Ugh.

So it's been a quarter of a year since my last post and I'm officially the worst blogger ever. Unfortunately, being a big person with a big person job unrelated to fashion or media, but rather, saving lives, and the responsibilities that said job entails, doesn't leave all that much down time for things like taking photos on timer, editing and writing. Or you know, wearing anything really all that blog-worthy, unless you think teal-with black pinstripe or ill-fitting navy trousers are going to be big this season.

In case you're wondering, life is pretty sweet. I don't get out quite as much as I used to, and there are many friends that I would love to catch up with (if you are one of said friends, call me maybe!) and I'm getting super jealous of the fact that half my Facebook friends list is overseas, but other than that I have no complaints. I'm healthy, happy and in love, and my career is going great! In fact, I actually just scored a permanent full time position at work (which is like winning lotto these days in health!) a couple of weeks ago - it still hasn't fully sunk in but I'm super stoked.

Oh, and my hair is growing out nicely. I actually had it cut and coloured today, after these photos were taken. I have a new found appreciation and admiration of people who are bottle-blonde; holy crap that shit takes a hell of a lot of work. You'll get to see it in future posts; I promise they won't be too far away.

Today, on my RDO, I had a choice between practical sneakers, or leg-elongating, but not-so-practical heels. You can see that practicality is not all that high on my priority list.

 

T-Shirt: Cotton On; Skirt: Ally; Chambray Shirt: Emerson; Heels: Diavolina; Necklace: Colette by Colette Hayman; Rings: Lovisa; Watch & Bracelet: Mimco; Bag: Sass & Bide; Sunnies: RayBan.

RDOs.

So May was apparently a blank space. Sorry.

I'm back at work now so nine days a fortnight, my wardrobe consists of navy skirts/slacks, and hideous NSW Health teal-with-black-pinstripe-shirts-that-look-like-pyjamas. Not quite blog material.

And on the weekends, I'm too busy making the most of the limited time with friends, family, and mostly, a certain fella.

On my RDOs though, I get a little excited at all the time I have to myself, and the prospect of getting to wear whatever I god damn want, and spend much of my mornings playing dress-ups. I regret nothing.

I like to mix it up a little, every now and then throwing in an outfit that's a bit left-of-center; away from my usual look. Like the last of the following outfits (even though it's basically the same outfit I wore the RDO the fortnight before that with different bottoms and a hat) - I call it "that time I pretended I was on Downton Abbey."

 

Dress: Cotton On; Jacket & Bag: Dotti; Boots: Factorie; Necklace: Colette by Colette Hayman; Sunnies: Rayban; Watch: Marc by Marc Jacobs 

 

 Knit: TEMT; Shorts: ValleyGirl; Shoes: Diavolina; Bag: Vintage; Necklace: Equip

 

 Knit: TEMT; Skirt: Heart on Fire; Heels: Diavolina; Hat: Forever New; Necklace: Equip.

Fierce.

Today I was meant to wake up early, do the laundry, pop by the shops, do the groceries, pick up my grandpa, come home, do some weights, go for a run on the treadmill and then have a healthy lunch.

Instead, I snoozed through both of my alarms, took my sweet ass time getting ready (changing my shoes, jacket and necklace multiple times), got to the supermarket completely overdressed, came home and instead of picking up the weights, opted to put on the weight- swapping the run for carbs, wine, chocolate and the season premiere of Game of Thrones. Hashtag healthkick!

Day well spent.

 

Dress: Morning Glory; Jacket: White Suede; Shoes: Portmans; Necklace: Colette by Colette Hayman; Rings: Equip, Colette by Colette Hayman & Lovisa; Sunnies: Rayban; Watch: Marc by Marc Jacobs.

Ripped jeans and my boyfriend's old tshirt

Today, in ripped jeans and my boyfriend's old tshirt. Yes, he had a Lady Gaga tshirt. He assures me it's a mens shirt. He got it from Topshop. He used to be a size medium. It's mens, he swears! I'm still not convinced.

