Last Monday, as planned, I went up to Bendigo with my folks, mainly to check out the featured exhibition at Bendigo Art Gallery, The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London (1937–1948), direct from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. It was overall a fantastic show of outfits, ranging from refined afternoon wear to the more flamboyant evening gowns, with also a collection of fashion photography from the likes of Richard Avedon on display.
Bendigo is a lovely city. Clean, vintage and with friendly people. And there was a Katies store that was closing down with the cheapest clothes! $5 a piece for most garments, zomg! Not even DFO can compare!
I sort of splurged on the gift range… The bag is beautiful and cute however, and well worth it.
Now I wouldn’t be a true type fan without noticing the amazing signage around this historic city! ‘Total Abstinence Society Inc”—well, that’s one way of putting it, eh? I love the little flourishes and the Nouveau/Deco typefaces.
The flourish in the ‘AND’ is beautiful! But I love the little stencil someone grafittied on top of the sign. It completes the set. ;)
Lyndsay
Feb 20, 2009
2:04 PM
Hey – I stumbled on this blog whilst googling the Golden Age of Couture exhibition – I’m a Bendigo native but hadn’t been to see it yet. Your bag of goodies has inspired me!
Also funnily enough I took a photo of the “Births and Deaths” sign today as my Dad and I were discussing how, slowly, all the old signage in Bendigo is being painted over (and also that I just go nuts for that “and”). And I wondered how long that stencil had been there, obviously since before December! There was another painted behind the gallery on a marble chair of a different design, in the same paint, someone is clearly getting into the stenciling in Bendigo…
Jen
Mar 7, 2009
2:58 PM
Hi Lyndsay! Thanks for your comment. Sorry I didn’t reply sooner, but I’ve sort of neglected this thing while I wonder what to do with it.
I wish I could go back to Bendigo and dig around for more of these hidden treasures! I love discovering old signage, and evocative street art, rather than those stupid “tags” everywhere. Guh, can’t stand them.