Grandma’s Treasure
By Sireen, Year 10
My grandma loved jewels. Not the small dainty kind. No. My grandma lived by the phrase ‘Go big or go home.’ Emeralds, diamonds; her eyes would glitter like a magpie in the wind when they’d sparkle in the market windows. Exquisite, elaborate, opulent. That’s how she’d describe them. Like they were the most elegant, refined pieces of art she owned. She’d wear them everywhere, and anywhere they could be seen—piercings, bracelets, rings, necklaces. Their brilliant shimmer would always catch the light. We’d always know when she entered a room; she glowed like a goddess.
Soon enough, jewellery wasn’t enough to satisfy her. It fed into a new hobby. My grandma would sit by the window as she sewed her most prized possessions into her clothes. Every garment she could get her hungry hands on was embellished with treasure. When she passed, I inherited her robe. ‘Majestic’ couldn’t graze the surface of how precious it was. Smooth, rich, velvety fabric splattered with a cascade of glimmering jewels. It was beautiful. It was her. Bright, warm, comforting. My grandma sewed a piece of herself into her robe. My robe.
An excerpt from Free to Fashion.
Sewing the fabric of their own identity, the students of Birrong Girls High School and Bossley Park High School took a deep dive into what it means to be Free to Fashion.
The Social Outfit, a fashion label with a difference and Story Factory, a not-for-profit creative writing organisation, ran storytelling, writing and art workshops with these creative young women. They were free to write, draw and craft their own unique ideas about what fashion means to them. These became the inspiration for a bespoke fabric collection and one-of-a kind outfit produced by The Social Outfit. The thoughtful stories the young women wrote, and images of their artworks, are collected here, alongside brief self-portraits.
The culmination of this work was proudly displayed at Carriageworks on Gadigal Land during The Social Outfit’s 10th birthday celebration.