Live North

   
 
 
 
Shirt- Country Road (similar here)
Pants- Sportsgirl (similar here, and here)
Sunnies- Sunnies.com.au
Shoes- Steve Madden (similar here)
Silver heart earrings- Dorothy & Evelyn

These last couple of weeks I've been on assignment with Live North to shop the inner Northern suburbs in Melbourne.  When I first moved to Melbourne in 2007, I quickly began exploring all the different regions but as you do, we eventually settled into our favourite spots and local hangs; so this has been a great excuse to visit a few areas that I haven't for a while, or never!  I think when looking for a place to live, you want to love the local street and there really are some fantastic strips in the inner North.  So many great cafes, restaurants and bars, galleries and of course amazing fashion and shopping!

Lets start with Brunswick St, Fitzroy.  What a great street!  Somewhere I regularly visit myself, as well as often bring friends or family from out of town.  It's alternative and interesting with great people watching, there a heaps of great cafes and fun shops to poke around.  Fashion wise there are some great second hand clothes stores such as Shag, as well as boutiques; you'll also find Life With Bird and Gorman here.  The graffiti in this suburb is awesome to, I love to meander the streets here. Gertrude St, Fitzroy is another fabulous street to mosey along, more great cafes and quirky stores.

 
 Next to Lygon St, Carlton or 'Little Italy'.  I'd really only been to this street to eat of an evening but it really is a great shopping street.  There's a lot of my favourites, Country Road, Seed, Witchery, Mimco, Trenery, and Sportsgirl.  I found the service fantastic plus the coffee on this strip is fantastic.  This is where I found my outfit that I'm wearing above.

Off to Smith St, Collingwood, this is much grungier compared to Bruswick St and Lygon St.  Even the cafes are a little quirkier here I think. There are heaps of op shops and second hand clothing stores, so for those of you who love vintage, and have a knack for finding treasures this is the street for you.

High St, Northcote is an area I haven't been to before.  There is an awesome toy and childrenswear shop named Big Dreams where I bought a pure wool beanie for my son Ash.  Again, there are more second hand and op shops on this strip as well as small boutiques, and alternative medicine places.  I found the earrings I'm wearing above on this strip at a little shop called Dorthy & Evelyn.

Clifton Hill has a very pleasant main street.  The cafes here are overflowing for breakfast/lunch, there is a great fruit shops and a few interesting stores to poke around which have original and unique jewellery, as well as homewares.

Now to the best bit, Live North are giving you the chance to...
WIN the Ultimate Northside Experience, valued at over $4000!!

All the details HERE at the Live North website

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Melbourne Walks

Icebreaker Quantum Hood- thanks to Natureshop

Today I thought I would share with you what I wear pretty much every day now I am on maternity leave.  My comfy well worn jeans, a nice warm hoodie and sneakers; just the thing for running errands and of course my daily walk with my darling baby boy Ash in the pram!  These pics are in  Melbourne's Fitzroy Gardens, one of my regular haunts.

If you follow me on Instagram you'll see plenty of pics from around Melbourne from my daily walks (#walkswithmybubby), its been lovely to watch the seasons pass and now I'm soooo excited that Spring is here!!

This Icebreaker hoddie is so perfect to protect one against all the elements of Melbourne Winter, and now Spring, which is still bringing us some very cool days!  The hood adds extra warmth and protection, and I love the fold over hand-warmer cuffs.  Plus it's 98% merino wool and who can go past this fabulous colour :)

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Grampians

Hat- Deus

Singlet- Witchery

Sunnies- Sportsgirl

Patagonia shoes- thanks to Natureshop

Well this is a bit of flash back but I still wanted to share these pics with you.  The first weekend of December (22 weeks pregnant) my husband and I had a weekend getaway to the Grampians National Park.   In years past I've spent a fair bit of time rock climbing at Mt Arapiles which is near there, but the Grampians itself isn't a region of Victoria I had visited previously and I was keen to have a bit of explore, do some bush walks and be a bit spontaneous before bub arrives.

The Grampians are about a 3 hour drive from Melbourne so we went for two nights and stayed in a really lovely boutique wooden cabin (making the most of it while we can!) in the bush at Halls Gap.  It was such a delight to wake up to the birds singing and views of my beloved Australian bush.  There was an absolute ripper thunderstorm the first night we were there too. We did a few short walks to various lookouts and Macquarie Falls, as well as a longer, and steeper walk to The Pinnacle (first two pics).  As you can see above the scenery is so beautiful, with pretty mountain steams perfect for a little paddle and a friendly native.

FYI, you can view my review of these hiking shoes and the most amazing bushwalk in Victoria HERE.

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Patagonia on the Razorback

Now see that mountain in the background, over my left shoulder, covered in cloud, waaaaay into the distance...THAT was our destination!!

Federation Hut in the distance.

 At the summit of Mt Feathertop, Victoria -HOORAY!!

My Patagonia's in action!

Tee- Zara

Jeans- Dotti
Sunnies- Sportsgirl

Jumper- Kathmandu
Deus cap- Glue Store

Patagoina Drifter AC-Gortex  c/o Natureshop

I have something a bit different to share with you today.  A couple of weeks ago my husband and I had a mini getaway to the Victorian Highcountry, we stayed in Bright for a couple of nights and on the middle day did THE MOST AMAZING bushwalk.  It was actually recommended to me by a friend and is one of the top Australian bushwalks.