 

Tshirt: Topshop; Jeans: Ziggy Denim; Bag: Ruby&Kit from Equip; Shoes: Novo; Beanie: Grab; Rings: Colette by Colette Hayman; Watch: Marc by Marc Jacobs.

Excuse me miss?

'Excuse me miss?'
Yes?
'I really like your style'
Thanks!
'Are you a fashion designer or something?'
No. I'm a radiotherapist...
'Oh really??' (you don't even know what a radiotherapist is do you?) 'Well *edges towards the table of charity posters he's standing near* have you ever heard of Westmead...'
Look, I'm just gonna stop you there. I'm really bad at saying no to people and I donate to way too many charities already and I'm not working at the moment so I don't wanna waste your time...
'Oh...uhh...okay fair enough'
Yeah I'm sorry, good luck though!
'That's okay...by the way do know who you remind me of? Amber Rose! You're like an Asian Amber Rose!'
Yeah, I've been getting that a lot.
Other Charity Guy Interrupts: 'Yeah you know when you walked past the first time, I was like to him, oh man that girl is so pretty  - and I don't just say that to every girl!'
Haha, sure you don't.
'It's true...we thought you were really pretty...but you looked kind of mean. Like, you had this really serious look on your face' *pulls face to demonstrate*

Thanks boys, for the flattery and some light entertainment for this afternoon.

Angry Asian Amber Rose signing off for the long weekend. Happy Easter kids, be safe, eat lots, and I'll see you on the other side! xx

Dress: Cotton On; Trench: Forever New; Shoes: Bardot; Bag: Dotti; Necklace: Equip; Rings: Colette by Colette Hayman; Watch: Marc by Marc Jacobs; Sunnies: Ray Ban.

Bare feet and my new favourite coat

I have been meaning to write this blog for a week now - squeeze in that one  (/four) more entry(/ies) before the month was over. But alas, procrastination got the better of me, and here I am, an April Fool, squeezing content meant for four separate posts into just the one. Sorry kids.

I've got to admit that since the shave, my wardrobe has become a bit edgier - I'm more willing to push the boundaries with body con, high splits, midriff, asymmetry and bold lips. I mean, it's not as if I was scared to dress a bit 'differently' before, but I feel as though my new look has given me even more reason to do so.

I have started getting to a stage where I'm starting to miss my hair though and it feels though it's going to be forever before it's back to normal - probably because at the usual rate my hair grows, it will be forever (even though it's grown really quickly initially). And then I bump into the kindest people - both ones I know, and strangers I don't - and they say the kindest things, like that I really pull it off, or that my head's a nice shape (even though it's not), and some even go as far as saying I look stunning or like a model or a goddess and I know they're just being overly sweet but I'm thankful anyway.

So here's to my new-ish look. It's still taking some getting used to.

P.s. I have a new favourite trench coat. Can you tell? It's satiny and silky and amazing and I love it.

 

Top: Missguided; Skirt: Paper Scissors; Trench Coat: Forever New; Bag: Tony Bianco; Shoes: Alias Mae; Necklace & Rings (right hand): Colette by Colette Hayman; Rings (left hand): Lovisa; Watch: Marc By Marc Jacobs

 

Top: Ally; Skirt: Luvalot; Trench Coat: Forever New; Shoes: Novo; Bag: Dotti; Necklace: Colette by Colette Hayman; Rings: Lovisa; Watch: Marc by Marc Jacobs

 

Top & Skirt: Ally; Trench Coat: Forever New; Bag: Dotti; Shoes: Novo; Necklace: Colette by Colette Hayman; Rings: Lovisa; Watch: Marc by Marc Jacobs

And then there was that casual day when I took blog photos before putting on shoes. Or thongs, in this day's case.

