Online Shopping Aussie Style

Since arriving in Australia almost 18 months ago, I've really embraced online shopping. Perhaps it's my loyalty to the Dundrum Town Centre that keeps me out of the Westfield Malls, but I think it has more to do with not wanting to miss the glorious sunshine at the weekends, and the fact that there's only one evening of late night shopping a week in Sydney. I've been a fan of SaboSkirt since before I made the move to the other side of the world; but I've discovered a few more gems over the past year. Here are my picks for fantastic online shopping in Oz - with casual & night out outfits covered.

www.saboskirt.com

Bright colours, gorgeous prints, cute dresses & shorts, as well as nice tailored blazers, SaboSkirt is the perfect place to update your Summer wardrobe. They deliver internationally too.

www.shilla.com.au

Cool seperates in great fabrics, minimalistic shift dresses & a brilliant sale every few months, the majority of dresses in my wardrobe are from Shilla. I'll more than likely be wearing one out in Dublin town this weekend! They also ship internationally.

www.mintymeetsmunt.com

Minty Meets Munt is a like a combination of the above two online stores. I love their prints & simple shapes; with jackets & playsuits being their forté. My favourite shoes are also from MMM - their footwear selection is funky yet glam. They only ship within Australia at present.

www.zeitgeistsydney.com

Lovely seperates that can be combined as suits, and statement items such as jackets & smart trousers, Zeitgeist provides stand out wardrobe staples with a twist. Love their selection of skirts too. They deliver worldwide.

Of course, there will always be a huge place in my heart (and bank account) for ASOS, but I'm a big fan of unique, boutique buys, as I'm sure you will be too.

Enjoy the online shops, ladies!

Rachel x

YSL Got It In One...

Rachel xxx

Summer Conferences, an excuse for a Whole New Wardrobe?!

I recently attended a conference in the South of Italy, which is such a beautiful place & obviously has a warmer climate than dreary old Dublin! And I'm going to Japan soon, which is going to be significantly warmer than Ireland too. So this posed a bit of a wardrobe problem for me...all of my conference type clothes are wintery & dark, as I can get away with them all year round in Ireland. But for a warm climate, these heavy, lined trousers & long sleeve black/grey caridgans I have just won't cut it. So I decided to invest in some key pieces that will translate from conference to night out, and also to recycle some of the clothes I already have in my wardrobe, that I once would never have considered to be suitable to wear to work or work based events!

Zara have the most amazing work wear tops & skirts that can also be worn out at the weekend. Similarly, Topshop, ASOS and FCUK all have minimal pieces that aren't too revealing or eye catching, and so can double up as dressy/casual Sunday best, or office/meeting attire. Just change smart, skinny leg trousers for skinny jeans, or a blouse/shirt for a sheer loose vest, and you have a recycled work outfit that is suitable for many occasions! Rachel Bilson looks gorgeous in a white shirt & navy trousers that can be worn both at meetings, and also while shopping (right).

Now if only my feet didn't hurt so much, I'd so wear my 5 inch Aldo heels in the lab... ;)

Rachel xxx

eBay Bargains-What You Give Is What You Receive...

I've purchased several things from eBay over the past few years including phones, handbags, books - mostly functional stuff. I've never bought clothes as I prefer new items rather than used, plus trying to search through the thousands of items up for sale can be a little overwhelming! Recently my wardrobe has been fit to burst - I keep buying new clothes but there's no where to put them, as I'm quite reluctant to throw anything out. Usually most of my old/unwanted clothes will go to charity shops, unfortunately I've no younger sisters to donate them to. Then I saw a friends post on FaceBook, she'd decided to sell a few of her unwanted items online & I said I'd give it a go too!

It's not too expensive to list items on eBay, with insertion fees of usually around 25c per item. You can post 3 or 4 pictures which is handy, plus you can set a price that has to be paid for postage, on top of the cost of the item. It's a slow business though; I've listed 10 things over the past 2 weeks & only one has sold, a pair of Diesel jeans that I held onto in the hope that one day I'd fit into them...sadly my bum is never going to shrink to the required proportions ever again. I made a small profit & this weekend listing was free, so I posted a few purses & handbags that I no longer use. It's great to think someone else might enjoy them, instead of them sitting in the bottom of my wardrobe, plus the extra cash is handy these days!

If you've any tips or stories about eBay selling, let me know.

Rachel xxx

My no shopping vow...can I do it?!

It's a new year & we have new tax rates. Which means everyone is pretty much broke. If I'm to continue seeing my friends & going out as much as I'd like to, while still paying all of my bills, then something has to change. I don't wanna live in overdraft land anymore!

So I've set myself a challenge...no shopping for 3 months. Whatsoever.

