What are you waiting for?

click here to see the directors cut of Gwen Stefani's What are you waiting for'.

This was to be my inspiration for my seven year old's school concert costume.

Luckily I had some baby blue tweed on hand

And meters of black ribbon and lace

The trick was making something she liked and making it age appropriate

So watch out Gwen Stefani, and Ms Vivienne Westwood. 

I think we did okay?

Anyway, it was all good practice, and proved my hunch that designing for 7 to 14 year olds will be a tough gig.

Miss Moneypenny's Office Christmas Party Dress.

Tis the season of the dreaded office Christmas party.

And what to wear to take you from professional non drunk person seamlessly into staggering slurring mess dancing with your boss to 'I'm Sexy and I know it',is a tricky one.

I have never worked in an office and never will. 

It is quite ironic then that as a child I loved playing 'offices'. I loved sitting at my Dads desk and shuffling bits of paper,stamping them, and filing.

His 'NOT NEGOTIABLE' stamp still takes pride of place on my desk in my studio.

And because I was always interested in fashion I had a strong idea of how I would look when I finally landed that office job. 

Something like Dolly Parton in Nine to Five. 

So I don't actually have any experience in office to drinks dressing.

When making this dress for Jennie, my inspiration was Maggie Gyllenhall in Secretary crossed with Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny from the early Bond films.


And despite all of that....Jennie seems pleased with her Cicciolina 'Miss Moneypenny' dress. 

I'd probably team it up with bright yellow pumps and a bright blue clutch, and she would be ready to Gangnam style it up with the rest of the office.

Oh, and take no offence if your invoice from Sunshine & Daydreams or Cicciolina  has Not Negotiable stamped all over it. 

It's just my inner office manager trying to escape.

One party dress a week

I am a visual person

  For some  reason this perfectly formed organic pineapple and a flower my little girl had picked for me last Monday morning fuelled my inspiration and gave me the focus and energy to complete my first sample, in a few stolen hours.

 I now have two days a week(between school drop off and pick up) to work on my empire

And evenings, if only I could stay awake

  So I really can't afford to get distracted if I want to get anything done.

One sample a week is do able, I hope? And a new business plan to stun a bank manager will keep me busy through summer. As well as being a mum,with school holidays fast approaching, I also manage a little boutique part time. So TIME management is just something I need to get better at.

I need enough samples for a pop up shop in time for next years party season.

One dress a week.

I can do it

Watch this space..............

Do little girls only wear pink?

My little girls favourite colour has always been black.

I made this outfit over a year ago, and it is still her favourite.

So, now that I have decided to do a new range for Girls 7 to 15 and my first sample needs to be ready by tomorrow night for her grade one disco. Guess what colour she requested?

Black of course.

 I only have watermelon.

It took a bit of persuading. Watermelon is not pink.

I told her Watermelon is the new black

I'm not sure that she was convinced.

Stay tuned..................

Spring Racing Fashion 2012

A beautiful customer sent me these photos of herself at the Melbourne Cup.

Viz's Sunshine & Daydreams head piece was made to order at the very last minute

And I'm sure you will all agree that she looked elegant, perfect for the races. 

       Your head candy for the races should make you feel                  beautiful, not silly, and lady like, but not uncomfortable.

I'm so looking forward to attending the races myself next year, but at least knowing a few happy heads were out there wearing Sunshine & Daydreams was consolation enough for this year.   

How not to make a facinator

My little helper had a day off from school today

So while I finished off the last orders for Cup Day

My little assistant made her own fascinator and a dress for her Monster High Zombie Doll

 A home made mango icy pole was her reward for being such a patient girl. 

 Nothing beats bespoke

And so, the madness is nearly over for another year.

Melbourne Cup headpieces

We are in the swing of The Spring Racing Carnival in Melbourne. Saturday is Derby Day, Tuesday we all go crazy and have a holiday for the Melbourne Cup, and the following Thursday is Oaks Day.

Every Race day has a' fashions on the field' competition, and yet again I missed out on entering all the competitions that make The Spring Racing Carnival in Melbourne all that more interesting (and lucrative) for any fashion designer and milliner. And I'm both!!!

Aarrgghh....... there is always next year.

In the mean time....you can pop into Maestro Hair Yarraville (22 Anderson st Yarraville, Vic) to pick up one of these Frida Kahlo inspired headpieces.

And you can always email me with a colour request, and I will get it to you asap.

I'm also working in some flapper style 'party season' headpieces that are due in at Mico ( 5 Ballarat st Yarraville, Vic) later this week.

Can someone please remind me to get my easily distracted butt into gear about 6 months earlier next year.

I'm setting a reminder on my phone right now..........................

