Feedback from a lovely customer

A lovely customer was nice enough to send photos and feedback about the first of a range of dresses designed by me!

Thanks so much for your thoughtful comments Jacqui!

I can't tell you how much I love the dress, really am so pleased with it! Normally I'm not much of a dress person but fits perfectly and the fabric is so nice on the body. I think it really is a great everyday garment that works for so many body shapes and the zip shoulder gives it that bit of extra edge, and I got so many compliments on it today! 

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Photo shoot at South Melbourne Market

This photo is one of my favourites.

Matt, who works at Bakerlite at South Melbourne Market told me a few weeks back that he moonlights as a photographer and wanted to do a shoot using my vintage dresses and the vintage style bicycles at Bakerlite. Having a love for photography myself I couldn't say no, but this time I let Matt take the photos whilst I watched him in action.

Harriet & stylist Chris, who was also happy to be in the photo (unlike me!).

To help with the shoot Harriet, who is Matt's girlfriend and has been a model was the model for the day, whilst Chris, who is a stylist and friend of Matt & Harriet's choose dresses and accessories for the shoot.

I haven't worked out how or where I'm going to use the photos yet. So if anyone has any suggestions, let me know on the comments below or leave a message on the Bleecker Street Facebook Page. And finally, if anyone would like to get in touch with either Matt or Chris then head to Bakerlite at SO:ME Space, South Melbourne Market & have a chat to Matt.

Author: Jason Cormick (Bleecker Street Vintage)

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Support Small Business Day

October 19, 2013 is Support Small Business Day in Victoria. Small businesses do a lot for this great city of Melbourne and for the state of Victoria. They provide employment for young people, support the artisan & young designer community and because many of these stores are owner operator, they provide great customer service too. Another reason why small business is ace is because they contribute to one of the many reasons tourists love coming to visit Melbourne again and again.

Cafes, retail stores and other service providers will be using this day to give special discounts to customers who support small business in their local area in Melbourne & Victoria.

Please use this day not only to buy from small business, but to personally say 'thanks' for making your local area cool!

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Scarves at Bleecker Street Vintage

Just arrived this week are scarves to assist in the battle against those nasty spring winds!
The first lot of scarves I have named Miss kitty because of the cat textile print. Miss kitty would be a good accessory for a halloween party! Be quick as there are only 5 of Miss kitty in stock.

Next are fun spotty scarves! There is only one in each colour, so if you are doing your christmas shopping early, then it's best to come in and get one this week. I prefer the spots on black, how about you?



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Your Style = Street Style + tattoos

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Your Style = Street Style

Straight from our home at SO:ME Space, South Melbourne Market:

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Repro French bread boards

We have limited number of French bread boards in store!
With spring just around the corner, they're perfect for cheese platters, pizza, quirky serving trays for drinks and to sass up a picnic. 
(I'm thinking of sneakily taking one for myself as an early 'Father's Day' gift...)

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Bleecker Street Vintage is in the Herald Sun!

If you are a reader of the Herald Sun, then you would have read the article about Melbourne's 25 best shopping secrets.  Included in the list is SO:ME Space & Bleecker Street Vintage!

Thanks Kim Wilson and Anna Byrne for adding us to the list!





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Clothing sample update

As you may know, I have plans to create & sell a  small line of clothing, (in fact let's call it tiny) ;-) which have references from the 50's & 60, but in modern textiles.

Last week I visited The Social Studio, which is those those of you who don't know is a clothing store & cafe that works with young people, who have experience of being a refugee. The Social Studio have their own clothing label and all garments are made in house. In addition to being ethically made, these clothes assist people in the community by giving them skills and exposure to the fashion industry.

The purpose of the visit was to have a chat about getting my own clothing label produced in time for The Adelaide Vintage Expo and if the price was right continue the relationship for further production down the track.

The meeting was successful with an agreement being made of having samples made first, so staff can have a practice run in sewing the garments. I also discussed my concerns of the need for the garments being competitively priced regardless of how they are made because I want my label to be accessible for everyone.

The samples should be ready for viewing sometime next week. I'll be taking photos of them and explaining the reasons why I choose fabric types. Hooray for next week!

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Your Style = Street Style

This time for Your Style = Street Style I'm in the streets of Fitzroy hanging out near Cottage Industry & The Vegie Bar! Thanks to everyone who didn't think I was some creepy person & let me take their photo!! 

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Your Style = Street Style

Your Style = Street Style by Bleecker Street Vintage

Photos by Jason Cormick. Kindly request permission before using photographs.

