A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned I had decided to track my expenditure on clothing and shoes for 2016, just to see how it adds up and how I fare against the supposed national average spend for Australian women of $834 per year.

(As an aside, I've mentioned this figure to a few women and they seem to think it's low, and I agree.)

Here's what I acquired in January:

Retrolicious dress via SWOP Clothing Exchange Price $25 - cost $0 (bought with credit)

Best & Less top Price $25 - cost $0 (given to me by Stacie)

Spurr Swiss woven flats $9.99 via Savers Still available on The Iconic^ for $14.98 - were $29.95

Kurt Geiger Carvela "Benny" booties $17.99 via Savers

No-label floral tea dress $11.99 via Savers

I got these two items from The Iconic in the recent Australia Day sale and they arrived yesterday so no live photos as yet. You can stylejack me if you want, I don't mind.

Edit: to be fair, I'm not sure I'm sold on the purple one. It's crepe and not very forgiving around the gut. I forgot that I sized down as my usual size wasn't available. So it may go back.

Dorothy Perkins | Crepe Embellished Tee^ Was $79.95 now $55.97

Dorothy Perkins | Lace Sleeve Tee^ $49.95

I've also bought two Kmart tops that I haven't yet photographed for $7 each. One of them is white and, like the top above, quite sheer so you can bet that February's purchases will include a white cami of some sort as my existing singlet looks daggy as underneath.

January summary

Items bought: 9
Total original ticket "value": approx $346
Paid: $160
YTD Spend: $160

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^ denotes affiliate links. By clicking through and purchasing, you don't pay any extra but I earn a small commission to pump back into Australia's retail economy. Please see my PR and Media policy for more information.

Recently, I was contacted by Farfetch.com, inviting me to take part in a blogger competition styling the perfect look for Australia Day celebrations.

When making my selection, choosing an Australian designer seemed obvious, so I cracked open my Polyvore account for the first time in ages and put together this simple selection from Scanlan Theodore:

double top handle tote - $850, sleeveless shirt dress - $650, timber heel buckle sandals - $450

Now, you know how we roll at Almost Posh and this is obviously way WAY out of the usual budget for Posh Picks. Let me bring it back down to earth by showing you what I actually wore on the day.

My Australia Day this year involved attending my English friend Claire's citizenship ceremony. Have you ever been to one? They are ace and full of what makes Australia great; celebrating new peeps that love the place so much, they want to be a part of it forever. The day was set to be a pleasant 31 degrees which is also great for fashion! 



I got this dress at Savers last week ($11.99!) It has no label so I have no idea what brand it is or whether it's vintage or newish but it's a very lightweight fabric (slip required), with a matching belt. Here's a close-up of the print.



I wore it with my Nine West sparkly black flats and slung my Oroton bag over my shoulder.

Here I am with one of Australia's newest citizens, Claire. Please note Claire's amazing dress that is not a dress at all, it is in fact, a jumpsuit with amazing pleated flowy legs. I never thought I could do a jumpsuit but I want this one badly. A fellow bargain hunter, Claire scored this at Marks & Spencer for £25 down from £75 which translates to about $51AUD. What a score.






Dinner was high-end Australian cuisine, courtesy of Mr Barnacle Bill:



I hope you enjoyed your day and celebrated what is important to you.

Just before Christmas I was extremely pleased to win this gift pack of washy things from Thankyou via a giveaway by Kate at Loveface Beauty.



If you don't already read Loveface Beauty, go check it out. It promises "kind beauty for cool women" and delivers - complete with LOLs and keeping-it-realness which you know is totally my jam.

Anyway, the box arrived all present-like and I thought I'd share my thoughts with you on the contents, which included a body wash, hand wash, jumbo hand sanitiser (YASS) and a mini version.

The Thankyou mob aren't just in the business of cleaning and sanitising, the profits help people access basic needs like food, water, health and hygiene education. You can even track precisely what your purchase is funding with a unique tracking code!

The handwash is Botanical Lime and Coriander which is a refreshing and non-cloying scent. The coriander gives it a little herby lift rather than that dishwashing liquid artificial lime scent which is not cute and my hands feel nice and clean afterwards. It's not a girly perfumery smell so you could have it on any sink really, and nobody would baulk at using it. Although my husband has a genetic receptor that means coriander tastes like soap to him, he doesn't seem to mind it in handwash form, I guess the soap thing is a plus in this case.




