༺ Manor of the Setting Sun ༻

Oh hai, hey, hello… Yes, of course I like to dress like Scandinavian princess escaping from imminent beheading with her jewel box and her life by hiding out as a goose girl or a pony herder… Why ever do you ask?

…I even found some ponies to go along with my disguise…!

Haha ~ not really. Thai ponies are quite skittish, and these ones wanted nothing to do with the strange lady tottering around in high heels all over their paddocks. I really can’t imagine why!

I did convince one of them to come over to me and say hello, which was the highlight of this photo shoot as far as I am concerned. Nothing makes me happier than spending time with horses, but sadly I didn’t have any convenient carrots in my pockets. I was woefully underprepared for life in hiding as a peasant. Haha!

All the dress up and story telling aside, I really did enjoy this ensemble.  I wore it when the Mister and I had our Valentine’s Day date to see How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World, and I’d totally wear it again anytime I wanted an evening outfit or something a little fancy.

I do love wearing Bernie Dexter dresses ~ there’s something special in the way each one is designed, and the Amy Manor dress is no exception. It’s an older style, as it has been around for couple of years now, but it’s been at the top of my wish list for all of that time.

The delicate pink roses harmonize beautifully with the Renaissance inspired border print, and the puff sleeves combined with the corset waist creates an extremely flattering silhouette. The skirt has a fabulous amount pouf and holds its shape well without a petticoat, and add the fact that it has pockets ~ there couldn’t really be much more of a perfect frock in my eyes.

I styled it with a silk pashmina I picked up in Chiang Mai, and a lovely vintage box handbag that I found on eBay. The handbag isn’t labelled and I have no idea what era it’s from, but the lucite handle is lovely, and I do think you can’t get much more fun than a whole bunch of daisies and poppies on top of your purse!

The last element to this look was the petal pink ribbon with a vintage rhinestone dress clip as a choker ~ I adore these 1950s dress clips but I really, really love choker necklaces. I’m obsessed with how romantic they look, it’s forever a mood.

Of course, the reality of shooting in the heat is far less romantic. I was sooo hot and my water bottle emptied far too quickly! By the end of if, my shoes where off and I was walking around in the dust and leaf litter lugging my camera, tripod, and etcetera back to the car. Thailand is super dry at the moment ~ all the big trees are shedding their leaves faster than you can drop a hot coal. It makes for very crunchy leaf carpets, and a weird feeling that autumn is mingling with spring as the weather heats up after our cool respite for “winter”.

It’s interesting here with the burning season well under way much earlier than normal. It’s wrecking havoc with my asthma but makes for a very aesthetic haze, and loads of charming light. I know I was playing a bit too much with direct sunlight in this shoot, but what can I say ~ I love a good lens flare.

However, one of these days I’ll have to remember to stop playing with sunbeams and get some better detail close ups… Not that you really need to see how scuffed up my heels got running around in the dirt and stubble… All the same, I am curious ~ do you want to see more close up shots? I try to remember to get them, but I think I’ve done a pretty rubbish job this time, so let me know!

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

1950s Crystal Dress Clip | eBay
Bernie Dexter Amy Manor Dress | BSS Group
Vintage Poppy & Daisy Fields Box Handbag | eBay
Peach Fire Pashmina | Chiang Mai Market Stall
Miss L Fire Cream Spectators | eBay

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༺ Sugar Doll ༻

I’m so excited for this new year!

It does promise to be one of a upheaval, as we have plans that may see us moving back to Australia before the end of 2019. Although we are not at all sure when that will happen, I think we are all looking forwards to going home.

It’s not that we don’t enjoy living in Thailand still, as there are certainly things here that we really like and will really miss ~ I think it’s just that we are ready to move back. We have done what we set out to do, and we are getting to the stage where now we miss everyone back home, as well as our life there.

It’s been a grand adventure, but I guess missing Christmas back with our family has really hit home on how lonely it can be in a country where you don’t speak the language. I think we all have {but especially me} a good ol’ case of homesickness. Yes, we’ve met people we are friendly with {I’d call them acquaintances}, and we do have fun hanging out and chatting when we can, but you can’t really make friends easily.

I don’t think that’s necessarily the only reason we have for moving back though… We are also at the point in planning for the future where we’d either be committing to staying in Thailand for a much longer term, like five years or so, or we are coming back.

