The Great Eclectic Jumble Sale

Maria Henare's famous Eclectic Jumble Sale is on this weekend in Newtown, Wellington. She fills up a school hall with treasures (an assortment of fabrics and textiles, buttons, jewellery, hats, gloves, shoes, clothing, bags, bric-a-brac, iconic bus blinds... ) she has found at op shops around the South Island and sells it at fairly reasonable prices.

I've been to the annual event a couple of times now, and I've picked up some lovely vintage pieces each time. It pays to get in early, as there is always a huge line before doors open and the hall fills up pretty quickly. It gets slightly manic there, as everyone is competing to get their hands on a unique, beautifully crafted item. There's no point in trying anything on as there just isn't time or space and the lines can be rather long.

It can definitely be a stressful couple of hours in the vintage-filled hall, but falling in love with and purchasing your dream (dress/coat/boots/whatever) makes the high blood pressure all worth it.

I'm not really sure what I'll be looking for (I'm on a tight budget and probably shouldn't even be looking at all), but I'd love to find a pretty white lace dress and maybe a vintage collar or two.

The Great Eclectic Jumble Sale

April 9 and 10 (open 9-5 Saturday, 9-3 Sunday)

St Anne's Hall, 22 Emmett St, Newtown, Wellington

Eftpos and Parking is available

Lela Jacobs: Old Stock, New Sale

Tomorrow night at the Service Depot Lela Jacobs is having a sale. There will be one-offs, samples, end of season pieces and a whole bunch of Lela goodies for 50-80% off the retail price. Jeepers!

Lucky Wellingtonians! I wish I could be there. Her way of playing with shapes and drapery makes me swoon. I want this dress from her winter collection:

Lela Jacobs Old Stock, New Sale

At The Service Depot: 2 Lombard st, Wellington

6-8pm

Cash Only

The Service Depot

A new store called The Service Depot has opened in Wellington at No. 2 Lombard st, just behind the Manners Mall post office. Considering that I was notified of this by Ange at Artikel (my favourite Wellington shop and my former employer) and by looking at the list of labels the store is stocking, I know the Service Depot will be amazing. It will be a welcome addition to Wellington's fashion family. I am very much looking forward to going back to Wellington soon and checking out the store.

Lonely Hearts Sale

I am so very excited about the Lonely Hearts sale this weekend! I'm hoping to get my hands on some Winter '09 goodies. The sale starts on Thursday and goes for about a week or until everything is gone, whichever comes first. The annual sale, which normally takes place at Willis York hairdressing will now be in a store near Coco on Willis st. Get in early, because the sale is always super busy.

I'll be working at the sale, so come say hi!

I Want you to be Crazy cause you're Boring Baby when you're Straight

Last Wednesday the Kills played at the San Francisco Bathhouse in Wellington. A lot of my friends went and told me of how good it was later. It hurt my heart knowing I was unable to party to this fantastic band with some of my favourite friends. In the lead up to the gig, I heard from numerous people that Kate Moss was rumoured to be coming to Wellington for the gig. I laughed it off, saying it was impossible because of the opening of the New York Topshop store, but secretly I hoped it wouldn't happen otherwise it could have been my first strike against Melbourne! I will be going to see them this Friday in Melbourne, but it would have been cooler to see them in Wellington, with my closest friends and at a relatively intimate venue like SFBH. I could almost imagine I was there, thanks to some photos that were up on Neon Sleep.

This photo reminds me of one time a few years ago when I was being lead through the back corridors of Auckland's St. James, only to come across Nick Zinner smoking in his dressing room. The law had just gone through a few months previous, but he didn't care. Nick Zinner and Alison Mosshart: Quintessential rockstars.

I have been searching for that perfect leopard print coat for years now. Turns out VV had it the whole time. Yeah, she's a minx.

I know they're not actually kissing but still, Kate who? I hear there is some intense on-stage chemistry that goes on between these two. Meow! I can't wait to hear No Wow, Cheap and Cheerful and Black Balloon live.

(repost) Light, Sound, Dance

The last time I saw the Bang Gang DJs play was August '07 in Sydney. There is only one word to describe that night: loose.
Question: can you say you saw a group of DJs "play"? It's not like they're playing any instruments. Or even their own songs. Can you call it a gig? I struggle to find words that suffice.
Despite only getting 2/5ths of the Bang Gang, last night at Good Luck was sufficiently awesome. More so, even. Since they're with Modular Records, they have the pick of the crop when it comes to great dance music. Hoodrat (or Angus as I learnt later) responded to my shouted requests for Cut Copy and/or the Presets with a grin. So you can imagine my euphoria when they put on Lights and Music and then My People within the space of 15 minutes.

Last night I christened my brand new camera, a Sony a350. I was taking photos for a secret squirrel mission that I may or may not tell you about later and I had great fun doing it. It was interesting observing the way people treated me because I had a camera in my hand. Everyone pouted and posed when I pointed the lens their way. I was treated as a friend rather than a stranger all because people wanted me to take their photo. Hardly anyone asked why I was doing it. I kinda felt like they each wanted their own 15 seconds of fame by being caught on camera at some cool bar where some cool DJs were playing. That's not to put down anyone that I took a photo of though, they were all really lovely and everyone was having a great time. Heck, I've posed for those kind of photos before. At fashion week there were numerous times when someone would come up to me and ask if they could take my picture. Before they could even begin to say "I'm from (insert publication here)" I was already smiling for the camera. I have no idea where most of those photos turned up.

I got asked last night if I was Neon Sleep. Haha! No, I'm not.

That weird situation was almost as perplexing as the time I went up onto the street to get some fresh air. I was by myself and sitting on the stone wall outside Good Luck, watching the interactions between drunk groups of people - always a fun way to pass the time. I had my camera in my hands and some guy came and sat next to me asking me questions about my camera. I was polite and answered all the questions he had but I would have preferred to be left alone. Out of the blue he said "So you like me and I like you, why don't you come back to my place?" I was all "Huh?!" It was sick, I think he was hoping that I was more drunk than I actually was and wouldn't be able to remember what I had been saying to him. So he said, "Yeah, you just said that you're interested in me, so how 'bout it?" I was completely dumbfounded. I didn't know what to say. Did he really think I was so stupid/drunk that I would fall for it and say "Well okay, if you say that's how I feel, then it must be true." Needless to say, I vacated that stone wall pretty quickly.

Good Luck often turns into a rather sweaty affair (Hawnay Troof anyone?) because of its low ceilings and restricted space and this time was no different. Fringes can be a bitch in those situations.

When the lights were turned on and we were all told to leave, I was still keen to party. Thank goodness for San Francisco Bathhouse!

Speaking to them afterwards, they said the Wellington show was better than the Auckland one. Haha. Hopefully I get to see them again soon, since they're always so much fun. Whether that's in NZ or Australia or somewhere else altogether, who knows?