Nautical Wiggles with Tatyana Boutique and Collectif ~ Embracing my curves

I've always been on the curvier side. Whether its at my smallest or my biggest. That has never changed. Probably never will and its something for the most part I'm ok with. I have found though, since putting on a bit of weight last year that I've been shying away from wiggle styles which is sad as they are a style I used to adore and wear very regularly. While I am trying to work a healthier lifestyle back into my recently changed life and hectic schedule, I have also made the decision that I don't want to let my insecurities rule me and as a result I've been trying to work wiggle styles back into my wardrobe.

Scarf ~ Repro red nylon scarf
Earrings ~ Gold glitter hoops from Daisy Jean Floral Designs
Brooch ~ Happy Feet Brooch by Erstwilder From Coconette Oz
Top ~ Discontinued from Tatyana Boutique
Skirt ~ Agarva Linen Navy Skirt by Collectif bought from Gwynnies
Shoes ~ Loraine Heels in red from Royal Vintage Shoes 

I picked up this gorgeous nautical blouse by Tatyana Boutique on sale at the Sydney Rock n Roll markets quite a few months ago and didn't really have a whole lot to wear it with. I was hungering for a navy wiggle skirt to wear it with and had been attempting to hunt down the original skirt they made to match, however its been discontinued for quite some time and I wasn't successful. When snapping myself up a gorgeous jumper from Gwynnies recently, I saw the Agarva skirt by Collectif in the sale section, on a whim I added it to my cart with the idea of this combo in mind.

So this gorgeous skirt arrived and despite getting the large I remember holding it up to look at it and feeling rather unsure. It didn't look very big and the straps looked huge. I tried it on and while the skirt fit pleasantly well, despite being a little loose in the waist, the straps due to my teeny shoulders were HUGE. So I removed them (they attach with buttons) and wore the skirt as a stand alone piece.

When I wore them together I was absolutely thrilled that they went so perfectly together! So much so I’ve had a lot of comments about it looking like a dress. I love the dip in the front of the waist. It really does help accentuate the waist and really brings something different to the look. As I mentioned above, this skirt does come with matching straps that are attached via buttons. As I suspected, the large straps on the skirt would be too big, despite needing the large for hips. This is easily fixed though, as popping new button holes further up the straps will make them smaller and better for wear.

I must admit, putting this outfit on, I felt like an absolute babe. I had a wiggle in my walk and a wiggle in my talk. I felt incredible and that is something beautiful. It can be incredibly hard in the world today to feel good about how you look but sometimes all you need is a killer outfit to help make you feel that way. This outfit certainly helped do that for me. The Agarva skirt is currently on sale from Gwynnies for $52AUD. It’s a skirt I can see myself getting quite a bit of wear out of and its one I’d recommend!

To style this shoot I decided to mix and match my colours a bit. I wore a red scarf to pop the colour of my shoes. I wore my gold glitter hoops from Daisy Jean Floral Designs which are currently my favorite thing. And keeping with the nautical theme without being too clique I opted to wear the adorable Happy Feet penguin brooch by Erstwilder that I got from Coconette Oz! Who doesn’t love a happy penguin!

I hope you’ve all enjoyed this post. As always, I’m happy to answer any questions you may want to leave in the comments!

Til next time lovelies!

Weekly Outfits ~ 25th January 2016

Hello darlings,

This weeks outfits are only a few! It was Australia day on Tuesday and having had a rough night on Monday (a panic attack) I spent the day recovering and bumming around in gym gear. Also this weekend I've not been 100% so no pretty outfits either. But I'm excited for my move to get under way so I can get back to having access to all my clothes instead of living out of bags!

