By now you've probably heard of Manikinn. In case you haven't, it's an Australian online boutique with some pretty fantastic pieces.


They are giving one reader the chance to win the piece pictured above, the skort, and giving all entrants a $10 gift voucher! All you have to do is pick your favourite item from the Manikinn store, and leave a comment describing how you would style it. The competition closes on Sunday, the 4th of July, and I will be announcing the winner on the 5th.

Your entry can be as detailed as you like, but please remember to include your email address in the comment, so Manikinn can send out your $10 voucher!

My entry would go something like this...

I would pair the RIP tee with a cute, high waisted, navy blue skirt. I would wear that with a pair of grey, over-the-knee, woolly socks (you know the type? And if so WHERE CAN I FIND SOME), some Chanelesque clogs, and a fitted black cardigan. I would then pair it (ideally) with a YSL envelope clutch and some kind of Carrie-inspired turban headband. Eccentric old lady style, oh yes.

OK, now your turn! Get cracking! And thank you so much to Manikinn for the contest opportunity!

x

I wore this to our last work dinner ever, at the Witch's Cauldron in Subiaco. I was really excited about going, and it was quite a good meal, but with VERY average service (but it must be said, with quite attractive waitstaff). I felt a bit like a nanna when I saw what everyone else was wearing - it seemed it was a very "high fashion" dinner, my boss was even wearing Chanel flats and a Willow coat. Although I did buy two Willow pieces on sale this week (for 70% off!) from the shop last week, so I can't really talk. Closing down has its benefits after all!

I wore this to Toy Story 3 last night... and then again today because I am ill and couldn't put a proper outfit together. A cold which has been niggling at me for weeks has finally - BLAM - hit me in the face and rendered me whimpering on the couch.

Oh, Toy Story 3! It was brilliant and adorable and OH LOOK JUST GO SEE IT because it will warm the cockles of your heart. It almost - ALMOST - changed my not-liking-children stance.

Sorry for the poor quality photos, I am pretty drugged up on Codral and other cold & flu type things so do not have a very photogenic face or nature today!




And some detail shots:


I must cut this post short as I have important plans to read Frankie, snuggled under a blanket, and drink lots of honey and lemon tea. Be gone, cold!

x

But they should, and I bought some new ones anyway!

They are from Oliver Peoples and I love them.The question most people ask is "Are they real glasses?" and yes, they are prescription lenses!

I love that they don't have any branding on them. I also love how two different optometrists (from the same place) told me that "These are what the movie stars wear, and because they don't have any branding or a logo on them, they wear them because they WANT to". Movie star endorsements aside, they are a really good shape for my face - a little rounder than most wayfarer styles, which don't really suit me. The style is Sheldrake in Storm.

I got mine from Angelo St Optical in South Perth, but you can get purchase them online at their website as well.

Nerds ahoy!


x

A much happier Sunday Songs this week! Please bop along if you feel so inclined! And apologies that this is actually posted on a Monday, Blogger & I were having some MAJOR ISSUES.



She & Him - In The Sun

David Bowie - Rebel Rebel



x

Hello! Today I battled a head cold to go and hand in my resume to Dangerfield. Please please PLEASE cross your fingers and toes and eyes for me! I only have about two weeks left at my current job so think it is kind of maybe a good idea to start looking for other jobs. In other news, I am writing this on my new MACBOOK PRO, OH YES (I am so in love with it),  and I have forced my sister, her boyfriend and my friend to watch Rock of Love and while they were (understandably) skeptical and resisted at first, they have ALL become obsessed. Mwahaha. No one can resist Bret Michaels and his "Wassa-goin-ons". I think it may be my favourite trashy reality television series of all time.

My wardrobe, while pretty predictable (vintage or retro - check. Girlie - check. Not pants - check) is also known to suffer sudden and mercifully brief spurts of me being inspired by something which really doesn't suit my personal style. Here, I would like to share with you the little illnesses that my wardrobe occasionally suffers from.

1. Rachel Zoeitis
When I watch more than two episodes of The Rachel Zoe Project at a time, I start thinking "Hey, maybe I could pull off the excess jewellery, fur vests and skinny jeans look. What do I mean, maybe? I could TOTALLY do it! Also, why am I not a stylist yet?". This happened a few nights ago when I was going to dinner at my grandparent's house. I decided to wear what I had worn to work that day (a black pinafore under a black wrap, with leggings and black boots) coupled with a (fake) fur gilet, my huge lion ring, a stack of bracelets on each arm, and heavy, heavy eyeshadow. Forgetting the fact that fur gilets are probably too OTT to wear to a family dinner, forgetting that I hate wearing bracelets, and forgetting that a streamlined, skinny jeans look really makes me look like a big sausage. Rachel Zoeitis - I am giving a face to this disease that may one day afflict you too.




