Perth Curvettes - SATC - Carrie

 

The Perth Curvettes April Challenge is my god send - Sex and the City is one of my favorite shows (as I'm sure it is for most women)

For my first entry, I channeled Carrie Bradshaw in the first SATC movie. I absolutely adore her outfit here, the beautiful thick fabric with the mixing of prints and the harsh belt is amazing. I purchased this beautiful midi skirt from Portmans a few weeks ago and at the time thought to myself - This is so Carrie. The print, the poofiness and the outright overdressed!

So here I am - Rocking my favourite midi skirt with a simple navy long sleeve top and a beautiful cape jacket from Dotti. The cape jacket is also a newbie (ahhhh, yes I've been shopping). I actually saw that Hayley Hasselhoff wore one at the Curvy Couture Fashion show in Melbourne last week, must be a new trend coming into winter! 

Midi Skirt - Portmans - Normally $99.95 however I got it for $69.95 (I had a voucher!)

Long Sleeve Top - Myer - $14.95

Cape Jacket - Dotti - $49.95

Lace up Heels - Sportsgirl - $13.95 (BARGAIN!)

Until next time, 

Nadia 

x

Sale Thrill

I go shopping regularly – by regularly I mean most weeks I’ll pop in. Popping in means I’m just window shopping, looking at new designs, trends and the full price items. I don’t usually shop for a specific item - For me, shopping is a treasure hunt. The shopping centre is my map – You’ve got to understand when stores tend to phase out into sale seasons, what trends will most likely be duplicated in cheaper stores and what sizes will be on sale. 

Most items I purchase on sale (Those items I don’t get on sale are under $30 usually). I always feel better in clothes that I purchase on sale – I get that thrill when someone compliments my clothes and I get to tell how much I bought it for in an loud beaming voice and expression like I’ve just discovered all the secrets of the world. 

Here is my list of tips when I shop: 

• Department Stores such as Kmart (especially Kmart – MY FAVOURITE), Big W and Target have excellent on trend items of reasonable quality and very affordable – It’s worth having a monthly visit to these stores (or weekly if you are me!)
• Don’t presume the size won’t fit you – TRY IT ON! You would be surprised that certain designs and fabrics can fit plus size women in the straight size stores. Stretch is my friend! My favourite stores are Ally Fashion (They go up to a size 16 and have very generous sizing), Portmans, Sportsgirl, Jacqui-E, Sussan, Witchery and Valleygirl.
• Be patient – I’ve worked out that stores will tend to turn over items onto sale in a bi-monthly cycle. I’d been eyeing off the anoraks at Portmans for around a month and knew that mid-season sale would be coming up soon, so got it for $49.95 instead of $129.95. BOOM! CASH MONEY!
•  Ask yourself why you are buying the item –My wardrobe runs in cycles – All my clothes are cheap so I know that they will not last years, or even months. I need to be able to wear the item more than 5 times and have some outfits with my existing wardrobe that I can imagine it with. 

Now so I can enjoy my sale thrill, I’ve decided to do a monthly post on my sale items– Check out my April Sale Thrill items below! 

Jersey Maxi – Valleygirl – Size L - $7.99 originally $29.95

T-Shirt – Jacqui-E – Size M - $9.95 originally $29.95

Anorak – Portmans – Size 14 - $49.95 originally $129.95 

Until next time, 

Nadia 

x

Anorak!

So the weather is cooling down so all the new coats and jackets are entering the stores. Military style anoraks are everywhere at the moment. At first I thought they looked too grunge for my style and most that I had seen were around the $100 mark - too much to spend on a jacket I may not wear often enough! 

Then walks in Kmart - an affordable, on trend and light anorak for a steal at $25!

I decided to add the anorak to a very feminine outfit to highlight the contrast. I'm wearing a portmans high neck long sleeve top, best and less spotted skirt and Lovisa pendant necklace. I wore this outfit to my extremely air conditioned workplace so it was perfect! 

Dan and I are going to New Zealand over Easter so I'm hoping to mix it with more outfits. 

Until next time, 

Nadia 

Xo

Perth Curvettes - Double Take Challenge - Meet the Parents to RomanticDinner!

So every few years I have an existential crisis with my hair. My hair is naturally curly and I've always been the girl that craves long thick hair but has never achieved the look. So when I cut it all off on Saturday, there was shock. Mostly shock from myself as I never thought I'd go through with it, but I'm so glad I did. I absolutely love it. It's so chic and will allow my hair to grow back healthy and strong. 

