Susan Bradley Smith

After finishing undergraduate studies in Sydney I spent the 1980s in London as a young journalist. Part of my job involved turning up at formal functions, and one lunchtime my new girlfriend from Yorkshire, Leonie, who worked in the artroom and whose sister was studying fashion took me to Laura Ashley on Kensington High Street where I purchased this balldress, with a tapestry bodice and taffeta skirt. I often wore it with eccentricity, I thought, adding vintage Edwardian lace-up boots andRead more

Leila Lois

Since I can remember, textiles have provoked feelings of comfort, wonderment and desire. Like most children I had a comfort blanket, a cotton sateen pillow, printed with meadow flowers; I would take each smooth, cold corner between my little finger and ring finger until I was lulled to sleep. I cannot remember living in the same house for longer than a year or so until my teenage years, as we regularly relocated for my parents’ careers as a psychiatrist and aRead more

Claire HM

Your favourite piece of clothing? (cw: weight loss) I’ve a clothes-buying confession to make. The things that I love most in my wardrobe are those things that are new. My heart chooses the novel over longevity every time, but my conscience knows that fast fashion is stripping our world of its most vital resources and supports business that ruthlessly exploits the labour of women and children. So to balance my heart and my conscience I choose to buy second-hand. IRead more

Emilie Collyer

I find the textile message prompts existentially confronting. What does it mean to claim something as ‘favourite’? Is it a statement piece, like this yellow coat dress I found in a second-hand shop? I’ve only worn it once, who knows how many more times it will get a run. But when I see it in the cupboard in the study (where the rarely worn garments live) it brightens my day. And it looks amazing on, doesn’t it. Or is itRead more

Claire Rosslyn Wilson

I don’t normally dress boldly, I prefer the convenience of having an easy-to-match wardrobe, but I have a secret love for loud colours and complex patterns. Perhaps because of this, the textile object that has a fond place in my life is a bright blue mantón de manila, embroidered with flowers and bordered by a long fringe. The mantón de manila emerged from a traditional Philippine shawl, its fabrication was developed in China (due to their tradition of using silk)Read more

Ben Walter

Ben Walter is the author of What Fear Was (Puncher & Wattmann, 2022). He is a writer of lyrical fiction and poetry who has been widely published in Australian journals, including Meanjin, Island, The Lifted Brow and Griffith Review. He has twice been shortlisted in the Tasmanian Premier’s Literary Prizes, and was guest editor of Overland’s special anti-/dis-/un-Australian fiction issue. Consistencies My writing has a texture, but it is the texture of a material that can be woven in various ways. This is perhaps true ofRead more

Julie Maclean

Julie Maclean is the author of Kiss of the Viking (Poetry Salzburg), and When I saw Jimi (Indigo Dreams) – winner of the Geoff Stevens Memorial Poetry Prize (2012) and shortlisted for the Crashaw Prize (2012). Julie’s poetry and short fiction feature in leading international journals including The Best Australian Poetry (UQP). Originally from Bristol, Julie is now based in Victoria, Australia.    Words and Stories  “Dick, Jane, Pip and Spot got me reading by the age of four. My lovely dad took me to the libraryRead more