My Melbourne Wardrobe - Beci Orpin

Written

Lucy Feagins

Writer

Lucy Feagins

14th of March 2012

Beci's Orpin's wardrobe! Photo - Justine Ellis, Styling - Lucy Feagins.

OMG check out Beci Orpin's wardrobe! Hypercolour!

Actually, I was surprised to see in her captions below, that Beci would have us believe she's just another monochrome-loving Melbournian! Hmmm. I am skeptical. I see no evidence of this. When we unpacked all Beci's fave items and edited the perfect collection for this shot, we saw a few key themes :

One - Yellow, in every hue, from acidy chartreuse to mustard and saffron tones. So cheerful! Love it.

Two - Polka dots! No explanation necessary. Three - CUTENESS. Is that a theme? I stand by it. Anyway we are a bit thrilled with how this one turned out - as with Kirra's wardrobe you can certainly see a little of Beci's work creeping through in her personal belongings! Alongside the obligatory vintage goodness, local labels are well represented - Gorman (of course), who Beci has collaborated with in the past, and PAM - Beci's favourite label, run by her close pals Misha and Shauna Hollenbach. (As if you didn't know, PAM is basically cult status, if you want those new season leggings go and get them RIGHT NOW from Monkhouse or Someday - they will not last, people!).

I LOVE Beci's captions below... it is so worth reading through each one for a little giggle. My fave bit is where she describes her cute shoes as 'a bit lady and a bit mental'. The perfect combo!

My Melbourne Wardrobe - Beci Orpin

1. Pompom beanie from PAM- last winter I was obsessing over beanies with big pompoms. Wasn't sure if I could rock it, but this year I'm committed! ...and PAM has (once again) delivered the perfect item in my current favourite shade of saffron yellow.

2. Muji blue polka dot top - my secret weapon in finding nice things to wear is my sister (Emily) who lives in Seoul, South Korea. Lucky for me she dosen't mind being sent on the odd shopping mission. Even when my descriptions are vague ("something not too fitted in polka dots") she always comes up trumps. This is a fresh arrival and it's already copped quite a few wears.... I think it's going to be a new fave.

3. polka dot scarf - how much do I love a polka dot? Possibly too much? I bought this from Sorrento opp-shop last summer. I'm prone to wearing it in a bow on my head when I feel like taking it back to my 80's youth style.

4. Gorman yellow polka dot tee - I bought this in summer. The colour was a shock to my mostly dark Melbourne style wardrobe, but it quickly became one of my weekly staples. Plus it has made me branch out to even more colour - lilac! Pale pink! Bright blue! Even I can't believe it. Oh Gorman, where would I be without you?

5. Blue dot stickers and paper cut pie chart - just to continue my love of polka dots! I got these stickers in Seoul (my stationary mecca!). The pie chart is something I made when I was doing my residency at Harvest.

6. Bear mobile - available at my online shop!

7. Emily Green necklace - I bought this one off Emily herself while I was at my Harvest residency last year. Her colour combo's are so good, and it pretty much adds an extra layer of awesome to anything you put it with.

8. PAM scarf - more PAM - yes it's my favourite label, and I am also lucky enough to be old friends with them too. This scarf embodies what I love about Shauna and Misha's work - only they can embroider a drunk panda and some alien heads on a dip dye scarf, add a pom-pom trim and make it look completely beautiful. Pure genius.

9. 'Compendium of Me' - my first book! It's published through ERM Books, you can buy it online through their site. 10. 'Lost Girl' and 'Bear Folk' journals - new stationery I have just designed. These have just come out and are published by Gingko Press, distributed here by Books at Manic.

11. Surprise ball - Raph bought this as a surprise for me (double surprise!) from Ganim's Store. The colours of the crepe wrapping are so pretty that I don't want to unwrap it! It sits on my desk so I'm sure one day I'll give in to temptation!

12. Flats from Zomp - Zomp is my guilty pleasure. Sometimes, if I'm not having a good day and am passing through the city, I might happen to go to Zomp and buy some shoes. Usually ballet flats of some description. These ones are suede and have furry leopard print bows. They feel a bit lady and a bit mental - perfect for combo for me.

13. Paper Ball - a friend in Japan sent this to me from the MT tape exhibition. It's the prefect match of pattern and colour - I love it.

14. Diagonal cushion - I make these occasionally for markets out of fabric I find from opp-shops, this is a favourite and I've not been able to bring myself to sell it!

15. wooden mushroom - I made this for my 'infinite shape of rainbows' exhibition at Lamington Drive in 2010. It's the only one that was not for sale because It's Ari. he lives on our bookcase now (the mushroom, not Ari).

16. 'Salsa Verde' tote bag - I designed this print as a tee for the Taco Truck staff to wear. When getting it printed we decided to whack it on some totes too. I love how it turned out - so simple but a black print on a natural canvas tote bag is one of my very favourite things. I use this all the time (goes with pretty much anything!).

17. Yellow purse - Some one once asked me if it this was APC, and it was a proud moment when I told them that actually I had bought it at a flea market for $4 a few years ago. It's the perfect going out size and also fits my 'strap must be able to fit across my chest' requirements (best for bike-riding).

18. PAM leggings - Another thing PAM do ridiculously well - leggings. These ones are from their new collection and it's the print I'm loving. So much. I'm looking forward to layering them up this winter.

Beci x

Thanks again to Jardan for loaning us their sweet stools and side tables for this series – pictured above, the small Olba side table in watermelon.