Monday

Flowers ~ Blue Signature Rose Double from Daisy Jean Floral Designs
Necklace ~ Pink beads from Debstar Designs
Brooch ~ Eau De Toilette Brooch from Erstwilder
Top/Belt/skirt - Hell Bunny from Gwynnies
Shoes ~ Halina Shoes from Royal Vintage Shoes

Wednesday 

Flowers ~ Red Rose Double from Daisy Jean Floral Designs
Necklace ~ Blue Beads from Debstar Designs
Brooch ~ Drink Me Alice Cup in Pink from Im Lucky Charm
Dress ~ Harriet dress from Dolly and Dotty (read my review here)
Shoes ~ Halina shoes from Royal Vintage Shoes

Wednesday

Flowers ~ Blue Rose Double from Daisy Jean Floral Designs
Brooch ~ Way of the Welt brooch from The Nylon Swish
Top ~ Deadly Dames red top (discontinued)
Suit (jacket and skirt) ~ Manhattan Suit from Tatyana Boutique (discontinued)
Shoes ~ Betty Heels from Royal Vintage Shoes

Friday

Top ~ No Brand
Skirt ~ Hell Bunny (discontinued)
Shoes ~ Payless Shoes

I'm hoping that this weeks outfits will be incredible as I have some exciting stuff coming, some exciting stuff to share! I also should nearly be finished breaking in my Vamp which will mean I should be able to review it at the end of February.

I'm also going to start doing some blog posts that show the same item styled multiple ways after a suggestion from an instagram lady!

Catch you all tomorrow darlings!

The Corporate pinup ~ How I dress pinup in a corporate environment!

The corporate pinup!So I’m a corporate pinup. I’ve found a way to take my style and make it work in a corporate environment and thought I’d share a few tips and tricks I’ve personally found to make my style work appropriate. This is what works for me and the company I work for, you may have to tweak it slightly to work for your own.

Clothes & Accessories

Top styles!

The biggest tips I can say here are to keep the cleavage for at home and stay away from halter straps! I don’t wear any of my halter dresses or tops at work because they just aren't work appropriate. Any tops I have that are good work wear but might be a bit on the ‘busty’ side I wear a singlet top underneath so my chest is covered. I aim to wear tops that have at a minimum capped sleeves but if they don’t (some of my dresses have straps) I just make sure I wear a little bolero or cardigan so I’m covered! As the office is air con'd and quite cool, I tend to wear long sleeve tops primarily to work except on Fridays when I wear t-shirts. For some examples of my tops, see below!

Kmart top, Erstwilder Brooch, Hellbunny Skirt, Pinup Couture Heels

Pin Up Girl Clothing Doris Top and Skirt (in atomic print), Daisy Jean Flowers, Erstwilder Brooch, Pinup Couture shoes

Skirts and Trousers!!

I wear a lot of my swing skirts to work. Their length is work appropriate and I have SO many of them! When I wear a swing skirt to work, I wear it with a crinoline instead of a petticoat. This still gives me the 50’s shape without being too ‘fun & flirty’ for work. I bought my crinolines years ago on ebay (you can get them in a range of colours) and for moving back into a more corporate role they have been a lifesaver. Wiggle skirts keep to the high waisted designs with lengths to around the knees with skirt splits not too high up! Here I'm wearing a Pin Up Girl clothing skirt to give you an idea of what I mean. I am also loving my PUG pants for work as well for days I don't feel like wearing a dress. Teaming these with classic pinup style tops is still a great work option! See below for some of my outfits!

Dangerfield top, Hellbunny Belt, PUG Venice Jenny Skirt, Kmart Pumps

Collectif Alice Top, PUG black cigarette pants, Erstwilder Brooch, Pinup Couture Cutie Heels

Repro nylon scarf, Dangerfield top, Hell bunny belt, PUG harlequin jenny skirt, Pinup Couture pink cutie heels

Lady Rowe Hair flowers, Erstwilder Brooch, Target top, PUG black Cigarette Pants, Kmart pumps

PUG Doris Top and PUG red wiggle skirt, Erstwilder Brooch and Pinup Couture red cutie heels

Red Doris Top, Creep Heart Brooch, PUG Black Cigarette Pants, Pinup Couture Red Cutie Heels

PUG white top, Erstwilder Brooch, PUG high waisted trousers and Rubi Shoes sandals. 

Also, a note to mention on both: be mindful of the patterns you wear! Make sure your patterns aren’t inappropriate for work. Cherries for example might be fine while cartoon pinups in bikinis or zombies, not so much!

