tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86436686879766629792024-02-18T20:55:41.051-08:00The Inspired Shopper the soul of frugalityUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger102125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-46065604473975974342014-05-28T14:25:00.000-07:002014-05-28T14:25:38.673-07:00Decluttering: The Joys of Fluid Ownership<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLlReL72LCChWJ-8ahCAm8EE7zJs88UZVdMQ9I_3Sue3CeKRSCcjrDdxIokcx8-o4wyXAt4nQ7yJIWNtHyDVLEpnzlOR7vEMVQNmEMQqAP5VSJ1qU6jBtykdIeCIN_zxw1wuiWTNFksDZk/s1600/FLUID+OWNERSHIP+-+MORGUE+FILE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLlReL72LCChWJ-8ahCAm8EE7zJs88UZVdMQ9I_3Sue3CeKRSCcjrDdxIokcx8-o4wyXAt4nQ7yJIWNtHyDVLEpnzlOR7vEMVQNmEMQqAP5VSJ1qU6jBtykdIeCIN_zxw1wuiWTNFksDZk/s1600/FLUID+OWNERSHIP+-+MORGUE+FILE.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Do you cling to possessions? I have in the past, but I’m
getting better at letting them go.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Moving house is a great way of shedding the fixation with stuff that so many of us suffer from. This is because you end up forgetting half the things you
actually own and it’s a nice surprise when you start opening the boxes at the
new place – it’s like opening presents.</div>
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My recent move from my shabby old deco flat was so rushed that
I ended up giving things away, donating them or just putting them on the hard
rubbish pile. There just wasn’t time for a garage sale.</div>
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When I got to my new place – a first floor sixties flat in a
bayside suburb – I still had too much stuff. Luckily I now have time to downsize
at my own pace. I will sell some of these things, and if they don’t sell, I’ll
give them away as gifts or donate them.</div>
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But my attitude to stuff has changed. I am much more willing
to get rid of things I have no room for. I want objects to be functional and if
they don’t play their part I will part with them. My huge vintage radio, which has
never done a day’s work in its entire time with me, has recently gone to a new
owner who may even be able to get it working again. </div>
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My thirties standard lamp didn’t survive the move intact,
and the other day I put it on the hard rubbish pile outside the flats with
hardly a twinge of regret – it’s gone already! I’ll eventually buy a lamp that can be adjusted so that the light is close enough to read by – something I couldn't do with the standard lamp.</div>
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This relaxed attitude to things is what the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freecycling">freecycling movement</a>
is all about. It’s about embracing an alternative way of looking at goods – ownership
isn’t permanent any more. You use something until you simply have no use for
it, and then you pass it on to someone else. It’s not so much collective
ownership as fluid ownership. </div>
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I freecycled my old cream couch before the move and I
offered some things for freecycling that didn’t get taken – time was partly the
problem. Embracing freecycling completely would probably mean rarely having to make
any major purchases – you give stuff away you don’t need, and get stuff for
free when you need it (people on my freecycle list post ‘WANTED’ ads as well
as offers). But I cannot, at this point, be a complete freecycler. I want to
sell some of my old stuff rather than give it away – it took me so long to
collect! If it doesn’t sell easily then I’ll gracefully let go of it by other
means.</div>
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<b>Different ways of freecycling</b></div>
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Sometimes there are things that are just too sentimental to
give up completely, even if you have no room for them. One option is to lend
them to trusted family members on a long term basis (a written agreement might
be helpful here). It’s still fluid ownership, but you know that in a few years’
time you can reclaim your stuff if your circumstances change.</div>
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Fluid ownership is a great principle when it comes to
clothes. Swap meets are wonderful for getting rid of clothes that are still
wearable but that you are simply sick of. We all need novelty and if you are
fashion conscious, endless rotation of your existing clothes won’t be enough.
At a swap meet everyone comes home with something new, yet no new resources
have been used to produce your ‘new’ items. </div>
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When it comes to clothes, roommates often practise fluid
ownership as second nature. Thrift stores are also a way of practising fluid
ownership – we sometimes donate things just because we’re sick of them, and
hopefully find things that other people have donated for the same reason.</div>
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<br /></div>
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In whatever form you practise fluid ownership, my belief is
that it produces good karma when it comes to stuff. When you give stuff away
freely or at a reasonable price, you are more likely to get bargains or
freebies back again when you need them. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Do you practise fluid ownership and if so how?</div>
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<br /></div>
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Until next time!</div>
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</div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/253/F638B4ADAF1BBF092057A37B427CACE2.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-50278094431716873752014-05-15T13:37:00.000-07:002014-05-17T12:59:22.835-07:00The Secret Reason We Buy Too Much Stuff <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwW7XNNFJk2xl69BmY2eXvUoQM4KQbuQqjXTP8QUbn7680gjbt0qrR0XQ6QnpHt0ipHtINQcl61VtjR_MpFdoRMLQqrQ3iCtcgLT3PwnqfgKHi28WchpPqEaafycovJhEJGj-bVaUh_CCb/s1600/BUYING+TO+FILL+SPACE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwW7XNNFJk2xl69BmY2eXvUoQM4KQbuQqjXTP8QUbn7680gjbt0qrR0XQ6QnpHt0ipHtINQcl61VtjR_MpFdoRMLQqrQ3iCtcgLT3PwnqfgKHi28WchpPqEaafycovJhEJGj-bVaUh_CCb/s1600/BUYING+TO+FILL+SPACE.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Picture: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bakewell/">Jerry Bakewell</a>)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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There are many reasons why we indulge in retail therapy, but
one of them isn’t mentioned very often. It’s so obvious we
don’t even think about it.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Sometimes we buy things just because we have the space for
them.</div>
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This realisation struck me when I moved house recently (when
they say it’s the most stressful thing you can do, they’re not kidding!). I
moved from a huge art deco apartment to a decent-sized two-bedroom flat with one
less room. </div>
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I’d already given away a lot of stuff before I moved but was
amazed at what I still had.</div>
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The most surprising thing was that I had quietly amassed <a href="http://inspiredshopper.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/decorating-on-budget-nine-reasons-to.html">a collection of thrift store pictures</a> over the almost ten years I’d been in the
apartment. I had a total of more than thirty pictures altogether! This is
without any conscious collecting on my part – just a desire to fill the empty
spaces on the large walls.</div>
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The irony is that there are very few picture hooks at this
new place, and I am reluctant to ask the landlord if I can put them up at this early stage in the
tenancy. So the majority of these pictures are going to have to go – I’m
intending to sell some of the better ones on eBay.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Having amassed all these pictures has taught me a lesson in
restraint. I did get very skilled at picking pictures with future potential –
the more kitsch the better – and was proud of the way I arranged them in my
apartment. And I will keep some of them at the new place, and rotate them on the
few picture hooks I have so I don’t get bored. </div>
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But nothing is forever, and I will let the majority go with
grace.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I know now there is always a new picture around the corner.
Only a week ago I found myself staring longingly at a large, abstract print in
an op shop in the inner city suburb of Port Melbourne. I knew I didn’t
have room for it. When enough pictures are sold, perhaps I will let myself buy
one or two new ones.</div>
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<br /></div>
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So next time you're about to buy some little knick-knack or a piece of furniture it’s worth
asking yourself the question: am I buying this just to fill space?</div>
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<br /></div>
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Perhaps there is just one thing you buy too much of, because
you’ve started a collection – collections have a tendency to constantly demand
that they be added to!</div>
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<br /></div>
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If you tend to do this, next time you could rethink
whether you really need the item. If it still ‘calls’ to you, is there
something you already have that you could get rid of?</div>
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<br /></div>
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Another question it's worth asking when you’re buying a piece of decor: is there something else the money could be used for, like a great experience or a
large savings goal? </div>
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<br /></div>
Until next time!<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/253/F638B4ADAF1BBF092057A37B427CACE2.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-27900629649024007462014-01-30T15:59:00.000-08:002014-01-30T15:59:30.207-08:00Store Loss and Disenfranchised Grief <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5yP-fOqsKm1yxIZUWVBoXO0fTDv07wJcinCA6HDiHE3fzUifDr0-ove84pH42sQS341Yp7J3Ds890KBJdGCsSd4FoA8EwBC_pObyW8bVX4anKTRGAbMj12J2YGWPcjxH-mywTfpUsl4Nt/s1600/CLOSING+DOWN+STORE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5yP-fOqsKm1yxIZUWVBoXO0fTDv07wJcinCA6HDiHE3fzUifDr0-ove84pH42sQS341Yp7J3Ds890KBJdGCsSd4FoA8EwBC_pObyW8bVX4anKTRGAbMj12J2YGWPcjxH-mywTfpUsl4Nt/s1600/CLOSING+DOWN+STORE.jpg" height="262" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I stood with my head pressed against the glass. Behind it, a
thoroughly empty shop, long and narrow. The bald fact of it: walls, carpet,
back door. Everything else – the shelves, the posters, the old counter at the
back with its pale pink curtain into the inner sanctum that held the DVDs – all
gone. The closing down signs still mocking the windows, a picture of
understatement.</div>
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<br /></div>
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How absurd, to get upset about a video store closing! How
old was I? Well, it was early January, which is always a disorientating time
for me. And this was a local video store, not a franchise, owned by a sweet
family headed by a short, white-haired middle-aged woman who always treated me
with kindness and courtesy. This family were already installed in the store
when I started to use it after returning, ten years ago, to live in the nearby
suburb where I grew up.</div>
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It was a damn good video store, with plenty of stock to
choose from. It charged only $3 for new releases, obviously an attempt to
compete with the DVD vending machines that had become a fixture at supermarkets
in recent years.</div>
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It had no pretensions to being an arty place aimed at
cinephiles – I used to think how much more it could do to capitalise on the
hordes of students in the area – but the owner had realised, she told me once,
that keeping a back catalogue of videos rather than selling most of them off was
good for the business, tiding it over whenever the crop of new releases was particularly
disappointing.</div>
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My angst came from several sources. I hadn’t had the chance
to say goodbye and thanks for being real, and independent, and genuinely
friendly. Mixed in with this was the frustration of human curiosity – I’d
missed the inside story. I’ll never know whether the owner had simply had
enough and was retiring with a nice little nest egg, or, much more likely, was
a victim of the switch to vending machines along with the rise of Quickflix and
internet streaming – and perhaps rising store rents.</div>
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But it wasn’t just the owner I’d lost the chance to say
goodbye to. It was the shop itself, its familiar layout, the time I used to
spend painstakingly choosing my five weeklys for only $6.50. I’ve used those
DVD vending machines, but it’s just not the same. Going out to choose a video is
still a treat for me, and having a machine dispensing it takes all the fun away.
</div>
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<b>The small losses of daily life</b><br />
<br />
As we get older, familiar places seem to become more
important. There is so much change, and yet another small adjustment can
sometimes seem like a blow.</div>
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Gerontologist Professor Kenneth Doka has an expression for
the sense of loss that we have trouble letting go of because our grief is not
socially sanctioned – he calls it disenfranchised grieving.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Such losses are often large but they can also be small ones.
Life is full of them – every new stage we enter results in the shedding of old
routines, places and companions – but modern life changes so fast that we may
be in a state of constant adjustment, never having the chance to find our feet
until the next earth tremor of change.</div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinOYJxNALMqS74AE5XGhNrUMzbvPYMwXUXTMoS1GrJDIkb9zbzcQeFF9X4GydIas3Sr8K1Nn-nU42ZIo7AyN3CSO53sFB4e8_t1hVq7cE1I7ycMxA3GMzdXRmQG-8Jiuqc497N2TQPL5M4/s1600/STORE+LOSS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinOYJxNALMqS74AE5XGhNrUMzbvPYMwXUXTMoS1GrJDIkb9zbzcQeFF9X4GydIas3Sr8K1Nn-nU42ZIo7AyN3CSO53sFB4e8_t1hVq7cE1I7ycMxA3GMzdXRmQG-8Jiuqc497N2TQPL5M4/s1600/STORE+LOSS.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pic: Grove Arcade bookstore, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/75001512@N00/">Joel Kramer</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Shops are commercial ventures, but the ones we visit regularly become part of our psychic maps, our mental touchstones. I hadn’t expected to feel bereft when the Borders store at my local shopping mall closed. This occurred when the entire Australian arm of the business went into receivership in 2011. All over Melbourne Borders stores were holding closing down sales and I joined the swarms of bargain hunters combing the fast-emptying shelves for books going for a couple of dollars.</div>
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I wasn’t prepared for the sense of loss once the Chadstone Borders at closed. I knew that it was a heartless multinational, had read somewhere that workers in its US stores were so poorly paid they had to get second jobs to survive. Nevertheless there was something profoundly civilising about all those books in my local shopping mall. I’ve always fetishised books and it was the sheer number at the Borders store with its two floors that captivated me.</div>
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Still, losses have their consolations. About a year ago a new independent bookstore moved into Chadstone, with genre labels that look a bit home made, and a refusal to grant the kinds of massive discounts that stores like Borders and Dymocks have relied on. It’s a new branch of the independent chain Robinsons Books, and seems so far to be well patronised – long may it reign!</div>
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Have you ever experienced a sense of unexpected loss when a familiar store closed down?</div>
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<br />
Until next time!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/253/F638B4ADAF1BBF092057A37B427CACE2.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-674953069454571652014-01-21T13:30:00.000-08:002014-01-21T13:31:45.631-08:00Ethical Investing: A Greener Term Deposit<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLXLtXOnaPnbUmrQz5iahGVkCRsISNV2-Q2_uoTrh4-Vr6hX2DWq0VOHgmG2bQyfBR8wsAfUWXYJPODOWjs0nyqNkfi5VA1ze4Uivl4Y1gwBHoXwkfl9QU-H77TQWKDMtAG961CHHPy9pf/s1600/SUSTAINABLE+INVESTING.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLXLtXOnaPnbUmrQz5iahGVkCRsISNV2-Q2_uoTrh4-Vr6hX2DWq0VOHgmG2bQyfBR8wsAfUWXYJPODOWjs0nyqNkfi5VA1ze4Uivl4Y1gwBHoXwkfl9QU-H77TQWKDMtAG961CHHPy9pf/s1600/SUSTAINABLE+INVESTING.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
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<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
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<b><i>Please note: the
following is not financial advice. You need to do your own research before
making any investment decision.</i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
I’ve been frustrated
with the options for ethical investing in Australia for a long time. Then I
read <a href="http://www.penguin.com.au/products/9781863955751/greenwash-big-brands-and-carbon-scams"><i>Greenwash</i> by Guy Pearse</a> and it
clarified what I’d been closing my eyes towards – the bank that underwrites my
term deposit, the National Australia Bank, is continuing to invest in new
coalmining projects at record levels. I’d had enough. It was time to find
something else. But options were limited.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
I think I have found
the answer – a green term deposit.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
If you want to buy
shares, in Australia at least there aren’t that many blue-chip, mainstream
companies that can be described as ethical; it’s not an option for me to invest
in supermarkets (gambling, coalmining, high greenhouse emissions, duopolising
exploitation of suppliers) or mining companies, and after that you’re not left
with many options apart from dodgy telecommunications companies.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
I don’t have a large
enough sum to make it worthwhile to hire a financial planner, and I don’t like
the idea of the high fees and commissions that you pay if you put your money in
an ethical managed fund.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
It’s amazing what a
little exploration on the internet can yield. I’d never heard of the <a href="http://www.mcu.com.au/">Maleny Credit Union</a> but as far as sustainable financial institutions
go, they’re not doing too badly.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
Maleny is a small,
scenic town north of Queensland on the Sunshine Coast hinterland. The credit
union was set up in 1984 by townsfolk who wanted more local credit, and two in
particular who wanted to direct investment into ethical and employment
initiatives. From the start members were determined to retain it as a community
owned resource, and even volunteered their time to keep it open.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
Then, in 2011, the
board voted that the credit union <a href="http://www.hinterlandtimes.com.au/2011/07/08/maleny-credit-union-back-to-the-future/">merge with one of Australia’s largest credit unions</a>, Credit Union Australia. But the townsfolk would have none of it. They wanted
to keep it as a local enterprise that would always put people before profit.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
Today Maleny Credit
union is a social enterprise, which basically means that ‘its purpose is to
improve the lives of members through ethical, sustainable and community focused
services’. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
The credit union’s
<a href="http://www.mcu.com.au/service/ethics-policy/">ethics policy</a> is quite extensive but I
would have liked more detail about specific things that the credit union is
investing in. In the absence of alternatives, however, I’ve decided to go ahead
and take out a term deposit with them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<b>Credit unions versus
banks</b><br />
My experience in
Australia is that credit unions per se are a good choice for term deposits even without
sustainability credentials, because their main aim is not to make a profit, but
to benefit their members. I intend to keep some of my savings in my current
credit union while opening a term deposit with Maleny.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
In the longer term,
I’ll start to research putting some of my savings into ethical shares. The
beauty of term deposits is that they give you somewhere to park your little
nest egg while you decide what the heck you want to do with it in the longer
term.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
(Credit unions also
tend to be much cheaper to bank with – by restricting different types of
transactions I completely avoid monthly fees on my account, Also, given I’ve
got an online savings account, I’ve never been fined when my online everyday
account goes into the red!)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
My term deposit with
the bank is due to mature at the end of the week. When I made the decision to remove
my savings, I wrote to National Australia Bank explaining why. I’d suggest
doing this if you decide to remove your money from banks with dodgy
investments, or sell shares for the same reason. I think it’s worth letting the
companies know. If enough of us put our money where our beliefs are, the world
would be a cleaner, greener place. Here’s a portion of my letter:</div>
<br />
<i>Recently I read a book called Greenwash by Guy Pearse. It highlighted the hypocrisy of companies like yourselves that provide copious information about cuts to operational emissions while continuing to expand your investments in dirty, emissions-intensive industries, particularly coal mining and export. These industries, as well as speeding up catastrophic climate change, are also ultimately bad for our economy because they make the Australian dollar very high while providing very little employment, relatively speaking. Further, much of the profits go out of Australia.</i><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Have
you decided to green your investments? If so, what has your experience been?<span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-51062883114187675112014-01-12T14:08:00.000-08:002014-01-12T14:11:19.462-08:00A Rant about Packaging<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuh-z4l6iqI6sJOU7TU7XjnLKCDy4gFVD9mwqD0FVsLWeulAX8NP4OqF0HFS7oFUMl2_pkRtqnCSk73i3-eUs8xZw5ggxLdiPpS19G5zT9hyphenhyphenAYiEzWyeHX3CpJrP-IFrLPh5qqyogVtX4m/s1600/PACKAGING.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuh-z4l6iqI6sJOU7TU7XjnLKCDy4gFVD9mwqD0FVsLWeulAX8NP4OqF0HFS7oFUMl2_pkRtqnCSk73i3-eUs8xZw5ggxLdiPpS19G5zT9hyphenhyphenAYiEzWyeHX3CpJrP-IFrLPh5qqyogVtX4m/s1600/PACKAGING.JPG" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
A few weeks ago I went to buy a
simple torch from the supermarket. It wasn’t until I got the thing home that I
realised how overpackaged it was. The torch was attached to a large, hard plastic
backing – by three rings of plastic (as shown in the pic above). It also came with a completely superfluous
hessian holder that can be attached to a belt.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
Is there anything more irritating
than the overuse of packaging in consumer goods? In the absence of effective
regulation, packaging is wasteful in the extreme. How many acres of forests are
lost each year, how much superfluous hard and soft plastic is produced in order
to make run-of-the-mill goods seem exciting and sexy?<br />
<br />
The Australian Conservation Foundation wants the Australian Government to <a href="http://www.acfonline.org.au/sites/default/files/resources/10%20-%20Packaging.pdf">set up a federal agency</a> with powers to ensure that packaging is ‘kept to the minimum required for the preservation, labelling, safe handling, and economical usage of goods’. This is a great idea, but such a body would also need to require manufacturers to choose the most sustainable options for their (minimalist) packaging.<br />
<br />
The government could offer assistance that made it financially viable for companies to do this. This would have the flow-on effect of encouraging companies to produce environmentally responsible packaging materials - fostering innovation and new green industries and jobs, possibly selling to global markets.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
Manufacturers view packaging as
being vital to their branding – the ideas and emotions they want consumers to
associate with their product. Yet if they were forced to reduce it, they might
think up more imaginative ways of appealing to their customers – indeed, a
reduction in packaging would actually appeal to many customers anyway,
contributing to a green image that had some substance to it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<h3>
New uses for old packaging</h3>
Another item I’ve been looking
for is a sustainable pencil case – I looked on Etsy and the Australian version
of Etsy, Handmade – and found some lovely examples, such as this cute <a href="http://www.etsy.com/au/listing/165242115/knitted-pencilcase-handmade-with-love?ref=market"><span style="color: blue;">knitted pencil case</span></a>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
But then I decided I didn’t
really need to buy a pencil case at all, because I just used a
plastic holder that had inexplicably arrived with a recycled toothbrush I
ordered over the internet (pictured below). What was the use of producing a toothbrush from
recycled plastic, I asked the manufacturer at the time in an email, when it is accompanied
by unnecessary packaging? So I have at last found a use for this plastic
container, which I couldn’t bring myself to throw away at the time. (Another
option would have been to use a wallet from an op shop.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOTu5JbsuCvuo4U254qHQGAq2odqQnS6oCM72Ip5GerD43K2jYmOiME6bTIif8ZOkyZRxE-OMDe6ZdGAHDbjs0c4BCPTcqzCEZC_FQGhHGnZYeSDua3gijQkoYopnkWIX4nN2DQeBiJN19/s1600/REPURPOSED+PENCIL+CASE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOTu5JbsuCvuo4U254qHQGAq2odqQnS6oCM72Ip5GerD43K2jYmOiME6bTIif8ZOkyZRxE-OMDe6ZdGAHDbjs0c4BCPTcqzCEZC_FQGhHGnZYeSDua3gijQkoYopnkWIX4nN2DQeBiJN19/s1600/REPURPOSED+PENCIL+CASE.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
Plastic recycling has come a long
way, but manufacturers seem to be using this as an excuse to keep producing
more of it – in its produce section, Woolworths now provides small plastic bags
that are a pleasing grass-green hue with the comforting message that they are
produced from ‘at least 30 per cent recycled plastic’. Why don’t they encourage
customers to bring their own mini-plastic bags for fruit, vegetables and nuts?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
Wikipedia describes greenwashing
as ‘a form of spin in which green PR or green marketing is deceptively used to promote the perception that an organisation’s products, aims and/or policies are environmentally friendly’. Superfluous
packaging often appears in examples of greenwashing. For example, Scotch tape
has produced what it cannily calls (perhaps to avoid accusations of
greenwashing) a ‘greener’ rather than a ‘green’ tape. But this greener tape
comes with its very own mini plastic dispenser, encouraging buyers to purchase
a new dispenser every time they buy tape.<br />
<br />
I don’t want to discourage
readers from trying to buy green. I originally planned to write a blog entry on green
stationery items for kids going back to school. It is worth shopping around for
more eco-friendly items from online stores such as <a href="http://www.buyecogreen.com.au/">BuyEcoGreen</a>, and Officeworks
now stocks many more green stationery options that it used to. But until we
have tough Australia-wide laws on packaging, the waste-a-thon of cardboard and
plastic production will continue.<br />
<br />
<b>If you enjoyed this article, pleas share using the social media buttons on the left.</b></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-19949719561939986242014-01-05T22:36:00.001-08:002014-01-06T17:30:31.323-08:00Necessities or Luxuries: Which Do You Put First?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSLxW3ATL_Kv-soZyIHBnlcuF0VP6CgLg6_OnEWn4qeeMcfKSsdIXbfOo2Yv5Ad7NEHQX1eb8M2sTNKiTx5l3B4YLBm6TART0P1KqlKJeWGBUu3G3JbxABAUD7_HwBH3qf4gt9Fjd7YXU7/s1600/buying+necessities.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSLxW3ATL_Kv-soZyIHBnlcuF0VP6CgLg6_OnEWn4qeeMcfKSsdIXbfOo2Yv5Ad7NEHQX1eb8M2sTNKiTx5l3B4YLBm6TART0P1KqlKJeWGBUu3G3JbxABAUD7_HwBH3qf4gt9Fjd7YXU7/s1600/buying+necessities.jpg" height="320" width="237" /></a></div>
<b style="text-indent: 0cm;">Happy New Year! Now that the
Christmas spendathon is over, and the January sales spendathon is in full
swing, I’m in the process of dutifully parting with the unspecified sum of
money my parentals always grace me with at Christmas in lieu of a present.</b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
The difference is
that this year I am not going to spend it on something big. In fact I’m in the
process of buying those boring things that I usually put off buying because I
am trying to save money, can’t be bothered searching, or have throughout the
year prioritised frivolities and ‘extras’.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
But the fact is,
when I put my mind to it I love buying these necessities. It makes me feel as
if I am looking after myself.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
After a misspent
(literally) youth of frivolity with money, I became a rabid stinge in my early
thirties. Along with this came a willingness to get the basics paid for first –
rent, bills etc – and to stock up on the dull necessities of life before venturing
to buy anything frivolous. I adopted the kind of mentality that privileges
having enough underwear in your drawers over having a new pair of tailored
pants, a glamorous dress or Italian shoes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
It’s a sane way to
live, but I think I overdid it for a while. For example, I used to spend a
fortune on vitamins, and I’m not sure I needed all of those tablets rattling
around in my insides.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
In the last few
years I’ve been rebelling against this tendency a bit, and buying a few frivolities
ahead of necessities (although I will always be a stinge – most of my
frivolities come from op shops). But when I received my Christmas money this
year, I knew it was time to get back to basics. I’ve been ignoring some dull
requirements for a few months now, and it was time to play catch up.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
So here’s the list of
basics I’ve either bought or am intending to buy:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<b>Cruelty-free
lipstick</b> – it can be a hassle finding cruelty-free lipstick if you don’t want
to buy online. I’ve discovered that three mainstream brands, Innoxa, Australis
and Face of Australia, are cruelty-free (it’s sad that there are so few since many
of the big brands started selling to China, which demands animal testing). These
brands are available at some Priceline stores and Innoxa is also sold at Myers.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<b>Neck support</b> – for tele
watching. Aesthetically unpleasing – downright daggy in fact – but very
comfortable.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<b>Lumbar roll</b> – long
overdue. I need support for my lower back while using the computer, watching
tele, reading on the couch, etc, etc.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<b>Neem oil</b> – this
seems to be the go-to oil for organic gardeners. Apparently it keeps away the
little pests such as snails while not harming beneficial insects like
butterflies and bees. I am also hoping it will deter (without actually
poisoning) the possums that populate my garden and love eating my succulents.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<b>Oversized hair
rollers</b> – these are perfect for getting my flyaway fringe under control – the
standard size rollers don’t do the trick at all. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<b>Big new diary</b> – of
course I would have bought this anyway, but I have bought one of those A4-size
ones and it’s carbon neutral to boot!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<b>New torch</b> – I dropped
and broke the last one during the traumatic period a few weeks before Christmas
when I went for three days without electricity while some of the wiring at my
place was being fixed. It was a nightmare time and dropping the torch didn’t exactly
help matters.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<b>Cute shower cap</b> – for
the bath, not the shower. (Does anyone wear a shower cap in the shower anymore?)
