Compulsive Sketcher: Manning Cartell Spring/Summer 2011/2011

Manning Cartell has always been one of my favourite Australian brands. The brand was spawned from  a partnership of three sisters and their collections have always been about femininity with a twist, bridging the gap between timeless sophistication and edgy progressiveness. I've owned a few of their pieces over the years and it's been great seeing them grow as designers.

This collection seems to be more about femininity and elegance, and it seems like they've really refined each and every piece. My absolute favourite has to be the "Daily Sketch Formal Dress". Just stunning.

"Entitled ‘Compulsive Sketcher’ the collection is Manning Cartell’s vision of “distorted ink drawings entwined in Spanish tales of romance.” This means taking your cues from the dress of matadors and senoritas, sophisticated silhouettes and lots of seductive black lace." Melbourne GPO

All photos are courtesy of The Grand Social where the collection is available for pre-order.

 

Whiteout Shirt $254.00 AUD

Character Sketch Top $284.00

Character Sketch Maxi $454.00 AUD

Daily Sketch Formal Maxi $904.00 AUD

Esmeralda One Shoulder Dress $504.00 AUD

Esmeralda Corset Dress $604.00 AUD

Periwinkle Maxi $454.00 AUD

  

I Wear a Suticase Under Each One of My Eyes...

 

Dress: MinkPink "Moonlight Hours" Velvet Maxi from freez.com.au
Shoes: GoJane
Blouse: TEMT
Necklace: gifted

Outfit:
I thought about not posting these because I look so damn grumpy in them haha. But to be fair it was early in the morning, it was a rainy, miserable day, and I was “looking forward” to a 10 hour day at uni, so there really wasn’t too much to smile about!

I’ve been wondering how I could wear this dress. It’s pretty out there, being a deep blue velvet maxi that I purchased not long ago at freez.com.au who I did a review for here.

The funny thing is when I wore it by itself, both my parents commented on how lovely my evening dress is and when I told them I was going to wear it to uni they were shocked! Haha, it’s so funny how much fashion evolves in some ways and not in others. But I definitely felt the need to break up all the velvet by layering it with the pussybow blouse. This isn’t my favourite way to wear this dress but I figured I would post it anyway!

Cat Rantings:
I’ve been on a massive shopping kick the last couple of months. I don’t know if it’s a distraction technique to keep me away from studying. It’s slightly worrying since I should be saving for my overseas move and the time spent browsing the internet should be put into all the projects and assignments I have due in the coming weeks, but I’ve never been so excited to open my closet!

PS. The name of this post refers to the song my The Wombats, "Tokyo Vampires and Wolves". It was the first thing that came to my head when I looked at my photos, probably because I had massive bags under my eyes haha but also the title of the song seems befitting around the halloween season, just like my outfit.

Passive Me, Aggresive You...

 

 

 Jacket: Vintage
Shoes: Boutique in Hong Kong
Jeans: Nudie
Top: Kookia
Necklace: FCUK
Rings: Sportsgirl and ASOS

As you can see, my usual photo spot hasn’t been featured recently. That’s because with the summer sun showing it’s face, my spot gets drowned in brightness, washing out my outfits. Hopefully I can still use it when I take photos at other times of the day or on overcast day because you would not believe how hard it is to find a plain wall in my home with space in front of it for a tripod…

So this jacket was one of my awesome finds at one of my favourite thrift stores the other day! It’s amazing! I hope these photos do it justice… It’s in absolute mint condition and the detailing is incredible. I took the shoulder pads out but it still has a strong shoulder/puff shoulder element and I never bought into the peplum trend but I couldn’t get past how adorable the peplum skirt on this jacket is!! The fabric is an amazing hot pink with a brocade like texture and I absolutely love everything about it. It actually buttons all the way up, but I left it unbuttoned, apart from at the waist for a more casual feel.

Because the peplum sits quite high-waisted, I decided to wear it with my current favourite jeans, my high-waisted Nudies. I actually rarely wear jeans, just because I find them uncomfortable but these would have to be my faves. Of course I matched my accessories (how predictable am I…) I’m not actually much of a pink person, but I really like this look.

The necklace is amazing! It’s by French Connection and I can see me wearing it with a lot of stuff. My only complaint is that the little coloured squares have already started peeling off, but nothing a little super glue won’t fix =)

The Naked and Famous...

The Naked And Famous - Young Blood

I'm Still an Animal...

 

 

Blazer: Vintage
Shorts: Bebe
Top: Supre
Bag: Boutique in Hong Kon
Shoes: Modcloth
Necklace: DIY
Bracelets: Thailand, vintage etc.


Cat Rantings:
Sorry for the absence… I’ve been up to my neck in work. I had to submit a draft of my final year thesis to my supervisor on Monday and even then it wasn’t finished =( On top of that, I had to mark 40+ lab reports and prepare for a tutorial full of material I had never seen before. Needless to say it’s been a stressful few days!

I’m feeling pretty good today, I went thrifting this morning and came home with some absolute gems! Hopefully I can show off some of my new pieces on here soon =) After my classes finish I will probably go through and put a whole bunch of things up on ebay.. vintage and not vintage pieces. I've been selling off my no longer wanted pieces for a while and I always start them at $0.99 so stay tuned for bargains!

Outfit:
So I would have to say that the combination of colours in this outfit are probably my absolute favourite at the moment. I love mixing leopard print with bright colours and I have so much turqoise at the moment. I wanted to wear the shorts and figured that adding the blazer would step me up a notch on the professional scale, since I was taking a tutorial today. I love how it looks like a little casual suit.

The necklace was a successful DIY project from a few months ago, which I still love! It’s made up of tarnished gold chain and strips of turqoise leather fed through the chain loops, all of which I got from ebay. It took forever to make but it was so worth it!

If I could, I would...

If I could, I would... by cdaw87 on Polyvore.com

Coat: Alexander McQueen Wool Kimono Cape (US$3,420)
Playsuit: Shay Todd Romance twill playsuit (US$265)
Bag: Alexander Wang Leopard Print Diego (US$825)
Tights: SAYLOR Nude Tights (45EUR)
Shoes: Jessica Simpson Dany Platform (US$98)
Sunglasses: Karen Walker NUMBER ONE Crazy Tortoise (US$170)
Spiked Bracelet: Karlie's Gold Spiked Stretch Bracelet (US$35)
Pyramid Stud Bracelt: Noir Jewelry - Skip Pave Pyramid Bracelet (US$153)


It all started with my search for the perfect playsuit... (which still continues)

If I could own every single piece in this set, I would. I technically have the shoes, but they're in the States waiting for me since NO ONE posted these babies internationally. The wait will put me at least 6 months behind but I wanted them that bad!

These tights are redic... I love crazy legwear and I'm very much into spiked jewellery and pyramid studs at the moment. This would probably be my perfect "transition into fall" outfit.