No such thing as a cheap outfit.

Quite some time ago I watched an English TV series called 'Blood, Sweat and T-shirts'.

It basically saw 6 English kids all in interested in the fashion industry in one way or another, go over to India where they worked in various sweatshops, from the so called 'good' to the downright hideous. The wages they earned was all they had to live and survive off, they learned quite early on that this was not easy.

They saw children as young as 7 I believe, making garments that would eventually hit the English high street (the best high street in the world in my opinion) in shops such as New Look, MK One and of course the infamous Primark (a shop I just cannot make myself like but that is loved by millions!) Don't get me wrong, not every shop on the high street use these awful factories but please be aware it's out there.

If you can get your hands on the series it's seriously worth the watch, it will hopefully change the way that you think about what you're are buying and ideally influence where you start/stop shopping for you 'cheap clothes' because the thing is, there's no such thing as cheap clothes, everything comes at a cost whether it's the money, or general ethics. Confused? Read on!

So these sweatshop workers are working in the most disgusting conditions, sat on the filthy wet floors with rats scuttling about around their feet, at night they would sleep underneath their sewing machine for a few hours and repeat the same thing day after day, year after year and for what? About $1 a week or something insane. The thing is without this job they would have nothing at all. These people are actually heros, everything they are doing is so that their family (who they may rarely see as they work far away from home) can eat and sleep under some form of roof, albeit not a very good one.. and we complain about our jobs!! puts it into perspective a bit doesn't it?!

So here's my dilemma..

Do we allow the Primarks, Cotton Ons and Supres to stay in business by continuing to shop there? This will certainly result in the working conditions to remain as bad as they are if not get worse, we can't have that can we?

So that means we need to shut them down and begin to create a world of ethical treatment and working conditions...

...Not only is this (very unfortunately) never going to happen it also means that all these thousands and thousands of people will have no job and no money, they will therefore starve and die very young. Harsh I know but it's just a very sad fact. The workers have these jobs because they can't do anything else. Our high streets allow these people a small amount of money to live on and while it's utterly horrendous, we are stuck in this catch 22 and what we can do about it?

Put the prices in shops up so the workers pay will increase too? No. Most of the factory owners are dishonest, money hungry, unethical, illegal.. dare I say it.. Bastards, who will not pay their workers the extra money coming in.

I have honestly spent many an hour brainstorming a solution and all I have come up with is what I call the "Jamie Oliver approach" all the amazing stuff he did with school dinners I'm sure can be adapted for this situation.

So what do you think? Do we try our best to only buy from our country of residence and shut the factories down? Or do we make sure these poor people at least have some kind of income so that they can feed their family?

I'd love to hear your thoughts, this is a subject that I really believe needs discussing at length. Please leave me a comment below (remember that you can comment even if you aren't a follower.)

P.S I'm going to start researching shops on the high street that use ethical working conditions and I'll post them on here so that if I have scared you into being worried about where to shop you'll know where is safe!

If anyone wants me to check any particular store for them leave me a comment on here or shoot me an email at stevieweevie87@hotmail.com and I will be happy to find out for you.

A Window Of Opportunity!

I've been meaning to post this picture for a while, I took it about 3 weeks ago and absolutely love it.

It's Sportsgirls current window display and while it's minimal clothing it's an amazing and very appealing window. It actually stopped me in my tracks and I was rushing back to work from a break.

If you can't see it is basically the Sportsgirl logo made up from a load of trinkets painted different colours and it makes for a very interesting look. I spent ages inspecting each piece, I was going to go in and put dibs on an owl on the white shelf for my mum (collector of all things owl!! - she'll kill me for saying that!!!)

Anyway it just goes to show how creativity is limitless, this window has nothing and everything to do with fashion and I think it's great.

The Big Fake Debate

Now here's an issue very close to my heart. "To fake or not to fake".

I could probably count on one hand the amount of people that I know that don't own a fake something or other, myself included.

Here's my humble opinion and I am painfully aware, that my mission to rid the world of fakes is that will most likely go unsolved but damned if I am going down without a fight so here goes;

• If you cannot afford the real thing.. you shouldn't have it!! You are not the target market of Chanel or Marc Jacobs or Prada or Jimmy Choo, these designers do not want you to own their bags, so stop pretending you're something you are not and go buy a bag from Topshop like the rest of us poor folk!

