Three Quick Questions with Kathy Noto

It is time for another interview with an up-and-coming blogger! Check out the last "Three Quick Questions" (and the idea behind this series) with Leila Chatti here. This month's gorgeous interviewee is Kathy Noto from My Peach Days. Q. How long do you spend getting ready and putting together an outfit every morning? A. Not that long, I guess. I work from home so I only get the chance to dress up on the weekends. More often than not, I already have an outfit planned. During the week, I plan an outfit and put the clothes up on a hanger so I won't forget (I sometimes even hang the bags and socks I'm going to use). When I do that, it only takes a few minutes to dress up (unless I do something elaborate with my hair, which I don't these days). On the other hand, there are days when I'm no longer in the mood to wear the outfit I planned so I usually have to spend more than 15 minutes, rummaging my closet and mixing and matching clothes. I have a pretty small closet so it's not easy to check out all my stuff because they're all buried in there. I usually end up having a pile of discarded clothes when I’m done. Not a pretty sight.  I recently came up with a solution. These days, whenever I clean my closet, I take photos of ensembles. I put together some outfit ideas before putting them back in my closet and take photos of them. I store the photos in my computer in a folder called "outfit ideas". lol! Q. Do you let runway fashion influence your style at all? Do you care at all about high fashion? A. Truth is, I usually do not go out of my way to check out runway fashion. I do a lot of blog hopping and just check out runway trends featured there. While I do like high fashion like the next girl, I gravitate more towards fashion I can relate to, something wearable and affordable (which is why thrifting works for me). I'd say personal style bloggers influence me more than runway fashion. Q. If you had a bazillion dollars and access to any kind of clothes you wanted... what would you wear? Do you think you would stick with thrifted garments? A. If I have an inexhaustible supply of money, I'd probably wear something like the clothes from the Alice McCall S/S 2012 collection. I was blog hopping once when I saw a feature on their collection. It was breathtaking! But I'd be just as happy wearing garments from ModCloth, Chicwish or The White Pepper. I think I'd spend more money buying stuff from mainstream brands rather than high end brands just because I want my style to be relatable. I don’t mind other people wearing expensive brands but I cringe at the idea of me giving off some sort of elitist vibe. I'd definitely still do a lot of thrifting. Thrifting is more than just saving money. There's a whole load of unique items there - stuff you probably won't see other people wearing. Thrifted garments, to me, have more character. They have a story to tell which makes every ensemble charming. Plus, it's one way to cut back on fossil fuel so I'm good with that. Even if I’m incredibly rich, I’d still be an advocate of thrifting.  Kathy's blog is full of the cutest outfits that she has put together, and has even done a pretty sweet DIY (see those lace shorts in the photo above? She made them!). Go and have a squiz at her super sweet blog if you have the chance! xxx Annika

A Pocketful of Posies

Wearing: dress - c/o Sheinside cardigan - Forever 21 hat - c/o Wholesale bag - Asos sweater clips - DIY tights - Romwe boots - Rubi Shoes Whoooa look at this! Another sunny outdoors post! Crazzzy town. So I attempted to make some sweater clips after being inspired by the Dainty Squid, who always wears sweater clips - however mine were a little less than glamorous. They weren't too bad though, and I did make them while in the car, so I think I'll be fixing these ones by shortening the chain a bit, and then they'll work a lot better! I also am going to give a quick shout-out/massive thank you to Miss Tallulah Porkchop, whose awesome gift (a Lula magazine!!) arrived in the mail just this morning! I've been sitting in front of my fire reading it all morning, getting inspired by all the phenomenal fashion photography in it. (Taking a photo with the Lula magazine may also have been an excuse to show you all what I did to my hair. *Ahem.*) Fashion quote of the day (because I thought it was really cute/hilarious): "Anni, if I wear the clothes I wore in the 80s again, is that vintage? Or is it... tragic?" - my mum Hope you're all having a lovely day! xxx Annika

