We were lucky this week, receiving a delivery from the 3T 'Mattt'- maker of fine bags. With fabrics and prices to suit just about everyone we have a great selection now available. Just a taste of some of the new fabrics.

Durable, commercial upholstery fabrics have been used for part of 'Cloth's' range, which have an organic grid design of overlaid charcoal and black dots. And to bring some warmth there is a striking geometric mesh of white dots on a dyed red background printed on a heavy weight hemp base fabric.

And below handprinted fabric by Tim Growcott, printed on grey denim in a raspberry colour. The design has a large repeat and a varied scale making for really different bags each time.

home made deliveries plus some

Partly from Japan, a little bit from Barcelona and even Australia come the 'Heartcore' fabric pins. In small and large they feature traditional plaids, spots and checks, day of the dead skeletons, florals and why of course hearts. 

Straight from the print room comes a fresh new range of journals, featuring some favorite characters. Made using Moleskine journals, they come with plain, squared or lined paper perfect for taking notes. Buy them individually or make some ones Christmas and purchase the ready-made pack of all three.

it's all a buzz

Yep, well and truly that time of the year now. Sun comes out, then goes away and pours with rain it can only mean one thing...a Melbourne summer?!

Firstly, people close to our hearts are getting ready to burn their books and put the hard yards in painting walls white again to hang work, for drum roll.....graduate shows.

NMIT's Advanced Diploma, Jewellery show; Profile opened on Tuesday night (11th) with a room full of stunning work (and for that matter people). From a group of 28 made up entirely of women the work ranges from contemporary rings and necklaces to ornate silver hair pieces and body jewellery. And what a surprise the Northcote Town Hall exhibition space is- pop in purchase from the display cases or have something made to order- oh, how special! 

Northcote Town Hall, Northcote (on top of the hill) On until 20th November.

Elk pendant by Milly Flemming '08.

VCA, from the 21st - 30th November will see the VCA transform, showing over 1000 works from graduating students. From all departments- Drawing, Printmaking, Photography, Sculpture and our favorite newbie Spatial Practice...can feel like you've just turned up to a Vice party, but can prove to be well worth the push and shove as there are always outstanding works and names to see, as well as the vast spaces of the VCA.

Margaret Lawrence Gallery- 40 Dodds Street, Southbank.

RMIT- Studio Textiles & Screen Print Design show 'Unfold' opens later this month, 27th November though to 19 December.

As the two courses come together there are over 30 artists to show their work. Again a multitude of processes including, screen printing, weave, knit, tapestry and dying using traditional and contemporary techniques. The Studio Textiles course was one that we did a few years ago now and has lead onto exciting things. We look forward to seeing the work.

Counihan Gallery- 233 Sydney Road, Brunswick.

Milk white bottles

New work for Kenji Uranishi is an exciting thing. 

For you who are fond of his cloud dishes and jugs, these bottles follow a similar line, in white porcelain with sparse sharp designs in pastel tones.

All hand made and decorated, there are two sizes in store.

The short one sits about 90 mm tall, while the tall one reaches 130 mm

Come in and check these ones out, they need to be seen up close to fully appreciate.

sitting pretty

We have had some exciting deliveries this week- makers are getting busy and prepared for the so called silly season!

'Shonah' has delivered some new pretties, leather cut earrings, resin and fabric oval earrings and studs as well as new pendants.

A new range of colours from 'Pancake Zoo'- to brighten up your days with pastels and pinks.

A line of Penguin lamps made their way in store yesterday from 'Make Stuff'- featuring the circa 1970's Floral Wallpaper design in Crimson red and Olive green, as well as the designers original illustration of the Gum leaf in Black. 

Wrapped in recycled packaging came the wonderful 'Kindling Cards' designed and made in Queensland using 100% post consumer recycled papers. With images of whales, chickens, secret gardens and store favorite mr.fox.

latest novelty

Time to get snappy with your dressing? With names like 'Buster', 'Dimples', 'Kitty' and 'Junior' you'll take a step back in time. Giant tin, pin backed badges from the 1950's can go straight onto you sweater, jacket or cap. These all come in their original packets- and tagged as the latest novelty.

Well, Spring is truly here and it would seem that there are little babies popping up all over the place- congratulations to the new boys and girls. Perhaps a little something to brighten up their new home?

Who would have thought that something this cute would come out of the wood works? Just a few 1960's carnival ducks, you know the ones that are in the pool of water bobbing about...you may even here them quack! 

We have a few more fabulous finds from yesteryear so do stop by and take a look.

