First dress for S/S 2013

First of all, yes I have been MIA for a long time - I've lost my blogging mojo and real life intervened. Hope you're all well.

Just popping by to share my latest impulse buy. I had received nice compliments for the Whistles dress that I bought back in July and thought I'll have a look at what's available now.

The Fia dress has a fun Aztec print and a flattering cut, and it is £100 off! Who can say no?

With the weather warming up I'll be able to wear it in next to no time :-D

Have a great weekend y'all!

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His and hers ASOS hauls

Sorry readers I have neglected the blog - I have been spending my evenings with the TV (Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad, both fantastic shows). I needed something to get me back to blogging, and what better than a few online purchases?

ASOS has a further 10% off already discounted stock (discount code: 10sale) so I had a browse on Saturday night and of course ended up with a few things!

I haven't bought eyeshadows for a long time - this cute Stila Rockin in Rio palette (£12) has five nice shades and a convertible cheek/lip colour.

I have been checking out Whistles since I learnt from What Kate Wore that it is one of the Duchess of Cambridge's favourite high street brands. The Veronica Safia dress (on sale, £99) is very much my style.

£17.50 for a striped knit dress? Yes please!

I'll wear this metallic jumper (on sale, £12.50) for a day at the park (or to a grocery run!)

Yesterday The Duke wore a super ancient jumper that has seen better days. Unfortunately he has a few of those in his wardrobe. I decided to take matters into my own hands and buy him a few new jumpers so the old ones can be retired. I'm pleasantly surprised by the stock available at the sale - good brands and most of them are less than $A100. I settled on these three:

Religion crew neck merino jumper (on sale, £26) - the style's a bit plain but it's a great price for a jumper made with 100% wool.

Fila vintage jumper (on sale, £39) - this will easily cost over $100 here!

Superdry Fiennes henley jumper (on sale, £45.50) - The Duke liked the Polo jumper I bought him for his birthday and this looks like a carbon copy.

Here's hoping that the parcels will turn up by the end of the week :-D

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Jigsaw's return to form

In my 20's I was a big fan of Jigsaw, both for their elegant style and sharp tailoring. A few years ago they moved in a direction which I wasn't fond of, and the brand fell out of my "regular rotation". So I was pleasantly surprised by their A/W 2012 collection - the look and style that I love are back!

A few weeks ago I bought the Campbell jacket and I'm getting so much wear out of it. It's a classic style that will serve me for many winters to come.

I browsed through their sale online and discovered quite a few gems.

Jacquard is great for winter and I like the look of this dress (on sale, $149).

And this jacquard skirt (on sale, $101) is a lot of fun.

If I'm in the market for a classic knit this one is a shoo-in (on sale, $129).

And I think I'm a little bit in love with the Macarthur coat (on sale, $299). The rich purple colour and the miltrary-inspired tailoring work really well together. This is another investment piece.

Ummm I may have to visit a store over the weekend to check it out in person ...

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Winter warmers

I've been on the hunt for knitswear in the last few weeks. I've searched online and offline to no avail. It has taken so long because I'm a bit fussy. I want something that looks a bit different (I have enough striped knits already), I prefer natural fabrics, and I don't want to spend more than $150 each.

I decided to hit the shops at lunchtime today, I was determined to fulfil the gap in my wardrobe.

First stop was Marcs - this colour block jumper looked promising online and it's on sale for $89.

I tried it on and it looks nice, but on second thoughts it looked a bit "mumsy".

Gorman was my next stop, out of all the shops I browsed online they had the most interesting patterned knits. And eureka!

The inka jumper (on sale, $120) has a fun print, it was made with 100% merino wool and it has a nice fit. I can't wait to wear it with jeans in the weekend.

Then I went to an old favourite, Alannah Hill. I wasn't particularly hopeful because they're more well known for their cardigans and I was looking for pullovers, but I was in luck and found TWO 100% wool knit tops!

The You Like The Dark top (on sale, $112) is going to be a versatile addition to my wardrobe - I can dress it up with a pretty skirt or dress it down with black slacks.

And the She Kissed Everyone jumper (on sale, $89) is a signature AH design which I'll pair with black skinny jeans.

Feeling the high of instant gratification, I hopped into Seed and bought this cute knit for TLP (on sale, $40).

So bring it on, winter! I'm now ready to face the cold ;-)

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Winter haul from Hobbs

Autumn arrived in Sydney pretty abruptly on Tuesday - I went to the beach on Easter Monday and now it's time for coat and scarves! Naturally my mind turned to winter fashion :-)

I went to the shops at lunch time yesterday and I was not particularly inspired. The only thing I liked were these cute Portmans gloves which I may go back and purchase.

