Mickey Mouse Club & Virtual Clothes

Badge - thrifted | dress - c/o Chicwish | shirt - c/o OASAP | shoes - Asos. A large, obnoxious and entirely irrelevant badge is sometimes what is needed to put the finishing touches on an otherwise casual, 90s-inspired outfit. Mickey Mouse is looking pretty badass next to that graffitied wall... I want to jump right into some science today. Aside from 3D Printing, one technology that I am pretty excited about is augmented reality. Making computers "see" has been an insanely difficult task for computer scientists, nearly as difficult as making computers talk. The human visual system is incredibly complex - think about it, how does your brain recognize all those jumbles of lines, colours and shades as distinct objects, also taking into account your movement around those objects and the object's movement around you? You do it without even having to think about it, but as much as 30% of the brain is devoted to vision processing. Image source and article. But recently, computers have been learning to see a lot better. A group of scientists at the CSIRO have been working on technology that can accurately work out "landmarks" on people's faces in three-dimensions from a 2D video. This means a computer can recognise that a particular bunch of lines means lips, and that lips are separate from eyes, for example, from multiple angles. An application of this is placing virtual makeup, hats or glasses on people's faces. Has anyone tried on virtual glasses? Heaps of sunglasses stores use virtual try-on rooms for glasses now, though the only time that I've tried it out the glasses went all glitchy and buzzed somewhat frighteningly around my head. A very disappointing introduction to augmented reality. But now the technology is improving, these researchers envision that soon we will have virtual changing rooms (there have already been pretty decent attempts), where with a webcam or phone, you can try on clothing from online retailers in your own house to make sure they fit. Which is pretty damn cool. (Also, you can already do things like put virtual furniture into your house, which you can see demonstrated by an incredibly odd IKEA family.) Can't wait to do my first virtual reality outfit post... ;) Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Little Bo Peep DIY Dress

So it has come to that time of the year where I really need to start studying my butt off. Naturally, that means I start becoming extremely creative and productive in anything other than university work. Freckles and Ginger was last night's bad influence (whose instagram feed you need to follow if you're not already), who made me remember just how easy making dresses is. I free-handed this dress (meaning no pattern, I just made it up as I went along, woo hoo!) last night, and I'm so extremely happy with it! I think it's the best dress I've made, which is pretty good seeing as I haven't made one for over a year! Also, I know this outfit totally goes against what I said in my last post about dressing more maturely, but I reserve the right the contradict myself. Anyway, I've changed my mind about that. I'm going to dress like a little kid if I want to - I'm never going to stop loving cutesy collars and prints, so why banish them from my everyday attire for fear of people judging me on them? That's just silly. dress is handmade by me, socks are c/o Sock Dreams, blouse is thrifted, shoes are from Rubi Shoes and I forget where I got my necklace from. I hope that you're all having a wonderful day, Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Norman Rockwell

This dress made me feel like I was really going for the whole "I'm dressing up as a little kid look". I think the whole outfit ended up a little too cutsey even for my tastes, haha. Though I can probably still just get away with it at 21, and the whole deal of my blog is "dress however the heck you want to dress and don't let nobody tell you otherwise", I'd like to think that my style has matured just a little bit since I was 15. Or 5. Next time I style this dress, I think I'll ditch the knee-high socks, mary janes and headband, in any case, and add some chunky black boots and a light blue headscarf. Here's some gratuitous photos of me acting like a little kid, anyway. dress is c/o Choies (artwork by Norman Rockwell), socks and necklace are from Clear It, shoes are from Yeswalker. Photos are by Ana Andrés. This dress is the last sponsored item sent to me after making the decision to forgo my possibly more unethical sponsors (which also shows you how long things take to ship to Australia!) that I have been obligated to blog about. And in case there was any confusion over why you might still see c/o's from those companies in my outfit lists, I'm hardly going to throw away all the clothes that I currently own (that would be more than wasteful and worse than buying them in the first place), and I believe that the readers of this blog are able to make their own decisions about whether or not to make purchases from such stores. So I will continue to provide a link where the item is still available (this dress is out of stock now anyway, so that's why there's no link up there!) Today I wanted to share an awesome quote from Tim Minchin. (If you don't know who Tim Minchin is, go and educate yourself - he is absolutely hilarious and offensive, but he also makes you think. My favourite ever song/act of his is Storm). p.s. I posted a giveaway earlier today. You should check it out. Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Giveaway for Bloggers - Win Two Gorgeous Template Designs // CLOSED

