Hi, I'm Michelle Trebilco otherwise known as Veteran Vamp, a thriftylicious fashionista.
My motto is dress up for the hell of it, no event required.
Second-hand clothing is my couture and the footpath is my runway.
I spent over 20 years working as an administrator at the Melbourne dental school at Melbourne Uni.
I've always been a little bit creative, but it really ramped up after I was putting together a
costume for a Lady Gaga gig and I had the idea of putting a doll head on a
ring because I thought that was the type of thing she would do and that led to other
endeavours, artistic endeavours (laughs)
I have my local op shops which I visit every week.
My name’s Margaret Deacon and I spend my time
selling items to the customers, finding treasures for Michelle,
and sorting out our quality donations. (It’s a long skinny Michelle dress)
I do like Michelle’s outfits for being quirky and different… a bit over the top. Not what you’d
normally see walking down the street. (Yes, now I think that will
fit quite nicely actually. Yes that’s what I thought. Wouldn’t
take too much to run it in if it’s too loose. I feel like I am going to have to add
something to it already. Of course, of course.)
I wear anything. If it looks alright, I don't care.
I don't buy things that are just my size because I generally can alter
them and that way you can personalize them. I'm not a seamstress by any means, but when
you buy clothes from op shops they’re so cheap that you can afford to learn and make mistakes.
Yes, I have around, just over 11,000 followers. When I first started
modelling, I wasn't very comfortable. So, I do understand the power of accessories now,
I’ve learned what a difference your body position can make, the lighting, it truly is amazing.
My gorgeous girl Kalmah became involved in my fashion pictures accidentally she photo bombed one
of my pictures one day and the next time I posted a photo without her I was asked, where’s Kalmah?
Where's Kalmah? So, I started to include her. What I've been doing since Kalmah passed is I
have a sign on my garage door which is one of my regular backdrops with Kalmah’s spot and I put
the headpiece that she would have worn along with her collar.
She was dearly, dearly loved on the American, oh dear, Facebook pages dearly loved.
I now have a little pup. He's a bit of a monster it seems so at the moment, and I'm hoping he will
start modelling accessories also, but I won’t be forcing that on him now.
He may not be interested, we’ll see what happens.
It was wonderful for me to hear during lockdown that I made such a difference to people’s lives,
people who were going through terrible personal tragedies, and they said to see Kalmah and me…
would just make their day and make them smile. To be told you make such a difference to someone’s
life just means so much more than being told well yes you look nice in your dress.
That means the world to me, and to be able to make people laugh, that means a lot too.