I have a biased love of the iconic Dunlop Volley (explained in detail here) but last Friday I had to shelve both my bias and my ego when I headed to Melbourne to view the SS08 range.
I could have bought you this news earlier had the PR company, that pockets an obscene amount of money to manage the Dunlop account, not demonstrated a flagrant disregard and lack of understanding of digital media - and done like the client asked and invited Imelda to the Sydney range showing. I’ve had a gutful of these lazy and over paid PR companies and shall rant on this matter in a separate post at a later date. Oh, and yes, no one crosses The Despot and lives to tell the tale.
The beauty of canvas shoes is their adaptability to any trend. Some of you might remember this post that the Susie Bubble wrote a post the covetous men’s Lanvin hi-tops. Well Imelda read it and immediately forwarded it to my peeps at Dunlop. 7 months later - et viola - we have the women’s mass-market version (and YES I’m seething with rage that a men’s version was not considered). Sensing a cute viral opportunity, I’ve emailed people about the possibility of naming these shoes after the great SB. At the time of publishing this post I’ve yet to receive a reply.

The next tasty treat guarantees a little ‘leakage’, so while you reach for your depend pads, try not to sneeze or laugh. Exclusive to Big W (think Wal-Mart) these glitterati volleys are only $19.95 ( or .96, .97, .98 or .99 – Big W have a random pricing policy). Ahhha *Imelda’s doing her best ghetto girl head roll* $19 dollars – that’s a whole $10 off the RRP.

I love the idea of exploring Australian history through fashion. It’s been completely ignored by local designers and media (I’ve a brilliant idea for a fashion label that’s never seen the light of day). While I was intrigued by Volley’s ‘Australiana’ collection for men, the graphic execution doesn’t lift mummy’s skirt. A concept that needs further exploration…perhaps in conjunction with the Despotic Queen herself – just putting it out there! The self referential ‘Volley print’ is a winner, but I think Nike have already done it! The grey marl looks so ‘relaxed and comfortable’ that Imelda’s about to nod off!

It hasn’t escaped my despotic attention that I only blog about the children who work in my factories or my new Calcutta Call Centre (I tellz ya, those chitlen are sponges. The speed at which they can pick up an accent is mind blowing…off topic). But these cute poptastic prints are hard not to love. Of course I haven’t softened my ‘tude towards the chitlen - ‘sewing, not seen’ is still an unbroken rule in my house. I know a couple of Imeldette’s have birth’d ‘em selves a baby or two so I’ll revisit kids again at a later stage.

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this…I want your feedback.

Mark my despotic word, next time you see a dance troop at the Craigieburn (total geographic shout-out to my faithful Craigieburn reader – I can track you on Google Analytics) Shopping Centre you won’t even notice their jazz hands for these ruby red sparkly Volleys.

The Volley range is bigger than the sandwich that choked Mama Cass so these are just few highlights.
* Liverpool is a outer western suburb of Sydney.