That means outfit recycling on every night out for the next while. Which actually shouldn't be a tough thing to do as I have plenty of dresses that I've only worn once. But...how will I resist temptation?! Will I have to avoid shopping centres altogether? Go out, but not bring my laser card with me? Become a hermit? Time will tell if I can make it, but with the hottest trends of this season being florals, 70's, bold colour blocking, blue & tan...hopefully there's enough in my wardrobe to carry me through.

So, can I challenge you to a no shopping resolution? Are you woman enough? ;)

Rachel xxx

Power Dressing/Dresses

Being a scientist means working in a lab for most of the day and therefore wearing a labcoat. So not only is it a bit pointless wearing nice outfits, it's also important to make sure what you're wearing is comfortable, as you need to be free to stretch from the incubator to the fridge etc.

However, there are times when us science girls can embrace our stylish sides, such as presentations, meetings and conferences (and those reading & writing only days). Recently, I found some lovely dresses in Dunnes (www.dunnesstores.ie) that were really reasonably priced (between €18-€25) and perfect for work. They're to the knee or below the knee shift dresses available in a range of colours and all with fabulous shoulder details-see the pics below. The shape of each is super flattering and the high neckline makes them sophisticated yet still slightly sexy. I can't wait to wear them at a conference this weekend, and I'm hoping they can double up for a few nights out coming up to Christmas!

Other high street shops that stock nice work wear lines include New Look, Penney's, Zara & Oasis. Opaque tights, suede wedges or embellished pumps, and light cardigans/long sheer waistcoats finish the look nicely.

Rachel xxx

Festival Essentials

I've never been to a festival before, so I'm trés excited about going to Electric Picnic next weekend, the weather forecast says there's little or no chance of rain, the line-up just keeps getting better and better, and I've already practised putting up my tent; it wasn't as difficult as I imagined (granted I had some help from the family but it still went up in one piece)!!

Now comes the tricky part though...what to wear & what to bring with me. As the Irish weather is so notoriously unpredictable, I guess it's better to be safe than sorry. At the same time, I don't want to over pack and have too many options...that just makes it's more difficult to decide what to wear! So I've made a list of what I imagine to be festival staples, but I'd appreciate input to let me know if there's anything I'm forgetting or anything that more practical than what I have!

1. Straw trilby hat - great to cover up unwashed hair, may be robbed by overzealous boys and could blow away in a gust, but I think the benefits outweigh the costs here.

2. Denim shorts - perfect festival attire, although the forecast said it's going to be a chilly 10 degrees, so maybe tights to wear under them would be handy, or just jeans which would be warmer altogether?! Hmm...

3. Wellies - even if it's not raining I think I'll just wear them for the whole weekend!

4. Rain jacket.

5. Oversized sunglasses - protect eyes from the sun & hide tired/red/hungover eyeballs ;)

6. My favourite scarf, as scarves are the most versatile accessory on the planet.

7. An big hoody for warmth.

8. A bumbag/small across body bag to keep essentials in.

The picture below shows what's in my 'Definitely Bringing Pile'.

I'm getting excited now just thinking about packing! The scientist in me really wants to make an itinerary so I know exactly which band I want to see, where they're playing and when, but I won't (way too geeky ha)...I guess you can take the girl out of the lab but never the other way around!

Rachel xxx

Urban Outfitters Sale

I'm not a huge fan of sale shopping as it's usually too crowded & manic, but I absolutely love a bargain!
The Urban Outfitters sale is fantastic-so many fabulous things reduced to at least half price, if not further.
I got 2 cardigans today-both draped and lose; one a pale grey & the other a black leopard print. I also got a beautiful blue/purple/grey long chiffon blouse for €24.99 which I can't wait to wear out this weekend-I'm thinking of teaming it with dark denim shorts & huge tan chunky heels (weather permitting of course)!
My best find of the day, however, was a gorgeous navy waist belt with a lovely big gold clasp on the front...for €7! Waist belts are my absolute favourite accessory, they can totally change an outfit and are super flattering.
Let me know if you've gotten any great deals in the sales, and get yourself down to Urban Outfitters pronto, I promise you won't be disappointed!

Rachel xxx

My first post...

Hi!

So I was watching The City this morning and it got me thinking...I love to shop, and I love clothes, so why not write about both! Except...I know what I like to wear...but that's about it.

What I do know a lot about is science (specifically haemostasis with a dash of biochemistry)...but I don't think I fancy writing much about that, when we can all go onto pubmed and various other websites to do our reading and research!

I'd love to create a community where girls in science can chat about clothes and fashion, plus the ups and downs of day-to-day lab life. Perhaps these two things don't really go hand in hand, but for me they do; so I'd love to find other like minded ladies who feel the same way.

Not all scientists are nerds, although it helps to have a nerdy side. Science is amazing...but so is shopping! ;)

Please feel free to comment or write anything at all that you feel is relevant.

Rachel xxx