Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale 2018 Wishlist

Okay y'all, the 2018 Lilly Pulitzer After Party sale has finally been announced! For those of you who don't know about the After Party Sale, you can check out my previous posts talking about it. This year the sale starts September 8th and 9th in-store, but since living in Australia means I'm not exactly close to a Lilly Pulitzer store, I will be shopping the online sale, which starts at 8am EST on September 10th. That's 10pm, September 10th for us in AEST!                         

Once I find out when the After Party Sale is, I instantly start thinking about what is on my priority list to purchase. I have no insider knowledge about the sale at all, which means I have no idea what items are actually going to be part of the sale. So right now I am speculating and forming a list just in case some items aren't part of the sale. It's always good to have back-ups! Here is what I currently have on my shortlist and why:

Loosen Up

In winter it appears that I am most comfortable wearing the items of clothing which are some of the least comfortable. When I am not wearing skinny jeans, I am most likely wearing a pair of tights. Jeans are currently having a moment with there being more choice for fit and style than I can remember. While I remain dedicated to my skinny jeans, I couldn't help myself to give a less restricting, style of jeans a go. Paired with an oversized jumper from the Ines De La Fressanange collection at Uniqlo and I had found myself in an outfit that is looser than my usual fitted outfits. 

"Men's" Accessories

Confession time: I really enjoy "men's" accessories. 

I put the word "men's" in quotation marks here because I dislike the idea of there being gendered accessories - or anything in fashion being gendered to be honest. Not only because we should be open to the fluidity of gender, but also because as a cisgender woman, I genuinely like the look of the accessories and other items of clothing marketed towards the other gender. In high school I would wear mens shirts, socks and shoes (my favourite pair were tan brogues), and even use a bowtie as a hair-bow. As I have gotten older, my interest in men's clothing has brought me to accessories, such as my watch. I also found my glasses frames from the "men's" section of the optometrist. While the glasses were mainly due to the fact that men's frames are larger and I felt they balance out my large facial features, the sharper lines and structured design of male accessories sometimes appeal to me and my style more than the more femininely designed products.

Casual Friday

Just like that, Easter has come and gone! I had a great Easter long-weekend, relaxing with my friends and spending time with my parents, who I haven't seen since the new year. I hope you all had a great time too. 

On Good Friday, my friends and I had a pot-luck lunch which we call "Good Times. Good Food. Good Friday." My friends who were hosting are moving out of their house which features the cutest observatory, so while I wanted to enjoy my time spent with my friends, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to snap a few photos from my iPhone in this picturesque scene during my final visit.

Early Autumn at VAMFF

Why hello there! How I have missed you all.

I truly do apologise for me having been away for the past month. Anyone who has had a conversation with me since I started at Whitehouse would have heard how crazy busy and intense school is (and I apologise for that, too). Apart from allowing myself one night off a week, I spend every moment working on school work and furthering my knowledge of the fashion industry. Despite how busy it is, I am loving having my life fully immersed in fashion!

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival and it was so much fun! I just wanted to take a quick moment to share these photos with you all.

Outfits of the Week | First Week of Fashion School

My last (and only) outfits of the week post was all the way back in June 2016, so I felt that it was time to do another one. What better time to bring back an outfits of the week post than what I wore to my first week of fashion school!

In case you haven't been following along on my Instagram stories, this week I started back at school to study my Bachelor of Design at the Whitehouse Institute of Design, specialising in Creative Direction and Styling. I am so incredibly happy to have started this journey and be surrounded by fashion 24/7. It is a dream come true! I can already tell that it is going to be full-on and crazy busy so I may not stick to my twice a week posting routine, but I know that when I do publish a blog post on here the content is going to be 100% better than my usual content. It will definitely be worth the wait! 

Monday: Orientation Day 1

Jumpers for Autumn

After three days without internet, I am happy to finally publish this post for you all! While it did delay my blog post publishing, I actually enjoyed not having any wifi for a couple of days. It gave me the opportunity to make it through the two books I have been reading, and actually watch some of the DVD's Claire and I collect precisely for this reason. Anyway, now on with the post!

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Once Galentine's/Valentine's Day is over I immediately start thinking about Autumn. When I look over my wardrobe making sure it is cool-weather ready, I immediately start with jumpers. They are perfect to pair with a button-down shirt underneath, tucked into a skirt, or just paired with jeans.

Striped Culottes

Culottes aren't my usual go-to for pants, which makes it all the more fun when I do wear them. As you all know, I have a weakness for anything navy and white stripes, which is what initially drew me to these pants when I saw them in Cotton On last week. Upon closer inspection, I noticed there are actually green stripes as well. I was sold!