The long and the short of it is that we never wanted to make this overseas stay a permanent thing. Yes, we were open to it if it turned out that was something we really wanted as a family, but I don’t think that’s really happened. We’ve enjoyed our time here, but we haven’t really found an alternate home, if you know what I mean. We are so ready to move back.

It’s just time.

After a year and a half of our overseas adventure, it’s time to start the next one! While moving back to Australia might not look like an adventure on the surface, there’s definitely a lot of stuff coming up that will be keeping us on our toes.

Butttt, although that is where our minds are at presently, there is so much still up in the air as to when that might be happening! So we try to get on with it, and just figure out what we need to do in the meantime.

That seems to involve our usual weekly routines, like dressing everyone up on Sundays! We go out to Central Festival and have lunch at one of our favourite restaurants, either Panda Palace {not actually the name of the restaurant} or Sukishi {actually the name of the restaurant!}.

I wore this new-to-me Bernie Dexter dress a few weekends ago, and I’ve got to say, I am so obsessed. It was one of those ones that just make you feel special as soon as you put it on, like it’s total “end result of a movie makeover montage scene” moment. That’s when you know you really love something, when you feel like a million bucks wearing it…

The original cherry red belt was no longer with the dress when it came to me, but I substituted this cute scallop edged, shell-toned one instead ~ and made up for the lack of red with my 1930’s celluloid leaf necklace.

The necklace is a bit dusty and stained, even after a gentle wash, and a couple of the delicate spots have snapped. But you know how it is ~ you just can’t beat true vintage for those special details.

I was inspired by the gingham bow print fabric to wear a giant red gingham bow in my hair and I gotta say ~ I am into it. Hehe.

I don’t usually go for cherry prints ~ although I really adore cherries as they are my favourite fruit! I personally feel like they’ve become so ubiquitous to rockabilly and modern pinup {along with polka dots which I also don’t “do”} so much so, that no matter that they are found in vintage prints, I simply don’t like to wear them.

I had to make an exception for this dress however, as the gingham bow print is too perfect with the cherries and I really couldn’t resist! I’m glad I didn’t ~ I just love it!

Plus, how cute does my jelly purse look with this frock? I received a pink jelly purse for my birthday from the Mister, but when I was back at that shop later, I saw the blue one and knew it would go so well with so many dresses in my wardrobe that it came home with me too.

All in all, this ensemble is a totally eclectic mix of true vintage, modern pinup, and flat out high street-modern fashion, but I just don’t care. I love the look and that’s all that matters!

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Red Gingham Hair Bow | Star Avenue Market
1930’s Lacey Leaf Chain Necklace | FB Vintage Group
Bernie Dexter Sugar Doll dress in Aqua Cherries | BSS Group
Scalloped Shell Belt | Big C Extra
Blue Jelly Bean Purse | Pink Pvssy
Mint Heart Pinup Girl Heels | BSS Group

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༺ To St. Andrew’s Square ༻

I know it’s taking me half a century to post these days, but hey! That’s life sometimes!

I’ve been “gifted” with all the colds and flues I missed out on this winter, {thanks Canberra crud…} so between that and trying to spend all the time with friends and family that I can, I have just been away from it all, even Instagram!! *le gasp!* (ô □ ô)

We took these pictures back in November when the Mister and I spent some time in Sydney. He was there for work and I was there for fun… Hehe! His work paid for a gorgeous hotel room right in the city, and we really enjoyed the time away. I loved the night time outlook over the city lights!

It’s kind of funny because I never really thought of myself as much of a city person, but over the last few years I’ve really come to appreciate all the things you get to enjoy in a busy, bustling city. There is certainly something unique to being in the middle of all that hustle, something that is vibrant and fun.

Sure, when it comes to day to day life, I am all for a great suburb with access to a lot of nature {and horses and bush and reserves and parks} and all that good stuff, but I really, really do enjoy a holiday in a big city. It’s a very refreshing change of pace.

And the buildings! Oh, the architecture… *swoon* Finding interesting buildings and places to see, it’s one of my favourite things to do. When I spot an interesting architectural design, or a beautiful piece of wall art, or décor ~ I get a thrill prickling down my spine just like I’ve uncovered a vintage treasure in a thrift shop.

