Going Down South

If you've been reading this blog or follow me on Instagram (here), then you'll know that I'm embarking on a crazy and exciting adventure in one month. On the fifth of March, I leave for a two week trip to America, all on my own. That means most of February is about physically and mentally preparing myself for what will be a pretty hectic experience. So, as a part of that, I decided to use my existing Airpoints to take a trip down South!

You may be thinking, weren't you literally just down in Queenstown a couple of weeks ago? Yes, I was. After spending a week with Ben's family down South for Christmas I just couldn't get enough. Plus, my grandparents are staying in the most incredible writers retreat for a year and I leapt at the opportunity to spend a relaxing week in Alexandra with them. But, to truly make this a challenge I wanted to spend an extra night on the way to Alex on my own in Dunedin. I hadn't been to Dunedin since I was really young, so it was a pretty foreign place to me. But, luckily the city centre is super easy to navigate. So, I booked my flights, a shuttle from the airport, one night in a $22 Airbnb in Dunedin and my bus to Alexandra the next day.

Even though I'm eighteen this was my first official time flying on my own, even domestically it was kinda terrifying. But, good practice for America and honestly so much easier than I expected, a lot of it came from muscle memory with travelling in the past. I boarded my flight to Dunedin successfully and I was on my way. For $22 the Airbnb I scored was pretty decent, it was basically a hostel-type situation, with shared bathrooms etc. But, I had my own bed, wifi and a plug for my phone, what more do you need?

As I arrived in Dunedin at around 11am I had the rest of the day to do what I do best...thrift my little heart out. I made my way around the city centre, checking out Savemart, Shop on Carroll and Toffs before hitting the classic charity op shops (Salvation Army, Vinnies etc). I brought a relatively big bag with me, expecting to find some funky things, but I was not prepared for the haul I was about to acquire. I'm talking fluffy bucket hats, 70s vintage, Levi's and so much more. By the time I was finished in Dunedin I was basically stumbling back to my Airbnb with some very full bags. Which is great for all of you as you'll be seeing plenty of these pieces on the store soon!

I often make fun of Ben for being indecisive but it turns out I'm not much better. When it came time to find myself some dinner I really struggled to actually decide on anything, with so many options. I was staying on St Andrew Street, so super central to a ton of great eateries, which almost made it harder. I ended up deciding on a cute burger place a bit further up George Street and ordered a mammoth burger that I really struggled to finish on my own. I guess it's practice for those crazy American portion sizes.

Check out in the morning was 11am, so I was out the door with plenty of time and back at the op shops. But, not before a small drama with my crazily heavy bag that I had to leave inside a random motel for the day (thanks Dad). I visited a few of the vintage stores around the bus stop I was leaving from, including one incredible place called Two Squirrels Vintage Emporium where I found the most beautiful vintage 60s mini dress. My bus left at 3:00, so I had a lot more time to kill than I was expecting. I don't know how exactly, but I ended up in a small seafood restaurant near my bus stop that was literally called The Best Cafe. I don't even eat seafood. I was drawn in by the crazy cool retro interior, including green lino floors and orange chairs. I ordered basically the only non-seafood item on the menu, a vanilla coke spider, which definitely added to the feeling of being in a classic American diner. This is where I went absolutely photo crazy, evidence in the collages above.

The five days I spent in Alexandra was so relaxing and exactly what I needed with all the stress that comes with the beginning of a new year. I had huge sleep-ins, played lots of Bananagrams, sat by the fan in 34-degree heat and ate some really tasty food. It was lovely to spend some quality time with my grandparents too, both of whom are just the easiest and best company ever. I guess spending a week in a house with a photographer and a writer is the perfect recipe for inspiration. On my last evening in Alex, Bruci took some amazing photos on his camera of me in my new favourite vintage dress that I picked up at Toffs Dunedin for $14! The light was perfect and it was a great way to end a truly wonderful trip.

So, now I'm home, sorting through bags of thrifted clothes and trying to get my life together before I leave. My to-do list is absolutely insane at the moment, I honestly don't know how I'm going to do it. But, behind the pure fear that comes with this trip, I'm just so excited. I can't wait to take a huge leap out of my comfort zone, right into the deep end and I'll be trying to keep this blog as up to date as possible in amongst the craziness of February!

Bella 🌼

Christmas Colour Study

Christmas 2019 was a wild one, my first holiday spent without my immediate family. Instead, I joined Ben's family for a trip down south, to stay with his grandma in Queenstown. It was a completely new experience for me and something that was both challenging and super rewarding. I missed my family a ton, but it was also great to step outside of my comfort zone and really experience what it's like to start melding my life with someone (so scary). Overall, the month of December was one spent relaxing, spending time with loved ones and just taking a break. So, here's a little snippet of my month, via a Colour Study!

I really haven't spent too much time in Queenstown, so it was great to have an explore, especially as the place we were staying in had the most insane views. We took huge walks, played plenty of card games and Monopoly, took the water taxi over to Queenstown shops and even went go-karting. It was a completely different holiday to anything I've experienced with my own family but I loved it! We even had time to get some thrifting done in both Cromwell and Queenstown, I managed to pick up a surprisingly large amount of pieces, which will be coming to the store later this year.

On our last morning down south, we visited a cute little farmers market in Queenstown central. Ben and I wandered around the fancy artisan food stalls for a while, eventually settling on a classic $3 sausage in bread (never disappoints). I also spotted four miniature schnauzers (!!), so it was a good time.

The last few days of December were spent building our new Christmas Lego sets (yes-Ben and I still build Lego). I also received my absolute dream bag from my parents, a proper hand-tooled leather purse from Hunters & Collectors and she has not left my side since! We celebrated Fran's 19th birthday at the trampoline park (still children). I finally (after two years) got to spend a New Years Eve with Ben, which was amazing. Then, we rang in the new year with a hangover from hell and a mini holiday to Martinborough to stay with my parents.