Also, just out this week is the 'Inside Out' A - Z Shopping Guide. In an 8 x 4.5 cm space we are included! There even appears to be an asterix next to our store name! Woo hoo. With 400+ places of interest be sure to grab your copy! 

melbourne and beyond

Above photos by Warwick Baker

The latest release from And Collective is 'A Place Tells a Story.' 

Filled from cover to cover with rich visual art, text and music allowing the reader a wide range to reflect upon.

Some places familiar others unknown. Including "Milk bars, street corners, neighborhoods, roads within the context of an increasingly globalised consciousness, reconnecting with locality and specificity...exploring these sites' histories and narrative; posing questions about their future..."

Including work from Warwick Baker, Tom Civil, Oslo Davis, Kubota Fumikazu, Rachael Wenona Guy, Andy Jackson, Kyle de Kuijer, Brigid McCarthy, Meg Mundell, Mandy Ord, Liza Power, Memuzin River, Lou Smith, Salote Tawale and Eve  Vincent. And sound by Perfect Black Swan, Nadia Combe, Bird Traps, Chris Smith, Lee Memorial and Jon Tihia.

Oh, and just to keep Holly Daze busier than normal they gave us the job to screen print 1000, yep, thats right, the 1000 dust covers that lovingly wrap each numbered edition.

Pop by and grab your copy while they last!

Above illustration by Kyle de Kuijer

Above: Limited Edition number, plus bonus c.d

Above: Almost there, 1000 recycled brown paper dust covers

think fathers day

This weekend is time to celebrate the man in your life that perhaps taught you how to drive, hit a ball, draw, play a musical instrument, maybe play chess, to fix your car, help work on a maths problem, get the dog to sit, maybe even mix a cocktail? 

Otherwise, known as Dad, some will be fun, some old, some picky, others new. We have tried hard to put a list together to give everyone some help....so here goes.

Kearnsie: Hello Badge: $25 each

Kearnsie, Souvenier Cufflinks: $125

Sterling Silver and Vintage Teaspoon.

Rewind Coffee/Coco and NYC Mug: Pack $70

Rewind Coffee or Coco individual canisters: $20

New York Ceramic Mug:$25

Small Rhino Gameboy Brooch: $39

Pretzel also available!

Chopped Magazine: $10

Locally produced Hot Rod and Custom Magazine.

Holly Daze: Cushions $90-$130

Screen printed and handmade at Five Boroughs

Mattt Bags:$48-$132

Handmade in Melbourne

Pancake Zoo Brooch: $18 

Resin brooches made in Japan.

So with that headful of information pop in and grab the man a little treat to say- 'thanks'!

very local stockists

We love to support and showcase local makers, but now it's time to give our own products a plug. Some may already know that 'Five Boroughs' is also home for our label 'Holly Daze'. 

Housed behind the hinging door we have our studio which gives us a chance to make one off pieces and production run products and then place them straight into the store display, or send them off to one of our wholesalers.

With a newly updated print table we have started piecing together a few forgotten projects and production on some new items.

New doorstops, with the addition of the 'watermelon' colour way which is selling well with the 1950's inspired Atomic print. 

can you spot the goodness? Issue #2

After a much anticipated wait, the latest issue of CHOPPED is now on sale.

This issue (#2) covers traditional hot rods and customs from Australia and U.S.A in these

feature articles:

* Kustom Nationals

* U.S.A from the vault

* Early Australian Hot Rodders

* Kustom Kulture weekend

* Day of the drags

* Australia from the vault

* How to: Metal flake

For those who haven't heard about this new magazine to hit the stands, it's been put together by three mates who grew up in Central Victoria- otherwise known as the hot rod Capital of Australia.

In the pages they'll show us car shows far and near, include images taken from back when hot rodding was in it's beginning and for all those who love a center fold they've even included one in this pocketful of rodding!

just the ticket

Whether you are dressing up or down, surly these are just the ticket to top off the outfit. Introducing vintage stud earrings and brooches, made in the studio behind us. Some are lovely and simple, others are fancy with pretty flowers and made of sweet shapes.   

Perhaps these are not for you, but what a great gift they'll make. Pop in and take a look.

dani m arrives in store

dani m has been designing and making objects, vessels and jewellery in Melbourne since 2001. Made from Southern Ice porcelain, all pieces have the lovely impressions of being made by hand, they feel soft to touch and are light to hold.

We have short cups, milk jugs and what could be used as either sake cups or little boiled egg cups. A new little product is the sweet, white spoon, perhaps just to make the first crack in the egg, and later to sprinkle with salt? Or, just lovely to hold and display.

