Across the Border: Woollahra: Retailers: Shapiro Fine Jewellery and Vintage Couture Auction

I've only ever been to one auction in my life and while it peaked for me at one point, it didn't end well. It was back in 2004 when I was living in Hardie Street, Darlinghurst. 

Actor Max Cullen and his wife, Margarita Georgiadis, were moving to Gunning in rural NSW and had decided to auction a stack of artworks they had both created but didn't want to take with them. The auction was at the Arthouse Hotel in the Sydney CBD and everyone was in good spirits. 

I was with my then boyfriend and we had recently returned from a romantic weekend by the Fish River, outside Bathurst in central west NSW, so when a small square canvas by Cullen, featuring a painting of a rock in the same river came up for auction, I just had to bid on it. 

Bidding was quite an adrenalin filled experience for me; I felt a bit out of control and although I only wanted to pay a couple of hundred bucks for the piece, I imagine that if the price had kept going up I would have kept bidding. Luckily the bidding didn't get too out of hand, because I won. 

And when I did, I think I screamed out loud. I definitely became excited because as soon as I won I ran over to Cullen in excitement and spoke to him animatedly for a couple of minutes before returning to my table and discovering that someone had stolen my handbag. 

Inside my handbag was my driver's licence, purse and house-keys. I immediately freaked out and imagined the thief was going to zip over to my apartment and rob the joint. I can't remember how I paid for the artwork. 

I then rushed home in a taxi (don't know who paid for that either), called a locksmith and sat by my door for about 30 minutes until my neighbour arrived home and invited me into his place to wait, where we then went through a couple of bottles of wine. 

When the locksmith finally arrived I was a little unsteady on my feet. I don't know who paid for the locksmith, but about five minutes after he left, my buzzer rang and when I opened the front security door there was a police officer standing there with my handbag. The money was gone but my house-keys were still inside. 

So I always figured me and auctions were not a good idea, even apart from the danger of out of control bidding. But when my friend, Alexandra Apache, emailed me a link to the Shapiro website, which featured photographs of their upcoming Fine Jewellery and Vintage Couture auction, I thought it was time to break the curse and on Sunday we scooted off to the auction house in nearby Woollahra for the 2.30pm clearance.

There were 293 lots being auctioned, which included Givenchy brooches (estimate: $100-$150), Yves Saint Laurent earrings ($80-$120), Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Gucci handbags (estimates ranged from $200-$1200), as well as dresses and other clothing by designers such as Christian Dior (one dress sold for $160) Giorgio Armani, Emilio Pucci, Hermes, Missoni and Gianni Versace.

There were also around 50 lots "from the stage wardrobe collection of INXS lead guitarist Tim Farris", which included some pretty wacky pieces, such as 1980s style pirate shirts and brightly coloured over-sized suits.

Auctioneer Andrew Shapiro charged through the lots in less than three hours, with only a handful of lots being passed in. 

If I had done my research and attended one of two viewings held before the auction, in which I could have tried on some of the clothes, I would have been more willing to part with my money, especially considering some of the items sold below their estimate or for fairly reasonable amounts. A circa 1920s beaded dress (above) with a black and silver floral design and scalloped hem was estimated to go under the hammer for between $1200 to $1800, but sold for $1300. 

The costume jewellery also went for fairly low sums, although bidding did get heady for the pink enamel Chanel necklace (above left) which was estimated to sell for $200-$300 but went under the hammer for $850. The Chanel choker (above centre) was made from faux pearls and had an estimate of $400-$600 and sold for $650.

I only placed one bid - unsuccessfully - for a pink Balenciaga handbag (estimate: $150-$250), which ended up selling for $140. But if I had gone to an earlier viewing I would have definitely tried on this amazing Louis Vuitton couture dress:

The hand stitching and embroidery was just incredible; I really appreciate that kind of craftsmanship in clothing and I would have loved to mooch around in this particular frock. The dress, described in the auction notes as a "cream silk Empire-line gown, hand-painted floral silk skirt with silk tulle overlay, hook and eye fastening to back with Empire-line tie'', originally sold for $14,000 when it was purchased new from the LV store in Hong Kong in 2005.

But at this auction it was estimated to sell for $1500-$2000. And it went for one tenth of its original price, selling to a phone bidder for $1400. It would have made a wonderful wedding dress for someone.