Dresses!

While I do budget shop a lot of my tops, shoes and cardigans, my dresses are all brand dresses! I wear a mix of my swing dresses that are sleeved and my wiggle dresses to work. Pin Up Girl Clothing, Tatyana Boutique and Stop Staring are my current workwear favorites. Again, keep bust to a minimum and patterns classy. And have fun! One of my favorite things atm is to match tops under my Havana nights dress for example to give it a different look! If you have a dress with thinner straps, wear a bolero or cardigan with it to make it more work appropriate.

PUG Havana nights dress, collectif Western top, Erstwilder brooch, hellbunny belt, Pinup Couture Heels

Erstwilder Brooch, Stop Staring Dress, Pinup Couture Pink Cutie Heels

PUG jenny dress in lavender, Cardigan by Dangerfield, Creep Heart Brooch, Rubi Shoes Flats.

Tatyana Boutique Dress, Pinup Couture Red Cutie Heels

Lady Rowe Flower, Hell Bunny Constance Dress & belt, Pinup Couture pink cutie heels

Special mention to suits!

Some pinup brands (Tatyana boutique and Pinup Couture) now sell Vintage inspired suits as well as you can actually find and buy real vintage suits! These suits are always amazing to work in (really! They are built for office wear!) and I am fortunate enough to have found one suit for less than the cost of one part on ebay! Seriously pinups in offices, get on this!

Tatyana Boutique Checkered Swing Suit & Pinup Couture pink cutie heels!

Shoes!

I wear both flats and heels to work. Try and stay away from super high platform pumps: keep those for shoots and going out. Sensible heels and nice flats are the go here! 

Stockings/shapewear!

Don’t be afraid to wear your vintage undergarments to work! I do! No one is going to know and there’s nothing wrong with wearing your suspenders, back seamed stockings (though if your workplace is a bit stricter maybe go for a plain nude stocking or a nude back seam?) and what not as long as it suits the clothes you are wearing!! I cannot stress this enough! The number of spanx I see that are so far under skirts in the city is a bit mind blowing.

Hair and pieces!

Keep them modest and more on the smaller side. Keep the BIG statement pieces for at home. I often wear my scarves on casual Friday. It really depends on your workplace to how vintage you can style it. While I wear a wetset or pony and bangs most days, I wouldn’t wear my MASSIVE bumper bangs to work as they just aren’t work appropriate. A wet set is a safe bet for most corporate places, most women wear their hair out now days anyway from what I’ve seen in my local city!

Accessories!

Most accessories are pretty ok, as long as they don’t feature language or elements that one would consider offensive. For example, I comfortably wear all my brooches to work except the one I have which is oddly enough, a pinup in a bikini. Just be mindful of language and content.

Make up

I’m pretty free to do my make up as I like as long as its ‘tasteful’. Most classic pinup makeup is. If your work is a bit stricter maybe only line half your lid with a flick or a brown eyeliner and go for softer or nude lipsticks as oppose to the usual punchy red!

My aim every morning is to look presentable, tasteful but also true to myself. I’m very proud of my pinup self and I hope this helps!

I'll be posting an updated pinup shopping guide in the next few days!

Another post coming soon!

Wishlist Wednesday - 25/2/2015 - Office chic

Hello all!

Its Wednesday which means its Wishlist Wednesday!

As I'm back in an office full time now to a shift in my work schedule, office chic pinup pieces are now HIGH on my wishlist...and really I have two stops to fill this need: 

Pin Up Girl Clothing and Tatyana Boutique!

I currently have a BIG wishlist for more...office friendly pin up attire which means I'm hoping to order new goodies very soon and some of those I'll be sharing below!

Pin Up Girl Clothing!

I'm honestly a HUGE lover of this brand! Literally, I have a wardrobe devoted solely to my PUG collection! Below are some of their more office friendly pieces I'm currently hungry for!

Midnight Stripe Estelle top ~ $60.00

Kinky Ruffles Skirt in red ~ $108

I honestly ADORE both of these so much and lvoe the colours together! As I'm in need of some more wiggle styles for work, this is right on my list!

