Posts filed under ‘ramblings’
I meant to say…
… we are just taking a small hiatus. Be back in a couple of weeks. Unplugging and recharging. xx
The iphone rangefinder
Ain’t it interesting how the more tech we get with our gadgets the more we hanker for the retro charm of the clunk, whir and wind?
And following on from apps like 8mm and pixlr. where the vintage sits inside your iphone, now there are gadgets to strap on to your sleek wee iphone beast for a truly retrospective experience.
Its kind of odd and made me giggle – the iPhone Rangefinder. It provides the iPhone with a shutter button, viewfinder, aperture numbers, two loops for a camera strap, and a tripod mount. And that all important Dad’s camera from the 70s look that we all clearly crave.
Downsize me
There seems to be great deal on the web at the moment about doing more with less, and its really inspiring me. After reading about Andrew Hyde, who owned only 15 things for a while ( he is currently up to a hoardworthy 39 things) I kind of think I have too much stuff. Well, actually that’s a lie. I KNOW I have too much stuff. Particularly too many clothes.
The opposite of me is him
I know the world and I would be happier if I could just wear the same pair of slacks endlessly, but I can’t. That’s how The Big Shwop was born - out of a desire to get something fresh in my wardrobe paired with a reticence to use the earth’s resources by buying it new. And don’t get me wrong The Big Shwop works a treat for it – it rocks my world. Its a great, great thing.
BUT….the fact remains, that at a basic level, my wardrobe is a heaving beast. I cull it often enough, but new vintage finds sneak in and sentimental treasures hang out in ever-so-quietly. A new regime of ruthlessness is needed with the whole affair I think. Not that I want to get to the level that Andrew Hyde is at – not by any stretch of the imagination. For one thing, he likes outdoor wear. But I think I am going to start by trotting off to my room and doing a full counted stocktake of the situation. This will take some time. Once I have reported back, I am then going to set a goal and cut my trappings on down.
And to inspire me further in this whole folly is this quote from Andrew, the Man of Very Few Things,
“Once you get used to simplicity, the complex normality that others have
becomes the audacious thing.”
Getting away, and back, to it all
And we are back! Hope you all had spectacular summer breaks filled with love, light and peace. We abandoned our garden here in Wellington and trotted off up to Northland, and then down to Nelson. It was great – we glamped in Kerikeri at Pagoda Lodge for a friends wedding and then took to ramming earth into some tyres to help build an earthship at another friends place in Nelson. Well, to be honest, I did no such ramming, my husband Marcus did, but tomayto, tomatoe.
Any time we were in a small town on a weekday, I delighted at scouring through old-school opportunity shops. They really are the best. Not much can beat a pair of trousers for $1, not much at all. Except perhaps a zebra patterned ra-ra skirt. I know – brilliant. I will share with you all some of my best finds in the next few days.
Now we are home again, and its time to get back to it again. The lawns are long, the vegetables are doing their gosh-darn best to make it out of the weeds, but might just need some help and there’s a small man’s birthday party to plan. And I have a stack, I mean a STACK of amazing eco-things bookmarked to share with you all. So lets get back on with it, shall we?
Icecapades
Every cause needs a face and Al Gore was only going to do for so long. It seems that the endangered polar bear has become the frontman for climate change. And rightly so – with a dwindling arctic habitat on one side and human encroachment on the other, it really does seem stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea. One can only hope that the adoption of it as Climate Change mascot will be as good for it’s future as WWF has been good for the giant panda.
Plenty of the connections make sense. Like the Ice Bear Project, where art brings attention to Climate Change and the environment.
And the Environmental Defense Fund,
Air Ridiculous
I love dance even more than the next person, but is it just me, or is this Air France ad completely bongo?
There are all sorts of reasons why I board an airplane. And this ad isn’t one of them. Just saying.
Our eco wedding featured on A Practical Wedding!
Ages ago, when I was in the ending throes of the excitement that surround getting married, a wrote a big missal to A Practical Wedding and sent it off. A Practical Wedding is this great site that features real weddings from real people and I used it loads when we were planning what we wanted to do and it seemed only right to share what eventuated. Anyway! Today its our wedding that features for other people to read about. So exciting!! Go and have a look.
Making sense of the seasons
A change of season, can make anyone doolally. And every time the weather warms, as its starting to now, I get momentarily intoxicated by the fresh store windows everywhere. And its right up my alley too with block colour, jumpsuits, stripes in 70s feels and then florals and heels and Mad Men glamour. Oh, its beautiful! The new colours, the new waistlines, the new cut of trouser legs – oh my.
But instead of being suckered into each and every trend, I am finding the high street makes a great inspiration board for something much more long lasting. As Coco Chanel famously said “Fashion fades, only style remains the same.”
Easy to say and harder to do. Thankfully, the internet comes to save the day yet again with wonderful style inspirations everywhere. You can get started on some of the mega-sites, such as lookbook but it can be overwhelming and, for me, a little too full-on. I can’t fathom that many people posing for photos and then posting their outfits online. It boggles my small bear brain.
Instead, I have been delving into an endless array of personal style blogs and have sorted out a posse of chicas that really inspire me. You’ll all be in your own style niche, and may want something completely different to what I am into , but I thought I would share anyway.
A Beautiful Mess A lovely wee blog, filled with all sorts of treats, and her outfits ring true. I gotta keep this girl’s style in my head at the Sallies. She does recycled oh-so-well.
Snoop-shopping (woah oh woah)
Anyone that can make that title fit a certain Snoop Doggy Dog track from the nineties, is my kind of person. Entitled so because we had a great wee snoop about Savemart in Waitangirua last Saturday. I write about this as news because those places are immense! Gah! Although it does please me that they sort everything by colour. Jerseys – grey marl. Check. Quick draw maroon? Yep, I’ve got it. Oh what colour order! The photo below is off their website and totally illustrates all of this. It was entitled ‘panorama’ and what a panorama it is! Just delicious.
That all said, it takes a certain constitution to dive into a rack of dresses, knowing most of them are poop, on the off chance of a retro or designer nugget. But my gosh, if you have the patience the rewards are staggering.
2011: Life with bump
HAPPY NEW YEAR SHWOPPING FANS!
Hope this finds you well and enjoying the sun. I am fabulous. Although close to bursting and lacking sleep. With just a few weeks to go, I have finished my day job and am now officially a mum-to-be! Whoop whoop.
Note to obsessive cleaning self: wash the pantry curtain
Its such an exciting time. As we get prepared for baby, we are sticking to the Shwop philosophy – all things that we buy new have to be made in New Zealand or made ethically, otherwise its second hand all the way.
Vintage swimming costume from Mighty Mighty Markets
This has opened a whole world of coolness and challenges, which I might share from time to time. So if you are not so into The Baby World yet (and believe me it exists!) please accept my apologies in advance. I am absolutely and utterly enveloped in this little person-to-be, LOVING it and dying to share. To maternity and beyond!