 

2. The Carrie Syndrome
This is when I start thinking that I can wear heels anywhere I go. Walking to the shops? No problem, I can wear my incredibly high Siren wedges! Going to the movies? That's what those fiercely strappy Steve Madden heels are for! Going to a friend's house to watch DVDs? It must be time for the Miss Shop high ankle boots! Note: I have dislocated both my knees at different times - thankfully NOT due to wearing heels - so I really shouldn't wear high shoes at all. Once I wore a pair of wedges to a physio appointment and almost gave him a heart attack. Added to this is the fact that I am not the most coordinated at the best of times, and this is especially true when I have had more than two drinks. Heels and I do not get along, but I continue to wear them in the hope that one day I can run through the streets of New York in a pair of strappy Manolo Blahniks and totally look like I am natural and at ease. Note: Other symptoms can include starting every thought process with "I couldn't help but wonder...", thinking it is totally natural to use your oven for clothes storage, and being UNNATURALLY BRATTY AND CATTY AND OH MY.




3. Blogger Fatigue
I read A LOT of fashion blogs a day, which I try to pass of as "research" but really is just me admiring people's style. However, sometimes I get hooked on one particular blog and end up looking like a poor man's version of [insert myriad blogger's names here]. For example, I've never been THAT into 90's style because for me, it was all about fluro bike shorts and baggy t-shirts, but reading White Lightning's blog (which the picture to the left was taken from) has inspired me not only to put some 90s elements into my wardrobe (I am actually considering buying a pair of clog high heels. HELP) but also to drool over obscenely high heels. A Cat of Impossible Colour has made me thrift (or op-shop) like a madwoman in order to unearth some of the vintage gems that she discovers on what seems like a weekly basis. And Dresses & Snacks makes me not only want to dress in cute-as vintage style, but also to become an excellent cook. Preferably with an adorable puppy. I try to have my own definable style but I can't help but take little bits and pieces from all over the blogosphere and mishmash them together with my own style.

x

Warning: this may contain spoilers. Or destroy your dreams if you loved Sex and the City. But, whatever.

I am unashamedly one of those Sex and the City girls. Yes, I have a name necklace. Yes, I have had the "OMG you're such a Miranda LOLZ!!!" conversations. Yes, I have spent heartbroken weekends watching the DVD box set with a tub of icecream. I don't think the first movie was particularly good - unless you mean "good" in a total, guilty-pleasure, self-indulgent type of way - but I really enjoyed it. I was a bit skeptical that they were even MAKING a second movie, because that seemed to be flogging the proverbial dead horse (resist urge to make Sarah Jessica Parker joke). But, my girlfriends and I went along in its opening week to see the glorious train wreck.

I cannot even BEGIN to tell you how much I loathed this movie.

The (rather flimsy) plotline is as such: Carrie and Big are having marital problems because he, as a 50-something year old man, would rather eat in and watch movies on the couch, as opposed to going out for dinner and a movie premiere every single night. Miranda is having problems at work. Charlotte isn't coping with having two kids. Samantha isn't coping with flaunting her almost-menopausal vagina every chance she gets. Samantha gets offered an all-expenses-paid trip to Abu Dhabi, so she can look at doing some PR for the hotel. And so it begins.

I realise that this plot is probably about as meaty as the first movie (boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back. And someone shits their pants), but at least the first movie was not INCREDIBLY CULTURALLY OFFENSIVE. I just felt like the whole time the girls were in Abu Dhabi (which was pretty much the entire movie) there was a whole IM IN UR CULTURE RAPING YOUR BELIEFS LOLOLOLOL thing going on. Samantha refused to cover up (saying "But we're at the pool!" or "But we're at the hotel!" For FUCK'S, Samantha. Don't be such a douche. Cover it up). And their conversations about the culture seemed to be like "Poor Muslim girls. They must be so oppressed because I don't see ANY of them running off to have sex in public. I'm SO glad I live in America where we can do that kind of thing." It kind of felt like the writers wanted to explore some empowerment themes but then realised "SHIT! We're getting in too deep, people are just coming to see them wear pretty clothes. Let's write more scenes involving their man-servants instead."


Another thing that annoyed me was the fashion. The first movie, I died. The closet? Unf. But, because this movie was set in a Middle Eastern country, Pat Fields must have felt it appropriate to dress them all as extras from a Bollywood movie. People who go to France don't go around wearing Breton shirts and a beret. People who come to Australia don't wear Akubra hats and R.M Williams boots. For me, while some of the costumes on the show and I guess in the first movie were a little ridiculous, they were still wearable (if only in New York). This just felt way to costumey and I can't really see Perth girls walking around in ridiculous headgear and balloon pants in six month's time.

After this (INCREDIBLY LONG) movie ended I felt like I had been punched in the vagina. I felt like I wanted to rip out my own uterus and throw it at all the woo girls who seemed to be in the cinema. Ugh.

My rating: 1/2 / ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ . I can't even. DO NOT see it if you want to hold on to your brain cells/dignity.

Sorry to shatter your dreams. It hurt me too!

x

Today was a public holiday, so of course I was uber-productive and did all the things I have been meaning to do. LIES! I watched Project Runway Australia for a while (I figured out how to download TV shows so... goodbye, any semblance of a social life), had unexpected but not undelightful guests drop in, and am now back to lying in bed. And still, it has been a good day.


