Bright stars
Milly is replenished. Back in store this week, some of our most popular styles ...
... a few Winter-weight Mücke shirtdresses ... a glorious range of Penelope Durston gloves (in three sizes and a thousand colours)...
... a couple of Ms Durston's mini muffler scarves ... more Strange & Strange shortline wool tops ... the Limedrop croissant top in a beautiful black speckled print ...
... a bigger range of OK OK tights (+ knee-high socks) ... and, lastly, Hua wool high-waisted skirts and the beautiful star dress...
... Clothes to make you bright amid these short, dark days.
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(Miss Mannequin has had her faulty steel mount replaced with a piece of strong dowel. Doesn't she look like a peg-legged pirate?)
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Pictured: Mücke shirtdress (RRP $198);
Penelope Durston angora lambswool gloves (RRP $42 - $55);
Strange & Strange silver shortline knit top (RRP $132);
Hua wool high-waisted skirt (RRP $220 now $120);
Penelope Durston mini muffler (RRP $39);
Limedrop croissant top (RRP $140);
OK OK socks and tights (RRP $12 - $40);
Hua wool star dress (RRP $396 now $220) worn with MBP leather belt (RRP $95 now $86)
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25.06.2010
Today's muse ...
Case study: A beautiful girl - let's call her Collison - is having a sartorial crisis. She feels stuck in her style. Very elegant and feminine, with cropped dark hair and large eyes, she looks wonderful in delicate vintage dresses, tweed pinafores and blouses with pretty collars, all manner of A-line or high-waisted skirts in rich jewel or lovely murky colours, and flat, petite little boots or schoolgirlish lace-ups.
Her wardrobe is full of very covetable unique pieces (yes it is, Coll) and fun Camberwell-market finds - and these are garments that should not be discarded or disregarded BUT we do understand the desire for an update. What seems best is to choose a couple of fairly simple, clean pieces with great details that will compliment but also tone down the vintage-ness, and some every-day friendly accessories.
Immediately, two names spring to mind - St Clements and Georgina Thomas. Both labels produce effortless, understated pieces that are rather timeless and thus extremely useful for adding into the mix. They are also not heart-stoppingly expensive for those used to vintage prices, are they? Imagine the silk cotton St Clements blouse with a vintage print skirt, some lovely thick OK OK tights etc. The Georgina Thomas split body jumper can be worn tucked in to accentuate the split or out over a pencil skirt or wide leg pants - everybody longs for this jumper, you just don't know it yet.
And accessories - Milly Sleeping has a limited selection of woolly Mücke jumper parts in lovely colours ... The other perfect thing/s would be the new jewellery collection by Problem Child called Techno Pharaoh, which is retro and ultra-moderne all at once, oversized and sophisticated and coming soonish we hope.
Dear Collison (and all the Collison-alikes of the world), I hope you enjoy these selections - but of course you are beautiful no matter what you wear.
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Pictured: St Clements silk cotton Prim shirt (RRP $220);
St Clements wool Dutch skirt (RRP $220);
Mücke Semi-Lux Part Two (RRP $75);
Georgina Thomas classic snug pants (RRP $220);
Georgina Thomas split body jumper (RRP $280 now $252);
Alexi Freeman Mini Flapper printed ballet skirt (RRP $220 now $200)
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25.06.2010
New mini-shop
Each time we put together some new garments for our online shop, we choose nine pieces at a time, and nine pieces that will good together on a page.
We have gone a step further for our latest mini-shop, and chosen nine pieces that not only look good together on a page but look good together together.
It gives me some pain to admit that the weak link in this mix and match set is the Limedrop oversized merino cloud jumper. It really asks for a pair of slim fit Georgina Thomas pants or leggings (which our mannequin can't wear) and a lovely overcoat. A better testimony to the cloud jumper is, perhaps, the fact that I have been wearing mine unremittingly since I chose it and insist (to myself, each morning) that it goes with absolutely everything, just so I can keep it on.
