Duncan & Prudence Our Blog

Dear Customer,
Lately almost every day and sometimes over twice a day you have been asking us at our counter
“So how are you doing, anyway…?”
…always implying you don’t really want to pry but …”with the recession and everything?”
I take it you mean to ask whether we’ve been “hit” by it – the recession – and I sense it’s a csual concern of those of you carrying on spending your money in this climate, in Keynesian terms doing exactly what it – the recession – needs to save sectors of the economy such as clothing from being “hit”. You’re doing your bit, and in return you’d like some inside knowsee “…are there more like me? Still spending? Or less?”
For all of you out there loyally shopping at Duncan & Prudence, who are certainly entitled to know as much as they wish to know about our business, my answer is that your sales stay true and thanks to your loyalty and custom we have not yet been “hit” by the recession. Our fingers have been crossed for five years now, so a recession does not change the fact that fashion enterprise, especially when it’s young and applying sustainable business practices, chases twice as many bills as it ever sees in sales. The trick is to know how to turn two wheels, supply and demand. For us it’s also production and sales. And when you get down to it, really it’s simply about time management.
Tessa is loving being back full time now that she’s graduated, sinking her teeth into screen-printing and the new schedule, while Duncan corners Amanda at the computer and dictates how production systems are to function. From the artist’s mind to the spreadsheet specialist’s, Duncan & Prudence might soon become Duncan & Amanda. I better look out.
We’ve made incredible outfits for The Piradicals – DO buy a ticket and go to ten others also at the Fringe Festival. My goodness then there’s Cuba St Carnival – I promise myself every year this time I’ll go but I’m always too busy – for hot on its tail the Newtown Festival! March 8! The Hospital will be officially opening on that day, with the Newtown School’s Kapahaka Group doing the haka and karakia. We are launching a brand new batch of offcut tees from infant to adult $25 – $58. They’re called our bastards because the cotton’s been picked up and sorted off the cutting room floor, mixed together in multi-colours. I don’t know of a cooler t-shirt, and so Newtown.
Don’t you just love late summer in the Capital? Recession or no recession, late summer Wellington is of all places the place to take stock of what we’ve got and feel lucky. Our parks are world class public space, our beaches are as diverse as the people, and our councils have so much going on free or next to nothing we can take our kids out morning noon and night to a different thing all weekend.
Duncan & Prudence keeps busy busy and works hard to stay ahead. We recently finalised our 2009 weekly time-table and wo! My hours have finally come down to 40 per week. That’s a milestone. I think Duncan’s is down to 45. But man – after five years – we can get so much more done so much more quickly, that after our day’s work we feel physically exhausted. (Did I mention Duncan knocked out a wall upstairs and painted the apartment, sanded and varnished the floors?) I’m sure many of you know the feeling.
I hope this answers all your questions, dear customer, but also points one thing out: it’s weird being asked something different by so many of you all at once like that, we are humbled by your genuine concern, even if it’s knowsee. We are doing OK. We’re seizing 2009 and refusing to whine. We will be dropping none of our products and we’ll be launching new ones – Duncan has some beautiful stuff up his sleeve for winter. By the way we still have a medium and large denim apron dress in stock, and two more smalls cut to sew next week. You won’t see me wearing it in the store so often because it’s my perfect Sunday dress, from brunch to beach with an hour’s gardening inbetween – all I need is a change of shoes for each occasion. Look at me in my diggingman’s shoes and garden gloves: I have my bikini and cowboy hat on already for the beach straight after I’ve done the weeding.
See you in Welly this recession!

Take care,
Prudence