Pieces coming together
Slowly...
After a little pause in operations, Milly Sleeping is open again and looking a little bit greener... We have a new green wall, and some new green potted friends ... and we're about to be part of the very green Sustainable Living Festival. You can read about our project (and lots of other excellent ideas) in Three Thousand's Look.Stop.Swap program, here.
We're still working away at all the many little details of our changeover and, while the summer sun keeps getting up and doing its thing, we're still selling great sale items ... We're also awaiting a couple of exciting deliveries - news of which we shall post here anon.
--
07.02.2013
Changes afoot
Milly Sleeping is poised for change in 2013. Having ended our busy stint at Von Haus in the city, we are about to embark on a round of minor renovations at the Carlton space - give her a good old scrub and polish - and make the transition to a slightly different mode of operation...
While the store will continue to very proudly house a special array of locally made garments and accessories by independent Australian labels, we will also be working to develop an in-house studio, producing our very own simple 'staple' items, more collars, more cards, and a range of other top secret items (ie. we haven't really started yet).
The coming week (Jan. 28 to Feb. 03) will be our last week of storewide sale, and our last week with the stockroom curtain drawn back. The store will be closed as usual on Monday (Jan. 28), and closed again on Sunday Feb. 3, Monday Feb. 4 and Tuesday Feb. 5 for the wielding of paint brushes and the carrying about of furniture.
We will reopen on Wednesday Feb. 6 (with news of an exciting project for the Sustainable Living Festival), and thereafter run to a new trading schedule:
WED - FRI: 11 - 6 ; SAT: 10 - 5 ; SUN: 12 - 4
Until then, there may well be a brief hiatus of blog activity but online orders will be processed as usual!
* * *
Pictured: Mücke tee laces, now $39 each.
--
27.01.2013
Good sport
A visit to the Alexi Freeman studio yesterday afforded all of the following:
the collection of some new AF 'kite' tees - a style that has a habit of disappearing very rapidly from store;
a preview of Alexi's brilliant transeasonal collection for the year ahead;
an amusing illumination of some of the artistic denizens of Melbourne who also grace the Fitzroy tennis circuit;
an opportunistic glance about the studio (with camera).
Thanks AF!
* * *
Pictured: ephemera and garments by Alexi Freeman, jewellery by Alexi in collaboration with Tessa Blazey, and shoes in collaboration with Preston Zly;
now at Milly Sleeping: AF Palm kite tee (RRP $199 now $179) with AF Palm ballet skirt (RRP $225 now $135)
--
25.01.2013
The Bride Wore Black (and blue)
This is not the first time that Jeanne Moreau has been Milly's muse - her character in Jules et Jim played a part in an exhibition of unisex wear once held here. But, today, we're inspired by a very different role: Jeanne Moreau as 'Julie' in another Truffaut film, La mariée était en noir (The Bride Wore Black), which, I confess, I had never heard of until browsing through an exciting upcoming ACMI program (thanks W.).
The film's premise sounds both terrible and excellent, and includes at least five fabulous frocks.
What would you wear to avenge the death of your beloved in style? These dresses, plucked from our stockroom, are our picks.
* * *
Jeanne Moreau cut-out with Materialbyproduct scarf and High Tea cap;
wonderful film poster designed by René Ferracci;
Alexi Freeman mesh gather gown (RRP $325 now $195);
Limedrop 'Bustier' dress (RRP $242 now $133) with Limedrop wool capelet (RRP $130 now $65);
Lonely Hearts 'Cut in half' dress (RRP $389 now $195);
Lonely Hearts silk Heather 2 dress (RRP $410 now $163);
Arnsdorf 'Lou' dress (RRP $520 now $286);
--
23.01.2013
Bird's eye view
I don't honestly know anything about them - why they come, or where from, how long they stay or if they ever really leave ... or if it is simply when the spindly gums of the Elgin Street median strip flower, that they assemble in this particular spot in particularly large numbers, to chatter at particularly high volume. All I know is that in Summer, the high branches of the trees opposite Milly Sleeping seem to fill with rainbow lorikeets.
For bright busy birds, they are surprisingly difficult to see but we can listen to them all day long and well into the evening. This week, they've been prattling excitedly about our storewide sale - tempted by the beautiful shiny baubles in our jewellery case, which are going pretty cheap cheap cheap, they keep saying.
Right now, arguments ensue between the birds about their plans for the weekend. Some of them would prefer to stay in Carlton, to browse once more in our stockroom before heading to the movies. Others are keen to take turns flying out to Heide, to see two shows centered around the work of Louise Bourgeois, which (we hear) includes the wonderful, varied installation and textile works of Bourgeois herself, as well as pieces by numerous artists (including Del Kathryn Barton) that LB has inspired.
Other birds still are claiming that they intend to drop in on a casual drawing class, conducted at the NGV by the acclaimed John Wolseley... although it is more likely that their beady eyes are set on a rare sale taking place in the NGV's large foyer, which is news that most of us are very tempted to keep to ourselves.
* * *
Pictured: offerings from the jewellery case - all pieces reduced by 10 - 70%! - by labels including Estelle Dévé, Alexi + Tessa and Limedrop;
at top left - 'Blue Days' (1996) by Louise Bourgeois (image from Art Guide) above textile works by Del Kathryn Barton (image from Roslyn Oxley);
at bottom right - a criminally cropped image of Tracing The Wallace Line: descent of the dipterocarp (1999) by John Wolseley (image from Culture Victoria)
--
18.01.2013
