The New Face of Miskonduct Klothing

I’m sure many of you have already heard the big news. Emma has hung up her petticoats and retired from the “rag trade” and Miskonduct Klothing has a new #girlboss

Introducing me – Alice – the new owner of Miskonduct Klothing. I’m so excited to be taking the reins here at Miskonduct HQ and I can’t wait to share this journey with all you wonderfully loyal Miskonduct supporters. But first, I wanted to share with you a little bit about me and why Miskonduct Klothing is a dream come true!

I’ve always had “a thing” for beautiful, yet unique clothing; I can’t ever remember a time when I wanted to fit in. Ask my Mum, and she’ll tell you plenty of tales of self-styled Alice from the age of 2! (Apparently I had a thing for miss-matched socks. Dad was not a fan!) My journey into vintage inspired fashion happened a little bit by accident, and certainly many years after my miss-matched socks stage. Really, I have my love of jewellery design and making to thank for my discovery of mid-century fashion.

It’s been a rare time in my life when I haven’t had a creative outlet of some sort, be that making clothes for my new baby (back when he was new – he’s 17 now!), various painting projects, learning how to découpage, knit, play the guitar, you name it I’ve probably decided at one stage or another to teach myself how! When I finally decided I was going to learn to make jewellery I had no idea just how much I would fall in love with it!

Over the years I’ve developed my own jewellery style, improving my skills all the time. I seemed to gravitate towards what I now know to be the rockabilly culture so cherries, dice, skulls, anything a little bit off-beat and a whole lot cool caught my attention. People started asking me to make things for them, and then they wanted to pay me for my work – what?! My little hobby slowly evolved into a business! While this was happening I was also immersing myself into the rockabilly and vintage scene, quickly falling in love with the fashion, the music, and the amazing people that make up this vibrant community. Big dresses, big hair, big bling – what’s not to love, right?!

I created my brand, Bobby Trouble, a handmade jewellery and accessories label that I’ve devoted the last 5 years of my life to. Some of you might even know me from events such as Kurri Kurri Nostalgia Festival, Greazefest or Chromefest. I’ve met some wonderful people through Bobby Trouble, both clients and colleagues. Many of whom I am grateful to call my friends.

(photo credit: Edwina Richards - Renew Newcastle)

About a year ago I embarked on a venture with one such friend, Lesley of Lesley’s Little Shop. We created a collaborative brand called The Pinup Parlour and setup shop in Hunter Street Mall. After about a year of trading out of a friend’s shop we had the opportunity to move into The Emporium and create our very own shop space! Newcastle people will be familiar with what The Emporium is, but for those who aren’t The Emporium is a retail space through Renew Newcastle. A project that works with landlords of empty commercial space and local Creatives to activate empty space in the short-term allowing creative people a work and/or retail space and giving landlords surety that their investment is being looked after while they find the next commercial tenant. It’s a win-win situation in many ways and one we were excited to jump on board with!

(photo credit: Edwina Richards - Renew Newcastle)

The Emporium was a beautiful space for our shop. Located in the historical David Jones building at the entrance to Hunter Street Mall, we had great exposure and were in a great position to share our unique, limited edition creations with the locals. Alas, the building sold and the new landlords were not as understanding of the Renew Newcastle model as our former landlords had been. Within 3 months of moving The Pinup Parlour to The Emporium the whole retail operation was shut down. Needless to say, we were devastated but tried to focus on the positive and find a new location. The old adage “when one door closes, another one opens” was uttered several times! Never in a million years could I have guessed how very true this saying would become!

One night, while trawling the web for a new retail shopfront I allowed myself a short break to check my Facebook (you know, when you’re completely over what you’re doing and pretend you’ll just “quickly check” Facebook, to find yourself an hour later still flicking through your feed? Yeah, that!) Lo and behold, a post from Miskonduct Klothing – the icon of Newcastle vintage fashion – pops up in my feed. Emma is selling her business!! Whaaaaaaat?!!! Why? How? Hang on a minute. I’m looking for a shopfront for my vintage fashion business. This is perfect!!

I quickly contacted Emma and she told me she’d call the next day. Being a woman of her word, she did and we hit it off almost instantly. Emma needed to sell, but wanted her business baby to go to someone who would love it and nurture it as much as she had. I needed a home for my mini-business, and wanted to achieve similar outcomes to that which Emma had hoped for Miskonduct. Could the two possibly go hand in hand? Heck yeah they could!

Boring business bits happened, like things solicitors and accountants do for loads of money so you don’t have to do the boring business bits (money well spent, in my humble opinion!) and here we are, saying farewell to Emma and hello me!

Miskonduct Klothing is a fabulous brand that embraces vintage fashion for all shapes and sizes. Emma has curated a stunning collection of clothing suitable for special events to be worn by special women. I love what Emma has created and can guarantee that the service and selection you have come to expect from Miskonduct Klothing will stay.  

We’re going to take everything you love about Miskonduct and turn it into an empire of awesome. Based on the foundations of vintage inspired fashion for every body that Emma has devoted seven years of her life to creating, Miskonduct Klothing is ready to jump to the next phase with more variety of styles available in store, a host of styling classes from winged eyeliner for beginners to advanced vintage hair styling, an improved online shopping experience and loads more face-to-face time at events around Australia – and that’s just in our first year!

With my handmade background and passion for unique and slightly quirky styling I plan on incorporating a whole new concept into the Miskonduct Klothing brand allowing you to shop for both special occasion and everyday wear, classic vintage styling and quirky post-modern pinup style. Whether it be a look Audrey Hepburn would love, or something Cherry Dollface would be right at home in you’ll find something to suit whatever mood you’re in (because let’s face it, when it comes to expressing your unique self through fashion it’s all about what you feel like wearing, isn’t it?)

                   Vintage-Inspired Style                                   Post Modern Pinup

I hope sharing a bit of my story has given you some insight into what makes me tick. I look forward to getting to know you all either in store in our beautiful boutique on Newcastle’s historic Hunter Street, or as part of our vast online community – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and through our website blog. If you haven’t already, sign up to our email list or join us by clicking on the social media links. I’d love to hear from you, so please drop me a line any time, or just say hi & tell me what you love about Miskonduct in the comments below. Stay tuned for the next blog post in which I’m going to share with you my style icons and how they’ve influenced not only my fashion choices, but my lifestyle choices too.

‘til next time!

Alice X