It’s totally as awesome as putting together a fully realized outfit ~ just like this one!

I really adore how the lavender and tan paired together in this ensemble. The whole look is created with the perfect pieces for my style, and I am so into every. single. thing. in this outfit. The soft colour palette is my absolute favourite, it creates such a nice summery look ~ especially when combined with the bold violet purple and cardamom yellow of the pansies in my hair.

I’ve kind of made it my one of my goals to add more shades of purple to my wardrobe. I love violet, lavender and lilac, and I really wish I had more purple to wear! I’ll be keeping an eye out as much as I can, but I think I’ve made a good start with the addition of this Pinup Girl sundress.

Only, whyyyyy doesn’t it have pockets??

Seriously!

I’m am never more disappointed in a dress than when it doesn’t have pockets. Yeah, it bites if it doesn’t fit right, and it’s annoying if it creeps down while you wear it, or refuses to fasten properly, but the saddest thing is a complete lack of pockets if you ask me.

Especially when that’s the simplest problem to fix.

I mean, I purchased this dress second hand, but I know the price range that it was originally in, and boy oh boy, I would have been bummed if I had paid full price only to find that it had no pockets! I think that my Review cocktail dress that I posted about a long time ago has set a high standard, haha!

Is it just me though? Are pockets something you look for in your dresses and skirts? What is the one thing you need to have in your clothing to make it super wearable?

Basically I rate anything in my wardrobe with decent pockets as the best thing ever. If the clothing doesn’t have good, deep pockets, or any pockets at all, I am far less likely to pull it out and wear it. Pockets win all the time. That is all.

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Pansy Hair Flowers | Daisy Jean Floral Designs
Pinup Girl Couture Lavender “Jenny” dress | FB Group
Lavender Lucite Necklace Set | Summer Blue Jewellery
Vintage Ralph Lauren Canvas Purse | EBay
Summer Tan Wedges | French Blu via Zulily

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༺ Rose Red & Curls ༻

I think I’ve finally done it. I’ve finally found the perfect sunny weather style. This look really is my dream summertime ensemble!

The miniature roses, the sweet strawberry dangles on my straw purse, combined with chic wooden clogs ~ all these details add the finishing touches to my ideal red gingham dress. For me, it doesn’t get much more summer than this!

I’ve had the vague ideas of this look floating in my head for a while now, so it really felt great to finally put it all together. We wandered the streets of our Moo Baan after a long afternoon of shopping to find a picture perfect spot, and thankfully we had the road to ourselves.

We only just managed to sneak these photos in not long before we left Thailand, so they are a few weeks old already! It’s been a rather crazy year, and I really can’t believe it’s almost over… Eeek!

We have made it safely back, and now that we are finally over the jetlag; I can safely say that I’m definitely more acclimated to a tropical environment than I ever thought I would be…

You guys, Canberra is COLD! And grey. And cloudy. And it really makes me miss the gorgeous sunshine we had over in Thailand, like when we took these pictures!

However, one thing that I’ve bought back with me, and that I’m still enjoying very much ~ funnily enough ~ is my natural curly hair!

Quite a while ago I posted a picture on Instagram where my hair had gone pretty curly ~ almost to the point of an afro(!), or a Vogue editorial ~ and honestly, the response I got was quite astounding to me! I had people commenting on it left, right and centre ~ just about on every social media platform and I was shocked.

Everyone seemed to just love my natural curls! Even as wild and crazy and bouffy as they were that day. I mean, they were soooo fluffy! I would have firmly pegged it as a “bad hair day”! Yet, no one else seemed see it the same way.

So I got to thinking, maybe I should just roll with it and let my curls do their own thing? I wasn’t sure though, so polled it on Insta, and everyone was super positive about letting my curls run wild and free. {Yes, hair can totally run wild and free ~ the mane is unstoppable and untameable! It just wants to have fun and do it’s own thing… Haha!} And again, there where random supportive, and super positive comments all around the place from people I would NEVER have expected to chip in!

I was kind of overwhelmed, but ready to go for it. Since then, that’s what I’ve been aiming for ~ the curliest of curls I can possibly get!

It’s a bit strange, as I have been trying to tame, smooth, and flatten the mane for such a long time! I’ve worked hard on achieving a good pin curl set on my hair type over the last six years. To let it just do it’s thing feels very weird. But it seems like it was the right time for something new.