Tee: Cotton On; Jeans: Ziggy Denim; Bag: Dotti; Necklace: Colette by Colette Hayman; Rings: Lovisa; Watch: Marc by Marc Jacobs

Denim on Denim

So, one of my New Year's Resolutions was to blog more. For the first two months of the year, that didn't really happen. But hey, don't you know that the third week of March is when New Year's Resolutions are meant to start? All the cool kids are doing it. I would know, I'm super cool. Totes. Haha I don't think any of the real cool kids use 'super' or 'totes' anymore. I'm such an old person nowadays...I see them using phrases like 'on fleek' and I sit shaking my head and saying 'youths.' I just can't keep up anymore.

It's only been five days since the great shave of '15, but I feel like my hair has already started to grow back. I'm getting used to standing out a bit more in public now - but for the most part, the reaction's been really positive, and it's so lovely to have complete strangers come up and compliment me on my new look. Over the last couple of days, I've had several people randomly approach me and tell me how much they like my style or how much my hair suits me or how beautiful or amazing I look. It's doing wonders for my self esteem. One lady even told me I gave her goosebumps (not in a bad way I hope!) And today as I sat having lunch with my girlfriend, an older man who had been having lunch with his wife came over and said he was sorry to interrupt, but that he really liked my hairstyle, smiled politely and left. Adorable.

So, while I'm sure I'll be in no hurry to shave again anytime soon, I'm actually really enjoying my bald head, and all the good vibes it's bringing me.

 

Top and Shorts: Luvalot; Shoes: Bardot; Bag: Vintage; Necklace: Colette by Colette Hayman; Watch: Marc by Marc Jacobs; Sunnies: Chanel.

Gold pants and my first bald post.

Ta-Da! As promised, on Saturday, team awesome and I did the World's Greatest Shave to raise money for the Leukaemia Foundation - a wonderful organisation that help those facing blood cancer and their families get through what is definitely one of the most difficult stages of their life. I'm not going to lie, I was incredibly anxious about the whole thing - my hair has always been so important to me - but I don't regret it one little bit. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, there was plenty of good food, love and laughter, and as I sat in the backyard of my cousin's house, surrounded by my friends and family, hands shaking under my not-particularly flattering, bright orange 'World's Greatest Shave' cape, I couldn't wipe the grin off my face. We had just hit our target of $7.5k (which meant that my boyfriend was not only going to shave his head, but also sacrifice his chest hair to death-by-waxing) and I could not have been prouder of my team.

I'm sure everyone of you has known someone who has been affected by cancer. It's an absolute asshole of a disease. And as much as I loved my hair, if me shaving it off was going to mean that we were able to help kick cancer's butt, even a little bit, then off it was going to go.

Thank you to all the amazingly generous humans who donated to our cause - please know that you helped make the world a better place by doing so. And to anyone who missed out, don't worry, it's not too late! Donations (however big or small) can still be made here:

http://my.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/vinhluong
http://my.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/teamawesome

Apologies if I seem like I'm pushing this too hard, but #sorrynotsorry, it's for an amazing cause. I don't feel bad asking because I'm not doing it for me!

Anyway, one thing I'd been a bit worried about in the lead up to losing my hair was that I would be a lot more restricted as to what I could wear, and as a lover of all things fashion, this really played on my mind. Anyone who's kept up with this blog (let's face it, with my track record of posting, it's not that hard to do) will know that my latest obsession has been midriff tops and midi-skirts, and I was concerned that without my hair, I'd have to forgo this look for something edgier.

I expressed my concerns to my seven-year-old niece, Stella (who's made a feature on my blog before, the cutie pie! See here) and she replied, simply, "I think your hair will look nice with anything! Just wear what you want!"

And so, I played dress ups. And while I ended up going with something a bit edgier today, you'll be happy to know that the midi skirts aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

 

Top: Bardot; Pants: Supre; Blazer: Scanlan & Theodore; Shoes: Novo; Bag: Dotti; Necklace: Colette by Colette Hayman; Watch: Marc by Marc Jacobs; Ring: Lovisa.