I am finally home and it is lurvely to be back. You probably realise by now that part of what this blog is about is looking glam for not a lot of money. And I don't mean buying cheap clothes, I mean buying good clothes cheaply. Never.Pay.Retail.

So here goes with my purchases from Singapore. Above are two maxi dresses I bought at Bugis St market. They were meant to be $29SDG each but we got three for $72SDG. Not as much because we bargained, but because that's all we had on us and the guy seemed to like us.

This dress was $19SDG from hula&co in Far East Plaza. It's a little big around the waist but I can easily take it in.

This dress is from Dulcetfig in Haji Lane and was $79SDG. The belt is from Elitrend on lv 3, Far East Plaza.

This dress is also from Dulcetfit and was $59SDG. I picked the cuffs up at Talisman's in Bugis St market but they are dotted all around Singapore. I think it was like, three pieces for $10SDG.

The jelly shoes are from Mimosa level 3 Far East Plaza and were....wait for it.....$12SDG!!
These enamel earrings were all $1SDG each at a stall upstairs at Bugis St market. Yep, you read correctly.

What I bought in Singapore

www.monoxious.com
www.eatshowandtell.com
www.planningwithkids.com
www.mrgadget.com.au
www.michaelaulia.com/blogs
www.xiaxue.blogspot.com
www.kennysia.com
www.fashionation.wordpress.com

I met some incredible bloggers in Singapore, and it really and truly made me realise how behind we are in terms of blogging in Australia.

Nuff Nang had bloggers from Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Australia there to network, share, shop and socialise for a couple of days and I was just blown away that so many people I met blogged full time as a job.

Xia Xue is not only a blogger but a minor celebrity throughout Asia, and even though I had never heard of her I learnt fairly quickly that her influence was wide reaching and her status as a full time blogger was huge.

Blogging and new media is something that I am passionate about as you know, so I hope that through connecting with bloggers from other countries we might be able to change the landscape of how it is perceived here in Oz.

What do you think?

My new favourite blogs

I met the delightful Stephie from Fashion Nation on Friday night at the awards ceremony who was a fellow nominee.

Stephie told me that graffiti in Singapore is virtually non existent so this stencil was quite rare. I can't say I saw any graffiti while I was there, it's one of the cleanest cities I've visited.

So here is a peek inside Dulcetfig which is run by Lovie Wong who was in the shop when we were there.
She has three cats that wander around the shop and just added that quirky 'X' factor to Haji Lane.

I pretty much could have bought this entire rack of vintage or re-worked vintage dresses. They were so pretty, the prints were retro but bang on trend. God knows where Lovie finds them, second hand or vintage clothes are really hard to find in Singapore because according to Feng Shui principles they don't believe in wearing recycled or second hand clothes.

I wondered if that is why so much of the 'vintage' that I found(all of two shops) was re-cut in order to make it new again? Jump in and tell me what you think or know!

The dresses I bought hanging up in the change room. You can see them but I had cats milling around my feet. So cool.

Haji Lane

Rafaele Queiroz just emailed me this adorable illustration he did of me shopping on Orchard Rd. He is an illustrator from Brazil and I'd like to give a big shout out to all my Brazilian readers- I know you are out there and thanks for stopping by!

I'm just resizing more images for you of Haji Lane and Arab St, expect a post soon!

Shopping in Singapore- Brazilian style!

So after the awards which were wrapping up by the time this photo was taken we went home for a quick change, and then onto Clinic for the after party.
It reminded me of a very sanitised version of what the Croft Institute in Melbourne used to be like years ago.

Anyhow, I was with Lois Lane and the Monoxious girls in a bar that is set up like a hospital where they serve the drinks in syringes, through fake intravenous drips whilst you sit on hospital beds.

What? You've never seen two girls in a bar that has wheelchairs for seats pretending to be drunk before?

Nuff Nang Blog Awards after party....and the party after that

Wow, here I am at an internet cafe in Singapore, finally getting to my blog after a whirlwind 24 hours. There is no internet in my room at the hotel(just my room, how ironic for a blogger but they assure me they are working on it!) so I'm here with a whole lot of teenage boys playing Lan games and updating the blog.

But the biggest news so far is that last night I won 'Best Fashion Blog' in the Asia Pacific region at Nuff Nang's annual blog awards. That's right mum, I won!

The awards are judged by journalists, celebrities and the Nuff Nang directors, the score is then combined with reader votes.

So I truly have you guys to thank for getting me here!

I was up against some very stiff competition- Bryan Boy, Monoxious, Fashion Nation and Super Kawaii Mama- and I truly thought that in that company, it was nice to be included but a win was out of the question.

When they called my name I was fossicking through my bag looking for my lip gloss, and my dear friend Lois Lane who is travelling with me had to save me from falling off my seat.

I managed to hold it together for the acceptance speech that was completely impromptu as I had prepared nothing.

I kept it short, but as the blog is a nice little platform for self publishing(!), please bare with me while I say everything I have since thought of but was too shocked to even process last night.

Long time readers will know who most of the people that I refer to are, but if you are a new reader not all my family and friends like the lime light so they have nice little code names. Here goes.

I started the blog 3 years ago as a wardrobe look book and street style photography blog because I believed that Melbourne had plenty of style that the world just hadn't seen yet. I'd lived in London and Sydney and came home to Melbourne with big ideas and a very little audience.

I would like to thank Mother and Father Melbourne for reading the blog when no one else did, and for encouraging me to pursue something that to a lot of people is quite foreign....'You write a blog? Is that like myspace?!'

I am lucky to have a family that is supportive and loving and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Brother Melbourne who is in London and was convinced I was going to win- yes, I should have written all this down! Thank you for believing that I could make this happen.

His Lordship, well you put up with very late nights listening to me tap away, constant photography and incessant phone use. Anyone that can survive living with a blogger deserves an award and I share this with you. I love you!

Ok, ok, so if you are still reading and haven't puked yet, here is my little tribute to you, the reader.

When you start a blog you wonder if anyone is going to actually read it, and I know that I was addicted to my google analytics for a long time, watching it crawl from mum and I reading it to maybe 50 people a day to what it is now.

I have worked on the blog almost every day for the last three years in the hope that you will come back and read what I have to say and enjoy the pictures. Blogs are about community and I couldn't ask for a better or more supportive community than that of Lady Melbourne readers.

Your comments, emails and the fact that you blag off work on a Friday afternoon(yes, my analytics tell me that!) to drop by has meant that I have this award today.

It is impossible for me to thank you individually with hugs or a cocktail, all I can promise is that I will keep on taking photos, posting about Melbourne and generally trying to create something fun for you to read.

Thank you to Imelda for support from the very beginning, your skirt lifting ways have helped the blog in more ways than one!

Lois Lane who is my travelling partner on this trip- I simply could not have gotten through the last few days without you. x

That's it, enjoy the photos and I look forward to many more years of blogging with you guys ahead!

Lady Melbourne and Erica Bartel from G.W.A.S nominated for 'Best Entertainment Blog.'

Lady Melbourne and Ming Shen, founder of Nuff Nang.

Hi mum, I kinda won!