Just email us if you'd like to be on subscriber list...Greetings from MUFF!
Hope you're having a good day and keeping warm.
Great finds at MUFF Degraves right now include a Christian Dior zebra jumper and several small sized Cue pieces, brought in by an ex-employee who is moving interstate.
At MUFF Queen Victoria Market we have some great leather jackets, a rare 1940s black long dress (size 12) and plenty of knitwear. We have revised the hours at our market store - we're now open Thursday to Sunday. Come and say gidday!
Hope you enjoy the newsletter below...
How To Create Your Own StyleDo you dread getting dressed each day? Is it too hard to find things you like when you go shopping? Maybe it’s time to really nail down your style and make dressing EASY. Here are some tips from Wikipedia (and us!)
Go through your winter wardrobe and pull out anything you don’t LOVE. If it’s too good to donate, give it a clean and bring it to MUFF for resale.
Make a list of the clothes you need. (If you had 10 pairs of pants and threw out 8 of them, you might want a few new pairs.)
Look through fashion magazines and at pictures of clothing styles past and present on the net. Is there a look that jumps out at you? Do you like wide or skinny pants? High or low waists? What era suits your body shape best? E.g. curvy 50s, skinny 60s. Make notes and cut/print pictures.
Do you resemble a famous movie star or singer? You could imitate what she wears. Fashion brains bigger than ours spend many hours working out how to present famous people in their best light…and you can benefit from it!
Be realistic. Obviously, if you choose to dress like Jessica Simpson, you'll probably want to change the look so it's cheaper and more appropriate for your body and lifestyle. Although Jessica pulls off Daisy Duke shorts, you might not want to be seen in them in public!. Modify the look it until you love it - and can wear it in decent society!
Look for unique items. Ask yourself, "What is something I like that no one else wears?" You’re looking to create your own single jewelled glove/man style tuxedo moment.
Enhance your total look with accessories. Hats can make you stand out.
Spend time trying to make outfits out of your new clothes. Mix and match - even if you didn't think your new jumper would look good with you’re a-line skirt, try it out.
Take some lessons on how to wear make up, or ask your makeup-savvy friend for some tips. Ask for recommendations… makeup is being updated constantly and you could be missing out on a great new product.
Choose a unique hair style. Make a statement with your hair. A unique hairstyle can make you famous! Look at Karen O, Blondie, Amy Winehouse. Discover the best style for your hair that suits the shape of your face and a colour that works with your skin tone.
Looks like Amy Winehouse likes Maria Callas's style!
How Much Time Should You Take?Do you ever worry that spending time on your appearance makes you shallow? (You went to a Catholic school, didn’t you?!) Let Lucia de Vernai http://www.northstarwriting.com/ explain why dressing well is not a crime…"Paying attention to how you look is not a reflection of superficiality or detachment from others. It is a form of self-expression.
To present yourself well to the world is to declare to others that their presence is important. Instead of dress to impress, think dress to honor. After all, manner of dress is a form of cultural aesthetic and cultural communication. The skills of matching fabric quality, balancing separates and framing the body in the best way possible is an art.
Sadly, materialist culture has stripped it of its mystery and replaced it with carelessness. Fashion as passion is now associated with spoiled teenage girls in a mall, not appreciation of the human body and attention to detail. Maybe that is why I feel like I have to defend my approach or feel ashamed to admit that I read more of In-Style than of The Economist, that I know nothing about Dylan and pretty much everything about Balenciaga.
Looking at the dressy, casual apparel of Argentines and the delicate balance they strike between formal wear and comfort, I came to understand that the commitment to dressing well is nothing to be ashamed of. What I have learned from them is that come hell or high water, military dictatorship or economic crisis, maintaining appearances is not shallow, but a way of retaining stability and social norms. Sound bourgie? Perhaps. But come the revolution, we’ll be dressed to kill."
Home Grown "What To Wear" Advisor in Oz!Did you know we have our own, homegrown Trinny/Susannah rolled into one? Melbourne woman Annebelle van Tongeren has written an interesting book on what to wear called "Dress Like a Star." 
Annebelle studied Fashion Design at RMIT in Melbourne before embarking on a career spanning 20 years costuming and styling for TV programmes ranging from The Comedy Company to Ten News to the Logies to the Arias. Her work has been published in many magazines and newspapers.
MUFF got hold of a copy of the book recently and found it worthwhile; Annebelle has a good understanding of body shapes. Since reading her book, I have decided to stop wearing pants!
Random House Australia
Author: Annebelle van Tongeren
ISBN: 9781741666045
RRP: $29.95
Defeat your body's worst enemy
'Urggh - you're such an ugly fat cow'! 'Yuck, put those flabby arms away'! 'Look at those thighs!' Can you imagine saying things like that to your best friend? If you did, chances are the friendship wouldn't last too long! So why then, do we say such terrible things to ourselves?
The phrase… "own worst enemy" comes into play here. In my role as Personal Stylist I hear all about the hang-ups we women have: the arms that never see the light of day because they are not perfect, the wardrobe full of long tops and jackets that hide the apparently huge bum, even the uniform of gathered tops all purchased to cover the tummy.
Poor body image is something that is often associated with teenagers with eating disorders - adult women are supposedly "over it." Not true it would seem - most of my clients are accomplished, intelligent women and yet they don't like what they see in the mirror.
I guess the constant bombardment
of the perfect bodies of celebrities in magazines provides a benchmark that real women can't live up to. Consider the life of a celebrity: Katie Holmes is apparently pregnant because the poor girl had a lunch and forgot to hold her tummy in when she was photographed recently!
For what it's worth: I've worked with literally thousands of women and I could count those with the"perfect" body on less than five fingers - we all have things we don't like.
So, I'd like to start a revolution! Let's celebrate what our bodies do for us rather than worry about the bits we hate. For every woman out there who laments the loss of her trim waist or pert bust due to having babies consider those who can't have children but would love them.
Complaining about your dimply thighs or short legs? Think about the women for whom life is spent in a wheelchair. Every day take time to be GRATEFUL for what you have, and what your body represents.
Focus instead on your best features and show those off. If you're under 80 and you are in despair about your upper arms, get them out there on display: it's natural for a woman to have arms like that.
Imagine being 80 and saying, "Gee, I wish I'd known what I had when I was 40 - the same way we do now about when we were 18!
If you really do loathe your wobbly bits get busy: get out there walking, do tricep dips in front of the telly - just stop beating yourself up!
And for the things you can't change - don't waste any more time hating them.
To make the most of what you've got, get learning. Work out which styles of clothing are most flattering to your shape - learn what balances your figure and work with your own proportions. Find a hairdresser that understands your colouring and cuts your hair to suit your face, not the latest style.
Knowing yourself is key; loving yourself might take a little longer.
By Jackie O'Fee, NZ fashion stylist and host of "Does My Bum Look Big In This?" JOKES(This one's from Nick Of Carrum)A bloke crashes into the back of a dwarf’s Porsche. There seems to be lots of damage. The dwarf gets out, has a look and says, "I'm not happy".
The bloke replies, "well, which one are ya then?"
Sheila walked into the kitchen to find Bruce stalking around with a fly swatter."What are you doing?" She asked. "Hunting Flies" He responded. "Oh. Killing any?" She asked. "Yep, 3 males, 2 Females," he replied. Intrigued, she asked. "How can you tell them apart?" He responded, "3 were on a beer can, 2 were on the phone."
