Winter sun...

Winter sun. Camelias and books. Lazy mornings spent lounging in florals. Cups of tea and love love love.

What's a megapixel?

Apologies for the lengthy delay between posts. Truth be told technology baffles me. My lap top is coming up to its fifth birthday, I hear that's pretty old in lap top land...(should I mention that for me it's number one selling point was that it was a lovely red colour?)
It's doing all kinds of weird things, there's warnings for this/troubleshooting for that..  It makes my head spin, I wouldn't know a gigabyte from a megapixel. Uploads, downloads, network sharing, wireless, bluetooth...oh gosh! To me it's another language. I'd rather personally hand write to to all of my Facebook friends then sit down and work out how to link up my Twitter account with my Instagram account (yes I Tweet now! Can someone please tell me about hashtags??) 
So please bare with me as I muddle my way through (feel free to throw advice at me, it will be much appreciated!)


Gemma Grace Xx

She wore flowers in her hair.

I went to see Boy & Bear last week. Now ladies... who's with me, that lead singer guy is dreamy right? Ahhhhhhhhh......yep! My Mr doesn't think...''Seriously!? That guy?? He looks like a creepy fat football necked lizard alien." Hmmmmmm I think not, Dreamy he is..

That's Mr Dreamy from Boy & Bear away in the distance...

Anyway, I'm getting side tracked, what I really wanted to tell you about was one of the support bands. Tin Sparrow; they had this "happy, hippy daisy, I just rolled out of bed looking simultaneously this dishevelled and wonderful and I don't care what you think'' vibe about them. I thought they were fantastic, music wise and style wise. There was a girl in the band and she wore flowers in her hair, like a little wreath type thing just sitting atop her head. It set me off on a little day dream about days in the sun, years ago, with my sister making clover and daisy chains in our big backyard. Oh to be be ten again!

She wore flowers in her hair...

That got me thinking about a shoot an amazingly talented friend of mine styled. It has that same kind of magical, free spirit, I'm just a pretty girl having the time of my life feel going on.The guy who styled it, Mitchell Steed, is fab. We met at our first class at Fashion college. I can't remember what it was exactly that we bonded over that day (fashion related no doubt) but we must have been chatting away about something interesting because we bypassed the bus stops and walked all the way from our college at Glebe to Central Station. Since I've moved back to this sleepy town he has been keeping me amused with little snippets from fabulous industry parties, fashion week shows and incredible shoots. "I was at a party thinking that guy looks like Henry Holland...then realised IT WAS HENRY HOLLAND!!!" and "Wish you were here to share Fashion Week with me. Romance was Born made me have a visual orgasm!" I in turn have been keeping him amused with snippets of my small town princessy existence "at the last meeting we got deportment notes and learnt how to eat a bread roll properly..."

Thought I'd share with you his oh so lovely shoot here.

(More on how one should properly eat a bread roll at a later date...)

Enjoy.

Gemma Grace Xx

Images: Poster Magazine

A sweet small town Sunday.

I don't know about you but Oh my gosh I love Sundays! Not to take anything away from Saturdays they can be good too. To me though a Saturday can be likened to a date you're really looking forward to...You wait for it with great anticipation, counting down the days with excitement brewing in your belly then you wind up going somewhere you don't really want to go and doing something you don't really want to do... A trip to Woolworths followed by cleaning the bathroom anyone?? (a Saturday that is, not a date.) Sundays on the other hand can be simply luscious...

My love of Sundays probably also stems from the fact that I no longer have to work on them. A typical Sunday in Dublin involved me waking to the sound of St Patrick's Cathedrals bells. I lived beside it, which sounds romantic..but oh those bells!! At times they were just too much. (For a month or so I dated a lovely boy who was brought up with such a fear of God that he wouldn't so much as sit next to me on the couch when he heard those bells...) Anyway I digress, back to typical Dublin Sundays. They were not my finest. I'd wake bleary eyed after an hour or so sleep, stumble around trying to find an appropriate outfit whilst simultaneously trying not to wake my Brazilian room mate, step outside (generally into lashing rain), and make my way to the Luas (tram) stop. Upon arriving at the gorgeous little boutique I worked at I'd open up and wait the agonisingly long hour until my Sunday co-worker Miss C arrived, whereupon we'd gingerly sip on Butler's hot chocolates and compare stories from the night before... By 8pm I'd have perked myself up and be heading across the city to Parnell street for pints and live music at an Aussie bar. It's surprising how patriotic you become whilst living overseas. Would I down Foster's and watch football matches in pubs here? Never. But my time in Dublin was a different story.

The Sunday's I have now differ greatly from those Dublin Sundays. (I miss Dublin like crazy, the hangovers not so much). Today was lovely, a sweet small town Sunday. No hangover. I was in bed by 11 last night, must be getting old. My day consisted of a quaint market at the local art gallery, tea and scones with a wonderful friend, lunch with my Mr and now dinner with the family. Bliss.