Now onto crop tops - I've been seeing this trend everywhere and I'm curvy it's something that I've completely avoided until... TODAY! I saw this crop top in Factorie for a steal at $9.95 and thought, hey at that price I might as well try! 

So for my next Double Take Challenge, I had chosen Meet the Parents to Romantic Dinner.

Meet the Parents

I'm wearing the Factorie crop top with a Just Jeans Maxi Skirt I purchased for $20. I decided to add a touch of fuschia lipstick to give it a bit of colour.

 

Romantic Date 

For special time with my one and only, I mixed the crop top with my knee length skirt from Jacqui E that I purchased for $20. Again I wore my fuschia lipstick and black necklace from Lovisa. 

Can't wait to remix these outfits for winter with beautiful coats, leggings and ankle boots!

Until next time,

N

xox

Seeing spots.

I was going through my Instagram posts and noticed that I've been heavily obsessed with spots lately. Monochrome spot skirts to be precise. I thought I'd share more outfits I wore with the two overused skirts below:

1. Best and Less - Floaty skater skirt - Size 14 purchased for $10

2. Valleygirl - Midi Skirt - Size 12 purchased for $29 (It has a super stretchy band)

I've remixed both pieces with bold colours, different textures and fabrics. 

Perfect items to transition from autumn into winter! 

Until next time, 

xoxo

N

Perth Curvettes - Double Take Challenge - Day to Night

I love winter wardrobes! I've been stocking up on the winter essentials earlier as my partner and I are off to New Zealand in a couple of weeks. Big W, Kmart, Best & Less, Asos, Portmans, Ally .. The list goes on - have amazing cheap winter pieces at the moment. Cute knitted sweaters and flippy skirts will be my go to outfit this winter. 

So in preparation I've remixed my polka dot skirt that I bought from Best and Less for $10 into a day and night outfit. 

Day outfit - I wore the skirt with an acid wash t-shirt from Sportsgirl that I scored for $7.50!! Nice light outfit for a weekend. 

Night outfit - I paired the skirt with a fluffy knit crop sweater from Big W and a statement necklace. I'm loving the monochrome looks at the moment so added a touch of red lip to make the outfit pop! 

Onto to the next outfit challenge for Perth Curvettes! 

Until next time, 

Nadia 

Xoxo 

Perth Curvettes - Double Take Challenge - Office to Night Out!

So I've been Instagram stalking a wonderful group of Perth women for a number of weeks called the Perth Curvettes.

I've been wanting to participate in the blogger challenges in both the Perth Curvettes and Aussie Curve groups however I find I always slack off with actually writing a blog post. 

In 2014 I promised myself I would begin entering blog challenges - it's March already and I haven't posted here since December - clearly I'm fulfilling my promise haha! 

So here we are - my FIRST post for the Perth Curvettes challenge - Office to Night Out. 

I picked this one first as I work in a corporate environment so I'm always in office attire. 

I decided to use my Big W stripe dress that I practically stole for $25. It's super comfy and versatile. It's a size 16 from their straight size range. 

In the day outfit, I paired it with a grey light cardigan and the night, I exchanged it for a leather jacket, some red lippy and a clear clutch. 

Finito! First post done - now to working out how to put the linky code and banners into the post. Wish me luck! 

Until next time - 

Nadia xox 

KIMARDIGAN!

Thought I'd do a short post about the Kimono Cardigan I made- or Kimardigan as my partners dad created!

Bought a heap of fabrics from Spotlight all at a discounted cost of $6 a meter. BARGAIN! 

So I decided that the brightest fabric would be turned into the Kimardigan.

Then I got ma ass moving to sew this bad boy so I could wear it! 

How to make a KIMARDIGAN! 

Kimardigan Template

INSTRUCTIONS
 1. Start with 1.5m of fabric and fold in half
2. Sew two L shapes on opposite directions (for the kimono arms) See diagram above!
3. Cut the remainder of the fabric inside the L shapes (See green area)
4. Turn the fabric onto the correct side.
5. Cut a line down the middle of 1 side. This your opening of the Kimardigan!
6. You've got the base now, just need to finish it off with over locking or/and hemming all the sides! 
7. Sexy ass Kimardigan DONE!

Finished Product - Kimardigan!