When Janette chose from Limedrop, she chose (as Susie Bubble did) the silk cloud print blazer. I wouldn't say she's worn it every day but she's giving it a good turn around the block. The print looks lovely with lots of colours and isn't necessarily the giant statement that you half expect it to be.
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For details and prices, see our e-shop!
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18.06.2010
Oh la la
Look at you, says Jumper One. Mais non, look at you Jumper One (says Jumper Two).
Milly Sleeping has a new jumper in store, in two colour ways. If you saw the Michi column in last weekend's Age (A2), you'll know that it was designed in-house and made by John Macarthur of Purl Harbour in Bondi. John uses more exclamation marks than anyone else in the world, and it has been a pleasure to work with him on these. Many thanks, too, to another knitter-extraordinaire for invaluable tips and encouragement.
Style - think classic, à la française, a little bit smart and schoolish. We would like to think a little bit early Sonia Rykiel, fitted, waisted, flattering.
Les couleurs - there could be word wars over these colours. Let's say jumper one is a deep sea green with a light peach collar, and jumper two is a lively navy with a fawn collar.
The yarn is pure wool and feels très soft, not at all scratchy. We have a small selection of sizes in store, with more on their way... and another style in the works. Vive le pull!
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Purl Harbour for Milly Sleeping jumper ($275);
Penelope Durston angora lambswool gloves (RRP $42 - $55);
Penelope Durston scarf (RRP $88);
Wah-Wah Wears porcelain & silver necklace (RRP $129)
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16.06.2010
We Are Building A Civilised Space Here
Sometimes a design label crosses our path, and we jump at it – even if, or especially if, it’s a little to the left of where we’re standing.
And so it was in the case of ffiXXed. In very little time, ffiXXed went from being known to us (vaguely) as a global art project ... to being introduced to us as a semi-commercial fashion studio ... to being the label attached to a boxful of garments that arrived at Milly Sleeping last week, a few days ahead of schedule.
The pieces inside – wool, woollier and woolliest – comprise the first of two drops coming to Elgin Street from the mobile ffiXXed studio. The collection, We Are Building A Civilised Space Here, is the third biannual ready-to-wear range created by RMIT graduate Fiona Lau in collaboration with VCA graduate Kain Picken. Through the conception and production of their collections, Fiona and Kain examine and discuss contemporary living, and the what/where/when/how/why of owning and wearing clothes.
The pieces range from classic, essential items to unusual, multifunctional clothes and accessories. These latter garments may appear quirky at first but have a rational basis in their attempt to address the needs and habits of you and I today. Labels such as ffiXXed have the capacity to be both responsive to and influential upon consumer culture. These dualities, or ambiguities, are what has attracted us to ffiXXed; the pieces are practical but playful, idiosyncratic but cosmopolitan, and neither particularly feminine nor particularly masculine. And so we jumped… about 7,438 kilometres to the left, and up.
Although ffiXXed is an Australian company, Kain and Fiona are currently working from Shenzhen, China, where they have established a multi-level home and production studio. They have also lived and worked in Berlin, New York and Hong Kong. The mobility of their practice is fundamental to ffiXXEd but it is a new concept for Milly Sleeping. Until now, the store has only housed goods made in Australia and New Zealand and we retain our exclusive focus on design labels from these countries. Our insistence upon local production is steadfast but if, as in the instance of ffiXXed, local means local to the designers’ overseas base, we accept this as not only a reasonable but exciting development for the store. Welcome change, and welcome ffiXXed.
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Pictured: ffiXXed wool flangy coat ($349);
ffiXXed check vest cape ($396);
ffiXXed knit handwarmer, also pictured here ($189);
ffiXXed chunky hand knit, also pictured here ($774);
ffiXXed check scarf ($128) worn with Georgina Thomas classic snug pants (RRP $220) and Strange & Strange shortline knit (RRP $132);
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04.06.2010