What is this walk you say? It's called the Razorback and it takes you from Mt Hotham to the summit of Mt Feathertop, the second highest mountain in Victoria, Australia.  With a detour to Federation Hut we estimate we walked about 25km that day (7 hours), the track was often steep and rocky and I can tell you by the last 5km we were seriously trudging.  But the scenery- WOW- I have never done a walk with such consistently spectacular views, and the wild flowers put on an amazing show for us.

So the Razorback was where I decided to try out my brand new Patagonia hiking shoes from Natureshop.  Probably a bit dumb of me to break them in on a 25km round trip but I had absolutely no dramas and in fact found them to be a fabulous hiking shoe.  They are incredibly cushioned and supportive, thanks to an air cushion system designed to absorb shock.  The Patagoina Drifter AC-Gortex shoe has a waterproof yet breathable air mesh and a nubuck leather upper, keeping my feet cool and comfortable. The outsole, made of 30% recycled rubber was soooo grippy, a must on this walk!

My ankles were feeling a bit tired and sore by the end of the walk, so my recommendation if you are planning to hike these sorts of distances on a steep and rocky track, a boot with ankle support would be the way to go instead.

Size wise, in high heels I am normally a size 37, for these I picked a size 38 to give my tootsies a little extra space which worked our perfectly.

I would love to hear from you if you know of any other amazing Australian bushwalks!

    

A day in Torquay

Westii wedges c/o Steve Madden Australia

Shirt - Portmans

Shorts- Marcs

January has become the month of wonderful getaways and day trips.  On Saturday we hit the road and headed out of Melbourne and to Torquay for the day- about a 1 hour drive.  After a delightful lunch (of cake) we went to Back Beach and straight in to the surf with the boogie board.  The beach was soooo busy but it was still wonderful- the ocean really is good for the soul.  

Such a great day!

Loving the cheeky back of this shirt : )

A day in the Yarra Valley

Top, Earrings & Sunnies- Sportsgirl

Superstar wedges c/o Betts

Jeans- Saba

On Sunday husband and I took a day trip out to the Yarra Vally, one of Melbourne's wine regions for the most beautiful looong lunch at Train Trak vineyard where these pics were taken.  We had such a nice time and couldn't imagine why we haven't done it more often! There is no doubt we'll be back there again very soon for another long lunch and to suss out another winery!

I recommend checking out this website for more info on the beautiful Yarra Valley. And also recommend first time visitors join a winery tour- http://www.wineyarravalley.com/  

On another note I have only recently discovered Saba denim and I LOVE it.  The perfect amount of stretch and amazing fit, I can see me adding a few more to my collection.

My Melbourne - Chapel St

[2009- source: Scotticus]

A few of my lovely readers now have written to me and asked me to share my favourite spots in Melbourne.  Sooooooo, I thought I would start writing a post every now and again with a brief snapshot of favourite places here in my beloved Melbourne/ Victoria.  I hope you enjoy this series of posts, and if you have any requests for places you want me to write about around Melbourne please drop me a line (michellesstylefile@hotmail.com)

I have lived in some really, really beautiful places in Australia throughout my life- growing up in the Blue Mountains, Kiama on the South Coast of NSW, Canberra our National Capital, and of course Melbourne in Victoria. 

My husband and I moved to Melbourne from Canberra, virtually on a whim, 4.5 years ago and we haven't looked back since.  I quit my job that I loved, we sold our little house, we left our friends and family to embark on a bit of an adventure!  The lifestyle here is fabulous, over time we have made many wonderful friends, we think the food and coffee is amazing, and of course there is the fashion! And don't worry our families are only a short flight away : ) 

Chapel Street, South Yarra had to be my first of my My Melbourne series.  I simply love it!

SHOP:

Chapel St = Fashion!
Everything one could possible need is here on Chapel St, all the best fashion stores are here.  It has sophistication and style with many popular brand stores as well as designer labels and fashion boutiques. And the best bit- I always get good service (even if I'm in my daggy bicycle gear riding home from work and couldn't resist those seductive window displays!) 

If you love poking around bizarre bits and bobs from years past you have got to check out The Chapel St Bazaar.  It is a literal treasure trove filled with retro home wares, second hand chinaware, vintage jewellery and clothing.  Many an hour to be lost in here : )

EAT:

For brunch or coffee Kazbar is cosy, friendly and yummy.  Did I mention I LOVE COFFEE!!  I digress... for lunch my absolute favourite is Pink Ginger who make THE BEST brown rice sushi with plenty of green tea on tap (see HERE), plus I hear it is one of Danni Minouge's fav places! (Haven't spotted her yet though).  For dinner, trendy Greville St has heaps of great options.

DRINK:

There’s no better place to spend a lazy afternoon people watching than at The Imperial.  If you can make it there on a weekday, their lunch specials are brilliant too.

Have you ever been to Chapel St?

p.s. Here is a MAP

p.p.s. Back to outfits next post!

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