As I've grown older, Christmas has become less about gifts and the actual celebration of 'Christmas', and more about the people I spend it with. I think this could be said for most people as they leave childhood. So, I'm glad I got to spend December with some of my absolute favourite people!

Bella 🌼

Depop January Preview

It's January-well, it's actually almost February but better late than never! If you followed my blog at all last year then you'll know I love posting lil teaser blogs on pieces you can expect to see in the upcoming months over on my Depop (here). This is a series that always gets great feedback and of course, just helps to build hype around clothing drops over on the store. So, I figured why not carry it into 2020?! Here is your January Depop preview!

After thrifting a ton over in Queenstown and Cromwell during Christmas and picking up some groovy pieces in Masterton too, my stock is actually overflowing. Hence the HUGE sale, which is still very much alive over on my Depop and Insta store! There you'll find 30+ items are still 50% off (which is literally the biggest discount you can give an item on Depop). There are still so many fun pieces left to pick up, so don't miss out!

In the process of clearing old 2019 stock for exciting new pieces, I've also been getting back into regular clothing drops this month. I'd love to start narrowing down some specific days that you all want me to drop clothes on. Having a consistent drop day would be ideal, it's just figuring out what works best for everyone! I've had such a great response already after my little holiday hiatus and it feels so great to finally get back into it.

Over 2019 I learnt so much about the kind of pieces you all love to see on my store and what sells the best. Of course, this is always changing as trends come and go but it's good to have a base to work from at the start of 2020. I know that this year I want to grow, change and develop my store into something completely different. If you read my Summer Updates blog post (here), then you'll know that a new name for my store is very much on the cards! It's something I've been mulling over and brainstorming about for a while because I want it to be perfect. I'm also super keen to start branching out into a lifestyle collection (retro homewares etc), a stronger focus on my vintage 1960s/1970s drops, lookbooks, more consistent drops, a new website and more!! So, it's gonna be an exciting year for Bella Foster Depop!

Thank you to all those that supported my store last year and helped me grow it into something that lets me support myself financially, as well as do what I love! I'm so beyond excited for what's to come this year and I think you're going to love it. So, watch this space...
See my Depop here and Insta store here.

Bella 🌼

What's Happening This Summer / 2019 Reflections

Welcome to 2020! I know everyone says it but I truly can't believe that 2019 is over, it's been a crazy whirlwind of lessons, mistakes and massive achievements for me. At the beginning of the year, I made the decision to officially drop out of high school a year early and ever since I've been riding the sometimes tumultuous wave of freelancing and self-employment. But overall, 2019 has been pretty kind to me, so here are some of my highlights and plans for the near future.

Since leaving school I started my Depop store which after some serious photoshoots, lots of promotion and hard work kind of took off! I plan to write up a separate post entirely on this topic with some stats on my sales for anyone that's interested. But, I'm extremely proud of how much my business has grown in 2019, with over 300 items sold across Depop, Instagram and Facebook. It also enabled me to interact with so many new people, push the boundaries of my creativity and do what I love best as my job; thrifting! This year I hit the op shops so many times I lost count and I scored so many incredible pieces for myself and the store. I plan to continue on this way right into 2020!

The first big plan for my business is to give it a name, the one thing that my store is really lacking is a unique identity. So, I've spent the latter part of this year doing some major brainstorming and trying to find the perfect name for my store. I'll be announcing more on this soon, but I'm super excited about it. I'd also love to set up a website where you can buy pieces directly through PayPal or Apple Pay etc. That way I can really work on churning out more frequent lookbooks and extra bits and bobs along with the regular clothing drops. I've also been looking into trialling a little 'lifestyle collection' with a focus on 1960s/1970s home decor and kitchenware pieces. This would be a branch off my Depop store and something I would advertise more on my Instagram or potential website, but I think it could be a fun idea.

Then, of course, I'll be picking up some incredible thrifted pieces over in Los Angeles, where I'll be travelling by myself for two weeks in March. If you want to read more about this, see my separate post with all the details here. This will be my first international thrifting trip ever and I can't wait to source some truly incredible and unique pieces for you all!

I'll also be travelling and thrifting a little more locally, with an upcoming trip to Dunedin and Alexandra planned! This will be a great opportunity to see my Grandparents over in Alex and spend some time in their incredible mid-century house. I'll also get a ton of op-shopping time, with all of Dunedin to explore too. My travel plans will eventually take me to Perth later this year to visit my uncle, aunt and baby cousin, Mia Bella. I really just want to spend as much time with Mia as possible as she is growing up and if I can get a little thrifting done while I'm over there that's a bonus!

One of the great things about working for myself is that I can really plan trips whenever I feel like it and hopefully fund them by selling clothes and prints that I shoot along the way. Speaking of which, I'll be exhibiting in the 2020 NZ Art Show, along with plenty of other incredible artists. This is something I've done for several years now and it's a great way to get my art out there and make a little extra money too. I'm still in the process of finding some new places to exhibit and lockdown dates to really get going again. Selling art is probably one of the more difficult and confusing branches of my freelance work and something that can be relatively unpredictable. Art is so subjective, so it's really about finding someone who appreciates what I create and wants to help me grow.

For now, I'm trying to sort through my muddled half-holiday brain that's not quite ready to get into things again. But, for me, it's about constantly being stimulated with new and exciting projects that will keep my creative juices flowing! I leave for Dunedin on Monday, so I'll be dropping a ton of new clothes on my store before then and keeping everyone up to date with my travels over on Instagram (here). Here's to a (hopefully) fantastic new decade!

Bella 🌼