If You're Looking For Love.

Oblivious to the current cash situation (i.e. a lack of) and the masses of Christmas gifts I received over the holiday, the list of things I'm lusting after continues to grow like Alice in Wonderland.


As of yesterday, the New Years dress and white singlet can, thankfully, be crossed off. The dress is appallingly '80s, bright red and more or less a giant sack. And, ecstatically, I am head over heels - or rather, boots as the case may be.


Click for larger images. Clockwise from top left: Headwear - Vintage photo from Agent-Lee; Haircut - Polaroids of Anja Rubik; Swimming Costume - Vintage photo Fishup; Cigarette Holder - eBay; Hold ups with Garter - eBay; Boots - Cannot remember, but if it's you're photo and you would like me to take it down, please contact me; Frames - The Selby; Vintage Collar - Etsy; White Cat T-Shirt - eBay.

Vintage and Retro Fashion at Hibernian House, Part II

Dear Sydneysiders (part deux),
Due to the overwhelming success of December's sale, we decided there was no way we couldn't do it again. So, on the second weekend of 2009 (to give you a chance to recover from your New Years hangover), we'll again be collaborating to bring you a weekend-long pop up store. Similar to last time, we will have food (of the home made cookie kind), liquid refreshment, The Beach Boys (of the Ipod kind), one cozy cat (the second one is grounded), a big comfy couch to chill the fuck out on, shoes, handbags and belts, bric-a-brac, a little jewellery, books and LOTS OF RETRO & VINTAGE CLOTHES, mostly for the lady-folk amongst you.

SATURDAY 10th January: 10am - 5pm
SUNDAY 11th January: 11am - 4pm

You'll find us on Level Six of Hibernian House, 342 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills. Invite your friends, bring your housemates, buy some (awesome) shit or just come and hang out with us.

For more information (including directions), don't forget to check out our Facebook event.

Holiday

Our Christmas tree was a beautiful mess of a broomstick and twigs. The self-made birds sat on the branches as the fairy lights glowed and the star sat happily atop the tip. My presents to Bobby were a painting, diary and URL (we're a modern duo) and my dress was a bright orange vintage thing. It continues to be a wonderful holiday indeed.

Dress: Vintage, I bought half a lady's closet from her earlier in the year and this was one of the treasures. The dress' waist tie is scrunched up and sitting on my head.
Sandles: Local shoe store, Nu & Nan
Belt and old binoculars bag: Anglicare

Hey Guys! It's Christmas Time!

Hope it was the kind of awesomeness that only Kinder Eggs and Christmas are capable of bringing.

Teenage Kicks

A few very kind readers let me know that I was featured on the Teen Vogue website this week as Girl of the Week. Here's an extended version, exclusive to Owl and the Grapes. Thanks Teen Vogue and a big sickly sweet (not unlike Santa's breath) welcome to all you new readers.

AGE: 20
HOMETOWN: Sydney, Australia

WHAT SHE'S WEARING: "The belt around my head, cropped black top, purple top and the bag are all hand-me-downs from my mum. I uncovered them trawling through the gigantic bag she was giving to charity. The satin dress is a night dress from a charity store and the scarf was a gift from a neighbour. The boots are from a local vintage store and the tights from a local department store."

THE STORY BEHIND: "Being a size 41 in shoes, I spent months trawling the Internet, charity stores and vintage stores for second hand leather shoes. I don't agree with buying new leather goods as I'm a vegetarian which made it just that much more difficult. When I turned these shoes over to see the number 41 glaring back at me, I quite literally squealed with joy."

INSPIRATION: "With the original inspiration [for this particular outfit] long gone from my mind, I couldn't tell you why I decided to wear this with that and that with this. But I do love layers and autumn colours, even in the height of Summer. [And in terms of everyday inspiration,] there are too many to mention. My boyfriend Bobby is a constant style inspiration. I love to steal his colour schemes and super skinny ties. I also have a girl crush on Marla Singer from Fight Club."