And, so you don't just have to have useful items there is a beautiful range of faceted  jewels to keep the jewellery lovers happy- stud earrings and gorgeous pendants.

Colours are soft almost pastel, pinks, turquoise and blue with white and black to keep in touch perhaps with the Melbourne market and to complete the classic feel of these products.

You just may feel compelled to have to buy yourself a small collection.

  

Just what your jacket needs this winter

NEW IN STORE. We are excited about these little gems, accessories in the shapes of gameboys, pretzels, biscuits and birds!

We warmly welcome 'Small Rhino' hailing from Tasmania and producing beautifully packaged wooden brooches and necklaces.

Made of engraved timber and finished with enamel colour detail.

There are three birds available with Art Deco styling, a dove, sparrow and a cardinal in grey tones or original black and white.

And to go alongside, see the edible goodness of 'biscotto', everyones favorite beer snack the 'pretzel' and the vintage 'gameboy' .

Pop in and check out the goodies.

are we cold yet?

We love 'Otto and Spike' and it would seem that a number of other Borough dwelling peeps follow us in supporting their enthusiasm, in collecting beautiful yarns and creating yummy woolen knits to keep us toasty during winter.

This week we had a window display set up to show off their good work! We love it so much we're trying to work out how we can make one to keep! Stop by and check out their work soon.

 

Vintage books & worn out jeans

This collection of 'Rebound' recycled hardback books are nothing new to five boroughs, but will always be a product that we are proud to represent, not just because they are made by dear friends but also for their sheer brilliance. 

Preloved books with spines and pages removed are rebound using 100% tree free paper made from recycled denim. 

Pages are blank for notes and drawings, but some of the original pages are still present for curiosity's sake.

Just to make sure nothing is wasted, the spines are then reinvented into bookmarks.

Check out our ever changing collection.

squizzy tailor territory, 3057

Out from the depths of Brunswick comes another label that is sure to be made a household name in no time- Otto and Spike. We are happy to welcome the brand which hails from literally around the corner. 

Proud of their heritage they are producing a number of beautifully finished products using machinery from far back as 1890 with the newest from 1990. In fact one of the machines has been knitting beanies for 115 years! 

With recycling on almost everyones mind these clever people have even found a way of getting premium, surplus New Zealand yarn to use alongside technical man made fibers, to produce their garments from.

We are now stocking the 'Squizzy' hat- which has a similar shape to those worn by women in the 1920's and carries the finishing touch of a sweet, colour matched buckle.  The hat is also lined with a fleece making it extra lovely and warm.

The 'Grandpa' scarf, who is known as the soul mate to Squizzy, are both knitted from 100% Merino Lambswool and Shetland Pure New Wool.  The design for the scarf was inspired by a blanket that was found at an Op Shop. It turned out a WW2 Veteran had made it during their rehabilitation, a part of their therapy included weaving. So, the design was converted from a weave to a knit and makes for a lush warm scarf. A homey scarf available in: Forest, Golden, Cherry and Airforce.

Next, some may think the maker has a preference for, as they have labelled it 'Number 1'. Knitted on their 1070's "Lucky" machine it is made as one long tube and measuring a whopping 185cm allowing the wearer to wrap, fold or pin in lots of different ways, with the 

icing on the cake being that the ends have been left open which means when it's really icy you can pop your hands away out of the cold wind! Made in soft grey/black stripes that increase in size, it is sure to match anything you're going to wear this winter. 

Ta da they've thought of it all! 

hook, line and sinker- what a collection

Well, after ruling, drilling and then twisting in 319 gold plated cup hooks we finally have our wall of keyrings completed. Well completed in the sense of any good collector- until the next one comes along!

There are some favorites, some of which were included in the previous post. These are mostly from the 1950s and are of Dutch decent. There are little promotional packages of foods, bottles, lots of hair spray, toilet paper, biscuits, fobs and a few cup hooks that are still empty!

which bag will you get?

And the winer this week is the kustom.....

For those that have already shopped at Five Boroughs you will have noticed the hand drawn, recycled brown bags that all your goodies are packed into, and for those that haven't heres but a snippet of the illustrations hand drawn onto each of the bags.

Naughty children, spanners, a bit of typography or maybe a pelican! 

New in store: we have just received a delivery of colour from our friend in the good 'ol USA Maplexo, these will help brighten up your day!

A new stockist is providing us with inspiration for warm meals and ideas to fill our bellies; The Hungry Girls Cookbook, now available, Volumes 1 and 2.

Winter vegie pasties- below.