Must have more baths this year.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<b>New hessian bag</b> –
for library books and the beach. Hessian is incredible, a light material that
holds heavy weights and lasts for years. My last hessian bag, 15 years old at
least, finally bit the dust in 2013, so it’s time for another.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<b>New saucepan</b> –
boring but necessary.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<b>Hair cut</b> – I would
have had this done anyway, but may as well use the Christmas money for it!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<b>Calendar</b> – I always
buy these after 1 January to save money, and this year will be no exception.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<b>Parasol</b> – currently
I use my boring navy blue umbrella as a parasol on those boiling hot days when
a hat just isn’t enough. I am looking for a cute parasol that will do the job
with a bit more style.<br />
<br />
That's enough necessities for now. Even when I'm buying necessities I still <a href="http://inspiredshopper.blogspot.com.au/2007/12/welcome-to-inspired-shopping.html">use my intuition</a>, which makes it more likely that the things I buy are right for me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
And I did manage to also buy a half-price, oversized wool
top at the Salvos in Malvern, certainly not a necessity for this time of year
but a bargain too good to pass up.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<i>Do you normally skimp on necessities but buy luxuries instead, or do
the opposite? How do you feel when you put luxuries first, and how do you feel
when you put necessities first?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0cm; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-58589614773890373152013-10-10T15:07:00.001-07:002013-10-10T15:07:29.325-07:00Is Vintage Fashion Dangerous? The Guilty Pleasure of Watching Mad Men<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMmA0E9eYhBBVgKVaEICWXfM324Fiz_mzWSQNsx9u7gDH08e0StcG3k8gfpRDvzMQusRk8IZFCsvTZX2jG6bCBgsEW36o3O8waYesWFqEiF4vqMvBgPFk2gzMTCa1GH1dY_R3Q6DA8d76v/s1600/DON+DRAPER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMmA0E9eYhBBVgKVaEICWXfM324Fiz_mzWSQNsx9u7gDH08e0StcG3k8gfpRDvzMQusRk8IZFCsvTZX2jG6bCBgsEW36o3O8waYesWFqEiF4vqMvBgPFk2gzMTCa1GH1dY_R3Q6DA8d76v/s320/DON+DRAPER.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>I have a very embarrassing confession to make. I have just discovered <i>Mad Men</i>. I know, I know. It's only been around for about a gazillion years, spawning many a conversation about Don's conquests, Betty's scarves and Peggy's career trajectory - not to mention more serious discussions about the representation of African Americans and women in general, and its characters' changing attitudes to queerness, whether their own or other people's.</b><br />
<br />
Don't think I wasn't tempted to tune in initially. I heard and read all the hype. I even went to the exhibition of the clothes (shown below) at my local shopping mall, and still I kept away.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKPJe4ZEv0s0XkIB8Of81u5wo0TSt5ROnaUaKOSorVV07d1F1SSNmuFuXrCxNuVaykvdCw8axiaGQ4Ti_EV8r0QG7SVIxK20CqMtb2scggEqmoZyA31TXjKwXusgokPdfWMq5y3FbdT4mA/s1600/MAD+MEN+EXHIBITION.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKPJe4ZEv0s0XkIB8Of81u5wo0TSt5ROnaUaKOSorVV07d1F1SSNmuFuXrCxNuVaykvdCw8axiaGQ4Ti_EV8r0QG7SVIxK20CqMtb2scggEqmoZyA31TXjKwXusgokPdfWMq5y3FbdT4mA/s400/MAD+MEN+EXHIBITION.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fernando/page32/">Fernando de Sousa</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
To be honest, I dreaded watching it because of all the noise about the sexism it depicted. I thought, from the publicity, that the show would glorify the sexism rather than critique it. I feared it would be depressingly retrograde.<br />
<br />
In fact, it does both. The sexism traps the characters, but is also part of the mystique and glamour of the show. This contradiction is the source of both the danger of <i>Mad Men</i> and its charm. It is also surely one of the reasons the clothes in the show are so fascinating. Clothes are not just clothes in <i>Mad Men</i>. They are clear signals of gender, and the different kinds of power that gender allowed and continues to suggest.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
In the biologically driven gender minefield that is the Sterling Cooper ad agency at the dawn of the sixties, the kingpin, the chief ape, the unofficial leader is Don Draper. Charismatic, brooding, tall, dark and handsome and attracting women like Tippex to a typewriter, he is a paradox wrapped in a contradiction, a walking cliche of sixties manhood except for the existential angst, a feature more to be expected in a beatnik. Don's not fooled by his own publicity. He's only good at what he does because he's so familiar with the universal insecurities that his advertisements tap into.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK59srfxXKMt0I8hLR8QSxBmDoeQ0UWDQxJpGj1ktwQlxZ-DVNxz5lCWJ-7AWcseLwwHjxCu7HNTupKAQwIdW9svhQVHjEUYbtmHk8PXrgfXzAV4vraKMJqZVfkADXidS7Ydp_yW7OA-uh/s1600/DON+DRAPER+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK59srfxXKMt0I8hLR8QSxBmDoeQ0UWDQxJpGj1ktwQlxZ-DVNxz5lCWJ-7AWcseLwwHjxCu7HNTupKAQwIdW9svhQVHjEUYbtmHk8PXrgfXzAV4vraKMJqZVfkADXidS7Ydp_yW7OA-uh/s400/DON+DRAPER+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture: AP</td></tr>
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At the beginning of the sixties when the show opens, men's power came from having a higher social status than women. Revered in the home as mothers and wives, women were essentially second class citizens in the public realm. At Sterling Cooper they play the role of subservient handmaidens and sex objects who are referred to by the men as 'the girl' or by their first names, while they must address the men using 'Mr'.<br />
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In this world, male attractiveness is a very different beast from female sexual allure - it's tied up with social power, high status and action. The suits on these perfectly groomed men are designed to reflect their knowledge, ability and authority, thus enhancing their position in the social hierarchy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQe8STiTBrIuHBEu9Vp06bXavgq4Isc5K4W_3hVzxObBiz2TiIVM1KrttVYA0Ma6rBx2F10eCIDnV371N0-FlILHmteZZSSh3oOl5wsu0MgIW1cMiPRn10BhF7SPFayHHRghW7_RtbenP-/s1600/MAD+MEN+SUITS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQe8STiTBrIuHBEu9Vp06bXavgq4Isc5K4W_3hVzxObBiz2TiIVM1KrttVYA0Ma6rBx2F10eCIDnV371N0-FlILHmteZZSSh3oOl5wsu0MgIW1cMiPRn10BhF7SPFayHHRghW7_RtbenP-/s400/MAD+MEN+SUITS.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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For women, clothing has a very different function. The only kind of power women can openly wield is sexual allure, and the most powerful woman in the office at the beginning of the first series is the most sexually attractive, Joan Holloway (below). Joan simply cannot fathom that Peggy, who starts as a secretary but blossoms into a talented copywriter, might want a different kind of power and influence.<br />
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Joan, of course, does wield other kinds of power, particularly over the other secretaries in her role as chief secretary. However, that this authority is tied in with her sexual power becomes sadly evident in the second series when she tries to sack a secretary for breaking into the office of the company's head honcho.<br />
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The secretary is immediately reinstated by company partner Roger Sterling, because he wants to have an affair with her. The irony is that Sterling had been carrying on a secret affair with Joan for years; now that Joan is engaged to someone else, Roger uses his superior power to get his way.<br />
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It's true that Joan is also valued and needed because of her ability to organise the office. In fact she's one of those people that every large office seems to have - the person that manages to hold the whole place together, the person you go to when you want to complain for the umpteenth time that the airconditioning is making the office too cold. However, it's doubtful whether, in the extreme environment of Sterling Cooper, Joan would be afforded the respect and occasional indulgence of the men in this powerful role if she wasn't stunning.<br />
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Yet, as the sixties progresses Joan comes to realise that her role deserves credit and she starts to describe herself as the 'office manager' rather than the 'chief secretary'. This reminded me of the way women stopped calling themselves secretaries sometime in the eighties and became personal assistants.<br />
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Don Draper's wife Betty also dramatises how limiting gender stereotypes were for women after the Second World War. In the first series this perfectly groomed woman with her porcelain complexion and blonde bob is a fifties ideal of the suburban Mom, but she is also an archetypal representative of all the discontentments that would give birth to second wave feminism.<br />
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Betty starts off representing the staid, conservative fifties rather than the turbulent sixties but her domestic role is no barrier to her being a style icon.<br />
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The image she exudes of the perfect wife and mother is one of the reasons Don has married her, and it's clear the man has a bit of a madonna-whore complex. Betty is the 'angelic' mother of their two children, but he has affairs with career women who are intelligent, sassy and independent.<br />
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Of course the turbulent sixties are about to hit Sterling Cooper, and feminism and black power will shake up that cosy little world - which brings us to Peggy Olson.<br />
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Young Peggy is easily the most evolved character in the show. Fresh-faced, honest and hardworking, she storms into Don's office and tells him 'I don't understand ... I tried to do my job, I follow the rules; and people hate me. Innocent people get hurt and other people, people who are not good, get to walk around doing whatever they want. It's not fair!' She is The Future, she is Diversity, she is getting there through talent and hard work rather than networking and privilege. She is the secret story of the legions of women who have done battle in a man's world while dealing with their lack of power over their own bodies.<br />
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More superficially (!), she also develops a great tailored look as she advances in her career and in her confidence as a young professional.<br />
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And she demonstrates that intelligent, ambitious and forthright women are damned attractive, even to neanderthals like Pete Campbell.<br />
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So why is there guilt in the pleasure of watching <i>Mad Men</i> for me? Because the show glamorises the power differentials it depicts as much as it critiques them. It wants a bet both ways, but I think we viewers do too. We know what a cost there was to these gender differences, and the fact that the clothes underline the differences makes them somehow complicit.<br />
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Given the show's glamorisation of oppression, it's not surprising that so many people don't get the irony. I remember reading the blog of a male copywriter who said something along the lines of 'It's okay to be a bit sexist since <i>Mad Men</i>'. Surely it should be even <i>less</i> okay to be sexist after <i>Mad Men</i>, not more?<br />
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The problem is Don, of course. He is confused, emotionally isolated, an imposter in his own life, but he's also in control in so many ways, never more so than with the ladies. And the trouble is, the show seems to like him wielding sexual power over them. It offers him as a role model even as it reveals the farce that is his picture-perfect life - in the first series, anyway. Patriarchy and male privilege have never been so alluring.<br />
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Some of the female actors in Mad Men don't get the irony either, their publicity shots showing poses that make them look like <a href="http://comicallygraphic.blogspot.com.au/2011/03/all-star-superman-lois-lane-voice-act.html">objects of lust</a> and not subjects of it. Corporations are also reaping the benefits. The <a href="http://ohlovelylolo.com/skin-deep-beauty-estee-lauder-mad-men-collection/">Mad Men cosmetics line </a>by Estee Lauder cashes in on the mystique without the critique - and the actors oblige by allowing themselves to be photographed - or it appears that way - smoking away in retro sixties style.<br />
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Perhaps I don't have to resolve the ambivalence I feel watching the show - perhaps I just need to be aware of it. <i>Mad Men</i> is about how the past affects the present, and it is a warning as much as as an exercise in nostalgia. Women are not yet equal to men even today, but even the gains we've made are constantly under threat.<br />
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Let's adore the full skirts, shimmery evening gowns, complicated hairstyles, perfectly arranged scarves, and the neatness and tailored suaveness of Pete and Don. But let's also remember that prescribed gender roles come at a huge cost. These roles are appealing because they make us feel secure, and hark back to a time when it was all much simpler, but in the end they bring out the worst in both women and men. The men in <i>Mad Men</i> are too competitive, too 'up themselves', they're rude, self-centred, terrified of intimacy and prone to alcoholism; the women are bored, angry and unfulfilled, passive-aggressive, and chronically insecure. Somehow as a species we have to let these roles go and just learn to be ourselves, to fulfil ourselves as human beings and treat one another with respect. It's a much harder ask but the question is - can we do it and still enjoy the fun of fifties and sixties fashion?<br />
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You betcha.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1P-E40-mz54of4bV4ry_8_W8ocFn_EzXDeIDUa64jPXE8UYn1IWhlq47FuWpfnAKzF3SewD-8Eu__0c4IocrAHsT-155guoztCEh78vs5klASi_EwvdXP_ahddm4p4KQk9nXj6EYM8-T1/s1600/fifites+retro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1P-E40-mz54of4bV4ry_8_W8ocFn_EzXDeIDUa64jPXE8UYn1IWhlq47FuWpfnAKzF3SewD-8Eu__0c4IocrAHsT-155guoztCEh78vs5klASi_EwvdXP_ahddm4p4KQk9nXj6EYM8-T1/s400/fifites+retro.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/anniepancake/">AnnieAnniePancake</a></td></tr>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-5667896012415703442013-09-25T21:55:00.001-07:002013-09-26T14:59:03.072-07:00Fringe Furniture 2013 Delivers a Fresh Burst of Design Imagination<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b>Melbourne's Fringe Furniture exhibition, part of the annual Fringe Festival, is famous for its fresh, inventive and cheeky attitude. This year's theme was 'Make it true', a call to bring imaginative ideas to life. Many entries combine artistic flair with unexpected uses of recycled materials. I popped in last weekend and took some pics.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fringe Furniture has become an iconic Melbourne event. Established in 1986, it showcases the work of some of the country's most exciting emerging designers. It is entirely open access and includes an awards program and a mentor program. Its home in recent years has been the Abbotsford Convent <span style="font-size: 11pt;">–</span> a trip to this artistic hub is an outing in itself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The standout exhibit for me was the scary chair pictured above. Made from a recycled piano and plumbing fittings, with lighting coming from open mouths on curved tentacles, it has an uncanny touch of the Addams Family about it. Titled 'The festering', it was indeed inspired by Uncle Fester, who would power lightglobes by putting them into his mouth. It's the brainchild of Amanda Gibson and Peter Drofenik.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A very different kind of seating (and colour scheme) can be seen in this comfy looking bench by <a href="http://www.theloop.com.au/celinehuggins/portfolio/Industrial-Designer/Blue-Mountains">Celine Huggins</a>. Its materials include food cans and synthetic ply towelling and the slats are pool noodles, no less.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCcekoM2snFmdV_6NifYNRVBwWkRrbmds2es6hqldHuXP4EmMZSDVLhq-1Sg630Kt8khqKq7z6PiXPg7CdeXFulHVKd69eB5sTPRgj5NKer-xcq1aGpjflCKHL_4AHladbfI1DDRHO9_0H/s1600/2013-09-21+16.19.19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCcekoM2snFmdV_6NifYNRVBwWkRrbmds2es6hqldHuXP4EmMZSDVLhq-1Sg630Kt8khqKq7z6PiXPg7CdeXFulHVKd69eB5sTPRgj5NKer-xcq1aGpjflCKHL_4AHladbfI1DDRHO9_0H/s400/2013-09-21+16.19.19.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The piece below is the very definition of conceptual elegance. By <a href="http://cargocollective.com/markowitzdesign">Adam Raphael Markowitz</a>, it's called the Möbius Chair and is made from laminated birch plywood.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm3J3NzbIELFlMfGIKUfTpUMBmeJPQ5T3uCo1Hp0S94lkoXU8D87OvzGYBf4-IqHMz_uk2pN8FmLKiLk2is6NT3oHkNPFxT1QQ4FZzz8VCKt-ghsYa2HumPrlYap0YnfmfD2FNi_27QxrF/s1600/2013-09-21+16.09.57.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm3J3NzbIELFlMfGIKUfTpUMBmeJPQ5T3uCo1Hp0S94lkoXU8D87OvzGYBf4-IqHMz_uk2pN8FmLKiLk2is6NT3oHkNPFxT1QQ4FZzz8VCKt-ghsYa2HumPrlYap0YnfmfD2FNi_27QxrF/s400/2013-09-21+16.09.57.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The uncanny crops up again in 'Fledgling', a striking light shade made from ostrich feathers, stainless steel and rusted steel. It's by designer <a href="http://www.metaform.net.au/">Alex Sanson</a>.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI6Fw0aLhrAh1Fmo9eCTJrjVkwzciFYVpkjOqjo-ACE_WzstYJ9GHvwO0BapYHpJak_E6ju6bS0PAFqMJbSQ7eBNbFyMG4SDuYeraCRK6GgkA7WkUtjt2Yd_qIF0Rv3P6RFC2Lreval6Pm/s1600/2013-09-21+16.16.27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI6Fw0aLhrAh1Fmo9eCTJrjVkwzciFYVpkjOqjo-ACE_WzstYJ9GHvwO0BapYHpJak_E6ju6bS0PAFqMJbSQ7eBNbFyMG4SDuYeraCRK6GgkA7WkUtjt2Yd_qIF0Rv3P6RFC2Lreval6Pm/s400/2013-09-21+16.16.27.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why hasn't someone thought to combine the chair and the sleeping bag (or is it a windcheater) before? The result is an invitation to withdraw into domestic comfort. This design, 'Cocoon', is by <a href="http://www.evanmerydesign.com/">Evan Mery</a>.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZVW9ZeEo-iSG6vkT4r5yGAf3xhGhE7MV_X_FHZe2dvnFfJNz2UgbT5qdWTRQ2pWgr5_wypev4PscnJCH0wILCgkE5rxmKHwmhbwetmd1BHVw0t88pqqxdDUguQ2isW0QHrFr3mo0RbPvs/s1600/2013-09-21+16.12.43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZVW9ZeEo-iSG6vkT4r5yGAf3xhGhE7MV_X_FHZe2dvnFfJNz2UgbT5qdWTRQ2pWgr5_wypev4PscnJCH0wILCgkE5rxmKHwmhbwetmd1BHVw0t88pqqxdDUguQ2isW0QHrFr3mo0RbPvs/s400/2013-09-21+16.12.43.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I loved the bold yet natural colour shades on this coffee table, which is made from a salvaged pallet, with a base of black zinc steel. It's by <a href="http://www.marcusoreilly.com/">Marcus O'Reilly</a> and is fittingly titled 'Palletto to pallete'.