Lately I've been getting a lot of emails asking for advice from people starting up their own blogs. Well, along with being patient and not expecting your blog to become a mega-success overnight, another piece of advice that I usually mention is having an eye-catching layout and header! So the timing is perfect for those of you who are either starting up a blog, or wanting to renew their layout - Allie from Call me Sassafras is giving away two premade blog templates to two of my blog readers! The package, worth $25, contains a layout of your choice, personalized with your blog name and tagline (optional), customized social media buttons, a matching ad button, category bars and a signature for the end of your posts. Here are three of the gorgeous designs you could win - you can see the full set here! How you can enter (all steps must be done for a valid entry): + Let us know which template you would choose if you win! + Leave your first name and email address so we can contact you if you win! + Be following both me and Allie in at least one way: You can follow us on Bloglovin' (Annika, Allie), Facebook (Annika, Allie) or Twitter (Annika, Allie). Let us know how you follow us in the comments section of this post. Must follow at least one for each of us. Giveaway is open until the 9th of November to everybody around the world (though please only enter if you have a blog or are about to start one up), and there will be two winners. Good luck! UPDATE 2 winners chosen on the 10th of November:   You will be contacted very shortly! Thank you so much to all our lovely entrants. Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

How To: Swimsuit Styling

This post originally appeared on Birdeemag.com. You can read it on Birdee here. When I was a teenager buying a swimsuit was an immensely painful process. Living in a regional area, I basically only had a few local surf-shops available to me and from that I assumed that the only style of swimmers that existed were those teeny tiny triangle-top bikinis.  Once a year when I needed a new swimsuit this caused a lot of angst about my small bust which I (very wrongly) equated with being less of a woman. On the other hand, any one-pieces were always very functional, unflattering, and, I thought, only worn by little kids.  However, I know now that the problem was with the swimsuits, not my body. There are in fact so many different styles of swimsuit out there, and I wish I’d found out about them sooner. I’ll be running through all the different types of swimsuit I’ve discovered so far, and also demonstrating how to style them up into an outfit – swimmers need not just be for swimming in! Retro-style bikinis   I feel far more comfortable in this style of bikini for the simple fact that they are not flimsy, and are also very flattering. They make running around at the beach or pool a lot easier, anyway, as you’re not constantly having to readjust and double check that your various bits aren’t flying out. These swimmers are great with anything high-waisted. A lace or crochet top thrown over the top works perfectly, and longer-style bandeau tops can be worn with high-waisted skirts and shorts in matching colours. Modern One-pieces I’ve seen some seriously great designs on one-pieces lately. Two unicorns chilling in an ice-kingdom? Check. The other day I saw a swimsuit covered in photo-realistic ice-creams. It was beautiful. These swimsuits are far more interesting than the strictly functional and sporty one-pieces that I remember. Retro-style one-pieces A lot of stores have been making replica vintage one-pieces lately, with very flattering cuts and adorable prints. This Cadillac swimsuit below is one of my favourite pieces ever: Plus, they look damn good with a pair of high-waisted shorts. This particular swimsuit was from Asos, though Modcloth also has a large range of retro-style one-piece bathing suits – however they tend to be a little pricey and I’ve never bought one for myself. They do have good reviews, but if it doesn’t fit it’s somewhat hard to return, because they’re based in America! A solution for those wary of buying swimwear online is below.  Vintage one-pieces I have a friend who somehow manages to always find incredible one-pieces from Vinnies and Salvos, but I don’t know how she does it – the swimsuit pictured below is actually from a vintage boutique. That means it was pricier due to it being hand-picked (around $40), however I think it was completely worth the purchase because it can also very easily be worn as a top. But I always make sure to check the swimsuit section in op-shops, just in case (I’m still on the lookout for that sparkly gold one-piece). A vintage one-piece looks fantastic with a long vintage skirt or some high-waisted shorts and a cropped jacket.  Modern bikinis   Okay, so I know that I just had a bit of a rant about these, but they are okay if you can find the right one for you (in my case, a top with enough fabric that actually covers my bust). They are for those summer days when you’ve bothered to remove any body hair that’s grown outside those ridiculously tiny confines. And they do look cute with a pinafore style dress, I’ll give them that. That all said: summer really shouldn’t be about focusing on your appearance. You don’t exist just to look pretty. But it’s nice to own some swimmers that you feel confident in – then you can forget about them and have fun. 1st Swimsuit is from ASOS (sold out, but this is similar), 2nd swimsuit is from Romwe (review here), 3rd swimsuit is from ASOS (sold out), 4th swimsuit is from Asos (sold out), 5th is thrifted and 6th is from a store in Italy whose name I forget. Have you got any swimwear tips you want to share? Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

A Pocketful of Posies

Dress is from Lady V London (made in London), petticoat is from Ebay, bag is from Italy, shoes are from Yeswalker, socks from Tutuanna. Photos are by Ana Andrés. The sweetest little old lady came up to me and hugged me on the bus while I was wearing this dress, and I think that's the best compliment I could have gotten. When I'm a (hopefully) cute old lady, someone please remind me to hug random well-dressed people - it's basically the nicest thing ever. New Scientist recently created an interactive map of all the "Earth-like" planets in our galaxy. These are "habitable" planets - planets that may not be exactly like Earth but could probably host life. Extrapolating from a small section of sky that Kepler has been searching for the past four years, New Scientist has estimated that there are 15 to 30 billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way alone. See the map here. And you can also read my posts about the potential for alien life existing in our own solar system here. Have a great day, Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr