Party Like it's...Tupperware Time

Despite free worldwide shipping at Net-a-Porter, a great Woodford & Co sale at buyinvite, and 25% discount codes for Asos, my biggest purchase this week has been...wait for it...Tupperware. Seriously. Dubious spelling and all (Pack'n'Stor? CheeSmart? And I still can't work out what's so rock'n'rollin' about Rock'n'Serve). Put it down to age, an increasing need for transportable plastic storage that toddlers can open themselves, an overflowing wardrobe or plain old 'turning into your mother' syndrome, but they're some nifty shit in there. And lots of colour. All they need to do is introduce a sparkly range and I'd take up selling it myself. The Tupperware website even has a "Party Inspiration" section for gawd's sake!

Not that I go near Tupperware parties, unless there is free wine/cheese/SingStar on offer. A friend who has a friend who sells her TuppStuff (hey I'm copyrighting that) gave me a catalogue to browse through, no strings attached. I can't stand the obligation one feels to buy hundreds of dollars of essentially pointless crap. Avon is much the same, Linen parties, handbag parties, and the list goes on. You become the 'cheap' friend if you don't buy anything, and resentment kindles in your gut at the acquaintance who forced you to go along. It's psychological warfare. I thought I'd be a clever dick and buy it online, but lo and behold, all you can do online (aside from eBay) is request a catalogue/get a local representative to call you. Which is the same as asking Jehovahs in for morning tea.

My net-a-porter order should be here on Friday. My Tupperware, probably next month. No doubt your mum has cupboards full of plastic containers she acquired aeons ago with the intention of sorting and labelling her pantry, but then it became to time-consuming to transfer the weekly groceries from it's plastic packaging into your plastic packaging so it just sat in the cupboard storing dustmites for eternity. It's nice to know such retro affectations can continue. I reckon it will be worth the wait!

Taking your tupperware on a picnic? Impress it with a pretty patterned frock: Birds of a Feather Monet Dress, $119.95

Running In Heels

It all started so innocently. A dear friend suggested we make the most of all the fabulous shoes we'd been buying and hiding from husbands, frock up and have a nice posh dinner. The 'frock' bit was quite specific, and you'd think, considering my line of work, wouldn't be an issue. But then I delved deep into the dark corners of my wardrobe, trying to find something suitable that would not only match my awesome pink shoes, but would also hide some winter kilos. Patterned maxi dresses, too casual. Yellow/pink/green/blue cocktail numbers, too much colour (depsite the colour-on-colour trend we're all meant to embrace this season). LBD's....have trotted them all out on previous occassions and can't get away with the GFC-shame of wearing again. Did I call on Frock You? You betcha, and the one dress that would be perfect, was, in fact, perfect, almost got a run until I ditched the opaque tights and was blinded by my legs.

"Run to the tanning bar!" I hear you say. "Piss off!" I yell back. Shades of orangey-brown and me just do not match. Nor does me and running. Or, so I thought.

To end the party story and satisfy your undoubtedly bubbling curiosity, my GRAB Rushcutters in double black and a few silky layered tank tops did the job nicely. My eyeliner had a party of it's own all over my face but by the time I noticed I'd had too many expensive wines to care.

Sunday morning brought an urgent need for eggs and bacon, coffee, and eye makeup remover. It also led to a nice brunchly convesation with the Mr about how all my friends have a Wii Fit and I didn't and I couldn't wear a frock cos I'm toooo fat and pale and ghastly and it's all his fault for being chronically cheap and insisting we register the cars and pay the rent and shit. See, if I had a Wii not only could I say "wiiiii" alot and giggle, but I would have nice toned legs and arms (still pale, but at least I would've noticed them in order to apply tanning moisturiser in time for important social events, instead of covering with jeans and tights and letting them wallow in their whiteness all winter). His suggestion, being the sensible type, was to suggest I join him in a weights programme he found online (for free) using the good weights we already have (owned for years). Between that and the daily pram walk I ahem, aim for, (push a 3 year old up and down some hills in a pram with a constantly flat tyre and tell me you can't feel the burn!) I might get a little fit. But not muscly fit, just healthy fit. So I agreed. And I've been doing it and it does feel great.

