It’s exciting times at Circa – on Tuesday I closed my retail shop. Lots of lovely people came in that day to wish me luck on the next stage of the journey but to be honest, I’m a little scared.

I’m focusing on the positives: now I can create a vintage fashion webshop without limits. I love vintage, and have collected a lot of it over the years but a retail space is inherently limited: it needs a certain amount of space and it needs to be pretty. As much as I like pretty, I like practical too and now I can create a space that works for me and the new demands of Circa’s webshop.

Now all those lovely pieces I’ve been buying can come out to play, and be shared with the world – you would not believe how many pieces I’ve bought and packed into a box and sort of forgotten about! For starters, in my stockroom there is brand new ’60s Dior lingerie from a Sydney auction in 1996. It came out in 1998 when I inventoried it, 2004 when it moved to Circa’s Collingwood stockroom and again in 2012 when we relocated to Mitchell House but so far, no one else has seen it. Soon you shall!

It was always hard when you have a retail shop because there’s only so much stock you can fit in, and even though I love rotating stock and bringing new styles in all the time, it never moved fast enough for me. So now I can fit the salon out with shelving and set up a proper backdrop for my photo shoots and…just…go…for…it.

The sad part is that Circa is no longer a lovely space for everyone else to come and play in – today several people rang, asking to be let in but the truth is that already we’re dismantling the shop and today we were doing stocktakes. I like to hit the ground running, as there is much to do for the next stage. Momentum is my favourite word.

The goal is a simple one: I want Circa to offer you the largest range of vintage fashion from one shop in the world.

Pip from Meet Me at Mikes was also taking stock today – and she kindly supplied this list for us all. Here’s where I’m at…

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Making : the vintage fashion webshop of my dreams
Cooking : vegetable soup
Drinking : lemon barley cordial with a dash of gin
Reading: Graham Greene’s “The Stamboul Train” (1932)
Wanting: more kindness in the world
Looking: at my sweetheart
Playing: too much Civ 4
Deciding: I need more Tootal scarves
Wishing: for a wonderful future for my newly born niece and nephew
Enjoying: being home with the cats
Waiting: for literary inspiration to strike
Liking: having red hair for a change
Wondering: if any of our neighbours will object to the verandah plans
Loving: Italian torrone
Pondering: why my new nephew is named Lenny
Considering: where will I find a nice piece of vintage linoleum for our new kitchen?
Buying: vintage cufflinks and tie pins
Watching: “Peaky Blinders”
Hoping: I can study at university at long last
Marvelling: at how some people can sleep at night
Cringing: I don’t cringe
Needing: to clone myself. Oh, wait, that’s wanting not needing.
Questioning: why don’t we have more wind farms in Australia?
Smelling: Costume National Intense
Wearing: knee high socks
Following: anyone who dresses interestingly
Noticing: anyone who dresses interestingly
Knowing: not nearly as much as I used to think I knew
Thinking: that it’s time to prepare dinner
Admiring: people with integrity
Sorting: vintage stock! So many dresses, and getting them organised for tomorrow’s shoot
Getting: cuddles
Bookmarking: my audiobook
Coveting: an inside toilet. The modern world is good for some things.
Disliking: the need to earn a living – it gets in the way of so many fun things.
Opening: a new chapter in my life
Giggling: “Mapp and Lucia”
Feeling: cautiously optimistic
Snacking: not my thing
Helping: share the love of vintage
Hearing: blissful silence.