DIY Mermaid Dress

After finding the coolest blog the other day, owned by a gorgeous lady named Kailey, she posted an AMAZING (yup, so amazing that "amazing" needed to be in bold, capitals and italics) and stunningly simple DIY guest post by Kate Gabrielle on how to make yourself your very own mermaid dress. Usually when I post about a DIY that's been inspired by another blogger, I try and change it up, such as using a different pattern or technique - however this DIY was just too perfect so I maaay have copied it almost exactly. The only modification I made was to use blue fabric paint rather than pink - which ended up making it even more mermaid-like, I think! So full credit goes to Kate and Kailey for this DIY - which you can find the full instructions to here. Wearing: dress - DIY (originally vintage) tights - c/o Oasap hat - c/o Wholesale bag - Vintage shoes - Rubi Shoes I guess the only bit I am adding to this DIY is that I shortened the dress, and chopped the sleeves off to make it sleeveless. But that was easy - all I did was slice off the sleeves, leaving about 1cm all around, then hemmed it inside the shoulders (like I was hemming the bottom of a dress). I would love to style this dress with light blue lipstick, some minty blue fishnets, 60s style sunnies and a thin white floral headband. Now all I have to do is acquire those items.... Also (I just thought you should all know), everytime I think "mermaids", this song gets stuck in my head: Mermaids - Flight of the Conchords. Anyway, I'm massively happy with my mermaid dress. I hope you guys like it too! Head along to mermaidens to check out the full DIY! xxx Annika

To the sea, the sea of Love

Wearing: Blouse - c/o Oasap Shorts - Wholesale Shoes - Rubi shoes Bag - Vintage Tights - c/o Oasap Hat - Wholesale I wish that I could wear bloomers out in public and that people wouldn't think it odd - however, with this mint blouse, I feel like I could almost get away with it, they go so well together! (Maybe I'll try it out and let you know how it goes, haha). I'm off to dye my hair now... I finally got myself a new tub of carnation pink so I can stop using this ridiculously diluted one that I'd been using for about a month! (Seriously, it was down to near homeopathic dilutions - it wasn't even making my hair pink anymore, it was more like I was just slathering my scalp with conditioner every now and then). Speaking of my hair, I think it's about time that I did a sequel to the first how to dye your hair pastel blue instalment - I think I'm much more qualified to talk about pink hair than blue hair, because my blue hair kept going green on me anyway :| Have a gorgeous day, all!  Annika xxx

Simple Pastel Pink & Mint Sunday

Wearing: Blouse - c/o Oasap Skirt - Wholesale Shoes - Ruben Shoes Bag - c/o Oasap Necklace - Wholesale Hat - c/o Wholesale Hair up or down for this outfit? I couldn't decide, then put my hair down and unfortunately it went mental. The above two photos are about the only ones where it doesn't look like I'd been cycling through 200km winds. Ah well, I just wanted to post a quick photo of this new minty blouse that Oasap sent me, because I am in loooove with it! My favourite colour combination at the moment is mint with pastel pink, so this blouse goes just perfectly with my hair. However, I have hardly any clothes with me (yes a bursting suitcase-full is "hardly any") as I am on holidays, and was also really smart and forgot to bring any socks. So anyway, I will style it up a lot more interestingly when I am back home. Also, when I am back at home I have got a whole bunch of DIY projects to share! It's been far too long since I last DIY'd, and I apologise, but just know that I've got a few good ones waiting to be blogged over the month of July! Hope you're all having a sweet first of July. xxx Annika

12:51 // Sneaky floral cutouts

Wearing: Hat - c/o Wholesale Necklace - Wholesale Top (actually a dress) - Asos  Cardigan - Forever 21 Skirt - Wholesale Bag - c/o Oasap Tights - DIY It's been such a sunny winter day! I'm not at home at the moment, which is why I've not got my usual outfit background - I'm actually on holidays at the beach - and it is definitely not warm enough to swim, but it is warm enough for this summery ensemble! I styled my new DIY tights with a black circle skirt and this floral cut-out top (which is actually a dress) that I have had for forever from Asos. It finally fits me properly because I have put on weight lately particularly in the, ahem, bustal region, haha. (Bustal is so not a word, but I'm going to use it anyway.) Lately I've been finding heaps of clothes that never fit properly, and were banished to the back of my closet, but now fit really well, thanks to a few extra kilos. It's been like uncovering a whole new wardrobe - awesome! Hope you're all having a beaaaautiful Thursday! xxx Annika