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcLj4DEsoe3eJKCBgOJbUCLcpGj8a33PhwHoPb7424l8duFN6q_vEpTNvnUuzC6HeMsf9Qic77bjqBxFrjJnuZ04e5g5pUim_a5Whce38S_lSGZbHfa5y9aTf1egh7vvxu_eMkZXA8HuRd/s1600/2013-09-21+16.03.58.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcLj4DEsoe3eJKCBgOJbUCLcpGj8a33PhwHoPb7424l8duFN6q_vEpTNvnUuzC6HeMsf9Qic77bjqBxFrjJnuZ04e5g5pUim_a5Whce38S_lSGZbHfa5y9aTf1egh7vvxu_eMkZXA8HuRd/s400/2013-09-21+16.03.58.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's a close-up of the surface.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN_Dc54kvbg6RKTWOYdmTHFrRrRlEdJ61gaNLDP7j_pvWJHYCCb3HJ0nmAieJ-oNfMCMOqXQeMvHzTzAimGB1lgPV7QUurh_D8yTNJlXey6v588diKsiZ1SmywuO6PUsN7s4C2_czos6HV/s1600/2013-09-21+16.04.13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN_Dc54kvbg6RKTWOYdmTHFrRrRlEdJ61gaNLDP7j_pvWJHYCCb3HJ0nmAieJ-oNfMCMOqXQeMvHzTzAimGB1lgPV7QUurh_D8yTNJlXey6v588diKsiZ1SmywuO6PUsN7s4C2_czos6HV/s320/2013-09-21+16.04.13.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The flash photo below doesn't fully convey the charm of this next piece, which has a 'steampunk' feel. Known as 'Jacklight', it was made from mixed materials by Donna Kirkwood and Patrick Neil at </span><a href="http://www.zom8ie.com.au/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Zom8ie</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwUlVTSr8-jl4KnP-EdCp3ZvtpSNQp3HF-iJyR5CIMCCn228o2CRYZA5mkXLmGR9Bexxv_4UvwoXp45k2excNN7AhwW5Y_pXb_xJuW7kZop4Vyc3-3WFPrah0arev0ZLd2a58ChirQH7Ou/s1600/2013-09-21+16.27.36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwUlVTSr8-jl4KnP-EdCp3ZvtpSNQp3HF-iJyR5CIMCCn228o2CRYZA5mkXLmGR9Bexxv_4UvwoXp45k2excNN7AhwW5Y_pXb_xJuW7kZop4Vyc3-3WFPrah0arev0ZLd2a58ChirQH7Ou/s400/2013-09-21+16.27.36.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This trio of a stool and two tables had a pleasing spidery feel and an earthy asethetic. Created by Christopher Herman, the tops are Australian limestone and the legs are corten steel.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj856lJcov7pbpdhXSSjgxu99PIE3xzmtXgcZQyBqMyt-Z9f8rlpc8L0MnzpawEjEmHFVUYuyZ_J7RO4LBnzquKczrtk765xQWvHQrI8wxcTzuU3CDXA9FparX7eKJaMWlsWdTCBlfaPrG9/s1600/2013-09-21+16.24.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj856lJcov7pbpdhXSSjgxu99PIE3xzmtXgcZQyBqMyt-Z9f8rlpc8L0MnzpawEjEmHFVUYuyZ_J7RO4LBnzquKczrtk765xQWvHQrI8wxcTzuU3CDXA9FparX7eKJaMWlsWdTCBlfaPrG9/s400/2013-09-21+16.24.11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The striking light shades below are porcelain designs from Colin Hopkins's <a href="http://www.porcelume.com.au/">Porcelume collection</a>, created in his studio at the Abbotsford Convent. Hopkins's delicate, translucent designs are hand thrown on a potters wheel and then etched by hand, creating a shimmering feel. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAszQm7aLYKnV-9iQI78Psvpa3t9SC_d1xUFiC7P3J5MM6jhCCPUC85Gh3M-wYusNm_3N5FqOIpzp2njIi4dEsCepAwMnEDU2x5ZICfiD8JEduJxFz9BKpQpbAtUyf_uJXagLjQw2r-R20/s1600/2013-09-21+16.09.48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAszQm7aLYKnV-9iQI78Psvpa3t9SC_d1xUFiC7P3J5MM6jhCCPUC85Gh3M-wYusNm_3N5FqOIpzp2njIi4dEsCepAwMnEDU2x5ZICfiD8JEduJxFz9BKpQpbAtUyf_uJXagLjQw2r-R20/s400/2013-09-21+16.09.48.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are only a few of the almost 100 pieces in the <a href="http://fringefurniture.melbournefringe.com.au/upcoming-exhibitions/">Fringe Furniture </a><a href="http://fringefurniture.melbournefringe.com.au/upcoming-exhibitions/">exhibition</a>, which runs until 6 October. Opening hours are Wed – Sun, 11 am – 5 pm. It's at the Abbotsford Convent, 16 St Heliers St Abbotsford. It's well worth a look if you're in Melbourne </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">–</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> stroll around the convent grounds afterwards, and have a cuppa in one of the cafes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Until next time!</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/253/F638B4ADAF1BBF092057A37B427CACE2.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like </span><a href="http://inspiredshopper.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/furnishing-future-fringe-furniture.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Furnishing the Future: Fringe Furniture Exhibition Showcases New Design from Old Materials</a>.</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-6915991767015242322013-09-08T19:22:00.003-07:002013-09-09T00:19:28.441-07:00Advanced Style – A Fashion Blog that Advances the Image of Women<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5RCky5IV02zYO72GU151XuLMLwlPLX-8-_sVDxi0wC3UhcnTqm74-tbuAD6uAznlOshS9nS6Yyjf_7E4s9A5g8B4k5hjKXSMrzhe9AZgLjlkVQzMRVsj-sR9fSnHxa-Gr3J19bq7d6CHL/s1600/OLDER+WOMAN+NEW+YORK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5RCky5IV02zYO72GU151XuLMLwlPLX-8-_sVDxi0wC3UhcnTqm74-tbuAD6uAznlOshS9nS6Yyjf_7E4s9A5g8B4k5hjKXSMrzhe9AZgLjlkVQzMRVsj-sR9fSnHxa-Gr3J19bq7d6CHL/s400/OLDER+WOMAN+NEW+YORK.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/caitymariebus/">Caitlin Bussey</a></td></tr>
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<b>There are so many great fashion blogs on the web these days, it</b><b>’s difficult to keep track of them all</b><b>.
One blog that stands out is <a href="http://advancedstyle.blogspot.com.au/">Advanced Style</a>, which celebrates
the fashion flair of older women. </b></div>
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The blog’s creator, Ari Seth Cohen, roams the streets of New York taking beautifully styled photographs of older people with creative personal style.</div>
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The success of this blog has been phenomenal. It attracts around 150,000 visitors a month. It’s featured on television many times, there is an upcoming documentary and Advanced Style coffee table book and colouring book. One of Cohen’s favourite subjects is Ruth, a 100-year-old woman who dresses elegantly every day, exercises daily, travels overseas with her boyfriend and still does Pilates.</div>
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There are so many reasons to love this blog, but it’s what
it <i>avoids</i> doing as much as what it achieves
that makes it so radical.</div>
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<b>Advanced Style
doesn’t talk down to its readers.</b> Just the opposite – it invites their
participation. For the women who regularly showcase their outfits on the blog and have become friends with Cohen, it often becomes a collaboration. Their involvement helps
to shape the blog.</div>
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<b>There’s hardly a
tight forehead in sight. </b>No judgement on those who succumb to ‘enhancement’
such as Botox or plastic surgery, and I’m sure a few of those featured have had
the odd nip and tuck, but it’s refreshing to see women who aren’t trying to
look young. Instead their aim is to look great and stylish at whatever age they
happen to be. </div>
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<b>It encourages
diversity of expression.</b> Traditionally the only option for the stylish
woman as she grew older was to choose the elegant, refined route – pearls,
linen, crisp suits and so on. Luckily that no longer applies. The blog includes
plenty of traditionally elegant women, but this is just one option. And often a
chic line is combined with a bold use of colour and shape to provide eye-catching
looks that are both elegant and adventurous; in other words, elegance doesn’t
have to be boring.</div>
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<b>It encourages
creativity and fun.</b> Advanced Style demonstrates that as we grow older,
style can become more individualised. These women dress to be noticed, but they
also dress for themselves and for creative freedom. The approach is
lighthearted. Too often fashion is presented as a serious business. This blog
celebrates the creative, fun aspects of fashion.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj23MNyaNd2xfMjVbYfN2cTE7hW1qN1XwOwxJswk1BEU0QY5AuPm9jg0wO4bQp3yrF56dz9QolFCgtxpqC6K6S94_HfCBNVmXCOzflV1U363zpNqZZ2hoPnoCmE92tnFSTJ5bzopMazlPyN/s1600/ADVANCED+STYLE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj23MNyaNd2xfMjVbYfN2cTE7hW1qN1XwOwxJswk1BEU0QY5AuPm9jg0wO4bQp3yrF56dz9QolFCgtxpqC6K6S94_HfCBNVmXCOzflV1U363zpNqZZ2hoPnoCmE92tnFSTJ5bzopMazlPyN/s400/ADVANCED+STYLE.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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All this has important implications for both the cultural image
and self-image of older women. The point is not to look alluring to a man, but
to dress for yourself and, if you are so inclined, to create your look as a
work of art. Attention, originality, detail and experimentation are the
catchwords here.</div>
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This has the potential to lift the confidence and self-esteem
of older readers. Not that all readers need such a nudge of course: the women
featured in the blog have truly come into their own, and this is where the
message to the wider community – that older women are to be respected and their
power acknowledged – comes in. (The blog doesn’t exclude stylish men – they are
in the minority of course, but some extremely stylish older men are featured.)</div>
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Younger readers also get the message that not only is it
okay to get and look older, but getting older is an opportunity to grow as a
person, and to develop a stronger sense of self. In a sexualised, youth-obsessed
culture, these women are role models for younger women.</div>
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There are a few drawbacks. Many of the women do wear clothes
that are, well, pricey; New York’s well-heeled are not absent from Advanced
Style, and sometimes the lifestyle aspects are, ahem, aspirational. However, there’s
also a fair bit of upcycling and op shop chic, and plenty of vintage and alternative
designers. Overall the blog is refreshingly free of fashion ‘snobbery’.</div>
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You don’t have to be rich to gain from this blog. You just
have to love the idea of expressing yourself through what you wear – you can do
this at any age, of course, but the older you get, the better you’ll get at it.
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Advanced Style is not the only blog to celebrate getting older with flair. <a href="http://www.pilgrimsmoon.com/">Pilgrim’sMoon</a>, <a href="http://notdeadyetstyle.blogspot.com.au/">Not Dead Yet Style</a> and <a href="http://stylecrone.com/">The Style Crone</a> are also well worth a look.</div>
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Until next time!</div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/253/F638B4ADAF1BBF092057A37B427CACE2.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a></div>
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<b>If you enjoyed this blog entry, please share using the social media buttons below.</b></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-29768592362183573252013-09-04T22:30:00.000-07:002013-09-04T22:30:42.121-07:00Fabulous Vintage Fashion at Sacred Heart Spring Fashion Parade<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoPcGAthsHlj0gW99kAVZ6E9MyXVXCb5J5KnOplkXO1nymfwg8Yozp-k26ZWMy11OnkBHB_2oaV_Hsk9yKYqMvTWXg2uYBBBX0G6aXFgUZZPfxaOrLeMigcBtAGusZuK3DKbQQOAJ-kd32/s1600/067.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoPcGAthsHlj0gW99kAVZ6E9MyXVXCb5J5KnOplkXO1nymfwg8Yozp-k26ZWMy11OnkBHB_2oaV_Hsk9yKYqMvTWXg2uYBBBX0G6aXFgUZZPfxaOrLeMigcBtAGusZuK3DKbQQOAJ-kd32/s400/067.JPG" width="248" /></a></div>
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<b>Last week, frugal fashionistas crowded into the Sacred Heart
Mission Op Shop in Elsternwick to watch its spring fashion parade, showcasing a
fabulous range of one-off vintage and designer fashion for the coming season. All proceeds from the store go to the Mission's wonderful work for people facing crisis in Melbourne.</b></div>
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The MCs were celebrity milliner Peter Jago (shown below wearing one of his own amazing creations) and comedian and
writer Fiona Scott-Norman (in the following picture), who also modelled some stunning sixties and
seventies designs. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk4xjSfJOiUV8oDUGTRKjl6eYq3BG3bzx-vZJnXAgkUFmnDTFnOYjzvsSMSoLRbFO2ut0nqPo19M8sjMjEYhQo0xR9Absru_KxqeXyQGcUEeWurPOPeBUihbJJwMmzwC7y4gbf6VdRvTmw/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk4xjSfJOiUV8oDUGTRKjl6eYq3BG3bzx-vZJnXAgkUFmnDTFnOYjzvsSMSoLRbFO2ut0nqPo19M8sjMjEYhQo0xR9Absru_KxqeXyQGcUEeWurPOPeBUihbJJwMmzwC7y4gbf6VdRvTmw/s400/001.JPG" width="261" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZF_1DgTtUY2pSY7b7bepLDvv49-pu1qdufSvr2zCA7IZnwNhudLggI6ImRY7MIu33gAyJdcCtuNWYX9S9sBjUul5hd8F0zSigQvL1PBkOjvq6fB-9tgoEAe6R72VneFzYvEX7kBBdy4Bh/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZF_1DgTtUY2pSY7b7bepLDvv49-pu1qdufSvr2zCA7IZnwNhudLggI6ImRY7MIu33gAyJdcCtuNWYX9S9sBjUul5hd8F0zSigQvL1PBkOjvq6fB-9tgoEAe6R72VneFzYvEX7kBBdy4Bh/s400/003.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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The fashion items, just a fraction of the cost of buying new, included designer labels such as Alannah Hill. Sacred Heart staff and volunteers featured in the parade, wearing top-to-toe ensembles that the fussiest fashionista would be proud of. The bubbly flowed and the atmosphere was merry.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Picture: Sacred Heart Mission</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture: Sacred Heart Mission</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture: Sacred Heart Mission</td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.sacredheartmission.org/">Sacred Heart Mission</a> provides many wonderful outreach
services for disadvantaged people. These include short term crisis services,
meals and support as well as long-term housing and aged care. Sacred Heart has
a philosophy of empowering people and bringing them back into the community,
and partnering with research organisations to provide best practice services. Volunteers are welcome to join its vibrant range of programs.</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-64875536579955660612013-09-02T15:59:00.000-07:002013-09-02T18:58:18.524-07:00Spring Offer: 30 per cent off The Inspired Shopper<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpkCeJUbMq6UQDgD9d_Ts47WalbhZFqyUm2rZZQIAfci4SgXIySNesM-mq0LacD7aE79D05GISyVXhTraDBaF_4lGaWDoFrvIxFo8fqW93F8nEeFiLTkXq5vTqRcf2G9vdUngS5LfBLasl/s1600/SPRING+OFFER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpkCeJUbMq6UQDgD9d_Ts47WalbhZFqyUm2rZZQIAfci4SgXIySNesM-mq0LacD7aE79D05GISyVXhTraDBaF_4lGaWDoFrvIxFo8fqW93F8nEeFiLTkXq5vTqRcf2G9vdUngS5LfBLasl/s320/SPRING+OFFER.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>It's spring in Melbourne, and everyone's feeling playful because it's sunny, there are blossoms on the trees and the drunken smell of freesias wherever you go.</b><br />
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Spring is even more special than usual because last month, the Inspired Shopper blog received <b>over 2000 page views</b> for the first time ever! To celebrate, I've cut the price of my book, <i>The Inspired Shopper</i>, by over 30 per cent to only $1.99, and the equivalent in other currencies.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Inspired-Shopper-Effortlessly-ebook/dp/B0056A2R8C/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1347051391&sr=1-1&keywords=inspired+shopper">Buy it here</a> if you're in the US or Australia, and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inspired-Shopper-Effortlessly-Finding-ebook/dp/B0056A2R8C/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347051573&sr=1-1">here</a> if you'e in the UK - there are also Amazon websites for <a href="http://www.amazon.de/The-Inspired-Shopper-Effortlessly-ebook/dp/B0056A2R8C/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1378162276&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=inspired+shopper">Germany</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.in/Inspired-Shopper-Effortlessly-Finding-ebook/dp/B0056A2R8C/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1378162326&sr=1-1&keywords=inspired+shopper">India</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.fr/Inspired-Shopper-Effortlessly-Finding-ebook/dp/B0056A2R8C/ref=sr_1_1?s=english-books&ie=UTF8&qid=1378162375&sr=1-1&keywords=inspired+shopper">France</a>.<span id="goog_2095129940"></span><span id="goog_2095129941"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a><br />
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<b>This offer only lasts until next Tuesday morning so get it while it's hot : )</b><br />
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<b>Find out more about the book <a href="http://inspiredshopper.blogspot.com.au/p/about-inspired-shopping.html">here</a>.</b><br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-38762573956692115742013-08-26T14:58:00.000-07:002013-08-27T15:08:34.593-07:00Uniquely Melbourne: Alternative St Kilda<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Ah, St Kilda - surely the place in Melbourne with the richest combination of social ingredients. Glorious, diverse, artistic and a little bit seedy, Melbourne's young bohemians started flocking to St Kilda and its bay beach after the Eastern Europeans who settled there after the war gave the suburb its alternative cache.</b><br />
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Traditional Jewish food culture flourished in the delis and Hungarian restaurants of Acland Street, musicians played at the Espy, penniless artists rented out crumbling old-style apartments for a song, the windows of the cake shops became a drawcard for tourists and the Kooglhoupf made its appearance on Melbourne's Sunday lunch tables.<br />
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St Kilda's popularity has changed the suburb, which is much more upmarket these days. But when I went in search of its soul recently I didn't have to go far. There's plenty of life left in St Kilda, as these small cafes and retailers attest. Come with me on a journey to the soul of St Kilda. (As you can see, my photography skills are still 'evolving'.)<br />
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Before we hit the shops, let's stop at a hidden oasis south of Acland Street, the Blessington Gardens. I once lived opposite them, and they weren't as superbly maintained then as they are today. There are several discrete sections - a rose garden, an area of native Australian plants, a rotunda for weddings, and a lake with white ducks. Here's a pleasing vista.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSVbfkCpBN3sNw0ReHiuypCR_kJT40PieZH9uWQz6tPThB1SfRt012uD09Z3KmdNQzOJRt0cZK464SgCe-Gm96x0AztlVytwK_pBYXX4uQ9iYBgA9e61b65Jghw88qt_kK8WPBXf6uQ52l/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSVbfkCpBN3sNw0ReHiuypCR_kJT40PieZH9uWQz6tPThB1SfRt012uD09Z3KmdNQzOJRt0cZK464SgCe-Gm96x0AztlVytwK_pBYXX4uQ9iYBgA9e61b65Jghw88qt_kK8WPBXf6uQ52l/s400/005.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Now we're ready to hit the road. Our journey starts at a charming group of cute little cafes bunched together in Blessington Street. <a href="http://www.kotchlane.com.au/">Kotch Lane</a> is arguably the sweetest of these.<br />
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The cafe has some lovely personal touches.</div>
