Lunch at The Grounds of the City + 30% off Dotti Jan 2023

Retro vintage vibes at The Grounds of the City at 500 George St, Sydney CBD (opposite QVB)

This weekend, I caught up with a couple of good friends over lunch and coffee at The Grounds of the City followed by some shopping in the city afterwards. Lunar New Year is just one week away so I was keeping an eye out for something in red that might be fun to wear for the festive occasion. 

If you haven't visited The Grounds of the City yet, it is a decadent place for brunch or afternoon coffee and very photo worthy. It has the same retro vintage decor as its original cafe at The Grounds of Alexandria, but this one in the city has a super cozy moody vibe. As soon as you enter those old world doors, you feel transformed to a world of the past as if you're seated at a cozy booth in a 1920's diner, conspiring with your mates at midnight on how to manage your next bootleg run. 

I wish I had had more time to snap more photogenic pictures, but hopefully this gives you a bit of an idea. 

The Grounds of the City - inside decor

My friend ordered the classic burger and fries, while I went straight for their desserts having had a late breakfast at home already. I would rate the food as a enjoyable but you're probably there more for the cafe experience. I prefer their sweets to their savouries and we accidentally ordered way too many desserts because they all seemed so tempting on the cute hand drawn menu!

The restaurant can get busy so I would highly recommend making a reservation online. You can also try your luck at waiting for a table and they have a takeaway bar as well if you're not able to get a table.

Burger and fries

Chiffon strawberries and cream cake and coffee

Raspberry macaron and chocolate cake

Just noticed on their signage they do Thursday night jazz!

After lunch, I had a quick browse of the shops near Pitt Street Mall. It was surprisingly hard to find red clothes at the moment! The best one that I cam across was this cute peony floral dress from Dotti. 

Dotti dress - Full Story Tiered Mini Dress in Xmas Scattered colourway
(would recommend take your usual size), now AUD $48.96 from $69.95 (30% discount)

This dress is in a classic bright red with beautiful peony flower prints. Material is 100% cotton and light weight. I usually wear a AU size 6-8 in Dotti, with 8 being on the more relaxed fit and 6 being fitted. The size 8 was a bit too loose around the shoulder and bust area and the size 6 was better. The dress flares out at the waist and ends above my knees. There is a zipper on the back and has an elastic bodice for added stretch. Oh, did I forget to mention there is currently 30% off site wide for full price items, as well as extra 40% off sale items? 

How beautiful is this peony print. Peonies might just become my new favourite flowers for 2023

The next outfit was in the window display and was actually the one that caught my eye while walking by. It looked a lot better on the mannequin unfortunately! On the tall mannequin you can actually see the mid riff, where as on me (150cm or 5 foot tall) it just looks like a one piece when it is actually a two piece set. It has a spaghetti strap cropped knit top and a knit skirt. I loved the pale blue and yellow striped colour combination. I am trying on the top in XS and the skirt in size 8. The store seemed to carry limited sizing so you might have better luck shopping online for your size. The skirt ends at the ankles and I kinda wish I had a bit more longer legs to carry off this look. You can also wear the cropped knit cami top separately with jeans, shorts or other skirts. And likewise wear a plain cotton singlet or tee shirt with the skirt. 

Sunchaser Crochet top and midi skirt (would recommend take your usual size; XS/AU 6 for me)

I also spotted some plisse pants which have literally been on my look out list for over a year and these were a great fit. Dotti currently stock these plisse pants in cream, black, lilac, green and pink. My usual size (6) was not available in store so here I am trying on size 10 in the cream and size 8 in the black. The size 8 was passable and not overly baggy, but I would probably get these in size 6. 

A nice surprise was the cream was not overly see through! Would still wear nude coloured undies to be double sure though.

Sunchaser crochet top and Miya plisse pants in cream

The length of these plisse pants was a little long, it floated along the floor without any shoes on. I noted that the pants don't really have a hem, so you could just snip off the excess length with some scissors at home to shorten and no hemming required. It has an elastic waist and no zippers. I love the relaxed breezy look. You could wear these casual with sneakers or I can imagine this being a good one for work with some heels as well. I've seen a lot of ladies wear plisse pants when flying and look super comfortable. 

Sunchaser crochet top and pMiya plisse pants in black AUD 34.96

The last piece I tried on is this plisse slip dress in Christmas green, which might be good one to keep for future Christmas occasions. The length was a tad long though, you could wear a belt and fold over the belt to shorten. 

Dotti Miya plisse dress in green, also comes in black and hot pink

The website also has this gorgeous little red dress that I didn't manage to see in store. It looks like a true cherry red colour with a bit of a sexy back. This might just hit my list as a high contender for Valentine's Day next month. I like how they have paired it with simple strappy white sandals. The material for this dress is not cotton but a polyester elastane blend. Ooh, and on the model it looks like it has pockets!

Dance Card Shirred midi dress, now AUD $49.95

Lastly, here is my outfit of the day for catching up with friends in the city and shopping. I think I was dressed more for the theme rather than practicality. We've been watching Wednesday (Netflix) and I was totally inspired to try the all-black goth look. The weather started out looking overcast so an all black outfit was fitting but it turned out to be real sunny in the end and I was boiling hot!

Addams Family inspired all black outfit link here
Witchery rib crew tee (XXS), old H&M pleated skirt (XS) - I love how floaty it is - similar here,
Stuart Weitzman Stuart suede boots, Valentino 2.0 cm reversible belt, Kmart layered coin necklace

I am keen to try out more Wednesday inspired looks though, and will post in a weeks' time how I go with Wednesday Week! You can also check out my Instagram account for updates too @choco_petitestyle.

Thanks for reading and hope you had a great weekend! 

xx Choco