News
BRAVA X By Samantha Melbourne Collaboration
Meet the maker behind our growing brand!
Week two of Liptember : our range
Welcome to Spring!
We have 4 gorgeous Aussie-made shades of lipstick that you can purchase in time for Liptember:
Sunday ( nude coffee-with-cream-ish shade)
Jess ( light purple shimmer shade)
Lizzy ( bright magenta shade)
Samantha ( our signature Red)
Emma ( our pink shimmer shade)
All our lipsticks are mineral lipsticks that deliver shine and a perfect soft colour in an irresistibly lightweight formula. They are Australian made on the sunny Gold Coast and are all cruelty-free. And when you order lipstick from us it comes with a cute zip-up pouch.
Did you know our models wears our lipsticks for all photoshoots and even after an intense 8-hour-long session her lips were perfect?
Now, how you can participate in Liptember and help us to support mental health services for Australian women:
- Buy our gorgeous lipsticks with our special code (down below)
- Put your bright lipstick on to support the movement (for one day, one week or an entire month - you do what the most comfortable for you)
- Post your selfies wearing bright lips with the hashtag #liptemberBSM and #lipsbysamantha so we can see your support!
- Follow us on socials for special liptember content on Instagram and FB
- At the end of the month, we will donate $5 from each sold lipstick to liptember charity
Liptember 2021
Funds raised during the month are donated to a range of Impact Partners who deliver carefully selected women's mental health programs, initiatives, support services and research.
We work, we love, we train, we care, we soothe, we smile, we kiss, we cuddle, we support, we teach, we protect, we fight, we achieve. Also, we cry, struggle and lose hope. Sometimes, we can’t do it anymore. Sometimes it is our dearest and nearest who struggle.
What is body positivity and body diversity- is there such a thing as ‘body neutrality’?
Life in lockdown Part 1: Our tips and tricks to surviving lockdown / working from home!
2018 Women of Strength qtr1 : Selina McGarrigle
(Selina modeling for a Curve photo shoot)
( Selina in her ‘Selina’ wrap dress , yes we named it after her ❤️)
Waikiki dreaming, join us on our adventure to Hawaii
We’ve searched Melbourne for some beautiful tropical and floral prints to refresh your wardrobe.
Seven Sisters Pop Up Store Northcote
The Seven Sisters Pop Up Store is located at 277 High Street , Northcote Victoria for three weeks from August 21st to September 10th. We will be trading 7 days a week from 10am - 5pm so if you're a Northcote local then please pop in and say hello and support some of Melbourne's most talented designers and creatives!
Meet our Seven sisters:
La Sierra Alpaca
The aims
La Sierra provides an affordable luxury product, representing Ecuador and its indigenous people in a way that is attractive and viable for a wider market.
La Sierra supports the revitalizing of cultural traditions around the incredibly fine alpaca textiles. In making people more conscious of where their clothes come from, we can assist the development of indigenous communities in Ecuador. We support and follow fair trade principles.
La Sierra values the wellbeing of our planet and aims to have as little impact as possible on the Earth. Eco-friendly alpaca animals, sustainable farming and traditional textile production methods all contribute to minimizing our footprint, and we are investigating options for carbon offset of transportation.
Website: http://www.lasierra.com.au/
Heather Grafton - Illustrator
Heather Grafton is a talented English born lass ( we've adopted her as our own 😂) Offering unique and edgy digital and hand - finished illustrations created here in Melbourne.
Her work is beautiful, thought provoking and quirky - a winner for all ages and demographics.
Some of her work is available in store and custom works are available and welcome.
Website: http://www.heathergrafton.com
Ara Lyra Jewelrey
Ara Lyra is a stunningly beautiful jewelrey label dresigned in Melbourne and made in fair trade studios in India.
All of Ara Lyra's pieces are hand made with semi precious jewels and glass settings that will steal your heart!
Website: https://www.aralyra.com/
Merry People
Merry People is a Melbourne-based boutique small business, whose story began just over 3 years ago on a farm in South Gippsland, Victoria.
We make fun and practical rainwear, with design elements that are tasteful, functional and affordable.
We want our products to empower our customers to live fearlessly and embrace the unknown adventures – to always feel ones most confident and happy self, even if it is wild and stormy outside.
No animal products are used to make our products nor do we perform any testing on animals.
Website: https://merrypeople.com
Travis and Joy
We’re a Melbourne based fashion label creating contemporary leather essentials that are a staple in any woman’s wardrobe. Our pieces are made from the highest quality lambskin leather and treated with the utmost care to ensure the natural beauty of every hide is retained. We focus on creating timeless leather pieces that are versatile, effortless and transeasonal.
Website: https://travisandjoy.com
Kiss Ready lips / skin
Just like you, we care about what we put on our skin and use everyday.
We understand the frustrations of looking for natural, quality, affordable and Australian made products - so we decided, why don't we make it ourselves!
Our journey has taken us from the farms, apiaries, beauty schools and retailers in Australia, NZ, USA and we even visited a monastery in Italy (yes, all for the love of research!), to see for ourselves how the traditional methods of making natural beauty products are even more so relevant in today's modern, busy, and often times, without us being aware... a toxic world!
We love to learn more about "how our mums and nanas used to make them", we think it's cool! Why put nasty chemicals on our products when nature is abundant with amazing ingredients which actually work wonders on your lips and skin?
We're all about spreading the love, so be assured - our products have been crafted to minimise the use of unnecessary ingredients that can harm the environment or stress out our little animal friends.
We hope you enjoy our products. We love making them, so drop us a line and let us know what you think.