Unfortunately it also invloves several factors that are quite foreign and scary to me, namely, sweat, trackpants, and concentrating on just one thing for a whole ten minutes. Sweat can be relieved with a healthy iced water and a nice shower with lots of neccessarily luxurious beauty products. Trackpants are made bearable when you brave Supre and realise their Sporte section sell ultra ultra comfy leggings and pants you can match with a rainbow of $10 tshirts. Concentrating on just one thing? Still working on it. But I'll get there in part, because one of my friends loves telling me about her jogs around Wii Island. Yes, such a fantastical place exists! And in the comfort of your loungeroom no less. I've asked Santa for a Wii Fit Plus, the new version out this week, and I'm hoping beyond hope it's customisable to such an extent that I could jog away to my hearts content and window shop at the same time. You could place a 70% off sale at the end of the task to make yourself get there within a certain time! Oooh then I would concentrate on a run. And I'd have to get new shoes. Running shoes, but new shoes.

I do get distracted easily. Here, let me wave something shiny and new in front of your face, in a new end-of-blog section I like to call "stuff we sell": the really really cool Minty Meets Munt Riveted Skirt, $89.95.

Yunginz Buy 1 Get 1 Free Offer

Much in the same way you rarely hear "wow, those ugg boots look awesome with your muffin top", the words "Buy 1 Get 1 Free" don't often appear on one's retail radar - until kid's shoe label Yunginz decided it was time to shake things up a bit. It's pretty easy, just buy any new season style and choose from one of three giveaway styles, email/ph/fax your proof of purchase to Yunginz and they'll send you your free pair!

This is awesome in so many ways - the new season styles are really and truly cool, as well as being made from leather and having all the neccessary arch support and orthopaedic technicalities. I am so in love with the little Gladettes ($79.95), which are refreshingly free from glitter, pink, and random flowers/hearts/butterflies and are a definite catwalk look again this season. It'll look beautiful with the Freshbaked black and white striped jersey dress ($39.95). Girls can also pick up a classic pair of white Teardrop flats ($79.95) which can be worn year round, and are especially good as party/wedding/special occassion shoes. And not to be too suggestive, but a beautiful frock from Stella Bella's range just might make a ridiculously adorable outfit...

Boys are not left out either - the ever-popular Sandoze sandals ($35.95) are back (velcro strap over, plain and simple and look especially good with shorts and a tee, plus they're great for the beach); while the year-round Canvas skate shoes ($49.95) which come in green/blue and black/orange have been redone with an awesome Skull print! Team with a Monster Baby tee and get ready to rock!

You can see all the deets for the freebie offer on the Yunginz brand page. And yes, we can order i other styles if you need them (Yunginz are good like that) and we can also restock sold out sizes nice and quick!

Temptation: Christopher Kane for Topshop

Two things have happened recently that made me giggle with glee, one being significantly less costly than the other, but both fabulous in totally different ways.

The cheap event, you'll not be surprised to hear, took place in the ear-thrasing, overstuffed confines of a local Supre. Bless them, there aren't many shops where you can go in and say "hey, do you have any fluro crops tops, netted rara skirts and below the knee leggings?" and be completely kitted out for a rad 80's party in less than 10 minutes. 2 over-accessorised sales assistants were genuinely concerned with the choice the fluro yellow or fluro pink crop top (we settled on pink) and were even more surprised when I mentioned that this outfit was not in fact for clubbing on saturday night, but for a costume party. But then, they weren't even born in the 80's so I guess these sartorial horrors are a whole new experience for the poor dears. I left with plenty of change for a $50, relief at having my costume sorted, and a gleeful bemusement that apparently my 'costume' will be the height of fashion this weekend should I choose to spend the night grooving to the latest chart hits in a nightclub where the hemlines are as high as the hairdo's.

