Update

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to stop leaving my wonderful readers in the lurch. I have been very slack with Bought by Birdette lately and I sincerely apologize. I'm not going to make excuses, I lost my drive to write. At this point in time I actually have quite a nasty hand injury that is hampering many everyday activities. (You should've heard me squealing in pain when my memory laapsed and I went to open a jar, ow!) So we'll still be slow for a little while, as typing isn't too bad, photo editing is another kettle of fish.
I've been thinking about introducing a few new topics into the fray to help reinvigorate my drive to write, so you may see more craft and cooking popping up, turning Bought by Birdette into a more lifestyle based blog until I truly find my niche. Also most certainly more personal style posts, I love doing these, I just need to find my confidence in front of the camera!
Otherwise, I would love to take this opportunity to ask all readers to please let me know what you like and don't like, do you have a particularly favourite post that I've done? Have I taught you something new?
I' really hoping to bring a lot of readers out of their bubbles on this one, and I'm aiming to get at least 20 responses. Don't think I wouldn't love to hear from you because really I would!
Thank you for reading.

So I went for a Sidecut

Admittedly I have been off the radar for a the last few weeks, I guess I got myself into a little CBF funk that I'm now digging my way out of, ever have that feeling that's there's just so much to do that you don't know where to start? Yeah had that. Big time.

But I've felt myself come out of that little sooky corner of my mind this week, and after a chat with some of my most honest friends I went to the hairdressers and did something I've been pondering for months now, and had part of my head shaved.

This may well be the first time in my blog I've actually shown my face

Earrings: Lovisa
Top: Dotti

And I love it!

I based it on recent photos of Rihanna, it's easy enough to hide in my corporate day-job, but I've found it no problem so far. But for visiting Nanna all I have to do is change the part and then it only shows a little when I tuck my hair behind my ear. I went about the office quietly thrilled with myself and no one being the wiser on the day I had it done, until I excitedly revealed it to a few of them ...

What I find really curious is that the vast majority of people love it, and because I'm certainly not the first to do it in recent times, I'm not getting many stares on the street. A friend of mine warned me that doing something alternative can make Joe Average really judge you, but in this town of Brisbane where I happen across someone almost daily who is twice my age and has brightly coloured hair, perhaps society is becoming desensitized to the alternative and odd?

Even though I know it's prettymuch done it's round in fashion, with the nineties Grunge Trend taking off in a big way this season it's still relevant to fashion. while the clothes of the nineties don't really appeal to me, I find this haircut makes me happy.

Have you ever done something drastic to your hair? What was it? Did you love it or hate it?

100 Days of Thrift - Complete

Check out the rules of the Thrift Challenge here!

I uh, sort of left this alone for a while didn't I?
We had ups and downs, but I think I learnt some really good tricks out of it, and can count off all of the beauty and fashion items I have bought in the duration.
So in no particular order:

These amazing boyfriend jeans from ASOS 
I had not found a better pair in previous hunts, being just on the cusp of sizing and sometimes needing a size 16 it can be shit to go shopping in person - a lot of brands end on a size 14. (Talking Australian sizes here of course!) Since buying them they've been worn at once a week, in fact I'd consider buying a second pair.

Maybelline Lipstick in Coral Crush
How cruel would it have been to let me go the rest of summer without a gorgeous bright shade of lipstick? Very! I didn't entirely cheat with this one though, I received a gift voucher in the mail from the Priceline Rewards Program and off I went. See, technically not cheating!

This gorgeous clutch from Colette
I've had a longing for a go with anything clutch with a cute handle you slip your fingers through, brilliant go with anything colour and I bought it on sale though so there's some credit due there.

That Leather bag from Colette I had my eye on ...
50% off, boom!

Also some grey area items, I bought Bourjois 1,2,3 Perfect Foundation in Light Vanilla and L'Oreal Lumi Magqiue Highlighting Pen in Shade 2 I call these a grey area because I stipulated basic, non-colour cosmetics were allowed if I ran out of them.

I'll be writing some posts on other aspects of the Challenge over the coming weeks,  I have some good advice to give to readers after this.

Also if anyone has any question about the challenge I'd love to answer them, just leave me a message in the comments and I'll get back to you!

Daiso now open in Myer Centre Brisbane

I am very pleased to inform you all of an amazing chain of stores that has arrived to Australia and have just made their way to Brisbane. (Topshop, I'm still waiting.) Daiso Japan are a unique concept, while you may think you have seen every form of reject and two bob shop around, They aren't anywhere near as epic as this.
The main shtick of the stores is that everything they sell is the meager price of $2.80 AUD. I described it to friends this week as a store you will find almost every knick-knack you would see in a house. After visiting it over the weekend, I wasn't disappointed.
The place was completely humming with people but I spent a good hour trawling the shelves. what I love about it is the authentic Japanese variety of goods dispersed in a range of everyday Westerner items. Double eyelid tape next to eyelash curlers, Traditional Tabi socks, Pocket sandwich makers next to Pasta spoons.
Topped off with the cute manner that Japanese gets translated into English all over the product labels and you have an entire store brimming with stuff to make you smile. I recommend picking up everything you don't quite understand and having a read of what they do, some of them are pretty nifty.

Check out what I hauled after the Jump!

Loving this week - Tough Chic Jackets, Snobbery and Glitter Brogues

It's time to bring back an old favourite of mine, loving this week is where I tell you exactly what's made me want to run to the shops or just happy in general lately.

Firstly is this insane Jacket from the guys at Boohoo.com drawing on a stack of key trends this winter I would love to have it in my closet, I'm not sure if the peplum can actually be zipped off like the photos suggest but the way the jacket hints it can be styled in different ways really has my heart racing. Perfect for creating curves on boyish body types and at the same time the cut will flatter hourglass shapes too!

Leah Jacket by Boohoo available here

I've always loved this style of notebooks and have been filling out a book one for the better part of my life (I like to think I read a lot, in truth I do read a lot ... of magazines). It's a perfect gift idea for anyone you know who likes to go and try new gastronomical experiences, food not their thing? What about Coffee Shops or Wine or even Boutique Beers? These books are an awesome tool to help with keeping track of what was epic, and what didn't really do it for you with heaps of room to enter details such as favourite waiter, dress code and wait time.

Available from Typo.com

I picked up these gorgeous newbies from a LipstikWindsor Smith Shoes Outlet in Melbourne last week and I am in love, I'm sure regular readers will already know about my penchant for sparkly shoes, and I've been hunting for a pair of brogues I like for a few seasons now. Silver glitter wingtips for $15? OMG yes please!

What's been making you smile this last week? Be sure to let me know in the comments!