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Next door is the famous <a href="http://lentilasanything.com/">Lentil as Anything</a> with its 'pay as you feel' philosophy. There are no prices on the menu - instead you decide how much the meal is worth. There are now three Lentil as Anything restaurants in Melbourne, and St Kilda was the first. The 'pay as you feel' model has since been adopted internationally.<br />
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Below is a shot of the restaurant's interior.</div>
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It's now time to cross Barkly Street, lured by this charming clothes store, <a href="http://www.dotandherbey.com/boutique/home.html">dot & herbey</a>, on the corner of Barkly and Blessington.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-tBd4v4Y0beHmKAx0EHFz86QAzh8UExw_j_lhEUwFI7EfP8KQRsF2dPUcYeKbmExX94NNxAIGt4kqtQmGft_z-BmHLpNKJfsI_zJPf34IGoum8APRc5TnDThM3EKd3XqPEe-LqtJ7qiDL/s1600/031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-tBd4v4Y0beHmKAx0EHFz86QAzh8UExw_j_lhEUwFI7EfP8KQRsF2dPUcYeKbmExX94NNxAIGt4kqtQmGft_z-BmHLpNKJfsI_zJPf34IGoum8APRc5TnDThM3EKd3XqPEe-LqtJ7qiDL/s400/031.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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dot & herbey is an independent Australian label, with all clothes manufactured in Australia.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimv11TawL2kgdK5gQvwzOKFFgMiCfRfpV2oM7H8UF5Pqm_Z-GlGB_R66QSoTD3aGo6iPl9ldWoPb3Q8yPnukpNlNQ2lC-VEM0nuy27dLLnAcxx1zHioYJlyoTNU3ZlOSPJEGDBGjA7PWgf/s1600/027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimv11TawL2kgdK5gQvwzOKFFgMiCfRfpV2oM7H8UF5Pqm_Z-GlGB_R66QSoTD3aGo6iPl9ldWoPb3Q8yPnukpNlNQ2lC-VEM0nuy27dLLnAcxx1zHioYJlyoTNU3ZlOSPJEGDBGjA7PWgf/s400/027.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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Crossing to the corner of Acland and Barkly streets, in need of refreshment, we find <a href="http://leroyespressobar.com/">Leroy Espresso Bar</a>, which takes its coffee very seriously. Manager Sam obliged with a pic:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTgEwwO6mYKS0N4uLOGkKY2uy_ELtu7qIxlIcXs1lthwzKkHInqvrSL_bzz0E02A-MceOaVYDnylsaI2G071gSGk3M3l_E_xW1zQ8RXQA_sdWp2_84MlipCtgEdKhEgR_vA60RJuln-GdK/s1600/046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTgEwwO6mYKS0N4uLOGkKY2uy_ELtu7qIxlIcXs1lthwzKkHInqvrSL_bzz0E02A-MceOaVYDnylsaI2G071gSGk3M3l_E_xW1zQ8RXQA_sdWp2_84MlipCtgEdKhEgR_vA60RJuln-GdK/s320/046.JPG" width="283" /></a></div>
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Striking exposed brick walls make the interior of this cafe distinctive, giving it a warehouse feel.</div>
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Here's the cute tiled exterior.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5MJoBg6m1rmrf7niWIbEtLHXwJ6oRl4dZ1d7_XNA1KHlpy0hVV3pahcwZWmh-cKnFruqgaoD6m7nCXGRFezO7k8MZihXH4RkuHK4b0nnIAzjzFU0bOn4eMtzc7Er7tjxIzLePa8Xvv8qM/s1600/054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5MJoBg6m1rmrf7niWIbEtLHXwJ6oRl4dZ1d7_XNA1KHlpy0hVV3pahcwZWmh-cKnFruqgaoD6m7nCXGRFezO7k8MZihXH4RkuHK4b0nnIAzjzFU0bOn4eMtzc7Er7tjxIzLePa8Xvv8qM/s320/054.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Wandering in a north-westerly direction up Acland Street, we hit the group of cake shops that first made the street famous. One of these is <a href="http://www.monarchcakes.com.au/index.htm">Monarch Cakes</a>, which has apparently been recommended by Tourism Australia as one of the top 25 places to visit in Australia. This cute window display caught my eye.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOvk1cr5g3SRZoX1PasYWkz9FMYk-YKv8ooO4hLDPwVHQ7KmBsTsIKFByhJ7gMx7kzhvjL8vUelZaehSMLJB80JKwdgS3nT4VHyTleN9ue-i_OEzTZWdCOCz5YVuFyQpUwdt9rOQHs_u8a/s1600/042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOvk1cr5g3SRZoX1PasYWkz9FMYk-YKv8ooO4hLDPwVHQ7KmBsTsIKFByhJ7gMx7kzhvjL8vUelZaehSMLJB80JKwdgS3nT4VHyTleN9ue-i_OEzTZWdCOCz5YVuFyQpUwdt9rOQHs_u8a/s400/042.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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This store interior definitely retains the feel of 'old St Kilda'.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdY01fModDWHTeNdZUrSnmZdV93bE_wsXOViXV60R85a2ohpTsQBqkue06tFRp3Ba2u8pGVv47Y6X5jjaVeymDTVJYu9FQZesFRopMtZAk8l7kdWhbCX0p2Y_5fbqTcEzq28kRdVAxMXB1/s1600/043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdY01fModDWHTeNdZUrSnmZdV93bE_wsXOViXV60R85a2ohpTsQBqkue06tFRp3Ba2u8pGVv47Y6X5jjaVeymDTVJYu9FQZesFRopMtZAk8l7kdWhbCX0p2Y_5fbqTcEzq28kRdVAxMXB1/s400/043.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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Crossing the street, we come to the St Kilda RSL on the corner of Albert Street, where we find the <a href="http://www.southsidemarket.com.au/">Southside Handmade and Vintage Market</a>. This is held on the last Saturday of each month (except September and December) on the first floor of the RSL, a charming art deco building. It's the perfect setting for the market, which is full of lovingly crafted clothes, soft furnishings, jewellery, knick-knacks and vintage fashion. There's even a cafe at the back.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNoLrIJQrOa-tyahJzSUSCpd4F-6MLCMF7szNPCTj_tk2JJTuRRHZMdW9Mr8s7RpPEtYgH-wf5Fw7D1cmKfwsxPbf434-fvyzxkgSLG7wYXJtZ3C7Fsg1tiRihhrGV1Kwq7_q4pVQUTtHq/s1600/VINTAGE+MARKET.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNoLrIJQrOa-tyahJzSUSCpd4F-6MLCMF7szNPCTj_tk2JJTuRRHZMdW9Mr8s7RpPEtYgH-wf5Fw7D1cmKfwsxPbf434-fvyzxkgSLG7wYXJtZ3C7Fsg1tiRihhrGV1Kwq7_q4pVQUTtHq/s400/VINTAGE+MARKET.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEnSdE9tF588eLrIiGy1RSBrE9X9lx7aKt6PbfHqLDBbHrwO9I9uw-7WPqU2rzXCr-AWX3jlek473O8YQFHMT1pHyhXWZeN-sxp0wsXLx3gaKNUxnev1ducxgK9AZgWnXUnL9ltygLfMqs/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEnSdE9tF588eLrIiGy1RSBrE9X9lx7aKt6PbfHqLDBbHrwO9I9uw-7WPqU2rzXCr-AWX3jlek473O8YQFHMT1pHyhXWZeN-sxp0wsXLx3gaKNUxnev1ducxgK9AZgWnXUnL9ltygLfMqs/s320/009.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Wendy Scully's wonderful hats, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ChapeauxByWendy">Chapeaux by Wendy</a>, caught my eye - the hats are all handcrafted original designs, and there are plenty of summery designs as well as the winter ones shown here.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAJc4PW0LlkN7ffFf0YtCAgG6LGLrPG256pLPBT-_-iiL9zfAzmfuitVbPSlY7R3dZ764o0_5keoP_5MMRMizlhb4Pbr3h7p3C6u3rBj0ZGt7_JsHijods4hF03gesSezIQycO9OiBtKgZ/s1600/VINTAGE+HAT+SELLER.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAJc4PW0LlkN7ffFf0YtCAgG6LGLrPG256pLPBT-_-iiL9zfAzmfuitVbPSlY7R3dZ764o0_5keoP_5MMRMizlhb4Pbr3h7p3C6u3rBj0ZGt7_JsHijods4hF03gesSezIQycO9OiBtKgZ/s320/VINTAGE+HAT+SELLER.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">We then head off to the </span><a href="http://galleoncafe.com.au/" style="text-align: left;">Galleon</a><span style="text-align: left;">, a long-established cafe around the corner from Acland Street, in Carlisle Street. I used to come here in the late eighties - my favourite dish was the spanikopita, which was about four bucks! The Galleon is still a retro oasis, much-loved by the locals; the ones there on Saturday looked as if they had settled in for a good few hours.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjntVx6YPT1-8wJlJRVeYSxMrgj8nnwJwgOViEFytJYszPBwOtSyYl7-oH5FqKKxIGIeOddo_zSbTEVo9MolP3mLoJQgAtsiZyxoVEE-02zOZGVxnRaGb-SsZEpkV8BUumQHzFEda_CDtHX/s1600/GALLEON.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjntVx6YPT1-8wJlJRVeYSxMrgj8nnwJwgOViEFytJYszPBwOtSyYl7-oH5FqKKxIGIeOddo_zSbTEVo9MolP3mLoJQgAtsiZyxoVEE-02zOZGVxnRaGb-SsZEpkV8BUumQHzFEda_CDtHX/s400/GALLEON.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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The bold use of colour gives a funky feel to the place.</div>
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Soon after this point in our travels we meet Rebecca Kennedy, a creative fashion stylist known as the 'style guru' who lives in the area. (I'd never met Rebecca but thought she looked amazing and had to stop and ask for her photo. As I had unintentionally added an arty setting on my camera, the pic doesn't do justice to her great use of colour but it shows her amazing style, which I'd describe as 'street glamour'.)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0bydNygXJpQxtAeIpbzuWcCggnuIF04R1OSVsU1r9BnF3wX1CIe4pxPYElXhNvz7zA7wfvJor_VVNAoUqXwNR3A14QJrS1s_ZKn-0OoXJ61OMae3PWyJltrtA_XcyNG3k2byHyNvgc6x_/s1600/REBECCA2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0bydNygXJpQxtAeIpbzuWcCggnuIF04R1OSVsU1r9BnF3wX1CIe4pxPYElXhNvz7zA7wfvJor_VVNAoUqXwNR3A14QJrS1s_ZKn-0OoXJ61OMae3PWyJltrtA_XcyNG3k2byHyNvgc6x_/s640/REBECCA2.jpg" width="506" /></a></div>
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It's time to leave Acland Street and head off down Barkly to the corner where Inkerman Road becomes Grey Street. This is a groovy corner indeed and the hilly topography combines with the terraced shop fronts to create a village-meets-inner-urban-cool atmosphere. <a href="http://www.scouthouse.com.au/pages/about-us">Scout House</a> is a charming homewares store in Grey Street that has a carefully curated collection combining the old and new.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWDtZnOg5TRtF9I16pknZ1Qmz6RTUarl4kBon3W0prd33VvPQHncG8S-VAG0vaPTfH-HUJgA0-gsvP44moGmG1Xy1jhqhczXEou0eh-fYrWJMbiWuPgN8uGE_VJ7L6MVfsg4AlJbVVqkMD/s1600/SCOUTS+HOUSE+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWDtZnOg5TRtF9I16pknZ1Qmz6RTUarl4kBon3W0prd33VvPQHncG8S-VAG0vaPTfH-HUJgA0-gsvP44moGmG1Xy1jhqhczXEou0eh-fYrWJMbiWuPgN8uGE_VJ7L6MVfsg4AlJbVVqkMD/s400/SCOUTS+HOUSE+1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Here's part of the store interior:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXQ983cdfK0AyZ5yYvuxxuUQ2WFRduJPCgxcamEzmKU2rgrGAmKTR3bP83ZzdREpTmk8ivMxsO5TrQyiJNUPTdj4uBhsK0nFel3bLQmz2NyEzjAZpTujraqWdIlCsZ7QyP4rGrUUR_dZgR/s1600/SCOUTS+HOUSE+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXQ983cdfK0AyZ5yYvuxxuUQ2WFRduJPCgxcamEzmKU2rgrGAmKTR3bP83ZzdREpTmk8ivMxsO5TrQyiJNUPTdj4uBhsK0nFel3bLQmz2NyEzjAZpTujraqWdIlCsZ7QyP4rGrUUR_dZgR/s400/SCOUTS+HOUSE+2.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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Next door is Mollisons, a contemporary homewares store with a shabby chic feel. I fell in love with this charming group of knitted light shades in the window.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTp4frrMSYfEOZIAuo6etGvFaaHGhEc9C-gJchyphenhyphenXi-AyDR0ajVhJJdPf1CDEey5VDAxakn7FiyeyBe9rtXRw9QJxoa-u-EecUx6fURJFbNQ9ufGqSX8p8CGUkH8GVE3KYjUYAnsMIqbdpd/s1600/MOLLISONS.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTp4frrMSYfEOZIAuo6etGvFaaHGhEc9C-gJchyphenhyphenXi-AyDR0ajVhJJdPf1CDEey5VDAxakn7FiyeyBe9rtXRw9QJxoa-u-EecUx6fURJFbNQ9ufGqSX8p8CGUkH8GVE3KYjUYAnsMIqbdpd/s400/MOLLISONS.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<br />
So ends our visit today, but I've really only scratched the surface of the soul of St Kilda. There's still a lot to discover in this town.<br />
<br />
BTW, if you're in Melbourne, the <a href="http://stkildavillagestripfest.com/">StripFest festival</a>, in Acland Street and surrounds, runs until 30 August.<br />
<br />
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Until next time!</div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/253/F638B4ADAF1BBF092057A37B427CACE2.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a></div>
<br />
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<b>If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like <a href="http://inspiredshopper.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/uniquely-melbourne-alternative-carlton.html">Uniquely Melbourne: Alternative Carlton</a>.</b></div>
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</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-4955220903592529692013-08-19T18:16:00.000-07:002014-01-06T00:22:00.588-08:00The Golden Mean – Using Ancient Wisdom to Curb Your Spending<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7w32qmQ4hX-GMBPo38nk_b3DIVfuRSOd5kJ-I5LphIBveqqgLuwGIKT-E68dzku1I1vZOX7OxrWnV74-e1q9wID4xYiBQ39Mcuy9JB-0WvjnHSfQ7D-wurKa3196DOzAFMBcSIZyfWYwY/s1600/GOLDEN+MEAN+SCALES.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7w32qmQ4hX-GMBPo38nk_b3DIVfuRSOd5kJ-I5LphIBveqqgLuwGIKT-E68dzku1I1vZOX7OxrWnV74-e1q9wID4xYiBQ39Mcuy9JB-0WvjnHSfQ7D-wurKa3196DOzAFMBcSIZyfWYwY/s320/GOLDEN+MEAN+SCALES.jpg" height="320" width="230" /></a></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Are you trying to be more frugal? If so, you probably feel
overwhelmed with all the advice about it. A good way to start is to look at how
you <i>think</i> about spending and shopping,
and about how much ‘stuff’ you actually want.</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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The ancients knew a thing or two about budgeting. There’s an age-old concept that can help you make that
change the way you think about spending. It’s called the golden mean. </div>
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<br /></div>
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It’s not just the advertisers and retailers themselves who
urge us to buy. Governments do it too. In 2006, with fears of recession
looming, President George W. Bush urged Americans to <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2006/12/20/9281/bush-shopping/">‘go shopping more’</a> to keep
the economy ticking over. To head off a recession following the Global
Financial Crisis, ALP Prime Minister Kevin Rudd simply handed out money – and much
of it went to big retailers like Harvey Norman. But we don’t have to be
obedient over-consumers. We can take control.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>What is the golden
mean?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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Forget the traditional sense of the word mean. The golden
mean simply refers to the middle way between two extremes. Aristotle praised
the golden mean, but a similar idea can be found in Confucius as well as
Buddhist philosophy.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>How does the golden
mean work?</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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I discovered the golden mean for myself by accident. It was
the first time I’d sold anything on eBay. I was selling a Victorian white-painted
cane ‘what-not’ (a silly name for decorative shelving). </div>
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The person who eventually bought it had recently purchased a
holiday house and was looking for quaint ‘pieces’ for it. My piece suited her
perfectly.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I can remember watching the amount increasing as the bidding
began. In the end I think the final price was about fifty bucks. This felt like
a fair price for both of us. It was enough for me to feel that I’d made a nice
little profit on something that I loved but had no place for – there were just
no convenient corners in my flat for this piece, and it was impractical because
the shelving didn’t hold much. And it was a low enough price for the buyer to
feel that she was getting a slightly battered antique for a reasonably cheap
price.</div>
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<br /></div>
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In other words we were both happy. Neither of us felt ripped
off.</div>
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<br /></div>
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This was a revelation to me – it was possible for both buyer
and seller to be happy with the deal. This is the golden mean at work.</div>
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<br /></div>
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This point came up again a few years later when I was
discussing apartment rental prices with my brother-in-law (family members are
great for refining views in this way :)). Tax arrangements in Australia favour
property investors over first home buyers, and there are no restrictions on
rent increases. In a tight market, this makes most landlords profiteers by
default. </div>
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<br /></div>
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From our discussion it soon became clear that my
brother-in-law’s only conception of fairness was a landlord asking the maximum
amount that the market would bear. For him, there was no grey area between
making a killing from a rental property and offering rent so low that it was
basically charity.</div>
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<br /></div>
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But of course there is a place in between. This is where a
landlord offers a middling rent because he or she values a happy, long-term
tenant who will look after the property, and presumably doesn’t want to make
the tenant’s life so miserable that they move somewhere cheaper. This isn’t
charity, it is fair dealing. It is also the golden mean at work.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>How do you
incorporate the golden mean?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfTAAJu5tRrfTXYp5FVwcAzafuYV1NJvjjo-b3rdPFAsjb9J6xeGRfT0BnNeAbiwxKPE9hLqzZXwA2HA9t3a53LHz7DzHIunCMwNKlk_AXnYmGln3MzEieB3prkLHquY2S3H_EbTOGpAZt/s1600/YOUR+PERSONAL+SHOPPING+APP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfTAAJu5tRrfTXYp5FVwcAzafuYV1NJvjjo-b3rdPFAsjb9J6xeGRfT0BnNeAbiwxKPE9hLqzZXwA2HA9t3a53LHz7DzHIunCMwNKlk_AXnYmGln3MzEieB3prkLHquY2S3H_EbTOGpAZt/s1600/YOUR+PERSONAL+SHOPPING+APP.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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The golden mean can be applied to all areas of buying,
selling, and preparing your budget. Here are some tips for incorporating this
classic idea into your life.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Reduce your spending.</b>
If you spend excessively, rein it in, but don’t go overboard. Find a middle way
between splurging and being so strict you buy no treats at all. If you’re on a
strict budget for financial reasons, make sure you include regular small
treats.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Reduce the time you
spend shopping.</b> If you spend too much time shopping (as opposed to too much
money), reduce the time and use it to develop hobbies or to improve your health
and wellbeing.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Don’t be too focused
on money.</b> We all have to survive, and getting your finances sorted is
essential for your long-term wellbeing. But money is not the main point of
life. A sole focus on money making is a short cut to a poor quality of life.
Strive to add balance to your life with some fun and healthy activities.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Become a good time
manager.</b> It’s hard to lead a balanced life when the world is set up to
encourage us to run ourselves ragged with work. Learn to work smarter rather
than harder.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Set a fair price.</b>
If you sell something, set a fair price rather than one that’s too high or too
low.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Don’t always buy the cheapest
product.</b> There are many reasons not to always buy the cheapest product. Buying
Fairtrade goods that provide a fair price to the people who produce them, and
supporting small independent retailers are two ways to use the golden mean when
choosing where and how much you spend.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Find the balance
between too much stuff and no stuff at all.</b> In recent years minimalism has
become fashionable. This is an understandable reaction to our obsession with ‘stuff’.
