National Swap Day’s golden ticket

National Swap Day in Melbourne

“I imagine it will be exactly like that moment in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory… the first one (aka Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory).  You know when Veruca gets her dad to stop the factory and everyone has to look for the golden ticket?  Well this swap, I so hope it’s just like that.”

The world according to my friend Emma is an interesting place to be, but in fact when I attended National Swap Day it was sort of reminiscent of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  I wouldn’t say Emma drew parallels on particularly the right scene, however when we started swapping I did feel I was in the middle of a stampede of women trying to find the golden ticket.

Amazing pieces were hidden amongst the racks; it was our job to find them.  The problem was; were you going to find it first?  And then if you did, was it in your size?  Unfortunately for me I found loads I wanted, it’s just someone else had found it first.  Luck was not on my side but this didn’t put a damper on my evening.  I was able to pick up a few pieces in need of a tweak here and there, but will be very valued within my wardrobe.

Some found their golden ticket, some not so much, but as far as I could tell everyone was having a good time.  In the end, isn’t that the most important thing?  It may have been a little over crowded and it was hard to move, but you can’t fault the atmosphere within the room and National Swap Day’s ethos.  I would definitely go back again.  Next time I’ll sit further up the front so when the swap begins I’ll be the first person on the floor, not the 100th.  Move aside bitch’s that golden ticket will be mine!

For more info on National Swap Day and The Clothing Exchange events head to their website.

 

Nilla Nilla

I’m branching out today and making a quick dabble into the beauty world.  Across my travels I stumbled across a lip balm made from Fair Trade and organic products; Nilla Nilla is doing the seemingly impossible and making sure every time we pucker up we do it guilt free.

The lip balm is made from Fair Trade Cocoa Butter, Jojoba Oil, Honey and Triple Folded Nilla Nilla Vanilla Essence.  The product itself is even made in a solar powered workshop!  Now you can wear environmentally friendly products head to toe as you work eco-friendly beauty products into your regime.

Love From Emma

Emma Watson wearing Love From Emma

Emma Watson has just designed a new range for People Tree called Love From Emma. Not only does 80% of the collection use 100% organic and Fairtrade certified cotton, but it is also made entirely by Fair Trade groups by hand. The use of hand weaving, hand knitting, and hand embroidery creates livelihoods for some of the most disadvantaged people in Bangladesh, India and Nepal.

Safia Minney, the founder of the sustainable fashion brand People Tree, met Watson only 18 months ago and very quickly began talking about Watson creating a collection. Love From Emma is for men and women and prices range from £12 to £115. Watson has incorporated many quirky touches to the collection such as a “School of Fair Trade” badge on a brushed fleece blazer, a “daisy-chain necklace” motif that Watson painted and had printed on a T-shirt, and a hand-drawn Union Jack for tops and bags.

For more information on Love From Emma check out www.peopletree.co.uk/

To market, to market

Sometimes it’s terribly difficult to find designers who make fashion and accessories from re-used materials.  Once you find one of these artists it’s even harder to land a piece that is reasonably priced.  High prices are what we’ve had to become accustomed to, it’s sad but true.  Lucky for you I have landed on the holy grail, The Rose St. Artists’ Market.

Take a slight detour off Brunswick street, Fitzroy and stroll through the laneways until you come across this sweet market.  It might be small but everything there is worth a look and affordable.  Buy earrings and necklaces made from old pencils, pick up old post-stamp accessories, or indulge in the your childhood by coordinating lego with your outfit.

I was sweaty, red and bloody puffed after just having finished a very hard workout when I was dragged along.  Meaning?  I certainly did not want to be in public, but seconds later I threw away my vanity and focused on the hundreds of items I wanted to buy.

This unique market is a place for emerging arts and designers.  They get to showcase their work and lucky for us, we get to discover them.  The Rose St. Artists’ Market is roughly based on similar projects in London, Berlin and in particular the DUMBO Collective; a market set up by artists under the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.

It may be situated in a former junkyard but this market will have you going home again, home again, dancing a jig.

Pencil earrings