The body wash is a pleasant and zingy Botanical Mint and Spring Flowers and smells and feels amazing. I'm a bit old-school in that I like a bit of lather with my cleansing products because in my mind, bubbles = clean so I'm happy to get a bit of froth off these, unlike an awful "everything-free" shampoo I used once that was like trying to wash my hair with New Wave Gel and about as satisfying as the gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free vegan mint cake I had once which tasted like disappointment and tears.

The hand sanitiser is Antibacterial Grapefruit and again, it's a fresh zingy scent that smells proper, not artificial. I like the smell of fresh grapefruit but the manufactured version smells like body odour to me (maybe I have some sort of genetic receptor) and I've dumped many an offensive BO-flavoured product to my husband's bathroom in the past. It takes a little longer to dry than regular hand sanitisers but hands don't feel as dry afterwards.

I gave the handbag-sized bottle of hand sanitiser to my mother-in-law and she's very pleased with it. That is a citrusy one, so once again, ZING! 

The edgy dark bottles and minimalist labels give a hipster vibe to my bathroom (when the Peppa Pig bubble bath is out of shot, anyway).

Have you tried any Thankyou products?

I am linking up with Ingrid's Monday Makeup Madness (even though it's not strictly speaking makeup, it's beauty-related . . . am I right?)


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I received this gift pack as a giveaway prize and was not asked to review or shout-out about it by Kate or Thankyou but I felt like it, so I did. For more information about that kind of thing, please see my PR and Media policy.

Yesterday I had a blogger catch-up down at the Little City co-working space and got to meet / catch up with some of my fellow Radelaidian bloggers; Alice from My Kitchen Garden (who also does the social stuff and marketing for Little City), Jenni from Styling Curvy, Kim from New Mumma Kim and Tatum from Hardwood Digital to do some blog work.



Well . . . I say "work". We pretty much just talked non-stop. Which was great, because I had plenty of take-aways from it and what blogger doesn't love a chit-chat about blogging with people who know what's up. Also my netbook wasn't working, so I couldn't do anything anyway.

So with all the blogspo buzzing through my brain, I thought I'd try and nut out some goals for the year.

1. Grow, grow, grow



My biggest challenge with Almost Posh is working out how to grow it nice and organically without a) irritating people b) selling out or having anything to do with the people who are constantly contacting me from Insta promising loads of free followers c) having to resort to writing controversial / clickbait type posts. I'm really happy with the small and engaged community I have here and every comment I get genuinely makes me thrilled. I'd just like it to be a slightly bigger small and engaged community!

2. Approach brands directly



Here's where I struggle because contacting people and essentially asking for free stuff or money makes me cringe and die and feel like the world's biggest scab. I have mentioned before that I like working with brands because I feel I give an authentic and real voice to their product and because I tend to put faith in bloggers representing products. In my actual work environment, we call that "trusted advisor status" and that's where I'd like to be. I've been lucky enough to do a bit of it last year purely by being approached and I would like to do more (providing it fits in with what I have going here).

3. Invest in the blog and my bloggy development



This involves things like courses and events as well as tools like planners and quite possibly templates. As a sociable introvert, turning up to things on my own makes me quite antsy but once I'm there and somebody throws me a bone, I am all up in that. And the more things I go to, the more people I know for next time. And it gives me material to blog about. It's a win all round. Personal development, YAY! Next up is the Bloggers United event in Adelaide in February and I'm looking forward to it greatly.

4. Attend ProBlogger

This is a big one so I am counting it as a separate goal from number 3 above. The financial commitment, the travel, the thought of being "alone" in a room full of 1500 people . . . but the feedback from people who have been, not to mention the potential learnings make it too much of an opportunity to pass up attending, at least once. The September date means I have plenty of time to save up and plan for it, while building my blog network so I am not that "alone" on the day!

I am already looking forward to revising these goals at the end of the year and seeing how far I've come. There are other things that I want to do like improve my images (I NEEEEED an iPhone 6s for reals) and work on behind-the-scenes stuff like SEO and indexing but this is big picture results-orientated goal setting.

What are your aspirations for 2016 - blog or otherwise?

In my recent post about looking a hot mess over the holidays, I sent out a plea to fashion retailers to supply short people who want to wear a proper bra with summer maxi dress options like the rest of our sista fashionistas.

