Black Opals

Today's outfit was chosen purely to accessorise with another bling purchase from Cairns, my black opal drop earrings. They are very simple and not too long which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE plus I think the colours are absolutely beautiful - teal blue, emerald and red (although the photo taken on my dodgy iphone does them no justice at all). I have loved opals since I was little and actually bought my first ever pair of opal stud earrings in Canberra, at the War Memorial Gift Shop on a family trip there when I was in Grade 3. I begged Mum for the earrings which cost the princely sum of $7.00 some 25 years ago and luckily for me, she said yes! Little did she know it was going to set me up for a life long love of opals and the gorgeous colours they show. My first earrings way back then were triplet opals (where a slice of opal is sandwiched between a dark background to highlight the colours and a clear gloss on top) whilst my latest purchase has seen me graduate onto solid stones.  

So back to my outift choice. Today I wore my Kain silk cowl neck top in a lovely "opal" green to match my new earrings. This was coupled with a Bellisima white microfibre long-sleeved top underneath to keep out the winter chill, Sass & Bide Straight Up Jeans (otherwise known as my "chubby day" jeans due to the ability of the denim to soften quickly and easily to accomodate an extended muffin top when required) and white Mimco silver and gold studded ballet flats.

I am seriously excited that I found these earrings, I think they are the perfect addition to my earring wardrobe. Bingo.

Layering 101

Winter officially began today although judging by the weather in Sydney over the last couple of weeks, it seems that Mother Nature was well ahead of schedule this year. In order to stay warm and toasty and keep the chill at bay I religiously follow the layer, layer, layer mantra and it works a treat.

I usually start off with my favourite microfibre pieces from Italian brand Bellissima. The material is super-stretchy and feels so beautifully soft against my skin. They don't make me itchy, sweaty or uncomfortable and feel just as nice at the end of a really long day at The Office as when I first put them on in the morning. There are a number of different styles but my key pieces are the scoop neck, long sleeved tops in black and white and the leggings in black.  Of note, the length of the tops tend to sit just above my hip so they really need to be tucked in to sit properly under clothing and not roll up. With my top half, I love the layered look i.e. where I have a bottom layer poking out about an inch below my top layer. I normally throw on a long tank over my Bellissima  top which creates the longest layer in the outfit before I then add my top layer which gives the layering effect whilst still allowing me to tuck in the Bellissima top (Confused much? See picture below). I can't go past the "Favourite Tank" in white from Splendid for this task. Super thin, slightly sheer and long plus virtually indestructible in a normal wash cycle - much like the Bellissima stuff!

So my advice about Bellissima is that you don't let the retro 1970s-euro-soft-porn style box put you off and that you don't panic about the length of the tops as it can be overcome if required. The microfibre material is absolute genius and is an essential part of my winter armoury. Bingo.

Today's particular outfit was super casual, one of the benefits of working from The Home Office on the odd occasion. It consisted of my Bellissima top layered under a black scoop neck, long-sleeved Metallicus  merino wool top. Metallicus is one of my favourite brands for winter too, the merino pieces are warm but are light enough to be easily layered without adding a lot of bulk. The outfit was finished off by a gorgeous (and jangly) Mimco scarf that was a b'day present from Ro, my lovely MiLaw.

Layer, layer, layer = one warm Cole!