I wore this dress to Sex and the City 2 because, in my mind, it is the ultimate girly dress. Floral. Big. Shapeless. Most guys I know hate it (if it's not belted). I adore it. It is deliciously easy to lie around in without looking like a complete bogan. To be honest I haven't actually left the house today but I put on my new boots for the pictures. They were only fifty bucks! I love them. This year I actually bought winter clothes, as opposed to my usual method of just layering summer clothes over each other until I am actually warm, and boots in many many sizes and colours are next on my list.



A very casual look for a criminally lazy day.

I hope yours was swell too!

x

Florence + The Machine - Kiss With a Fist


Scouting for Girls - Heartbeat


Little Red - Coca Cola


The Cure - Mint Car


Gomez - Girlshapedlovedrug


The Wombats - Let's Dance to Joy Division

Until next week! As always, if you have any groovy music recommendations please leave them in the comments!

x

I have been making this recipe for years and years. It's the only thing that I know will turn out well whenever I cook it. I thought I would share the recipe because it is incedibly easy and incredibly delicious.


What you'll need:
1/3 cup of oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup of self-raising flour
1/2 cup of plain flour
2 tablespoons of cocoa
1/3 cup of chocolate chips


Step 1 - Preheat the oven to 180°C. Remember to grease your baking tray!
Step 2 - Put the egg, brown sugar, and oil into a bowl and mix well with a fork.
Step 3 - Sift in the self raising flour, plain flour, and cocoa.
Step 4 - Fold in the chocolate chips.
Step 5 - Mix all THAT together (with the same fork if you want to save on washing up).
Step 6 - Knead the mixture with your hands to make a soft dough and to get delicious cookie mixture all over your hands.
Step 7 - Roll the mixture into little balls - mine are usually pretty small and very round, probably about 2 cm across & up and down - and place onto the tray. Remember to space them apart quite a bit - I have done the opposite before and ended up with giant mutant cookies. Delicious, but not very attractive.
Step 8 - Cook those babies for 12-15 minutes (depending on how crunchy you like your cookies. I like mine soft and chewy).
Step 9 - Let the cookies cool for about five minutes.
Step 10 - Devour!

Yum!

This is the first outfit post I've done in... about a month? I have had a pretty bad run of luck in May. I broke up with my boyfriend of almost three years, I lost my job because the boutique I work for is closing for good, and my nan passed away on Monday night. I don't mean to bring you all down with details of my life, but hopefully that explains why it has been a bit quiet on the blog lately.

So, this is what I am wearing to go and eat chocolate chip cookies in a fort. Sometimes that is all you need to cheer yourself up (I'm hoping).

Well, Jim Morrison, I will not HAVE to tell you my name as it is displayed proudly above my cleavage WHERE I'M SURE YOU WERE LOOKING ANYWAY YOU SEXUAL DEVIANT.

A while ago I was contacted by My Name Necklace, asking if I would like to review one of their necklaces. I couldn't resist, as I am a HUGE Sex and the City fan and couldn't pass up the chance to have my own little Carrie moment.


My name isn't exactly unusual, but it's not the sort of name that pops up on coffee mugs and teddy bears and all those kinds of things you find in newsagents and gift shops. I was really impressed with the level of customization that you get with My Name Necklace - you can choose the name (obviously), chain length, and between silver and gold. The PR people were lovely as well, which is always a plus!

The packaging wasn't great. I was expecting a bit more from the presentation, to be totally honest, but that's because I'm a bit of a sucker for things like that. I'm not sure if it was because I was sent a necklace for review rather than purchasing it, but I would have liked to see a bit more effort in it. None of the pictures I took really turned out well but it was kind of just stapled to a bit of cardboard and... um... yeah.


The necklace itself sits in a really nice place - I have a hard time finding necklaces that are a good length, as they are either way too high for my tastes or the pendant disappears into my cleavage! (I chose the 16" length, if you're interested). It's very light but seems quite durable. I've been wearing it since I picked it up yesterday and it's gotten a teeny bit scratched, but nothing noticeable (unless you are reviewing it for your blog and picking it up and putting it right near your eyes and squinting).

All in all it is a good little product. It's one of those things I've always kind of wanted for ages but never knew where to find them. Plus, getting a name necklace now does coincide nicely with the release of Sex and the City 2, so I am quietly chuffed about that.

If you are so inclined to pick up your own necklace, you can get a 10% discount at My Name Necklace by using the code GINTEACUP.  

What do you think of the name necklaces? Love them? Can't stand them? Overdone? A necessity? Not a necessity as in everyone should display their name AT ALL TIME but... you know...
They are a guilty pleasure of mine, I think. As in, I know everyone has one and people are totally justified to be all "Oh my GOD you are NOT the Carrie in your group of friends and you are sad for thinking that", but I think they are pretty cute.

x

Thanks again to My Name Necklace for sending this for review! If you have something you'd like me to review please email me at gininateacup@gmail.com.

{Disclaimer: This necklace was sent to me for review by My Name Necklace, this is NOT a paid advertorial. I make my reviews as honest as possible!}