Grooving on Gloucester Street
Great style, well put together, or just someone who catches our eye. Every week reporter Carly Gooch gets out and about to discover the people behind the clothes in Canterbury.
AMorning People rave early on Friday closed Gloucester St in central Christchurch and had people bouncing out of bed to get their groove on to a DJ spinning beats outside Tūranga.
Yulia Zee, 42 – pictured with daughter Zoe, 2 – is a freelance copywriter living in Cashmere, Christchurch. Born in the Ukraine, her Ukrainian parents moved to New York in the 90s and she spent most of her life there.
New York was an “interesting place to live,” she says, but “everything has an expiry”.
She spends a bit of time at her and her partner’s bach near Gore Bay, “spending time there by the sea and planting some native trees”.
“It’s so close to nature.”
The seal colony close to the bach provides entertainment and a wow factor for her daughter Zoe. “It’s very special.”
She wears Stieglitz leather pants she bought in Amsterdam, which she doesn’t get to wear much, she says, along with a tee from Zara and an ATP Atelier bag from Fashion Society.
“It’s fun to wear something a little more dressed up for a party.”
Flair McKay, 37, lives in Woolston, Christchurch, and has many roles, including Circability Trust regional manager, Phillipstown Community Hub events manager and Yumm Productions manager.
She is passionate about bringing communities together in a creative way that gets people’s bodies moving, including dance, yoga and circus.
“My mum called me Flair - it created the pathway to doing stuff with a touch of flair,” she says.
She images her mum thought: “You are gonna have an interesting life, here’s your name.”
McKay was born in Winnipeg, Canada, and raised in Waikouaiti, Otago. She lived in Wānaka for 18 years before moving to Christchurch last year for her teenager’s schooling and to expand her own professional skills, “which I have achieved”.
She says she loves to wear things that are “soft or comfy, and also stylish”. She wears a dress and tiger print tights from SaveMart, and a vest from a Dunedin op shop.
Rebecca Knowles, 50s, is a business owner living in Christchurch’s central city.
Even though she’s not a “morning person”, she was up at 5.30am to get ready and walk just two blocks from her home to Friday’s dance event.
“I love music and dancing and socialising, that’s what drew me to [the event].”
She’s been living in the city centre for nearly 10 months after living at Waimairi Beach for 10 years.
“I just wanted to be in the city, I love the city, I love socialising. It made sense to live there ... there’s so much happening.”
She wears heels from Mi Piaci – her staple shoe style, she says. “I wear heels, even though I’m tall.” Her shirt is from Augustine – a store she loves due to the colours.