Z O O U N I F O R M .

(Gifted Zoo Uniform Panda set, Camilla and Marc Ring)

I can't really remember the last time i did an outfit post or updated my blog about something besides work. It seems my store has consumed my life lately, even more so than usual, and i've had very little time to do anything at all. A large part of me is extremely envious of the small group of full time bloggers, spending their days taking photos, going to shows and traveling the world finding the perfect locations, but the better half of me knows i will always be a vintage seller before anything else, and that my blog is merely something i do for fun - not full time. Still, if i had the time to shoot outfit posts half as much as others do i would be a very happy girl, and so the envy kicks in again!

Anyway, In between taking photos of new stock for the store i decided to have a break and finally shoot some photos of this adorable panda set Zoo uniform sent me last November. I gave the owl set to Chloe who unfortunately i just as busy as i am so taking photos together was just impossible to plan! Although there seems to be an incredible pressure on bloggers to advertise a brand on their blog in return for any free items they receive, i still don’t feel comfortable doing so unless it is something i genuinely love or believe in. Zoo uniform helps and supports WWF with proceeds going towards charity to help endangered species and protect animal rights. This is a wonderful cause and something i would be happy to help promote, even if it means wearing very little in front of a camera.

This set is so adorable and the tee can easily transcend from night to day so easily. The panda underpants actually have a little panda tail on the bottom, which unfortunately i couldn't show you without looking over exposed but you can check out and become a fan on Facebook of this newly launched French label here :)

L U X M U N D I .

So one of the new features on my website is the new summer lookbook for Gary Pepper Vintage, which we we shot at Hunter Valley Gardens last month. I'm really pleased with the end results and i think Luke did a wonderful job of laying them all out so beautifully. Most of you wouldn't know this but one of his many talents is being art director of Leboogie, one of the top body boarding magazines in Australia, in which he designs and creates an entire magazine each month, so luckily this came quite naturally to him.

I called this look book "Lux Mundi" which means "light of the world" in Latin. Not only was it perfect for the overall feel i was going for but it was also a quote Luke had engraved on the inside of a ring he gave me three years ago for my birthday, which is something extremely special to me. I think it symbolizes how well we work together on a personal and creative level, and so it suited this perfectly :)

There is also a short 'behind the scenes' video Chad Waldron put together of our day in the valley. Perth based band San Sisco was kind enough to let us use their song called Golden Revolver. I can't really believe they've only just finished high school and are already lined up to play festivals like Big Day Out and Lane Way! Just goes to show age is really just a number. I'd really LOVE if you could all head over to this website here and vote for their music on Triple J Unearthed, a program built to help promote and discover up and coming music artists.

Well i hope you all like the new lookbook and had a wonderful weekend! Hopefully i'll have time to blog more this week!

G R A N D O P E N I N G !

// SHOP GARY PEPPER VINTAGE NOW //

Can you believe the webstore finally went live last Thursday and i've only had a chance to blog about it now? The past week has been one of the most intense and mind blowing weeks I've ever had and the next few are looking like they're going to be even crazier. I'd like to thank you all for such a warm and positive response to the new webstore - two thirds of the entire store had sold out in the first 24 hours, with only a handful of items still available now here. I honestly did not expect everything to fly out the door so quickly so i wasn't prepared for the amount of work that would be waiting for Chloe and i that day and the following morning.

I always find it strange how i love being run off my feet, it's like i thrive off working under pressure and very little sleep. The night before the web store went online i didn't sleep at all, partly because i was excited but also because there was just so much still to do! After being awake for 39 hours straight i was slightly delirious and couldn't even put together a few sentences for my blog, which it seems I've only just had a chance to do 6 days later. I've been looking forward to this moment for 6 months since we started the process of the re-branding for the store and building the website so i couldn't be happier being run off my feet again, and wanted to quickly walk you all through the new store.

