A $100 Giveaway with Koogal // CLOSED

So! I have an exciting giveaway today (to repay you for being so super dooper ridiculously nice and helpful with my new hair, and also because I pretty much love you all for being the most supportive, lovely bunch of people ever. Sorry - I just needed to get all that gushing done!) where you can win $100 to spend on whatever you like at Koogal. Koogal are an Australian-based brand who I started working with at the end of last year. They are stocked-full of very pretty, fun and colourful clothing. I particularly love their patterned, full-skirt dresses, like the Baroque-print one I am wearing in the above photo (which you can find here)! To win this $100, you need to follow the rules in the rafflecopter giveaway below (give it a second to load if you can't see it just yet). Competition is open internationally, until Wednesday the 20th of March.  And if you don't think random chance is particularly on your side (statistically, you would be correct), then you can get 10% off anything from Koogal by using the code ANNIKAVICTORIA. Gooooood luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

My new hairdo!

If you're a new or not-so-regular reader of this blog, you may not be aware that I had given up on my real hair and taken to wearing wigs all the time. Unfortunately, my real hair is not so super long and curly and luscious as this. In fact, my real-life-hair had become very brittle, thin and damaged due to a combination of medications and trying to maintain a near-white colour so that it could be bright pink and blue (and green and lilac) all through the first half of last year. It was getting to the point where if I wasn't wearing a wig, I'd feel really awful about my appearance all day. And that's no good. I haven't been to a hairdresser in such a loooong time, but yesterday I thought I'd finally go and get them to try and replicate, if at all possible, this particular hair cut from a magazine I picked up in Japan. (By the way, if you follow me on facebook, this hair cut is your doing because you all told me to go for it! And I thank you for that.) Trying to do the same pose as the girl in the magazine.. haha. I took myself along to Japanese hairdresser Allure Hair in Sydney and they did an awesome job! I love my new haircut, and even better, I finally like my real hair. I have noticed, however, that having shorter hair does require a slightly different way of dressing - so I'm going to start trying to wear my wigs less in outfit posts (after the few I've got already lined up), and attempt to suit my clothes more to a short hair style. So, another reason for this post is that I'm embarrassingly bad (for a fashion blogger) at hair styling, and I was actually hoping for some tips... my hair is super thin and just getting it to look this "full" required about half a can of hairspray, half-an-hour with a hairdryer and a whole lot of curling with a curling iron (edit: my fringe didn't need this, but the rest of my hair did) - which I want to avoid having to do every day or I'll be back at damaged hair again. Mousse doesn't give it enough lift either. And I wasn't really able to style it like it looks in the photo, which I would like to be able to do as well. If anyone has any tips for me on styling my hair like the photo, without too much heat damage, I'd be super happy to hear them :)

Back to School!

It's back to uni time for me! But don't worry, I'll still be making lots of time to blog! As well as moving closer to uni (*fingers crossed*), I'm going to be having a pretty busy year! I kept it simple with this outfit, wearing my brand new clear rainboots which I am absolutely in love with! These shoes took three months to arrive, which was the only downside - because they're very well made for the price, and the sender included a whole rainbow's worth of other shoelaces so I can mix and match them. I can't stop staring at my feet when I have these on, it's weird being able to see inside your boots! The awesome thing about these shoes is that you can just change your socks and BAM you've got a new pair of boots! I got mine from Alibaba but you can also find them on Ebay (search for "clear rainboots"). dress - c/o Rire Boutique socks - Tutuanna shoes - Alibaba backpack - Asos (sadly no longer in stock) necklace - Claire's hat - c/o Wholesale I also have to highly recommend this dress gifted to me from Rire Boutique! The shape of the dress is super dooper flattering, plus the nautical stripes are very summery and sailor-esque, and I've been complimented on it whenever I wear it. That's it from me today. I hope you're all doing great!

