On Trend - White Hot

A few weeks ago I went to the Liza Emanuele fashion parade at the Ice Arena.

It's rather ironic that I've named this post 'white hot' because it was in fact bloody cold.

It was quite a spectacular experience and like nothing I've ever seen before. You can read more about it here on Glam Adelaide.

I noticed a definite trend amoung the who's who of Adelaide. White blazers.

How To - Survive A Sample Sale

How do you know if you're whipped? 

Probably if your girlfriend makes you and your (also male) friend come to a sample sale and search through the clothes for size 8s which you then have to hold up for her one at a time so she can critique your choices and decide what she likes and what she doesn't with comments like 'ew that's hideous' and 'what were you thinking'.

And I'm the one who's single...

On Sunday my friend Caity (caityj-says.blogspot.com.au) and I headed off to the Finders Keepers, Keepsake and Cameo sample sale and we were completely unprepared for what we were about to encounter.

First of all there was a line. In the rain. Full of teenage girls.

As soon as we were let in to the hall SHIT GOT CRAY. The girls were absolutely out of control grabbing clothing left right and centre and stuffing them into bags that they had brought along.

The phrase that comes to mind is 'bitches be crazy'.

Once they had a bag stuffed full to the seams, they headed to a room off the hall to strip off and try everything on.

Caity and I were clearly amateurs to the whole sample sale situation but managed to escape with what we wanted and no visible injuries besides some emotional scarring. 

Don't get me wrong, it was awesome and kind of exhilarating. I will definitely be going back considering some of the bargains I picked up. 

I will however be following these simple rules.

How To Survive A Sample Sale

Arrive Early

Yep there was a line. I'm sure the bigger the sale is, the bigger the line will probably be. 

Know What You Want

Avoid walking out with three pairs of almost identical black shorts and six dresses you will never wear because you got excited and grabbed everything in your size.

Know Your Size

Knowing what size you are in the brand will save you a lot of time and energy.

Be Prepared/Accessorise

FYI - Not with a boyfriend.

Take a 'green bag' to put your finds in and an umbrella for standing in the rain/bashing other girls over the head with. 

Dress For Success

Wear clothes that are easy to take off/try things over. I suggest a dress or tights and a loose top and shoes that are easy to slip off.

The Etsy Edit

How did I not know about Etsy?

As a shopping addict, I pride myself on knowing these things and I can't believe I only just found out about this online store.

Etsy is a shopping website focusing on handmade and vintage items as well as art and craft supplies.

It's a closet hippies dream.

Etsy is kind of like an online Gillies street markets.

The one problem is that it's so huge it's hard to find anything on there unless you know what you're looking for so I've done the 'Etsy Edit' and picked some of my fave items below.

 

Etsy blurrs that line between need and want. Do I need a huge feathered $200 Sass & Bide style headdress? Probably not. Does that matter? Definetly not.

Etsy's missions statement says they want to empower people to change the way the global economy works by giving small businesses much more power to create a more fair, more sustainable, and more fun world.

I can't argue with that.

Behind The Scenes At The Central Markets

Am I the only person who gets so overwhelmed by the Adelaide Central Markets that I tend to go back to the exact same stalls every time? 

It turns out there is a solution. 

I love the Central Markets so I jumped at the chance to take a tour of them with Central Market Tours, fellow Glam Adelaide writer Gianni and and Celebrity Chef Matt Moran. Also because I never turn down free food. Never.

Central Market Tours was a great way to discover a lot of hidden gems at the markets and visit stalls you never would have noticed before. Including discovering the best shallot pancakes I have ever tasted.

 I was expecting Matt Moran to be scary and intimidating like he is on Masterchef but he was actually very nice and surprisingly down to earth. He also followed me on Twitter which pretty much means we are besties now (free dinner at Aria?).

He's spent a lot of time in Adelaide recently and seemed to really enjoy it here. I was also super impressed that he was tweeting and blogging as we went as part of TQUAL (tourism quality).

Usually I am the only person on their phone 24/7.

You can read his TQUAL tick tour blog here.

The markets tour may seem like something only tourists would do but it's something fun to do next time you have people visitng from interstate. I guarantee you will discover a host of things you didn't know about the markets. 

I also got to go into A ROOM OF CHEESE. It was pretty much an out of body experience.

Melbourne Via Instagram

I went on a long weekend holiday to Melbourne last month and literally all we did was eat, shop and drink.

I've written more about it here on Glam Adelaide. 

Next time I'm going to try and do something a bit more cultured, like see a play or go to the art gallery. I lie, I'm not going to do that.

I did get really into instagraming the crap out of my photos when I came back though.

I love Instagram and I take it very seriously. I don't like to upload random shitty photos, I like to try and keep the quality high! I may or may not need to get a life...

Follow me on Instagram @genwhaites