I am always on the hunt for inspiration. I am addicted to it and I find it in the strangest places.  Last week someone brought in a pair of vintage silk holdups in their beautiful original box. Never-been-worn. I felt my  heart skip a beat. Birdy’s version of Skinny Love. Halstons legendary mirrored studio in UltraSuede. Moschino’s Matadoresque Spring 2012 Collection. Tim Burton’s Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy.

I recently stumbled on the documentary of Bill Cunningham. I havent felt this inspired since I bought my first vintage Officer’s Dinner Jacket at the age of 13 with money made from peddling pyjamas at the Rosebank Rooftop Market. This is the man who has been photographing the stylish men and women of New York and Paris since 1960. Makes Scott Schuman look like a blundering amateur.  Anna Wintour dresses everyday in the hope of being photographed by him. At Paris Fashion Week he was called one of the most important men on the planet. Pushing 90 and rocking his legendary cobalt blue labourers coat Bill still uses a manual camera, he lives in a tiny rent controlled apartment in the recesses of Carnegie Hall and he rolls around the streets of New York on his 29^th Schwinn bicycle (28 have been stolen) .  Bill Cunningham is a man of principle. To him paparazzi are vulgar and only care about photographing famous people who get their clothes for free anwyay. He prefers to remain invisible and photograph stylish people instead. Some of them may be famous.

Bill is the legend who mainstreamed street fashion and doesn’t even own a cellphone.  Follow his daily reports On the Street

But we will be open on Saturday!

Happy Easter!

We will however, be closed on Friday, 6th of April and Monday, 9th of April.

Otherwise it’s business as usual!

Meet Vinny. Vinny meet everyone.

Vinny is a +-4 month old kitty my brother adopted. We bonded in my jetlagged state over Grey’s Anatomy at 3am. His likes include hiding under the dish rack while the dishes dry and watching the squirrels play in the garden.

He also likes to stretch his claws and show you how high he can jump, killing two birds with one stone by jumping on your back and digging his claws into your fresh whilst you are sitting down eating din-dins.

Vinnie loves to play games. His favourite game is with his 25 pound and somewhat grumpy uncle (Mark Brandon Chopper Read) , it’s called ‘smack in the box’. The premise is simple, explains Chopper:

“Get in the box Vinnie, then I will smack you. After a few smacks, I will get in the box then you can smack me. “

Enter the box, enter the smack. Enter smack in the box. Other games include ‘Follow that brat’ (when kids are around), ‘Follow that cat’ (when aunty Costco is around), ‘Feather in your face’ (when nobody is around) and surprise: I ate your chicken sandwich when you were putting the mayonnaise back in the fridge (when Wes is around)

We are looking to hire a part-time/full-time sales assistant for our Long street shop.  If you know of anyone who might be perfect for the job, or you are interested, please email us – Bianca@afraidofmice.com.

Thanks!

*Photographer Lari Meyer

Our first shipment will also hit home this week so be sure to pop into the shop in the next few days and see all my wonderful finds. There are some mad crazy treasures. One such treasure is already sitting happily in our bag cupboard – a Vintage Louis Vuitton.