It’s been half a day in Melbourne (travel took up the other half, ugh) and I’m seriously having the best time. We went straight from the hotel to celebrate part one of my birthday gift from Kurt- a wash and blow-dry at the super-cool Sweet Caroline salon. The architecture in Melbourne is amazing- and the salon is no exception. Whilst getting your head massaged, you star watch- it’s the place to be for the rich and famous. Also, my hair is bouncy and smells like caramel. Did I mention I’m having the best time?

More Melbourne updates coming soon- also check my Instagram for daily updates!

Winter, I am ready for you. Armed with my cutout boots, high-waisted jeans and incredibly fluffy cardigan, I feel like I really have my winter staples sorted out. Does anyone else find it hard to master the art of winter dressing? I’ve been testing my skills as- wait for it, drumroll please -I will be in Melbourne from the 17th-20th of May for my 16th birthday! Yes, that’s right, I will be sixteen in a matter of days (the 19th, in case you were wondering or wanted to send me a virtual piece of cake) and I’m ridiculously excited. And nervous. Queensland roads brace yourself, I’m going to be driving soon….

This look is part of an awesome collaboration I’m doing with Choies and Fashiolista. For those of you who don’t know, Fashiolista is the birth child of Pinterest and Lookbook – a super-slick site where you can keep a wishlist and post your looks. I’m part of a styling competition (my look is “boho” themed) that will be going live on the Fashiolista website very soon! I will give you all the link and it would be amazeballs if you voted for me. Much love!

A little giveaway to tide you over until my next post- the weather has been completely ferrel today and spoilt my chances at an outfit post. To enter, simply click the link here and follow the instructions. Easiest. Giveaway. Ever. It’s on the Choies site, obviously, but a winner will be picked from my blog on the 15th of May. Hope you are all well, back with an outfit soon!

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These Topshop babies have left me with a serious case of NSS- New Shoe Syndrome. Inability to move in fear that something will get on your shoes and high-pitched squealing when something does get on your shoes are some examples of symptoms. Basically, I’m freaking obsessed with these (you may have them on my Insty) and want to wear them always. I don’t care if I almost froze to death, this top by Ali & Kris is sheer perfection. Overly jealous of those who are in Spring right now…

As you may have noticed, I gave the blog a little birthday makeover- mine’s in two weeks!  It still needs a few tweaks, but I’m pretty stoked. Thoughts? Wishing you a wonderful start to the week. xo

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I have an ongoing love affair with triangle bras. I was looking through my ever-growing collection and I had a thought- how easy would one of these be to make? And I’ve answered my own question in a little DIY put together with the help of my mother. She wrote out some instructions and left me to fend for myself- basically her way of fool-proofing the DIY. If I can do it, anyone can!

What you’ll need: Fabric of your choice (Something silky is always nice.  How about a vintage scarf?), some ribbon, safety pins/regular pins, scissors and a sewing machine. If you really wanted to you could hand sew it, but I wouldn’t suggest it.

1. Cut or tear a strip of fabric about four times as wide as you want the band around your chest.  It should be long enough to go around your chest and tie in a bow.  Experiment until you get the right length.

2. Cut four squares for the cups.   Your cups will have two layers, so you need four altogether. They need to be at least 9 inches/ 23 cm square, depending on your size.

3. Cut two lengths of ribbon for the straps.  Measure one of your bras to see how long the straps are and then add a couple of extra inches, just in case!

4.  See the image above?  I’ve put one end of the ribbon at the corner of each square, running diagonally across.  Then sandwich the ribbon between two of the squares. Pin.  These are the straps that will come off the top of the cups to go over your shoulder.

5.  Stitch two sides of each square in an L shape, with the ribbon in the corner.

6. Turn the squares right side out.  On each of the two squares you’ll have two neat, sewn edges, two raw edges, and a ribbon coming from the corner.

7.  Try the squares against your body, holding them in place and gathering the material up under your bust.  Use something (I used a metallic marker) to mark the line against your chest.  See I’m tracing it above?  You’ll have a diamond with the ribbon at the top and a curved line running sort of from corner to corner across the middle.

8.  Put your machine on its biggest stitch and stitch along the curved lines, making sure NOT to anchor or back stitch at all.  Leave the ends of the threads long, too.

9.  Pull gently on one thread to gather the square along that line, like I’m doing above.  This turns your flat squares into cups.  You’ll cut the excess fabric off soon.

10.  Check the fit against your body or one of your bras.  Adjust the gathers.

10.  Fold the long strip in half length-wise and mark the middle with a pin.  Like in the picture above, lay it out straight and place your cups along the strip.  Note the lower edge of the strip is lined up with the lower edge of the cups, with the cups underneath.  It seems kind of backward and wrong, but don’t worry.

