Arriving Soon - New 'Finds' Of Industrial & Antique Objects

Well, what can I say!  It is many, many months since I last updated this blog!!!  Shameful & no excuses!

One of many New Year Resolutions was and is to update the stores blog regularly.......Let's see shall we....

I had planned to complain to you all about the appalling weather I 'weathered' while on my last overseas buying trip, but after being glued to the TV yesterday for many hours watching the horrific scenes of the Queensland Floods, I have very little to complain about!  Our thoughts at both duckeggBLUE & quintessential duckeggBLUE go out to all affected by the devastation that is currently being experienced.

 
Now back to my trip......It was cold!  It was SNOWING!  It was SNOWING very heavily!  Did I mention it was cold AND snowing?  I have now lived in Australia for 11 years and haven't experienced snow in all these years......I chose not to!
I have commented on many occasions that it would be nice to see the snow again, the romantic idea of snow that obviously still exists in my memory of childhood fun had sledging down hills in the local fields.....and well, I did see the snow! Lots of it while in England, but it just wasn't as romantic as I seem to remember....maybe because I was actually trying to work?

France & Belgium were kind to me, only sleety showers and cold, cold winds.....cold enough to make me invest in a cap to try and keep the warmth in!  I had packed plenty of leggings and jac+jack cashmere jumpers and scarves for the trip, even gloves, socks & boots, but a hat, NO!  The picture below was my first taste of snow.....in Lille, North West France......I was rather excited to see the snow.....hence the photograph...little did I know what was in store for me when I arrived in the UK.

 
Many factories and markets were visited in France & Belgium with some great, but rather elusive 'finds'..........it was difficult on this trip to find exactly what I was looking for, or pieces that were 'covetable' and to my strict standards of quality, potential and individualism......examples of factory hunting and seeing the potential in some 'finds' are below.....

Factories are great, especially in November when they shield you from the outside temperatures and chills, where as the UK markets are outside in huge open fields and well, your left to keep warm for yourself! Now where did I leave that glove that I kept taking off while carefully sifting through potential buys!

My final selection.....along with contents of 'it doesn't bear thinking about'!

You never know what you will find.....

These have to be one of my favorite 'finds' from this trip.....dating back to the very early 1900's, they were originally used in a pharmacy - customers paid 1 old penny, and stood on the scales...as the scales say, "To weigh oneself often is to know oneself well"......
Still with the original paint work, a little bit of restoration work and these will be 'For Sale' very soon......great in a bathroom or perhaps next to the fridge....I suppose it depends which way the scales are tipping when you stand on them!

 

Dating from early 1910, this McVitie & Price (you may know them as McVitie biscuits.....chocolate digestives were always my favorite, how about you? Rich Tea?), is an original biscuit display cabinet, that would be used in a retail store to sell McVitie only products from........
I literally sprinted up the field when I spotted this 'find'.......I have only ever seen one before, in Paris of all places, and that was the price of a new bathroom!!!  So I had to have this......
A week of restoring and this too will be 'For Sale' in quintessential duckeggBLUE. 


More snow, this was just the worst day, very hard work, cold, wet, literally impossible to walk around the markets.....

Goods were left outside in the snow.....how else were buyers meant to 'buy' and sellers 'sell'?

We had a few issues actually driving mothers car out of the snow filled car park/field!!

The results of this hurculiane effort of a trip will be in store at quintessential duckeggBLUE from Saturday 29th January......we look forward to 'warmly' welcoming you into our 'snow free' zone.

My next overseas trip to 'find' more covetable industrial & antique objects is already booked...for the, fingers crossed, warmer month of May.

'good BUY' re-location SALE

duckeggBLUE is delighted to announce the re-location of our fashion store to 489 Darling Street, Balmain (currently the Vivalino store) just a few doors down from our furniture store quintessential duckeggBLUE

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR HUGE RE-LOCATION SALE WITH UP TO 70% OFF COVETABLE WOMEN’s LABELS, including…..

Carl Kapp

Lee Mathews

Ginger & Smart

By Malene Birger

Tara Jarmon

Majestic

Jac & Jack

18th Amendment Denim

Filippa K

Paul & Joe

SALE COMMENCES FRIDAY 30th JULY until sold out!

Be quick and bag a few great buys!!!