• By owning a 'Jimmy Choo' bag you are saying to the world 'I love Jimmy Choo' right? WRONG! You hate Jimmy Choo! Do you really think that these designers are happy that their hard work, their ideas, their designs have fallen into the hands of fakers. Do you think they are happy that the money that should rightly be theirs, is in fact.. not? Personally, if I worked really hard on designing a really amazing IT bag and everyone started walking around with fake versions of my creation, I'd be completely devastated and I think in your heart of hearts you know that you would be too.

• Did you know it takes something like up to 6 weeks to make a Hermes Birkin bag, one of the worlds most sought after IT bags.

• Did you also know that your fake version is most likely made by a crying 8 year old, forced to work excruciatingly long hours for a pittance in a dirty, hot, little sweatshop while being beaten at the same time or at very least verbally abused.if you can handle that blood on your hands then, by all means, fake away.. I won't be angry, just very very disappointed!

And why is it that whenever I go off on one of my 'fake' rants I am greeted with a chorus of; "But it's a good fake"... What do you mean a ''good fake''? It's a completely conflicting statement. Sure it might look 'good' or as close to the real thing as it can but guess what.. IT'S STILL FAKE!

I am lucky enough to own a few designer items, all 100% real and I'm so proud to say that I saved up my money and paid for them myself which is a truly amazing feeling.

There's something about the whole experience, of going to a beautiful shop, picking out your beautiful item, trying it on, handing over your hard earned money to the shop assistant who is beaming from ear to ear because you have just paid for her next weeks rent, then walking out of the shop with a notably lighter wallet but fabulous new addition to your wardrobe.

I would, at this point, like to mention that my hatred of fakes does also rollover to DVDs and CDs etc and if I have to hear about one more person that just got back from Bali with a suitcase full of pirated DVDs I may have to stab myself in the eye!

I now invite anyone to leave your comments on which side of this debate you stand. I should warn you that I will win, so your feedback may be in vein but very very welcome!

To fake or not to fake.. which side are you on?

Avoir

Chevron Island is not a place I usually go to but now I have seen some of the shops it has to offer, I think I will be making it my business to go there way more often.

Amoung them is Avoir is a luxury vintage shop, specialising in handbags, shoes and accessories. All designer, all 100% REAL.... THANK GOD!! It's about time a shop like this came along, there are several shops at Marina Mirage even, that are selling fakes and it infuriates me (see my blog the big fake debate!) They should not be allowed to get away with it but all my anger has now come to nought because Avoir is here to save the day!

The first thing to catch my eye was a pair of Sonia Rykiel red suede shoes that were just amazing and 3 sizes too small for me! bugger!

The next thing was Sharon, a lovely extremely knowledgeable English lady who works there and made us feel welcome and comfortable straight away, telling us all about the shop and how it works which is what I will attempt to do now;

All the items are pre-loved 100% real designer, from Manolo Blahniks to Louboutins and Jimmy Choo shoes. Chanel, Gucci and Louis Vuitton bags and everything in between. Each piece has been hand picked from countries all over the world, checked thoroughly for authenticity and brought back here to the Gold Coast where they will hopefully find their next loving home.

A lot of the pieces come from Japan where fashion is very much about what's hot right now and not investment but also a place where fakes don't happen, So thank you Japan for keeping your things in such good condition and not wanting them past their season, you allow us less fortunate folk a chance to buy designer for less!

And when I say less, don't get me wrong the things are by no means what I personally would class as cheap but more realistic and because these pieces come from around the world, there are things that one may not have seen before which makes shopping that bit more exciting I think!

Everything in this shop is a joy to look at, the merchandising is done brilliantly, not too cluttered so you can see everything but just enough that you feel like you need to look around at least 3 times so that you don't miss anything!

So if you're looking to shop designer but don't know who to trust, or just want a great experience, take yourself over to Chevron Island and visit Avoir, I loved it so much I went twice in one day!

http://www.avoir.com.au

A very fashionable day out

Today was, to me, exactly what weekends are all about; coffee, food, shopping, family and relaxing.

It started off with a quick trip to the OP shop to pick up a dressing table that mum had her eye on for a while, it wasn't there anymore, consider this a tip to all you shoppers out there: if you LOVE something, buy it now because it won't be there when you get back! I would know.. I work in retail and those of you who say "I'll have a think about it and come back" can guarantee I will bend over backwards to sell it before you get back and do get a certain joy on the rare occasion that you actually come back and it's gone!

