At Voxfrock, we’ve happily hoisted flags for a brace of cheapfast retailers in recent years and months. Topshop, Zara, Uniqlo, H&M more – so many more – to come. Landfill? Schmandfill, we say. If we are all Vigilant Voxfrockers and insist – insist! – that fashionethics, quality controls and sustainability be checked right back to seed on supply chains, well then, why not? Why not cheap frocks. They serve a purpose. Few of us can forgo rent or groceries for the $600-odd price-tag typical among mid-to-upper designer frocks. A blouse (a working woman needs five) is $350 and that very-nice-thank-you middling winter coat costs – whaaat?! – $1000 plus. We’re chuffed you can afford it. We can’t. We’ve got bills to pay, parties to throw, whatever. So, cheap frocks? Why not indeed.
We are pragmatic fashionistocrats at Voxfrock. But, we also wither a little for less-mega, localogo retailers and manufacturers every time another foreign conglomerate swaggers into town and flings open its 4,567,999th store. We are bothered – no, puzzled – by the media hysteria that typically attaches to these globalogo fashion launches. Last fortnight’s frenetic, celebrity-bristling, paparazzi-popping, TV-news-n’-front-page H&M and Uniqlo openings, cases in point. Mind you, that said, we get it. We get that it’s a mo-derne world-wide thang; masses of frockmad girls queueing, accumulating, sharing cheapfrocks till their eyes water and we, the media, watching them, watching each other. It would be weird were it not for the hyper-consumer-narcissistic-girl-focussed-culture in which it is couched.
But – and here’s the thing – why does comparable media hysteria not whip up around smaller, localogo retailers whenever they open a new outlet or rack something marvellous?
Like Witchery. And no, this isn’t a sponsored post. (Read our About: we’re still a struggling non-commercial love project.) The Voxfrockers were simply struck by a nicely conceived, bulls-eye, on-trend group of Witchery separates and accessories being made ready, as we speak, for racking from May 1. Not cheapfast fashion, by any means, but fair-priced, good quality heart-flutterers worth making a fuss about.
Pleat Check Skater Skirt $99.95 Melton Duffel $299.95
This is them, shot on model-of-the-moment Erin Heatherton, a smashing looking girl who, admittedly, enhances the garments beyond most likely mirrored reflections. But, the fashionmaths of Miss Heatherton’s ensembles, can be best understood, broken into their component parts.
This pleated plaid skater skirt, (above) for example, will flip and slap prettily around any pair of girly legs, regardless of their thick or thin proportions. Choose opaque tights if the prospect of bare skin below the hemline or occasional flash of knicker offends. The jacket is called a Melton Duffel (no idea) and drops obligingly past the backside, an area of some angst for many girls and women unblessed by a model-esque figure. (Read, 95 per cent.) The Voxfrockers particularly like its glint of zips and will order for a smart, chic, all-round, every-weekend, pull-it-on-over-anything warm outer winter layer.
Roll Neck Knit $149.9 Front Knot Skirt $129.95
Witchery’s key second winter components are beautifully conceived in neutral naturals and mulberry, white and black, with touches of aqua and metal in the details and leathers in a bullseye biker jacket. Knits come in big, slumping (but shapeable) cardigans and jumpers and one heavily textured poncho. (Main photo, top: Basket Stitch Poncho $169.95)
Patch Pocket Coat $399.95 Isabel Over The Knee boot $369.95
Neat, small assymetric skirts are cut to wrap easily and flatteringly around waist and hips. Chic coats and jackets are styled to wear sleek, long and open over short hemlines and – piece de resistance – smashing suede over-the-knee boots to ground any wearer in The Now.
If, like the Voxfrockers, you’ve been mesmerized recently by globalogo conglomerates (including Prada, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Hermes, et. al) refurbishing or springing up new like daisies among us, we respectfully prescribe an hour or six at the racks or on line of beloved brands such as Witchery for a bracing new view of winter. Amen. Here’s your click: www.witchery.com.au
Compiled by Terry Carruthers, intern@voxfrock.com.au, with Janice Breen Burns, jbb@voxfrock.com.au