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Paris Vintage 101

Paris, Paris, Paris, capital of fashion, gastronomic food, love, lights, literature, tourism…

The thing about french people and culture is that our past kind of obsesses us, for our history is very ancient. We consider that everything we do, everything we are, we owe to our ancestors, builders of the civilisation. What’s a better example of it than the fascination, almost religious, that we have for fashion designers of the beginning of the 20th century like Coco Chanel and her timeless jersey suit or Christian Dior and his Corolle collection?

Looking for testimonies of this glorious past is almost a way of life for some people. And it’s not just about clothes: lots of Parisians like to spend their weekend at the Saint-Ouen flea market in the North of Paris, looking for antiques. It’s also a very good place to find amazing vintage clothes by the way, if you ever find yourself around Rue de Clignancourt.

So, what kind of vintage treasures you can find in Paris currently? Lucky for you, I’ve been putting on my Sherlock Holmes hat (vintage tweed) to investigate this matter and I found three kinds of very fashionable items that Parisian vintage it-girls are crazy about!

The first vintage item really fashionable here, in Paris, is the 50’s dress. It’s quite easy to find, it has the charm of old black and white movies but in the same time it’s quite easy to wear, if the cut is good. And as summer is approaching the city, you can see their floral motifs blossom is every corner!

 

The second must have for every Parisian girl fond of vintage is the customized vintage item of clothing. Most of the time, it will be a demin jacket recut and embroidered or a dress recut to fit the 2013 fashion standards. The demin jacket will make you look like a real Parisian Bobo, drinking glasses of red wine sitting at a terrace in Pigalle, enjoying the sun. And Yves-Saint-Laurent vintage  sunglasses are perfect to go with it!

And finally, what makes every fashionista's heart beat: luxury brands. Yves Saint-Laurent, Dior, Chanel, Lancel, Courrèges, and so on. Every vintage closet has at least one luxury item. It can be from any time, any brand, any style, it will always find its way to a Parisian girl heart in a snap! The cuts are always perfect, the fabric noble and they’re timeless.

 

Thanks to Celia Darling Vintage for the insights on vintage fashion and for the pictures.

Agathe Milbled

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Dahi puri dip

I've never given this recipe to anyone, ergo I'd be super interested in your thoughts, internet!

Dahi puri is one of the best things about dining Indian. It's a guaranteed winner at pot luck dinners, and really easy to get right. 

I set out, in my quest to make ultimate dressings, dips and sauces (from whatever's in the fridge), to recreate the dahi puri flavours in a dip/sauce. This can also be used to dress a hot roasted vegetable salad (amazing.)

So, here we go. Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups plain greek yogurt - non fat, if you wish
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
2 tbsp honey

1 garlic clove - finely chopped

1/2 tsp paprika

2 tbsp of sweet bbq sauce
1/2 tsp chilli powder or flakes
juice of half a lemon - you can also throw some zest in
small handful flat parsley - chopped
small handful coriander - chopped
sprinkling of chat masala - if available
salt and pepper to taste

Mix, serve. Feel smug.

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Pasta with tofu sauce: a comfort food.

'Tofu Pasta'

Tofu pasta (as my partner & I call it), has been a comfort food of ours for more than five years. Would you like to hear the story? Here goes.

For five years we lived in Japan, where tofu is cooked with in abundance. Prior to going, I was excited, in anticipation of not only the amazing tofu, but all kinds of real soy milk. Did you know you can buy black bean soy milk? It's REALLY GOOD!

Tragically, my tofu bubble burst when my then partner, now husband, announced he didn't like tofu, claiming "it tastes like sponge!"

Partial to a challenge and determined to make tofu a staple food in our house, I invented a pasta dish: complicatedly named 'tofu pasta'. In order to settle my husband's nerves, I invited him to watch me work my 'magic' in the kitchen.

Thirty minutes later, he was yumming down the new dish, which has become our comfort food when returning home from overseas. In fact, Andrew even went on to perfect the dish and proclaims it's his most favourite ever.

So my cooking challenge for you today, dear folks, is to make tofu pasta for a tofu hating friend or frenemy. You can post your pictures or videos to Instagram using the hashtag #tofupastachallenge so we can see!

TIP 1: Don't tell them it's tofu.

TIP 2: The secret IS in the sauce, so don't miss an ingredient if you can help it.

Okay, now you are ready to get cooking! See below for the recipe. Happy cooking!