Last night I was in bed with a warm doona and started browsing online. My friend Z recommended Hobbs from the UK. They have a mid-season sale and an outlet which are music to my ears. I ended up picking up these bargain:

Coniston dress (RRP £129, on sale for £44.10)

Petra sweater (RRP £69, on sale for £30.60)

Woodlands cardigan (RRP £110, on sale for £55)

Postage is a bit on the steep side (£20) but with the discounts I can justify it.


I managed to stuff up completely in the ordering process. I had to enter in my address numerous times, and when I submitted the order a page open requiring me to enter in a PIN that was meant to be sent to my phone. I waited a minute or two and nothing came so I pressed "cancel" expected to be led back to the order page. Instead the order was processed but is was flagged for review because the security procedure wasn't completed. I e-mailed their customer service and received a pro-forma reply stating that it will take up to 3 days of them to reply - which is a bit too long for my liking but there was nothing I can do. I received the PIN about 2 minutes after I "cancelled" the transaction. I must be more patient next time.


I hope to receive them before my trip to Japan but with this issue I probably won't receive the parcel before I go, which is a shame. Well I'll just have to shop more in Japan, right?

ETA: Apparently I also missed the part asking for my billing address so my order will drop off if I don't call them over the next 5 days. That is good actually because I've just placed the same order, this time with patience and it went through smoothly. Fingers crossed they'll arrive by the 24th since I'm flying out to Japan that evening!

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Mini ASOS haul

I made a small purchase on ASOS last night. The items by themselves are not worthy of a post (although I'll talk about them below), instead I'm going to talk about how I came to purchase those items.

It all started with a tweet.

One of the tweeps I follow (sorry I don't remember who) tweeted a few days ago about the Love At First Blush from Stila at the bargain price of £10 at ASOS.

I clicked on the link, liked it and proceeded to have a look at the rest of their Stila collection. I was pleasantly surprised to see that ASOS now stocks Stila's Natural Finish Oil-Free foundation.

I was tempted to buy it last year but decided against it because Mecca charges $80 for it when it is half that price in the US. ASOS has the foundation for £25 which is much more reasonable. I couldn't remember what shade I tried last time, so on Monday I went to the Mecca counter at Myer Pitt St to colour match. The MUA was lovely and if the price difference wasn't so great I'd be happy to purchase there, but my wallet made the call.

Separately the ASOS leap year 20% off sale campaign is coming at me in all directions (e-mails, tweets, on their website). I succumbed and spent a bit of time over the weekend checking it out. I was very close to buying this dress in a lovely teal colour - it even has The Duke's seal of approval!

It is nice indeed but I didn't go ahead with the purchase because in the runway video the dress was riding up on the model. If it happens to the ultra skinny model, it will not sit well on me at all.

I have been busy at work at this week and last night I decided I need a bit of retail therapy. I had another look at the 20% sale, ummmmed and ahhhhed over a few clothing items but did't find anything. On a whim I went into the jewellery section and found something fun.

TLP is a big fan of Lego and Duplo and I thought he'll get a kick out of them. For £4.50 I can't go wrong.

Before I put the Stila blush into the shopping cart I searched for blog reviews and saw that the blush is lovely in real life.

It didn't feel quite right to submit an ASOS order without clothes so I went to the outlet page in an attempt to score some bargains. I had this dress sitting in my cart for quite a while - after all it's only £12!

It was almost 12am and I decided to make the purchase. Just before I click yes I thought I'll go to the Vogue Forum and see if there are any discount codes. It was a good idea because there is a code for $A20 off purchases over A$100 ("EDGE")! My cart was just under A$100 so I tried to add some more items, then I realised that the code doesn't apply to items on sale.

Falling into the trap of "spend to save", I headed to the full price section. After a whole lot more browsing I chose this simple Warehouse jersey dress.

With the $A20/£12 discount the dress set me back £23 - bargain! With this dress in the shopping cart I removed the purple dress.

Finally, at some ungodly hours I submitted my order with 4 items for £62.17.

So my purchasing decision was influenced by social media, online advertising, blog reviews and online forums. The amount of time I spent online browsing through ASOS catalogue was OTT to be honest, and something that I will not be able to do in real life. Neither could I have made a purchase after midnight.

This is the future of our shopping - anytime, anywhere, for any reason.

Think back to your last online purchase, what led you to press "Submit"?

P.S. You can use code LEAPYEAHOZ to get 10% of all items includng items already on sale. Happy shopping!

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Another Shopbop order

After a day of deliberation I decided to purchase the Missoni scarf. Given Sydney's weather I may be able to wear it sooner rather than later!

