Leftover Green Beans.

Since 2007, Josy and Aza from Left Over Green Beans have been creating clothing made completely of re-purposed and organic materials - such as vintage fabrics, hand-crocheted curtains, deconstructed clothing, and handmade trims. They find pieces they love in flea markets and their grandmothers’ closets and put them together to create totally unique garments.

Here are some of my favourite looks from their current collection:

The Avedon

Crochet skirt handmade crochet and organic lining, flower top made from an apron with green plaid trim from curtains

The Mirabella

  Vintage embroidered table cloth with green plaid trim repurposed from curtains

The Audrey

 Top is a bed sheet with crochet table covering skirt, vintage silk pieced together with french rickrack and, vintage lace trim, and embroidered flower appliques.

The Carrie & The Leanna

Skirt is made from a bed skirt. Top is repurposed fabric from childhood clothing.

Yellow skirt is made from vintage fabric. Top is made from a curtain & vintage buttons.

What do you think of the pieces? They're so gorgeous and unique, with a truly fun, vintage vibe to it. The fact that each and every piece is eco-friendly too would definitely make you feel good about wearing them! To find out more about the girls behind LOGB or to get a bit more inspiration for your next visit to nana's, go to their website:  
http://www.leftovergreenbeans.com/logb.html

Sawasdee ka!

That means HELLO in Thai :-). I'm back from a fantastic three days in Bangkok, we had such an amazing time. The weather was really hot, but it didn't seem so crowded with tourists yet (still from the red shirt protests from the last few months I guess). We felt completely safe though now, and the hospitality of the Thai people was as genuine as ever. Seriously, Thailand = The Land of Smiles is the most honest description of this country.

Here are a few pictures of the things I did (and some outfits I wore;)) and I hope you enjoy!

First day in Bangkok, riding the famous Tuk-Tuks and having a tall glass of Thai Black Ice Tea. So great!

On vacation but never on holiday from my blog! Haha - Outfit post in the hotel room.

Primark skirt / Evie bag / Jeanswest vest / Splash scarf / Diva bracelet and ring from Philippines

This was the view from our hotel window. I stayed at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Silom area. 

Fantastic hotel, and the rates are pretty affordable at the moment! I love the colourful traffic.

Forever 21 skirt / Dotti studded vest / Owl pendant from Bangkok markets

My sister Chrissy & I at the Floating Markets, with some hats we picked up for just $10!

With my new friend, this monkey python... I always saw photos of people with snakes around their necks and would never think I'd do it, but it wasn't scary at all! Nice to see I was entertaining to the ladies behind me too:-) hahaha

On the Bridge over River Kwai.

Wearing my sisters dress, since I'm such an emo-kid with a closet full of black clothes, I needed to borrow it as we had to wear 'light coloured' clothing for the Tiger Temple - see next photos!

FEEDING TIGER CUBS in Tiger Temple (Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua). This was the most amazing experience!! We spent about 45 minutes in the housing enclosure with four 6-week old cubs. I'm such a cat lover so playing with them was just like playing with some overgrown kittehs!

Photo time with the full grown tigers outside. They have a strict dress code when visiting the temple and my skirt was too short (mmm should be used to this by now!) so bought a new dress from the Floating Markets. In the Tiger Temple it's best to wear shorts or pants covering knees and a shirt covering your shoulders. Also, strictly NO red or dark pinks (maybe the tigers will mistake you for a juicy steak ;)).

 Speaking of food... YUM!

 

In a dress I picked up from Bangkok's Chatuchak Weekend Market, I think it cost me about $3. That market was never ending. With everything from homewares, street foods, mens and ladies fashion as well as pet fashion, it's a must see! I love the style of the Bangkok youth, and a lot of local designers had stalls at the weekend market selling their products. Lots of funky printed tshirts and unique jewelry.

You'll see me in my new Thai bought clothes in a lot of my future posts now. 

Bargain hunting in Bangkok is the best!

Fafinette Alka.

Gorgeous French singer and actress, Alka Balbir puts on some coolcat-boots and transforms into a sexy fafinette for the 2010 fafiXadidas Spring/Summer collection. Styled by the ever fab Fafi and photographed by Sunny Ringle.

***
Photos courtesy of http://fafi.coolcats.fr/

Lady Petrova Winter 2010.

Lady Petrova is a Melbourne based fashion designer who brings a breath of elegant and feminine air to the city's boutique shopping area, Flinders Lane.
Her new winter collection, 'The Collector, is available now at her online store: http://ladypetrova.com.

 

LADY PETROVA: WEBSITE

Fishtails and fake flowers.

Headed out to Mall of the Emirates today for lunch and a movie.
I watched City Of Life again (an Emirati directed film based in Dubai. Amazing by the way, click the link for the trailer).