'TOFU PASTA' (serves 6)

Ingredients

Olive oil for frying
3-4 cloves garlic crushed
3-4 teaspoons pesto (Coles pesto works best)
1 bottle Barilla 'olive' pasta sauce
1 can crushed tomatoes
500g firm tofu mashed (Don't use silken. It will lead to disaster! Trust me.)
500g pasta (your choice, but I like penne)

How to make

1. Put water in a pot to boil pasta. When water boils add pasta, but don't forget to give it a stir every now and then.

2. Crush garlic using a garlic crusher if you can, as it really brings that yummy garlic taste out.

3. Mash tofu until it has a bread crumb consistency. In the past, I used a fork to do the job, but now I use a blender as it's much quicker and easier.

4. Heat olive oil in frying pan then add garlic. 

5. When garlic begins to brown, add tofu & pesto. Make sure the pesto is mixed well into the tofu.

6. After adding the pesto throw in the pasta sauce & tinned tomatoes. At this stage there should be a lot of liquid.

7. Check that pasta! If it is ready, drain it & rise in hot water. Cover pasta in the sieve and leave aside for now.

8. Keep stirring the pasta sauce. The trick here is reduction. The reduction of liquid concentrates the flavours resulting in yummy tofu sauce goodness! Keep stirring the sauce until there is no visible liquid left.

9. At this stage, you are nearly ready. Turn off the frying pan, get bowls out and put hot water from the tap through the pasta to heat it up (a chef's trick...but I never said it! ;-).  Distribute the pasta among the bowls, then repeat with the tofu sauce.

10. Now you should be ready to eat!! Oh btw, parmesan cheese goes down well with this one!

Your Style = Street Style

Style is effortless. Don't think too much about it. Just put it on & go out. You know you got it! Bleecker Street Vintage knows you got it.
TIP: Wear one piece of bright clothing with dark clothes, for max pop.

Your Style = Street Style by Bleecker Street Vintage

Photos by Jason Cormick. Kindly request permission before using photographs.

Getting out of bad behaviours in business

Last week, I was feeling not dissimilar to the picture above. I was a struggling to get things done both in a business capacity, and personally. 

Admittedly, it was my own fault: the effect of a combination of behaviours and just general silliness. But, perhaps I should be more honest with you guys. It was because I was too busy looking at other businesses rather than mine. It's so very easy to see others' successes as your own failures, rather than letting them inspire.

The good news is I pushed myself to the gym, I pushed myself to get things done AND I pushed myself to have an amazing 85% cocoa hot chocolate from Monsieur Truffe on the way to work last week. A bit of self-nurturing works wonders for positivity and outlook when you're in a rut.

After a a lot of reflection and a chat to good and a chat to good friends who are also in business, I'm not only back on track with the business, but have vowed not to do it again. 

The lesson here is that it's best to focus on your own business, not others.

Your style = Street style

Your style = Street style. Every week, Bleecker Street Vintage will be on the look out for you in your own style.  Style is not about fashion, style is not about trends or labels. It's about how something is put together and worn in confidence.

Blouse with pussy bow - sample

Blouse sample

Here is another sample I'm working on. The original blouse belongs to a silk linen three piece suit from the 60's, which still has the original tags on it. (See below)

Original blouse from the 60's

The blouse is fitted & has a zipper down at the back. The bust & waist darts make the piece very flattering on the figure as you can see from the first photo.

When I was making this sample, I made the mistake of using a jacket zipper, but that was all I could find at the time, plus I thought, 'It's a sample, so it doesn't matter.' WRONG!!

Additionally, I did a lap zip finish which has (I wanted to see how it would look) resulted in the back appearing unbalanced.

In the next draft for this blouse, I will be dropping the armholes 1-2cm, create facings and use an invisible zipper instead. I'm not really looking forward to inserting an invisible zipper. If you have ever used this type of zip, you know how time consuming they can be! Grrr! 

I shall be repeating the mantra 'Practice makes perfect' whilst putting in the zipper and crying at the same time!

New bags in store & online!

We've been busy at Bleecker Street Vintage sourcing new products for our customers. In store and online are a delightful new range of soft canvas bags with leather details. Available are three types of bags. A tote, a shoulder bag and weekend bag.

Canvas and leather shoulder bag

This canvas and leather shoulder bag is fully lined with two pockets inside. It can also be zipped up, so your belongings will never fall out.

Canvas and leather weekend bag

Going out of town for the weekend & travel light? Well, this soft canvas & leather travel bag is perfect for you.

This travel bag with zipper is fully lined and comes with a small pocket for a smartphone and a larger pocket complete with zipper.

Canvas tote bag

This is a cute tote bag for shopping, going to the beach or for storing documents when travelling to work.

Dimensions
40X40X13

Please note because of the production process there may be a sight variation in colour.