11. Put your machine stitch size back on normal. Pin the cups to the band and stitch.

12.  Flip it over and cut off the extra fabric.  Fold the band into fourths lengthwise and pin.  Now it should look something like the pic above.

13.  Carefully stitch the entire length of the band along the edge.  Try to make it as neat as possible, because these stitches show.

14.  Tie the ends around your chest like a bikini and pin your shoulder straps in place.  If you don’t have anyone to help with this step then use one of your bras to figure it out.  Stitch the straps in place.

15. Now the only thing left is the ends of the chest band.  They will be unfinished and if that bothers you, tuck the ends inside and stitch them closed.

I really suggest you try this out on some scrap fabric first, like I did.  That way if you muck up you can just toss it and start again.  Also, read through the instructions carefully before you start.

Let me know if I’ve confused you…

Happy DIYing. Isabella xo

Yes, I am alive! I had my final stint in hospital last night and, for the first time in three weeks, am finally feeling like I’m getting better. I’m struggling to catch up at the moment- I haven’t blogged in forever, I’m behind in all my schoolwork, and my room is a complete disaster zone- but hopefully in the next week or so I should be back to the old me. I managed to slip in these photos on a better day last week. This camo top was way too good to stay in my closet.

I read in the latest Shop Til You Drop magazine that the midi skirt (popular in the 70′s) was in, and I decided to put my own spin on the trend. With all the cuts and bruises on my leg it was perfect, and it’s a great alternative to the mini for the upcoming Autumn/Winter seasons in Australia. Thoughts?

Thank you for all the lovely comments and “Get well soons.” I hope you are all doing well- everything should be back to normal soon enough! xo

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Welcome to part three of my Closet Confessions series (here’s part one and two)! This week I tackled the spring clean. It honestly didn’t take that long, but the mess was pretty hectic. I hope you can see a difference! I actually got rid of a lot. Here are my tips:

1. If you haven’t worn it ever or in at least the last 6 months, let it go. If it’s ill-fitting, let it go. My suggestion is to sell the new/nice clothing online (you can see my store here) and to give away the rest.

2. If you have extra space in your wardrobe eg. the shelves I have in mine, make good use of it! I previously had my Alice in Wonderland book collection there, but I swapped it for some books about fashion & style. It’s a little spot I can go to when I need inspiration.

3. Make your hangers match! You can gradually phase out the odd ones you have in your wardrobe by buying new ones every two weeks or so. It makes your wardrobe look that much more organised.

4. Store clothing that’s out of season in drawers, bags or boxes (whatever floats your boat) if you have an excessive amount of clothing. My winter pyjamas go away somewhere where I can easily retrieve them, and when winter rolls around I give them a good wash and pack away my summer ones! (Yes, I have a lot of pyjamas)

5. Take stock. If you have a lot of tops and limited bottoms (STORY OF MY LIFE), think about buying yourself some skirts or shorts that’ll go with everything. Same goes for a large amount of one thing- get rid of the ones you don’t like as much. Remember that every garment gone is a new opportunity to shop!

Happy spring cleaning! xo

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Hooray for a new outfit post! Feel like I’m finally getting back on top of things. If anything could get me out of last week’s funk, it would be this embroidered bomber by Sugarlips. I’ve been searching for the perfect bomber since the weather has gotten chilly/I’ve released I have a serious lack of jackets. Texture mixing is my new favourite thing, so I mixed it up with a uber-flattering tweed skirt and, of course, my fluffy top. Keeping it neutral with beige & brown makes crazy textures so much easier.

I’m pleased to announce the winner of my giveaway is comment number 44, Paula! Thank you so much to all those who entered, the amount of comments was truly incredible. Love you all!

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Accessorising has never really come easily to me- hence the reason I love this dress. Between the cutouts and beading there’s really no need for a piece of jewellery. I love having “special occasion” dresses in my closet- they’re not something I buy frequently, and so I never seem to have anything to wear to dressy events. I’m totally ready to wear this out with boots and tights in winter! Do excuse my hair, I’m still getting used to styling it when it’s so short. And in the process of trying to curl it I accidentally crimped a bit into a huge kink right next to my face. Hair- 1. Izzy- 0.

Yes, I know it’s been forever since my last post. This past week I was in hospital for three solid days and in and out of doctors appointments for the rest. A nasty infection led to me basically having a hole cut into my leg, and it’s been hard to walk, let alone take outfit photos. Thank you to all those who have messaged/commented their best wishes- everything went so smoothly and I definitely rocked the purple hospital gown. Hope you have a wonderful week!

Also, Koogal is having a giveaway to win a $250 gift voucher. Just click the link here for details!

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