red-orange-red-orange red-orange.....

(Shoes: 3.1 Phillip Lim "Nina". Sunglasses: Asos. Bag: Alexander Wang "Kirsten" satchel. Dress: Asos)

This dress has helped me whisk through every social occasion over the last couple of weeks. From breakfast with the boy, to catch up drinks at a girlfriend's house, to dinner at The Garden with friends. And let me just say that I am obsessed with this orange-red shade lately (these jeans have had a number of appearances on the blog already).

If you follow us (or should I say ME) on Instagram, you would have seen these sunglasses make their debut already. If you are connected to the Instagram machine via the Internet machine via your iPhone machine, you can follow away!! Typey-type @fickle_sense to find me..... and don't be a stranger. Say hi!!!

Kaye xx

Berlin - a distant memory

(Circle skirt dress: Made by mahaila < ------ check her tutorial here. Shoes: Kmart. Sunglasses: Free with a pack of Strongbow)

My trip to Europe now feels like a distant and magical memory. My patients at work still ask me about my favourite part of the trip. When they do, I immediately remember the feeling of what it was like to discover the little world that my sister has built for herself on the other side of the globe.  

On this day, mahaila and I took advantage of the sunny weather and played table tennis out in the park. I wore mahaila's dress with my canvas lace-ups. Something about the sun and the beautiful city made me want to dress far more girly than usual. I kind of just wanted to skip around the city.

These sunglasses (which I lost in Amsterdam eeeeergggh!!!) have "STRONGBOW" written in large white writing on the side.  For our international readers, Strongbow is a company that makes beer and cider. The Canadian guy on my tour asked, "Strongbow - is that an expensive designer in Australia?" After a little giggle to myself, I explained where I got them from :)

Kaye xx

Contoured bodice with more circles

The Germans are certainly not shy when it comes to supporting their local community. It is often that you will find yourself stumbling across a protest in one form or another. 

A while back we attended the community organised protest which supported the preservation of the very popular Berlin street, Kastanienallee. The council is pushing to widen the street which means all of the chestnut trees will disappear and in turn lose some of the character of the area. The protest consisted of; street side stalls, live music, performances, eating and drinking, children drawing with chalk on the roads and people enjoying the general 'buzz' of the event. And to add to all of the excitement Peaches was playing for free! Unfortunately we couldn't attend the Peaches performance.... still regretting that! We took the last few shots in our fav Berlin park Friedrichshain Volkspark.

THE DRESS: 

I made this little black dress using the contoured bodice technique. There are still a few adjustments that I need to make with my pattern (e.g. further decrease above the bust) but I am glad I got this one dress completed. I have had contouring on my 'to do' list for a while and have a few more dresses in mind. The skirt is a half circle skirt.... yes again with the circle skirts. I am obsessed! .. oh and stay tuned for my circle skirt tutorials (I assure you I will complete this soon... just need a few more hours in my day:) )

THE BLOUSE: 

I purchased this blouse from a second hand store in the DDR section. I love finding DDR treasures. Learning about Berlin's history makes second hand shopping all the more exciting! 

Photography: Michael Dooney

modesty is my best quality

(Dress: Plastic Island (previously worn here and here). Boots: Matiko. Cardigan: Sussan. Bag: Lily Rose). 

This is part two of our down south getaway. I'm still wishing I was back there.....

This shirt dress was a nice length when I first got it, but it shrunk with one wash. I tried to wear it with ankle boots on a recent outing with some friends. One of them told me to put some pants on. I'd say that's a fair call. Somehow I feel that wearing OTK boots with this shirt dress is the same as wearing pants. Deep down I know its not, but I still want to wear the damn shirt dress, so please just let me continue to believe that I've reached a satisfactory level of modesty with this outfit. 

Kaye xx

fashion - not just for the eye

(Dress: Temt. Vest: Sportsgirl. Jacket: Topshop ( <------- remember it in one of the very first Fickle Sense posts???). Shoes: Jessica Simpson. Jewellery: Various.)

I want to layer this vest over and under EVERYTHING. It's very heavy, so I'm aware of it all the time. I love clothes that you can 'feel' on your body in one way or another. Kind of in the same way that I like to balance on super high shoes..... and in the same way that I love having a long and heavy velvet maxi dress swooshing around my legs. Fashion is supposed to be fun, and while others may detest having things dangling, swooshing, clunking, hanging, tugging and clinking on their body, my sensory system craves the constant sensory input. Pleeeaaaase tell me I'm not the only one??

