31 March 2010

Your daily dose of pretty: Clockwork Couture Quite Quaint Camisole

I still haven't gotten round to seeing Alice in Wonderland - it's been getting mixed reviews but I'm still keen to see it if only for the sumptuous visuals and gorgeous makeup and costumes it promises.

After months of lead-up I think we might all be a little Aliced-out as the film tie-ins have poured in from almost every company under the sun. Still, it's easy to see the appeal in Alice-themed products, especially when they're this pretty:


Just look at all that pretty feminine detailing. The Quite Quaint Camisole from Clockwork Couture's Wonderland Collection is also available in black:


The Quite Quaint Camisole is US$32.95 from Clockwork Couture.

30 March 2010

Your daily dose of pretty: Dolores dress by Collectif

My pretties I made an amazing discovery yesterday: my waist!

Obviously my waist was always there - I'm not some weird truncated mutant woman. However for the past couple of years my waist has not had so much definition thanks to a layer of wobbly bits over the top. But now, thanks to my MS diet, I'm actually thinning down a little and this is no bad thing at all.

My new waist obviously needs new clothes to show it off, and this dress would do quite nicely thank you very much:


I have one word for you: Va-va-VOOM! Or is that three words?

The Dolores dress (£35.00 from Collectif) is available in several colours and prints, this pretty blush with flocked cherry print is my favourite.

29 March 2010

Revlon Passion Fusion Collection for Autumn 2010

Revlon's Passion Fusion Collection is available now in Australia and New Zealand for Autumn 2010, with nail polishes, lipsticks, eye shadows and eye/cheek/lip stains in gorgeous pink and purple shades that I'm keen to get my hands on.

There are four shades of Super Lustrous Lipstick, all of which look very wearable:


The ColourStay 12 Hour Eye Shadow Quad promises colour that looks freshly applied for up to 12 hours, and I love the four colours (pinks and purples are my go-to eyeshadow colours):


Of the four nail polishes Plum Night is the one I want, I love the gorgeous deep purple:


The Illuminance Palette contains four shades suitable for use on eyes/cheeks and lips. Although I love the colours it's probably the one item I wouldn't buy, as my skin is generally too oily for these multi-purpose creme products:


What about you my pretties? Are there any shades that catch your eye?

Your daily dose of pretty: Dolly Dagger Miss Fortune jumper

Hello pretties, I've had disappearing internet issues the last couple of days, but I seem to be connected right now so here's a pretty for you.  I love off the shoulder tops - I've always thought the shoulders were one of the sexiest parts of a woman's body so anything that shows them off is a good thing. Although I do wonder at the practicality of an off the shoulder jumper. Jumpers are designed to keep you warm, right? And unless I'm physiologically unusual my shoulders get cold at the same rate as the rest of me. Then again, I'm prepared to suffer pain in the interests of pretty shoes, so obviously chilly shoulders in the interest of pretty jumpers are nothing!

The Miss Fortune Scarlett Off The Shoulder jumper is £28.00 from Dolly Dagger and is also available in cherry red or pink. I think I want one in pink. As well as the black one.

24 March 2010

Your daily dose of pretty: Bows for your hair

Am I too old to wear pretty bows in my hair? I hope not, because I really want to wear this one:


Available for US$12.00 on Etsy from New Zealand company Hunter Gatherer, whose products have the coolest names. This bow, for instance, is called i am the start of a green spring.

I've decided I'm not too old for hair bows. Most definitely!

23 March 2010

Your daily dose of pretty: What tiny feet you have

It would seem to be Shoe Week here on Pretty Clever. Not by design, I'm just finding lots of shoes I like lately. The irony of my shoe obsession is that I often find it hard to buy shoes due to my teeny tiny feet. Mind you I'm a teeny tiny five feet tall - if I had big feet I'd look like a clown!

I take a US/NZ size 5, which equates to a UK size 3/Europe size 34.5 (depending on which conversion chart I refer to because of course they're all different!). In fact this is the maximum size I can wear and I prefer to go smaller, so you can imagine my frustration that most New Zealand shoe stores only carry from NZ size 6 upwards.

I've been known to buy my shoes from the childrens' section on the odd occasion, but there are also quite a few companies around who specialise in shoes for small feet, and a couple of them are even based right here in New Zealand. Which means I could quite easily get my hands on these little pretties:


What a gorgeous colour! And the button closure and the brogue detailing are to die for. The Cassidy Green is NZ$195.00 from Indigo River, who unfortunately for you overseas ladies who are small of foot only deliver to New Zealand and Australia.

22 March 2010

Your daily dose of pretty: On yer bike

Way back in the day, like waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back, I was a bit of a bikie chick. I spent a lot of time on the back of my then-boyfriend's bike, and I looked bad-ass. Seriously. I had a leather jacket with zips AND tassels. Yep, tassels. Man I looked hawt. Or at least I thought I did. In hindsight, maybe not so much.