Website: https://www.kissreadylips.com
By Samantha Melbourne
Welcome to BY SAMANTHA, a melbourne made premium lifestyle brand that empowers women to be all woman and effortlessly fierce with flatteringly comfortable wrap dresses.
The spirit of By Samantha is fun and flirty, she's curvey and confident in her own skin. A lover of colour and unique patterns, her style is effortlessly comfortable and sexy. We hope you feel all of these same feelings when you wear a BY SAMANTHA wrap dress.
We are passionate about three things: easy to wear fashion, empowerment through design / colour and making our dresses in Australia.
We make our dresses in Melbourne using local machinists supporting Australian fabric wholesalers and printers. We will continue to work with illustrators and local graphic designers to create unique floral prints.
Website: you're here already 😎
J' adore Entrecôte
OH la la! This month we've had the pleasure to take some photos and romp around the secret rooms of one of Melbourne's most popular restaurants, Entrecôte. Much loved for their mouth-watering Steaks and happy hour tipples, Entrecôte is a foodies heaven and a hipster's hard-on! We loved their eye for modern decor and clean Parisian finishes.
For more information on Entrecôte and their menus at www.entrecote.com.au
Our Journey: The tale of an over-achieving girl that followed her dreams and got burnt
Yes, you've read from the title of this blog post correctly...By Samantha Melbourne was conceived in at the lowest part of my life- at a time where I had exhausted my energy and drive chasing corporate bliss and fulfillment.
This sounds a little dramatic doesn't it? Let me take you back and lead you through the journey that caused an over-zealous and strong-willed country girl who aspired to be an international ambassador to pursue a career in a fashion start-up with no formal training or know-how.
I grew up in a church home with big aspirations of becoming a roughy-tough missionary that changed the world, feed hungry people and righted life's wrongs. After a few missionary trips to India and Greece plus a few life lessons, I gave up on the idea of being a missionary. I have the upmost respect for those who've undertaken this path in life. For me however, I did a complete 180 and undertook a course of study to become an international ambassador with the grand ideas of 'changing the world'. Thinking that this would be the most fulfilling career I could hope for, I studied at Bond University in the Gold Coast for three years, then flew to Dubai to intern at the Australian Trade Commission. I had high hopes for this experience and thought that all of my apsirations and desires would be fulfilled in an instant... Its a sober moment realizing that what I hoped for was a construct of my own imagination and not that of an international government agency.This experience was one that changed the course of my life as I realised that the path to diplomacy wasn't the path for me.
Returning to Australia feeling burnt-out, discouraged and like I'd spent a tonne of time and money on a path that took me in a direction that wasn't personally fulfilling, I feel into a slump. So, like any other self respecting girl that had just gotten the wind knocked out of her, I spent a few months watching Foxtel and complained about how I had wasted time and money chasing hot air and random ideas of changing the world.
Now I know what you may be thinking, that this is an unproductive way to chart out a new future. However, it was while watching Foxtel that I became inspired by the spirit and tenacity of the brilliant Dianne Von Furstenburg. From a program she was starring in on a lifestyle channel, I learned of her gutsy nature, flair for fashion and philosophy of effortless style. I'd never seen such a capably fierce and bold woman that knew what she wanted and how to get it. I fell in love with this bossy and confident woman. Also, her eye for prints and timeless style were so refreshing.
Dianne's flagship style was the Wrap Dress- effortless fashion that was made for all body shapes - especially curves girls like me who felt like she looked like a sack of potatoes in whatever I wore! If she could make this tomboy of a girl ( yes, I'm inherently a tomboy) feel like a confident woman, I was sold. Unfortunately, I just didn't have $600 AUD to spend on one of her dresses. After much commiserating on the couch at the sorrow of not having the cash to splash, I decided to use my sewing skills to make myself a Wrap Dress inspired by the great DVF. In two hours it was made and I was amazed at how confident I felt and looked.
March 2015- The first Floral Wrap Dress made by moi!
After making my first Wrap Dress, I was hooked on making them for myself to suit my natural assets of booty and bust ( these assesses were more of a negative assets pre-Wrap Dresses). My friends started to notice my confidence and began to request that I make them dresses ( this is the modern struggle of many seamstresses that offer to make dresses for their girlfriends) , so I did as a hobby.
To my surprise, I started to receive a steady stream of orders from Australia and the world- orders from far flung places like Poland, to the croissant-endowed France, USA, Singapore, and New Zealand. I was in shock and couldn't keep up with the amount of orders for dresses I was receiving. I was working a full time job and considering a sea-change from the sea ( rural South East Queensland). So, in an effort to challenge myself and expand my horizons, I made the decision to move to Melbourne from Hervey Bay ,QLD and then quit my full time job to commit myself to turning The Giver & Co into the brand it could be. Without me realising it, this little hobby turned into a full time affair. Then after a few months and amazing women connecting me to the right people, I had manufacturers, interns, wholesalers and celeb interactions that have boosted my personal and business confidence to dream of international opportunities and heights.
February 2017 - Julia Morris in our Elizabeth Wrap Dress on Studio Ten
Two years on and we've done a fair bit with no formal fashion training- just operating out of gut feel, luck and intuition. This has seen us get to a happy place that is both exciting and unknown with room to grow and explore.
From here we will build on what we started as The Giver & Co, we'll rebrand into the premium lifestyle brand that empowers women to effortlessly fierce in all areas of their lives through our Melbourne-made Wrap Dress and Australian made products. 'By Samantha' will be releasing in mid April, so stay tuned for more news.
Thank you to all of those who've been apart of this journey- I'm very thankful for all of the input, support, introductions, cheer-ups, likes, follows and orders.
I'm so excited to continue on this journey to create some more beautiful dresses and promote Australian made products .
xx
Sammie