Nursery Rhymes — The Wardrobe

If you can dream it, you can create it...

I love fashion, and style is something that has always come effortlessly to me. But I’ve always been in awe of the girls who impeccably style their own hair and makeup. I’ve worked with some of the best in the fashion industry in my career, and watched them at work making their magic. It’s definitely made me a little more cautious of attempting anything too unusual. I feel that in every beautiful outfit it comes down to one part styling and one part composition, and if in doubt simpler is always better. Now that I have worked out the basics, I've decided to take on a challenge after being inspired by this dress, an ode to another era...

It’s taken me a good year to work my way through various every day looks, and I am excited to finally start playing around with all sorts of unique colours and textures. This look which I called ’Nursery Rhymes’ reminds me of such. The dress from Max is a classic silhouette, and has that old country vibe. It almost feels like going back in time a little bit, in a sweet reminiscent way. The large pockets and have a quaint charm, and the linen gives it a perfect crisp shape.

The outfit came together with relative ease this week, I had these adorable flats from Rubi Shoes stashed away exactly for this dress and the bows around the ankles are too cute. Rubi has a few different colours of these, and they are fun to wear. It almost makes you feel like a little ballerina when you pop them on. I suggest pairing them with simpler outfits though, and preferably skirts or dresses. They are more a dramatic statement shoe.

Navy and white were the two main colours I worked with in this outfit, so I decided to opt for a third colour in the scenery itself as I kept this look very classic. The autumn colours are some of the most intensely beautiful out of the year in New Zealand, apart from the perennial blooms in spring - and the Genko trees which originated in China, are one of the last trees to transform. They become a beautiful intense yellow and here in the afternoon light it was the perfect backdrop.

I decided to take this look a step further than the predictable, so I attempted a bold white eyeliner amongst the rosy shades of my eye shadow, and I am in love with the results! The white eyeliner has been a catwalk trend, popping up over the last few years in various shows in NZ such as PIA, and abroad. It lightens up the whole look, and gives it a slight ethereal factor. I echoed this whimsical feel in the accessories, with this bracelet, necklace and hair piece from Lovisa. The hairpiece has tiny white flowers all over it, amongst tiny pearls and diamantes. The delicate textures work beautifully with the dainty pattern on the dress.

I wanted to emphasise the traditional feel of this theme, so I brought along one of my most loved latest additions to my ever-growing props collection. This older spindle back chair was painted white before I bought it and perfectly echoes the classic nature of this dress. I used the leaves of this tree to frame the images, and the results are vibrant and dreamy. A vintage feel classic.

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