I hope you had a lovely Sunday too.

Gemma Grace Xx

Today I'm  all cosied up in my yummy new Morrison knit, worn over  EP by Easton Pearson dress, with my fave hat; bought at Sportsgirl years ago and black scarf from I can't remember where. The wallet is Arlington Milne (it recently caught on fire at a friends birthday dinner and now has a big hole in it. Sob!)

Delicious!

Gorgeous little locally made beads.

Lovely lavender out the front of the Gallery.

Stunning hats by local milliner Katie Sutton. Katie is super talented and dreams up and makes the most wonderful hats! 

Birthday pressie for my mum. Loved this antique bottle, it's actually a beer bottle from the 1880's. No beer today, just gorgeous yellow roses. Xx

A scarf from Paris. A ring from Dublin. A watch from this sleepy little town.

I believe in creativity, quirkiness, beauty in the unexpected.
I believe in clothes as the most wonderful form of self expression. You may think that sounds totally naff and dare I say a little bit of a wank... but for me fashion is all about having a creative outlet. I'm no artist (that's my sisters domain), definately not a musician (that's my Mr's domain) fashion is where it's at for me and I simply adore it!

So here's what I'm wearing today... Mavi Jeans, Morrison shirt, Jac & Jack Sweater, Topshop Boots and my favourite scarf. (Did I also mention I believe in comfortable fashion? Perhaps I'm not a true 'fashionista' but heels just make me want to cry!)

 LOVE these boots!!! They re-surfaced three days ago after two years of being held captive in a box of my sisters stuff. Can not even tell you how excited I was to be reunited with them!

This scarf has to be one of my favourite EVER items. I got it in Paris, which sounds terribly romantic and chic...Oh how I'd love to tell you that I purchased it from a luxurious boutique somewhere in the Faubourg Saint-Honore district...the truth is I found it in one of those trashy tourist souvenier shops crammed in next to the postcards and fridge magnets...oh well, I still do love it.
The claddagh ring is from my home away from home; Dublin, the silver swirly one a 21st present from my lovely mum and the other two are from a certain costume jewellery chain which shall remain nameless (mainly because I used to work for them and saying their name makes me see red...but that's a whole other story!) The watch is Nixon and is all scratched up from days of working in a skate shop in this sleepy little town (I can put a skateboard together...I can not skate...)

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

I have a fervent wish to fly away mixed with an overwhelming desire to stay.

I grew up a small town girl, then at the tender age of 19 (and on a whim) I moved to the other side of the world. I promptly fell in love with an Irishman then just as promptly had my heart broken by said Irishman.
I made new friends. I partied. I cut all my hair off. I dated numerous unsuitable men. I drank cocktails in dingy, hot hostels in Paris. Danced in seedy nightclubs in Amsterdam. Basked in the beauty that is Dubrovnik. Fell head over heels in love with Barcelona. Sprained my ankle in Munich. Drank gin in London. Got ripped off in Rome, yelled at in Venice. I woke up on beaches in Greece and threw tomatoes and watched friends run from bulls in Spain. I became independent, I was completely free. Best of all I discovered my own creativity and my outlet for that became the incredible world that is fashion.

After a stint as a fashion student and intern in Sydney I now find myself back in my oh so familiar home town. I walk (no, dawdle..) down the street and pass a multitude of familiar faces. I watch movies in the heritage listed cinema where I once sat and giggled with my friends as a teenager. I take my little brother to feed ducks in the very same park that my Aunty once took me (they may even be the same ducks?...) I visit my grandparents in the same house that thay have always lived in and help myself to oranges and lemons from the same old trees that have always been there.

Much to the amusement of my Sydney/Dublin/London based friends I am now a small town pageant princess, with a sparkly diamonte encrusted tiara and bright purple sash to prove it. I LOVE their remarks..."What the fuck?? Your town has a Queen AND a Princess?!! Is there a King and a Prince??!! Do I have to curtsy to you now that you're royalty? Tell me there's a bikini section!! Do you have to have a talent?? What's your talent? Yodelling?" Needless to say hysterical laughter always follows these outbursts.. (I am very happy to say that there is in fact no bikini section and no need to demonstrate a 'talent' although I will admit to wearing pantihose, knee length dresses and a string of pearls, which is a far cry from my usual wardrobe choices.)

And so that brings me back to this sleepy old town that I call home. While some days it's all I can muster not to get in my car and just keep driving till I hit a big city with bright lights, so much of my heart and soul is wrapped up in the place and for now my happiness most definately lies here.

This blog is a medium for me to share and explore the vast and everchanging fashion landscape. Whilst I am now very much an outsider to this world I was once so entrenched in I do continue to adore it from afar. (And I'm sure amusing snippets from life as a small town 'princess' are bound to creep in from time to time as well...)

Welcome to my blog.

Gemma Grace Xx