I thought i should explain the new system the site is built around first. If you select "Add to Cart" this will place the desired item in your shopping cart - taking it offline for one hour - and if it's not successfully bought the item will be automatically be placed back in the store after 6o minutes. If you are simply window shopping please ensure you select "Add to Wishlist" instead, as i've had a few buyers upset that they missed out on their items because customers were placing so many items in their bag at one time and couldn't wait an hour for it to be re-listed.

Here is a preview of the new product pages which are divided into three separate 'mini stores' - shop vintage, shop accessories and shop new. I have so many ideas to expand each store, especially the 'shop new' section but right now i just wanted to get it online and test the waters.

The entire webstore was built from scratch by Tolstoy Design, who invested hours, days and months into making this dream of mine become a reality. Their clean, modern and minimal style with a sharp eye for detail was a perfect match for my store and i couldn't be happier with the end results. A very big thank you to Eli Rae from Tolstoy design for making this store as beautiful as it could possibly ever be. I know this next chapter with Gary Pepper Vintage is going to be exciting, exhausting and so much easier than Ebay thanks to you and the store you have built. It's not everyday you can find someone you can trust 100% with something so important to you, as well as someone who will put up with my indecisive ways and change something so many times, but it really is everything i wanted and more.

There are also new press, about me and lookbook pages, which Luke was kind enough to design and put together. Eli had the wonderful idea to make the press section different from any other website and what we ended up with was a mini slide show of images. Each press feature got their own individual slide - press features in print were laid out as a magazine with the cover and article with each online press feature laid out on a little Macbook Pro, which is suppose to create the illusion that you're actually viewing it either on your screen as if it was online or in real magazine. It's impossible to actually read anything on a press page because the images are just too small so we thought it would be a good idea to pull small quotes of what people have been nice enough to write about Gary Pepper Vintage so you could see what the article was about. These were then put into a little speech bubble and accompanied with a very cute little bird Chrissy Lau drew :)

Chrissy Lau also did some new and absolutely stunning illustrations for the store, which includes this double head butterfly girl who now graces our gary pepper gift cards. The Gary Pepper Gift Card is the perfect way to say "thank you" or "i love you" to that special someone this year and is the ultimate gift for the girl who has everything. Gift Cards are available in amounts of $50, $100, $150, $200, and are valid for 12 months. If you're running a little late with your present this year don't worry, simply select to have your gift card sent electronically and it will arrive in the lucky recipients inbox within 24 hours, in which they can begin shopping straight away! A hard copy gift card will also be sent - for free - and will arrive a few days after.

Chrissy also created the beautiful kaleidoscope floral wallpaper which is now the main focus of my new branding and is now printed on my new swing tags and business cards (photos coming shortly and designed by Pete Thomas from Tolstoy Design). I'm constantly inspired by the beautiful creations that Chrissy comes up with and i wouldn't have been able to do this without her and her work either.

One of the biggest thank yous I've ever meant to Eli Rae from Tolstoy Design, Pete Thomas from Tolstoy Design, Chrissy Lau, Luke Shadbolt, Chad Waldron from Waldron Bros Productions and of course, Chloe, who doesn't even know it but picked me up and took charge of the store when my body was running completely on empty. My store wouldn't be what it is without each and every one of you and time you have invested into Gary Pepper Vintage.

There are so many things i would like to explain in this post but instead of boring you with my explanations please just go and have a look for yourself, and remember to sign up for my newsletters at the bottom right hand corner as my subscribers will be the first to know about new stock, new competitions and any news about the store! New stock will be in store early next week, along with a few very exciting surprises too.

But for now, i need sleep and a home cooked meal. Enjoy and go explore the new site here! :)

// SHOP GARY PEPPER VINTAGE NOW //

Q L D F L O O D S .

(Images via Flickr)

It seems for the past two weeks i literally haven't had a chance to stop and think about anything in the lead up to the new webstore launching (which has been online since last Thursday), except for one thing - the QLD floods. I can't seem to watch the news anymore without being deeply upset by not only the damage these floods have done to Queensland but also to the families who have either lost everything they own, their home, or a loved one. It's something i think a lot of us could not even imagine and something that a lot of people wouldn't try to.