Judging by the comments on that post, it seems I am not alone, so I've gone on the hunt for some possible options in this week's Posh Picks. We, the people, demand wide shoulders, small armholes and back coverage high enough so that it doesn't reveal your multi-hook bra fasteners. Please provide in either solid (nice) colours or tasteful prints, instead of riotious Nanna-on-a-cruise-ship florals, animal print, patchwork detail and neon swirls all on the one garment.

For my fellow petite ladies, I find that high-low hems are a good option for giving the flowy feel of a maxi without the hem-stomping problems at the front and I also like a bit of definition around the waist because the Mama Cass look is not my jam. 

Handy Hint: for jersey and similar fabrics, knot the bottom of the dress to bring it up off your feet and/or create a new look.

Also, online retailers, can you please have your models wear their hair up so I can see whether the shoulder/neckline/strap detail is going to be sufficient, and always, ALWAYS show the back view. Oh and while I like a bit of tulle-type overlay, the lining needs to be longer than a mini skirt. Many thanks.

Here are a few selections, keeping it budget-friendly as usual:

Capture | Maxi Dress^ $69.99

Ignore the poor shoe choice on this one:

Capture | Maxi Dress^ Was $59.99 now $29

Capture | Maxi Dress^ Was $99.99 now $49

Urban | Trim Maxi^ Was $74.99 now $39

Grace Hill | Tie Maxi^ Was $99 now $67

Betty Basics | Chloe Maxi^ $39

Freez | Boho Knot Caftan^ $49

I always thought I could never do a maxi as a shortie but they are there if you know what to look for. Do you struggle to find the perfect maxi or do you care not for the long dress format?

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^ denotes affiliate links. By clicking through and purchasing, you don't pay any extra but you make a small contribution to the Almost Posh Appeal, raising awareness for suitable maxi dresses for short ladies who wear normal bras. Please see my PR and Media policy for more information. 

MAC "Snob" Classic pretty pink

Lime Crime Velvetine in "Bleached" Awesomely perfect matte-as nude that Does. Not. Budge.

Colour Pop Ultra Liquid to Matte in "Clueless" Abruptly ending my search for the perfect matte mauve

Some time last year, my friend Stacie sent me a photo of a magazine page given over to an ongoing series that tracked stylists on varying monthly shopping budgets, pointing out that one stylist was allocated $2000 a month. 

Welcome back to Posh Picks for 2016!

I do love a handbag, as my bagdrobe will attest:




Vintage, new, bold, basic, budget or high-end . . . I suppose theoretically you *can* probably have too many but I haven't got there yet. What I do need is more occasions to be able to rock more of my Glo Mesh collection! 

I got this Oroton bad boy for Christmas (selected it myself) and it is probably the most mature one I've owned for a long time, an ideal grown-up tote for work purposes. AND it's still on sale! You can style jack me if you want.

Oroton | Stencil Medium Tote $118

I still tend to look for a point of difference generally though, whether it be colour or texture. Other things I look for is size (I still can't get down to anything too small for a regular day bag despite my downsizing effort) and shoulder straps (although I can cope with a handle if I have to.)  

I thought I'd look to the sales to see what else I could add if I were of a mind to, keeping it around $100 or under in true Almost Posh fashion. A girl needs options, amirite?

Seriously considering this first one. If the price drops, I'll be on it like white on rice.

Louenhide | Bermuda^ $109.95

ALDO | Limit^ $79.95

Sandler | Expert^ Was $89.95 now $49.95

I Love Billy | Fuchsia^ $79.95

I Love Billy | Navy / Beige^ Was $79.95 now $31.98

I Love Billy | White / Black Patent^ Was $99.95 now $49.98

Sandler | Prism^ Was $69.95 now $54.95

I still have a hankering for a Major Serious Bag but at this point, I'm sticking to the more affordable options.

For some proper high-end inspo, check out Mica from Away From The Blue's enviable handbag collection. Living for the new magenta Balenciaga addition!! 

Are you a multi-bag fan or is one serviceable tote enough for you?

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^ Denotes affiliate links. By clicking through and purchasing, you don't pay any extra but I earn a small commission to put towards my Louis Vuitton Neverfull goals. For more information, please see my PR and Media policy.