Lauren dress in blue and black ~ $124.00

Forever a lover of dresses that look like a skirt and a top, I've been a massive fan of this baby since she came out and I'm starting to think its time I made her mine!

1930's Wide Legged pants in black ~ $80.00

I've never really been a fan of wide legged pants but I think seeing how well Doris wears them may have converted me! These will be incredible this coming winter!

High Waisted cropped trousers in black ~ $82.00

I already own these in another colour and they are INCREDIBLE! I seriously need the black for work though, these would be so much fun to match with colourful tops!

Bejewelled beauty dress in black ~ $82.00

I've been in LOVE with this dress since it was released. Even though I don't think its something I'd be comfortable in, I really love the cut!

Tatyana's Boutique

I already own quite a few Tatyana dresses and I LOVE them for work, already having worn one in the last week! Below I'll be listing some favorites I would LOVE to add to that list!

Beverly Form Fitting Pale Green Pencil Dress ~ on sale  ~ $33

I honestly LOVE this dress! The cut, the colours, how much fun it would be to accessories! And on sale! Talk about a WIN!!

Rita Dress in Turquoise ~ $94.00

I've loved the Rita since I first saw her, something about being a redhead and green! But its definitely on my list now more than ever! This beauty WILL be mine!

Sierra in black ~ $108.00

I originally loved Sierra in green, but recently have fallen in love with her black counterpart! So beautifully simple and elegant! Maybe I'll still get the green for Christmas!

Snuggle Jacket ~ $83.00

Snuggle Skirt ~ $83.00

After my first Tatyana suit arriving in the mail and falling IN LOVE I am now eyeing this one off for winter! It screams first lady, which I adore and I am a huge lover of Navy!

So that's it for my wishlist! Looking forward to sharing more with you next week!

I'm rededicating myself to this blog space so there is a LOT coming up! I'll post a list later for you all!

Favorite Outfits of January 2015

Hi again! 

So basically I just wanted to start doing a post around the end of a month of my favorite outfits for the month before!

So here are January's Favorite Outfits!

Hair Flowers: Daisy Jean Floral

Earrings: Sparklelux

Top/Skirt: Hell Bunny

Belt: PUG ~ Off a seperate outfit

Shoes: Payless

Flowers: Lady Rowe

Necklace: Debstar Designs

Bustier: No Name

Skirts: Pin Up Girl Clothing

Shoes Pin Up Girl Clothing

Scarf: Closet Confessions Boutique

Bustier: Vintage Repro

Belt: eBay

Brooch: Erstwilder

Skirt, shoes & bag: Pin Up Girl Clothing

Beret: No brand

Top: Kmart

Brooch: Deer Arrow

Belt: Ebay

Skirt: Pin Up Girl Clothing ~ Discontinued

Stockings: No name

Suspenders: What Katie Did 

Shoes: TUK ~ Discontinued

Scarf: Closet Confessions Boutique

Necklace: Debstar Designs

Top: Pin Up Girl Clothing

Belt: eBay

Skirt: Steady Clothing

Shoes: Bordello

Dress: Tatyana Boutique

Shoes: Pin Up Girl Clothing

Brooch: Erstwilder

Dress & Shoes: Pin Up Girl Clothing

So there are my favorites for January! What did you think? What were your favorites and why?

More coming now!

Missi aka Miss Osiria Rose

xXx

Pinup Wardrobe basics ~ The staples to a starter wardrobe

Its post time! Taking a break from my flower making to do a post about something I get asked frequently, that is about the staples to a starter pinup wardrobe! This post IS BIG just as a warning!

Prior to embracing pinup life around 18 months ago, I literally have NOTHING that was pinup in style! My previous style of dress which basically was a more bo-ho style as its loose styles meant clothes had more chance of fitting me. I hated the style but it was all that worked with my body so I stuck with it. It wasn't til I took the plunge in late 2012 and bought myself my first hell bunny dress that started a love affair!

I get a lot of asks about how I started building my wardrobe, so I thought I'd do a post detailing things that are inherently 'pinup' that you can get to get a starter pinup wardrobe!