But there’s no need to throw things away that you might need in future – use
your intuition to decide what you <i>can</i>
let go of, aim to bring less stuff into your life in future, and make use of
what you already have. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Never forget there is a golden mean, and that it does not
make you mean at all. Instead it empowers you to spend in a way that is right
for your purse, the environment and the person from whom you buy the product.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Until next time!</div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/253/F638B4ADAF1BBF092057A37B427CACE2.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a></div>
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<o:p>
</o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like <a href="http://inspiredshopper.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/are-any-of-these-negative-beliefs-about.html">Are Any of These Negative Beliefs about Money Holding You Back?</a></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Be social - please share this blog entry using the social media buttons on your left.</b></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-10576634802734984302013-08-08T17:33:00.000-07:002013-08-14T16:49:50.165-07:00Help End Puppy Farm Cruelty (Content warning: upsetting image & descriptions of animal welfare conditions)<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The cute puppies frolicking in the window of your local pet shop seem happy. But there is a grim story to how they came to be there.</b></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Victoria’s puppy farms are cruel places. So cruel that the Victorian Coalition government went to the last election promising drastic improvements to the laws governing puppy farms.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the government’s revised Code of Practice for the Operation of Breeding and Rearing Businesses actually reduces animal welfare standards.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dogs and cats are sensitive, intelligent animals who feel pain, extreme temperatures, hunger and fear just like humans. Yet in Victoria’s puppy and kitten farms they exist in conditions we wouldn't condone for the most ruthless criminals. This is not the behaviour of a civilised society.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If the revised code becomes law it will worsen the current horrific conditions and appalling situations for dogs as well as cats. The RSPCA’s verdict is damning: ‘this code legalises some of the abhorrent conditions and practices regularly seen by our Inspectors at puppy factories’. (Ironically, Victoria’s premier, Dr Denis Napthine, is a veterinarian by profession.)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9sVIYf1kFcvcT43wqIvtvGGIWcJT__2ggTpqXnvRlfAs4qrqt3lUp1wfXQm6uLlCZZD9pR_7TJXo5noU962tMwyIsom3oQUVQkzVMRBP3ow8aK__WmNQy3uA_sYQyrFELGcBcjHIxCpt8/s1600/PUPPY+FARMS+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9sVIYf1kFcvcT43wqIvtvGGIWcJT__2ggTpqXnvRlfAs4qrqt3lUp1wfXQm6uLlCZZD9pR_7TJXo5noU962tMwyIsom3oQUVQkzVMRBP3ow8aK__WmNQy3uA_sYQyrFELGcBcjHIxCpt8/s320/PUPPY+FARMS+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recommendations in the revised code include the
following: </span></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If litters of puppies are included, the ratio of carers to
animals could be as little as 1:500 outside business hours.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘Humane’ methods of death aren’t defined, and the minister
has said they could include shooting or a blow to the head, causing incredible
suffering.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There will be no requirement to provide cooling and heating,
leading to the possibility of extreme temperatures.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maximum litter numbers for females will be increased while
males will have no maximum number.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There will be no maximum breeding age or period that an animal
could be bred from, so these animals could potentially spend their entire
lifetime confined to farms.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Breeding between second-generation related animals will be
acceptable.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tethering is allowed (except for some categories of breeding
females). RSPCA Victoria advises against tethering.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The code will allow working dogs to be housed in small
raised pens with wire floors.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Breeders, rather than vets, will be able to declare an
animal fit for sale. Not only do breeders lack the appropriate qualifications
to do this, but this may also mean that neither the animal nor the buyer will
be protected from post-sale welfare or return issues.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The campaign for animal welfare standards in breeding farms
is being spearheaded by RSPCA Victoria – more background can be found <a href="http://www.rspcavic.org/issues-take-action/puppy-factories/">here</a>.<br />
<br />
The government is calling for feedback on the revised Code of Practice, and the
deadline is 9 am on Wednesday 14 August.<br />
</span><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sign the petition!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve created a petition on this issue through GetUp! Please <a href="http://www.communityrun.org/petitions/demand-proper-welfare-standards-for-victorian-government-s-puppy-farms-1"><b>sign the petition</b></a> to demand that
the Victorian Minister for Agriculture, Peter Walsh, include in the code of
practice the minimum animal welfare standards recommended by the RSPCA. (It
would be great if you could sign before 14 August, but the campaign will
continue after this date.)<br />
<br /><b>
Please also share the petition on Facebook and Twitter. </b><br />
<br />
You can also write to the <a href="mailto:peter.walsh@parliament.vic.gov.au">Minister directly</a> and
to the Premier, <a href="http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/contact.html">Dr
Denis Napthine</a>.<br />
<br />
Ultimately puppy and kitten farms should be abolished, and this is the aim of
the <a href="http://www.oscarslaw.org/">Oscar’s Law</a> campaign (and
RSPCA Victoria). But in the meantime breeding dogs and cats
must be legally protected by meaningful animal welfare standards.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pet shops and puppy
farms<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another way to stamp out cruel puppy farming would be to
make it illegal to sell dogs in pet shops. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dogs in the windows of pet shops encourage impulse purchases from people who have little idea of what looking after a puppy actually entails, and dump them when it gets too much. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hundreds of thousands of companion animals are abandoned each year in Australia. In 2011-12 the </span><a href="http://www.rspca.org.au/sites/default/files/website/The-facts/Statistics/RSPCA%20Australia%20National%20Statistics%202011-2012.pdf" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RSPCA rescued</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> almost 37,000 dogs and more
than 50,000 cats Australia wide; around 38 per cent of those dogs and 50 per cent of the
cats were ultimately euthanised.</span><br />
<br /></div>
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</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In other words, m</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">any animals are being bred </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in the prison camp conditions of puppy farms</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">only to ultimately die after being abandoned by their owners</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Petition reminder</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just to remind you, the petition can be signed <a href="http://www.communityrun.org/petitions/demand-proper-welfare-standards-for-victorian-government-s-puppy-farms-1">here</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please share this far and wide using the social media
buttons below.</span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-19109606781134231842013-08-04T18:43:00.003-07:002013-08-04T19:24:06.463-07:00Uniquely Melbourne: Alternative Carlton<b>Carlton is one of Melbourne's most treasured suburbs. On the fringe of the CBD, it is the city's Italian quarter but is so much more than that. Settled by the Jewish community in the early twentieth century, discovered by Melbourne's bohemians and uni students in the sixties and seventies and treasured by the masses for his pizza, gelato and macchiato, the suburb's foodie headquarters is Lygon Street.</b><br />
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While Carlton is long gentrified, it continues to provide rich atmosphere, authentic Italian fare and shades of its older, scruffier self.<br />
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The council has ensured that Lygon street retains its essential character and the high-rise public housing, students from nearby Melbourne University and strong Italian presence keep the street buzzy and lively. The Nova Cinema in the plaza and the iconic Readings bookstore ensure a constant stream of hipsters and progressives.<br />
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So, do Carlton and more specifically Lygon Street retain some of the excitement of the sixties, seventies and eighties? The answer is yes, but you have to look for it. I went in search of old Carlton and unfortunately the battery of my camera died, while some of my photography efforts veered towards the abstract! Where was my beginners' luck when I really needed it?<br />
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But fear not, your intrepid reporter has managed to supplement her own pics with those provided by kind vendors.<br />
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And I promise to return and take some photos of the lovely architectural details that adorn the stores of Lygon and surrounding streets.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzAIsuOVWmoP2PGO3WL4KopJnIZ6cNS_jz2PUT1HmggYdGGC3BAFVE05jgGcB69C2Mo1mHhf_DFxitOcIzOETqQ9gt9AmfzCMqI-ox4wVZZua6Kz3biUF7bW3AoJWrNsOL2E-mbvf1p2AK/s1600/TIAMOS+EXTERIOR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzAIsuOVWmoP2PGO3WL4KopJnIZ6cNS_jz2PUT1HmggYdGGC3BAFVE05jgGcB69C2Mo1mHhf_DFxitOcIzOETqQ9gt9AmfzCMqI-ox4wVZZua6Kz3biUF7bW3AoJWrNsOL2E-mbvf1p2AK/s320/TIAMOS+EXTERIOR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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First stop: the famous <a href="http://www.tiamo.com.au/">Tiamo</a> at 303 Lygon Street, a cafe and restaurant that has been providing authentic Italian fare and oozing bohemian credibility since the year dot. I used to come here for mushroom tagliatelle as an undergrad at Melbourne uni and the decor is still reassuringly the same.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDEHeF5ZVXM46OFqweaP3hKlWMlLHyTmYUB70aQbWfkxlDOHWz1Ldvn_ZpD9g4-F97Hm5zBmVmUOZiEXdlk8gnA-IaL63M9BCMEjQHJViOVrbp7JojXo08cEdW39NXSRW1LNIl7pBj6olc/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDEHeF5ZVXM46OFqweaP3hKlWMlLHyTmYUB70aQbWfkxlDOHWz1Ldvn_ZpD9g4-F97Hm5zBmVmUOZiEXdlk8gnA-IaL63M9BCMEjQHJViOVrbp7JojXo08cEdW39NXSRW1LNIl7pBj6olc/s320/002.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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On my latest visit I found sitting at the front counter the distinguished gent above. He is Bibi Succi, the owner of Tiamo, which he purchased in 1977 when Carlton was the centre of Melbourne's counterculture. He now co-owns the cafe with Giancarlo Massini, below. Giancarlo is pictured in Tiamo 2, Tiamo's sister restaurant next door, with Grace Cacopardo (left) and his niece Teresa Tron, who conduct cooking and serving duties.</div>
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This is Tiamo's interior, complete with flyers and posters on the wall and the timeless tables and chairs that I remember from uni days. My pic's not the best, but it has an artistic blurriness:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW4XvWp_q0onP7DocLKNOvUdK3W4aXo_-j7MNqOI7MvYDTZgc0U9yH9dSR7JMRkmcFBc_6Va9VKrZPiU0i3pjUXkpEu5MV9MSZYEg_SFhCgMxL_InWwjIzv7PODwV0uhkxh0sZ4LKK1eCx/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW4XvWp_q0onP7DocLKNOvUdK3W4aXo_-j7MNqOI7MvYDTZgc0U9yH9dSR7JMRkmcFBc_6Va9VKrZPiU0i3pjUXkpEu5MV9MSZYEg_SFhCgMxL_InWwjIzv7PODwV0uhkxh0sZ4LKK1eCx/s320/005.JPG" width="237" /></a></div>
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This is a clearer view of the interior:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoZBSyfSWDI4Oexbh3a2P6M1VcMBjsxpbluTtyPb0a7DT0-jD9ZYA2gXC0CmFbMoG6Qqd2cd7KaPUk8fHahyQHVuo2qy3TL5b4DbUV9_pUIjXTiVg3Klrv_jaaCwtnnrx7U2Hma2ThXvq4/s1600/TIAMO+INTERIOR+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoZBSyfSWDI4Oexbh3a2P6M1VcMBjsxpbluTtyPb0a7DT0-jD9ZYA2gXC0CmFbMoG6Qqd2cd7KaPUk8fHahyQHVuo2qy3TL5b4DbUV9_pUIjXTiVg3Klrv_jaaCwtnnrx7U2Hma2ThXvq4/s320/TIAMO+INTERIOR+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Next door to Tiamo 2 is <a href="http://www.readings.com.au/">Readings bookstore</a>, a Carlton icon. I still remember the original, much smaller store, which was over the road at 366 Lygon Street. On Sunday afternoons Readings is a place to linger, browse and jostle the many customers soaking up the atmosphere. Nowadays Readings also has stores in St Kilda, Malvern, Hawthorn, the State Library and the Brain Centre.</div>
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On 10 August (this Saturday), Readings is celebrating National Bookshop Day, with all-day events at the Carlton, St Kilda, Malvern and Hawthorn stores. The store has a long tradition of philanthropy, with 10 per cent of profits going to the <a href="http://www.readings.com.au/the-readings-foundation">Readings Foundation</a> each year, and crucial funds are also raised from individual donations by Readings customers. The Foundation supports initiatives that further the development of literacy, community work and the arts.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: David Collopy</td></tr>
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Just up the road, tucked away in a hallway at the end of Jimmy Watson's pub on Lygon Street, is <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lovehobo">Hobo</a> clothing. As owner Anna speculates, this may be the smallest store in Australia and is a fantastic use of space. Hobo sells an eclectic combination of vintage and secondhand designer gear. The store has been operating in Hawthorn for 15 years and this new branch brings a touch of modern bohemia to Carlton.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHDAexbV4KtUI8QVJBfxJc4WEE_5htvzX62DYlIXJdyyZEv6RqvWzTNUu-957y49qe-33oWx3qQaOk95tcBHerUo5u2cHPAtgFbO4Ri2JJu_hJR5kmkXMUD5OwXnZ2hyphenhyphen3fQ7fmUj88apr6/s1600/HOBO+CLOTHING.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHDAexbV4KtUI8QVJBfxJc4WEE_5htvzX62DYlIXJdyyZEv6RqvWzTNUu-957y49qe-33oWx3qQaOk95tcBHerUo5u2cHPAtgFbO4Ri2JJu_hJR5kmkXMUD5OwXnZ2hyphenhyphen3fQ7fmUj88apr6/s320/HOBO+CLOTHING.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Not far away, on the corner of Drummond and Elgin streets, is <a href="http://www.cafelua.com/">Cafe Lua</a>. It's a relaxed hangout with the retro chrome-and-vinyl kitchen chairs and tables so beloved of alternative types since the early eighties. It's a light-filled place with a laidback feel.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7RIXAQxcUd-WrDfRa7eD75uRoQvG4irE-gAyQo-OOSKqLUjwKDDUOokeSW0dkUdefAz_4LBCtCFz1wRpPJw1XDlVIeuohJL2t5kPcqzU405yUBlglmYZLQLqD7USrtuXFEaad9EZUgAEI/s1600/011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7RIXAQxcUd-WrDfRa7eD75uRoQvG4irE-gAyQo-OOSKqLUjwKDDUOokeSW0dkUdefAz_4LBCtCFz1wRpPJw1XDlVIeuohJL2t5kPcqzU405yUBlglmYZLQLqD7USrtuXFEaad9EZUgAEI/s320/011.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Behind these coffee sippers at Lua is the exterior of Lygon Court, the site of the old Pram Factory, which housed a bohemian theatre troupe in the seventies:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNZbJfqRBgF5aIR4ePEr0yYoIreOXkr8QaVGJBG6I2ZCONbnRInwVtFrSh4u23PtrZpU_NK7nkd3KmHkz7U2bg7z9L3SyBuvHstRvh0IklG5xSm90Pg1_8yIwX2ZYcmatZ1kb0a6D7ubUm/s1600/013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNZbJfqRBgF5aIR4ePEr0yYoIreOXkr8QaVGJBG6I2ZCONbnRInwVtFrSh4u23PtrZpU_NK7nkd3KmHkz7U2bg7z9L3SyBuvHstRvh0IklG5xSm90Pg1_8yIwX2ZYcmatZ1kb0a6D7ubUm/s320/013.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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On the other side of the road, at 194 Elgin Street, we find <a href="http://www.makedesignedobjects.com/?c1=MAKE">Make</a>, which sells objects from around the globe that combine strong design with aesthetic appeal, many with green credentials. The light-filled showrooms beautifully showcase the design objects:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXeYKJuOlYT5RlIzFRBFaVizh7hXl6NLgmQ1YzbEi5Bz4ta6YVL4msh51AkL_radRYLIgBZh02IhDkf4KQDYInqV6O8w-2LOjXjNSQ05fWUXL8TW2OEnUCZcuoFITf92AnxCNuhL4tEt29/s1600/upstairs+old+building.2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXeYKJuOlYT5RlIzFRBFaVizh7hXl6NLgmQ1YzbEi5Bz4ta6YVL4msh51AkL_radRYLIgBZh02IhDkf4KQDYInqV6O8w-2LOjXjNSQ05fWUXL8TW2OEnUCZcuoFITf92AnxCNuhL4tEt29/s320/upstairs+old+building.2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Further east, at 134-136 Elgin Street, is Yooralla op shop, a Carlton institution. Selling a range of pre-loved clothing, books, household goods, jewellery and other items, its profits fund Yooralla's work supporting people with disability. The shop also provides vital employment training for people with disability.</div>
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Retracing our steps down Lygon Street towards the city, we find the treasure trove of the Poppy Shop at 283 Lygon Street. It's a reminder of the variety of retail stores that were available before Melbourne store rents skyrocketed.</div>
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This small store is packed with imaginative toys, puzzles and games from around the world. Owner Pat Knox, who has been with the store since 1967, once sold secondhand furniture but changed the store's direction to gifts in 1972. You won't find chain store toys here, but diverse, original items like felt bags from Tibetan refugees, fabric squares from Japan, Kenyan knitted animals, puzzles from Belgium, dolls from Spain, and Russian babushkas.</div>
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Continuing down Lygon Street towards the city, we come to <a href="http://www.borsaricycles.com.au/">Borsari Cycles</a> at 193 Lygon, another Carlton institution.</div>
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Nino 'Cavalier' Borsari had already <a href="http://www.borsaricycles.com.au/loadShopHistory.do">triumphed over severe childhood poverty</a> to become Italy's top professional cyclist and an Olympic gold medal winner before opening up his first bike shop on the corner of Lygon and Grattan streets in 1941. As well as doing cycle repairs, Nino operated as a secondhand dealer. The Borsari name can still be seen on this corner:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie1ewqkE9qoCpQ6Y7isRHt5q4Hl8_jm_21o7N4TW4Ro979CQD04suVvc0G80XA_nlV8p3PXW4YYaBG8c_sBWMXrAUFuVYwzh1eTicKTLpOw8NJzZSmVL__O59GiHIYZgdTEf2ha6Dse3nl/s1600/BORSARIS+CORNER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie1ewqkE9qoCpQ6Y7isRHt5q4Hl8_jm_21o7N4TW4Ro979CQD04suVvc0G80XA_nlV8p3PXW4YYaBG8c_sBWMXrAUFuVYwzh1eTicKTLpOw8NJzZSmVL__O59GiHIYZgdTEf2ha6Dse3nl/s320/BORSARIS+CORNER.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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His business soon expanded and in 1961 it moved three doors down, to its present location. Borsari has sold thousands of bikes over the years and the current owner, Fabian, provides cycling advice to many satisfied customers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Ko3Vc1HpffvWIAYD4XewwLQGEy-B4sgfkYDkUDOM7Oa2VigekrIX2qGvfkvpwDuG1k7_wNH9B26MSucQ6HDnl4RKh8GTQTSVZvP2Tji8PTgorBu-TaxPApDoZXNNgjaC0yjD7fInwW60/s1600/BORSARI+BIKES.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Ko3Vc1HpffvWIAYD4XewwLQGEy-B4sgfkYDkUDOM7Oa2VigekrIX2qGvfkvpwDuG1k7_wNH9B26MSucQ6HDnl4RKh8GTQTSVZvP2Tji8PTgorBu-TaxPApDoZXNNgjaC0yjD7fInwW60/s320/BORSARI+BIKES.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Av-htwGZYfm_TuC04SEL8uOnq7nrjxvArFWbhDM8jATv1n93uoi_2-RHEcQusxLK8Ep5uqVyglNSoBVDPfpx5QDuslwBRySyC9aGkR8ONrw5DxBmGLZupVpg9MIqfJmZ6l3-Vf29yZkE/s1600/BORSARI+BIKES+INTERIOR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Av-htwGZYfm_TuC04SEL8uOnq7nrjxvArFWbhDM8jATv1n93uoi_2-RHEcQusxLK8Ep5uqVyglNSoBVDPfpx5QDuslwBRySyC9aGkR8ONrw5DxBmGLZupVpg9MIqfJmZ6l3-Vf29yZkE/s320/BORSARI+BIKES+INTERIOR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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That ends our visit today, but I will be back, camera in hand, to snap the historic architecture and street scenes of this inner city treasure trove.</div>
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Until next time!</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-12357514995089926662013-07-23T17:06:00.001-07:002013-08-20T15:32:18.035-07:00Why Do I Overspend When I Have No Money?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUut9ysqoHUlHg452qCjUtpKoFnne02Egppi2RR5oswlxBJGelQTmQsxyEPLJz6Y-9WEWV0_w1f8HUito_jmhAufKdlRzcVkzgfTwvnJAdam855ZfrQPybrtBBmOqwdU8uCHuYJTqu-s57/s1600/SPENDING+WHEN+YOU+HAVE+NO+MONEY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUut9ysqoHUlHg452qCjUtpKoFnne02Egppi2RR5oswlxBJGelQTmQsxyEPLJz6Y-9WEWV0_w1f8HUito_jmhAufKdlRzcVkzgfTwvnJAdam855ZfrQPybrtBBmOqwdU8uCHuYJTqu-s57/s320/SPENDING+WHEN+YOU+HAVE+NO+MONEY.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>I’m going through a quiet patch at work at the moment. It’s always like this in July, presumably because of the end of financial year. But it makes me a bit panicky – part of me thinks the slow pace will never pick up.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Yet I’m noticing a tendency to spend as if the quiet patch wasn’t happening. On a logical level this doesn’t make sense. If there is less money coming in, it should be easy to spend less, right?</div>
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Wrong. Humans are emotional creatures, and it’s for emotional reasons that we overspend. I was curious as to where my own urge to keep spending came from, and came up with a few theories. Along the way, I thought of some other motivations that can lead to overspending just at the very moment when you should be pinching your pennies. I’ve listed them below.</div>
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Once you know what’s really going on, you don’t have to beat yourself up about spending. Instead you can deal with the source of the problem, not just the symptom. For this reason I’ve provided some suggested solutions to the different reasons for spending when money is tight.</div>
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<b>Scarcity </b>– If you’re telling yourself you don’t have any money, that alerts your brain to a fear that you won’t have enough. Your unconscious may decide that it’s better to spend what you’ve got, and to ‘stock up’ on consumer goods because there’s no more money coming in.</div>
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<b>Solution:</b> Sooth yourself. Tell yourself that you’re in charge, and that you’ll do your best to spend wisely the money you have access to, even if it’s limited.</div>
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<b>Giving up</b> – if you’re already in debt then it’s easy to think ‘one more little thing won’t make any difference’. Your financial situation feels so hopeless that you may as well spend that little bit extra.</div>
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<b>Solution</b>: Start a budget, so that you know where your money is going. Keep checking it, and try to stick to it; if you go off track, simply adjust the budget and get back on the wagon again.</div>
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<b>Treating yourself</b> – If there’s not much work coming in and you’re worried about the situation, it’s tempting to spend in order to feel better and give yourself a mood boost.</div>
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<b>Solution:</b> Treat yourself with things that don’t cost anything, like a nice warm bath, a walk in the park, a nap on the couch, or just sleeping in on the weekend.</div>
