Earning My Stripes

It’s officially Spring, although as usual, the weather in Australia is as temperamental as ever; throwing us weather events such as windy 5°C nights and scorching 30° days. I, for one, am making the most of my enormous coat/jacket collection while it’s still cool enough to do so, before I inevitably return to my sleeveless blouses and short skirts.

And what a jacket! If there was going to be anyone who could give the colour of this outfit any justice, it would have to be my best friend (and most fabulous photographer) Laura Seeds. We got together near her place for a photoshoot or two recently and these are some of the amazing photos that came from it! (Please note that some images are cropped to better fit into my ridiculously narrow blog layout, but you’ll find the original aspect of the images by clicking and opening the lightbox.)

This has actually become a really common work outfit for me recently, and I can’t seem to stop wearing these pants. They go with everything, and best of all, they are high-waisted, and fit around said waist like a dream. Also, beltloops! They were so fabulous that I bought a pair in the black as well. They supply enough hemline to be let down, but I’m kind of digging the cropped look.. any thoughts?

What I wore:

• Collette Dinnigan Glasses – c/o Specsavers
• Long Tassel Necklace – Equip, $3
• Pink Woolen Jacket w Leather Trim – Igedo, $15 (Although the last purchase I’ll ever make from them after how rudely they treated me when I tried to return a faulty item)
• Black and White Blouse – Dotti, $15
• Patent Leather Lilac Belt – AliExpress, $2.30 (Lots of other colours too)
• Gold Bangle and Lorus Watch – Graduation Gifts
• Liz Jordan Slim Fit Ankle Pants – Noni B, $28 (After 30% off sale items promotion, also available in black and aqua)
• Charvonne Black Patent Heels – Wittner, $35

Total: $98.30

Whew, that was getting close!

As for the title? I figure it’s about time I got off my lazy ass and got something accomplished, to earn my stripes, so to speak. It’s hard to break into  graphic design without a portfolio, and I’m currently lacking an up-to-date one because of all the faffing about in an industry I’m clearly not cut out for–retail.

I think retail is something everyone should do as a community-service-type deal so they can learn to better treat the people serving them, but my forked tongue would never allow me to succeed in a place where customers thrive off being as rude as humanly possible without any repercussions. I could have continued along the shop girl path and written a whole new blog about working in retail and the weird and wacky things that customers say and do, but in the end, I’d rather settle for working where my skills are put to use and don’t have those horror stories mulling around in my head.

So that being said, anyone in need of a freelance designer/illustrator/developer extraordinaire? Anyone?