Dresses:

While there are some 'pants' brands within pinup (I'll discuss them a little later on!) most pinups wear skirts or dresses! When I started out, I favored dresses over separates as they provided an entire outfit in one purchase and they helped me build up the confidence to feel I could style separates.

The two types of dresses that pinups primarily wear are swing dresses and wiggle dresses.

Swing dresses are characteristically tight on the upper body and flared at the hips! They can come in a variety of styles and can be worn with or without a petticoat. Swing dresses are fun, great for girls who are a big self conscious of their lower half and offer the body a great silhouette. Swing dresses can be full or more of an aline in cut as well, depending on the make and style. Swing dresses in block colours, polka dots, florals, harlequin prints, gingham, cherries/fruit, classical animal prints and other bright patterns are great pinup staples!

Hell Bunny Miriam Dress in green

 Examples of swing dresses can be seen below:

Lindy Bop Audrey Dress in red Gingham

Pin Up Girl Clothing Maria Dress in Blue and Green Floral

Tatyana Boutique Malibu Dress in red

The other type of dress pinups wear a lot are wiggles/pencils! Wiggles are characteristically firm fitting and tight, designed to show of your curves by embracing the hips! These are great if you want something that screams SEXY and want to channel your inner Marilyn Monroe. Again, these can come in a variety of cuts, colours and patterns! Some go from being extremely Va-Va Voom while others go for a more demure classic cut. When buying wiggles ensure to take into account the fabric as it will dictate the amount of stretch in ag garment which will affect the fit. These again can come in a variety of prints as listed before as well as block colours! Some examples from various companies can be seen below:

 Hell Bunny - Magali Dress

Lindy Bop Vanessa Dress in red/white dot

Pin Up Girl Clothing Monica Dress in Teal

Tatyana Pencil Dress in leopard

Separates:

There are a lot of different separates that can be incorporated into a wardrobe but first I'm going to talk about tops/skirts and then brand out!

There are a HUGE variety of pinup style tops that one can wear to give the right look! Companies tend to have multiple top styles within their brand which is great for variety! I find tops with structure give the best finish for the pinup look! I've decided to break tops (and skirts) by company to show you the variety that is available! Tops can be matched with skirts, shorts or pants for a complete look and as you will see there is a HUGE variety of shapes and fits!

 I suggest for a starter wardrobe getting tops in at least your basic block colours: red, black and white in a shape you like best. Most pinup brands their tops in a variety of colours. PUG tops are personally my preference due to their incredible structure which give AMAZING shape but the others below are equally as great!
As I branched out I started incorporating more colours and top prints into my wardrobe.

Hellbunny tops:

Shelli Top in pink

Skelebow top in pink

Rock on Crop top ~ Designs with a matching skirt

Felicity top

Dannielle top

Lindy Bop tops: 

Ally top in red Jersey

Cillia Top in red

Frenchy top in black/white polkadot

Linda top in blue/white polkadot

Pin Up Girl Clothing:

Doris Top in White

Sean top in purple

Lauren top in White

Zooey Top in Red

Vixen top in red

Vamp top in baby blue

Peasant top in white

Collectif

Dolores top in black

Freddie knitted top

Alice top in pink

Tatyana Boutique:

Pullover in purple

Tie top in white

Skirts:

Just like dresses, there are two different kind of skirts that are primarily worn by pinups: swing and wiggle/pencil. However, there are again multiple types of swing skirt (wiggle remains pretty uniform across the board). In pinup fashion the skirt is always worn on the hips generally with the shirt tucked in! Just like the tops, I've broken skirts into brands. My personal favorites for skirts are again Pin Up Girl Clothing and Hell bunny! I prefer to keep my tops in block colours and have fun with prints in the skirts! Florals, gingham, cherries, polka dots and more! You also can't go wrong with one plain black swing skirt either! Its a great staple and mine is personally the Doris Skirt in Black from PUG. I'm also a HUGE fan of the PUG Jenny skirt range! I've listed some of my favorites!

