Sydney, Part 2 - People Watching

All images were taken by me and are un-edited.

When I went to Sydney earlier in the month (you can see part 1 here) my absolute favourite thing about my visit was the people and their street style. People of so many various interests, cultures, origins, ethnicities, languages and accents with such different and unique style.

I love people watching and Sydney was the perfect place for it. People were fearless in what they wore, I could've donned a top hat, zebra print shirt and a rainbow bubble skirt belted with a curtain tie and I would have fit right in. Although this ensemble would be with the addition of warm tights, fluffy socks and a big jacket -which would all be as equally outrageous - as it was freezing. I wish I could have gotten some shots of the people that wore get-ups like this, but unfortunately the people I managed to snap were wearing rather casual clothes. Most of the people were pretty much on a mission, so if I wanted to take a photo of them, I'd have to act fast. By the time I'd debated  in my head whether or not to chase after them or had taken my  from its' case, they were out of sight.

Although one very stylish person I managed to photograph was my mum's fabulous friend Robyn Catchlove (yes, that's her real name) who was mentioned in my previous post as our guide around Newtown and can be seen in the last image. She's posing for me inside a bar, positioned in front of a big glass window chosen especially so we could watch the people pass by. Although the image is in black and white, she's very vibrantly dressed: in an oversized electric blue jumper, a rainbow scarf and necklace, black leggings with red snakeskin shoes and her usual red lipstick and orange hair. But her personality is even more fun and exciting than her wonderful outfits.

As my mum, Robyn and I watched the people walk past the window we were sitting at, we spotted a rather brilliant looking man in a big leopard print coat. He was just the first of the people I am wishing I photographed. The clothes were as vibrant and as unique as the people that wore them, who were seen in flashes of colour wherever I went and were almost always smiling.
During my visit I saw a girl with galaxy tights, blue hair and a tardis dress and a man with so much curly black hair it hung over him like an umbrella. My mum and I spotted a guy who looked just like Viktor Krum from Harry Potter and the goblet of fire when we were enjoying Sushi Train one night, and another time we watched a woman in a full length cloak and elf ears as she crossed the street. One day we saw a lovely old man pushing a trolley and selling flowers (who I kind of wanted to be) and a girl wearing a summery fifties dress on a vintage bike, complete with a sixties picnic basket on the one day it was sunny.

Despite my wishing that I could have taken photos of all the lovely people I saw, I'm still happy with the images above. The first one is my favourite, I took my camera out after my mum and I came across an area where almost everyone was smoking. The photos I took weren't that great until this lady sat down and lit her cigarette. I was clicking away and managed to capture the smoke quite nicely I think, she gave me a smile and my mum and I continued walking. The second was taken not long after that and the others were snapped on different days.

I could go on forever about all the beautiful and interesting people I spotted and the clothes they wore. How liberating it was to wear whatever I wanted, putting on my stripy tights or my faux fur jacket and zipping up my seventies boots so haphazardly. Living where I do, pretty much anything other than sneakers, a plain shirt and jeans would be considered overdressed, so it was nice not to care about what I was wearing. After my experience in Sydney I will endeavour to be a little more fearless in what I wear.                      

Sydney, Part 1

Sydney Antique Centre

All images were taken by me and are un-edited.

 In my previous post I mentioned that I was going to Sydney, well I'm home now! I only managed to comment on about two blogs while I was away, but I'll be doing more catching up soon. My visit to Sydney (with my mum) involved lots of walking, visiting vintage shops, exploring the culture, people watching, taking photos, drinking some wonderful coffees and chai lattes, eating fabulous food and of course, taking way too many photos of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

Living rurally near a small country town, I don't really get out much, so Sydney had me a little overwhelmed with all the weird and wonderful stuff to gawk at. The best way I could describe to my mum what I thought of it was 'there's always things to do and look at and there's always stuff going on.' I was so distracted by everything that most of the time I forgot to take my camera out (I ended up learning to just leave the strap around my neck and keep the lens cap off.) I wanted to see and experience everything Sydney had to offer in such a brief time - which of course, I unfortunately couldn't do. Sometimes I found it hard to sit still because I was anxious to take in as much as I could. Visiting places like these give that feeling that there's always more to do and see and more parts of the city to visit. But I still managed to have a wonderful time and some great experiences.