Do you like what I did to my hair? I thought I'd try tie it up into a fishtail braid. A very messy one though.
It unfortunately didn't last all day, because my hair is layered, I guess it all came undone.

 Also wanted to put a close up on the racerback I was wearing. Bought this in the markets called Greenhills, in Manila.

Before the movie, I stopped by DUCTAC, which is a theatre and arts community centre at the mall.
My first time there and I was surprised to see so many kids in art classes and artwork by those kids displayed on the walls. Never really knew what this centre did, thought they just hosted exhibitions from time to time. But well done to them for encouraging the creativity of those young and old.

In the artspace called Gallery of Light, I came across these interesting pieces.

By Liz Ramos. These are for sale at AED200 each.

Love this one. By Rebecca Rendell. Also for sale.

Portraits of a family. Not sure who these pieces are by,

Also met up with new friend, digital artist and photographer Jmerts (http://www.edaydreamer.com/).
We've got some cool stuff lined up together so watch this space!

Kate Moss for Topshop S/S 2010.

 My favourite high street clothing store, and their ongoing collaboration with my favourite person ever. 

You don't know how happy it makes me every time there is a new collection from Topshop's Kate Moss line.
Tomorrow marks the launch of the Spring/Summer 2010 line and for a sneak preview of what we can expect, Kate models the line in this short video, whilst dancing away to easy sounds of The Strange Boys.

The title of the song is “Be Brave”

 Let's have a look at the new collection, shall we?

Lace features prominently. The shoulder details on the long sleeve mini are very on trend, but I love the detail on the third dress. I bought one very similar while I was on vacation. Happy times!

 Loose-fit silken dresses, both long and short (in romper form!) in neutral colours. I think I would have liked to see these (especially the shorts) more bright and bold colours... The denim halter body suit looks sexy as. Reminded me immediately of Ms Blake Lively.

 Lots of maxi dresses in the collection as well, which is great for both casual days as well as accessorizing them up for a night out. 

I AM IN LOVE WITH THE CROSSBACK/KEYHOLE RUFFLED MAXI DRESS.

There are a lot of cotton floral dresses in the new collection too, both mini and maxi.

What's your verdict?

I think the pieces are nice, but a bit typical and although definitely summery with the earthy tones and soft florals, lacks that certain something. I'm a Kate Moss and Topshop fangirl though. So no matter what they do, I'll adore anything!
***
More of the collection at Vogue.co.uk

Room to move.

Summer is approaching... slowly. It should be here by now, but this damn climate change has screwed us up! It never used to rain in May in Dubai but oh, in 2010 it has! That's not to say the weather isn't hot as hell right now - it sure is.
And what better item of clothing to slip on than the easiest thing ever: the romper! 

I'm a summer dress girl. I have a few pants in my closet, but they never get worn. So to convert from summer dress to summer shorts is an easy decision. Not only are they cute as hell, but they help in avoiding unintentional overexposure when faced with windy days.

Must one be tall, thin and blonde to look gorgeous in a romper suit? 

It pretty much looks like it, gathering from these celebrity pictures I grabbed off the interwebs.

Oh Blake, must you always look so sexy?

Romper requirements: Long and lean legs. *huff*

BCBGeneration's new collection of fun summery retro-esque rompers can possibly give us all a chance to feel like Blake or Nicole for a day or two.
Ok, now back onya bike!

BCBGeneration Online Shop

Just shoot me!

My awesome Franki boy from back in Melbourne town has just unleashed his latest shots.

He's a bit of an ametuer photographer, preparing styled shoots in his spare time, and lucky for him, surrounded by beautiful friends that are willing to model! His latest models are my little-sistah-from-another mister Kim and my cousin Stephen, I must admit he's a bit of a hottie, no? ;)

 

 Great work J, I'm really digging these.

Junko Shimada RTW Autumn 2010.

Before looking through the shots, please play the song and keep it in the background...
I could imagine this music playing as the models made their way down the catwalk.:)

Junko Shimada - Autumn 2010 Ready-to-Wear Collection

LOVING THE COLOURS.

I really like the mini skirt/long sleeve look. In some situations, I need to cover my arms up (due to the tattoo), but don't want to look like a nun ;) 

For every inch of arm covered, I think it's fair to snip an inch off the skirt. Haha

Monochrome can never go out of fashion. It goes away but always come back - proving it's got the staying power. Obviously it's a classic look. Add a bit of colour to the outfit to make it POP!
Also loving the turbans featured heavily in this collection.
Always a fan of Arabian influences, and any way to keep hair out of my face during the scorching desert summer heat.

Colours, colours, colours - give me more, more, more!

And shall we have a close up look at those shoes?

Hot to trot!
***
PS - I wish I knew how to embed mp3's into my blog instead of youtube clips. 
I've googled it but still haven't been able to figure it out! 
If anyone can help me, that'd be great:-)