My next Kimardigan will a corporate one, maybe with a light stripe. Perfect for summer in the office! 

Until next time, 

xx

N

Kimono Cardigans!

Summer is in full swing here in Perth with solid 30 degree + days and I'm obsessed with kimono cardigans to get me through the heat!

It's so great to see them finally popping into stores with new prints, styles and competitive prices as well! I haven't purchased one over $50, which is amazing.

My absolutely favourite store at the  moment is Ms Demeanor Boutique in East Victoria Park in WA. They have such a fun collection updated nearly daily and all at fair prices! I've liked them on facebook and I now see myself heading there once a week grabbing a new item. What's even better is their customer service.. So lovely.

Anyway back to my obsession of kimono cardigans, my first one was from this store! I matched this light grey kimono cardigan with a simple skater dress and a bucket hat. I find this kimono can be matched with corporate wear for work as well as casual for the weekend. Love it!

My second kimono purchase was this beauty! It was an amazing price at $19.99 from Ally Fashion. Absolutely love that store as they go up to a size 16 which is quite generous! I've added two outfits I rocked the gorgeous purple/blue cardigan with. The first one I paired with a black peplum top and Kmart 7/8 jeans. The second I paired with a chambray Cotton On dress.

Follow me on instagram.com/throwingacurveball for more pics!

Until the next time :)

- N

Melbourne Cup 2013

The race season is among us! Melbourne cup marks the start of the summer for me - its when the bright and loud outfits begin to emerge as we launch into the full swing of summer! I love the Melbourne cup purely for the fashion - the race ehhhh don't really pay attention to it, but the excitement of picking an outfit and getting a little dolled up for only an hour is thrilling. Goes to show how exciting my life is hey! 

Now in a mission to curb my intense shopping addiction, I decided to use something I already owned. So I began rummaging through my cupboards, and what shocked me was that I had easily come up with 10 outfits of which 6 still had tags attached. Absolutely disgraceful ... I'm officially putting a stop to shopping until the end of the year (maybe! Ekkkk) 

So out of all the outfits, I decided with this cute number below - a Portmans floral blue peplum top that I got for a bargain at $18 and a Cue skirt that I practically stole for an amazing $28, originally it was $169! I didn't do the traditional fascinator, instead opting for a floral headpiece. Overall, the outfit was comfy and still suitable for a full days work! 

Also featured is my snazzy work colleague and friend, Jacinta, who is channeling the 1980's race style. Absolutely love her style, you can follow her at perthundiscovered! 

Until next time amigos! 

Xoxo

Nadia 

Overdue + obsession with baggy print pants!

So I've been back home for a month and I haven't posted once! Shame on me. I also slacked off on the 2nd half of the holiday with my blog posts. From my blog, my holiday seems to end in Switzerland. 

So to summarise the holiday, after Switzerland we travelled to Venice, Florence, Monte Carlo, Nice, Barcelona, Bordeaux, Paris and back to London. Overall it was a great holiday, already planning the next one! 

Now back to reality, unfortunately I've been Ill with glandular fever so I've been trying to cheer myself up with some new items to add to the wardrobe! I've recently become obsessed with print baggy pants - I know I'm a bit late with the trend but with my weight loss I'm finally feeling comfortable in them! 

My regular blog hopping every night led me to Alacurvy's blog post about mirror prints which is where I spotted the pants pictured below. They are from the new Cooper Street + line. They are super silky, flattering and oh so comfy! They were a little on the pricey side though. Retail at $119.95. I fortunately had some gift cards stored away making my overall spend $49! 

My next purchase was from my all time favourite store - Kmart! This stripey beauty was $19 and by far, best ones I've bought. Even so that I returned to buy the chambray pair of them!

The final purchase were these out there pants from Suzannegrae for a steal at $17! Love the mix of floral and animal print. 

So for the past month while sick, I've been sorting through my clothes and signed up for a stall at the Market Plus on the 8th of December in Maylands. I'll be selling around 23 boxes of near new clothes from sizes that range from 14 to 22. If you're in Perth, come on down! I'll be posting details on my Instagram closer to the date. 

Until next time... 