My mum's good friend Robyn was our guide around Newtown on our second day in Sydney, showing us vintage shops and streets with some amazing graffiti. As well as a community art project (sixth image) which she told us about, it was photos of people - just people, doing all sorts of people stuff in black and white images. Some had had graffiti done over them or been ripped, which sometimes created an interesting effect. It was certainly very entertaining to look at all the beautiful images and graffiti she showed us. We had dinner one night at an Italian restaurant and ate some of the best Tirimisu I've ever tasted. Another day we explored a market where we picked up breads, olives and several cheeses to take to her place for a delicious evening snack.
Other days it would just be my mum and I, wandering about King st (Newtown), getting confused about which bus we were catching to get to Surrey Hills, taking the ferry on the darling harbour after a delicious breakfast and a look at the exact replica of The Endeavour (third image), or riding the train into the city.

The city was definitely one of the highlights of my visit, I was constantly blown away by the beautiful architecture, shops and people. We visited art museums and walked around the streets pointing out the amazing things (which was everything we saw) as well as looked at all the fancy shops, including a Burberry store - no, scratch that, museum which had about six security guards. You could definitely tell we weren't from there, as we took so many pictures and stared at everything with wide eyes (and we also may have rode the escalators and went around in the revolving doors for fun.)

Another highlight was when we visited The Sydney Antique Centre (last five images) in Surrey Hills on the last full day of our visit. It was packed with gorgeous little vintage and antique stalls full of some incredible furniture, jewellery, clothes, etcetera. The entire place was an absolute visual feast, I saw some of the most exquisite vintage pieces: seventies green maxis, floral embroidered sixties robes, fifties autumn leaf cotton dresses, sheer forties overdresses, thirties silk bed jackets, twenties satin heels and antique beaded mourning gowns. Although I didn't buy anything (despite some really good prices) it definitely had my head filled with inspiration, I could have spent a week there looking at all the gorgeous things and eating the delicious food served at the Cafe.

Although I enjoyed my time at Sydney immensely and felt a little melancholy when we were flying back home, it's good to be home with my family and and the beautiful rural sky - there was something very surreal (and a little discomforting) about not seeing the stars in the city.

Sunsets from Spring

One of my favourite things about spring and summer are the sunsets. The skies look like vibrant abstract paintings made up of purples, oranges and pinks. I recently discovered a shoot I did with my sister in spring last year that I thought I had lost and have decided to post them along with a couple other images I took of spring/summer sunsets. The pictures of trees were taken on a walk with my mum, and the image second from the bottom was either taken late spring or early summer, it is definitely the most spectacular - with the amazing bright apricot, purple and almost fluoro orange colours.

I almost feel like the shoot I did with my sister, Ireland, was meant to be; as she had recently re-dyed her hair red and just so happened to be wearing a purple top which matched perfectly with the sunset. As soon as I saw the amazing sky, I grabbed my camera and took my sister (who was doing the dishes) by the arm and lead her onto our veranda to take pictures. She still had her washing up gloves on - which also matched the sky, as they were bright pink.

Anyway, I hope you like the pictures! On another note, I recently signed up to twitter, my username is currently 'ArtClothesAndC' (couldn't fit the whole blog name in.) You should be able to find it on my blogger sidebar under 'Contact.' I also now have an 'About Me' page on this blog.
I will be going on a trip to Sydney (New South Wales) on Thursday, and will be gone for nine days, so I probably won't be able to do much looking at or commenting on blogs, but will catch up when I get back.

Twenties Parasol

I took these photos of my sister Ireland yesterday afternoon (which was one of the first days of sunshine after too many rainy and gloomy days.) I'd been meaning to do a shoot with this twenties parasol for a while now. I bought it at a second hand store for ten dollars, and although you have to hold it to keep it open, it still makes an excellent prop for photos. After it was determined we'd be using the parasol for this shoot, we worked from there, creating an early 1900's burlesque slash mourning look. Possibly a little Moulin Rouge inspired. Along with the parasol, the look was comprised of a sixties/seventies bias-cut nylon skirt and a satin kimono (both selected from my mum's hoard of charity shop finds). Ireland's corset came from a charity shop, and I've forgotten where I got the felt flower.