Keep It Positive

So far this year I have been battling with a lot of negative thoughts. It might be because I haven't been working for the past month, which means I have spent a lot of time at home by myself, working on the blog every day (which is more than I have in the history of The Aussie Prep so far). With my two year anniversary of this blog, I was dwelling on things like growth, comparing myself to others and, like every blogger, frustration with the changes in Instagram's algorithm. However, I am trying to focus on turning the negatives into positives. As Elle Woods says in Legally Blonde: The Musical, keep it positive!

Guide to Hosting: Ideas for Galentine's Day

As much as I love Valentine's Day, Galentine's Day is actually my favourite holiday of all. For those of you who don't know, Galentine's Day is February 13th and is a day to celebrate the non-romantic relationships in your life. Anyone who knows me well knows how much I truly value friendship, and any opportunity to show my pals how much I appreciate them, the better! I have been organising the Galentine's Day celebrations with my friends for a couple of years now, so today I wanted to share some of my ideas of how to celebrate this fun day.

Entertaining Playlist: Retro Version

Every time I host a party or dinner, I always make sure I spend time going through the playlist for the evening. Having the perfect background music sets the mood of the event, so it is important to make sure you have the right vibe. Claire and I have been in a little bit of a 50's-60's mood recently (which 100% has been influenced by watching The Man From U.N.C.L.E, Baby Driver and Dirty Dancing), so for my dinner party I held a couple of weeks ago, we created the Entertaining Playlist: Retro Version.

Valentine's Day Outfit Guide

Even though we are still a few weeks out, today I wanted to round up some of my favourite Valentine's Day outfits which I think will be perfect to wear on a romantic date, a fun night with friends, or even Galentine's Day!

Summertime Yellows

If you have been following along on my style journey for a while now, you may have already noticed that I almost always wear blue and white - with the occasional colour thrown in. I just scrolled through all of my past fashion posts from the last 6 months of 2017 and every single outfit post was blue and white! I mean, it is a classic colour combination which you can never go wrong with. But, when I saw this adorable yellow, gingham midi sundress in a little boutique in Melbourne, I couldn't resist from switching things up a little.

Guide to Hosting: Dinner Party on a Budget

Out of all of my friends, I'm one of the people who are always willing to host - whether it be a party, a casual get-together or a movie night. I don't quite know what it is, but I can't help but be the Hostess With the Mostest. It's just this part of who I am! This year, I am embracing my role as the token hostess. As we go along, I am going to be sharing my tips and tricks on the blog too. You will be able to find all of my blog posts related to hosting under the "Categories" drop-down menu on the top of the page, and clicking "Hosting".

Personalised Phone Case

As I post more mirror selfies on Instagram, something I get asked about is my phone case. In case you haven't picked up on it yet, I love being surrounded by items which I think be express myself and my aesthetic. One of these is my phone case! I remember back in high school, and even the past few years, phone cases were a big deal. When I was a teenager, I would scroll through pages on eBay for hours trying to find the perfect phone case whenever I got a new phone. I even had a diamante zebra print phone case back in high school - don't you just miss the 00's some times? 

Two Years of The Aussie Prep

I can't believe it, but today were are celebrating two years of The Aussie Prep! 

It is crazy to think that two years (tomorrow) of blogging have flown by. I have had so much fun working on this blog - it is definitely my favourite thing I do in my life. I enjoy coming up with, and creating, new content. My love of fashion has grown even more and gave me the confidence to finally give my dream of working in fashion a chance and apply for fashion school.

As I did last year, I am going to use this post to look back on my favourite outfits from The Aussie Prep's second year.

90's Inspired Neon Shift Dress

Something I always say is that even though I have a classic style, I can't help but be influenced by the fashion around me.  For me, this is the city of Melbourne. A city known for its dress codes of all-black, artsy quirks and grungy throwbacks. Currently, fashion is having a 90s moment and Melbourne is loving it! This shift dress definitely gives me 90's/early 00's vibes. The abstract splashes of colour which are almost neon is so fun and reminds me of my childhood. Plus, when paired with the classic silhouette of the shift, we have found something both Melbourne style and I can get on board with!  

The Power of Fashion and The Golden Globes 2018 Red Carpet

Image from PopSugar.

Yesterday was the 75th Golden Globes, and we saw the red carpet turn into a sea of black as women and men wore black in solidarity and support of those who experience, and have spoken up about, the sexism, discrimination and harassment faced by women in the workplace.

Top-Siders by the Seaside

Happy first post of 2018, all!

This is not just my first blog post of 2018, it is also the first for a few changes in my photos! Today's post is the first time featuring photos taken using my brand new DSLR (I am using the Canon EOS 200D with a 18-55mm lens if you are wondering). I have also finally figured out how to size my photos so they are all the same width, so hello landscape photos. Just a couple of new and exciting changes, but there are still plenty more to come!