Anyway, I've still got a bit of a thing for biker chic. Although these days the biker chic I go for wouldn't actually be particularly practical on the back of a motorbike:


Straps and studs and buckles oh my! But possibly not so sensible for the back of a bike. Which is fine, because the closest I get to a motorbike these days is when I'm cursing at them from behind the steering wheel of my station wagon.

The Cletus boot (seriously? Cletus? Like the Slack Jawed Yokel?) is AU$200.00 from Zu.

20 March 2010

Your daily dose of pretty: Anda by Romantic Soles

Well hello there my pretties and apologies for the extended absence. I had a bad case of lack of motivation all last week and misplaced my blogging mojo. I found it though, it was stuck down the back of the couch along with NZ$0.70, half a choc chip cookie and an unidentifiable white lump that may have been a used tissue. Oh and one of the dogs - which explains why it's been quieter than usual around here.

Anyway, now that my mojo is back I want new shoes.

Ok, I actually always want new shoes.

When I saw these little beauties that Grey at Gothique posted on her blog my heart did a little skip. Like this: *skip*.



See? Don't they make your heart skip? I love the way the ruffle detail snakes across the shoe.


The Anda by Romantic Soles is US$65.00 from Zappos.

12 March 2010

Your daily dose of pretty: Russian doll necklaces by Dollipops

Look! Little chubby cutie-patooties! With happy little smiley faces!


I want a yellow one. And a red one. And a pink one. And a purple one. Oh, the purple one's sold out. Ok, just a yellow one and red one and pink one and ... that's not overkill is it?

The wooden Russian Doll Necklace on a silver plated chain is £6.99 from Dollipops.

11 March 2010

Your daily dose of pretty: yummy gummy

Yet another entry in the series Things That Look Edible But Are Actually Meant To Be Worn:


Look at his little round tummy, and his googly eyes! The Gummi Bear Necklace in grape is by Auckland jewellery designers Jellybones and available for NZ$32.00 on toggle.co.nz which sells lots of gorgeous New Zealand made clothes, jewellery and homewares (and ship overseas so the rest of you aren't missing out!).

10 March 2010

Your daily dose of pretty: My Pet Octopus Cuff from ModCloth

I have to admit Octopi (see how I used the correct form of the plural there) kind of give me the creeps. Those wriggly waving tentacles are all a bit wormy for my liking, and we all know how I feel about worms. *shudder*

This cuff from ModCloth is not in the slightest bit creepy though, I could definitely see it adorning my wrist without causing me to shriek and flail every time I saw it:

See? Isn't she cute? Not wormy in the slightest. (Did someone say worms? *shudder*) The My Pet Octopus Cuff is US$15.99 from ModCloth and is also available in silver.

Cute story for you: When 14 Year Old Daughter was a wee dot she saw an octopus on TV and exclaimed to me: "Look, you can see it's testicles!". That story is now so ingrained in our family memory that we all have a hard time remembering to refer to them correctly as 'tentacles' - most embarrassing on family trips to the aquarium!

08 March 2010

Your daily dose of pretty: Heliotrope Bling Rings by Whimsy Beading

Technically this isn't Sunday's Daily Pretty because here in New Zealand it's already 12.44am Monday. However since in most of the rest of world it's still Sunday let's just pretend I've jumped a couple of timezones, shall we?

Normally the use of the word 'bling' to describe an item of jewellery is a bit of a turn-off for me, because it carries with it visions of over-embellished hip-hop performers and their under-dressed girlfriends. These Bling Rings earrings are so pretty though, they're my type of bling:
The Heliotrope Bling Rings earrings are US$20.00 from Whimsy Beading on Etsy.

06 March 2010

Your daily dose of pretty: Pink ruffled skirt by Kerrys Closet

I have decided I need more pink in my life. The colour, not the singer. Although she looks like the sort of girl who could be fun to have around.

Pink is not a colour I carry off well next to my face though, so a pink skirt would be the order of the day. I love the ladylike shade of light pink of this skirt, and the asymmetrical ruffles are gorgeous:

The Ruffle Layered Skirt by Kerrys Closet is also available in black, and is US$60.00 from YesStyle.

05 March 2010

Your daily dose of pretty: P-Bambi shoes by Steve Madden

14 Year Old Daughter and I went to the Paramore concert last night, and it was awesome. The audience was largely made up of teenage girls, and I must be getting old because I spent a lot of the night marvelling at the length (or lack thereof) of the skirts. I must point out here that when I was that age my skirts were short enough that the effort involved in keeping my bum cheeks covered occupied a lot of my time, so I'm really not one to talk.

Anyway, this morning I'm feeling the need for something a little bit Rock Chick, and these shoes fit the bill nicely:

Rock Chick with skyscraper heels - I love it. Admittedly not the ideal choice of footwear for hardcore concert-goers wishing to avoid broken ankles, but then my days of being crushed up against the stage with the sweaty hordes are long behind me.

The P-Bambi are are US$29.99 on sale from Steve Madden.