I would like to dedicate this post to the QLD flood relief appeal to try to help in any way possible to raise awareness of this devastating crisis happening just one state away from my own home. I am pleased to tell you all i will be donating 25% of all sales from my next collection to the QLD Flood relief appeal and have also donated the amazing yellow vintage dress (seen in the 'extraordinary' post) to PedestrianTV.com who will be auctioning it off to help raise money for this cause, along with many other amazing 'money can't buy' items from Marie Claire magazine, Mycatwalk.com and Ellery, just to name a few. PedestrianTV have just launched their online auctions today and will be listing items daily for the next fortnight, which you can place your bids here.

I am so happy i can help support such a wonderful cause and can only hope you will too. I think we can afford to go without that extra hair cut, pair of shoes, or night out on the town for the people who really need to be shown right now that with our love and support everything is going to be OK. If you would like to donate money to the QLD flood relief appeal you can donate here. Please give generously if you can, every dollar counts in times like these.

U P D A T E :

Just a quick little note to let you all know that i've locked in a launch date for the new webstore - this Thursday morning at 10am AEST! I'm so excited to finally have all of this go online! There will also be a new summer lookbook, a 'behind the scenes' video, gorgeous new branding with even more cute little illustrations by Chrissy Lau, not to mention over 450+ amazing new vintage clothing and accessories all available for buy it now prices and all waiting to find loving new homes! I also have these amazing amethyst stone rings which come in four different sizes - large raw cuts, large and small circle cuts and large raw cut double knuckle rings (pictured below). All handmade by the very talented US jewelry designer, Moorea Seal, a newly found addition to the GPV family and someone i couldn't be happier collaborating with, but you'll hear more on that later...

I hope you're all as excited as i am and i'll see you all bright and early on Thursday morning! Here's the winning shot from my previous post we used for the of the new lookbook, which will be released the very same time as the store in just over 34hours! :)

N E W V I N T A G E .

Here is a little preview of the 160+ new vintage dresses hitting the new webstore this week. It was incredibly hard to try and pick just a few so i'm sorry for the large amount of photos in this post! There really is just so many i love and i can't wait to see them all lined up beautifully in the new store, where you're only two clicks away from instantly making it yours as they're all available for buy it now prices. Prices for dresses on average will range between $55-$65, with more detailed and coveted pieces like full circle 50's inspired dresses and sequin embellished dresses ranging between $75-$119. I've also started sourcing from private sellers and suppliers who i have been lucky enough to cross paths with only a few months ago. It's the main and only reason i felt confident enough to open my own webstore, where i knew stock would have to be replenished on a weekly, if not daily basis, which is always something i felt i could never keep up with on my own. Even though their prices are more expensive the quality and designs that are available are just too good to miss, and as a 'vintaholic' (may not be a real word, meaning: one who is addicted to vintage) price doesn't ever cross my mind when i see something i absolutely love. It doesn't matter, if i like it, i know i just have to it. Luckily i've built a very strong relationship with one of my suppliers over the past few months who now lets me hand pick through their private archives, archives they keep only for a select few buyers. This is where the amazing vintage lace and crochet dresses, full length maxi's, collared full circle dresses and heavily sequined pieces come from - including the yellow strapless dress in my 'extraordinary' post. They're the pieces you can't find in some local opshop and they're the pieces you'll keep forever, so be sure to keep an eye out for them in the new store! They really are impossibly hard to let go of sometimes but i know how much someone will love them even more than i do.

I'll be uploading more photos of the new stock tomorrow. Tops, shorts, skirts, jumpsuits, jacket and coats, cardigans and jumpers - they're all yet to be seen to i just hope you all like them as much as i do! I've already uploaded the tops and bottoms to our Facebook page, which you can view here.

The new store is oh so close. It's all starting to feel very, very real...