I feel like all these little changes I’ve been making since moving away at the beginning of this year has really transformed my style. And while I will always have a soft spot for a neatly defined pin curl set, I do have to admit ~ this natural mop is by far soooo much easier to achieve!

I’m not sure I’m even ready to go back to pin curls yet, but maybe in time I will revisit them. If I haven’t forgotten everything I have learned by then! Haha!

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Miniature Rose Hair Flowers | Chiang Mai Night Market
A Gingham Summer Dress | c/o Sisjuly
Palm Straw Purse | Chiang Mai Night Market
Black Strap Clogs | OPERA, Malaysia

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༺ Roses in the Park ༻

I’m not going to lie ~ I’m slightly okay, majorly, in love with this park we found last weekend. Is that a weird thing to say?

If it is, I’m going to say it anyway!

We haven’t really had much of a chance for sightseeing yet, I’ve been way to exhausted and there’s just been too many other things to deal with. Sort of like what happened in Malaysia, we’ve spent our time in Chiang Mai mostly exploring all the shopping centres trying to find what we need/what’s available to us, rather than just looking around for fun.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, the shops can be fun {hehehe} but I really just love exploring a city and seeing all the landmarks and beautiful spots. I’ve been aching to do that here, and now I have the perfect reason too!

For those of you that follow me on Instagram, you would have already seen this, but my Mother-In-Law flew over from Australia last Friday. It’s mostly an “emergency” trip ~ she came bearing gifts ~ namely my desperately needed supplements, and help in the form of looking after the little ones while my body adjusts to being in a more balanced state. Which is actually a fairly rough ride {at the moment I’m on a quarter dose and I’m still dealing with fatigue and all the usual, plus a new symptom ~ nausea… Yay.}.

But it should be over in a few weeks, if it follows in the pattern of my previous experience with this treatment. At least I’m sleeping better at night, and actually feeling somewhat refreshed in the mornings!

Anywho ~ now that my Mil is visiting, I hope that we will have a chance to explore more of wonderful Chiang Mai with her. The Night Market is so much fun, the Old City is really beautiful and interesting, and I’d love to show her the botanic gardens as I think she will really love them!

The weather at the moment is absolutely fantastic for outdoor explorations. The rainy season has finished now, and the days are mostly filled with sunshine and cool breezes to whisk away the majority of humidity. It’s really the best weather you could ask for when sightseeing, so I absolutely want to make the most of it.

We did stumble on this park a bit by accident, we had some time to kill before attending church, but not enough time to go all the way back home and out again. So I searched for the nearest park on Google maps and this is what we found!

It was soooo much better than I was expecting, it was a stunning garden with gorgeous old bridges, pavilions, man-made lakes and canals, flowers galore and tree lined avenues. But best of all, there was really great play equipment for the children!

Yes, I really wanna go back there again….. Haha!

Something else I also love, and that I just have to mention, is my new brooch by Natalie of Fancy Lady Industries.

There’s been a ton of new makers and brands pop up in the brooch scene recently, and it’s really exciting to see all the talent and creativity each brand brings to their designs.

I ordered a bunch from a few different makers, and most of them are still back in Australia, as I get all my mail *cough*online shopping*cough* sent to my mom’s house.

However, my Mil kindly slipped a few of my recent purchases in her suitcase and now I have some new pretties to play with!

I have to say, I was really impressed by the solid workmanship of Natalie’s pieces. The lines are clean and everything fits together beautifully which makes the final piece look so polished and professional. Her artwork is beautiful too, and she has some great designs available!

I really love it when a maker puts a lot of care into creating their pieces, and I adore seeing all the new brooch designs coming out. It’s amazing to see quite a large community of brooch lovers continue to grow, and to know I’m not the only one with a serious brooch addiction…. (｡> ౪ •｡)  Brooching is definitely something I’m enjoying a lot at the moment. I love collecting wearable, miniature pieces of art! I could write a whole essay on brooches, and the art in fashion, but I think I will leave that for another time.

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Peach Peony Hair Flower | Old
"Florence” Japanese Flower Brooch | Fancy Lady Industries
Navy Rose Dress | Zulily
Tan Virginia Leather Sandal | Miss L Fire

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