Sharing the love...

You may have realised by now that knowing where my clothing comes from has been an increasingly important issue for me. And in a recent post I listed some ideas that could help me become more ethical when it came to the action of dressing.
Recently I met a fellow mum who sells beautiful clothing at markets in Sydney. I purchased a beautifully soft, cotton top which has been simply too good to wear! (I stare at it lovingly in the wardrobe - but fear not, I'll get over this pretty soon) The label is Read & Bell (the surnames of the two women behind the clothing, accessories and homewares).
The thing I love the most, apart from the fact that their stuff is gorgeous, is that it's not mass produced in a dungeon somewhere, it's made in a caring environment which you can read about here.
Something else I discovered over the weekend was a Fair Trade fashion website: http://www.eternalcreation.com/ They have some nice articles of clothing and you can meet the tailor, tour the workshop and watch 'how-to' demo's all on their website.

THE WORLD NEEDS MORE OF THIS!!!!
HELP TO TAKE A STAND AGAINST SLAVE LABOUR, SWEAT SHOPS AND MASS PRODUCTION!!!

More Than Just A Farmers' Market...

Last Saturday Son, Baby and I finally made it to the Lilyfield Farmers' Market. I've been meaning to get there for ages but things such as having a new baby or not having a car, simply have not permitted it. So I was pretty happy when we were finally physically on our way there and with the sun shining too. Upon entering both Son and I became increasingly excited about the bouncy castle and the straw hat stall respectively. Due to our previous experiences with bouncy castles, and their likeness to black holes, a little bargaining went on to begin with. We then went directly to the Shaun Arthur hat stand and I purchased (after consulting Son/Fashion Adviser who said: "yes Mummy that looks nice"), a lovely straw number with a nice wide brim for lots of coverage. Donning my new hat I was ready for action and exploration...

The market has an eclectic mix of goods - fresh food, produce and local wine, locally designed and made clothing, also a fine selection second hand. Plants and fresh herbs - three for five bucks - what a bargain! Fresh flowers and coffee, books, hats and even hardware... Then when the shopping was done you could kick back and relax in the shade of some rather large trees and enjoy some fresh coffee or maybe (like we did) a sizzling bacon and egg roll straight off the BBQ. And as you can see from the not-so-artistic shot above - it wasn't at all crowded. All was going swimmingly until, for some reason, while my mind meandered back and forth I came up with the idea that maybe I had purchased a man's hat... so I asked Fashion Adviser and he answered "yes, it is a man's hat". Well why hadn't he said this earlier I both wondered and said aloud . I got the feeling he was just agreeing with anything with the hope of getting to the castle quicker.

The shady grounds of Orange Grove Public School, the market's  venue... a  great place to  relax while the children have a  Shetland Pony ride

My infamous hat... what do you think?

As I'd come with the pretence of just looking (except the hat thing) I had to do my very best in holding off from buying all sorts of other delicious morsels like beetroot hummus, home-made pasta et cetera. Apart from all the snacks, and there were a few of those, my only purchase was a large bowl of plums for some jam I hope to make. But we do plan to come again next week... 
Oh, and in case you were wondering - Son did get to the castle and was very happy there bouncing the morning away.