FAVOURITE DESIGNER: "Upcoming label FTW, consisting of Marissa Ziesing and Jack Mannix are one to keep all four eyes on (assuming you're wearing glasses like the rest of the cool kids, if not, two is fine too). They're doing some amazing things."

FLIP THE SWITCH: "My style is a product of my inspiration. It's forever changing. It's eclectic, used and abused, a little grandma, too many dresses and not one pair of jeans. "

FAVOURITE COLOUR: "I tend to gravitate towards greens and other natural colours. I am by no means a fluoro type of girl."

FAVOURITE CITY TO SHOP: "Thus far, I have only ever shopped in Sydney and Melbourne. Both have treasure troves of second hand goodness if you know where to look (the pay-by-the-kilo kind certainly being the best kind of goodness)."

HIDDEN TREASURE: "There is a market in Melbourne called Trash and Treasure which is held in a drive-in in Coburg. It is like fifty garage sales at once. There I found a brown leather belt with two bronze teddy bears as the buckle that I haven't been able to stop wearing. It's arrived at the point that the teddy bears even have names."

DO YOU FOLLOW TRENDS? WHAT'S THE NEXT BIG ONE?: "No I don't intentionally follow trends. Glasses however, are certainly going to be even bigger (literally) this season. Everywhere I look I see girls with glass for lenses or even no glass in the lenses at all. I'm sure all those geeks who, back at school, were called four eyes are having a good chuckle now. I think, when done right, it's wonderful. Now excuse me while I go and get my eyes tested..."

EXTRA CURRICULAR: "I could spend all my days hunting down bits and bobs from charity stores, I love to have something specific to look for, like the perfect fitting blazer, high waisted paisley shorts or a monstrous '80s jumper. I also enjoy painting and drawing. Reindeer and rabbits especially, though talk to me in a month and that will have changed completely. I also like cooking wholesome vegetarian meals, listening to good music like Kitty, Daisy and Lewis and Kimya Dawson and scouring things to write about for my blog Owl and the Grapes."

AND DO THESE THINGS INSPIRE YOU TOO?: "All these things inspire my style. Art, music, movies and books. It's so important to me to be surrounded by things that are constantly inspiring. Using these things as inspiration for the way I dress is not about translating images or words from one mode into another, but more about capturing a feeling or vibe."

ON HOLD: "Being on the tiny budget that comes with freelancing, I shop purely in charity and second hand stores. While I wish I could afford designer, when you find that deliciously perfect piece in a charity store you feel all the more accomplished. For the time being, designer pieces shall have to remain purely an inspiration."

IN BLOOM: "I would love if high-waisted bloomers made a comeback - especially in swimwear. I haven't the perseverance or expertise to make my own, and find them impossible to find in vintage stores. It would be wonderful if more swimwear brands branched out into vintage inspired designs."

TIMELESS PIECE: "Men's blazers."

BEAUTY PRODUCT: "Mascara. I thought I had lost mine last week and almost cried. That, of course, had nothing to do with it being that time of the month"

Any Colour You Like

We had all been planning to organise a tie dye day since before my first date with Bobby, almost six months ago. I met him in a charity store where I apparently spent twenty minutes trying on all things white and dye-able as he waited, recognising me under the change room door only by my big feet.

Last week, however, we all finally came together in the park to dye all those bits and bobs we've since collected.


While it may have taken a while to get around to, and the leotard I dyed didn't turn out quite how I expected, it was certainly worth it. Lots of clothing blowing away in the wind, dye everywhere, very dirty fingernails, and collectively some awesome clothes, bed sheets and shoes.

Headband: Myer
Top: Charity Store
Bag: Found at my Mother's house, in a box marked 'Emma'
Dress: Hand-me-down from my Mother
Belt: Leftovers from my material box

Photos courtesy of Bobby Townsend and Kerry Lennon.