From there me and mum went over to Chevron Island to our favorite dress agency, we got off to a bad start in there with the sales assistant making us feel like idiots for thinking a PRADA key-ring was real (I'm sorry.. don't sell fakes then!) Anyway mum found a Ben Sherman shirt she had had her eye on a few months ago at a bargainous price and I think knowing that she had pissed us off the lady reduced the price even further.. wonderful, she had won us back!!

Next was morning tea/lunch at a great little cafe and deli called duo, I would definitely recommend this to anyone, it was great service, delicious food and coffee and the deli had some great and unusual things that your kitchen simply cannot live without.

After a quick wander around Chevron Is (and discovering an amazing little gem of a shop called 'Avoir' - see other other blog) we picked up grandma and headed to the main event. A vintage fair called The Way We Wore it's a great event that is held at the Greek club in Bundall and is on every 6 months or so.

From dresses, skirts, hats and jewelry, to art and buttons, this is the place to be for any of you vintage lovers. The prices ranged from as little as $15 a piece to over $200.

Grandma picked up some dress patterns and books.

Mum got a bracelet (pictured below)

And I found an amazing dress and a jacket both for $15 and both to die for..

My iPhone clearly doing the clothes no justice (my camera broke in a freak sand-in-lens incident.. a touchy subject for me as I am not a person you would normally find near any kind of sand!) but nevertheless you sort of get the idea!

We found ourselves spending a lot of time with this hat lady, trying on all of her hats that are not necessarily the kind of thing you would get me wearing but that I can certainly enjoy looking at. She has these hats shipped over from New York, having spent their lives atop many a socialites head they are looking for their next owner to take them home and treat them well. The hats are quite expensive but worth every penny considering their condition and age.

My favorite part of the day was probably finding my wedding dress. This thing was.. EXQUISITE! Layers upon layers of beautiful off white tulle with little rhinestones hidden around the skirt. the top was a high necked ruffled dream.

I held it against myself and I swear to god I nearly died. In that moment I could picture everything about my wedding, stood on the church steps being covered in confetti and having my photos taken, looking 3 million dollars. My hair is sleeked back in a low bun, red lips and minimal eye make-up (I would like to point out at this point that I have never ever wanted to get married in a church and have always said that I would marry in purple with my hair out and lots of extravagant make-up but it's definitely true what they say about what happens when you find the one.. anything that you had once thought goes right out of the window and now you can settle for nothing else, this is my wedding dress now)

As I gripped the dress confused as to what to do, do I buy it despite the fact I had no boyfriend nevermind a fiance or do I let it go.. it wasn't my size after all but I would do whatever it takes to fit into this dress, people started looking at me with smiles on their faces and pointing. It just felt like this was my dress, everyone else seemed to think so, so what was stopping me from buying it?

I didn't buy it and now I am kicking myself, it put me in quite a sad mood for a while, it was so weird but I just felt such a connection with this dress! (refer back to first paragraph for how stupid I was to walk away and "think about it!!")

So what dress could possibly have such a pull on my heart.. I will show you the picture but I guarantee that this picture in no way showcases how beautiful it really was.

I honestly don't think I have ever seen anything so beautiful, I like to think of it's story; who wore it before? what did they wear it for? was it a wedding too? was their marriage a happy one?

That's one of my favourite things about buying and wearing vintage, thinking about the kind of people that have worn it before and where the wore it. It's so much more special than going to the high street and buying something from Sportsgirl, when you Op shop or vintage shop it's so much more exciting, you really feel like you have found a treasure and you can almost guarantee no one else has it anymore. I know that with my vintage items I treat them a lot better than I treat my other clothes and I feel amazing when I wear them.

As we left the vintage fair we saw a Greek wedding going on and had a sneeky peek. It was quite unreal, so beautiful was the church and while we could obviously only see the back of the bride what we did see was gorgeous too. I got out my camera and snapped away ( I also thought this could possibly be a sign that I should buy the dress?!)

From fashion to food, we stopped by Ferry rd markets to grab the makings for our dinner and who was there? no other than Olivia Newton John, she was hosting an event at an art gallery where proceeds go to breast cancer awareness. We didn't go in but we could hear her speech from outside, very touching Liv! Then the next thing you know she's walking right past us, quite exciting! I managed to grab a couple of snaps before she disappeared into a shop.

So the end to the day is me sitting here writing this blog with a lager and lime, waiting for my egg less chocolate cake to cook before I make cumberland sausage and mash for dinner then settling in with my puppy and mum to watch a film.

Such a perfect day!

The Sartorialist

I've often dabbled in a read here and there of The Sartorialist, but I just spent this morning looking back over all the archives of top fashion blogger, Scott Schuman.

