shop stories

I bought this red cardigan from a vintage shop tucked down a quiet alley off a busy main street. The lady operates the shop from the living room of her house. You enter through her front door, up stairs bordered with geraniums and half-planted pots. While you rifle through the racks, she sits with her friends drinking cups of tea and calling out styling suggestions from across the room. Her husband wanders in and out, oblivious to your presence. Her mailbox is a battered French antique which reads "La Poste". In a corner, there's an overstuffed tweed armchair for your boyfriend to sit, along with a record player and a tin box full of broken bits of jewellery. It was like a slice of raspberry chocolate cake. Rich, fulfilling, and full of comfort.

♫ Cardigan is vintage ♫ Playsuit from Valley Girl ♫ Necklace is DIY'ed with gifted pendants ♫ Chain bracelet from Diva ♫

I bought this studded singlet from Glassons, New Zealand's version of H&M and Forever 21. All their stores look alike. They play the same mix cd. When I was there, Miley Cyrus was on the plasma tv. Though the girls were nice, the stock was everywhere and they took forever to find my size. It was like junk food. Easy and convenient.

♫ Singlet from Glassons ♫ Earrings from Equip ♫ Chain bracelet from Diva ♫

Times are tough for small businesses. I'm not telling you to buy things you don't really want from small stores based solely on pity and principle. As you see from the listings under my outfit pictures, the majority of my clothes are from chain stores established by national or multinational companies. What I do suggest is paying some smaller stores a visit, discovering what they have to offer, and being willing to trade the price of two singlets plus a dress from a chain store for one beautiful garment you'll treasure forever.

For North America, visit the 3/50 Project for more information
For Wellingtonians, S'Wonderful is the first place you can start!