P.S. I very well may have forgotten to mention that you can now subscribe to this blog by email. Just enter your email address into the box on the right and click subscribe and new posts will be emailed directly to you, pictures and all.

She Painted Pictures

Ten days isn't long. Santa Claus is close enough to breath his nauseatingly sweet breath on you. Yet in Sydney, we have very few reminders that so soon it will be upon us. From the skies fall no snow, the smell of pine is difficult to come by, as are acorns. You will be very hard pressed to find a squirrel, which don't even appear in our zoos, let alone our backyards. We spend as little time in the kitchen as possible in the heat and so we eat no roasts and sit by no raging fires. In Sydney, Christmas is a searing hot affair where one gets very drunk on very cold beer and eats as much barbecued seafood and cheese as their stomachs will allow. It's not very traditional and, unless you're a regular at shopping centres or enjoy browsing the tinsel-stocked aisles at your local Supermarket, it's very easy to forget about entirely.

To help remind the English born-and-bred Bobby that, yes, it is indeed Christmas, I made him an Advent calendar way back in the dawn of December. Not the flimsy cardboard and chocolate kind, but more of a-little-bit-of-Christmas-every-day kinda thing. While I would love to spill to you all twenty-four gifts, this would be not only a killjoy for the man in question, but a lot of them are, I suspect, quite uninteresting to those that haven't been a fly on the wall for the entirety of our relationship.

For one of the days this month, however, I'm sharing. The stocking baring the number 10 held a small chatterbox which when played, revealed an invitation to a play date. The type of play date you'd set up for your little brother and BFF's little sister so you could drink long blacks and smoke menthol cigarettes without your parents' scolding you as the kiddies jumped around on play equipment and you felt guilty about giving your little brother second hand smoke, only a much, much better kind of date. We (to Bobby's relief) avoided the play equipment and (to my relief) the menthol cigarettes. Instead, we spent the afternoon plaster painting amongst a jumble of children.

We visited the store at Fox Studios where you can choose the victim of your paintbrush from all kinds of Batmen, skulls, Darth Vadars, dinosaurs and motorcycle piggy banks. They're open on Weekends and Wednesdays. Once you have your plaster, a lady will give you water and paint and all those things you need to bring your plaster alive. If you're the uncreative type, you can buy one of the pre painted ones, but with four year olds to either side, there isn't that much to fear in way of going outside the lines. The lady offers regular words of encouragement and, once you're all done, you can even have glitter if that's the kind of thing you think you might be into. And if you are inclined to do a bit of that play equipment stuff, it's right there too. Showing you what we plaster painted would be equivalent to exposing all twenty-four presents, but I can reveal that it was beautiful. The lady giving out the paint said so.

Beret: Salvation Army (Charity store)
Scarf: Traded for a beer
Bag: $3 from Anglicare (Charity store)
Jumper: Borrowed from a friend
Pants: Hand me downs from Mum
Shoes: Cream (Local vintage store)
Cigarette: Virginia Green rolled tobacco

Young at Heart

You can read Bobby's far more comprehensive review of Young at Heart over here. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised to find it contains more words than "wonderful" and "life changing". Should you be unable to make it to Govinda's to see the film due to geographical and/or time restraints I'm certain the film is equally brilliant at other venues. But really, Govinda's is, like, the bomb.

It's All Over Now, Baby Blue.

The past week and a half has been busy. Outrageously so. This, this busyness, is my excuse for posting a little less than usual. Coming from a girl who does not work, I can understand if you're not completely inclined to believe me when I say this busyness was equal to Sydney on a Thursday night. Unfortunately you'll just have to trust me. I would buy you a puppy dog the size of Digby if that would make you believe me, but pups that size are hard to come by these days.