(Note: just got even better, check out this site Rad80'sfashion.com . it truly exists!)

The second event is much more pleasing to fashionistas the world over, though you won't get much (if any) change from a $100 note - one of my favourite designers, Christopher Kane, and one of my favourite shops, Topshop, have released a brilliant collection that made me dribble a bit onto my keyboard. Loads and loads of studding and eyelets and gems and an inexplicably awesome crocodile make this one of my favourite Topshop collaborations. Loving the pretty pink and tough embellishments of the Bodycon dress and the feminine cut of the One Shouldered Lace Dress . Hey, the exchange rate isn't too bad at the moment...!

Spring/Summer '09/10 Catalogue Online Now

Released today, we've already got a waiting list as long as my arm...it's easy, click on the pieces you like to buy; and if they're not available just yet, just email info@frockyou.com.au to ask to be put on the holds list!

The Babysitter's Club - Fashionistas You Pretended To Forget About

In volume three hundred and forty seven of the "nothing much happened today except a woman in Myer confused me for a salesperson and I spent twenty minutes recommending gifts for her two year old great-niece, none of which she approved of, and all depsite my not black and white but green dress and lack of nametag sugesting I am in fact a customer myself" (true story) files which mean I will simply nab something from another blog to share with you - a newsletter from Frankie landed in my inbox today just in time to cure my 3 o'clock fuzzies, and in it was a link of such joy and glee and fond reminiscience that I can't help but share:

You know how books when we were kids were just so much better (Harry Potter excepted)? There were no twatty faced Mileys preening about. There were beautiful blonde twins who managed to fit an awful lot into a year or so of high school, in a Utopian town in California called Sweet Valley. There was a group of business minded, intelligent and super friendly kid-minders in Connecticut. They all wore remarkably creative outfits, no brands required. What Claudia Wore is a blog devoted to those outfits (well, the BSC ones anyway), "a delightful mish-mosh of Gossip Girl obsessing, American Apparel mockery, explorations of the term 'hipster' supplemented by Toothpaste for Dinner cartoons, anecdotes about falling under buses, etc." What began as merely indexing outfits became fullblown editorial and commentary, all of it funny and gloriously indulgent. This is the bit that got me:

You know the classic "I had 10 Mickey Mantle rookie cards and my mother threw them all away!" sob story? I think our generation's (well, the subset of our generation that was literary/dorky enough to be really, really into the Baby-sitter's Club, at least) sob story is going to be "I owned a complete collection of BSC books and my mother sold them at a yard sale!" I hear this sentiment a lot. From fully grown women. And they are still upset about it.

I am. A good few years ago I sold an entire SET of original Babysitter's Club books for a pittance. I think I bought new shoes and was happy at the time, but I am kicking myself now. Hmph.

Heck these posts are even annotated and referenced in far more detail than an Arts degree at Utas ever required. Quotes like this mean that my tiny mind is highly amused for the evening, and conveniently fill up space in my own blog, making it look like I have achieved more this evening than just giggling over layered push down socks and overalls:

"Claudia's style is unique. She doesn't often wear jeans, but she was wearing them today - only she'd cut patterns in the legs of the jeans (which were major faded) and was wearing leopard tights underneath so that they showed through. [I feel like we've all seen this on lookbook.nu.] She was wearing her Doc Martens with yellow shoelaces, and she'd used matching shoelaces to pull her hair back into a thick, long braid. Her earrings were a pair she made herself, out of little yellow feathers and black beads. And she was wearing a black and yellow striped flannel shirt buttoned up to her throat, with another pair of shoelaces made into a sort of bow tie."BOW TIE.(I hope season three of Gossip Girl brings us a scene in which Chuck Bass pulls open a drawer and it is just filled with, like, 100 bowties in perfect rows on some sort of custom-made bowtie organizer. They should be organized by color.)"