$4 Vintage Dresses / Science Fiction #2

I found this dress in a "Thank You Mart" in Osaka for.. wait for it.. $4 (that's 390円). And I feel like a prairie princess wearing it. The collar is perfectly over-the-top and it also features a gorgeous v-shaped (google tells me "basque" is the technical term) waistline. I always feel a little bit rude bragging about my thrift store finds (but not enough to stop me doing it haha), because it's not exactly like you can click a link and buy the same dress if you like it. So, while these aren't exactly $4 thrift store finds, here's a list of my favourite etsy stores who also do vintage on the cheap. (I see way too many shops that get away with selling vintage for hundreds of dollars. That isn't for me. $30 max is what I'll pay for a really nice, second-hand dress!) Bonne Chance | The Floral Prince | KooKooKachoo | Strawberry Koi | Some Underground | Bloom Bandit | Castle In Air |  Very Vintage Ivy dress - Thank You Mart (vintage) socks - c/o Sock Dreams shoes - Shoe Store in Tokyo Headband - Claire's (Japan) If you all recall, back in January I wrote about the books that I was currently reading - which all happened to be of the Science Fiction genre because I am somewhat of a gigantic nerd. I just wanted to do a quick update on the books I've read lately - and I should also note that I highly recommend them all. 'In the year 2000 all household tasks will be carried out by robots...' Image Source Firstly, in January I wrote that I was reading WWW.Wake by Robert Sawyer. I read the whole series, and I really liked it, even if it was a little far-fetched in parts. The main character is a blind-from-birth teenage girl/blogger who is the first recipient of an experimental implant which allows her to see, but which also inadvertently plugs her brain into the internet and leads to her discovering an artificial intelligence on the web. Other good books I have read in the past two months: The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer (cyborg Cinderella story, aw yeah!) Wired and Amped by Douglas E. Richards Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan Have you guys read any good books lately? I would love to know, as I took on board some recommendations from last time and they were spectacular (but unfortunately I was never able to find a few! :( Darn amazon!)

Stripes, 3D Flowers & The Possibilities of 3D Printing

Alright. I know I say this a lot (but I always mean it!). So here goes. This is my new favourite dress. It features super eye-catching stripes and is, in general, spectacular. I love items of clothing with an element of novelty and this one did not fail to deliver - I was surprised when I opened the package containing the dress, and noticed that many of the flowers are actually three-dimensional! dress - c/o Romwe sweater - Vintage & DIY (cropped) tights - Yoshida (Japan) collar clips - c/o Merrin & Gussy shoes - Body Line belt - Vintage hairband - Claire's (Japan) Speaking of three-dimensional, I was just reminded that 3D printers exist and I've never even talked about them on the blog before! They've got to be one of the coolest inventions and sciencey things ever, I think. But first, if you haven't really heard of 3D printing before, then this is what it's all about: Think of a normal two-dimensional paper-and-ink printer. You send a file to it from your computer, and it prints out ink onto a sheet of paper. 3D printers, instead of using ink, use various materials (like plastics) and layer by layer, using cross-sections of a 3D file that you send to it via your computer, the printer creates your three-dimensional object in real life. For example, this is a citrus juicer that you can download and then print out at home from Thingyverse: But it isn't all plastic homewares. Just recently, scientists from the University of Edinburgh have created a cell printer that can print living tissue. We are getting to the stage where printing out organs from your own cells, that will fit you perfectly and remove the worry of transplant rejection if you are ever in need of an organ transplant, is a feasible technology. And there are some other applications of 3D printing which - while not as revolutionary as that - are still pretty awesome. If you're serious about chocolate, you can order a 3D printer designed specifically for chocolate making, for around $4000. Layer by delicious, chocolatey layer, the printers can make intricate shapes like faces and letters using chocolate as its material. If you're in love with your minecraft creations, it may make you happy to know that you can have your whole little world printed out for you at Mine Craft Print. And I've been happy to see that the fashion industry has also gotten onto the 3D printing bandwagon (images from 3D Printing Industry). You're even able to create your own fashion items, and upload them for people to print out at home at places like Cubify and Thingyverse! (Although personally, I think 3D fashion may be in need of a serious overhaul by some slightly more stylish folk...) So maybe in a few years time, you'll see a blog post from me saying "Oh hey guys, I designed and uploaded this dress last night and you can download it and print it out at home via this link here". And then you'll all switch on your 3D printers, print out the dress I uploaded, and be wearing it that same day. How freaking cool would that be? With the advances we've seen in 3D printing in the last 5 years, surely more comfortable dress fabrics aren't too far away! Are you guys starting to understand why I get so excited about science??? A whole lotta love to you all,

31 Days of Dressing Up: March 2013

other useful accessories: lace socks | lady ties | dot tights | pocket watch necklace | tattoo tights | suspenders | boater hat I hope you guys like this post, because I'm not going to lie - taking 31 outfit shots in one day is a lot of work! I am creating this series with the hope that it'll help inspire you all to get inventive with putting together outfits! I want to show that it doesn't matter if you don't have a gigantic wardrobe - you can squeeze a whole month of outfits out of just 12 items (plus a few accessories here and there). Which combinations are your favourite? Can you think of any combinations I missed that would look awesome? And do I now get the next month off from doing outfit posts? (Only kidding). p.s. If you own a clothing store and want your items featured in next month's post, then shoot me an email at annikavictoria[at]gmail[dot]com.