An afternoon in May can change everything

Last Saturday (May 4) afternoon we held our 4th Under a Tree Clothing Exchange.

We transformed New Farm State School hall into a place of tea, conversation, live music and clothes swapping. Women came together unbeknownst to each other that they all share one very important focus, "making a difference". Together, A Pot of Tea Under a Tree with all the volunteers, attendee's and sponsors of this event made a difference in the lives of 6 more little Cambodian girls sold into sex slavery. Another 6 girls learning to laugh and play again.

Seamless.

Seamless is an independently organised event aiming to showcase emerging and sustainable fashion designers and their wares.

 The first of many evenings was last Friday night, the second of March. 

I was honoured to be one of six designers who presented their work and talked about sustainable creations. The event showcased designs from customized eyewear and luxurious underwear ranges to innovative female fashion styles. This evening provided a chance to meet with others, learn, question and feel the impact of new sustanable methods. 

Sponsored by The Rabit Hole/Ideation Cafe the collaborative working space/ coffee shop was vibrant with live music, yummy cupcakes and organic wine.

It was so nice to be with like minded people and celebrate the beauty of sustainablity. 

Seamless @ The Rabit Hole, West End, Brisbane

A Pot of Tea Under a Tree

Holloway

Nico Under Wear

With a new body comes a new wardrobe!

I'm so proud of my gorgeous sister, Marianne.

In the last 8 months Marianne has gone from a size 14/16 to 10/12.

It has been a dedicated but worth while road for her.

Last week she hit her goal weight (she lost 23kg or 50lbs) woohoo!

Marianne has a new body for the new year. With this new body comes a new wardrobe.

Before and After

With the guidence of Wardrobe 101 we began the journey of creating the perfect core wardrobe!

Essentials checklist:

Tailored jacket

Short jacket

Fitted jacket

Trench coat

Tailored pants

Wide leg pants

Jeans

The perfect skirt

Full skirt

Collared shirt

Statement top

knit sweater or cardigan

tee-shirt

Little Black Dress

Special Occasion Dress

Little Black Dress - Perfect date night outfit.

The perfect skirt - Beautiful for the office

Gorgeous Summer Print - Vintage jacket from Metro Retro

Perfect Red Dress - Perfect for drinking tea ;)

Cute Maxi Dress with sweet accessories 

A box full of gorgeous dresses (size 14 & 16) for Under a Tree Clothing Exchange

do your self a favour and check it out
Wardrobe 101

What is Sustainable Fashion?

I'm really excited about tonight. I've been asked to be the guest speaker for Undress 101: Sustainable Fashion Network Night. It's such an honour to be asked to speak about something I'm so passionate about.
I'm excited that fashion is moving in this direction as we all become more knowledgable about what sustainable fashion actually is.
 Sustainable Fashion is: 

“ fashion that is designed to be environmentally and ethically friendly.” 

The United Nations defines sustainable as meeting the needs of the present generation with out compromising or sacrificing the ability of the future generations.

There are a lot of terms and words to describe sustainable fashion: green, eco, eco-luxe, organic, sustainable, slow, ethical and the list goes on. 

So what makes clothing environmentally and ethically sound?

I like to simply refer to the 3R’s

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

Reduce by consciously choosing to wear products that are made using 
environmentally friendly production practices and by selecting materials which 
do not negatively impact the planet at any stage of the process.

Tip: Look for clothing made out of Certified Organic Cotton, 
Hemp, Yak Wool, PET fibers and more. 

A Pot of Tea Under a Tree uses only the best of the stated fabrics.

Reuse by choosing to wear clothing items that are not bought NEW. 

Tip: Attending a clothes swap is a wonderful way to reuse clothing. 

We hold a six monthly clothes swap called Under a Tree Clothing Exchange. 

Recycle by making garments from previously existing objects. 

The Recycled Soda items in our collection are made out of PET woven with Hemp. 

PET is basically plastic bottles recycled down to a beautiful light -weight fiber.

Tip: make a tote bag from an old pair of jeans. 

I loved to know any other tips you might have for reusing and recycling clothing?

x Louise

$20 = A fun afternoon of playing dress up.

A Pot of Tea Under a Tree has a new home! 

You can now find us in our secret hiding spot in Visible Ink in Fortitude Valley.

We love this place, it's warm and tucked away on one of the coolest little one way streets in Brisbane, Constance Street. 

Last Thursday we found ourselves all here, hungry for cupcakes and tea and eager to make some fun.

A Pot Under a Tree is all about playing! 

So with $20 in hand we went for a quick stroll down to Brunswick Street to our local Vinnies. 

We found a treasure in a pretty 1980's size 14 spring dress.

Initally we planned to cut it up and make it into something completely different. However, we just loved the pleating way too much. 

The challenge became clear, let's see if this one dress would work on all different body shapes and personalities.

1980's Dress $10 including green sash

leather belt $3 @ Brunswick Street Vinnies

Pretty with feathers, brooch $5 @ the same vinnies

we love this sleeve detail

a fun way to wrap a sash

Under a Tree Clothing Exchange in July

On the 9th of July we held our second Under a Tree Clothing Exchange.

The afternoon was a great success.

Beautiful china rose tea was sipped, lovely conversation was had, ladies swapped beautiful clothing and in the process we raised enough money that is the equivialnt of freeing another 4 little Cambodian girls from prositution.

What a way to spend an afternoon!

A big thank you to Mary-Rose florist for the beautiful flowers that filled our teapots.

A big thank you to Eliza-Jane for serenading us with your so very sweet voice.

The tea was that good! Thanks to Queenies Traditional Tea House for the amazing China Rose tea that smelt like turkish delight.

The rack were full of beautiful clothing. You could literally refresh your wardrobe, from shoes to hats, cute tops to a pretty summer dress. There was something for everybody!

Get a Dress, Save a Life!

This Saturday July 9th is our 2nd Under a Tree Clothing Exchange. 

We've had such a lovely response from people who can't wait to come along and be apart of this afternoon full of tea drinking, clothes swapping and life changing. 

We are passionate about the sweet girls in Cambodia whom are waiting for our help. 

Myself and fellow volunteers pulled together our dresses and did a mini photo shoot of the clothes you can expect to see on Saturday. 

Elizabeth and I met Michelle at her apartment with mannequin and banner in hand and the fun began.

We can't wait to see you on Saturday.

Purchase your tickets at www.underatree.com.au