Wednesday, 3 November 2021

What I Bought In October (and How I've Worn It) Preloved Finds: Nobody Denim and Chloe Bag

Despite saying last month that I was almost exceeding the amount I spent last year and I shouldn't buy anything for the rest of the year, I had a very big spending month this month, with four things purchased. A special reveal video for one, as I bought yet another handbag (that's now 5 bags this year if you're counting 😂).

Chloe Handbag Reveal:

What I Bought In October:

Nobody Denim Piper vacation skirt in black distressed denim
Nobody Denim Cult high rise skinny ankle jeans in charred grey
Chloe small Paddington in 2006 blanc
Target navy and white striped shift dress with frill sleeves

Why I Bought It:

Aside from the jeans, another month of preloved buys. While I have bought a few things this year (and have definitely exceeded my 2020 fashion spend) the jeans are my first retail buy since February which I feel pretty good about! As much as I love the Nobody Denim jeans for how they are ethically and Australian made and designed, they are also on the expensive side. $239 retail price for these jeans I couldn't justify, but on sale for $97 they are perfect! Was really thrilled to stumble across these in the David Jones sale.

Since I added a denim skirt to my wardrobe that my sister no longer wanted a few months back I've been thinking about getting another, so this black Nobody Denim one was perfect, and an absolute bargain preloved on eBay.

The dress and bag were just lucky finds! As I mentioned in the video, I'd gone to the first local Glad Rags second hand market to support the organiser, and just wanted to have a little browse. The navy dress seemed like a great basic. At only $5 I was pretty pleased with my purchase and started making my way out when I stumbled across the Chloe small Paddington bag on the edge of a stall. I was very excited to realise it was authentic and that it was only $90! What are the chances?! The prices vary a lot online as it's a 2006 bag but some are still pretty exxy! I used to have a couple mini Paddington bags back in the day, and I used to authenticate Paddingtons too so I was super pleased to confirm it was real and grab this bargain.

I wasn't expecting to spend so much at the market, the bag was the item that pushed me over my 2020 fashion spend limit, but I knew I'd have so many regrets if I didn't snap the bag up. Didn't even haggle for the price, just wanted it to be mine! 😂

How I've Worn It:

Surprisingly, the jeans got worn more than I expected as we had a few cooler rainy spring days than we normally would in October. I was hoping to get one wear out of them before it got too hot but cooler days meant I managed to hit the "wear twice in the month I buy it" rule with these jeans, and everything else I bought. Of course the bag got worn a few more times, the neutral cream goes with everything!

How I'm tracking With My Annual Fashion Spend:

So far I'm $85 over the amount I spent in 2020, and I have two months left in the year and another Glad Rags preloved market coming up... Still under my 2019 spend at the moment though. It will be interesting to see my spend at the end of the year. It's the first time since 2018 and when I started tracking that I've increased my fashion spend from the year before.

Since I spent so little in 2020 on fashion I think it was going to be hard to meet or spend less than that amount this year, with everything opened up and so few restrictions in Queensland. It was a good goal to aim for though!

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Friday, 29 October 2021

30 Ways To Wear: Rebecca Minkoff Magenta Edie Crossbody Bag

Featuring a beautiful bag for this month's 30 ways to wear post. One that illustrates perfectly how much of a challenge committing to wear something 30 times can be! Over a couple months I've been so sure I'd have hit 30 wears on this bag, I feel I wear it pretty regularly. But I've only just hit 33 wears with it. 30 wears can take a bit of time to achieve if you don't wear something daily, even something that's easily reworn without waiting for the laundry cycle, like a handbag!

30 Ways To Wear: Rebecca Minkoff Magenta Edie Crossbody Bag

30 ways to wear rebecca minkoff edie small crossbody bag magenta handbag outfit ideas | awayfromblue

It's not the first time I've shared 30 ways to wear a pink bag, I think it's such a fun colour to accessorise with! And this magenta is definitely my favourite shade of pink, it goes with so much!

Cost Per Wear

I ordered this pretty little bag in the post-Christmas sales and got it in January 2019. It was reduced to $168.92 (including shipping), which I just couldn't resist as it retails for $330. At 33 wears, that brings it to $5.12 a wear which is much higher than the $1 a wear people aim for, but is pretty good cost per wear so far for a leather handbag. Considering it is still in amazing condition and something I don't ever see myself getting rid of I know I will hit $1 per wear eventually. I tend to see my bags as splurges that are always good value given how much they will be worn over their lifetime. Excited to keep wearing this for years to come!

30 Ways To Wear: Video Style

Magenta Edie Bag With Blue Dresses

4 outfit ideas magenta edie crossbody bag and blue printed dresses | awayfromtheblue

Honestly the reason I love magenta accessories so much is because of how well the colour goes with blue, and I have a lot of blue in my wardrobe. You'll see the blue and magenta combo in a lot of these outfits but I wanted to call out these 4 dress outfits specifically as a blue printed dress and pink bag is a staple outfit formula, and it shows how well the Edie bag works with different styles of dresses and different shades of blue.

Matching Handbag to Other Magenta Pieces In An Outfit

4 ways to wear a magenta bag matching other magenta pieces in outfit matchy-matchy ideas | awayfromblue

Matchy-matchy makes me happy! An easy way to wear a bold bag is to match it to something else in your outfit that's the same colour. That could be a scarf with a bit of magenta in it, a magenta necklace, or something with magenta in the print like the kimono. The magenta jeans and Edie crossbody bag together are a particularly bold combination.

