VAMFF 2017: what I wore

VAMFF is over for another year and it’s back to working at home in ugly trackies and old T-shirts for this little black duck. But no one wants to see that! So I thought I’d show you how I scrubbed up for the nights out at the fashion shows instead.
Some years I spend a lot of time and thought on making outfits for the fashion festival because it’s really one of the few occasions that everyone makes a big effort to look amazing and anything goes, unlike during racing season. But for whatever reason (too much time spent on the beach, maybe?!) this year was about wearing what I already had – in slightly different ways from usual, of course (otherwise where’s the fun?).

I don’t wear this green skirt that I made often because it’s a bit tight across the hips – but no one notices that with a long top layered over it. Jewellery all made by me, gold sandals and bag both opshopped.

I made this printed silk dress maybe 25 years ago (?? aggh!) but recently altered it, which I will post about later. Just about everything else is from opshops except the green scarf around the waist, shell tiara and earrings, which I made, and the necklace, which I found at the Vintage Clothing Sale at Como earlier that day.

I made this dress for VAMFF last year because a) it was stinking hot and the Exhibition Building venue where VAMFF is held is an old building with underwhelming air conditioning and b) I was still growing back part of my knee after a running mishap that had taken out a large chunk of it, and didn’t think anyone should have to see it! It wasn’t quite as hot this year so I wore the dress layered with a $1 secondhand batik blouse and jacket and jewellery I made myself. It was actually my birthday on the day I wore this outfit, and coincidentally my partner in fashion crimes, Estelle, gave me this illustration as a present which shows me wearing it last year!

You might remember seeing this dress before – I restyled it by belting it around the waist and pulling up the excess to fall over the belt. (You may also have seen it because I was wearing it when I got filmed for a Medibank commercial last year!) Shoes from Komehyo, earrings and Bally handbag from fleamarkets in Tokyo and the cat sunnies were an unusual splurge (brand new!) from Tsumori Chisato in Tokyo.

The last night of the festival was hot and I had just been at the beach (oh dear, looking at this photo I’ve just realised my blue bikini bottoms are kind of visible, which means they were even more obvious IRL… aggh!) so a kaftan was an obvious solution. A kaftan with a swishy fringe, of course. Jewellery made by me, scarf from a Tokyo fleamarket, shoes from Savers and bag from Sacred Heart Mission.

I had thought my outfits were quite different each night but looking at them together like this I can see they are either blue/green or built around 70s orange/yellow/green shades. Maybe I’ll try for something new at next year’s VAMFF – after seeing the shows I’ve got quite a few new styles I want to make. If you haven’t already, you can see some of the shows I liked on my Instagram or just search for other people’s shots using #vamff .