I'm being serious.* This is Gen-X & Y genius. Which means Ann M Martin should've been the costume designer for Sex and the City. Just think about that, while I leave you with this:

You know how I'm always talking shit, scoffing at sub-par Kishi concoctions and whatnot? Well, I have no complaints here: ". . . her eye for color and style shows in the way she dresses. It's always distinctive and funky. Today she was wearing purple-and-white-striped tights, Doc Martins [sic] (except she'd taken them off to sit on the bed), a short black ruffly skirt that looked like it was part of a women's Olympics figure-skater's costume, a purple cropped sweater with silver button covers on the back buttons, and a scrunchy black velvet hat decorated with purple and red velvet flowers."You know, I have a skirt that sounds kind of like that, although it's just a short black cotton skirt with ruffles of layered lace - not so figure skate-y. I haven't quite figured out how to wear it yet. Stacey wore: ". . . she had pulled her blonde permed hair back into a complicated braid threaded with green ribbon. The ribbon matched her shoes. She was wearing silver capri pants, an oversized shirt [surprise!] with a green belt [I still don't care for the over the shirt/extraneous belting, but that's just me], a green checked short skirt [over the capri pants? do they mean capri leggings?], and gold leaf-shaped earrings."

Watch for Supre's new BSC collection to hit stores soon.**

*mostly. It is pretty inspiring, and at least original.

**Joke. But it will probably come true.

Chip Chop Goes to Hollywood!

If you can ignore the little paragraph over there -----> that says self-promotion is limited to once a week, I just want to introduce you to the new season by one of my fav labels, Melbourne's Chip Chop. So, technically, it's not totally self-promotion, and by that assumption I'd be victorious if it came down to a lawsuit, Boston Legal style. At any rate, Chip Chop's last collection indpired by all things Pommy was a massive massive hit, picking up editorial in everything from Shoptilyoudrop to Harper's. This range promises no less, taking it's cue from the glitz and glam of Hollywood, tongue firmly in cheek.

For those of you who love the cotton canvas tote bags (they feel more like denim) you'll love the sparkly silver and bright pink print of the Le fame bag ($90) - I have the old school Love print on black in this style (sorry loves, it was a limited edition!) and I, well, love it to bits, as I can fit all neccessary equipment for taking a tot out for the day, or cramming paperwork/diaries/cameras/books for buying-slash-shopping trips to Melbourne. Or, for a party clutch that screams look at me but goives nothing away, the No Comment clutch looks a bit like a pencil case but has serious street cred. And at $40, it's a total steal.

Chip Chop has been one of our labels here at the Frock since we began, and it's been awesome to watch them grow. Hannah's talent for simple and totally effective tshirt prints is what really got them on the map - take this season's Waitress tee ($70)...read it and smirk!

My fave though is the Movie Lines tee ($70), not because it will encourage people to stare at your chest, but because it contains my favourite movie line of all time: "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn..."

Frock You S/S'09/10 Frockalogue Sneak Peek!

Apologies for the quietness on the blogging front of late - aside from handling the oodles of new stock that is arriving instore daily, we've been busy little bees creating the Spring/Summer interactive catalogue for you! It's no small task - calling in samples, organising looks, booking models/locations/graphics, setting deadlines...plus it has been pouring with rain for the last few weeks (includinbg shoot days), making it difficult to get the whole carefree summer vibe across! However, in rare moments of sunshine (well, not-rain, anyway) we shot 3 different stories, and once the lovely Sabina finishes working her technical and design magic on the photos, it will be released for you to click-and-buy to your heart's content!

(Quick question - at this point, we're not printing copies because if you want to buy anything it has to be done through the website anyway, and we don't want to waste precious trees...but would a printed copy be something you Frockers would want to see, in a limited print run?)

Here are a few sneaky peeky looks...keep an eye out for a newsletter revealing all late next week!

