Sass & Bide

Yesterday I went to the Sass & Bide Christmas event with my friends Angela, Mimi and Ray. We were all squished into the Canberra Centre store (which is beautiful but not particularly large) and I have to say, I haven’t seen so many well-dressed Canberrans in the same place since itrip iskip’s ‘Grass Stains’ birthday celebration last year. Of course, it was a totally different style to the indie crowd that frequents itrip, but there was still the same rock n roll, artfully dishevelled nonchalance that indie kids cultivate and Sass & Bide is famous for. There were lots of wonderful shades of lipstick – I recognised MAC’s ‘Snob’ and ‘New York Apple’ doing the rounds – and lots of bright orange everywhere, both in Sass & Bide’s new resort collection and on the labels of the Veuve Clicquot (I probably had a bit too much – you have to seize expensive champagne opportunities as you find them!).

My favourite thing about Sass & Bide at the moment (and there are so many things to love!) is what they call ‘Sass & Bide exclusive clear rocket dome studding’. They’re these studs that look like mini icicles and they adorn the shoulders and waistbands of several pieces, giving them a subtle sense of ferocity. Check them out on ‘The Persuader’ skirt.

We also met one of the founders of the Sass & Bide, the lovely Sarah-Jane Clark. Clark and business partner Heidi Middleton began the label in 1999, selling jeans at a stall at London’s Portobello markets, and since then the label has become one of Australian fashion’s biggest success stories, with Sass & Bide now a multi-million dollar global company. As a result, Clark and Middleton took out the 2010 Veuve Cliquot Business Woman Award, which is awarded annually in celebration of women’s business achievements internationally (and that explains why there was so much Veuve available at the party). It’s not hard to see how Clark achieved such success, because not only is she creative and talented and an excellent businesswoman, she was also extremely nice!

So a very BIG thank you to Angela Menz for inviting me along to the Sass & Bide party as her guest!! You’ve probably heard she won the Fashions on the Field at the Canberra Cup last Sunday – but more on that later!

Until next time (and I promise I won’t leave it months before I write again) –

KQ