Fashion

STORY – Cloth, Manor & Fable

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Monique Germon has launched a new collection of tales, images and treasures at STORY. Chapter one is named Cloth, Manor & Fable. Here we share a preview of the richness you will find on this extraordinary retail site –  Daniela Miotto’s Tale of Generosity from the STORY site:

TALES OF GENEROSITY – WINNING ENTRY BY DANIELA MIOTTO
When I sit to consider an individual tale of generosity that’s been granted to me and mine, there are so many to list. I suppose this in itself is a large enough ember to warm my hands by for the rest of my lifetime. Yet, one act of selflessness and offering sans condition does stand alone.
Here is Jackie. She is tall. Her hair is bobbed and her teeth are dull coloured with a tip made of gold in the front. When she talks about her husband she calls him “Fuckin’ Pete”. Often her chin is placed in a permanent shrug. This makes me wonder about her thoughts. I never know what’s happening inside her, but I never worry about where she’s at. I like Jackie.
She was my mother’s true friend.
Here is Kay. She was my mother. She killed herself in August 2006. On the day she died I thought I could feel the ground shaking from the body weight of all of those who loved her falling to their knees in disbelief upon hearing the news of her violent fate.  We were gutted and knee-capped. We still are.
On that day Jackie came to my house. I sat shaking my head. She kneeled holding my hand. We couldn’t even cry.
This death caused a shattering and scattering of people. I’ve heard this is common when death-by-self happens. Near no one from my mother’s life came to our aid. Near no one could place their grief and shock aside to come to the aid of their friend’s orphaned adult children. Jackie though. She did.
She followed me around for weeks. I barely remember her face or voice from that time.
Her gift to me was presence. She placed her broken heart behind mine.
She didn’t tell me what clothes to choose to bury mum in. She stood behind me while I ripped clothes out of her cupboard and threw them all over the room … scattering and shattering. When I finally I chose, hours later, she muttered “Good job” and carried the bag of clothes and my heart to her car ready for another trip to the funeral director.
When I had to choose a box for burial, she was there. When I had to choose to view the body or not, she was there. Silent. When I, when I, when I and then. She was there. Silent. Tall. Bobbed. And likely to have been “Fuckin’ Kay-ing” under her breath.
Five years later she is still there. Now though she chats, we laugh and she bakes us bread. Still though in her silent way, she pays homage to her friend Kay by placing her children’s pain in front of her own. And for this act of love and faith to my mother and generosity of self to me and mine I will be forever grateful.
Jackie is tall.
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© 2011-12 Daniela Miotto
Thank you Daniela and to all those who entered, for sharing your tales of generosity with us.When I sit to consider an individual tale of generosity that’s been granted to me and mine, there are so many to list. I suppose this in itself is a large enough ember to warm my hands by for the rest of my lifetime. Yet, one act of selflessness and offering sans condition does stand alone.

Here is Jackie. She is tall. Her hair is bobbed and her teeth are dull coloured with a tip made of gold in the front. When she talks about her husband she calls him “Fuckin’ Pete”. Often her chin is placed in a permanent shrug. This makes me wonder about her thoughts. I never know what’s happening inside her, but I never worry about where she’s at. I like Jackie.

She was my mother’s true friend.

Here is Kay. She was my mother. She killed herself in August 2006. On the day she died I thought I could feel the ground shaking from the body weight of all of those who loved her falling to their knees in disbelief upon hearing the news of her violent fate.  We were gutted and knee-capped. We still are.

On that day Jackie came to my house. I sat shaking my head. She kneeled holding my hand. We couldn’t even cry.

This death caused a shattering and scattering of people. I’ve heard this is common when death-by-self happens. Near no one from my mother’s life came to our aid. Near no one could place their grief and shock aside to come to the aid of their friend’s orphaned adult children. Jackie though. She did.

She followed me around for weeks. I barely remember her face or voice from that time.

Her gift to me was presence. She placed her broken heart behind mine.

She didn’t tell me what clothes to choose to bury mum in. She stood behind me while I ripped clothes out of her cupboard and threw them all over the room … scattering and shattering. When I finally I chose, hours later, she muttered “Good job” and carried the bag of clothes and my heart to her car ready for another trip to the funeral director.

When I had to choose a box for burial, she was there. When I had to choose to view the body or not, she was there. Silent. When I, when I, when I and then. She was there. Silent. Tall. Bobbed. And likely to have been “Fuckin’ Kay-ing” under her breath.

Five years later she is still there. Now though she chats, we laugh and she bakes us bread. Still though in her silent way, she pays homage to her friend Kay by placing her children’s pain in front of her own. And for this act of love and faith to my mother and generosity of self to me and mine I will be forever grateful.

Jackie is tall.

© 2011-12 Daniela Miotto

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STORY has opened for online trading

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There are a few really innovative online businesses operating in the Highlands. Babysitter’s Guide, from our last issue, and The Oz Material Girls are some big movers in online-land. It seems to be a trend, and we suppose an argument for the NBN. SOHI contributor Monique Germon has added herself to our list of local online denizens with the launch of her online concept store, STORY. STORY combines storytelling with shopping – our two favourite things! Monique stocks homewares, fashion, art and lifestyle products, all heavily curated. Favourite pieces of ours are her MG Designed Amelia Earhart collar and the Hideyo Kudusama origami ball both pictured below. Expect to hear a lot written about Monique and her online world in the coming weeks. Her return to retail has been long awaited and we hear cheers going up in pioneering Australia!

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Behind the Scenes

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We want to get you all excited about our upcoming Summer issue, but we don’t want to give the game away. So we have selected  few behind the scenes shots which are super cute, but which don’t really reveal too much about the final product. It’s a tricky business. We used Canberran photographer Amanda Thorson and she was ah-mazing. She totally got it, was great with the kids and shot the required 900 odd shots it takes to get what you need out of a kid shoot. We had all the angles covered and now we have shots to burn. Monique Germon took these behind the scenes shots. For Amanda’s you will just have to wait!

Thanks to all the mums and dads and kids. Check out the summer issue for details on our fashion suppliers and our wonderful and accommodating location.

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Elke – Christmas sorted

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We’re just putting it out into the universe in the hopes that Santa will somehow come across this post on Google that we are more than a little bit in love with Elke Kramer’s new range. The campaign itself is divine, but we have chosen to share these shots to let the pieces speak for themselves without so-gorgeous-they’re-not-true models distracting from the real action. Elke uses all her own resin, in case, like us, you were wondering what the materials are. She has used brass clasps and satin rope this year and Rebecca from Roots & Wings Design, who obviously stocks Elke, tells us that the boxes alone are to die for.

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Side note: we share Rebecca’s love of packaging design, so much so that we recently added Box Bottle Bag to our book collection. It’s enlightening and inspiring.

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Roots & Wings Design – online shop open for business

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Good news for all our non-SOHI dwelling fans. Roots & Wings Design in Berry has now opened their online store. Researching this blog post very quickly resulted in a side step to Paypal when we discovered this belt we shouldn’t have bought to go with this shirt-dress we definitely can’t afford. Rebecca’s tireless curating results in a collection of homewares, clothing and life-organising essentials that make us feel so very grown up. And though Berry is a beautiful place to have an ivy covered shopfront, now we don’t have to drive. Oh dear.

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Note: the shots on the ’shop’ section of the site are by Rebecca’s little sister Sam Riles. She is only 18.

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