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<b>Boredom</b> – If there’s not much work coming in, or you’re simply at home a lot, life gets boring. You may find yourself browsing your favourite shopping sites, or going to the mall, seeking visual stimulation; the human need for novelty is a classic reason why people shop.</div>
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<b>Solution:</b> Plan your time so that it’s quite structured. Include activities that are mentally stimulating and challenging. Seek visual stimulation in ways other than shopping, like going to a gallery or listening to some music.</div>
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<b>Guilt</b> – if you’ve been an overspender for a while, it’s easy to slip into a vicious circle. You feel guilty for overspending, and the guilt makes you feel bad about yourself – so you go out and spend in order to feel better.</div>
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<b>Solution: </b>Practise self-love, even if you don’t believe you’re worth it (you are!). Seek the support of a self-help group for overspenders or a therapist who specialises in spending issues.</div>
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<b>Power</b> – Not having much money can make you feel powerless. In contrast, finding a bargain, or choosing a tasteful bag, can make you feel very powerful. Ironically, this kind of spending is also disempowering because it’s preventing you taking control of your finances.<br />
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<b>Solution: </b>Look at ways you feel disempowered in your own life, and fix them. Work on your budget, and look at any issues you are having with self-discipline, motivation and changing habits. Learn assertion skills to use at work and in your personal life. Join a community group that works on a social issue you’d like to change.<br />
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<b>Drop us a line!</b><br />
I hope this helps. I’d love to hear of any experiences you have of overspending when you’re broke, and how you keep your spending in line. Meanwhile here’s a couple of resources if you have serious spending problems.</div>
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<b>Help for overspending<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Online discussion group: Shopping Addicts Support</div>
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<a href="http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/shopping_addicts/">http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/shopping_addicts/</a></div>
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Debtors Anonymous</div>
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<a href="http://www.debtorsanonymous.org/">http://www.debtorsanonymous.org/</a></div>
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Until next time!</div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/253/F638B4ADAF1BBF092057A37B427CACE2.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a></div>
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<b>If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like <a href="http://inspiredshopper.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/freebies-are-everywhere.html">Things You Get for Free: Making the Most of Free Events in Your Area</a> and <a href="http://inspiredshopper.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/three-frugal-tips-so-obvious-you.html">Three Frugal Tips So Obvious You Probably Haven't Thought of Them</a>.</b></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-89591559568211400822013-07-18T14:08:00.003-07:002013-07-18T14:10:34.401-07:00What Can I Recycle? An Inspirational List<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8aADQ-5lEJmHUs7ppyGhl_BVtjtwiX7ashTD4abK8QAABsdl8GYH-h1iW3PJhS_UXZMbbUcOho4dYuCORm_kNrQS1-jqshBW-H67EMaBNpEA15iR_d-KUNaZT7SIVVxOluVjuBs_v7wjo/s1600/RECYCLING.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8aADQ-5lEJmHUs7ppyGhl_BVtjtwiX7ashTD4abK8QAABsdl8GYH-h1iW3PJhS_UXZMbbUcOho4dYuCORm_kNrQS1-jqshBW-H67EMaBNpEA15iR_d-KUNaZT7SIVVxOluVjuBs_v7wjo/s320/RECYCLING.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>When I first investigated going green, I truly believed I knew it all. Boy, was I wrong. Since the last time I’d investigated recycling back in the nineties (I know, I know), there’d been a transformation in the services available. There are now hundreds of social enterprises, and government and private programs, recycling everything from tin foil to computer keyboards.</b><br />
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There are also programs that collect and dispose of toxic items in the most environmentally responsible way possible.<br />
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You’d never know this if you relied on the mainstream media alone. Sadly, they aren’t that interested in recycling. A lot of interesting developments are going on behind the scenes, but unless you search them out on the internet, you probably won’t hear about them.<br />
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Even local councils, who offer many recycling services, don’t always do a great job of promoting them.<br />
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The following is a list of items that are recyclable in my local area, Malvern, in Melbourne, Victoria. It’s mainly meant as inspiration for you to seek out services in your area, because recycling services tend to be localised, often at the local government level. However, a few of the services listed here are Melbourne or Victoria-wide.<br />
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A great place to start if you’re in Australia and want to search out recycling services in your area is the <a href="http://recyclingnearyou.com.au/">Recycling Near You</a> website.<br />
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Of course, these kinds of recycling services are no substitute for government action. As well as doing our bit, let’s tell our MPs that the excessive packaging and over-reliance on plastic has to stop, and that recycling toxic items like batteries must be mandatory (as it is in Europe).<br />
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Recycling is better than throwing out, but in the case of plastic especially, it’s equally important to try to use less in the first place, and there are some tips for doing that <a href="http://inspiredshopper.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/plastic-not-so-fantastic-how-to-reduce.html">here</a>.<br />
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The list below isn’t exhaustive. <a href="http://www.recyclenow.com/">This website</a> provides information on items that can and can't be recycled throughout the UK, and it runs the gamut from spectacles to eggshells. Also, I haven't included paper and cardboard because unless you've been living on Mars you will know about these.<br />
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Batteries</h3>
My local council, Stonnington, runs a battery recycling service. Malvern Library has a box on the loans counter where you can deposit batteries for recycling.<br />
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Another option is Batteryback™, a free service run by the Victorian Government that recycles old and used household batteries. The batteries can be dropped off at some Bunnings, Coles, Michaels Camera and Officeworks stores. The list of stores can be found <a href="http://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/www/html/3664-batteryback-locations.asp?intSiteID=4">here</a>.<br />
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The list of batteries they recycle is impressive, and includes batteries for:<br />
<ul>
<li>mobile phones </li>
<li>video cameras </li>
<li>digital cameras </li>
<li>hearing aids </li>
<li>cordless phones </li>
<li>portable electric shavers </li>
<li>cordless power tools </li>
<li>laptop computers </li>
<li>palm pilots </li>
<li>remote controlled toys </li>
<li>portable video games </li>
<li>portable disc players. </li>
</ul>
Recently ALDI supermarkets teamed up with Planet Ark to offer a free battery recycling service in every store. There is a dedicated recycling bin located at the front of every ALDI store where you can drop used AA, AAA, C, D or 9V batteries, both rechargeable and non-rechargeable.<br />
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Hard plastic</h3>
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Local councils differ in the extent to which they allow you to put plastic in the recycling bin. I’m lucky in that my local council recycles plastic, but I had no idea the kinds of hard plastic I could throw in my recycling bin. I knew I could recycle yoghurt containers, but apart from that I was pretty ignorant. In fact, I can put in my recycling bin:<br />
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<li>pen cases and lids (not the ink tube) </li>
<li>takeaway containers </li>
<li>plastic bottles for household items – eg, cooking oil, shampoo, vinegar – including the lids </li>
<li>bits of hard plastic that often come with groceries, eg the plastic clipper used to secure plastic bags on bread. </li>
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It’s important to wash thoroughly any plastics that have held food, shampoo etc. before you throw them in the bin. <br />
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If your local council doesn't enable plastic curbside recycling, pressure them to provide it!<br />
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Floppy disks</h3>
I managed to find somewhere in Melbourne that would recycle my obsolete pile of floppy disks! I had to search around a bit, and as the group I found were a volunteer outfit I happily gave them a donation of five dollars. They are <a href="http://www.computerbank.org.au/">Computerbank</a>, based in Victoria Street, West Melbourne, a not-for-profit group that refurbishes donated computers for low-income people, students and community groups. If you have a laptop you’re ready to let go of, speak to them first.<br />
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Plastic bags</h3>
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Most of us know that supermarkets recycle plastic bags but this is still worth a mention. My local Coles and Woolworths have bins in which you can place plastic bags for recycling. You can recycle supermarket plastic bags and the heavier store bags, packaging film (eg plastic packaging for paper towels, toilet paper and junk mail), as well as drycleaning plastic. However, cling wrap, compostable bags and prepackaged food bags, including frozen food bags and prewashed salad bags, normally can’t be included. Remember to ensure the bags are clean before you put them in.<br />
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If you like to shop at supermarkets other than Coles and Woolworths, individual IGA stores seem to do their own thing when it comes to recycling, so you may need to contact your local store to see what they offer; my nearest store, Ashburton, doesn’t provide the option of recycling plastic bags. <br />
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(While ALDI doesn’t appear to offer plastic bag recycling, it’s only fair to mention that they are the only supermarket not providing free, single-use plastic bags to customers.) <br />
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Food markets may also have their own sustainable plastic bags policies. Victoria Market, for instance, is phasing out free, single-use plastic bags. Alternatives include biodegradable bags, ‘green bags’ designed for multiple use and paper bags.<br />
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Computers, televisions, printers and computer parts </h3>
When it comes to e-waste, there are a number of options available to me.<br />
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My local council offers its residents free recycling of whitegoods, TVs PCs etc, if dropped off at the waste transfer station (or ‘tip’ as we used to call it!).<br />
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Borondoora Council, a few suburbs away from me, runs a free <a href="http://www.boroondara.vic.gov.au/your_council/waste-recycling/television-and-computer-waste">e-waste recycling service</a> at its Riversdale Recycling and Waste Centre (they wouldn’t take my floppy disks, hence the previous search). Items that can be dropped off for recycling free of charge, for non-residents as well as residents, are:<br />
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<li>televisions </li>
<li>personal computers </li>
<li>laptops, notebooks, palmtops and tablets </li>
<li>computer monitors </li>
<li>computer parts: hard drives, motherboards, cables, internal power supplies, DVD and CD drives </li>
<li>computer peripherals: mice, keyboards, joysticks, game-pads, scanners, web cameras </li>
<li>printers and scanners. </li>
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The e-waste recycling service is a free scheme, but the Recycling and Waste Centre will also recycle the following items for a small fee:<br />
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<li>game consoles </li>
<li>video and DVD players </li>
<li>radios/stereos </li>
<li>power tools </li>
<li>kitchen and household appliances </li>
<li>whitegoods </li>
<li>universal power supplies.</li>
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Printer cartridges, mobile phones, light globes, car batteries and car parts, scrap metal</h3>
Stonnington Council specifies that light globes can’t be put in the recycling bin. However, the waste transfer station does recycle light globes and fluoro tubes free of charge if you live in Stonnington. They also provide free recycling of car batteries, automotive oil, scrap metal, car parts and mobile phones and batteries if you drop them off at the transfer station. Contact your local council to see what they offer.<br />
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My local Officeworks store has a drop-off bin for recycling old mobile phones and printer cartridges.<br />
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Garden waste</h3>
My local council offers the option of hiring a green waste bin, emptied every two weeks, for around seventy dollars a year. They will also provide free recycling of garden waste, including tree branches, that is dropped off at the transfer station. <br />
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Cans, tins and aluminium foil </h3>
Some local councils, mine included, offer curbside recycling of aluminium, aerosol and steel cans and tins, as well as aluminium foil. Contact your local council to see if they do.<br />
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Cansmart is an Australia-wide industry body that promotes the recycling of steel. <a href="http://www.cansmart.org/Facts/how_recycle.html">This page</a> has a guide for preparing tins to place in the recycling bin.<br />
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Chemical and hazardous waste </h3>
<a href="http://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/www/html/3414-about-detox-your-home.asp">Detox your Home</a> is a free service for householders to dispose of potentially dangerous household chemical products safely and easily without harming the environment. It’s run by Sustainability Victoria in partnership with local governments.<br />
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Victorians can take their household chemical products to a Detox your Home drop-off point at a <a href="http://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/www/default.asp?intSiteID=4&guiValue=66CA869D-4BC3-4631-B138-BF287AA9A1CB">permanent site</a> or through the <a href="http://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/www/default.asp?intSiteID=4&guiValue=BD8AF2C8-CB07-47A3-BBDC-3B8C48272EA3">mobile service</a>. The Detox your Home mobile drop-off service accepts a wide range of household chemical products; check the webpages for details. However, I rang the information number and they couldn’t tell me which hazardous chemical products are actually recycled.<br />
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Pharmaceutical drugs Pills and medicines that have been sitting in the cupboard too long pose a potential risk to children, and can cause harm to the environment if flushed down the toilet or poured down the sink. The <a href="http://www.returnmed.com.au/consumers.php">Return Unwanted Medicines (RUM)</a> project enables consumers in Australia to take their unwanted medicines to their local pharmacy for safe disposal in an environmentally responsible way.<br />
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Until next time!<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-3568593350137419092013-07-11T14:15:00.002-07:002013-07-13T02:21:59.282-07:00Latest Thrift Store Finds - Jacket City!<b>I was going to call this blog entry just 'latest thrift store finds', then I realised that most of the finds recently have been jackets! Which is just as well, because Melbourne has been going through a chilly winter; the days are often pleasantly sunny but it's freezing.</b><br />
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First in the parade is my ten dollar birthday jacket below. I found it on my birthday in the Vinnies store in Ashburton. It is doublebreasted so I was a bit doubtful at first as it seemed too fitted to be comfortable when buttoned - but it's fine, and looks great buttoned up. Love the cherry red colour. The label is Just Jeans and it is surprisingly good quality considering.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXU5ygRlufYc8o4ywkAGTJbHm6kr1nvvMii10Zj7yAY95Y9TX-pTjW1wBQnembJeINMUUnqFX5G5NkPuZ7AWH8zZYJ7dq3I5Wml198y_-cj6rX8w2t0nDD60r10Y_-NkJ271kDhgxhIAhQ/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXU5ygRlufYc8o4ywkAGTJbHm6kr1nvvMii10Zj7yAY95Y9TX-pTjW1wBQnembJeINMUUnqFX5G5NkPuZ7AWH8zZYJ7dq3I5Wml198y_-cj6rX8w2t0nDD60r10Y_-NkJ271kDhgxhIAhQ/s400/003.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Still in need of winter clothes, I found this trench coat in the Don Bosco store in Sydney Road, Brunswick. It's not particularly warm though, as the fabric is cotton drill, but I feel like a fifties detective in it. I must to something about the right lapel, which flops a bit.<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">I picked up the retro-style jacket below only yesterday - by far the best bargain I've found in a while - for fifteen dollars, it's Jigsaw no less! I found it in a little op shop in Caulfield that I peruse frequently, but am rarely lucky in. </span>The woman who served me said she had had her eye on it - I don't blame her! It's quite formal, but may be useful for meetings with clients:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLv2EutIAOb5jN2JE6-4QjaQk-pVrYZ8YLel_eipL0sJ7OYxYiaoDHulH2Pdt8v6vDNWNp9UOoAEDZuYvBGnUY1Tuo1sk22HDgA2xcoJoUUD50GyZObvyML5Doyn-EgF_8LIrdm13jCEFP/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLv2EutIAOb5jN2JE6-4QjaQk-pVrYZ8YLel_eipL0sJ7OYxYiaoDHulH2Pdt8v6vDNWNp9UOoAEDZuYvBGnUY1Tuo1sk22HDgA2xcoJoUUD50GyZObvyML5Doyn-EgF_8LIrdm13jCEFP/s320/003.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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I wasn't really looking for another jacket because half an hour earlier I had picked up this little beauty from the Vinnies in Auburn Road, Hawthorn, for the same price:</div>
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Just to vary things a bit, I pounced on this amazing pair of trousers - eighties if the incredibly high waist is anything to go by - a couple of months ago at the Brotherhood store in Bentleigh. They are warm and in great condition but the waist is just a tiny bit small, and I don't know how people put up with those high waists - quite uncomfortable! For $1.50 you can't complain - they were on the bargain rack, which is unusual for a store that is usually aware of vintage trends:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_kXZgLn9q9KoxMkkmn7_ffx2AmxBL7_VqrrkBod9eK5UrbuMbmiHQj8Q4dP8HhBT87usAD_1jFW6ydWPzFGBJr8JvfD0XN6BQo-L3JrplpQ-APxpQvCaYWY7dLhGjIodAsBZOirSLsl5D/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_kXZgLn9q9KoxMkkmn7_ffx2AmxBL7_VqrrkBod9eK5UrbuMbmiHQj8Q4dP8HhBT87usAD_1jFW6ydWPzFGBJr8JvfD0XN6BQo-L3JrplpQ-APxpQvCaYWY7dLhGjIodAsBZOirSLsl5D/s320/001.JPG" width="249" /></a></div>
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I would dearly love to buy more sweaters and trousers from thrift stores, but good quality items in these categories seem harder to come by. Perhaps the quality of jackets is higher because jackets tend to be sturdier and don't get washed as much, and possibly people tire of them before they become worn out.<br />
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What do you think - do you find jackets easier to buy at thrift stores, or do you have any tips for buying sweaters and trousers?<br />
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Until next time!<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54491/227/52112F6C9823A7DD0463C5FF5A892421.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><br />
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If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like <a href="http://inspiredshopper.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/great-tips-for-successful-op-and-thrift.html">Great tips for successful op and thrift shopping</a>.</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-21036721810870828992013-07-06T20:38:00.001-07:002013-07-15T15:37:41.460-07:00Chipped Thrift Store Treasures: Celebrating the Beauty of Imperfection<b>Do you ever buy chipped things? I used to have a horror of anything that wasn’t perfect and whole, but now I embrace the odd chip, scratch or dent as long as it doesn’t detract from the look of a piece.</b><br />
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Herewith, a showcase of some chipped things I love.</div>
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I bought this large ceramic vase for ten dollars at my
local thrift store / op shop. It’s very heavy – it’s been fired
in a kiln, and has a lovely glaze. I’m not sure of the level of skill of the
person who produced it – there is no identifying signature at the bottom – but
the glazing and colour are very soothing. I discovered there were chips on the
inside of the rim when I got it home, but they’re not that visible so I’m not
too worried about them.</div>
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I bought this decorative vase from an op shop for about ten
dollars, but didn’t realise the sculpted flower on the top right was chipped; it's difficult to notice. Still I love the detail so much I
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7pkU7xlmC4CgJy0c3cjvGDG9UiHa-fuDSFq-7_jmGweAm8nvuScRqOZFLdnRTeDp3dQf6PclrM0OmTqbUUp9jgiEKxIcoC2N_3IJkKyjBtIrHehZPl-HvxFUxo2FsZVcVFSKSrBd3SCCH/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7pkU7xlmC4CgJy0c3cjvGDG9UiHa-fuDSFq-7_jmGweAm8nvuScRqOZFLdnRTeDp3dQf6PclrM0OmTqbUUp9jgiEKxIcoC2N_3IJkKyjBtIrHehZPl-HvxFUxo2FsZVcVFSKSrBd3SCCH/s320/002.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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This cement (I assume) pot was bought at a garage sale for a
couple of bucks – I really should keep some sort of record of prices I pay for
things – and the sculpture that makes up the rim is chipped. It’s really
supposed to have a plant sitting in it but instead it sits happily enough in
the corner of my bathroom to the right of the vanity basin, slowly accumulating
black mould (which I recently scrubbed off it so it’s not looking too bad). It
has a kind of decadent Roman, neoclassical feel to it.</div>
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I bought this picture from the Brotherhood op shop in
Bentleigh. It was very shabby chic when I bought it (shabby being the operative
word) but is now even shabbier after a piece of the frame on the lower left-hand side fell out a few
months ago. I suppose I could mend it with suitable glue – I tell myself the
missing piece simply adds to the olde worlde appearance.<br />
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This little birdie sits on my front porch. Because its tail was already chipped it cost about four bucks at a local garden centre. It sits precariously on narrow little toes and I chipped its little beak once, when I tipped it over accidentally. I feared it would be useless but somehow it still retains its birdiness.<br />
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It’s easier to accept imperfections in something that has
always been imperfect. When a possession we’re invested in gets chipped or