Other apparent bargains included Hermes Birkin bags, which are a bit of cult collector's item. There were three in the auction, in gold, white and "Blue Jean", which were estimated to sell for $8000-$12,000, and went under the hammer for $7000, $5000 and $6600 respectively.

But we didn't leave empty-handed; my friend Alexandra got into the spirit of things, bidding away her earnings on a Fendi black corduroy Baguette bag ($150) as well as a Yves Saint Laurent gold tone C-scroll bracelet ($180) and a Salvatore Ferragamo gold tone necklace with lock clasp ($100). 

With the buyer's premium of 20 per cent, the whole treasure trove (above) cost her just over $500. A tidy sum that she wasn't planning on telling her mother about.

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Shapiro 

162 Queen Street

Woollahra NSW 2025

02 9326 1588

www.shapiro.com.au

Darlinghurst Blog: Fashion: Josh Goot at Australian Fashion Week

By a mysterious - and usually absent - case of luck, I was invited to attend the Josh Goot show at this week's Australian Fashion Week. And in another serendipitous piece of fortune, the show was being held in Darlinghurst. Third time lucky: the event last night was taking place inside the vacated, art deco City Ford building, of which I have always been most curious about.

The grand, six storey building was custom-built for City Ford in the 1930s on a large block of land, with an entrance on Crown Street and backing all the way to Riley Street, along the Suttor Street lane. The building is presently for sale or lease but already 60 per cent has been pre-sold or pre-leased to Woolworths and the East Sydney Private Hospital.

The show was due to start at 8.30pm, but I knew it would start about one hour late and I wasn't wrong. When I arrived at 9pm, there was a throng of people waiting for general admission tickets to the show. 

Luckily I had an invitation, so I was ushered passed the crowd and into a waiting elevator to take me to level six.

When I arrived there were about 500 people gathered in an enormous and amazing space with high, vaulted ceilings.

I took my seat in the front row and admired the lighting, which made it appear as if we were in a dark and deserted warehouse in the middle of the day.

It was a really great seat, right next to the runway.

At about 9.30pm, when everyone was seated, the lights went out, the music started up, overhead fluorescent lights lit up in rows and the show began.

At the end of the show, the models did another lap of the large rectangular runway and if you look closely in the photograph below you can see former tourism ambassador Lara Bingle seated in the front row.

After the show I went backstage.

Designer Josh Goot hung about the runway to talk to the media about his Spring-Summer 2012 collection, which featured prints inspired by the work of artist Gerhard Richter.

By that time I was ready to go, but not before having a snoop around the curvaceous interior of the building. 

A car ramp winds around the inside of the building alongside these photogenic stairwells.

There's also loads of strange rooms with wooden furniture:

But the highlight of my snoop was discovering what was inside this glass booth:

Inside was perhaps Australia's only in situ control board of the PABX Sylvester 16-line switchboard system:

Wow! According to a little plaque I found nearby:

''It was installed in late 1937 and came into operation in January 1938 and at the time of installation was the most modern telephone communication system available. The PABX system was installed on the third level of this building where the recycle operation took place in a sealed room.
''The switchboard had the capacity to hold 200 extensions, which in 1938 was considered to be of enormous proportions. The only upgrading that took place during its period of operation from 1938 until 1985 was to have three tie-lines installed to Camperdown, Mascot and Ford Credit.
''It is believed to be the only switchboard of its type available to be seen in its original position and state in Australia.''

And then in another glass booth nearby I found another interesting device, known as the Lamson Pneumatic Station System, which was used for sending written messages from floor to floor:

There was also another little plaque that read:

''This is the main or central station on a Lamson, 20 station, turbine vaccum system that serviced the entire building from 1938 until 1966. It was purchased from Lamson Engineering in London in 1937 and commenced operation on the 24th of January, 1938, for which the original certificate of operation is displayed. The operation was by a turbine, which created a vacuum and the tubes were drawn by atmospheric pressure caused by the vacuum and was sent from one station to the central station and there relayed to the destination by the central station operator. This system proved over the years of operation to be highly efficient and trouble free.''

