ShowTellShare One Hundred and Ninety-Three

Posted on May 13, 2013 by JGRuddock

Show/Tell/Share: We planned, we participated, we produced… Yes, we held a pilot to show “The Social Outfit celebrates the skills and styles of our diverse cultures in Australia” …

On Friday evening last week we closed the pop-up store, but not before some of our wonderful volunteers, (left to right) Antonia, Kit and Traci, drew out our lucky door prize winner. Oooo, something exciting is coming in the mail for them!

And on Saturday it was time for us to say goodbye to our The Rocks Pop-up space, and pack up our shop selling so many *great* goodies from The Social Studio. Well worth remembering too that this pilot was made possible in the first place thanks to the support of the City of Sydney Council, Community Grants program.

Packing up the pilot, which really was a display of the *hope* we have to set up full-time in Sydney, wasn’t nearly as fun as setting up… especially peeling off decal letters individually!

But it’s just ‘bye-bye’ to the pilot, because me and the whole The Social Outfit team plan on working just as hard to take our next steps forward in our development. In fact, we’re holding more fashion-based arts workshops at the Asylum Seekers Centre in Newtown this week.

And that’s because, as always, we remain committed to making The Social Outfit an ongoing reality here in NSW. As ever, I just want to keep “doing good in a fashion” and celebrating the skills and talents of people from refugee backgrounds living in greater Sydney… xo

Poster image copyright belongs to The Social Studio.

ShowTellShare One Hundred and Ninety-One

Posted on May 1, 2013 by JGRuddock

Show: A collection of images and anecdotes from The Social Outfit Pilot…

Susan is doing some paid work experience with us at the pop-up shop at The Rocks as a part of our City of Sydney Community Grants… It’s *lovely* to have you involved, Susan. We hope you’re enjoying yourself and learning some new skills too!

Oboya also came down to The Rocks today to pay us a visit and hear more about our development. It’s wonderful to have our volunteer models from our November runway event keen to stay involved and very supportive of The Social Outfit‘s plans in Sydney… You *rock*, Oboya!

This is Shannon from ING Direct. Some recent, VERY *exciting* news is that ING Direct have provided us with a grant to support our ongoing work and full business plan. Thanks ever so much! We’re very pleased to have some incredibly supportive philanthropic funding as we begin our set up here in Sydney. Shannon and I had a wonderful time together; she’s so nice and interested in our work!

Here’s the talented artist, Nicole Barakat, who taught our second workshop series on eco-dyeing. And doesn’t she look so *splendid* in her The Social Studio necklace she purchased from our store?! Nicole is also going to teach another creative workshop series for us in mid-May, as part of a collaborative partnership with the Asylum Seeker’s Centre in Newtown. Hooray for the celebration of ethical art skills!

Here’s a participant at work with the eco-dyeing last week…

And some of the amazing, detailed, and highly-skilled work from a young man who took part in all the workshop days. He really enjoyed himself and we loved having interested people involved!

This is me decked out in The Social Studio from last Wednesday when I started getting sick…

And here I am, today (and a week later), finally on the improve. You can tell I’m getting better because I’m wearing *double-denim* AND The Social Studio… <3

What can I say? I simply *love* being around the gorgeous The Social Studio stock, and working hard with people to make The Social Outfit a reality in Sydney. Together, I reckon we can do this really well!

So if you haven’t had to a chance to pop by, but are interested in seeing what’s happening, then *please* come down to The Social Outfit‘s Pop-Up shop this Friday 3 May from 6pm, to say hello, have a glass of sparkling water or wine, and see our little shop, stocked with ethically-accredited clothing from our sisters based in Melbourne, The Social Studio (including some new stock, too!).

Shop 2.03, 140 George Street, The Rocks (the old MCA entrance)… Hope we see you there! xo

ShowTellShare One Hundred and Eighty-Eight

Posted on April 19, 2013 by JGRuddock

Almost a week of radio silence from me to you, dear readers, but that’s just because we’ve been *working so hard* to get here: The Social Outfit Pilot Project!

We’re down at The Rocks, and we’re ready to say hello to you and your friends…

From this week until Saturday 11 May, we’ll be at Shop 2.03, 140 George Street, The Rocks (Tuesdays to Sundays, 10am-5pm). Of course, we’re not doing it all alone: we’re proudly supported by our sister organisation, The Social Studio; we’ve had *fantastic* funding from the City of Sydney Community Grants Program; and our spot is thanks to the The Rocks Pop-Up initiative.

Let’s take a little tour of our space, shall we? …

We’re also running creative workshops with people from refugee backgrounds. This week is hat-making with Catherine Kelly of Embellish Atelier, and thanks to donations from Hatters Millinery Supplies. From scratch, people have been making these millenary pieces: look at the results in just a few dedicated hours!