The scarf is $US99, so I was on the hunt for something small to quality for free shipping (yes it is a bit silly to "spend to save", but as I wrote in a previous post we're often irrational about free shipping).

And these are what I picked:

The Juicy Couture princess earrings (on sale for $US24) look nice front-on, but Shopbop's photos did not show off its unique feature.

 

Isn't the crown-shaped claw lovely? To be honest I'm surprised that Shopbop dropped the ball on the display photo (the photo above is from Endless). Endless also offers a 360-degree video of the earrings which is a bonus.

I do like the photo from Shopbop that gives you an idea about the size of the earrings. Trust me, I have purchased earrings online and surprised by their size when I receive them in the post!

I was almost going to buy this MBMJ Miss Marc Makes a Splash tee (on sale, $US47.60) but decided against it because *sob* I think I'm too old to wear a tee with a cartoon figure on it. One of you should get it though, it's so cute!

I also went on The Outnet (international site) last night and I really like the look of this MBMJ Jailbird cotton-twill dress.

It's cute and the price is tempting (down to £100.62). It's sitting in the "Most Wanted List" for now. What to you think?

P.S. The eBay directory is live! Let me know if you want to add your seller page :-D

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Finally sunny

Finally we had a lovely weekend in Sydney. The forecast is for rain again this week but at least we had two gorgeous days to enjoy.

My MBMJ preppy camera bag arrived on Friday and I wasted no time to give it a swirl.

MBMJ is a great brand for well priced leather goods, and this little bag is no exception. Mouse is a great colour (thanks for your votes!) - it goes with anything. With Shopbop and Endless among others delivering to Australia, MBMJ is now very accessible to us.

The eagle-eye among you may have noticed that I was wearing my new Zara dress. In fact my entire outfit have been purchased in the last month.

Zara dress
KORS Michael Kors flats
MBMJ bag
Oroton sunnies

On Saturday we went to the Powerhouse Museum (mainly for the Wiggles exhibition which TLP loved). While TLP was sitting in the Big Red Car, I checked out the Make Lace Not War exhibition. There are some exquisite creations on display.

TLP had a nap after lunch in the stroller. I took the opportunity to check out the outlets at Market City in Chinatown. I bought this from Esprit.

Esprit is one of the brands I'd never pay full price for, and I rarely visit their stores, but there are some bargains to be had at their outlets. The full price of this dress was $199, now down to $59.95.

The price tag lists the RRP of the dress in 6 countries. The dress RRP in Hong Kong is $HK899, given current exchange rates it equates to $A108. That is only half of the RRP is in Australia. *sigh* It is so frustrating to be constantly overcharged relative to other countries.

We went to Chatswood on Sunday - TLP was long overdue for a haircut. Afterwards The Duke took TLP to Myer's toy section, and I hopped over to Daiso at Mardarin Centre.

Daiso is the biggest "$2" store I've ever seen. Everything in the store, from containers to stationery to cosmetics(!), cost $2.80.

I picked up 3 things, a packet of 10 ballpens, a shower cap, and an electric nail filer. The last item is a bit bizarre but for $2.80 I'm willing to experiment.

Let's finish this post with one of the reasons I love living in Sydney.

P.S. Do you like The Etail Queen's new look?

P.P.S. I'm planning to set up an eBay directory. If you are an eBay seller and want to be included in the directory, just tweet me or send me an e-mail.

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Just a few more things ...

Ah, so much for a mini-shopping ban, ay?

Thanks for all your votes on the MBMJ bag*. The Mouse won the vote and also my heart, so I placed an order with Endless on Sunday night. I also ordered a back-up pair of Asics Gel Kayano 17, can't say no when they're only $US89.95! I've never own black runners before; it'll be a nice change.

I was wondering if they would ship the parcel before Monday US time and lo and behold I received an e-mail yesterday saying that it was on its way here**. A nitpick - instead of providing a link directly to the courier company's webpage in the e-mail, I had to log in to my Endless account to access the tracking details. Endless uses UPS (I usually get parcels from DHL) and maybe that's the difference.

* When I told The Duke I was looking for a bag he asked me "do you really need another one"? I thought he was being a typical male but he told me afterwards that he was planning to buy me a crossbody bag for my birthday as I use the MBMJ Turnlock so much. Brownie points for The Duke.

** This morning I received another delivery notification from Endless, apparently the two items are shipped separately. The bag is coming via DHL. Let's see which parcel comes first.

On Sunday I went shopping with my mum. I was hoping to buy her a belated Christmas gift but we had no luck. Well actually she loved a top from Jigsaw but they didn't have any in her size, and I bought one instead. This is quite bizarre because we usually have really, really different tastes.

