Bit obsessed with... Golden Ponies

I first came across Golden Ponies in Frankie magazine, where I was excited to read that designer Erandi hand makes leather shoes and bags for reasonable prices. I had a look at the website and loved the extensive colour range and designs inspired by dancing shoes, but couldn't decide which ones I wanted to order.

When I was deciding which shoes to wear to my brother's wedding in April, I thought it was the perfect chance to get something from Golden Ponies. My gold Mary Janes arrived a few days too late to wear to the wedding (make sure you order EARLY!), but they were well worth the wait. I LOVE them.

I immediately placed another order and grabbed the Marianne T-Bar flats in brown, the Pony Oxfords in Black and the Floppy Doctor Bag in black. The Floppy Doctor Bag is my everyday handbag - it's not too big but it holds a lot - I can carry my wallet, keys, phone, ipad, umbrella, water bottle, sunscreen, sunglasses... I can even stuff a light cardigan in there if I need to! I want one in tan now.

Crappy Instagram pics of my purchases. I also got my wedding shoes from Golden Ponies but you can't see them yet!

Some of the amazing shoe range from Golden Ponies

Pony Oxford Basic

Marianne T-Bar Flats

Goldie Ballet Flats

Biba Mary Jane Heels

Deery Ankle Boots

And a few of the bags... I love them all!

Leather Bowling Bag

Floppy Doctor Bag

Bag #3 Small Leather Satchel

Sarah Envelope Bag with Strap

Bit obsessed... Tentative Decisions

When I was supposed to be writing an essay the other day, I came across this Etsy store and immediately went on a bit of a pinning spree. Normally when I hear the words 'raw crystal jewellery', I picture some spicy smelling old lady trying to heal my aura with rocks. Luckily for for Tentative Decisions, I saw the pictures before I read the description.

 

I think the gold-dipped quartz at the top of the post is my favourite but it also looks great in silver... Which one is your favourite?

all photos property of Tentative Decisions

Outpost for Sportsgirl

I'm really excited to write this post because I've been looking forward to this range coming out for almost a whole year! My awesome friend Jess from was selected to show her 4th year collection at the Sportsgirl Graduate Showcase at Loreal Melbourne Fashion Festival last year. That was exciting enough in itself, but what we didn't know then was that the sponsors were looking for two designers  to produce a capsule range for Sportsgirl's inaugural 'Graduate Collection'. This meant that Jess had to re-work the ideas from her range (there's a photo of the original range in my post about our fashion show) into five garments that would appeal to the Sportsgirl customer, working with Sportsgirl and attending fittings all year. The range is out now and I was so excited and proud that I ran out as soon as I heard and bought a jumper, skirt and shirt.

Me and my grumpy face showing off the chunky knit jumper, the "Jess" voile shirt and the knit skirt.

The range is in select Sportsgirl stores now and online at Sportsgirl.com.au

Shop update!

My online store now has all of the pretzel necklaces, bags, t-shirts and reversible skirts. Yay!

Now get shopping!

Our market stall

 

We had such a fun day at the markets on Saturday! It was great to be back at UTS and meeting so many lovely people on Open Day. We did pretty well for the day considering that not many people knew about the market, the alphabet rings were a best seller! 

I also had fun catching up with other students who had stalls and some of my teachers who dropped by. The market had a few stalls from fashion students, some from Industrial Design and lots of yummy food stalls. Oh, and I won a bag of popcorn for throwing a ball at a target so that was pretty exciting.

I'm currently moving my shop back to Etsy - I don't like their interface as much as bigcartel (which is what I'm using at the moment) but I do like that they have a solid customer base already there and there are lots of good opportunities to publicise your work. Anyway at the moment the bags are still at the old store (here) and the Etsy store has some Alphabet rings and pretzel necklaces. It's all still in transition mode though so I'll let you know when it's done!

Syb's stall - she's in fourth year

Project Menagerie - I love the idea of this. The first year students designed some motifs, set up some screens and have spent the last few weeks madly printing t-shirts to sell at the markets. Isn't that cool? I bought a t-shirt from them.

s.e.v by Sarah - a third year student & awesome model!

Some of Sarah's jewellery

This is the t-shirt I got from Project Menagerie!

Bell Street at the Street Fair!

Tomorrow I'll be holding a market stall at the University of Technology Sydney Open Day! For the first time ever UTS is closing off Jones St and holding a Steet Fair. There'll be food, music and market stalls from UTS Design students and alumni.

I'll be there with my bags, as well as printed t-shirts, these cute & colourful reversible skirts, and some samples from my grad collection & business award range.

I've also made some very colourful pretzel necklaces which I'm a bit in love with. I've already grabbed a bright orange one for myself and haven't taken it off since I made it!

So if you're in Sydney, or maybe if you're coming up for an Open Day, try to drop by! It's tomorrow, Saturday 27th of August, 9am - 4pm. Jones St Ultimo is just off Broadway, next to UTS. Walking from Central, go past the Tower building and turn right. Look for the colourful flags!

Also, just a quick note - this means the online store will be closed tomorrow. Back on Sunday!

Vegan Friendly Non-Leather Handbags

I love leather handbags, but I feel like there's not a lot of variety amongst them. Do a search for 'non-leather handbags' and almost every result is some kind of fake leather look-a-like. I understand that people like vegans don't want to buy real leather, and the real thing can be expensive, but there's so much more out there than cheap polyurethane. So for people who purposefully avoid leather, or those who just want something different, here are some great non-leather handbags I've found lately.

Everyday Bags

Wool Shoulder bag, US$38, by Marbled

Preppy Nylon Sasha Messenger Bag, US$178, Marc by Marc Jacobs

Convertible Pretzel Bag, AU$58 by Bell Street

'Daniel' canvas bag, US$45 by christystudio

Mustard canvas bag, US$35 by TippyThai
(I have this bag in grey and use it all the time!)

Evening/Clutch Bags

Grosgrain clutch with perspex clasp, AU$51.38 by ASOS

Marcella Raffia Clutch, AU$60.92 by Mar Y Sol

Weave Metal Tip Envelope Clutch, AU$51.38 by ASOS

Remember I while ago I mentioned that I was working on a Bell Street Clutch? It didn't work out as well as I wanted it to so I never ended up posting pictures. I still like the concept of it - a clear plastic clutch with a fabric inner pocket - but I'm not happy with the execution so I need to figure out how to make it better.

Tote Bags

Aviator Tote, AU$84.62 by Rag & Bone

Window Shopper bag, AU$38 by Bell Street

Bicycle Tote Bag, US$10 by theboldbanana


Reversible ONE by FEED 1 bag, AU$47.87 by Shopbop

Small Bags

Patent Twist Lock Saddle Bag, AU$34.25 by ASOS

Ruffled Waist Purse, US$38 by Kinies

Saddle Pouch in Oatmeal, US$43 by Minus

Larger Bags

Spot Print Bowling Bag, AU$42.81 by ASOS

Laser Shiny Large Weekender, AU$116.05 by LeSportsac

TV Canvas Tote, $25 by Kormageaux

Summer Brights

Stockholm Large Stripes, US$59 by Ikabags

QT Canvas Tote, US$42 by Kinies

Convertible Pretzel Bag, AU$58 by Bell Street

Sailor Tote Bag, US$33 by Bayanhippo