The Melbourne you wish you knew
March 11th 2008 09:55
Melbourne Central, Flinders Street and Bridge Road have always been my favourite shopping destination simply because they contain all the mainstream, magazine publicised shops I read and hear about. It’s where I’ve spent countless free periods buying clothes and accessories while I should have been at school studying or saving money for something a little more…lasting.
Back then, I didn’t mind rummaging in the mainstream retailers, buying that skirt I saw in Cosmopolitan or that scarf I knew I must have from Sportsgirl. Melbourne Central and Flinders Street offered me all the shops a girl of fifteen could want; Supré, Dotti, and occasionally a big splurge at Gasp or Review.
Now that my style and taste in clothing is evolving, I’ve started to branch out a little, opting for the quaint boutiques Melbournians often miss in their haste to purchase their clothing from the large complexes.
If you take the time to really look around the Melbourne CBD, you will find numerous lanes tucked away inside main streets, often offering a wonderful array of highly individual styles which cannot be found anywhere else.
Take QV, for instance. On the outside, there are the usual conventional stores such as MNG or Glue. However, if you continue walking past those shops and into the heart of QV’s laneways, you will find many rare boutiques which are truly worth every penny. Dizingof is one such place, its unusual, Napoleon like cropped jackets, satin mini vests and plenty of velour and satins drawing wanderers in to glimpse these individual designs. Being as fashion obsessed as I am, I couldn’t resist walking in and talking to the manager, a vivacious and intelligent woman called Joe. It turns out that the designer and owner, Haim Bzezinski, started out in architectural design, which can be seen in his many military, geometric styles. He is also influenced by British designer Alexander McQueen, who specialised in frills and the lacy detail which is often incorporated into Bzezinki’s jackets and vests as a contrast to his original designs.
Little Collins Street also holds the charming little Howey Place, where Melko, a reasonably priced boutique containing clothes only from Brazil is situated. I remember once rushing past it, not really paying attention to the colourful and exotic displays out front, but last week I really wanted to see just what the fashion out in Brazil looks like. I was not disappointed. Bright, summer hues of pinks, vivid oranges and greens, revealing décolletages and cut out backs, turquoise shell earrings and wooden bracelets. Basically, exactly what you’d expect.
Nevertheless, my favourite fashion hideaway would have to be De Graves Street, a lane which I was only introduced to a year ago even though it’s placed directly across from Flinders Street Station. Aside from the sweet and tangy smells of waffles, paninis and freshly ground coffee, I found the strangest combination of shops.
Right in the corner is the Lace Boutique, which looks incredibly fancy.
“Well, it is a little too up class for De Graves Street, but at least I get a lot of customers”, says Anna Johnson, the owner of the boutique, young and already dressed in the very exclusive (and expensive! Some costing even up to $1500!) labels she imports from New York such as Anna Sui, Vera Wang and Christopher Deane.
Next door to this American dream is East of India, which would be a great place to buy tiny, simple dresses if they didn’t cost an arm and a leg. Designed by Abhimanyu Sareen and Prue Webb, the silk and cotton samples are drawn in Australia and then sent over to India, where they’re all hand made. The beaded slippers and jewellery are all picked up in India to add a feeling of Indian authenticity in the Australian context.
And finally, right across the street from this ethnic creation is a boutique which features something that has always fascinated me; lingerie. I mean, why pay hundreds of dollars for teeny scraps of material in completely impractical materials such as silk, lace and satin? However, Smitten Kitten is every girl’s dream. I walked into the shop, the interior dusky, with satin covered walls and ceiling and a delicate fragrance to enhance the romantic mood. Even the store owner, Jasmine Hickman, was a petite, feminine blonde dressed in clothes I didn’t think you’d wear unless going out on the town. “We stock mainly Aussie designers like Pleasure State, Sideshow Design and Roberto Glass, but we also import from France and the UK to add variety.” She said demurely. “The location of the shop is also great, as the De Graves Street offers privacy, a necessity when dealing with lingerie. Our clientele are mostly regular, so we like providing them with seclusion.”
Although I still love shopping in Melbourne Central and Bridge Road, gradually discovering the hidden alleyways has opened my eyes to another realm of fashion, one that is not in the mainstream cycle, but one that is simply…unique.
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