It’s not too late to get your menfolk something cool for Christmas!
1. Sky Blue 1/8 inch gingham tie, US$41.90 from Marcello Menswear’s Etsy shop (order by 19 December for free express post delivery within Australia).
2. La Sardina Cubic with flash, AU$150 from Lomography.
3. Urbanears plattan headphones in mustard, AU$99.95 from Notemaker.
4. Tattoo Parlour: Artists from the World of Tattoo by Martin McIntosh and Gemma Jones (Overseas Customers: hardcover US$65 + US$30 shipping; softcover US$39 + US$1 shipping Australian Customers: hardcover AU$65 + AU$15 shipping; softcover AU$30 + AU$7.50 shipping) from Outre Gallery. Shipping has closed for Christmas delivery, but you can buy this book in store at Outre Gallery in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.
5. Field Notes ‘County Fair’ Limited Edition notebooks, AU$12.95, from Notemaker.
6. Navy document wallet, AU$125 from Elk Accessories.
7. Hanno the Gorilla, NZ$159 from Simon James Design.
8. Silencer signed and numbered framed print by Niagara (limited edition six color hand pulled serigraph print), AU$290 from Outre Gallery. Shipping has closed for Christmas delivery, but you can buy this book in store at Outre Gallery in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.
9. Leaf print boardie, AU$69.95 from Country Road.
For more present ideas, you might like to look at last year’s gift guide.
Or check out my Amazon book shops (click here for my U.S. Amazon store or click here for my U.K. Amazon store).
You know that giddiness you get when two beloved creatives (designers/musicians/artists/brands) get together and make something new and beautiful together? I’m thinking Liberty and Hello Kitty (genius AND unexpected). Tatty Devine and Rob Ryan (East London quirky AND romantic). Marni and H&M (dear GOD I’m going to have to camp overnight, aren’t I?).
A littler closer to home, Sydney designer Rachel Castle has collaborated with Melbourne-based fashion label Gorman for a limited-edition summer collection of fashion and homewares. I first admired Castle from afar when I was living in London and coveted the sunny range of polka-dot bed linen. As soon as I was back in Sydney I bought four yellow polka-dot pillowslips for our new home.
But I go a little further back with Gorman, and first started wearing the fledgling label around 12 years ago when I was living in Melbourne. I admired the subtle retro sensibility, quality fabrics and new seasonal prints. Since then, the brand has grown and now has boutiques dotted around Australia.
Their collaborative summer collection is fresh, frisky and very Australian (there is a touch of ’80s Ken Done in the colour palette), with a kind of shouty simplicity. Castle’s distinctive hand-drawn lettering, punctuated with pops of neon, features throughout the mostly organic cotton range of simple skirts, shirts, t-shirts, bags, towels and pillowcases. I love the ‘Put the love in the coconut’ beach towel, AU$79, which would make a rather brilliant Christmas present.
The homewares and limited edition embroidered artworks are currently available from Castle’s online shop, and the fashion collection is available from Gorman stores Australia wide.
These Scandi-style Christmas decorations are the rather charming result of a collaboration between Australian illustrator Andrea Smith and Candy Stripe Cloud. There is a menagerie of animal decorations to choose from (including a sweet mouse and handsome fox), and they are also available in white and wood. You can also custom-design your own decoration.
Red pear bird decoration and red bird on a bon-bon, AU$12.95 each, from Candy Stripe Cloud.
Have you met Miss Jones is the quirky name behind a Sydney-based design studio which specialises in the most delightful bone china ornaments. I’ve been meaning to write about the collection of white bone china vases and decorations for a while now. A lot of the genius and beauty comes from everyday items (like buttons or keys) rendered in delicate white bone china, but I’m also quite taken by the Nouveau-inspired pineapple box as well as the extensive collection of adorable animals. And yes, there are lots of birds.
This year’s Christmas collection is rather extensive, and includes all manner of woodland animals, as well as stars, hearts, snowflakes, feathers and fruit. The ornaments add a touch of sophistication to the Christmas tree (imagine an all-white Christmas tree with these feathers) but they also make wonderful decorations tied to the top of parcels.
