This blog post has been a whole lot longer in the works than anticipated, but (big breath, excuses time!), following our epic trip Down Under at Christmas, there has been seriously debilitating jet lag, mixed in with a spot of real flu (which lasted, I kid you not, three whole weeks!), not to mention the fact that the entire Mostly Mum household came down with a bout of norovirus at some point in-between. 😮
So, much as the mind was willing, Mostly Mum’s body was utterly and totally incapable of lifting her head off the sofa long enough (never mind endure the prerequisite graveyard shift!) to produce said blog post. 😩
However, three weeks of (kind of) restful recuperation later (there was quite a bit of ‘Mumming’ to do in-between all the resting, so not as much resting as I would have ideally liked happened! 😐), I’m fired up to type out all that pent-up creativity. Brace yourselves, my dear readers…
The absolute best thing about heading off to far-flung cities for a fashion devotee like me (a fashionista, if you will!) is that I get to stalk all the fabulous street style that might be just that little bit different from our own here in London.
And if that place happens to be in the opposite season to our own, as is the case with Melbourne, well, the possibilities are endless… Will they be wearing what we wore last season? Or, gasp, could they already be showcasing the catwalk style for our next season?
Now, with two previous trips to the Land Down Under already… ahem… under my belt (pun, sort of, intended), I do know one thing about Australian street style… It is massively underrated! It is definitely not just a case of flinging on any old flip-flop (or thong), T-shirt and shorts combo! Those Aussie girls are seriously style-savvy!
And as for the shopping! Sigh! I hardly know where to begin…
It’s all so slick, sleek and sunshiny! 💗
Just take a look at the glitzy neon slogan signs that adorn the walls of the H&M flagship store in Melbourne…
I know!! Who could resist posing for a quick pic?! (well, not me, obviously!) 😳
And there’s more… so much more stylishness, everywhere you look!
I have been in practically every H&M in Europe (only a slight exaggeration!) and never before have I seen an entrance as impressive as this one, which is actually a converted post office! Just, wow! 🤩😍🤩
Then there is Mecca, which is basically a beauty mecca/emporium, or, even, the Aussie adaptation of Sephora.
Not content with their own version of Sephora, they even have… noooooo!… the real Sephora! Now, if you have already read my earlier post This week Mostly Mum was mostly shopping in… Sephora you will know how much it pains me that we don’t have a Sephora in the UK. 😭 So, this discovery had a bitter-sweet edge to it!
Just look how pretty it is!💓
Even the sunglasses shops are beyond chic…
Well, with a designer display like that, I was never going to be able to resist the urge to take a selfie, now, was I?! 💖
Too, too cute! (The display, not me! 😳)
And, as for the street style… Well, it was just everywhere I looked; the trams, the Insta-worthy cafés, the literal streets. My iPhone could hardly keep up with it all! But it did manage to capture these three main trends…
1. Gucci bags
Gucci bags have long-held a special place in my affections, from that very first one I acquired in Paris back in the year 2000 (does anyone else remember when the phrase ‘the year 2000’ sounded futuristic? Yikes! Must be getting on! 😬) to the present time, when there are Gucci Marmont bags adorning the Instagram accounts of every notable fashionista/Influencer the world over.
Gucci bags – no longer the preserve of fashion supers like Kate the Great, aka Kate Moss
In Melbourne this Christmas, it seemed like nobody could venture out without a super chic Gucci slung nonchalantly over their shoulders.
There was the red tasselled one above, spotted in a shopping mall…
Then, the black horseshoe clasp one below, also spotted in a shopping mall…
And as for that pièce de resistance, the Gucci Marmont, the absolute It bag of the moment, spotted in the street outside our apartment… Well, there are no words!
Bag envy, moi?
Um, maybe just a little!
Even, laceandaparkls, my favourite Sydney blogger is in on the act…
Neon, a cute slogan, a flower wall and a Gucci Marmont all in one picture?
Too. Much. Cuteness!
Ooh, and then there was the classic logo cross body, surreptitiously snapped in the street…
Annnd posted by laceandsparkls around the same time…
Can you pass out from a serious dose of bag envy, I wonder?
2. Basket bags
This next trend had almost passed me by, even though it has already been out there in the ether of Insta-world.
But there was no ignoring it on the streets of Melbourne! I stumbled across it so many times that I went from…
’No, not for me!’
To…
’I neeeed one of those now!’
An almost overnight transformation. 😊
To get this snap, I had to chase this poor girl around the modern art gallery at least three times! I’m almost positive she had no idea her super sweet basket bag was such a hit… 😏
Always with her finger on the pulse, laceandsparkls, has one too!
This is definitely going to be huge over here and in the US this summer! Just remember where you heard it first! 😉
3. Slides
Now slides were a big deal over here last summer, I even dedicated an entire blog post to whole slide phenomenon, Slides: Could you, Would you, Should you?
Judging from this extract that appeared in the Australian OK!, it seemed at first like the situation Down Under had moved on a little, away from the flat and onto the block high-heeled version…
But a quick check of the Aussie Influencer accounts proves otherwise…
Steph Smith is currently one of the biggest style Influencers Down Under, so if she is still wearing the adidas Adilette…
Ooh, and laceandsparkls is holding on fast to this trend, too!
And then there is the fact that my super stylish Oz-based niece has a wardrobe that is literally bursting with them…
Hands up! I give up! Maybe I should just order my pastel adidas Adilettes now before they sell out…
4. Frill skirts and yellow
Another thing that was noticeable on the streets of Melbourne this Christmas was that frill skirts, of all lengths, just seemed to be everywhere.
This is a completely new trend, as being the frill skirt lover that I am, I would definitely not have missed this one, had it been big over here last summer.
So, not one to shy away from a super cute hot new trend, I made it my mission to hot-foot it to Target, my absolute favourite store in Melbourne (it’s just all-round great!), to pick up the cutest frill skirt I could find to squirrel away for next season.
If it’s got a stylish neon sign, I’m there!
And here is what I found…
Yes, the matching top did have to come home with me too (much to the chagrin of the Hubby! ‘You must have one just like that already! Noooooooo! If I had, I wouldn’t be buying this one…) 🙎🏼♀️
The fact that my new frill skirt came in yellow, the colour to have right now, was an added bonus!
If I half-close my eyes and squint as hard as I can, I can almost convince myself that there is a resemblance to uber Aussie Influencer, Steph Smith.
Well, at the very least, we have the same great taste in super sunshiny shades of yellow! 😉🤩
So, there you have it, my dear readers!
Four great trends to invest in for next summer!
Just, please, try to leave something for little ol’ me!
Three weeks of flu I can deal with…
But ‘sold out stress’ is another matter altogether!
Until next time,
💋 Mostly Mum
P.S.: Big news on the weight loss front coming soon to a screen near you!
Stay tuned, folks!
😘😘😘
*Gif is via GIPHY