It dawned on me how amazing he is. He sees fashion and inspiration, in places and on people that I and most other people wouldn't necessarily. Take for example a close up picture of an old lady, to look at her straight away.. nothing special, a great picture, well taken but from a fashion point of view.. nothing. I then read the blurb underneath it and start to understand a bit more, the lady, some would say uncharacteristically for someone a bit older, has glittered herself up, not only does she have it on her cheeks but she has it on her earlobes too. I love it, I think I would class this lady as eccentric.. something that I desperately want to be when I grow up because I think it's wonderful! But Scott Schuman describes her as 'chic' the one word I would never have called her but when made to think about I would kind of agree.

The Sartorialist is such an inspirational blog (entirely the idea of it!) I recommend it to anyone, in any business and in any walk of life. To see people on there that you wouldn't normally look twice at in the street and to study their picture and see all the little things that make them different and special and in some cases make them 'fashion' has made me re-think a few things about myself and the way I perceive people... now what on earth am I going to wear today?!!!

http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

Photoshoots!

Here are 6 of 500 pictures from a shoot that I did with photographer Sam Varendorff, last Friday for a competition to win the cover shot of the second issue of GCMAG.

It was quite a last minute thing, I had less than a day to find outfits, props and make up for it but somehow we did it and we are pretty happy with the results.

We were lucky enough to have an amazing model in Alexys Mackenzie, a great location in Burleigh beach, a beautiful sunny day and a great rapport between the three of us, making it a pretty great morning, capturing a lot of very natural and very Gold Coast shots.

We started at 6am, nice and early so we could catch the sunrise.. we did miss it by a few minutes but it didn't deter us.. on we pushed, Sam with his camera, Alexys with her amazing posing and me with my make up brush and wafter.

We managed about 6 outfit changes and locations in about 3 hours, not bad going to say it I was running off 2 hours sleep at ugly o'clock with NO COFFEE!!

Anyway here is the end result for your viewing pleasure.. I'll try and figure out how to put an album up on here so I can post them all, but for now, here they are...

As my first non-college related photo shoot with magazine cover potential, this was an absolutely amazing experience, to style with no direction from teachers was quite bizarre, quite worrying but quite wonderful at the same time. I learned some lessons; what to do/not to do next time, things I could've taken with me that would have come in handy etc etc.

All in all a great day (morning) with great people and some great results. What a great opportunity and experience to have had already. Keep them coming please!!

Photographer: Samuel John Varendorff

Stylist: Stevie Peers

Model: Alexys Mackenzie

Magazines..

.. aka the reason I got into styling.

Anyone who knows me, would know that I am a bit of a magazine freak.. When I buy a magazine I won't let anybody read it before I have, If necessary I would buy a magazine instead of lunch, I read them over and over again and never throw them away so you can imagine my excitement at creating my very own for an assignment at college.

Today we created the front cover for our magazine which was scary but extremely exciting. Last night I spent a few hours willing myself to go to sleep but unable to; so many questions and concerns running through my mind; 'What poses should I have my model do?' 'What if the shoes don't fit my model!' 'Did I buy enough tulle to wrap around the tree?' 'What if it rains and we can't use the location we were supposed to use!'

As it happens it did rain and we couldn't use the location! Instead we had to use an indoor studio which completely changed my vision and did send me into a mini, internal frenzy. After consuming the best part of a bottle of rescue remedy I was feeling calm, ready and raring to go and excited once again!

Step one - Make up:

I was going for a doll like look, so lots of pink, very girly and feminine. It took me a bit over an hour to do and I must say I was quite impressed with myself. It looked exactly how I had hoped it would look and I was over the moon!

Step two - Hair:

Drastically running out of time and not wanting to run over and put the other girls shoots behind I began straightening, backcombing and hairspraying to death. I'll be very honest it wasn't quite what I wanted but I did the best I felt I could with the time that I had and it definitely worked.

Step three - The shoot:

I really wanted to get the whole body in but due to the change of location and lack of space available to shoot in, it was advised that we didn't.. I did it anyway! I had a vision and no one was going to stop me!!

Anyway here are some of the images that I took on my phone so you get the idea but I'll post the professional ones as soon as I get them back.

I have really surprised myself throughout this course so far, some of the things that I have done, I never believed I was capable of, especially this soon in (2 months) and I am actually starting to believe myself when I say that I can do anything I set my mind to because I really can and if I can, then so can you. so DO IT like Nike!