The range of woodland animals look magical grouped together on a mantel or shelf, and the collection of votives (like these skyscrapers) are beautiful as glowing Christmas decorations. Prices start at around $18 and can be purchased from the online shop as well as from a range of Australian stockists.
I can’t stop looking at plants. Indoor plants, to be specific, with trailing leafy tendrils. The kind of plant you might find hanging in Annie Hall or Mary Wilkie’s apartment in 1970s New York (confession: I may have spent a disproportionate amount of time focussing on indoor shrubbery during my most recent viewing of Manhattan. See? I just can’t help myself).
Luckily for me, the clever people behind Sydney’s Garden Life also have a bit of a thing for ‘70s potted classics, and they’ve paired the likes of Boston Fern and Mother-in-Law’s Tongue (such a misogynist yet strangely evocative name for a plant, no?) with some rather delightful modern pot and planter options. In fact, their eye-catching window currently features a collection of Boston Ferns cascading from local ceramacist David Edmonds’ hanging wire planters.
It’s this very ability to source The Perfect Plant with The Perfectly Matching Pot that makes Garden Life a winner in the design and style stakes. The lush calm oasis of greenery on Sydney’s Cleveland Street (just opposite Follow Store) certainly looks the part, mixing centuries-old Greek urns and Turkish yoghurt pots with modern ceramic pots and plants, water features, garden furniture and astro turf bunny sculptures. And while you could easily spend $1,250 on an incredible antique pot sourced from overseas, you can also pick up Indian chai cups for $5 (which look great with mini succulents). In fact, there is a wide range of extremely affordable pots and planters that give IKEA a run for its money, including an excellent range of simple white modern pots starting at $15.
It’s also a very useful one-stop shop for presents, especially for those who you think have everything – after all, who wouldn’t love a little piece of potted perfection? Take, for instance, Samantha Robinson’s hand-thrown beeswax-style pots in milky pastels with succulents for $40. Other great buys include vintage French terracotta seedling pots for $12, and small Turkish pots for $15, as well as the vibrant 1950s Turkish tabak plates and bowls from $95. There is also a good range of Egyptian Siwa date baskets, which start at $45 and can be used as planters or storage. I couldn’t leave without a stunning Rhipsalis succulent, which has the most pleasing trailing tendrils for about $50.
Garden Life principal Richard Unsworth and his talented team also offer a landscape design service, where they can turn even the smallest patch of garden (or balcony) into a lush green retreat straight out of the pages of an interiors mag. Richard, incidentally, is the Gardening Editor of Australian home design magazine Belle.
A new-ish addition is the café at the back of the shop, which looks out onto a courtyard and where you can get small light meals and a very good coffee. And sitting outside looking out on to pretty Young Street, you kinda forget that the roar of Cleveland Street is just metres away.
Garden Life (the online shop is also very good)
357 Cleveland Street
Tel. (Shop) 02 8399 0666
Tel. (Twig Cafe) 02 8021 6406
Click here for a Wee Birdy map.
Opening hours (shop)
Monday to Friday 9am-5pm
Saturday 9am-5pm
Sunday 10am-4pm
Opening hours (cafe)
Monday to Friday 7am-5pm
Saturday 7am-5pm
Sunday 8am-4pm
Click here for more shops in Surry Hills.
Photography by Lucas Boyd.
Click here to see the full photo gallery.
I see a lot of copycats in laser-cut acrylic jewellery (the worst offenders are high-street fashion chains who shall go unnamed but should know better), so my birdy’s eye is always on the look-out for a fresh new take.
I first stumbled upon Sydney designer Candy Stripe Cloud‘s collection of chalkboard garden stakes at Follow Store, and their stained-glass inspired bird brooches and necklaces, featuring graphic black-outlined shapes and bold colours are also super-adorable. These pieces are currently on sale at Candy Stripe Cloud’s online shop for $38, and the peacock (my favourite), hummingbird and swallow brooches are also available from UK-based Howkapow‘s excellent online shop for £25.
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