When one of your oldest friends invites you to her backyard wedding in Melbourne, you RSVP without a second thought. It felt like a super sized version of Austin, Texas where we both had lived; a “flat San Francisco” popped into my head as well in terms of American comparisons. Of course, culturally it had its distinct Australian differences and felt much more European and mannered. An introvert’s dream, I didn’t have a single car honk at me or any catcalls despite walking all day on Smith and Brunswick St. shopping. How refreshing to not feel like a piece of meat!

Even though I tend to wear a lot of black and band t-shirts, Melbourne influenced me hard and I came back with a bag of wacky prints both new and vintage. The VINTAGE scene there!! My god, I haven’t seen that big of a collection of mint condition vintage clothing since San Francisco in the 90’s! All day can be spent at Vintage Garage on Brunswick Street alone.

They have a very egalitarian society, so I sat in front on a couple taxi rides and far preferred it to the whole rider/chauffeur setup. The women I saw had a cool sense of style that was not focused on looking good for a man- beat up Blundstone boots beat out high heels by a country mile (or Country Road to throw an Australian fashion pun in, it’s a popular store like J. Crew).

Last couple differences that I enjoyed were that lattes are called “flat whites” and when walking stay on the left. It took me about three days of bumping into people and doing that sidewalk dance before I got it down. Loved you, Melbourne and I can’t wait to return.

The shirt on the left is new and from Monster Threads. The one on the right is vintage from Vintage Garage, and if anyone comes across this blog that can identify this psychedelic textile I would love it. Funny to see how things don’t really change much!