Fitness & Fashion

Fitness, health and fashion go hand in hand.

You really can't enjoy fashion, or indeed life, unless you feel great on the inside and comfortable in your own skin.

Last week my dear friend and fellow blogger Dani from http://fitnessfoodandstyle.blogspot.com.au, packed her four kids in the car and drove for two hours to visit me.

Her energy and positive attitude to life have been such an inspiration to me. I now read her blog daily, to inspire me to get out of bed and go for my daily walk, do my Yoga, and consider  everything I eat and feed my family. 

 Photos courtesy of her talented 7 year old son . 

Our gorgeous kids and friend. Photos courtesy of Dani's Instagram

But,I am lucky. I have had a great head start in life.

My mum Sandie is truly the healthiest person on the planet.

                   Tai Chi, Byron Bay style

After retiring from working as my design assistant at Cicciolina and moving to Byron Bay, she retrained as a Tai Chi instructor and now runs her own school.Dhyana Tai Chi-Qigong.

                    How inspiring is that!

                      Instructing her star pupil

And she still enjoys fashion.

Because if you look after yourself inside and out, mentally and physically, it does not matter how old you are, fashion is there to be enjoyed by everyone.

It is the icing on the cake of life.

Sunday busy Sunday

Things look very different these days.

      I use to have a studio/work room with a big cutting table

       A room of my own, where I could stay up all night

     With hours to myself to cut and sew, sketch and plan

                                                           
                 Things are very different now

      Most of my cutting and sewing happens on the kitchen table

                       
                     Surrounded by family                                                                           

                            Trying to remember what used to come easily.

So if you are wondering why it is taking us so long to get ourselves sorted, we can only steal a few hours every fortnight to get together and plan, take photos. But we have so much combined experience, our wonderful children to inspire us and buckets of ambition.

Jennie will be launching her photography website soon and my new and improved online shop will be back again any day now.

                                                         We will get there.           

                                     

                                           The best things take time...........

                                                   
                                                 

Green is the new black, slow is the new fast

And so this is what I have been up to..............

Last week I attended a couple of seminars at the fashion expo, Fashion Exposed.

The first one was an inspiring talk by one of the founders of brilliant online shopping experience, The Grand Social.

As soon as I'm more organised I'll be adding them to my online presence.

So far I've set up online shops through Etsy, Big Cartel, Blue Caravan and Young Republic.

The second seminar I attended was a series of talks held by TCF Australia on becoming a 'GREEN' accredited fashion business, and how slow sustainable fashion must take over from fast throw away fashion.

I'm all inspired to make a difference and be as green as I can be. 

You can also make a difference by:

Buying the best quality you can afford.
Buying organic where you can.
Choosing recycle and vintage instead of chain store.
Buying quality items made locally. 
Re selling, donating or passing on instead of throwing out.

On a lighter note, Melbourne Spring Fashion Week has started. I'm  attending another talk 'In Our Own Backyard' on sustainability in fashion.

Are you attending anything?

If you are in sunny Melbourne get yourself into the city and support your local fashion industry.

Especially the green ones.

the holiday is over.

Hello my very stylish and beautiful readers,

My 7 weeks of holidays from Sunshine & Daydreams are about to come to an end. But before I go back to my empire building( I like to think big), here's a little bit about where else I have been.

Hood River, USA

 Everyone in Hood River is a mad keen bike rider and or windsurfer, they have good coffee, wine in abundance, food and FASHION! And as this is a fashion blog I shall share with you what I found in the main street of Hood River.

Ava window shopping at one of the many home ware and gift stores.

 Every shop along the main street appears to be independently owned and all of them are worth a look.

Foundation at 3rd and Oak Downtown

The lovely owner of Foundation Brooke Pauly

 I was really impressed with this shop in particular. I don't really enjoy buying lingerie. Last time I did I just felt horrible, old, fat and stressed. But here, Brooke was helpful without being pushy, the ambiance was relaxing and there was a little sign in the cubicle that said a glass of champagne would be supplied if you found buying lingerie stressful. How thoughtful! You don't get that in a shopping centre chain store.

 So I treated myself to some beautiful 'underpinnings' and a pair of delicate earrings from a jewellery shop over the road, Silverado.

Then Scott & I spent yet another afternoon happy hour at 10 Speed. We admired our new shoes and jeans, and contemplated how well a Sunshine & Daydreams boutique would fit in to Hood River.

From my experience on this trip I'd have to say that the Americans could teach us a lot when it comes to customer service.

What do you think? Have you been to Hood River?

Don't be too shy to leave me a message. It really makes my day that you have taken the time to read this, and even more so when you leave a comment.

And I now need all the inspiration I can get to get me out of holiday mode and back to empire building................