springtime

Wanna sell at Dandylion?

Hey, do you make cool stuff ? Do you make in New Zealand and have an original style? Dandylion is currently looking for new designers and product to sell for the summer and Christmas season. Whether you make mens or womens clothing, bags, jewellery, cards, art, toys or something so unusual that I don't even know what it is yet, if you're interested in getting your stuff out there and are happy to sell on a sale or return basis, get in touch !
There is also an exciting new development at Dandylion - In a month or two there is going to be a new section for kidswear! So if you make babies and young kids clothes I'd especially love to hear from you.

Email me - Lorene at lovelovelorelei@hotmail.com with a description or pictures of what you do and I will get back to you with more details of how it all works.

Hutt Valley High teeshirt exhibition

Labour weekend

Hey ! I am taking a short holiday this weekend so Dandylion will be closed from Sun to Tues and reopen on Wednesday morning as usual. Hope everyone has a great long weekend!

August special offer!!!

Hi ! This month you can splurge and save at Dandy, From this Saturday thru till the end of August buy any two items of clothing and get 20% off your purchase, Buy any three items of clothing and save 30% !!! This includes new items too - So if you've had your eye on something now is the time!

( this offer does not apply to the vintage dresses, accessories or foxton fizz sorry,)

New party dresses

Its PARTY time again, Winter is over and ball season has begun, and in general we're all feeling like having a bit more fun, so I've been making party clothes lately - bubble puff dresses, simple shift minis - because I'm in love with leggings lately and lots of girly bows...

Metallic mini bow dress by Lorelei, $110
Purple sweetheart dress by Lorelei, $160
Black satin sweetheart tulip dress by Lorelei, $150

Neon party dress by Lorelei, $90 (Sorry - this item has already sold)

Assorted sweets jewellery

Assorted sweets Jewellery is a new label to Dandylion. Made by local designer Nikki, these earrings are something special. I love that each design has a found trinket kind of thing going on - it reminds me of the jewellery I had in childhood, with those little items you treasure like a locket or little apple charm. Single earrings go for $18, and $30 for the pairs. Each design is of course completely individual and made in lovely Wellington.

Mixtape

This month Dandy is listening to......

Let her go into the darkness - Jonathan Richman
Egyptian reggae - Jonathan Richman
Lesbian Bar - Jonathan Richman
Morning of our lives - Jonathan Richman
Give Paris one more chance - Jonathan Richman
This love is mine - Jonatahn Richman
The new teller - Jonathan Richman
Lets pretend we're bunny rabbits - The Magnetic Fields
Long forgotten fairytale - The Magnetic Fields
Your arms around me - Jens Lekman
Black cab - Jens Lekman
You are the light - Jens Lekman
Maple leaves - Jens Lekman
Pretty shoes - Jens Lekman
Farewell song - Jens Lekman
Julie - Jens Leckman
Bean bag chair - Yo La Tengo
You can have it all - Yo La Tengo

Cute boys

Here at Dandylion there is a small range of menswear on offer, - from simple good quality fitted hoodies to bright printed tees. We specialise in the smaller sizes - so hard to find! So if you know any indies boys who like their fashion N.Z made be sure to tell them all about Dandy!

Pictured are some stripy metro numbers made by me, (Lorelei)

brown /mustard long sleeve tees - $90

striped hoody - $98

New from Cast Couture

Olive slouch dress - $110, Wool scarf by Vangarde - $60

Black and grey pullover top - $80

Brilliant blue hooded slouch dress - $130, Wool scarf by granny -$20

Black and grey slouch dress - $110, Wool scarf Made by Alice - $50

CAST Couture is a new label to Dandylion Boutique, I always love discovering new designers who are dedicated to making in New Zealand and have a great style of their own. Cast couture by Catherine Stoneley is an innovative range of chic streetwear for the modern woman.

CAST Couture began in the winter of 06' as a small money making venture on the side of High School studies. What started as a small hobby, soon grew with the ongoing demand and within 6 months over 250 one off garments were sold.
Now, CAST Couture is the full time job and love child of 18 year old Catherine Stoneley. A strong willed and highly independent creative artisan, inspired by the ordinary and not so ordinary, conforming to no written code- Catherine creates clothing for the likeminded individual.

