Just to clarify, Karen people is not the collective noun for a ‘karen’. Some questionable people may already be thinking, well, what is their traditional clothing…. frumpy, middle-aged and boring? It isn’t the pejorative term ‘Karen’ meaning a white, middle class grumpy woman displaying behavior stemming from privilege that is the focus of this blog. Rather, the Karen people - pronounced ka-REN - who are an ethnic group of people from southern Burma, or, Myanmar. They have been persecuted in Burma and forced to flee to Thailand where there are many refugee camps. Life in the camps is tough an ..read more

When I first saw this photo of my Grandmother and Grandfather years ago, I was struck by how glamourous and fashionable they looked - whilst pushing the pram down the street! And Grandpa with his hands on the handles - how modern! I thought somewhat enviously that if someone had of taken a photo of me out for a walk with the baby I would have been looking a lot more bedraggled and frumpy. People did dress more formally and carefully in that era. They usually had less clothes but they were often of a higher quality, and they had a more tailored style in the 30’s and 40’s. The average person ma ..read more

Heather - a romantic flower commonly found across the moors of Scotland and England. A Heather: someone people like and sometimes envy – an attractive woman….in teen speak that is!  I only found out this after the Heather dress came to be.  It is actually named after my great friend, the aptly called Heather, who studied Fashion.  As part of the course she designed an outfit; I saw the modeling shots of it online and remember mostly the beautiful, vibrant, yellow coat that went over the dress.  I must have seen the dress too, but briefly.  Years later, when I was devel ..read more

Cobalt Blue - it sounds like an entry to The Melbourne Cup but it’s actually a hue of blue with a fascinating history… The word "cobalt" is derived from "Kobold," the name of a mischievous goblin in German mythology.  Miners looking for silver thought that Kobold replaced the silver with a worthless mineral that looked similar.  Turns out, it wasn’t so worthless after all.  Like Jack’s mother who throws away the magic beans in disgust, the miners discarded stone turned out to be quite valuable.  Of course, aside for being used as a colour it is now a key material for our re ..read more

Let's talk about you and me Let's talk about all the good things And the bad things that may be It’s not one of my favourite songs but the melody and words really stick in your head, don’t they? Our new Saint Gwinear clothes are locally designed and manufactured in Melbourne. This means that they may be more expensive than some garments you can find. What’s good about that?! Well. There are strict quality regulations that need to be complied with in Australia which means that usually the quality is very good. Of course quality manufacturing of clothing can also be found in off shore factories ..read more

John Donne wrote that no man is an island.  I mean, it seems ridiculously obvious but the enormous influence we all have on each other often seems to be invisible. For better or worse, we cannot avoid being shaped by our surroundings, our society and other seemingly invisible influences.   Creativity too, is a powerful force that transcends boundaries, bringing together people and ideas in ways that can lead to new and original outcomes. And it’s so fascinating how one person's influence can act as a catalyst, propelling another individual to stardom. In this blog post, we'll lo ..read more

Regrettably, starting a secondhand clothes shop it isn’t out of altruism to save the planet.…rather, it’s greed.  I just want all those gorgeous dresses, jackets and skirts that are hiding in the op shops.  But to rescue them from glum anonymity and pass them on (well, sell) then that is a good outcome all round, don’t you agree? The huge waste in our modern society is clear to see and it is gratifying that so many people are now interested in recycling fashion wear.  Having said that, I fully support new fashion too!  This website is an eclectic mix of new and old. &n ..read more

Thanks to Alfred Tong from The Telegraph for this headline….it works for this blog and I couldn’t top it!  Thoughts about the color choice men make in their clothing across cultures have been swirling around my head for a while now.  On a recent trip to Bali I observed at the hotel a large group of Indonesian men and women attending a conference.  All the men were wearing the most gorgeously printed batik shirts in bright colors and outrageous patterns, according to western standards for menswear – very flamboyant for a conference!  This isn’t particularly unusual though f ..read more

Certainly, for making first impressions they do.  If we turned up to a job interview in an ill fitting, dirty suit with a stain on the front we probably wouldn’t get the job -unless we happened to be auditioning for Jackson Lamb in Slow Horses (Brilliant Gary Oldman got the job). It is impossible as a person to not make instantaeous judgments regarding someone’s appearance – there are many phsycological studies that show this…the trick is to not judge a book by its cover and to get to know the person behind the suit!  Just because you are wearing a black hoodie you may not necessaril ..read more

This was a question that flitted through my mind, when recently contemplating the manufacturing of silk. The fact that this lustrous fabric is made from the thread of silk worms is widely known; but that the silk worms die in the process is perhaps not. I mean, I'd never really thought about it! The domesticated mulberry silkworm, Bombyx mori, is actually a mulberry leaf munching moth, which spins silk to make a cocoon for its transformation into an adult. The process of rearing silkworms, cultivating the eggs, and harvesting the silk is called sericulture, and happens continuously to ..read more