We will close on Sunday 29th August and re-open on Friday 3rd September

We look forward to welcoming you to our fabulous new store full of ‘beautiful clothes & covetable style’

Love duckeggBLUE xxx

Now Exhibiting, Countess Ingegerd Ahlefeldt-Laurvigen

It had to be.  My last day at the UK antique markets, no money left in my purse and certainly no space left on my rather over exhausted credit cards, and I had to find 8 original oil paintings, circa 1930/40 by the Woman pictured above.  Countess Ingegerd Ahlefeldt-Laurvigen (1900-1986), Painter; daughter of Count Preben Ferdinand, Danish Envoy.  A painter, poet and writer.  It was love at first sight and I had to have them.

6 weeks later and they just arrived in Sydney yesterday afternoon, are now unpacked (after lots of bubble wrap, card and inquisitive dogs!) and in the back of my car on their way to be professionally strung so that I can hang them in our freshly painted hallway.

Countess Ingegerd 'Johanne Marie' Ahlefeldt-Laurvigen painted these portraits in oil on canvas, of Chelsea pensioners at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, London, a retirement and nursing home for former members of the British Army who had been injured in service or who had served for more than 20 years.

Pensioners were entitled to come and go from the Royal Hospital as they pleased, and were permitted to wear civilian clothing wherever they travelled. However, within the hospital, and in the surrounding area, in-pensioners were encouraged to wear a blue uniform, and this is the uniform that Countess Ingegerd Ahlefeldt-Laurvigen captured on canvas while the pensioners 'sat' for her during her portrait sittings.  Her time and efforts were of no charge to the hospital, and here is where the paintings would have hung for many years.  Why they are not there now, I do not know.  All I know is I am somewhat humbled and quite honoured to have these works as an 'entrance' feature to my home, art of a Countess that has many of her works hung at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

If the pensioners traveled further from the Hospital, they had to wear their distinctive scarlet coats instead of the blue uniform. The scarlet coats were also worn for ceremonial occasions, accompanied by tricorne hats, and this is as it still is today.

The gentleman that I purchased the paintings from insisted that I had them framed in a large gilded frame, it's obvious from that comment that we are strangers......gold elaborate frames really aren't my bag!  Instead I choose to leave them as they are, unframed, with delicate, aged edges to the canvas and let the intricate brushwork of each portrait speak for itself.

Style Icon, Grace Kelly, at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London

The thing that made her stand out is what we call 'style'.  McCall's magazine, 1955

With a morning to spare before my long flight back to Sydney I paid a visit to the Victoria & Albert Museum, in Knightsbridge, London....directly opposite my hotel, so really no excuses not to pop in and absorb the style of one of the worlds most photographed Women of the 20th Century, Grace Kelly.

With her obvious classic beauty came elegance and glamour, so much so she came to symbolise the classic, understated look that she wore both on and off screen, and was known for her impeccable dress sense and style.

Through Grace Kelly's spectacular wardrobe, this tasteful exhibition takes the visitor through her life of adventures and stories, from Hollywood actress to a princess of one of Europe's oldest royal families.
If your visiting London this exhibition is well worth a visit, lust over the Chanel & Dior suits and dresses.....if only my wardrobe was so well 'suited'!

Stay Tuned...Arriving This Week At duckeggBLUE, Ginger & Smart Summer 2010

It's 4pm on Monday afternoon and I'm counting down the days and hours until Ginger & Smarts Summer 2010 collection arrives in store later this week.
Fresh from the catwalk of Australian Fashion Week, duckeggBLUE is delighted to share with you only the most covetable styles, from all-in-one play suits, bold graphic printed dresses to whimsical floaty dresses, duckeggBLUE has it all!

And NEW to duckeggBLUE is Ginger & Smarts Footwear collection.....in store early September.  Move over Winter boots, Summer 'must own' wedges are calling.

The Wait IS Over! Jac & Jack Spring 2010 In Store Now at duckeggBLUE

Always a favourite with staff and customers alike, Jac & Jack Spring Collection is now available at duckeggBLUE!  As pictures speak a thousand words, I'll let the pictures chat away to you....and what a gossip they should have!!! 

The girls at Jac & Jack never disappoint, from beautiful crisp cotton pants, peach skin silks, silky cotton jerseys to knitted linens, this collection is not to be missed.....my first purchases will have to be the cute cotton pants (perfect with a pair of bensimons) and the knitted linen blazer....understated style for Summer days in Sydney.  Bring on the sunshine!