Check out more from Cast Couture at www.cast-couture.com

frocks that rock- YOU can hire these dresses!!!

frocks that rock! Vintage dress hire

Recently Dandylion participated in the St.Johns Presbytarian Opshop fashion gala evening where a small collection of our vintage dresses were shown. The evening was held as a celebration and goodbye to the oppurtunity shop which has been at 147 cuba street for many many years and is now closing down as the area is being redeveloped. So here are some pics, Remember you can hire these dresses from Dandylion for $10 for four nights. We have a large selection and a good range of sizes -you'll find everything from the 1950's to the 80's, cocktail dresses, 80's prom frocks and flowy chiffon psychedelic 70's numbers.

mixtape

This month dandylion is listening to.....




Ice cream- New young pony club
Heartbeat- Annie
Tell me why- Supermode
Heatherwood- Deerhunter
Chewing gum- Annie
Lets make love/death from above- CSS
Just like we- Hot chip
Kidz at the disco- Cut copy
We are your friends- Justice vs Simian
Enjoy the silence- Depeche mode
Colours- Hot chip
That was just a dream- Cut copy
The young machines- Her space holiday
Epliohunk- Ratatat
Cherry- Ratatat

Brand new shop!

Surprise! Dandylion has moved into a brand new space. You wont have any trouble finding the new store though - its now at 208 Left bank Arcade - just a hop, skip and a jump from the old Dandylion. Just venture a little bit further into the arcade past the fantastic California sushi. New Dandylion is a cute corner shop with lots of windows and space to display all the great New Zealand designer fashion we have + our "frocks that rock!" - vintage dresses that are for costume hire. I also have a little workspace - remember that you can get alterations and dressmaking done in store.

To celebrate the new shop and also our 4th birthday we're having a little opening party - keep your eyes out for further information, and for a personal invite and the chance to get up to 40% off anything you like from Dandylion for the rest of April join up to the Dandy club - you'll get emails every so often that keep you updated on all Dandylion affairs, new stock and special offers!

To join just email lovelovelorelei@hotmail.com with Dandy club in the subject line and include your name and email address.

New beautiful wallets

Well yesterday I had the joy of opening a big box full of new stock from Jo Sweeney. Shes been a regular supplier to Dandylion in the four years weve been open so many of you will probably know all about her gorgeous range of lace and vinyl wallets, and vintage fabrics belts and cuffs. If you dont - come in and see, there is a beautiful range of rich deep colours in this new lot- just what i love to see when winter is approaching. Jo Sweeney wallets/purses & belts retail at $45, and cuffs are $20.

yummy toast!

Some of you will be familiar with Toast clothing from past Craftwerks, with bright vintage fabrics and super cute applique Toast bags, hats and clothing really stand out.

Now you can get Toast anytime at Dandylion. This winter we are stocking a range of tote bags in velvety thick corduroy - $50, and beautiful hoodies in all kinds of colours and size 6-14, ranging in price from $100 - $130. Yum!

You can find out more about Toast and the designer behind it all , Rhiannon at www.toastclothing.co.nz

Alterations and mending

Hey! Did you know that you can bring your alteration and mending jobs into Dandylion? Yep, with the dandy workroom at the back of the store you can bring a job in and have it done the same day if needs be, + its cheap! only $10-15 for hems and $5 if you just have a small job like a hole that needs patching or a couple of buttons to sew on that youv'e just never gotten around to doing yourself.
If you have more ambitous dreams and want something specially made come in and talk to me!

Sale! 20% off everything

hey kids!! Do your Christmas shopping for yourself! and friends and save!!

From Monday 27 November till Fri 8 December there is 20% off everything in store at Dandylion boutique. Thats all fashion, badges, jewellry and even the foxton fizz!

Craftwerk again !!!

Craftwerk is on again this Thursday evening at the Southern cross garden bar from 5-9 pm. Here are some pictures from the last one- it was awesome!!!

Come along to see loads of cutiepie things from local designers and crafters, share a mix tape, see some local music and sample yummy baking.

See the craftwerk website for more information. - www.craftwerk.co.nz

Eco-FASHION & Dandylion

There are more than a few good reasons to shop at Dandylion beyond the fact that we have some of the cutest one off pieces in town. As well as promoting up and coming N.Z designers, a top priority for me and others involved has been to promote consumer awareness about where things come from and the processes they have been through.

The fashion industry is notorious for its exploitation of people and our environment and when shopping its near impossible to avoid being a part of the whole thing. Sorry! this is getting depressing! Well - at Dandylion while we dont pretend to be perfect ( we still use commercially produced fabrics) we are trying to bypass a couple of the yuckier problems such as sweatshop labour and the pervasive throw away mentality. Our designers make all their own pieces for decent pay, and many use recycled fabrics and try to buy N.Z made materials where possible.