Also, my thoughts go out to all those affected by the tragic event during the Boston Marathon. x

Satin and Lace

Photos taken by me.

My ever-gorgeous god-sister, Jazz, was my lovely and willing photography subject for this shoot. Big thanks to her for sitting down in the wet grass and jumping around several times for the sake of a photo. She's wearing a vintage wool hat and a sixties mini dress (I just love the lace on it) both sourced from charity shops. She's also wearing the same seventies boots that I wore in my last post, this time they're paired with thick knee socks to make them fit her better. The photos were taken yesterday after some brief but heavy rain (which started just as we were about to go outside and take photos - typical weather.) We had to wait it out by eating copious amounts of sugar before we could try again - I can think of worse ways to spend a grey day. Jazz is always such lovely company and a beautiful subject, she has twirled in front the lens in an eighties Alice-esque dress here, dressed up in lace-up boots and purple hair here, donned summery silks here, danced around in red shoes here, and sat with me at a whimsical tea party set-up here.

Last bursts of Summer

We've now had two weeks of Autumn here in Australia, but we're still getting a few super summery days (like today) which my sister and I took advantage of with a quick shoot in the morning. One of my favourite things about Autumn is that it alternates between glorious warm days with dark blue skies and cool cosy days perfect for reading (at the moment I'm right into classics, and have almost finished 'Jane Eyre'), listening to music, watching movies and drinking several cups of hot tea and coffee. As well as that it's not too hot for tights or jeans, but not too cold for bare legs.
I'm looking forward to getting a lot of wear from the gorgeous seventies boots I'm wearing in these photos, and Autumn is the perfect season to be wearing them. They go with so many things, especially when paired with my favourite maroon tights, which were whipped out as soon as it was cool enough, and I'm expecting for them to be worn a lot this Autumn - as well as the boots.

The boots were bought from this Etsy shop, and I was very happy when I received them and discovered they were a perfect fit. I love vintage shoes, but I struggle to find many that fit my size forty feet (I have the same trouble with gloves, hats and clothes too.)
Here I am wearing them with a yellow lace dress from a charity shop, which I customised by adding white lace and brown buttons (I've lost the fourth one I was going to put on, and still don't have any ribbon for the bow, so it's still a work in progress.) Over the top of it is a sixties or seventies crochet lace top, also charity shopped. The seventies satchel is my mum's, she hasn't quite said she's given it to me yet, but I've already managed to slowly introduce it into my room. I'm also wearing a vintage watch from a charity shop, which I wear most of the time, even though it doesn't work (which is interesting when someone wants to know the time.)

Green after the rain

These photos were taken yesterday morning when my sister and I put a pile of clothes in a garbage bag and dragged into a now very green paddock. The clothes I wore ended up looking a little bit more "faerie princess" then I thought, which made me feel a little too "girly" which isn't my usual style. But I'm still very happy with the resulting photos (I especially love some of the ones I got of Ireland, doesn't she have the most glorious, heavenly smile?)
Anyway, here's the outfit details:

In the first and last photos Ireland is wearing a handmade sixties style dress I found at a charity shop. In her second ensemble she is wearing a JayJay's hat, the silk top and suede skirt are charity shopped, and my 70's boots (luckily we have similar foot sizes) which I bought from this etsy shop. She is also wearing a pair of green sixties cat-eye glasses in one shot, and vintage charity shopped sunglasses in some others.

As for me, the green suede shoes (worn throughout) were bought at a charity shop early last year (they only fit now.) In the first photos I'm wearing a vintage silk Christian Dior slip, and 40's tap pants (a Christmas present from my mum) and the bracelets and cuff were also gifted. In the second outfit I added a white lace dress and silk sash over the top with a necklace made by my mum, and in the third I'm wearing a seventies silk skirt that used to belong to my grandma, which I hitched up with a charity shopped belt so I could wear it as a dress. Hope you like the photos!