I love how the owner of the building has retained its history and I hope that whoever buys or leases the space keeps the PABX Sylvester 16-line switchboard and the Lamson Pneumatic Station System in place. But if you are more interested in frocks, visit Goot's website. The new collection will be in shops in August.

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www.joshgoot.com

Across the Border: Paddington: Retailers: Mrs Press

Marriage and cohabitation are not for me, but I have to admit I am an incurable romantic. I love roses, silk lingerie and perfume, moon-gazing, music on old record-players, drinking Champagne from old-fashioned glasses and reading poetry aloud. I love dressing-up and having parties and making my apartment as pretty as can be. And I really, really love the Mrs Press Dressing Room in neighbouring Paddington.

Sorry readers, this is a girly post, but I figured with Valentine's Day coming up (on Monday), Mrs Press would be an ideal place to purchase pretty pleasures for the lover-girl or girls in your life. And I do like to talk about fancy frocks. And silk. Oh, how I love silk.

Former Vogue writer Clare Press opened her first clothing store in a shopfront at 136 Darlinghurst Road, Darlinghurst, in late 2009. I was an early visitor to her store, drawn in at first by a striking, hand-printed dress in the window and then lost for a long time perusing the clothes and accessories within. It was like a gorgeous dress-up box with all the things I love. I spent quite a bit of money that first time and thought it was best to avoid the place for a while if I wanted to continue paying the rent. But then all of a sudden in June last year, Mrs Press was gone! Apparently the Darlinghurst building, Kurrajong, is suffering from concrete cancer, which is why it is now covered in scaffolding:

It's unlucky for the building, but luckily for us, Mrs Press moved up the road, to a shop in Paddington. 

And what a gorgeous job she has done decorating the new shop. There is a marvellous black cast iron spiral staircase at the back and other black highlights throughout the mostly creamy, luxurious room. I recently saw the film, Coco and Igor, about the romance between the French fashion designer and the Russian composer. There were many great sets of Chanel's country home, which was decorated in black and white, and the Mrs Press Dressing Room is quite similar. It looks so good, like a box of Chanel perfume and I now want to paint the trimmings in my apartment a glossy black. 

The shop is housed in an 1880s terrace on the northern side of Oxford Street, on the slope that leads up to Woollahra. The building must have originally been home to a confectioner as in December 1889, J.B. Taylor and Co held an auction on site to sell off the ''stock in trade of a confectioner''. In the 1920s the building was home to Webster and Foley Real Estate and then the next newspaper reference I can find for the building is a blunt job advertisement from January 1953: ''Delicatessen. Wanted: Experienced woman with references''. Before Mrs Press moved in, the site was home to Mimco fashion accessories.

Anyway, back to the clothes and potential Valentine's Day treasures. Mrs Press stocks a little range of soaps, hand creams, body washes and scented candles in beautiful art nouveau packaging. Most women I know would be very happy with any of these pleasant smelling delights. 

The only problem is deciding between the cream (marigold) and the pink (tea rose).

If you want to spend a little more money, Mrs Press's dresses are divine. There are some on sale at the moment for just $60, while others go up to $200 and $400. The dresses are mostly made from silk or a woven wool and are cut with history in mind. There are a few floor-grazing frocks at the moment, which have gorgeous 1940s inspired bodices, so your gal can look like a vintage movie star.  I also love the sexy silk kimono style jacket (only $80), which is great for a gift as it doesn't really need to be tried on to get the size right. Mrs Press will help you anyway. I would recommend buying the kimono top and a matching pair of dusty silk gold knickers (only $30) with sweet-bows on each side. (Model Jerry Hall is a big fan of knickers and keeps hers in colour-coded drawers. Hall has always been a proponent of big knickers and I have to agree: there is nothing more ugly that tight underwear. So take Hall's advice and buy up a size.) 

But please don't purchase your valentine this delicate, sequined bolero (below right), which is so glamorous and looks like fun to wear - because I am saving up to buy it! 

Mrs Press, or one of the lovely shop women will wrap your treasures in tissue paper, ready for presenting to your sweet lover. If you cook her dinner too, she'll love you even more. 

Happy Valentine's Day readers. And if you don't have a lover, don't worry, Valentine's Day is just for fools.

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Mrs Press Dressing Room

436 Oxford Street

Paddington NSW 2021

02 9331 7332

www.mrspress.com