Finders Are Keepers

Sorry for the brief hiatus everyone. I wish I could say that I was doing something awesome like sunbathing in A Zimmerman Bikini on my own private island...whilst a hoard of hot life guards rubbed sunscreen on my back. But alas, this was not the case, my university duties rendered me a little preoccupied. However during my little break I did get up to some cool shiz to share with you. Just when I thought I was all marketed out from the summer rush of all things stall-related, I found myself stumbling into one of Melbourne's best excuses to buy cute shit you don't actually need! And that would be the The Finders Keepers Market. Ohhh, just thinking about it gets my market senses tingling...

The Finders Keepers market is a bi-annual event in Melbourne (just a cheeky heads up, the next one's on the 4th and 5th of October), held in the beautiful Royal Exhibition Building. I'll be honest, I think they have to hold it here because no where else is big enough, given the market is so filled with Australian and New Zealand emerging designers. The place was pumping when we got there, filled with bright bursts of colourful fabrics, crazy paper displays and the slightly more sedate furniture stalls. This is the kind of market that has everything you could ever need, seriously though. If you're one of those people who finds themselves always desperately buying ridiculous things that you don't actually need and still thinking you need more, beware. You've just met your maker. There's everything from jewellery, stationary and do it yourself knitting packs, right through to handcrafted ceramics, furniture and pot plants. A few stalls took my particular interest this year (apart from the bar selling cider. I did manage to restrain myself...though that may have had something to do with that fact that it was 10 in the morning), one of which was, unsurprisingly, some awesome jewellery stalls. The incredible array of aztec-inspired neck pieces covered with vibrant feathers from the Melbourne designer Jude, had me pretty hypnotised. It wasn't my finest moment, I think I stood there for about 20 minutes just staring. There were also the colourful and tightly beaded pieces by Sollis and some dainty little jewellery by the brand Aacute, whose tagline is "We make stuff...that's awesome!". And I would say that I have to concur with this statement. My other most favouritest stall was Vintage Prints, that collected old maps, illustrations and book pages and either sold them individually or printed them on wooden blocks. 

Sure, nothing here is exactly necessary (except maybe the cider), but when you're browsing through the copious rows of handcrafted, delicately made objects, you just can't help but think you'll go into some kind of seizure if you don't buy it that very second. So really...you probably should. It is the Finders Keepers Market after all and it only comes around twice a year!

My Little Berberis

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you're floating in the sky and you feel like you've been wrapped up in the most perfect, powder blue, soft, silky cloud? Yeah, me either...my dreams usually consist of something crazy like running away from a pack of giant bees whilst wearing an oversized clown suit. And then I wake up with drool on my pillow. But I've found a dress so perfect that it makes me feel as though I actually am floating through clouds. Truth be told, i've been keeping this little baby up my sleeve for a while now. It's so wonderful I wanted to keep it all to myself.

The designer of the dress, Ebony Harding, creates pieces under the label 'Little Gracie', a Western Australian brand formed n Perth in 2009. Each and every one of her creations is the epitome of femininity and draws on inspiration from flowers, mysticism and nature. The fact that she specialised in studying couture techniques in Paris can be seen within the intricate detail and perfect form of each of her dresses. Though feminine, I didn't find the pieces overly girlie or ruffly (ie. you won't end up looking like one of your Auntie's doilies), as each one struck the perfect balance between classic, elegant and original. That's why when I laid eyes on this particular piece, the 'Berberis Dress', I could resist neither its perfect powder-blue hue, nor the call of it's 100 per cent silk thread count. Yes, I probably could have bought a kidney on the black market for the same price, but eating two minute noodles for the past month has totally been worth it. The clincher was discovering there were only ten of it's kind...and the only one they had in the shop was my size. Now, I'm not a religious person and I don't use the word 'fate' lightly, but I'm pretty sure if I hadn't bought this dress I would have been hit by a lightning bolt. If it's God's will, how can I say no? Even if it means a pantry full of dried noodles...