dented, it’s as if the ego itself sustains the injury.<br />
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Then gradually the
change becomes incorporated, and we stop seeing it and feeling it. It's like a tiny scar, reminding us of all the injuries, bruises and
deeper wounds we ourselves have sustained. It also reminds us that imperfection is the essence of beauty, life and growth.</div>
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Until next time!</div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/253/F638B4ADAF1BBF092057A37B427CACE2.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a></div>
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<b>If you enjoyed this blog entry you might also like: In with
the <a href="http://inspiredshopper.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/in-with-old-and-out-with-new-shopping.html">Old and Out with the New - Shopping and the Search for Perfection.</a></b><a href="http://inspiredshopper.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/in-with-old-and-out-with-new-shopping.html"> </a></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-90528601146941756232012-11-10T19:03:00.001-08:002012-11-14T12:14:01.746-08:00The Smock - A Classic Style that Never Goes Out of Fashion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit2PLKRIXRMVOvwFdLE97vA_e-BVFzQkqhZT48HUMXWBn13rMzP2tO-PN_YlRP2Qok3o1QLecjN_V8BmIQWsWewPohj67__DimFi-iZq8D_Hd0zwK_nl4I8Hpv67VJyTyBqrCPsF58oQUT/s1600/SMOCK,+NIXIE+CLOTHING.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit2PLKRIXRMVOvwFdLE97vA_e-BVFzQkqhZT48HUMXWBn13rMzP2tO-PN_YlRP2Qok3o1QLecjN_V8BmIQWsWewPohj67__DimFi-iZq8D_Hd0zwK_nl4I8Hpv67VJyTyBqrCPsF58oQUT/s1600/SMOCK,+NIXIE+CLOTHING.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b>This year as I've browsed the chain stores – one of my
favourite shopping habits – I've noticed something surprising. The smock top is
back. Well, not exactly, because it's never really been away.</b></div>
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How long has this fashion been around in its current
incarnation? Was it 2006 or 2007 that I first noticed a distinctive new,
untailored style that appeared initially in the form of what was called the sack
dress? It wasn't quite a smock, but was inspired by a similar concept of
unstructured fullness. </div>
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Simple smock tops became huge that year. Soon everything was
smocked, even short cropped jackets and sports hoodies. By today's standards
the smock tops of the mid-2000s were a bit dull, in uninspiring
colours and with not quite enough gathering at the seam running across the
sternum.</div>
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The smock evolved gradually from its 2006-07 incarnation,
with a number of variations, from the peasant style to the flowing top with
lots of gathering at a scoop neck. Present incarnations continue to play with
gathering and draping, and have been influenced by fashion's move to stronger
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But
some things don't change: there is always something leisurely about the smock
that perhaps harks back to its rural origins, and makes us imagine sunning ourselves in
rustic pastures.</div>
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When I was researching this story, it was difficult to find
examples of recent smock styles among organic and fair trade brands, either in
Australia or overseas. Perhaps some of us are sick of the smock because its initial popularity was so over the top (pardon the pun) and we wore our smocks to death. Yet there are ethical styles out there - the smock above, from <a href="http://www.ecobohemia.com/catalog/product/nixie-clothing-smock-top-4-years">nixie clothing</a>, is made from vintage silk scarves. The gorgeous smock dress below is by <a href="http://www.3fish.com.au/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=24_30">3Fish</a>:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgciYLJpKqW_y27W2P_Z76aDGZIOks08M4sMe2zTpydiy5JywYECprBVjATNypuOtlynkluv-rPuGoKRQzMxFTI20nEGxEAxTjzZlTTh8to2T_P4qwkJg4-JStm3pbNzSRTFo-QfW3MYD95/s1600/3+FISH+SMOCK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgciYLJpKqW_y27W2P_Z76aDGZIOks08M4sMe2zTpydiy5JywYECprBVjATNypuOtlynkluv-rPuGoKRQzMxFTI20nEGxEAxTjzZlTTh8to2T_P4qwkJg4-JStm3pbNzSRTFo-QfW3MYD95/s1600/3+FISH+SMOCK.jpg" /></a></div>
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And this extremely cute smock top is from <a href="http://oddmolly.com/">odd molly</a>:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP5_cDf-LXUDkodQ8IG05YUX88IWUeI77KJ-vEL5Y8JR41KQISQnIIHkBfSf1BqzE0XFBSrx2tFx1efxKpDG94jaBgBPsEt5Z7sh6TV8w-XXrrx3o2cvMHDkNnE3poJJa2ogHXqopLXWy2/s1600/SMOCK,+ODD+MOLLY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP5_cDf-LXUDkodQ8IG05YUX88IWUeI77KJ-vEL5Y8JR41KQISQnIIHkBfSf1BqzE0XFBSrx2tFx1efxKpDG94jaBgBPsEt5Z7sh6TV8w-XXrrx3o2cvMHDkNnE3poJJa2ogHXqopLXWy2/s320/SMOCK,+ODD+MOLLY.jpg" width="283" /></a></div>
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But the beauty of smocks still being fashionable – or at
least not unfashionable – is that you can dig your old ones out from the back
of the cupboard and brighten them up with up-to-date neckwear. And because they
are a relatively recent style they're easy to find in op shops and thrift
stores.</div>
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Of course, there are still lovely vintage specimens around from
the 70s, like this one, from <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/shinyredthings?ref=seller_info">shinyredthings</a> on Etsy.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSkVoKy0izMVvFZj60JxdEsRMcwOmgzhBb6YeMzIh7MhRo_kUhjw0MUDJeDBwqdeZGtMcePE-iYbpmNFlG48WrD-rdw2yoOWqw_mXkrvwoTVqxhwvHq_PM6NM1iWw7klxPb3azVMlGNNe6/s1600/SMOCK+VINTAGE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSkVoKy0izMVvFZj60JxdEsRMcwOmgzhBb6YeMzIh7MhRo_kUhjw0MUDJeDBwqdeZGtMcePE-iYbpmNFlG48WrD-rdw2yoOWqw_mXkrvwoTVqxhwvHq_PM6NM1iWw7klxPb3azVMlGNNe6/s320/SMOCK+VINTAGE.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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I'm not a sewer but I imagine the smock style would be
relatively easy to make as it's less tailored than conventional shirts and
doesn't have a collar.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://sozowhatdoyouknow.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/refashion-friday-inspiration-contrast.html">This enterprising blogger</a> refashions men's work shirts into
smocks by cutting off the collar and gathering the neck, and replacing the original
sleeves with a puffy sleeve in a contrasting fabric. The results have a distinctive
crafted elegance.</div>
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<b>History of the smock
top<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Early smocks were worn by male peasant farmers in rural
Britain from the early eighteenth century onwards. They were made from heavy
wool or linen, and were more or less dresses – some a kind of 'shirt dress'
with buttons down the chest, as per the example below – or coats, with buttons all the way down. Embroidery
was added to the design in the nineteenth century (all of this illustrating
that gendered fashion is a cultural construct!).</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcrGmvYU9TSIl0nsTBrhlSbJK7kMn8MObmBnMnqLJq4qFjn7VK6XNXUVWQ69_gnSW14H1vjJCyqw-4MdCpeW2GvlEAIkkj5zSxdnS9BeyFgmlwfoOCBekZ_SMsveNwjzOw5M5AHHVmIsCJ/s1600/SMOCK,+HISTORY+OF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcrGmvYU9TSIl0nsTBrhlSbJK7kMn8MObmBnMnqLJq4qFjn7VK6XNXUVWQ69_gnSW14H1vjJCyqw-4MdCpeW2GvlEAIkkj5zSxdnS9BeyFgmlwfoOCBekZ_SMsveNwjzOw5M5AHHVmIsCJ/s1600/SMOCK,+HISTORY+OF.jpg" /></a></div>
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The male smock had in turn been inspired by the chemise, a
loose undergarment worn by both men and women in Europe from the Middle Ages
onwards.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Yoked cotton smocks were popular with pregnant women from the 1940s (and possibly earlier), and of course there was the popular swagger-style
coat of the 1950s, which was loose and untailored. </div>
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But smock tops for women really hit their stride from the
late 1960s as part of the first wave of hippie chic. Hippie, or 'gypsy', chic
was inspired by traditional folkloric dress and smock tops were originally embroidered
peasant blouses, often made from cheesecloth and worn with blue flared jeans. Hippie
fashions like the peasant blouse were sometimes worn in direct defiance of
corporate culture.<br />
<br />
Kirsten Dunst shows a modern take on this look below (though I suspect she is making a fashion statement rather than a political one!).<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg143MtczbmeKUcokpTwqKfltqbIv5vnqyqUtqTtvBbdp9cXbXXnsCDJYgN8gv8i-8DZmJ6K9Efd5UZhDZbMMJ5UL3cV8898O_EgFv5Yf1d4OYlfcp108desfQYeECmZshrF2AQ-j0puQlV/s1600/SMOCK+KIRSTEN+DUNCE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg143MtczbmeKUcokpTwqKfltqbIv5vnqyqUtqTtvBbdp9cXbXXnsCDJYgN8gv8i-8DZmJ6K9Efd5UZhDZbMMJ5UL3cV8898O_EgFv5Yf1d4OYlfcp108desfQYeECmZshrF2AQ-j0puQlV/s320/SMOCK+KIRSTEN+DUNCE.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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As for the smock dress, brands as different as Mary Quant
and Laura Ashley made it their own. The Mary Quant example below is something
I'd be glad to wear today with a bit of fake tan on my white legs.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh24A8dOCnDhZxgzoxeXdwFe9FQ0ImGdKRz9-qtPCX1iL5eXzUXvJvQAge9enOiVw4zqL3a2nn_sfvCStRG88hP2XWNi9zSafQMVu5GHzRlGDyjnWCcD-UiQyRXdfe-t3l6XY9VgfW12y0q/s1600/SMOCK+MARY+QUANT+VINTAGE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh24A8dOCnDhZxgzoxeXdwFe9FQ0ImGdKRz9-qtPCX1iL5eXzUXvJvQAge9enOiVw4zqL3a2nn_sfvCStRG88hP2XWNi9zSafQMVu5GHzRlGDyjnWCcD-UiQyRXdfe-t3l6XY9VgfW12y0q/s320/SMOCK+MARY+QUANT+VINTAGE.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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But I completely fell in love with this vintage smock dress, of unknown brand:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhctWpGfZ6Xw8mCb1qHtSifKHFMQ6674TVg0kmBYmiHTNxTPMebZ3cu2PEYxND0-KATbhrezOw3MLscd1rmHJFP34k61i8nh6W06SrShIW63wia9po80igkEHVfQFKVkXZGV85Q9omyqPra/s1600/SMOCK+VINTAGE+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhctWpGfZ6Xw8mCb1qHtSifKHFMQ6674TVg0kmBYmiHTNxTPMebZ3cu2PEYxND0-KATbhrezOw3MLscd1rmHJFP34k61i8nh6W06SrShIW63wia9po80igkEHVfQFKVkXZGV85Q9omyqPra/s320/SMOCK+VINTAGE+2.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>
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Back in the 70s (I am in fact quite ancient) my first
smock dress – or chemise as we used to call them – still creates a feeling of
fashion happiness when I think about it. It was made of cream calico, with
puffed short sleeves and brightly coloured embroidery on the chest. On the cusp
of adolescence, it made me feel like a fashion star. I adored myself in it.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The beauty of the smock dress is that you can belt some
versions of it. And you can also tuck your smock top into your jeans for a
blouson effect.</div>
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Not only that, but Alison DuBois from the hit TV show <i>Medium</i> convinced me that you could wear
a smock top under a jacket for a more tailored look while solving the odd murder. Perhaps she was also
psychic when it came to fashion!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZEkeVztJlmqcjoZeYw7CkvHfUQBY_tSLGZEY6luY_XBl2H2sKbw0mqp3OlrN61hYgeC3WtU3gnvzTh5MkPup8KZ0v_RiqzC-BmHhM891TPXSZLLy4tHHkseOet-E1NleZtuwyBS50cpKH/s1600/SMOCK+TOP+-+ALISON.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZEkeVztJlmqcjoZeYw7CkvHfUQBY_tSLGZEY6luY_XBl2H2sKbw0mqp3OlrN61hYgeC3WtU3gnvzTh5MkPup8KZ0v_RiqzC-BmHhM891TPXSZLLy4tHHkseOet-E1NleZtuwyBS50cpKH/s1600/SMOCK+TOP+-+ALISON.jpg" /></a></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Until next time!</div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/253/F638B4ADAF1BBF092057A37B427CACE2.png" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px !important;" /></a></div>
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<b>If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like <a href="http://inspiredshopper.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/wanted-annie-hall-for-2000s.html">Wanted <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cardo;">–</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cardo; font-size: 24px;"> </span>An Annie Hall Look for the 2000s</a> or <a href="http://inspiredshopper.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/tuck-in-versatile-look-for-frugally.html" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cardo;">The Tuck-In – A Versatile Look for the Frugally Fashionable</a>.</b></div>
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-10607631648242650032012-09-19T13:50:00.002-07:002012-09-19T14:15:05.617-07:00Hoarding and Decluttering: The Temptations of Memory<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSO3CypC-311twev9MTGrF_6mphWMYWnFq_TyTBAtknhpI9w-kvf-rlCz7qcsTXG4CGprbrtY_aDH0GqtbmHvKG84N9sSEWAhKZ03UY2-sLgkmIzP_fkcsy1yN38ojIZ6Djw_c_9dFPkwG/s1600/BOOK+TOWER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSO3CypC-311twev9MTGrF_6mphWMYWnFq_TyTBAtknhpI9w-kvf-rlCz7qcsTXG4CGprbrtY_aDH0GqtbmHvKG84N9sSEWAhKZ03UY2-sLgkmIzP_fkcsy1yN38ojIZ6Djw_c_9dFPkwG/s320/BOOK+TOWER.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>A while ago I wrote a <a href="http://inspiredshopper.blogspot.com.au/2011/11/thrifting-and-decluttering-are-they.html">blog entry</a> about whether the two mega-trends
of thrifting and decluttering were compatible. Did a love of thrifting
inevitably lead to hoarding, I wondered. Could a scourer of op shops (like me,
for instance) actually lead a minimalist lifestyle?</b></div>
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My preoccupation with hoarding comes from the fact that my
parents display totally opposing tendencies in this area.</div>
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My father is a hoarder of sorts. This trait took years to fully
reveal itself, and remains limited to a few rooms in the house because my
mother is a tidiness freak. </div>
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<br /></div>
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While I was growing up my dad’s hoarding hardly
impacted on me – except as an exemplar of untidiness – apart from the garage
and garden shed, both almost unusable because stuffed with useless junk,
including a canoe that to this day hangs upside down from the roof of the shed like
some bizarre art installation, and is purported to have a hole in it. Oh, and
my dad's huge glass-topped mahogany desk, whose surface was even then obscured
by papers, that my mum had to suffer in their bedroom for many years. As she's
gotten older, it's become harder for her to control my dad's messiness.</div>
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When we kids grew up and moved out of the house, Dad inherited
a bedroom that became his 'office'. He used to complete his watercolour paintings
in there, but it's so full of junk now, apart from a small space cleared for a
computer and chair, that he’s abandoned it for this purpose. With its boxes of
obsolete papers, discarded canvases, painting materials and plastic bags of electrical
cables taking up most of the floor space, and the desk obscured by nests of manila
folders stuffed with papers, it's a safety hazard.</div>
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Ominously my father has been 'given' another room for his
painting, a tiny room at the back of the house that was formerly a
spare-cum-sewing room. So far it's sufficiently free of junk that my dad can
paint again but I predict that in a few months this room too will be unusable.
He will occasionally create messy outposts in the rest of the house – for example,
spreading his tax return documents around the dining room table, completing a
painting project in the sunroom – but these are always temporary and are soon shooed
back into the general chaos by my mother.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Dad is in some ways not a typical hoarder. Hoarding is often
associated with compulsive shopping; Dad hardly ever shops for non-necessities
unless he has to. Nor does he actively accumulate material objects in other
ways (although he used to buy the odd broken-down car that he would tinker with
on weekends). It's the past he hoards: religious pamphlets, old copies of
journals, financial and administrative documents, and anything to do with his
political battles with his teachers union, the local council and government
bodies. He still has papers from at least fifty years ago. </div>
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While hoarding didn’t impact much on my childhood, its roots
were present in subtle ways. For example, I knew one thing that would always
garner my mother's approval (the usual things didn't really cut it with her):
'cleaning the kitchen' at night. What this meant was not just doing the dishes,
but sorting, filing and taming the accumulations of junk that regularly spread
themselves around the kitchen benches (this wasn’t just Dad of course – we are
a family of seven). Organising this assortment of mail, torn pieces of envelope
with phone numbers written on them, tiny miscellaneous toys, coins, sets of
keys and so on, and creating sweet if temporary order, was something that my
mother and I could both rejoice in.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Has Dad passed down his hoarding tendencies to me? Not at first glance. I'm a tidiness freak and I like to
think I’m a great declutterer, but in that regard I’m fooling myself. I'm good at getting rid
of some things but not others.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I hold onto clothes for longer than many, but I can
get rid of the most treasured garment once I’ve made the decision; I actually
enjoy the process of weeding out my wardrobe and dropping off a bag of goodies at my favourite op shop. Once it's time for a piece to go, I don't give it another
thought. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But the fact is I do have my own hoarding weakness – books. I have five bookshelves if you don't count the one in my office that is
stuffed with folders of edited educational materials.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I find it very hard to let books go. I have thrown the odd
few out, but my decisions are extremely conservative. And I still have many
books that I won't read again and that bear little relationship to how I live my
life these days. Do I really need my secondhand copies of <i>Emotional Intelligence</i> and Steven Covey's <i>Seven Habits</i> of <i>Highly
Effective People</i>? (These books were both written before the financial crisis – if they
were so influential, why didn't their sage advice for corporate types stop the
Goldman Sachs executives plundering the USA and destroying the world economy?) To
me the knowledge these books hold represents security, and a link with past
versions of me, and I can’t let them go, not yet anyway.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Another thing I hold onto is appointment diaries. Mine go as
far back as 1994. I keep them in my bookshelves so it doesn’t feel as if I’m
hoarding them. I tell myself they’re useful as primary sources for memoir
writing and so on, but they’re really just another link with earlier versions of my life and myself. In the rare times I go through one, trying to discover
when some long-ago incident occurred, I’m strangely comforted by the mundanity
of the various lists I was so fond of making. Whatever my emotional and
material struggles, I continued to go to the supermarket, have my hair cut,
drop my books back to the library and pay my rent.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Flyers relating to arts and cultural events – exhibitions, readings,
films, plays – are another weakness. It’s so easy to forget the details of
these experiences, and while there’s enough room in my filing cabinet, I can’t
bring myself to throw away anything that jogs my memory.</div>
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<br /></div>
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In fact, the things I hold onto suggest that I’m like more
my father than is comfortable to contemplate. Like him, it’s reminders of the
past that I cling to. In the absence of a photographic memory, these refugees
from my past testify to my changing life and the things that continue to
sustain it.<br />
<br />
<i>Do you find it easier to let go of some things and not others?</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Are there mementoes of the past that you struggle to throw out?</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
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Until next time!</div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/253/F638B4ADAF1BBF092057A37B427CACE2.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a></div>
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<b>If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like <a href="http://inspiredshopper.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/clearing-out-clutter-goodbye-ritual-for.html">Clearing Out Clutter: A Goodbye Ritual for a Loved Object</a>.</b></div>
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-48876705304542157392012-09-10T14:31:00.002-07:002012-09-19T13:56:36.161-07:00Become a Fearless Habit Breaker - Tips for Changing Your Shopping Habits<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhje3LJaSlQeiLR7MZuJ0t_rhGn7YLaENS7Gv8Bxmu0VBJgbbJsTb-XlxtmVT62onApvGD6_FV8ErmltVogmvQY73zXyd6a8wutg6NUdB9KYb3rx003hA0K4UHIdf6dEOrzsONBn5Un8j8z/s1600/VICTORIA+MARKET.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhje3LJaSlQeiLR7MZuJ0t_rhGn7YLaENS7Gv8Bxmu0VBJgbbJsTb-XlxtmVT62onApvGD6_FV8ErmltVogmvQY73zXyd6a8wutg6NUdB9KYb3rx003hA0K4UHIdf6dEOrzsONBn5Un8j8z/s320/VICTORIA+MARKET.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<i><br /></i><b><i>Since moving south of the Yarra I’ve been buying my free
range chicken from the supermarket. But it’s vacuum-packed and far from fresh,
and I’ve recently started a new shopping habit -- </i><i>buying organic from a stall at my local food market. I made the change not
just because organic chicken is healthier but because the animal welfare standards are
higher.*</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
<i>In the meantime, here I am, fronting up yet again to the
organic meat stall. It’s not at all like the market’s organic groceries store, which
has an unpretentious, down-to-earth atmosphere. Here, the whole look and
feel goes against organic as earthy and embraces organic as superior tasting, premium
meat, for the comfortably-off that have long gentrified this area, and Melbourne’s
army of foodies.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>The all-male staff are dressed in spiffy blue-and-white
butchers aprons. On busy Saturday mornings a couple of them hover in the
tiny shop floor area, which has a cash register so they’re not
serving you from behind a counter.</i>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br />I make my way to the stall, past the conventional slabs of meat
set out on their antiseptic white trays, past the live lobsters in their tank
that I feel so sorry for. The staff always ask me awkward questions, such as
what I am planning to make the family for dinner (I live alone!). They
sometimes overcharge me, as if so few people buy the chicken drumsticks that
they’ve forgotten that they’re actually half the price of the thighs.</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>Still, it’s convenient and I know that if I keep at it this,
too, will become routine. The market is close enough to home that if I’m organised
enough I can tram it instead of driving. I’ll learn to bat off the silly questions
that I know the stall managers have told the staff to ask, replying with a witty
remark that will defeat their formulaic responses.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>I’ll stop feeling guilty
that I’m buying the cheaper cuts. I’ll resign myself to the fact that with my frugal ways and holier-than-thou questions about the origins of the meat,
I am not their target market. And a new, more positive shopping habit will become second nature.</i></div>
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We know deep down that shopping isn’t trivial even though it’s
often portrayed that way. How we shop has massive effects on our budget, our
wellbeing and the producers of the things we buy, and also reflects our ethics.
