Pretty Pretty Pretty

Short bits and wordy considerations July 8, 2008

1. Zebrano, home to designer clothes for the curvy lady is having a sale. Pretty much every garment in-store (well, at least in their Johnson Street branch anyway) is reduced, often up to 50%, and arranged in size order for easy shopping. While I’m at it, how do you feel about the term “curvy lady”? I personally don’t like the word ‘lady’ very much so I’m not entirely sure why I’m using it. I ask partially because when Martha wrote about us, she said she doesn’t like the word ‘girly’. How about ‘girlie’ with an ie? But yes, I favour ‘curvy’ over ‘plus-size’, because it celebrates my lovely lovely breasts while we’re at it.

2. If you’re still not reading Jezebel yet, maybe you could start with this post on Badvertising, which demonstrates all the reasons that I pretty much hate magazine advertising (and most magazine copy, for that reason). As a sample, in response to a
Dove campaign for “It’s time we girls cooled off more and freaked out less”, Jezebel writes:

“You know what else makes me freak out? When someone suggests that “we girls” should freak out less. We make less money than men, are expected to be thin and hairless and we have the crampy bleeds every 26 days. A body wash solves nothing. Fuck off.”

And to continue my wordy-thoughts, I pretty much HATE advertising that pretends that the product is “one of us”. I don’t think that the Dove ad was written by someone who has anything in common with me, so they can take their over-familiarisation and shove it.

3. I know we’ve mentioned it before, but Amy and I worked on the giftboxes for our party (which starts at 4pm this Saturday in Newtown, tell your friends!) last night, and man, they are pretty damn awesome if I do say so myself. We’ve also got some foot spas for soaking your tootsies in, the signature cocktail has been designed, and there are piles and piles of clothes for the swap, and all kinds of tasty goodness and decorations have been purchased. We think that you will enjoy yourselves. For those of you who can’t make it because you’re not in Wellington, there will be some giftboxes to be won at a later date. We have many many cunning plans taking shape.

Sale: you heard it here first July 4, 2008

ILLICIT WELLY CLOSING DOWN SALE : MISS ILLICIT COMING SOON!!!: Illicit boutique will be closing to make way for the new MISS ILLICIT BOUTIQUE! This will be your last chance to buy the Illicit ’streetwear’ stock you all know and love, including hoods, tees and accessories - so don’t miss out!! ALL STOCK HEAVILY DISCOUNTED! Sale starts July 3rd and ends on July 20th. Miss Illicit will open in the same spot on July 23rd…see you all there!

Sale: makeup at Farmers June 17, 2008

I just picked up these beautiful eye colours at the Farmers sale. Most of the cosmetic counters have a range of red-dot sale items. Napoleon Perdis had a bunch of products 30% off. So these little babies were $26 less 30% which is… umm… like… $18 (phew - that just made my maths degree worth it).

Top: Avocado #48 Bottom: Turquoise #22

Best of the ‘burbs - Newtown, Welly June 9, 2008

I went shopping with my friend in the weekend, and she took my around Newtown to some fantastico little gems of shops. I’m so impressed with Newtown now.

First stop, Duncan&Prudence  - home of the now ubiquitous Newtown tee and their own jeans line.

Then there’s Juniper Gift Gallery which is having a sale at the mo because it’s moving down the raod Rintoul St. Lots of lovely, crafty, pretty things.

Then up Constable Street to Red, a super-tiny shop I would never have noticed if my friend hadn’t lead the way.  From NZgirl:

It’s a little out of the way and sure it’s only open Friday, Saturday and Sunday but this little unassuming red store tucked away in suburban Newtown has to be the best kept fashion secret in Wellington. Full to overflowing with beautiful, well-cut clothes for every nzgirl and lots of beautiful jewellery. 87 Owen Street, Newtown

And lastly The Powder Room, my friend’s hair dresser. I’m so jealous of their website, and it’s definitely gonna be the next place I get my hair cut.

Antique brooch sale June 6, 2008

Just a quick heads-up - if you’re in Welly this weekend why not pop down to Newtown and have a look at Little Stella’s brooches. Could be fun.

Here’s an invite to the event that a friend of mine passed along:

You are invited to an antique brooch and retro scarf sale on Saturday 7 June 10-12pm in Newtown, Wellington.
My brooches are made from antique buttons and are all unique as I use different combination of buttons and other precious materials. All brooches come attached to a Little Stella gift card with a description of the antique button and other gems used to make each one. There is also a number of brooches made from modern funky buttons and resin materials.

The sale is at 33 Normanby Street in Newtown (easy to find just turn left at New World on Riddiford Street).

Sale: make-up brush

I just noticed strawberrynet has this great deal on a Smashbox make-up brush if you’re in the market for one. And to prove we’re not sponsored by strawberrynet, I also found this rival Aussie make-up website FountainCosmetics that also has some good deals from time to time.

And that also reminds me to tell you about SmashBox cosmetics which i’ve heard a lot of good things about on the interweb. But i’ve never seen it sold in NZ…until now. I happened to be walking past Kristina Raffaele Hair in Waring-Taylor St, Welly, and spied some SmashBox products in the window. I’m not sure how much they cost but next pay day i’m gonna go and check it out. Anyway, NZgirl had a little article about SmashBox too. I wonder if they’re gonna roll out this brand in NZ…

Taste like me - for super cheap! May 13, 2008

I love me some shiny smelly lip gloss, so awhile ago, I bought a set of three Lancome Juicy Tubes on StrawberrryNet. They were cheap then, but now they’re even cheaper, like crazily so. Of course, by “cheap” I do still mean $15 a tube (and you don’t get to pick your shades), but they’re Lancome, so you’re paying for the brand. But still, the same pack is $66 on the (horrible-named) Man-Trap, and in stores, individual tubes cost around $36 each.

So, my suggestion (and I hope that this doesn’t make you think that we’re paid by StrawberryNet) is that if you think you’re in the market for some fairly subtle glosses, head down to a department store or upmarket chemist and try on the tubes in Melon (pale-ish apricotty pink), Fraise (almost magenta in the tube, but not so much on your lips) and Cerise (my favourite, I wear it like someone who was able to wear red lipstick might, except you know, it’s clear and easy to apply, and only a red tint), and if you dig them, you should place an order. If you want to, that is. Otherwise stick around for my Maybelline Shinylicious review, because if it’s good enough for Martha, it should be good enough for you…

Sale! Designer clothing - Wellington May 7, 2008

I just saw a sign at 117 Custom House Quay (next to the Nike Shop, where NZ Girl shop used to be) saying there’s a four day sale on designer clothes - from Wednesday to Saturday. I also saw a $40 rack, but not much else. If you’ve been, please leave a comment and tell us if it’s worth a gander.

Strawberrynet promo April 25, 2008

If you’ve never bought from Strawberrynet.com, now might be a good time. They’ve got a promo for first-timers - choose a free Stila product with orders over US$25.

Hats anyone? April 18, 2008

Splendid readers, you are looking pretty today! In case you didn’t already know, the hatters on Woodward St are having a closing down sale. Hats are all half price. They’ve got some very pretty hats in there….