She’s got the look

Allison Colpoys, we salute you. This talented young lady was recently named the Young Designer of the Year at the APA Book Design Awards, and with good reason. She somehow manages to have a distinct feel while creating very different covers – versatile but unique. She’ll be blushing right now too, because she’s also ridiculously humble. Read her being misquoted here at the Sydney Morning Herald, and see some more of her covers here.

:: Arwen ::

Viva Joan

Like many others, I’ve been spending far too many evenings staring at a screen watching Mad Men. I’m halfway through season two, and the costumes just keep getting better. Not only that, but I find myself mesmerised by Joan (above left) every time she appears on screen. When do we ever see women with curves like that on TV (outside of a Beyonce video clip)? Betty, meanwhile, (above right) may not have the curves, she does have that whole Grace Kelly thing down to a tee. Love the coat and gloves below.

In the last couple of months I’ve been poking around op shops for high-waisted skirts, with reasonable success (ah, but there are high-waisted skirts and high-waisted skirts… the cut can transform you from front-bottomed home economics teacher to Joan). Now all I need is a huge whalebone girdle to keep everything in tight and one of those crazy JP Gaultier-style bras.

:: Arwen ::

Red and pink

Max F Williams

Musician St Vincent

Sharad Gupta

Currey UK

An untrained eye

:: Arwen ::

Dance, magic dance

You learn something new everyday. My word of the week is ‘meggings’ – leggings for men. Avert thine eyes! Who would’ve thought the style of David Bowie circa Labyrinth would’ve made a comeback? Where did I learn such a word? Why, on James Cameron’s brand-new blog. James (pictured below… not above) and I met when I was writing an article last year, and over the past year or so I’ve enjoyed dropping into his shop and bugging him and his brother Scottie whenever I’ve been in the neighbourhood. Sadly, the shop is no more, which has greatly disappointed various menfolk I know. It may be back, but in the meantime those with a thing for classic men’s fashion can read James’ wisdom online.

:: Arwen ::

My name is Sally Scott

If you, like me, lust after Mina Perhonen stuff but still think it’s a bit exxy, welcome to Sally Scott. It’s designed by Akira Minagawa, the man behind Mina Perhonen, but is his cheaper label (well, a little cheaper), sort of like Miu Miu is to Prada, or See by Chloe to Chloe – only much more Japanese. For years I was convinced it was an American label doing suspiciously Japanese-style clothes, but the truth finally dawned and I realised Sally Scott is just a made-up name… like Mina Perhonen. Sadly, the label is unavailable in Australia, but there are stores all over Japan if you’re heading that way soon.

:: Arwen ::

Collect the whole set

Every Saturday, after I finish my class at the gym, I find myself wandering across the road to Zakkaya. They have lots of cool stuff but their ceramic animals, two of which I own (thanks, Bridget!), draw me in each time. Aside from the two pictured here, there’s also a squirrel, a kangaroo, a rooster and… a rabbit, I think. Maybe I like them because they’re tapping into my former obsession with Sylvanian Families. (Don’t tell me I was the only one.)

Zakkaya
52 Johnston Street
Fitzroy VIC 3065
Opening hours erratic, but Saturdays around lunchtime are a safe bet

:: Arwen ::

PVC me

What was I thinking when I bought this shoe? The stiletto heel doesn’t look so bad in the pic, but trust me, from up on those teetering heights the view looks mighty wobbly. I bought this particular model by mistake – I was actually after the Vivienne Westwood Anglomania ones, as modelled here – a more manageable heel, methinks.

Some people have an issue with Melissa shoes regardless of the model, given the rubbery nature of the PVC from which they’re made. After an initial wariness, I’ve come around to them – not only are they strongly reminiscent of the jellies of my childhood, but they’re comfortable. Be warned, though – they stink. Some bright spark at Melissa thought it’d be a good idea to infuse the rubber with a nauseating fake strawberry scent. I have to keep the Teetering Stilettos I own in their plastic bag for fear of contaminating my apartment with the odour.

:: Arwen ::

Down with MMOP

I have a delightful bunch of neighbours, I really do. Two doors down, there are the bogans with a penchant for 3am drinking sessions in the street. Next door there’s the old Italian dude suffering from Thwarted Male syndrome who likes to hock loogies at all hours and shout unintelligible abuse at his family. But luckily there are some less noisy neighbours in the hood too – like Nev, aficionado of type and a far more conscientious blogger than I. He was kind enough to word me up about a cool event happening this Sunday – yes! This Sunday! – in Footscray. Writing about said event also gives me the chance to post these beautiful pics of the Melbourne Museum of Printing, where the event is to be held.

Basically, the MMOP – last remaining bastion of traditional printing methods and repository of many cool printing presses – is in dire financial straits and needs your help. Come on Sunday and listen to live music while watching typesetting, printing and bookbinding demonstrations. For those with an eye to purchasing, I’m told there will be lots of prints for sale from both individual artists and also from design studios and galleries such as Chase and Galley (responsible for the new-look Meanjin), Studio Pip and Co and the Narrows.

MMOP
36 Moreland St
Footscray VIC
9689 7555

:: Arwen ::

Fields of clover

Ingenious idea – to make book covers using letterpress. Cloverfield Press in America publishes short stories in limited numbers with hand-printed endpapers and dust jackets that are rather covetable. They’d make a nice gift for your progenitor for Mother’s Day, assuming that a) your mum reads b) you didn’t already buy her some velour Tweety slippers from Target c) you believe in celebrating a day that is now mostly just another excuse to part with your cash, and most importantly, d) Mother’s Day wasn’t yesterday. Oops.

Note: I did, in fact, remember Mother’s Day. Not only was it my mother’s birthday, but there was no way I could forget I’d signed up to run eight frickin’ kilometres on the actual day in aid of breast cancer research. Both Kate and my brother get full props for dragging themselves out of bed on Sunday to do the same thing.

:: Arwen ::

The art of writing letters

A few posts ago I mentioned how much I like receiving letters from our friend Manabu, who has the ability to write in straight lines without even trying. I went digging through my letters box to try and find some of his recent correspondence, and came up with these two. Aside from the sloppy photoshopping of my address (you hardly expected me to leave it visible, did you?), these are lovely examples of Manabu’s missives from Japan. Nothing beats getting a letter in the mail – and given my truckloads of lettersets, it seems I have no excuse but to get writing.

:: Arwen ::

A special thanks to Manabu for letting me display his letters!