Xoxo 

Nadia 

EU 13 - Mt Titlis (Swiss Alps)

From St Goar, we began the drive to the Mount Titlis, Switzerland. We passed by Lucerne to check out the Chapel Bridge. Lucerne is so quaint and romantic. The river was so aqua and clear with white swans swimming around. It was like something out of a postcard. We spent 2 hours in Lucerne, checked out the watches, chocolate stores and walked around. We then made the journey up to Mount Titlis. We arrived at a gondola (cable car) station and had to get our luggage onto a 6 person gondola to make it up the mountain. I'm deathly afraid of heights so it was an experience that I was not looking forward to. The Swiss alps were breathtaking. No photo can ever do it justice. We arrived at our hotel which was half way up the mountain, and it was the only hotel up there! The ski lodge was very modern and we found out that it was solely for our group. All the views, waterfalls, lakes and alps all to ourselves! If anyone was considering a contiki, I would most definitely recommend yes! I couldn't believe that this was all included in our tour, absolutely great accommodation. After getting to the hotel, we passed out and got ready for the next full on day in the snow and alps. 

Dan had decided to do bungee jumping in the middle of the alps. Me being me, I researched all the safety standards, the company's safety rating and so on - They passed ha-ha! He jumped off a gondola at 190 metres high in the middle of the Swiss Alps. Crazy! We have an awesome GoPro video of the whole jump which is so entertaining. After the adrenaline rush, we ventured to the top of the mountain at 3200m via a massive gondola and then a rotating gondola. I have never seen anything more beautiful than the glacier up there. I have never seen snow before so it was exciting! We had snowball fights , went tobogganing and were absolutely freezing! 

Onto fatshion.. I did not pack for the cold AT ALL so I had to wear three pairs of leggings and black pants in top and layers of tops to suffice! My outfit wasn't anything to document as it was merely for comfort and warmth!

Until next time..

Xoxo

Nadia 

EU 13 - Munich

Back to Deutschland! We arrived in Munich and the weather went sour - 13 degrees and raining! I did not pack appropriately for this trip - I only brought summer clothes so I was freezing my butt off! We braved the weather and did a bike tour around Munich called Mikes Bike Tours. I had the privlege of riding the cutest vintage bike (photos below). Lucky for us it stopped raining when we started so the tour was great! The guide was great in that he mixed humour with history that kept us on our toes. Munich has some wonderful mixture of architecture - they are so talented in mixing the old with the new. 

After a few hours of exercise on the bikes, we ventured straight onto the beer halls - the german way! The first beer hall was Hofbrauhaus house, the biggest and most popular. Drinking a litre of beer is VERY hard for me so it took me two hours, whilst dan had 2! We ate there and ate traditional German pork dishes - great food! It's amazing how many steins a waitperson can carry with one arm. The waiter definitely deserved their tip just for carrying ALL 9 drinks to our table. After a full meal and alcohol, it's so easy to feel sleepy. Surprisingly, we went to another two beer halls and then headed back to the hotel. The trip to Munich was short but sweet. 

Fatshion wise - nothing amazing as it needed to be comfortable and warm! I rocked jeans, peplum top, cardigan and massive scarf. 

We're travelling across Austria on our way to Venice tomorrow and passing by Innsbruck, Austria. 

Until then! 

Xoxo Nadia 

EU 13 - Amsterdam

Departing Amsterdam now... and I feel shattered. Experienced many many interesting things in Amsterdam. We travelled from Brussels to Amsterdam on the coach for the morning, then had the rest of the day to venture around Amsterdam. When I think of Amsterdam I automatically think of prostitution, drugs and bikes... That is everything it is and more! The city is so beautiful with the canals, lane streets and amazing architecture. Wish we had more time here but that was the point of doing a tour around Europe - we could see a snap shot of Europe and pick where we'd like to spend more time in the future. So after the crazy night, this morning we headed to where they produce clogs and cheese - the greatest combination! Soooo yummy and bonus is that we can actually bring cheese back with us (Thanks Australia!) 

Onto fatshion - I knew we were going to be walking around most of the day so planned a more comfortable outfit. I wore a floral peplum top and 7/8 black pants. The top is from Portmans and one of my favourites! The peplum is longer at the back so gives a flattering view of ma behind ha-ha! (Pictures below) I also ended up wearing the same thing out on the town. I just put my hair in a bun, chucked some hot pink lipstick on, and put a peplum jacket on - easy! (A picture of this outfit was not taken due to unforeseen circumstances... Ha-ha!) 

We're now on our way to St Goar on the Rhine Valley. Until tomorrow.. 

Xoxo Nadia 

(Follow me at Instagram.com/throwingacurveball for daily pics)