03 March 2010

Your daily dose of pretty: Dorothy Perkins Grey Bow Front Waistcoat

Ahhh Dorothy. Dorothy Dorothy. You little tease. You whisper sweet nothings in my ear, tempt me with tales of pretty things on sale, reason with me that I need new clothes for the impending winter.  But Dorothy, it's no use I'm sorry. I will not be swayed by you. I am on a no-buy and I am impervious to your pleas. My credit card is staying safely in my wa ... OOH LOOK AT THAT!


Grey bow front waistcoat, £15.00 from Dorothy Perkins.

Now move along people, nothing to see here. No buying happening, so, yeah, bye now. Off you go.

02 March 2010

Your daily dose of pretty: Pink Satin vest

I am gradually resigning myself to the fact that as of 1 March it is officially autumn here in New Zealand. And really, it's hard to be in denial when the days are just that litle bit shorter and the mornings are just a smidge cooler. So in another attempt to find an excuse for shopping I think my summer wardrobe would benefit from a cute wee vest to add an extra layer if I'm feeling a chill. This one would work with so many outfits:

How cute would it be teamed with a pair of jeans? I love the checkerboard detailing on the pockets. US$14.50 from SewBitchy on Etsy.

Today's nail: Color Club Neon minis

I've mentioned previously how thrilled I was to see Color Club polishes start to appear in New Zealand, and a couple of weeks ago I got the chance to meet the lovely people from Color Club New Zealand, and to have a look at what they have in store for us. They were kind enough to provide me with some samples which I would have swatched for you much sooner except I have been having terrible problems with my nails flaking and breaking off and their nubbiness has been pretty bad.  They're still looking horrible, but not as horrible, so over the next couple of days I'll be showing you my Color Clubs.

Today I have a set of minis which have been available in stores in New Zealand for a while now, the Neons. Conditions weren't the best today for capturing these as the sun is being recalcitrant and hiding behind a cloud, so the photos don't even begin to come close to showing their vibrancy.

Left to right: Amp'd Up, Lazer Pink, Power Play and Limelight.

The four polishes varied greatly in application, from excellent to annoying. Having said that I expect neons to be a pain to apply, what matters is the colour.

Amp'd Up: This is the most neon of the colours. The photo, while reasonably true to the colour, doesn't even begin to come close to showing the eye-searing "holy cow our ship is heading for the centre of the sun" brightness of this puppy. Looking at it for too long actually made me blink! It took three coats for even application, but if you like your neons ultra-neon then this is your baby.

Lazer Pink: The most troublesome application of the set, it was four coats to get rid of the bald patches in this and the finish was far from smooth (which you can probably see in the photo) - however a good top coat would fix that. Colour-wise it's much, much more of a bright Barbie pink than the photo shows, but probably the least neon of the four.

Power Play: My stand-out favourite of the collection, both in application and in colour (it's purple, d'uh!). The jellyish formula on this applied beautifully smoothly and only required two coats for complete coverage. The colour is a gorgeous purple leaning to pink and bright enough to qualify as a true neon.

Limelight: My camera and I are no longer on speaking terms after this photo - it's not even close. Limelight is an intense radioactive green. Seriously, it needs to come with one of these:

Limelight's formula was the second-best of the four, nice to work with but with just a couple of bald patches on the second coat that meant a third coat was required.

This is a fun wee collection of neons, definitely worth having in your polish stash. The next two collections I will be showing you are the two which will have just started appearing in stores in New Zealand for our winter season so stay tuned for those.

Housekeeping. Of the kind that doesn't break nails

Hello there my pretties, thought I'd give you a few quick updates on things that are happening in my world:

First up, you can now read more of me over at aucklandista.com, a blog about this wonderful city I live in, where I write as manikpixi.

If you'd like to not just read me but also see me, 14 Year Old Daughter and I appeared on a local news show last week, in an item about the government's plans for a nationwide filter to block child porn sites. You can see it here. Please to be noting that it was a typically humid Auckland day and my carefully blowdried  hair had gone *frizz*. Oh and if you listen very carefully you can hear Fred barking in the background - apparently he had strong opinions too and resented being locked outside and unable to share them.

Finally, an MS update. My episode has passed, and although I have been left with legs that tingle after walking for more than a few minutes (which is kind of unpleasant and kind of funny), occasional blurry vision and some problems remembering ... those things ... stuff you say ... erm ... WORDS, I am in general feeling pretty great. Emotionally I still have days where I have a little cry or throw a tantrum about having this disease, but mostly I'm just getting on with enjoying the pretty things in life.

That is all the housekeeping. As you were.

PS: Oh just one more thing. Which one of you bought those Plasticland shoes I was coveting the other day? C'mon, fess up, I won't hurt you. Honest. Next time I like something and it's on sale and it's in my size I'm just going to buy it straight away, obviously you lot can't be trusted!

01 March 2010

Your daily dose of pretty: Ruffle Rose earrings

Look at these delicate wee pretties:


Utterly delightful, the Ruffle Rose earrings in latte are available from dangsworld on Etsy for US$9.00.