We aim to sell only very well made items that are more individualistic and not so faddish that your completely over them in 6 months. Iv'e always considered it an unspoken rule but want to make sure everyone knows that at Dandylion qualitys really important and I'll mend for free anything bought at Dandylion within a year of purchase. Its good to get thinking about these issues and following is an article I thought was interesting and is a good introduction to the concept of eco-fashion and whats going on .

Eco-Fashion, by Tanya Davies - Options magazine

"Because of its sheer size, the clothing indusry's impact on global warming is probably larger than all of Africa." Katharine Hamnett

The fashion and textile industry in the US alone is worth an estimated $300 billion. Add to that the rest of the consuming world and thats an awful lot of energy, fabric, dye and sweatshop workers. And whats really sad is that an awful lot of it ends up in landfill within just a few years.

But the fashion industry is at the dawn of a new era. Just as the food industry and toiletries and cosmetic industries have proved, ecological awareness can be big business. British designer Katharine Hamnett launched and ecological line, E, in 2005 and Oscar de la Renta, Diane von Furstenburg and Linda Loudermilk are all working on sustainable lines or pieces in the US. And its not just the high end designers. The UK has a large number of middle range independent labels creating hippy chic, sports and urban wear and in America 100% organic Loomstate are a 'must have' label among stylish greenies.

Melissa Laird, Senior Head teacher of Fashion and Applied studies at the Whitehouse Intitute of Design, is hoping to see more Ausralian designers embracing sustainable practices. 'The traditional fashion roles are based on planned obsolesence, where garments are intended to be out of fashion from one season to the next, forcing people to buy new clothes', she says. So is there any hope that fashion could become sustainable?

Of Australia's independent designers Susan Dimasi and Chantal Macdonald's Material by-product are attempting to create sustainalbe lines by reworking old clothes, and using cloth cutting techniques which minimise waste. Theres also Peter Boyd and Denise Sprinskyj's label S!x, incorporating elements of sustainability, such as re-using and re-inventing fabrics into their designs. And Gabriel Scarvelli has created an excellent reputation for himself using a high percentage of natural fibres and dyes, recycling, and paying bead workers in Calcutta up to 48 times the average wage. But individually recycled pieces are far too costly to point the way forward for the fashion industry. Rather they they are intended to get consumers thinking about their consumption.

At the high street level Hunter Gatherer now have two store, in St Kilda and Fitzroy, selling vintage pieces, accessories and their own label. The 'No sweatshop' accredited label is the initiative of the Brotherhood of St Laurence and all proceeds go back into helping people.


Cotton requires very large amounts of pesticides and water. In addition, cotton farming is increasingly becoming subject to genetic engineering as cotton plants are gene-spliced with a soil bacteria which enables the plant to emit its own pesticide. According to Ronnie Cummins at the Organic Consumers Association, genetically modified cotton crops already account for approximately 60% of all US crops. Unfortunately organic cotton is still relatively difficult for designers to get hold of in Australia and its alternative , hemp, is still way out on the periphery of the fashion industry.

But the presence of high street brands entering the environmental arena proves that ecological fashion is hitting the mainstream. Levi's US stores launch a line of 100% organic cotton jeans in November this year made with recycled buttons, rivets and zippers and natural indigo dyes. And Nike have set a target to blend 5% organic cotton into all their cotton containing materials by 2010. Of course these big brands still use sweatshop labour, and threaten to corner the organic cotton market. But they can raise awareness of ecological fashion through mainstream pieces, which is something Rachel Bending, founder of Slingflings in NSW, also wants to do.

Bending says, 'There are two sets of consumers that are buying 'green' products. The first are interested in taking care and will automatically but green first if they can. The challenge for me is converting the people who dont care. My mission statement is pioneering sustainability in fashion design because fashion is an industry that notorious for not caring.

Sue Thomas is a fashion lecturer at the Royal Melbourne institute of Technology. she believes ecological fashion has a great future thanks to the next generation of designers. 'I have found that the push has been very strong from the students who are in their late teens and early twenties, they are not happy about current practices. ' she says. But can we stop consuming? Sue says we can change the way we shop. 'The students are interested in the notion of, not stopping consuming because it just cant stop, but rather revisiting the idea of how often and why. So garments are made very well and are interesting enough that you dont want to bin them after a season and move on to the next silly throw away thing. That this is rather a beautiful thing and you may pass it on.'

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