Winter

I am trying to embrace Winter this year.  Diving into the freezing bay at 6am. As a tshirt and jeans type of woman I find the restriction of multiple layers and bulky coats incredibly frustrating. I love the idea of winter fashion and you may have guessed my vibe is more Ralph Lauren on the prairie than Snow Queen. It may be era I grew up in. A teenager in the 70’s. Women’s liberation, surf culture, an obsession with Muddy Waters and Doris Day as Calamity Jane. I felt equal to men. My male friends, mostly from large catholic families with a strong matriarch, were not like the men I was to encounter at 18 in my first job. An advertising agency that could have been the inspo for mad men. As a junior copywriter I also, unlike my male counterparts, had to man the reception desk. With zero typing experience and hands that clearly had no business on a reception desk, I was at best smiley and friendly. The girls in the sales department were incredibly tailored and finished. I must have looked like daisy duke to them.

My hero was Rosemary, the chief copywriter who appeared to be two feet taller than all the men following in her wake down corridors between meetings. Long boots, jeans with a massive belt buckle, gypsy shirts, scarves decoratively tied around her thick auburn hair and layers of clanking silver jewellery. I worked with her on the Big M ads. She was extraordinary but alas I was never one for a routine. I lasted a year before running screaming out the door never to work a nine to five ever again. Insert “Dont fence me in” as sung by David Byrne.

Hence, Pre Covid when I started selling my bags to Boutiques my business growth collided with my personality. My designs are very personal to me and before I knew it the retailers were dictating what they wanted. Of course. That is what they have to do as they know their customers. I didnt really know mine. I know me, I know my friends and recognise others of the same tribe. I did not appreciate how important soul is until I started starts chipping away at it to make more income. Being a wholesale supplier was not a good fit for me. 

You see I have worked with my bag makers for years…we are growing old together. I forget to remind him of details, he forgets to look at my notes written in huge script all over the patterns. Between us the only thing we can honestly guarantee is that barely anything will arrive the same. Don’t misunderstand me, everything is beautifully made with great attention to detail however the zip colour will be different, the clasp smaller, the lining khaki instead of denim and vice versa. We will never be asked to supply DJ’s. We have both lived great lives, have produced amazing kids, both play guitar…me appallingly and he the frontman of Rolling Stones cover band for all his adult life. Both perhaps indulged in too much partying.

Now I sell exclusively online and in the beautiful Storehouse St Kilda where art lovers and appreciators of the unusual and one off can see and feel for themselves the textures, colours and hardware. Where you can be guaranteed that your bag will most definitively be unlike its cousin. Especially the denim collection where no two are the same. 
Merricks general store and the beautiful girls at Sea of Love in Mt Eliza have a few pieces in their stores in the most stunning locations. Other than that, come see us in St Kilda. You will always find something unique and handmade at all three locations..  Always the smell of salty air… always the freedom to design what I love.