Swing first:

Hell Bunny:

Lacey Skirt in Turquoise

Paula Skirt in Pastels

August Skirt

Mariam Skirt

Pin Up Girl Clothing

Doris skirt in black

Jenny Skirt in Classic Harlequin

Jenny skirt in castle print

Audrey Skirt in pink

Kinky skirt in Red Hawaiian print

Lindy Bop:

Peggy Skirt in black

Peggy skirt in turquoise florals

Peggy skirt in red/white polka dot

Collectif 

Liesel Gingham Circle Skirt

Aida Zak Natalia Skirt

Mary Plain Swing Skirt

Tatyana Boutique

Black rose skirt

Fan skirt

Poodles of Paris skirt

Wiggle/pencil skirts are a great staple in any pinup wardrobe! Again there are a variety of brands/fabrics/patterns out there! Skirts are a great alternative for wiggle dresses if your body size varies a lot from top to bottom!

Hell Bunny:

Joni Skirt

Lock Heart Pencil Skirt

Western Pencil Skirt

Bebe Rock Skirt

Pin Up Girl Clothing:

Retro skirt in black

Deadly Curves Skirt

Kinky Ruffles pencil skirt

Collectif:

Agarva Blackwatch Check Skirt

Polly Polka Flock Skirt

Vanya Cherry Skirt

Tatyana Boutique:

Catwalk Skirt red

Manhattan skirt

Shorts and pants

Shorts are amazing in summer for your pinup look! Pants & jeans are great for the winter months. The trick is to keep it high waisted! High waisted shorts/pants give you that hourglass shape by nipping you at the waist! Play with colours and patterns here too! Great with tie tops and crop tops in summer or structured tops in winter! If you aren't a fan of tight pants then swing pants may be the go for you! Capris are also killer! I have 2 pairs of capris and 1 pair of carpenter jeans and they are amazing!

Hell Bunny:

Pin Up Girl Clothing:

High waisted trousers in Tropical Print

Capris Pants in hot pink

Cigarette Pants in black

High Waisted Harlequin Shorts

Collectif:

Marilyn Cropped Jeans

Bonnie Blackwatch Cigarette Trousers

Glenda Swing Pants

Tatyana Boutique:

Carpenter Capris

Cardigans

Cardigans are the quintessential pinup staple when it comes to keeping warm. I'm not going to devote a huge section to these! I honestly buy most of mine from no name stores in different colours! Cropped and full length are both great. Brands like Hell Bunny do gorgeous embroided cardigans if you want something with a pattern and then there is the highly sought Dita Cardigan from Wheels & Doll Baby 

A cardigan should compliment your outfit. Having a range of colours is great for mix and match as well!

Petticoats & Crinolines

Petticoats and Crinolines are designed to be worn under swing styles to give a fuller shape. By flaring the skirt at the base it smooths your hips and makes your waist look small! This diagram isn't necessarily pinup specific but you get the gist!

My recommended petticoats are from Vivien Of Holloway or if you are budget conscious Hell Bunny (can be found on eBay and a lot of suppliers).

If...you aren't ready for the fullness of a petticoat I suggest picking up a Crinoline instead. I started with them and they gave me enough shape to eventually be confident enough to take the dive to a fuller petticoat. I picked up my first one on ebay for $9.99 and it helped me feel comfortable in a slightly shaped skirt

Shoes: 

Finally we near the end! Shoes! Now shoes are probably the easiest part of pinup! Flats can be as simple as ballet flats:

 They don't need to be expensive. I use to buy mine from kmart when I just started out!

Saddle shoes are also a great staple flat for a vintage look!

As well as tennis shoes!

Sandals are also great in achieving the pinup look!

And this season Jelly Flats also came into fashion!

For a more authentic look I'd recommend BAIT footwear for a range of flat and heels!

In regards to heels, most wedges and classic pumps are also appropriate! Have fun with colours and fabrics of your shoes! They can really add to an outfit!

Above all else remember to have fun, take risks and find what works for YOU and YOUR style!

I'm going to leave that here! I think this post is long enough! I hope you found it helpful! I'll be bringing a budget buy guide to you all over the coming week as well!

Weekly outfit overview on its way! Til later!

xXx