Wearing a Magenta Bag With Different Shades of Pink

Despite my live of a matchy-matchy outfit, sometimes it's nice to try something a little different and wear the little magenta Edie bag with other shades of pink in an outfit. Blush and other shades of pastel pink pair nicely with the magenta bag. Even pastel pink so pale it kind of blends in with the white tee like in the maxi skirt outfit!

Magenta Bag As A Pop Of Colour In Outfits

wearing a magenta bag as a pop of colour with neutral outfits 4 ideas | awayfromtheblue

Hands down the easiest way to wear a colourful bag, wear it as a pop of colour with your outfit. I do this a lot with my brighter bags. As you can see from these past outfits, the magenta Edie bag really pops against neutrals like black, white and grey.

Magenta Edie Bag Worn With Purple

wearing a magenta bag with purple 5 ways to wear | awayfromblue

Pink and purple are such fun colours together and these 5 outfits show how well this little magenta bag goes with different shades of purple. From larger pieces like a tee or jeans to smaller pieces like a scarf or in a print of a kimono, magenta and purple look great together.

Edie Crossbody Bag With Summer Shorts Outfits

3 summer outfits with magenta rebecca minkoff edie crossbody bag shorts | awayfromtheblue

A little crossbody bag like the Rebecca Minkoff Edie is a great choice in warmer weather. It's a good light bag and the long chain strap means it doesn't have to get all caught up in your armpit a hot day like a shoulder bag would 😅 Plus this bag just looks great with shorts and magenta is a lovely colour for summer.

Magenta Edie Bag With Blue Winter Outfits

Of course I like to wear my bags year round and just as the Rebecca Minkoff Edie crossbody bag works in summer with shorts like I showed above, it works well with winter layers too. A colourful bag can inject a bit of brightness to a winter outfit. In most of these outfits you'll notice that I'm wearing the blue and magenta colour combo again too. It really works and is such a staple for me.

What Fits Inside Magenta Edie Crossbody Bag

Where To Buy Rebecca Minkoff Edie Crossbody Bag:

More Outfit Ideas:

For more outfit inspiration and ideas, you can view all 33+ ways I've worn this bag in my blog archives, or browse the complete 30 wears series.

Wednesday, 27 October 2021

11 Ways To Wear a Blush Waterfall Drape Vest | Magnificent 8

This quarter's Magnificent 8 theme was a tricky one for me: vests! I did have a vest once - and wore it 11 times before deciding it wasn't for me. I only share things I actually wear on the blog and because I really didn't feel like trying to borrow a vest just for a couple wears for a post to find out again that it is an item that doesn't work for me, I figured I'd share the 11 ways I did wear a vest before I admitted defeat and donated it. Pretty shameful cost per wear as I paid $29.99 for it on sale, but I really struggled to wear it so it was better to pass it on.

11 ways to wear a blush pink waterfall drape vest sleeveless jacket | away from blue blog

I don't mind the look of some of these outfits - I pulled out all my old staple formulas, like stripes with everything, and blue and pink. I just find a vest a frustrating piece to wear. It doesn't keep my arms warm so it's not a cold weather piece but it doesn't provide shoulder coverage either so it's a bad piece for summer. Vests and I just don't get along! I love the look of this vest but it just never seemed like a must-have for my outfits. And I always felt like I "should" wear it rather than wanting to wear it so it wasn't one that worked in my wardrobe.

If you're on the fence about vests, or you want some ideas for how to wear a similar waterfall vest you might already own, here's some of the ways I wore this old one I had a few years ago.

Blush Vest And Dresses

two ways to wear a blush waterfall vest with dresses belted unbelted | awayfromtheblue

A long waterfall vest like this blush one looks great worn over a dress! Here I've tried the blue and pink combo I love so much, and for something different even tried to belt this vest in the first outfit. It's good to try little things like adding a belt to mix things up.

Blush Vest and Shorts

4 different blush vest outfit ideas with waterfall drape and shorts awayfromblue blog

Seeing a vest as a warm weather piece, pairing it with shorts seemed like an obvious combo. Out of these 4 vest and shorts combos, I really liked the second and last ones the most, where I have a bit of a column of monochromatic colour under the vest that it layers so well with.

Blush Vest and Jeans

two ways to wear blush waterfall vest with column of colour jeans and tee awayfromblue

Can't go wrong with an outfit staple of jeans and a tee, and for something a little different I tried adding the blush waterfall vest on top. Again you can see the monochrome column of colour in these outfits too.

Blush Vest and Stripes

3 ways to wear blush waterfall drape vest with striped top and shorts awayfromtheblue

Whenever I'm not quite sure how to wear something I pull out the stripes! I find that striped tops worked well with this blush waterfall vest as it's a plain block colour and the stripe tops add a nice bit of interest to the outfit, so the vest isn't the only statement piece.

Similar Vests Under $50

The Magnificent 8

The Magnificent 8 is a collaboration of 8 stylish women, ranging in age from early 20’s to early 80’s. The mission of this collaboration is to showcase how ageless style is. There are no age restrictions on style. So wear what you want, when you want, add a smile, and strut your style with confidence. And be sure to check out all 7 of these other amazing ladies!

Every quarter, the group chooses a theme and each create an outfit that suits our own personal tastes and fashion choices. We post them on the last Wednesday of every third month. Check out everyone’s posts with the links above for style inspiration at any age as they show you their vest outfits. And get some inspiration from people who, unlike me, are big vest fans!

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