This busyness was wholly and solely due to our Vintage and Retro Fashion store that I mentioned in last week's post. It begged at our friendly feet to be arranged as it waited for it's chance to pop up. After much tagging and moving, finally the day came, and we sat in SixOhOne's Green Room as people, clothes and bits and bobs walked up and down our many stairs. All over, the Saturday was a tremendous success, so much so that we decided to do it again the next day (this was also partly due to the fact that we were too lazy, and hungover, to deconstruct the store).










Thank you to everyone who came and kept us entertained and I hope you walked away with one or two things that you'll love to death.

All photos courtesy of Bobby Six.

Picking up after you

Excluding a pee and a poop here and there, the man and I spent an entire day last week in the living room. Indeed, we didn't leave the house at all. No, we weren't sick. And we hadn't been grounded by the old man across the road. In fact, we did it by choice - hoping to be productive.


Amongst a few other bits and bobs, including a hand-sewed bow tie, this little owl was a product of the above mentioned day. He was born out of an old pick (or plectrum if you're that kind of reader). Hopefully, this week will find us at the bead store, buying chain and loops and completing the little hoot as a necklace. By Saturday I should have three or four to sell at the Vintage and Retro Pop-up store. Of course, that is if the old man doesn't ground us again.

Vintage and Retro Fashion at Hibernian House

Dear Sydneysiders,
For you and you only, Owl and the Grapes and SixOhOne are collaborating to create a one-day pop up store. Just like those fairy tale pop up books you had as a child, but better. You wouldn't have imagined such a thing was possible back then, but trust us, it certainly is.
.

Okay, so the 'collaboration' thing is a partial lie, considering that Owl and the Grapes and SixOhOne are essentially run by the same people. That the event will be a treasure trove of vintage and retro fashion however, is definitely no lie.

In the Green Room housed by SixOhOne, we will be bringing to you all that Cinderalla could have ever wanted. Indeed, we will have food (of the cookie kind), drink (of the BYO kind), The Beach Boys (of the Ipod kind), two cozy cats, a big comfy couch to chill the fuck out on, shoes, bric-a-brac and lots of vintage clothes, mainly of the female genre.

It's the same Saturday as Surry Hills markets so drop down before and/or after to enjoy a laid-back Saturday in our company - we're quite literally just down the street. In fact, we're close to Crown Street, Oxford Street and the City too.

Find us on Level Six of Hibernian House, 342 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills. On the corner of Kippax St, just up from Eddy Avenue, opposite Ding Dong Dang, entry via the Stained Glass sign and next door to the (dodgy) Indian restaurant. Zip up in the lift to level 5 (be patient) and there's a security gate on your right. Head up the stairs and at the top you'll see two doors. We're the one on the left. If you're worried you'll lose yourself, don't. There'll be signs.

On My Shoulders

Five hundred grams of the three kilos of clothes we bought last weekend.

Vest, shorts, belt, blouse: Anglicare
Shoes: Local vintage store

The Angels Hung Around

As some of you clever munchkins may have gathered from my last post (which featured a new Anglicare find), over the weekend we paid the Angels another visit. Incredibly, the warehouse of pay-by-the-kilo clothes was packed. Quite full. Despite this, we got down and dirty and walked out with three kilos of clothes, one pillowcase and a four kilo curtain. It's a heavy curtain. Before the end of the week, I'll try to post a photo of a few bits and bobs. For now, here's a little peek (of the a-boo kind).

Kitty

If you can tell me with a straight face that you do not find a kitten racing around the room trying to catch bubbles with its tiny paws entertaining, either you have never tried it or you are lying to yourself. While the boy called me simple, it was indeed the most I laughed all evening - so much so that my stomach ached.

Indeed, now that we (the word we being used loosely, and actually referring to my housemates) have a kitten, this is how I spend my Sundays.

