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Perth Sandals
Luxury, limited edition Swarovski crystal sandals, handcrafted with love by Cheryl Botha of Ankalia in Perth, Western Australia. Feminine and timeless Sandals for the woman who desires a life less ordinary. Sandals designed and made in Australia by a female owned and female operated business. That’s me! I hope you love my Sandal designs and I hope you feel very special when you wear them. Lots of love, Cheryl xx
Sisterhood Start-Up Success
Sisters do it for themselves in start-ups Recently we celebrated the United Nation’s Small and Medium Enterprise Day. Not surprisingly the evolution of “womenpreneurs” was identified as one of the Top 10 trends of the year. In Australia, female entrepreneurship is also an emerging trend with women-owned, women led enterprises increasing at a faster rate than male-owned businesses, according to small business and family enterprise ombudsman Bruce Billson. In Australia, approximately 38 percent of small businesses are owned by women and I’m sure this percentage will keep growing. In 2019, of the 171,000 new businesses set-up in Australia, two-thirds were...
Something Blue for the Bride
"Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.” This is the traditional rhyme that details what a bride should wear to her wedding for good luck. The historical thinking with this rhyme is the old item provides protection for the baby to come. The new item offers optimism for the future. The item borrowed from another happily married couple ensures good luck and the colour blue is a sign of purity and fidelity. In 2011, at the wedding of Catherine Middleton and Prince William, the bride (Kate) had: Something old – Carrickmacross lace in her wedding dress. Something new –...
7 Summer Fashion Looks You’ll Love
I’m a girl that absolutely loves Summer, aside from a ski holiday once or twice a year. Most of the time I live in pretty but casual dresses and I team them with my Ankalia Sandals. I’m just your average Aussie girl, so I feel all these looks can be worn by anyone. The photos are “real” in that I’ve taken them all at home outside my little Sandal studio with a hand-held remote control that syncs with my iPhone. So, no photoshopping and no editing. Its’ all “real.” If I want to “dress-up” my look slightly I wear my...
Fast Fashion Faux Pas
Slow fashion versus fast fashion. The biggest fashion faux pas of the last few years is people’s tendency to buy “fast fashion” which is bad for the environment in so many ways. My Ankalia customers certainly understand and appreciate “slow fashion.” I want all consumers to place value on the clothing and footwear they buy and avoid “fast fashion” as much as possible. They should invest in quality pieces and ensure they only buy things they will wear and treasure for many, many years to come. I urge all shoppers to only buy things they feel instantly great in and...
Six Questions to Ask Yourself When Shopping for Jeans
Everyone I know seems to find it really hard to shop for jeans. Believe it or not, I only own a few pairs of jeans and I actually only wore one pair all of this year. It’s taken me FOREVER to find the right cut and fit for my body type. I like them to be comfy of course (who doesn’t), and I can’t stand it when I struggle to get them on, over my feet. I also like them to be the right waist height and the right width at the ankle and lower leg. I’m like Goldilocks! I...
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