Consumers make the world by what, how and how much we buy.<br />
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Sometimes we get stuck in our ways when shopping. We’re
stressed and busy, and it’s easier to do what we’ve always done.<br />
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Whether you’re trying to save money, go green or simply spend
less time in recreational shopping, changing a shopping habit isn’t easy. It
means getting out of your comfort zone when so much else in life is uncertain.
Here are some tips that can help.<br />
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<b>Recognise how habits
work.</b> The brain is very adaptable, and habits are sticky things. It can
feel uncomfortable and take some willpower to change the way you do things. However,
simply persevering with a new habit will mean it eventually becomes a seamless
part of life. Recognise that you are going to feel uncomfortable for a while when
you change an ingrained habit, and try to sit with the discomfort until the new way of doing things becomes a part of your routine.<br />
<br /></div>
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<b>Don’t make too many
changes all at once</b>. This could lead you to feel overwhelmed. Make one
small change at a time and see if you can stick with it.<br />
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<b>Don’t let small
slip-ups stop you. </b>If you backtrack on a goal, don’t worry. Just try again.
If it doesn’t feel right to continue with the change, drop it (this is not the
same as feeling uncomfortable).</div>
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<b><br />Budget for the change.
</b>If the change is going to cost more money, especially in the short term,
you may need to budget for it by foregoing another expense.<br />
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<b>Learn from the
experiences of others.</b> There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. There is a ton
of information on the internet about new ways to shop and live.<br />
<br />
<b>Don’t compare
yourself with others. </b>This is an easy mistake to make when starting to
change the way you shop. Dramatic change garners attention. Social media means
we know right away what everyone else is doing and it’s human nature to compare
ourselves with others. People who produce zero waste, have stopped using
plastic, or no longer buy new clothes or takeaway food are setting a fantastic
example, but doing something, especially at the start, is still better than
doing nothing. Start from where you are and use the experiences of others as
inspiration for your own unique journey.</div>
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<b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>Find support.</b> If you have friends who are making similar changes, become a motivator for each other. You could arrange to meet or talk regularly to compare notes, cheer each other on and affirm your goals. Start a blog or Facebook group, or join a group that has similar goals to yours; for instance, the <a href="http://www.meetup.com/">Meetup</a> website includes groups with goals of saving money or living a greener lifestyle, or you could start your own meet-up group.<br />
<br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
<i>Are there shopping habits you are trying to break?</i><br />
<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>What techniques have worked for you?</i></div>
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<br />
Until next time!</div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/253/F638B4ADAF1BBF092057A37B427CACE2.png" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px !important;" /></a></div>
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<b>If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like <a href="http://inspiredshopper.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/three-frugal-tips-so-obvious-you.html">Three Frugal Tips So Obvious You Probably Haven't Thought of Them</a></b>.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">* </span><span style="font-style: italic;">I’m vegetarian at heart, but because of food intolerance and low blood sugar, my diet’s so limited I have little choice but to eat meat.</span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-2686257683556917362012-09-04T15:56:00.002-07:002012-09-04T15:56:20.788-07:00Get Your Copy of the Inspired Shopper for Free!For a few days only, The Inspired Shopper is <b>totally free!</b><br />
<br />
That's right, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Inspired-Shopper-Effortlessly-Finding-ebook/dp/B0056A2R8C/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346799078&sr=1-1&keywords=inspired+shopper">downloading the book</a> won't cost a cent! Here's the page on the <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inspired-Shopper-Effortlessly-Finding-ebook/dp/B0056A2R8C/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346799283&sr=1-1">Amazon UK site</a>.<br />
<br />
You don't have to register separately - Amazon sets up an account for you when you buy for the first time.<br />
<br />
You can also download a free Kindle reader.<br />
<br />
Why am I doing this? I believe in the ideas in the book, and I want as many people to gain from them as possible.<br />
<br />
I'm also looking for feedback on the book, and hope that those who read it for free might take the time to submit a short review.<br />
<br />
This offer will only last a few days so <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Inspired-Shopper-Effortlessly-Finding-ebook/dp/B0056A2R8C/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346799078&sr=1-1&keywords=inspired+shopper">grab it while it's hot</a>!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-43175249561365741732012-05-30T14:40:00.000-07:002013-07-12T18:33:45.097-07:00Fashion Gets Set for Return of the Roaring Twenties<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hj0QB_bUh9l2nN4jOMScB6gj8xTC0lHhdtHePvzeRLqny9I2UhQws5rd6H5HrClwZETt3ePT1urche5_uZKXRN1gWBtwaaBHjq3pFuBKXw17OgmfgytNumyrwhhJ15JuATECsvJcV042/s1600/PHRYNE+FISHER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4hj0QB_bUh9l2nN4jOMScB6gj8xTC0lHhdtHePvzeRLqny9I2UhQws5rd6H5HrClwZETt3ePT1urche5_uZKXRN1gWBtwaaBHjq3pFuBKXw17OgmfgytNumyrwhhJ15JuATECsvJcV042/s400/PHRYNE+FISHER.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>‘<b>Put another pin in
your hat, Dot. You’re in for a fast ride!’</b><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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– Phryne<i> </i>Fisher</div>
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<b>Television can sometimes have an explosive effect on the
fashion industry – witness the rage for all things sixties created by Mad Men. The
phenomenally successful Downton Abbey has introduced a new generation to high-end
Edwardian couture and jewellery, setting off a number of global trends.</b><br />
<b><br />Another era </b><b>is currently receiving a much-deserved boost. </b><b>The Roaring Twenties </b><b>–</b> <b>the extravagant period that came before the long slog of the Great Depression </b><b>– </b><b>changed fashion forever. It</b><span style="text-align: center;"><b>’</b></span><b>s being brought to life for a whole new audience in recent and forthcoming movies and TV series showcasing the sheer larger-than-life glamour of the era.</b></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">‘</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The
twenties was the most revolutionary decade for fashion in the 20th century</span></span><span style="text-align: center;">’</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">, says Nicole </span>Jenkins, owner of Melbourne <a href="http://circavintageclothing.com.au/">vintage fashion store Circa</a>. </span><span style="text-align: center;">‘</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">This era <span style="font-size: 11pt;"> has reverberated through the years since.</span></span><span style="text-align: center;">’</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Nicole, also a costumier and collector, points to</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;"> revivals of twenties styles in the 1960s and 80s, as well as current revivals by Prada and other design houses.</span><br />
<br />
‘<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">T</span></span>he twenties has [also] been a perennial favourite for dress-up parties, as the look is so distinctive and easy to put together.’<br />
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Two recent Australian television series have already showcased, to great acclaim, Roaring Twenties pizzazz. <a href="http://channelnine.ninemsn.com.au/slideshowindex.aspx?sectionid=6678774&sectionname=showunderbellyhome">Underbelly: Razor</a> (pictured below) is a 13-part Australian miniseries set in Sydney. It depicts the<i style="text-align: center;">‘</i>razor gangs<span style="text-align: center;">’</span> who controlled the city<span style="text-align: center;">’</span>s underworld between 1927 and 1936 and features<a href="http://channelnine.ninemsn.com.au/slideshow_ajax.aspx?sectionid=6678594&sectionname=showunderbellyrazor&subsectionid=7804226&subsectionname=razorfashionss"> truckloads</a> of glitzy, gaudy twenties glamour. According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underbelly:_Razor">Wikipedia</a>, the first episode made the show <i style="text-align: center;">‘</i>the highest rating drama in Australian history<span style="text-align: center;">’. The <i>Daily Telegraph</i> ran a competition giving readers a chance to play extras in the series, and was inundated with entries.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaILtiDVdkK_ydvHFNFRfNOOwtqPkP7OimNq28F1YPPnBgrNO-W_50Ffohp72sbroHh3_GVnpTRb29GWaM3b-AXQYhgVnIET0ktPSGDDvx0fOreUzEoxgy435N649Uejg8nk9A217fJakD/s1600/RAZOREP1SS_29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaILtiDVdkK_ydvHFNFRfNOOwtqPkP7OimNq28F1YPPnBgrNO-W_50Ffohp72sbroHh3_GVnpTRb29GWaM3b-AXQYhgVnIET0ktPSGDDvx0fOreUzEoxgy435N649Uejg8nk9A217fJakD/s400/RAZOREP1SS_29.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.phrynefisher.com/TVseries.html">Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries</a> is a detective series set in
Melbourne, Australia, in 1928. Oozing glamour and sensuality, wealthy amateur
sleuth Phryne Fisher swishes through the staid drawing rooms, foggy back lanes, grimy docks and smoky jazz clubs of the city with her sleek chestnut bob, toting her pearl-studded pistol as she brings murderers to book aided by her handsome colleague Detective Inspector Jack Robinson.<br />
<br />
The series has just completed its first run in Australia and a second series is in the pipeline. I couldn’t find information about overseas sales, but I’d be very surprised if Phryne doesn’t make an appearance on the BBC and possibly North American screens at some point.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig2u3I7ggsfTSE7KOR92Lv2-JtiKED58wdJCMwMs7Y-KuQwnQ91ukKB1RXDm0FltbJV4DymEr4RCF2rh4p2_Cvs8KP4SFCH-n2o_-civAbgwRCYR4o-FTOC2y2AmIR8_WMmG3YClg4z8ob/s1600/PHYRNE+FISHER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig2u3I7ggsfTSE7KOR92Lv2-JtiKED58wdJCMwMs7Y-KuQwnQ91ukKB1RXDm0FltbJV4DymEr4RCF2rh4p2_Cvs8KP4SFCH-n2o_-civAbgwRCYR4o-FTOC2y2AmIR8_WMmG3YClg4z8ob/s400/PHYRNE+FISHER.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Phryne – superbly brought to life by the elegant <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/tv/phrynefisher/video/#top">Essie Davis</a> – is a style icon with a conscience, a glamour girl from humble origins who strives
to achieve justice for the underdog. She resides in an elegant two-storey Victorian
mansion replete with iron lace balconies and wonderful art nouveau decor, supporting a household
staff of three, a foster child and a dedicated lady companion, Dot Williams, who assists
in her investigations. With a series of exotic suitors and a simmering sexual
tension between her and DI Robinson, she epitomises the new sexually liberated woman
of the twenties. Her superbly tailored wardrobe delights the eye with its intricate designs, bold
patterning and deliciously luxuriant fabrics.<br />
<br />
The series is based on the <a href="http://www.phrynefisher.com/books.html">bestselling novels</a> by Australian solicitor
<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/tv/phrynefisher/video/#top">Kerry Greenwood</a>. An intellectual heavyweight with a yen for crime, Greenwood has created a
larger-than-life heroine, a period female superhero who speaks several
languages and is as adept at flying a plane as she is at dancing the tango. Yet Greenwood strives for authentic period settings, and only agreed to the TV series because
she was given a say in the design. She was thrilled with the results.</div>
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The odd cloche hat makes an appearance, but Greenwood wanted to distinguish the distinctive style of the late twenties both
from the flapper fashion that
marked the early part of the decade and the very fitted styles of the thirties. At the
time, costumes were designed as whole ensembles, with everything matched from
underwear through to coats, and fabrics were incredibly fine and embellished. While purists have pointed out historical anomalies in some of the props, the
gorgeous locations are apparently in the main true to 1928 and the years
before it.<br />
<br />
Nicole concurs that the fashions in Miss Fisher<span style="text-align: center;">’</span>s Murder Mysteries are distinctly<i style="text-align: center;">‘</i>fashion forward<span style="text-align: center;">’</span>, and not always recognisable as classic twenties. She goes on to suggest that these days original twenties fashion is not always replicated
‘in its true form<span style="text-align: center;">’</span> because styles aren<span style="text-align: center;">’</span>t always flattering – yet the era has still been highly influential.<br />
<br />
‘The drop waist styles are loose and comfortable and particularly flattering for ladies with slim, boyish figures. Unfortunately, they<span style="text-align: center;">’</span>re not suited to curvy figures, which most of us have, so interpretations usually involve adding a bit more shape.<span style="text-align: center;">’</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: yellow;"><br /></span></div>
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<b>More twenties glamour to come</b></div>
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Cloche hats, concave bobs and sequinned, feathered headbands will certainly
be on display in Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming extravaganza <a href="http://thegreatgatsby.warnerbros.com/">The Great Gatsby</a>. I’ve
only seen the trailer, but that alone suggests that the film will make <i>Chicago</i> look like a Sunday picnic. It’s to be released in 3D, and will be playing in US cinemas from 25 December and in Australia from 10 January.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAI_1n8_VtbTBCJ_LpLO1z3IZnd5mMVpxmg9KvAauQyqTrn9jQEs_fx-HhT3d9gUwqO85oCNTzfX03YropkZddcTuet29sDCkcH0tEIOV5EJby4trVNHWNZx23XZ4R2lWl7Xq42pNq0hXR/s1600/GREAT+GATSBY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAI_1n8_VtbTBCJ_LpLO1z3IZnd5mMVpxmg9KvAauQyqTrn9jQEs_fx-HhT3d9gUwqO85oCNTzfX03YropkZddcTuet29sDCkcH0tEIOV5EJby4trVNHWNZx23XZ4R2lWl7Xq42pNq0hXR/s1600/GREAT+GATSBY.jpg" /></a></div>
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Nicole is looking forward to seeing how Luhrmann portrays the fashions of the time. ‘It promises to be very swish
and stylish, stylised even, as his creative team like to produce
a hyper-real and creative version of history.<span style="text-align: center;">’</span></div>
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The forthcoming third series of Downton Abbey is also set to provide sartorial thrills. The show has become a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16731254">cult hit in the USA</a>, with Sunday night viewing parties and themed merchandise. MSNBC’s Today show has given fans<a href="http://thelook.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/19/10175988-dress-like-the-ladies-of-downton-abbey?chromedomain=theclicker"> advice on how to dress like the Downton Abbey ladies</a> and produced a collection of unauthorised Downton Abbey jewellery that it was later forced to pull.<br />
<br />
The third series is already creating plenty of buzz. Airing in the UK from
September, it will be <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/fash-track/downton-abbey-roaring-twenties-season-three-292815">set in the post-war era</a> and will feature
twenties fashions. Below are some examples of the Edwardian styles that have made such an impact.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGYxcDU5ggIvWDQnmTrBquGvh89x3qt_RJetl4CZptD3OFIqF1w3d3hnhyphenhyphen1ks2NnOfPuFRHGswdP9R8qrQTzKZiPASpFPCrslpvZxcqfijUobYPZmha1NfUluPZwY7CjxGSJ-tdfLYCIo_/s1600/DOWNTON+ABBEY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGYxcDU5ggIvWDQnmTrBquGvh89x3qt_RJetl4CZptD3OFIqF1w3d3hnhyphenhyphen1ks2NnOfPuFRHGswdP9R8qrQTzKZiPASpFPCrslpvZxcqfijUobYPZmha1NfUluPZwY7CjxGSJ-tdfLYCIo_/s400/DOWNTON+ABBEY.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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As far as twenties fashion goes, it seems that the unassuming Dot Williams is not the only one in for a fast ride in the next few months
<span style="text-align: center;">–</span> I can<span style="text-align: center;">’</span>t wait!<br />
<br />
Until next time!<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/253/F638B4ADAF1BBF092057A37B427CACE2.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><br />
<b>If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like <a href="http://inspiredshopper.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/wanted-annie-hall-for-2000s.html" style="font-family: inherit;">Wanted – An Annie Hall for the 2000s</a>.</b><br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8643668687976662979.post-58263246067865210302012-05-14T12:25:00.001-07:002012-09-19T13:57:46.108-07:00Three Frugal Tips So Obvious You Probably Haven't Thought of Them<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgviU_oNxeSaxsBIaLixfweI3We5-r_bHH00AfxZ-WVQQNZHbtPKtKrmIQqg3AeIrXirKGbVffshs1LP5BMOLIl3CRQr9RzV4l_oSVGj4N8fPPiKKCands0OVCaEQud41Lbude7V389UNmU/s1600/FRUGALTIPS+130512.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgviU_oNxeSaxsBIaLixfweI3We5-r_bHH00AfxZ-WVQQNZHbtPKtKrmIQqg3AeIrXirKGbVffshs1LP5BMOLIl3CRQr9RzV4l_oSVGj4N8fPPiKKCands0OVCaEQud41Lbude7V389UNmU/s320/FRUGALTIPS+130512.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Getting serious about saving money can seem like an
onerous task. But it starts with simply changing your attitudes to money and
the way you approach spending it. Here are three new frugal tips that are so
obvious you may not have thought of them yet!</b></div>
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<b>1. Assume you don’t need
anything<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Apart from the basic necessities (food, housing, energy,
transport) we often say we ‘need’ new items. What we really mean is that we believe our lives would be easier, happier and better overall if we had those items.</div>
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When we go shopping for a particular non-basic item we start
from a default position that’s so drummed into us we don’t realise it – that we
must buy whatever it is we’re looking for. We feel deprived and somehow inadequate
without the item.</div>
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One way to decrease your spending is to assume that you
already have everything you need apart from basic necessities. Then, when a fresh need comes to your attention – a new smartphone; a pair of Mahno Blahnik shoes – you start from the
assumption that you <i>don’t</i> need it and
work backwards. </div>
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Assuming you don’t really need it, ask yourself if there’s anything you already
have that could substitute for it.
Alternatively, could you borrow it instead? Find it secondhand? Swap something
to get it? Or, when you give yourself time to think about it, do you really
have enough of that kind of item already? </div>
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Of course, at any one time there’s a fair chance that you <i>don’t</i> have everything
you need. I often recommend people write a list of things that they intend to
buy to put some boundaries around their spending.</div>
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The beauty of starting from a default ‘no needs’ position is that you exhaust every other possibility before buying the item. Then if you decide you do really need it, you can buy it without guilt. The real,
genuine needs will emerge from the dross of your many wants like shining
diamonds, and you’ll find the right items easily at the right time.</div>
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<b>2. First things first<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I used to be in a 12-step program, and if there’s one thing that is
plentiful in these programs it’s wise sayings. Some might argue there are too many, but they can sometimes be quite
profound. One of the sayings that has stuck with me over the years is ‘first
things first’. </div>
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There are two useful ways you can apply this to your
spending. The first one is simply allocating enough money for the basic necessities of
life (food, housing, energy, transport) before buying non-necessities. Of course, there are many ways you can reduce your spending on
these necessities so that you can save more money or buy something you really
need.</div>
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The other meaning of the saying is even more straightforward, and involves how you spend your time. Shop for the necessities first, and
then do any leisure shopping you want to do. If you’re prone to overspending, getting
your priorities right in this regard could help you reduce the amount of
leisure shopping you do, and therefore your spending. Instead of tacking your food shopping onto the end of a
spending binge, take the time to think about what food you’ll buy, where you’ll buy it, and how you can buy the healthiest food to look after
yourself. Changing your priorities in this way is a signal that you’re
looking after yourself, and this could also have benefits for your spending. </div>
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You could also look more carefully at other basics like the transport you use to get around, and how you use electricity and gas. Putting time and energy into thinking about those things that you might otherwise spend, say, shopping online could not only reduce your carbon footprint but give you a more mindful experience of life.</div>
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<b>3. Look at your family</b>’<b>s money history<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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You’re not stuck with the spending habits that were instilled in you – it is possible to change your attitudes, and looking at how you came to develop them is a great way to start.</div>
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A useful exercise is to sit down and write a history of your family’s attitudes to money. Ask yourself:</div>
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How did my parents and grandparents spend money?</div>
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What were the attitudes to money that lay behind their
spending habits?</div>
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What are my attitudes to spending?</div>
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How have the attitudes and habits of my family helped form my own attitudes? </div>
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Once you’ve answered these questions, you’ll be able to look at your spending habits much more objectively and start to get some distance from them. And you’ll begin to understand that you don't have to be stuck with them!</div>
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After taking a serious look at my parents’ attitude to
money, and those of my maternal grandparents, I now have a completely
different approach to saving and spending from the rest of my family. </div>
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<i>Have you found that you gained more control over your spending after changing some of your basic attitudes? What were your original attitudes and how did you go about changing them?</i></div>
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Until next time!</div>
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<b>If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like </b><b><a href="http://inspiredshopper.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/are-any-of-these-negative-beliefs-about.html">Are Any of These Negative Beliefs about Money Holding You Back?</a> </b><b>and</b> <b><a href="http://inspiredshopper.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/be-creative-stinge-12-great-tips-for.html">Be a Creative Stinge – 12 Great Tips for Cutting Your Spending and Saving Money</a>.</b></div>
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Inspired Shopping 2008</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0