Scarf: Chapel Street Bazaar, Melbourne
Vest: Surry Hills Markets, Sydney
Skirt, pinned up at the bust to wear as a dress: Anglicare, Sydney
Tights: Hand-me-down from Mum that I've cut up
Shoes: Cream on Crown, Sydney
(All thrifted)

Coming down the hill

I love running down hills. With the wind blowing through my cropped hair and the sun guiding my way, it's beautiful, fun and makes me giddy like a little girl. Running up hills, however, is not so fun. Every time my local shops at Surry Hills beckon, I take a five minute detour in order to avoid the giant hill that is Foveaux Street. While I'm sure it's purely because I am grossly unfit, Foveaux makes my buttocks ache and wish I had shoes like Dorothy.

Thankfully Alannah Hill is just the right type of Hill. One that is certainly associated with the feelings of the former. Her boutiques are fun, girly, beautiful, and indeed make many people giddy with joy.

Earlier this month I received this gorgeous Alannah Hill piece. However, despite my gratitude, I find the above pictured necklace doesn't quite make my wardrobe giddy with joy. Instead my clothes and head um and uh on how to wear such a stand-out piece. Hence it has unfortunately never been worn.

I've placed it on Ebay in the hope that someone more stylish than I will know how to wear it. You can see the listing and details just over here (that's a link if it's not clear). If you mention this blog and tell me how you found out about it at checkout, you'll get free postage and handling too!

The listing ends on Monday the 24th November so be quick, and in the meantime I'm off to get giddy like a little girl.

Take this bread

The take-away sandwich. Too many times have I been disappointed by this animal. Thankfully, no more. For those who have been awaiting the day where they no longer have to endure the overpriced and unsatisfying, say hello to Malibu.

This hole in the wall sandwich bar tucked away in the scummy part of Surry Hills is absolute heaven for any sandwich-loving foodie. Their sandwiches are large enough to feed a small nation and made with only the freshest ingredients. It's run solely by the two owners, Marc and Marcella (I find Marc a little more generous, so sidle up to the front when you see that glint in his eye and oh my wholemeal, yes please) who pile on ingredients as you stand wide-eyed.

Despite it's word of mouth nature and the fact that people like me lived two minutes from it for months without ever hearing of it, at lunchtimes there can be quite a queue. Yesterday, for instance, after standing in a line that stretched onto the footpath outside the tiny shop for five minutes I realised that I had the whole of 20 cents in my purse. While Malibu sandwiches are great value, unfortunately they do not yet give them away free of charge. With one setting you back $7 to $8 (with a full purse, being an absolute bargain) I found myself $15.80 short. So it was all the way to the ATM after which I repeated the whole process.

However, despite being gone for thirty minutes longer than I had said I would be, those gargantuan alo-foil wrapped sandwiches well made the trip and the wait worth while. The two wholly vegetarian sandwiches lasted us from lunch through dinner and looked scrumptious enough that when the housemate walked by to see us trying to unlock our jaws in order to get our mouths around the Surry Hills skyscrapers, she immediately asked for directions. It's just on Foster Street, off Elizabeth. You'll see the tattoo parlour and follow the graffiti. There are a few umbrellas and a bunch of crates out the front and very possibly a line. You might even see a halo hovering above the roof. Don't be surprised, just ask for Vienna bread with whatever you feel like.

Yes yes.

People who plan to vote McCain - or not at all, which is JUST AS BAD - need to get their arse informed and their hind legs to the voting booths. The American election is this Tuesday (that's tomorrow kids) and my many cats, at least, are already well on their way to the voting booths. It's really not extraordinarily difficult you see, and yes, it will affect everyone.

It's times like these I wish I were American. And believe me, these times do not crop up often.

Though no longer brand spanking new (and forgive if you've already seen it a few times over), a few cheeky Brooklyn women created this refreshing poster (top right) that's a reworking of a famous '60s anti-war poster (top left). With their tongues firmly planted in cheeks, Casey Brooks (photographer) and models Anna Bean, Karen Maine, Dana Gluck, and Lindsay Withers succeed in making at least one girl smile.

