Alannah Hill dress

I admitted when I wrote the post about packing for the conference last week that I was doing so in quite a frantic and unorganised manner. I packed several dresses in order to have some choices – in case of emergency bloating – and after some last minute indecision (what if it was too dressy for day wear?) I ended up wearing the one I especially had in mind.

You can see it above, draped over an obliging rocking chair. It is an Alannah Hill. Expensive? Oh, no. I can’t remember off hand, but I think I paid twenty-five dollars. That’s right – that’s what makes shopping in Melbourne so fantastic.

Those of you who’ve been here for a while know I love op-shopping. LOVE IT. I blog my favourite finds occasionally in my Thrifty Thursday category you’re welcome to go explore if interested. I’d neglected to add the above dress before now because, well, I wasn’t sure if I’d done the right thing buying it or not. I mostly wear black or grey. I don’t normally ‘do’ pink. I’d not even worn it before Saturday, even though it’s been in the cupboard for ages. I worried I was too pale to carry it off (even if Alannah herself is pale!) I worried about my breasts, because even in the short time I had worn it about the house, they had an annoying habit of trying to escape out of the top, which might also have something to do with the fact it is, as they say, a tight fit.

In the end I was very happy with the choice. All day people were commenting; on the fit and the cut. That was lovely, thank you. It shall now go into regular rotation.

Now, shoes.

Catherine gave me a lovely compliment when she said, ‘@MiscMum has hottest shoes so far #AusBlogCon2011’. Coming from a gorgeous woman who knows how to do bling and pizazz, that sure was a compliment! And here they are:

betts shoes

From Betts (this season)

But if I’m honest, I have to admit I’d ditched them by morning tea, after the content panel was over (like Oprah says, they were ‘show shoes’, not walking shoes). I was blistered and sore. I even walked up to stage in My Blog, My Story to do my bit barefoot. I figure, if k.d. lang can go on stage like that, I can 😉

Pop over to the ever-growing Flickr group if you’d like to see shots of shoes, tiaras, and more!

karen andrews

Karen Andrews is the creator of this website, one of the most established and well-respected parenting blogs in the country. She is also an author, award-winning writer, poet, editor and publisher at Miscellaneous Press. Her latest book is Trust the Process: 101 Tips on Writing and Creativity