
Shadows and Dust
When it comes to making an entrance, nothing says rock star quite like a pair of leather pants. If you’ve tried this look at home, you’d know that finding a flattering leather statement piece is much harder than it looks. So it’s lucky for us that leather is Melbourne label Shadows & Dust’s specialty. Designer Stephen Jones sources skins from all over the world to create butter-soft ruffled jackets, skinny trousers, vests and shorts. And what makes this label stand out from the rest is that it takes three workers an entire day to create each unisex leather garment. In a society of mass manufacture, that’s what we like to call a rarity.
Tagged: Melbourne designers, Melbourne fashion
RELATED

Whistles and Handclaps: bringing back the scrunchie
A cheeky little basics and accessories label from Melbourne is bringing back the scrunchie. The simple fabric covered elastic hair tie is a throwback to every girl’s favourite 80s accessory. While Carrie Bradshaw once famously insisted that New York women don’t wear scrunchies, Aussie girls are tying it up and letting loose. Read more

A few days ago I stumbled across a great new vintage store — Vintage Garage — that has popped up on Smith St, just near the heart of Melbourne’s ‘north side’ grunge fashion area. This cavernous boutique is maze of small dressing rooms brimming with carefully selected and collected vintage clothing and relics. There’s so much to choose from and prices are so reasonable it’s easy to walk out with a basketful of classic tailored jackets, retro high waisted slacks and an antique golden tea set to match. Just eight weeks old, it’s a must see for vintage hunters and gatherers.

Melbourne-based designer Ben Williams has spent twelve years in the interactive and design worlds, doing soup-to-nuts campaigns for clients and brands including Australia’s largest music festival, the Big Day Out, Toyota, Sneaker Freaker Magazine, Vodafone, and Ford. Oh, and apparently he’s also a whiz with a ‘gently used set of Ginsu Knives’. Really! Some people have all the fun. Read more
Also by THIS ISLAND LIFE

The Alila Villas Hotel in Uluwatu
Overlooking the Indian Ocean on a cliff top plateau, Alila Villas Uluwatu is the perfect backdrop for your island escape. Internationally recognised for architectural design, each villa maximises space, texture and the views are plentiful. Read more

Lalesso: ethical, fair-trade fashion from South Africa
It’s nice to know that we’re not the only ones with a warm-weather obsession. Based out of the hottest continent on the planet, African label Lalesso share our ethos for an endless summer and after discovering their current collection, it looks like they’ve found it. Started two years ago by Olivia Kennaway and Alice Heusser after an inspiring holiday to Lamu Island off the north coast of Kenya, Lalesso use soft flowing fabrics to create pieces that can withstand the heat. Read more

Sheepskin boots have been synonymous with surf culture since the seventies, but unfortunately they haven’t had the same associations with style. So when we stumbled across the new shearling booties by California-based footwear label OeTZI3300, we were confused. They may look like the perfect shoe to slip on after a dip in the cold ocean, but there’s nothing slipper-like about them. Made out of the finest sheepskin shearling, these women’s booties have mega long leather laces so you can wear them laced up high or folded down over the ankles. Read more
YOU'RE SAYING (0)
No comments yet.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Cut down on waste and save a little money with this Tube Wringer from Kaufmann Mercantile. It squeezes up to 35 percent more out of tubes of toothpaste, topical creams, or tomato paste! Yum.
Growing up, my visits to Hong Kong as well as my parents’ description of Hong Kong culture reinforced my assumption that the former British colony was too money-driven to nurture any good art. Read more
I ran a series of 80s nights in New York last year — showing cult 80s movies and playing classic cuts from that era of kitsch and spice — purely so I could spin After The Fire’s Der Kommissar over and over. Yessir, this was the future of music in 1983. Pity no one was listening.
The Dutch, the beautiful Dutch, in terms of architecture anyway. Here they have led the way again with this reuse of an old crane dock. A new glass office building, with a climatic façade of double glazing, motorized louvers on the outside and full length windows on the inside, hovers above the old dock. Read more
Christopher Knowles’ blog is a haven for all things not Lady Gaga. Read more
The first album released by the Malian duo Amadou & Mariam, Dimanche a Bamako, bordered on exceptional, if not for its songwriting then for its sheer diversity. You’d be forgiven for approaching cautiously an album that draws its influences from Syria, Cuba, Egypt, India, and Colombia, as well as its own country – much like a restaurant that offers every cuisine on the planet: choose one and do it well, you’d argue. But the album is fantastic: so full of life, so catchy and so accessible. Read more
Saltwater is a British clothing design label based in London and Cornwall who aim to bring a fresh approach to fashion with their use of beautiful colour, selected cloth, and close attention to detail. The store also has a great selection of carefully sourced accessories from around the world and a growing range of other clothes.
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST

Mathematics? Leave me out. Fashematics? Now you’re talking! This gem of a site is a runway equation that adds up to a whole lot of wonderful.

The return of the Brionvega rr226
Italian brand Brionvega has resurrected the classy Radiofonografio piece first created in 1965. The updated version is just like the original turntable/radio unit, but also has a CD/DVD player.

It’s refreshing to see artists like Joe Kievitt who are contented to explore the beauty in simple forms and asymmetrical patterns. Read more

A little infectious lollipop rock anyone? Feel free to embarrass yourself singing along at the stoplight. If the other drivers give you that look, roll down the windows and spread the love.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Cookie Boy’s creative cookie designs
I don’t eat cookies, so good thing Cookie Boy’s cookies are little pieces of art too pretty and cute to eat. Read more
Using Kyoko Hashimoto’s popular design, these acrylic earrings are made with unique hand formed sterling silver sleepers that make them light enough for everyday wear. Part of Kyoko’s collection, I Blame the Uni, (pronounced ‘oo-nee’, the Japanese name for sea urchin) and inspired by her experiences in the underground club scene of Tokyo. Read more
If you have a Twitter feed that focuses on cool pop cultural things and you’d like to swap Tweets with Lost At E Minor and other like-minded Twitterers, drop us a note (with Tweet Swap in the title). We have a system in place and we’d like to have you in on it! [illustration by Brad Fitzpatrick]
DISCOVER MORE
SO...
SEARCH: Can't find what you're looking for? Do a search..
IS IT GOOD FOR YOU TOO?
We hope you're enjoying your time on Lost At E Minor, but it's not over yet. Got something to share? Tell us about it and we'll look to publish it. If you want to have your work featured on the site, we'd love to hear from you. Pssst, we also have an online store stocking some of the goodies we feature on the site.
If you're a media agency and want to use this platform to connect with our readership, then drop us a line and tell us about it. Oh yeah, and we do digital consulting for cool brands that want to reach the sort of demographic that visits this site.