Hat: Bobby's
Dress: Vintage, and on Ebay.

In homage to these ladies and their poster, I've just popped two beautiful dresses (one of which I'm wearing up top) on Ebay which I would really rather not sell but alas rent day is looming and if not here than it shall be at the markets. Click on the photos to go to the listings. It's easy as one two three through seven and a no on Prop eight.

The owls go

Baking and overcast days go hand in hand like love-struck schoolkids.

Is there any better way to spend a gloomy day? The not-quite-halloween-themed-cookies didn't turn out quite as well as I had hoped (and the recipe had to be slightly adjusted) but the once-full cookie tin seems to be suitably diminishing.


Ingredients:

200 g brown sugar (the recipe calls for white sugar but I so prefer brown, if you use white you may need less flour)
170 g butter
1 egg
5 ml vanilla extract
380 g plain flour
9 g baking powder
3 g salt
25 g unsweetened cocoa powder
170 g semisweet chocolate chips
100 g cashew halves

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add baking powder and salt. Beat well. Add flour and mix until blended. Depending on consistency of the dough, more flour may be needed. Remove 3/4 of dough. Roll or pat dough out to form two 10 x 4 inch rectangles. Add cocoa (amount depending on personal colour preference) to remaining 1/4 of dough. Mix until blended. Shape chocolate dough into two 10 inch long rolls. Place on rectangle and roll plain dough to cover chocolate dough completely, not including ends. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 2 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
3. Cut dough into 1 centimetre slices with a sharp knife. Place two slices side by side on a cookie sheet to resemble an owl's face. Blend them together just a tad to make sure they stay together when baked. Pinch upper "corners" to resemble ears. Put chocolate chips in each dark circle for eyes and two cashew halves in the centre for the beak.
4. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned

The original recipe can be found here. As each owl has it's own personality, I also recommend naming them (which might also discourage you to eat them, which is good, because they last forever).

Very simply, it was a hoot (pun fully intended).

The difference in the shades

With only twenty four hours till the boyfriend officially moves in, we're still cleaning. This is mostly my fault. There are two reasons for this. One. I'm not the most inspired, being the clutter-loving type of girl I am. Two. My boyfriend would tell you I'm easily distracted. While I avidly pretend to disagree with reason number two, it must be admitted that I occasionally get sidetracked.

On an entirely separate note, I found the below pictured 3-D glasses cleaning and got a bit carried away (no, you're wrong. I was not playing dress ups and singing into an apple candle.) Her name is R-A-D-I-OO, L-A-D-I-OOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Wig: Appeared in my living room one morning to no ones claim.
3D glasses: A birthday present to Bobby from a friend this year.
Apple candle: Ikea
Dress: Vintage (on Ebay)
Scarf belt: Thrifted
Stockings: From Myer a few years ago.
Shoes: Myer too, also a few years ago.

I've decided to sell the dress I'm wearing (I do have far too many clothes) so I've popped it up on my Ebay just over here. Right there, that's it.

I'd better get back to my cleaning (aka dancing Elaine-style) but I'll leave you with some photos I took this morning of the beautiful Rainbow Lorikeets (as one nice commenter informed me they are called) that have been visiting our home, and letting us hand feed them, recently. Who would suppose we live in the middle of the city?

Lightning strikes the postman

The Post Office is my new haunt. And with a queue never less than 15 people long, I don't think I'm the only one in on the secret. It's always packed and they freely give out stamps for a lot less than any regular hang out, no matter what shoes you're wearing.

How, might you ask, did I find out about such an awesome place? The Post Office revealed itself to me through the process of Ebaying. One day, I just started to find myself in said place writing stranger's names on my hand.

You see, I do this quite a bit. If you would like to be one of these strangers, with their names on my hand, in the new place-to-be, just bid on one of my current listings (such as the below '60s dress and the grape dress I'm wearing) here.


Or maybe I'll bump into you at my new haunt.