Kaye xx

CUT mag 4 dress! + Berlin parks

 

The other weekend we took the tram north up to Prenzlauerberg Volkspark to take these photos. It was an interesting park and it definitely had a strange feeling about it. This visit further clarified that Volkspark Friedrichshain is our favourite park in Berlin. It is well maintained, there are numerous sporting areas (we spend WAY too many hours playing table tennis there!), you can lay for hours in the sun, have grills and visit the fairytale fountain.

However one thing that many of these parks have in common are the some what out of place high hills. To the casual observer these hills are great for fitness and there is always a fantastic view, however there is a history to these artificial hills. These hills are in fact piles of rubble or Schuttberg. After WW2 rubble was transported to these park areas and built up to create these high points. Berlin is so full of history and it is incredibly easy to walk around completely oblivious to it all. Naturally, the more we explore the city the more insight we gain. 

  

DRESS!

This dress is a pattern from CUT magazine number 4 (CUT is a german sewing mag that you can get here). The skirt section (with the houses on it) is made out of a curtains and the striped material on the bodice is from the markets. I do like to silhouette of the dress, it is definitely a cute day time dress.  

Photos: Michael Dooney 

velvet, lace, acnes and wine

(Dress: Topshop (<----- remember it here?). Cardigan: (<---- worn here!). Scarf: borrowed from mum. Shoes: Acne. Rings: Etsy and Fashionology.)

Robert and I visited the valley again. We went to the same winery and were teased by the same guy as mentioned in this post. After consuming generous tasting portions from the entire wine list, I stumbled in my new Acnes to a random creek. I normally wouldn't post a blurry photo, but couldn't resist. That photo portrays exactly how I felt that day. Happily drunk in my thrown-together outfit of textured goodness, getting all muddy in a very expensive pair of shoes. Best day I've had in a long time. 

Kaye xx

The right time of the year

(Dress: Princess Polly. Rings: Etsy and Fashionology. Necklaces: Etsy.)

It's weird that when this dress first arrived at my doorstep on the 26th of October 2010, I posted on the blog:

"The arrival of the Princess Polly dress... Now I just have to wait for the weather to heat up..."

Well it heated up, with one of the hottest and longest summers Perth has seen. And guess what? It hid in my closet. I don't know why, but I didn't gravitated towards this dress. The weather has only just started cooling down again, and in what seems to be the most inappropriate time of the year, I have felt the urge to wear it daily. 

I constantly feel my style evolving and changing. I sometimes have clothes in my closet that I look at, consider, and think "I like you. I know I'll want you someday, but not now."

Yes, I talk to my clothes. Is that weird? ;)

Thanks to Mary (and her amazingly creative mind) for taking these beautiful photos. 

Kaye xx

"Witchery x Proenza Schouler"

(Dress: Shopcuffs. Bag: Witchery. Shoes: Shoebox. Jacket: Asos. Sunglasses: Strongbow?)

I wore this to a friend's birthday last Sunday at the pub. This is my go-to outfit combo, almost to the point of it becoming my uniform. Short dress + boots + leather jacket + a shit load of rings + a necklace or two. 

My Forever New sunnies are stranded on my friend's boat so I adopted these sunnies. They came free with a six-pack of Strongbow. Apart from the fact that they have STRONGBOW written on the side in white, I like them. 

This is Witchery's blatant copy of the PS1. I love the dusty/taupe colour so I borrowed it from mum. I don't understand how Witchery is allowed to produce such a blatant copy. But hey, I'm still sporting it on the crook of my elbow so I'm not one to talk. 

Kaye xx

it's spring! with a cut out back

As usual, the other weekend we set out to explore a part of Berlin which we had not yet visited. This time we caught the train up to the Observatory. There was one particular aspect of the day that we were very excited about. Michael had a different camera to try out. He hired a Mamiya RB67. This camera does produce some nice images, but as expected it was very heavy. So it is not ideal for travelling. 

Another factor to be excited about is the Spring weather! I know that I keep referring to the weather here in Europe, but it effects everyone's happiness levels. The city is transformed. There are flowers popping up in unexpected places. People are laughing and smiling on the streets. The parks are populated with people jogging, playing table tennis, soccer and of course drinking beers with the hazy smoke from a grill. Everything just seems more alive.      

     

THE DRESS:

Three design features that I have been thinking about lately include; a cut out back; block colours; and fabric manipulation through tucking. I tried to incorporate these three elements into this dress. I was quite happy with how simple the cut out back was to achieve. I am a fan of garments which feature the back so I will be making more of these! The tucking (you can just see it on the black waist band) is time consuming but worth it. All in all I am not too happy with how it turned out, but I learnt a bit from the design and construction processes. 

Photos: Michael Dooney (except for the last one, taken by me!)