With things being so busy, if you want to check out what’s happening on a more regular basis, good spots for information are:

@JGRuddock (me!) on Twitter
@TheSocialOutfit (us!) on Twitter
ShowTellShare on Facebook
The Social Outfit on Facebook

In the meantime, hoping to see you at the shop (if you’re in Sydney); hoping you enjoy what we’re trying to do (if you’re further afield), and thanks as always, for showing your support as The Social Outfit (NEW WEBSITE!) progresses each day. xo xo

And here’s me – looking exhausted, really – but living life to my fullest…

I’m too tired to tell you about the outfits in any great detail… but rest assured, naturally I’m wearing The Social Studio (leggings in picture one, *super* cape in picture two…) xo

ShowTellShare One Hundred and Seventy-One

Posted on February 22, 2013 by JGRuddock

Share: The Social Outfit just got ourselves an ‘Authority to Fundraise’. Hooray! And why might you be interested? Because within the coming weeks the final 20 or so donated pieces of Ken Done from What Ken Be Done will be up for auction! And all for the benefit of The Social Outfit… Let me explain a little more first…

So, you’re a charity (i.e. got your DGR status and tax concession). That means now you can *fundraise like a fiend*, yeah? Well, NO!

One more form, people! In NSW, if you want to fundraise (i.e. ethically ask people for money via campaigns and request for donations… *NOT* hassling, mind you), you need an ‘Authority to Fundraise‘. You fill in forms from the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing, and show how you are legitimately doing charitable work. Then a little bit later, they let you know it’s OK, and you can begin fundraising. The Social Outfit got our confirmation this week. Yee-haw!

So if you, or anyone you know, wants some (more) *GOLD* pieces from my Ken Done fashion archive, you’ll soon have your chance. All the money raised (other than the auction fee) will go straight to The Social Outfit! And we’re going to use the money for our pilot program (supported by the City of Sydney). As soon as Kit gets the auctions live, we’ll let you know. You get Ken Done, and WE all get to support creative, great programs celebrating people from our refugee communities in Sydney. I like it!

So, in short: things here are MIGHTY busy, I can tell you…

Also, Kit got her hair cut. It’s *fun*, it’s got *verve*, and we have the photos to show, of course… xo

Show:

Tell: Wa-Nyika earrings, Ken Done scarf handmade by Susan, The Social Studio silk dress, Ken Done leggings, retail socks, Fluevog shoes.

ShowTellShare One Hundred and Sixty-Eight

Posted on February 14, 2013 by JGRuddock

Share: Ah, the city of Sydney!

Yesterday Kit and I met with the cultural development team at the City of Sydney council offices, to talk about The Social Outfit‘s pop-up shop and creative workshops we’re organising in the coming months. Exciting! We’re going to have our work cut out for us as we strive to run the project really well, as well as continue the larger The Social Outfit development plan into Sydney. And when there’s hard work, I’m always up for finding time for a bit of *fun* too: like posing in front of these Sydney architectural miniature models. We’re like giants! Giants who want to bring *good fashion for good* to Sydney!

Here’s what we were wearing yesterday. As you know, I always like to wear The Social Studio as I do this work… it’s keeps me purposeful and *hopeful* about how we could also work creatively with Sydney’s own refugee communities too.

Show:

Tell: Lafont glasses, earrings from op shop, handmade necklace, handmade brooches, 1980s Keith Mattheson men’s shirt from Rozelle markets, The Social Studio t-shirt, Anthea Crawford skirt from op shop, retail tights and socks, Fluevog boots.

ShowTellShare One Hundred and Twenty-Three

Posted on October 9, 2012 by JGRuddock

Show/Share:

HOORAY!

Here’s when I met Lord Mayor Clover Moore, from the glory What Ken Be Done days!

And today, well, we keep working hard… with some colour celebration and The Social Studio fashion, of course! xo

Tell: Glasses from op shop, earrings from Shag Melbourne, Dangerfield skivvy dress, ‘Promenade’ shirt dress from op shop, skirt from op shop, The Social Studio leggings, Fluevog boots.

ShowTellShare Twenty-Five

Posted on April 13, 2012 by JGRuddock

Show:

Tell: Glasses from Japan, earrings from op shop, Tatty Devine giant zipper necklace, The Social Studio silk dress, (underneath) red dress from op shop, stockings from op shop, Fluevogs.

Share: This is probably the only time in my life when I’ve been “on trend” by wearing a piece of fashion that is from a contemporary collection; in this case, with The Social Studio’s latest designs. Still, I think the way I’ve paired it with pieces in my own wardrobe has *swiftly* taken the outfit back to more of my own ‘style’… however that might be described! (Like “bleeding eyes”, for example.)

And here below is me with Sydney’s Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, on the last few days of What Ken Be Done? She heard me when I was the guest speaker at Aurora Fundraising Dinner. Who would have thought ten months later I’d be meeting with City of Sydney Council to talk about bringing The Social Studio to Sydney? I’m hoping I can seek some support from them for a small project, including a pop-up store, to keep The Social Studio Sydney ball rolling. One thing’s for sure: in an outfit like today, it’s hard to doubt my fiery passion!

Jackie Ruddock

showtellshare.com

Tag Archives: City of Sydney