My trek into the world of Australian Indie Fashion keeps getting more and more interesting. I keep finding gorgeous pieces on each effort of searching. It’s very fulfilling. This time around is an indie accessory designer, Simone Walsh, wow-ing us with her handmade jewelry.

One of the pieces that stood out in my book is the Picture Frame Pendant.

This beautiful Victorian-inspired picture frame pendant has been intricately cut out by hand from sterling silver.

The centre of the rectangular frame is left empty, allowing your skin or clothing to show through the cut out sections of the pendant. The pendant has a brushed but shiny finish and it has a light weight to it.

The pendant is suspended from a sterling silver chain which has been blackened and then polished to provide a graduated finish, which is both darker than the pendant but also shiny. The chain features handmade findings.

The beauty of handmade items is the fact that you can be assured that it’ll be unique. I want one! If only I’ll be around longer. Sigh.

Picture Frame Pendant, $68.

Image: Handmade Jewellery by Simone Walsh

Post from: Splendicity. Check out our new community features!

Handmade Jewellery by Simone Walsh

Another unique find in the Australian Indie Fashion scene is Surface Art.

Surface Art produces a range of fabric designs mainly in 100% cotton that can be used for home wares, furnishings and clothing.

All the fabrics and prints they make are proudly Australian.

I love their Summer collection. It’s very fun and bright. I particularly like DOTTO, Kinomi (on dresses), Dispersal and Mikko (on tees), Bed Feather and Doov (on fabrics by metre).

It’s actually a fabulous idea to make the fabrics available to the public. This way you are encouraging them to create their own clothing style (something I’d look into since I like experimenting on different prints and fabrics plus making my own clothes would be a fun thing to do!) OR use them fabrics on pillow cases or bed sheets. Way cool!

I reckon Surface Art is worth a look esp if you’re into the whole DIY fashion and home decor. See the list of Stockists.

About Moyra Proudfoot

Moyra Proudfoot studied textile design in Scotland and after working for a well known Australian artist decided to set up Surface Art in 2002. She has a love of printed fabric and creates a range of prints that are contemporary in design using her influences of Japanese art, fifties and sixties design and photographs of nature. She believes that the simple use of shapes balanced with colour can achieve effective pieces of design.

Image: Surface Art

Post from: Splendicity. Check out our new community features!

Store Spotlight: Surface Art

Browsing through designs that are heavily influenced by East meeting West, I had a hard time choosing just one so I ended up picking out four (4) favourites of the lot. Mind you, the decision wasn’t easy.

KISU Red Leaves Dress

You’ll notice how Japanese accents are prominent in the designs. I love this Red Leaves Dress most.

Red Leaves Dress, $99.

KISU Red Rose Dress

I’m currently obsessing about floral prints and patterns. I like the prairie look, I guess. It’s very feminine and I like how its quiet chic-ness. This particular design is getting quite popular. The Red Rose Dress mimics a high-waist skirt + blouse outfit combo.

Red Rose Dress, $119.

KISU Jasmine Dress

You can also see the contemporary designs and trends being incorporated like in this Jasmine dress. It’s their version of the boyfriend dress, me thinks.

Jasmine Dress, $139.

KISU Wild Cherry Hood Top and Red Dragon Skirt

I really don’t know why I’m so fascinated with hoodies. I guess I love how it looks young and casual, something you can use to style into an Urban outfit. I’m also looking into investing in more skirts and this one takes home the cake. I think it’s very unique.

Wild Cherry Hood Top, $59.
Red Dragon Skirt, $89.

Images: KISU Designs

Post from: Splendicity. Check out our new community features!

Store Spotlight: KISU Designs by Mylinh

I guess that’s why when I stumbled upon this accessory shop online yesterday, I couldn’t help but browse through their selections of necklaces, bracelets and earrings. The shop is called Coquito Designs. My heart settled on this adorable drop hoop earrings called Abigail.

Part of the summer 2007 “Alloy & Earth” Collection, these brushed 18k gold vermeil briolettes are handwrapped in sterling silver wire for a mixed metal treat! Topped off with 14K gold filled ear wires, these will go with anything you wear!

I’m currently fixated in anything gold-ish lately.

Abigail – Coquito Designs, $38.

Imgae & Quoted Text: Coquito Designs

Post from: Splendicity. Check out our new community features!

Store Spotlight: Coquito Designs

images:angie hearts

I love Asian fashion. There’s something about those who live in Japan and Korea, they seem to have this totally different sense of what style is than here. It’s more done-up, but not quite in the scary too-much-makeup way.

Indieshopping introduced me to Angie Hearts, a store with a bunch of Asian designers. These stores are hard to come by and YesStye is the only one I know of with a decent reputation. It’ll be good to have some new competition.

I love all their dresses and the quirky accessories. The prices are totally reasonable as well.

Some favorites: a totally adorable lace trimmed bag, a pretty embellished cardigan. and a tiered chiffon tank, like you’ve been seeing everywhere.

Bonus: Indieshopping says that if you subscribe to Angie Hearts’ newsletter you could win something from the store!

Post from: Splendicity. Check out our new community features!

store spotlight: angie hearts

Refinery 29 shops just added Stuart and Wright to their listings. The physical store is in Brooklyn and it has a lot of casual modern stuff, from a few great lines, including APC and lesser known labels like Chimala, Samanta Pleet and Ulla Johnson (like the gorgeous sweater above).

There’s some great guys stuff, like some this great plaid shirt and some outerwear as the weather gets colder (it already is at night here).

So check it out among the other fantastic refinery 29 shops.

Link

Post from: Splendicity. Check out our new community features!

store spotlight: stuart and wright

Pear Threads is a team of two twin sisters, Mary and Tracy Kruger. Everything they make is made by hand, and it’s all very sweet. Their site has mostly purses, although there are belts and some headbands that I couldn’t seem to look at for some reason. It all has a hand-made look, but not cheap handmade. loved handmade. The clutch shown comes in a vriety of fabrics and is treated to be stain resistant. I need one of those for my weekends. ($42)

I think their site is really cute and well done. So check them out.

Link.

Post from: Splendicity. Check out our new community features!

store spotlight: pear hand-sewn originals

Des Kohan is a LA boutique owned by former trend forecaster Desiree Kohan. It’s got an eclectic mix of mainstream and emerging designers. Here you’ll find brands like: Viktor and Rolf, Robin and Carmen Ho. The site only sells a selection of what is available at the store, but everything is very crisp, simple and modern.

 Store link.

I dug around and found these lovlies:

Silk Organza dress from Castle Starr, $485

Trench with full skirt from Mel en Stel, $475

Post from: Splendicity. Check out our new community features!

store spotlight: des kohan