I do have a thing for slightly unusual settings. Mind you, with a theatrical background like mine ‘unusual’ translates to ‘sort of normal’ in my books. In an organic, ‘makes sense’ kind of way if you get my drift. We have a rather gruesome shopping center in the place where I live – THAT is a weird place, completely out of sync and populated with an enormous amount of visually challenging mass-produced objects as well as the humans to match. DEEPLY disturbing for someone like me who likes words such as ‘old-school industrial’, ‘hand-made’, ‘original’, ‘limited edition’ and ‘skilled’…one can dream.
And then there is such a place like the Old Qantas Hangar in Darwin – full of vintage cars and vintage bikes worked on by vintage men…(with the odd young one thrown in as the token spring chicken). Vintage men with a passion for restoration, rather fond of their morning teas and also open to suggestions like letting a bunch of girls have their fun with those delectable cars (photo shoot in February!) and even using the hangar for the Ideal Husband Shoe launch…3 August 2013!
Very happy to have had the chance to add a proper PLANE HANGAR to my list of ‘places where I have had shows’…such as…
A nicely red and white striped CIRCUS TENT ( way back in good old mostly freezing Germany) with an undoubtedly un-German voodoo slant to it…I remember fondly sitting next to an ENORMOUS great Dane (alive and just a tad growling) which belonged to the lovely taxidermist who allowed me the usage of her studio for preparing 293 (YES! I shall NEVER EVER forget that number! And nor would you…in those circumstances…)…for preparing 293 chicken feet with formaldehyde to be worn as rather fetching necklaces…ahhh…beautiful. I still have a remarkably regal looking neck piece consisting of 5 galvanized feet with a matching hair clip…the mind boggles, and the Vegetarian in me simply faints RIGHT NOW. NOT ACCEPTABLE. AT ALL.
A not-at-all-striped AIRPORT terminal – we had to bring our own Egyptian flair to erase the German efficiency vibes and turn it into something ELSE…and something else it became!
A completely non-striped old former ABATTOIR turned performance space which became a charming albeit violent scenario based on Eastern bloc sensitivities and Italian interpretations of family honour…including the piano player who met his fate by gun shots…ah, those were the days…something to tell the non-existing grandchildren about!
So yes, that hangar made a beautiful addition…and those Ideal Husbands have now been OFFICIALLY introduced to the world…Saturday the 3rd of August marked the end of a rather long and challenging ‘creative adventure’ – a VERY important milestone for me indeed.
So now it’s on! I have an on-line store…
I have an online store.
Geez.
I
HAVE
AN
ONLINE STORE….how did that happen??!!
Have a stroll while you are here – as the store is now part of the blog/ home/ Ideal Husband site…and in case you are mildly intrigued and maybe even keen to get yourself a decent Husband…contact me at shoes@idealhusband.com.au in case you have any questions…we’ve had a really friendly, supportive and rather substantial crowd at the launch, and with the chance to touch and sniff and try those Husbands, we had a bit of fun indeed…thanks everyone who ordered at the night – free shipping is my THANK YOU for that wave of support and trust…thank you thank you thank you!
Heading over to Asia next week – Ramadan is over, and there is a chance that a lot of people will return to work – including my cherished shoemakers! Initial contacts have been made, and the overall mood can only be described as ‘promising’ – which is rather fabulous in the world of South Asian Madness. So here is to shoes, to Husbands, keeping tradition alive, living ones dreams (crazy as they very well might be) and to the overall stability of mental and physical health! CHEERS!
The cat has taken up residence behind my chair, the ideal boyfriend will arrive very soon at the airport (no doubt covered in a layer of dust after some days out there at Garma) and I shall have a nice cup of tea RIGHT NOW…but not before leaving you with a link to another shoemaker…
check out www.marloestenbhomer.com for something rather astounding in the Land Of Shoes…
And ‘good night’ with the help of one of my personal favorites…ZORILLA…
