Kelly Doust introduces readers to her wonderful world of reviving and customising vintage pieces, while bringing a modern and unique twist to wearing vintage clothes – Dita Von Teese
New from Ginny & Jude
Quite Contrary Boater with individual corsage detail
Stunning – that’s the only word for the new, vintage-inspired and handmade Summer collection from Ginny & Jude designer, Rabia Lockwood. Love love love (that’s three ‘loves’… can you tell how much I love it? Maybe I should add a fourth…)
Croquet by the Lake headpiece
Sweetheart of the Meadow straw hat
Say it Isn't So headband
Olive's Playing Tennis cap
Rabia will be at the next Finders Keepers in December, along with various other favourite designers such as Made by White… don’t miss out.
The Quilted Crow
New premises for The Quilted Crow
This beautiful Hobart haberdashery, specialising in hand-dyed felt and quilting materials, has just moved to new premises – a gorgeous old sandstone church in New Town. See here for an earlier post on the delights of The Quilted Crow.
Craftiness… close to godliness? It is now.
The Quilted Crow
At the old church
Cnr Cross St & Main Road (New Town Rd)
New Town, Tasmania
03 6228 3319
Calico & Co., Inside Out & new from Polli
Samantha Harris sports Polli Limited Edition
Graphic designer and prolific blogger Amanda Fuller is the woman behind inspired blog, Calico & Co. Check out her xmas 2010 links, handmade gift lists and ideas… very handy if you’re panicking at the sight of all those decorations in the shops already. And click here to read her interview with me recently – thanks Amanda!
Inside Out’s special Christmas issue is also giving me a mini-meltdown with all its ideas for chrissy chic. See the latest issue, which also features an interview with favourite handmade jewellery & homewares designers, design duo Tess & Maja from Polli.
Woven butterfly wing earrings from Polli
Want, want: leather & stainless steel leaves necklace from Polli
MillaMia at Magnolia Square
Nina dress by MillaMia
There’s much sewing going on in my house, in my house… but one day, I will knit. And when I do, the chic, Swedish simplicity of MillaMia‘s patterns will be top of my To Do list. I bought a few of these books for knitting-mad friends earlier in the year. Check out their website for new additions – cushions, stockings and children’s clothing patterns – or pop along to visit them at Magnolia Square this weekend.
Elk cushion
Stripy toes
'Helena' cardigan & scarf
Hip hampers & fab florals
Pastel posy arrangement
Loving these divine floral arrangements and hampers from seriously chic online shop, The Hamper Store. I know what I’m sending friends for Christmas this year, in addition to the handmade. And the next new mum in my circle’s getting that fresh fruit hamper. Just gorgeous.
Hooray for interstate delivery, too.
The Wellbeing hamper
Christmas hamper
Wahoo for Paper2
NYC stamp set
Excitement plus – my favourite stationers, Paper2, have just opened an online store. Now you can buy these out-of-the-ordinary bits and pieces from the comfort of your own home and all over the country.
Love online ordering… isn’t it great when those little packages arrive on the doorstep?
Happy tape from Japan... kawaii!
El fabbo seascape stamp set
More Frocks, Love Vintage and The Travelling Dress
And because I’m particularly outfit-obsessed in the lead-up to A Life in Frocks hitting shelves (and because who dares write about fashion, then spends an entire day in public wearing a dressed-in-the-dark ensemble comprising food-stained shirt and jeans? Not me, I would never do that… ) here’s two more fave shopping tips for excellent vintage finds. But be quick, both end soon:
Love Vintage fair
Go, go, go to the Love Vintage fair at Canterbury Racecourse this weekend for homewares, fashion, accessories and some damned fine people-watching. It’s the highlight of the vintage calendar year, with dealers travelling from all over the country to exhibit. And take cash, because the queue for the ATMs is a nightmare. If my husband didn’t have a shaven head, he’d be sporting a coiff.
When: Friday April 11th to Sunday April 13th
Where: Canterbury Park Event Centre, Canterbury Racecourse, King Street Canterbury.
But save a few pennies for The Travelling Dress, the finest collection of Victorian clothing for women & children I’ve ever seen in one room, bar the V&A (and you can buy these… bonus!) Just extended for a further two weeks, The Travelling Dress is above Journeys Bookstore, Annandale on Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays until Saturday 30 October.
I’ve been thinking about this lots lately: if you think vintage clothing’s becoming too popular (read: expensive… what with the Mad Men-inspired, Louis Vuitton-championed revival), imagine what a good 1950s frock will fetch in 2050? Best stock up now, people.
New from Petit Batik, and a new obsession
Super-cute kids' pants from Petit Batik
I’ve posted about these lovely and unusual clothes for kids before, but they have a new range out – just gorgeous. Available from the still-excellent Collector Store.
And I’m in the grip of a new obsession with traditional crafting techniques from all over Asia (but particularly Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam). I’ve been scouring the markets for clothing, fabric and soft furnishings made from batik and intricate cross-stitching lately, because there’s something about these story-rich pieces that has me enthralled… I’m presently cooking up projects to make from them, or ways to incorporate the techniques into my own work.
On my Asian travels in my early twenties I often picked up special traditional pieces, but never as many as I would have liked. This newfound zeal might be a form of nostalgia for those footloose & fancy-free days. Interesting how the mind works, isn’t it?
On your bike
Babies love their happy pants
Traditional Thai cross-stitched fabric bag
Beautiful batik
Dolly Up
Do Dolly Up, love
Wool dress by Prue Acton in her prime
On the topic of hot vintage finds, I must mention Dolly Up on Cleveland St. Owner Erin Paige Hutchings is a dear, and has a great eye in particular for fab seventies pieces, stocking a load of cheesecloth kaftans and natural cotton and silk pieces in addition to the more commonly found polyester.
Her store’s been there for six years and offers an alterations service on ill-fitting items if you’ve no patience for popping in new zips, hemlines, etc. yourself (the sewing expertise comes from Erin’s beloved Gran – they make a great team). Erin also offers personal styling on the side… we came to the mutual conclusion that I must leave with a collectible Prue Acton frock today. Highly addictive.
Dolly Up
361 Cleveland St, Surry Hills
Tues-Fri 1pm-6pm, Sat 10.30am-5.30pm
Tel: 9699 8181
Sydney Antique Centre
1920s painting from Lou Murray Vintage, Sydney Antique Centre
You know when you find somewhere so darned fabulous for sourcing unusual items, you almost don’t want to go on about it, lest it become overrun and you’re no longer able to find the things you love? I’m usually more than happy to share, but confess I almost felt that way when visiting the Sydney Antique Centre recently.
This is, hands down, the best spot to pick up a fab vintage find in Sydney. It’s not a steal, because items have been edited down to a truly special collection, but the prices are reasonable and all the stalls together create a seriously fun browsing experience. It reminds me of other fave vintage dens – the Chapel St Bazaar in Melbourne, and Victory Theatre in the Blue Mountains’ Blackheath – all places I can find myself lost for hours in.
Coco Repose and Empire 47 are two top-notch vintage clothing stalls to make a beeline for. There’s also ample finds for blokes – this is the place to source a gift you won’t find anywhere else (and some things to treasure yourself, while you’re at it).
Sydney Antique Centre
531 South Dowling Street Surry Hills
NSW 2010 Australia
Tel: (02) 9361 3244