All the good things

Happy New Year! Can you believe that it’s 2019? I hope you all had a restful and fulfilling break and are looking forward to a good year. I spent a lovely Christmas with the family, and the rest of my holiday catching up with friends, reading, relaxing, and doing just a little bit of sewing.

In my last blog post I mentioned that I’d recently had a mini shopping binge at Modcloth. Well, this is the skirt that inspired it. It’s one of Modcloth‘s legendary Breathtaking Tiger Lilies skirts – I have it now in orange, green, and yellow, but the moment I saw that they were offering it a warm ochre with polkadots I knew I had to add it to my collection.

It’s exactly the same comfy fit as the other skirts, complete with a half-elasticised waistband, generous pockets, braided belt, and (unfortunately) the same easily-snagged poly fabric. I’m willing to overlook the fabric for the fabulous polkadots though – I’ve never regretted buying one of these skirts even though they definitely have a limited lifespan.

There’s something a bit retro-cool familiar about the skirt – I was trying to figure out what it was, then realised: it looks like the dress that Julia Roberts’ character wears to the races in Pretty Woman.

You can definitely dress it up with a pretty blouse, but I’m still on holidays so I kept it casual with my Cats, Books & Tea t-shirt from Heart On My Fingers on Etsy. It doesn’t look like the shop has this particular style available anymore, but luckily there’s plenty of other options available.


Cut and Paste

Top: Boden

Skirt: Doops Designs

Shoes: Comfortview

Welp, here it is. The new Wall. Possibly the Final Wall. Very definitely the Forever For Now Wall. Can you believe it?

2018 actually marks ten years of Frocks and Frou Frou, which seems just totally insane. I know some of you have been with me since the beginning – thank you so much for sticking with me through all the ups and downs. What a crazy ride, huh?

It’s been a stinker in Melbourne over the past few days. Absolutely scorching hot. And as much as I totally adore our new pad, it doesn’t have air-conditioning. My lovely Mister has managed to borrow a portable air-conditioner that we’ve had cranking all weekend, and it’s the only thing that’s kept me from melting into a disgruntled puddle of sweat.

It’s on the list of Things We’re Going To Do To The Apartment That We Now Own, Because We Can, Because We Own It. After this past weekend it’s near the top of the list. It’s probably even above saving money to get married, to be honest. It’s been pretty hot.

I’ve been sitting on this brightly-patterned “Cut Play” skirt from Doops Designs for a while now. It’s the second skirt that I’ve bought from the Independent Australian designer (the first is here), and it’s taken me a while to wear it. Unlike my Protea skirt I bought this one in the cotton fabric, rather than the silk and it’s… okay. The boxy shape is a lot less forgiving with the stiffer fabric, and though I love that the colours are more vibrant it’s just A Lot, you know? And I’m wearing less and less of this kind of bold, bright clothing these days.

The skirt used to be a few inches longer, and I just couldn’t figure out how to wear it successfully. I had some grand plans about lopping the elasticised waistband off, and using the fabric to make a top, or a less frouffy skirt, but in the end I realised that just lopping a bit of length off the hem transformed it from Too Much to Just Enough. It’s fun, and bold, and bright, and perfect for summer with a stripy t-shirt.

I hemmed it myself. Now that we’ve moved, and I have a dining table again I finally got my sewing machine back out. I’ve already made one new dress (it was semi-sucessful. I’ll write about in next week maybe) and I’m looking forward to getting back into sewing and dressmaking again.