I love Sussan outfit #1

I absolutely adore this outfit. I felt so fabulous today I considered leaving it on all night just so I can wake up in the morning and continue to shine in its marvellousness...tomorrow is casual Friday after all, so it’s not as though I’d need to change; shower, wash and possibly iron, but not change. I’d had my eye on the stretch knit t-shirt with French navy stripes for what seems likes months. I’d even gone so far as the change-rooms on more than one occasion, only to return it reluctantly to the shelf after reasoning with myself that the colours were maybe were not quite right when teamed with my vast array of freckles. But the shape of this blouse is every obsessed Francophile’s dream. It has a wide scooped neckline and draping upper bodice that transforms from an empire waist, into well fitting fabric that clings to curves in all the right places. Imagine my excitement when I walked into my local Sussan store recently with a voucher in hand and found it reduced from $59.95 to $19.95. Freckles be damned, it was brilliant! Teaming it with this checked fringe scarf was a marriage of impulse. It would never have occurred to me to team stripped navy with pinks, purples and off-white checks but as I stood mesmerized by the kaleidoscope of colours on an accessory high, it just kind of jumped off the shelf and yelled “buy me”. So I did. The jeans were a purchase from a week ago. You know the ones...my perfect jeans...the ones I didn’t expect to find anywhere but a Bettina Liano store. I adore them. They have just enough contrast stitch in the washed black denim to make my chicken legs look like a six foot tall super model, which is technically an exaggeration but you know what I mean. The bag was a bargain at $10 during a Sussan 50 per cent off the lowest marked price not so long ago. It must have been a favourite of store staff because whenever I go into visit, they always comment on how fabulous it is and leave me feeling so happy I usually end up buying something else. Hmm? The bling-bling earring were a purchase from Equip on the weekend. I first spotted them when I was shopping with the wonderful Mel at DFS South Wharf but instead of bling walked out with $130 worth of Abercrombie & Fitch!! I went back the next day and scooped them up. Actually if I’m not mistaken, all I have to do is swap my trusty flats, which desperately need replacing (phew!!) for a pair of fab boots and I’d look pretty similar to the Hiliary Duff look in last month’s Shop Til You Drop. I don’t hear anyone calling her “mumsie” do you? Check it out...

Sussan top reduced to $19.95
Sussan scarf at full price at $29.95
Sussan jeans at full price, $99.00
Sussan bag, reduced from $79.95 to $10
Basque sunnies, $35 at 50 per cent off
Equip earrings on sale at $6.50
Diva ring on sale at $5
Wittner flats that desperately need replacing (phew!!) full price at $109.00
Total spend $314.40

I found the perfect outfit...and didn't buy it!

Have you ever accidentally stumbled across the most perfect outfit you have ever seen and had no means of buying it? No, well welcome to my world. There I was, innocently checking out the new autumn range at Country Road and trying to decide how best to spend the $30 gift voucher I had received from my friends at CR for being such a valued and loyal customer. I had debated my options on the drive to my local shopping centre, and had decided that I would invest my hard-earned bonus on a new pair of skinny jeans. I would save my Bettina Liano experience for a pair of curvy fit bootlegs, which when you think about made sense. Why invest $249 on a pair of denims if they aren’t absolutely perfect and with my thighs, it’s really bootleg or bust for that amount of money. After finding nothing I really liked or that would fit these curves in the country road store – really CR Maribyrnong, how many people do you know that actually wear a size 6? I ventured into Myers and immediately picked up two pairs of suitable skinnies priced at a reasonable $99 – a simple, plain dark denim and a pair of black wet-looks. It just so happens that in order to get from the CR section to the fitting-room, I was forced to by-pass Cue and the 70% off discount rack - remind me to tell you about my love affair with Cue another day – where I grabbed, out of interest you understand a couple of frocks for under $100.00. Bargain. Saving the dresses I had no intention of buying to last, I shimmied into the jeans. To my surprise the wet-look number looked fabulous. Well, as fabulous as a pair of skinny jeans on a person with chicken legs looks can look...it’s all in the shoes and length of top you choose to wear with it really, and I do have to admit, I was rather chuffed...I really didn’t like the plain dark denims...they were a few weaves away from resembling a pair of faux denim leggings, which in my world should be outlawed. Anyway, I realised that I was running a tad late and needed to pop into Woolies to do a spot of grocery shopping so I threw on the first of the frocks over the top of the jeans to save time. It was a pale blue asymmetrical taffeta number. Gorgeous but no go over the E cups, so I reached for the cream strapless tulip dress with black trim and Oh My God, booty-licious! The gorgeousness of the whole on-som hit me in the head like a fisbee...I was half-way to my next girl’s night out in that outfit! Even with ballet flats it was fabulous, so imagination how glamorous I would look when I added a pair of patent black heels. Hubba, hubba! There was no question about it, I had to have it. Just as long as I could put it on lay-by and use my voucher as the deposit – I’d spied a pair of skinny tuxedo trousers at the Cue store earlier reduced from $209 to $62 and had already ear-marked them for my purchase en-route to Woolies. But, there was a problem...Myer don’t lay-by heavily reduced sale items for Cue, and no, I could not use my voucher as a deposit. It was clearly written in the fine print. Noooooo............So I reluctantly returned my two items to their racks and walked sadly to Cue, heeding the valuable lesson I had just learned. Never voluntarily give your credit card to your DH...it just doesn’t end well!

HOT TIP! You can find the most amazing outfits that will knock everyone over with your gorgeousness even without looking for it...even in your wardrobe! Ah hah...so the next time you find yourself in the same position as me, why not go home and try and find something similar in your wardrobe. Unfortunately for me, the only dress that would have worked – a gorgeous aqua blue, long sleeve shift doesn’t fit over the post baby boobs, but I did rediscover this gorgeous royal blue frock from Cue that I haven’t worn in three years. It's pictured above with my mum's vintage crystal brooch and sexy slingbacks from Wittner. Isn't it fab!' It too is a bit snug up top, but looks gorgeous on, and will make a fabulous work alternative.

CHECK IT OUT! I’m going back to Myer this weekend and if that dress is still there...I’m buying it! Or, the tailored tuxedo jacket from Cue reduced from $350 to $90. I haven’t made up my mind yet.