a piece of paper, which is actually made from a tree, which actually produces fruit for free to eat. How about that? Why have we en mass become to believe in a $ sign? Is it possible to turn this back? Or have we all become slaves of the 'tree'?

Stop and smell the roses

Gypsie Skirt -Price $3 - Vinnies in Manly

This skirt is so fantastic, you feel like a gipsy queen dancing the night away. Looking at it is as a flamenco fiesta in it self. The birds and the roses are embroidered on the fabric. It's like a nature scene wrapped around your leggs, with the black threads being the long grass tickling on your skin. It's a fantastic style for a night out at one of the tapas bars around town. I consider it a style any woman would feel gorgeous in. The skirt is from the Windsor label. It's a Californian label saying it's 'Celebrating a Woman's Unique Personality'. The fashion house was established in 1950. 'Windsor is a family-owned business dedicated to fostering a shopping environment that celebrates a woman's unique personality. The company currently has stores in several states and continues to expand at a national level.' www.windsorstore.com Their website looks very 'Bold and the Beautiful' American. I wonder how this skirt ended up in the Manly Vinnies? The look of it reminds me to stop and smell the roses every day! Which I actually do when walking my children to school. I let them smell too and we talk about the beauty of it. When was the last time you smelled the roses?

The answer is blowin' in the wind

Nougat London Fashion -Price $0 - Manly Council Swap March 2010

I call this my 'Spanish Pink Dots' dress. It's fabric is absolutely amazing. It's from the Nougat London fashion label www.nougatbodytohome.co.uk. Most of their skirts retail for around 90 pounds. Consider it a special finders swap! 'Nougat London was established in 1990 as a fashion label in London’s West End. Nougat London’s clothes are instantly recognised as being beautiful garments, combining classic styling with a contemporary twist but always remaining undeniably feminine.' I just love how the fabric is in layers, with the top a sort of veil. It blows absolutely fantastic in the wind. Being it winter now in Sydney, it fits great with a pair of boots. In summer I can imagine seeing you drinking cocktails and dancing the night away. I would love you to find this piece in the upcoming 5/6 June 2010 Manly Council Shop to Swap as I will put it back into the gigantic library of clothes. One of the great things of being a woman is being able to wear dresses as there is nothing more beautiful than a skirt blowing around your legs. Remember actrice Marilyn Monrou in that famous photo with her white dress? How a pure joy! For me personally wind always reminds me of Bob Dylan's song 'The answer is blowin' in the wind'. I love the lyrics as they make me think..how many of us really see. The best line of all out of the song i find; OneO -->'Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist Before they're allowed to be free?' Who is free nowadays? Are you? Let me know your thoughts?