New Spring Arrivals for Lady Frockers!

(NB: Little Frockers, watch this space (or get Mum to) - Munser, Missie Munster, Chilli Kids, Walnut, Baobab and Itch instore shortly!)

The last few weeks have been grey, dreary and rainy, but thankfully here at Frock HQ there are oodles of bright new Spring pieces to keep us from going nuts. Here's a few must-buys I thought I'd better alert you to before they sell out (Motel fans, take heed - many styles selling through at record rates despite being on the site less then a week!):

Sunny Girl Grey Boyfriend Blazer ($69.95): still a raging hot piece, the blazer is made lighter for spring, in a lovely shade of grey with a relaxed 'boyfriend' fit. Makes a pretty sundress that much more edgier (though grammatically dubious), or looks sexy and modern teamed with a tee and denim cutoffs. This version is a nice light linen and you can wear the sleeves cuffed to show off the cool stripey lining!

Living Doll V Neck Dress: this is a definite wardrobe staple - perfect for lazy summer days when it's too hot to care, for throwing over a bikini or accessorising with a belt/scarf/chunky bangles, it truly is an effortless piece that looks casual and chic at the same time. Plus it's only $34.95!

Motel Selina Dress ($110): I couldn't decide which Motel piece to put on here, as they are all really amazing this season, but I do like the bright blue skirt of the Selina dress (despite the name Selina making me think of the gummy Home & Away chick. Incidentally why is it called Home & Away? When are they ever 'Away'? Where are the scenes outside Summer Bay?) The jersey tank top and full skirt is flattering to pretty much everyone, unlike the skintight legging-jeans I saw a group of oversized bogan teenagers sporting in the local mall yesterday. OMG.

Two pieces from GRAB get a mention this week - the really really cool Ladder Detail Tank ($79.95), which has an edgy, rock chic style, and requires little else to make your outfit stand out, I'm thinking it's the perfect gigging top; and the chic Pointelle Wide Sleeve Knit ($89.95), which falls neatly into the 'dressy casual' category I like to pretend I invented to justify any expensive jeans that somehow end up in my wardrobe. Imagine this top with pale denim, a tan bag and heels - easy, simple and sophisticated.

A sweet little tee is a must for Spring, and French Kitty's Side Show Act Top ($49.95) has a cute bow at the neckline, giving it a nautical feel - but thankfully the pink and grey stripes make it more girly than yacht-y. Not that there's anything wrong with yacht-y, if it is even a word, but how many of us own a yacht on which to wear suitably nautical attire?

This week there'll be new arrivals from Blue Juice, Lucky 13 & Pink Stitch, so check the site daily and follow us on Twitter for instant updates! Plus, due to your overwhelming requests/demands, the Spring/Summer '09/10 catalogue is in the works, and should be available to view online mid-September. I'm wary of print versions as I am more than a bit anal about wasting paper and trees, but if we can find a decent printer we just might do a very limited print run...!

When it's ok to giggle at Rachel Zoe

I'm having one of those sick-of-winter-clothes-not-warm-enough-for-spring end of season wardrobe crises. Correction, climate change is a crisis, me being sick of my endless supply of grey knitwear is not. End of season wardrobe case of the blerghs, perhaps. That was, until I found this pic on Rachel Zoe's website, and felt much better about myself:

I'm assuming this is a photo of The Zoe, because all the other photos are. Because the website is entitled Fashion and Style Tips by Rachel Zoe, one would assume it is indeed about Fashion and Style tips. She usually looks great, if not slightly the wrong shade of tan, but this pic stopped me in my cybertracks for all the wrong reasons. If I signed up for a styling session and this vision waltzed (or stomped) into the room, I'd gape, then giggle, then guffaw before I was ROFL, and unsuccessfully attempting an inconspicuous escape by continuing to roll towards the door. Then I'd RUN. And find myself a sensible oversized floppy leopard print hat* to hide under.

*Actually the hat is the best part of the outfit.