I can dress it up with an A-line or pencil skirt, or dress it down with a pair of skinny jeans.

We also went to Leona Edmiston. I'm a fan of her frocks and I bought my sister (who lives overseas) a few LE dresses last year. Mum said she received a lot of compliments so we wanted to get some more for her. Unfortunately LE's current collection is not that suitable for a conservative office. I had fun trying on dresses for myself though. The Isabel dress from the Ruby line fitted me like a glove.

I didn't get the dress though because I couldn't find a second dress to take advantage of the 2 Ruby dresses for $200 deal, and part of me suspects that the dress will be discounted further in a few weeks. That's what happens when retailers markdown their products quickly - no one wants to pay full price.

I had a short Monday lunchtime shopping trip again yesterday (oops...). Tried on a top and a skirt from Marcs when I was at Myer but no cigar. Myer had racks and racks of clothes with further discounts. I wonder what happens to them when the sales end?

I went into Zara again, not expecting to find anything but I came across this cute dress.

It fits, and it's less than half price! It's destiny :-D Can't wait to wear it on my day off.

P.S. I went through the Endless sale with mum and she likes the look of the Kate Spade Fanfare Brette Satchel. What do you think?

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A grand day out

Yesterday was my day off (I work 4 days a week). took TLP into the city and we had a fantastic time. Before I go on-topic (yes I came home with a few bags of goodies) I thought I'd share a few photos from the day.

We went to the Wildlife Sydney in the morning and TLP had a ball seeing all the animals, including the mighty croc Rex.

Lunch was at Sky Phoenix. Thumbs up to the waitstaff - the service was excellent.

 

In the afternoon we went to the Sydney Tower Eye. It was a beautiful day.

After lunch TLP dutifully fell asleep in the stroller so I had a chance to shop more support the Australian economy ;-)

I'm quite convinced I've lost my sunglasses again so that was my main shopping goal. Luckily I found a pair quickly.

You can tell by the O on the side that they're from Oroton. At half price ($115) it was easy to say yes.

What do you think?

I also picked up these beauties at Oroton.

I love earrings and I love Art Deco designs so the Ornee drop earrings (on sale at $45) are perfect.

With the right outfit I should be able to wear them to work. Or I have to nag The Duke to take me somewhere nice for a date.

My next purchase was from FCUK. I don't visit their stores often but one of the dresses on display caught my eye.

The Pina Colada is a lightweight, 100% cotton dress with a vibrant print. Great for a day at the beach (we just need some beach weather in Sydney!). The price was marked down from $99.95 to $49.95, I must have missed the "further reductions" sign because I only paid $39.96. Always a nice feeling when you pay less than expected.

Then we went to SA Hair to pick up a hair brush for blowdrying my new, shorter do. The SA was so friendly and informative I ended up buying a few extra items. Memo to retailers: good salespeople = more sales.

The other item on my list of things to buy was a hat for TLP. I liked the look of the Honolulu hat ($29.95) at Country Road but TLP was asleep when I saw it so I couldn't check for size.

I went to the kids' section at Zara after TLP woke up but they didn't have any hats. I bought this fun long-sleeve tee for him instead (on sale for $7.95). It was my maiden Zara purchase in Australia!

Next up was Myer so TLP could play in the toy section for a while. No hats but I went through the "extra 25% off discounted prices" racks and bought these in the next size for summer 12/13.

Five tees and a pair of shorts for $70 ($70/6 = average $11.67) is great value, but by comparison the Zara tee has a RRP of $12.95. It goes to show that Zara's pricing is a big threat to other retailers.

A few observations:

• The SA at Veronika Maine told me her name and asked for mine before I went into the change room. It was so much nicer to address each other by name rather than "hey you".
• Postage for FCUK is $14.95 (for registered post) - a bit steep? One day I may do a tally of postage cost by major fashion etailers.
• The Oroton website plays music. One word = NO.
• I cannot provide the link to the sunnies from Oroton's website because the women's sunglasses page came up blank. I don't know if it was deliberate or if it was an error. If it's the latter they need to have a stern word with the webmaster.
• The Oroton earrings were $45 at the store however the website has them at full price ($95). The SA mentioned that the sale ends yesterday, however I wondered if they deliberately left them at full price on the website. Inconsistent pricing between stores and online is definitely a Etailer Don't in my book. 
• This is no surprise but Myer is chronically short-staffed. How can they expect to increase sales when their level of service is so low?

I think this blog is making me shop more! I still have to write about my second Shopbop order this year(!) and an ASOS order. Maybe it's time for a mini-shopping ban...

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