Marle Women is created to celebrate our philosophy of designing pieces for women of all ages and stages of their lives. Each feature profiles a selection of women across the generations that we admire. We hope each interview inspires you, the same way in which these women do to us.
It is a pleasure to have founder of The Undone and recent new mother, Sara Crampton, as our latest #marlewomen. Sara wears new season Chloe Skirt and Albie Cardi.
Can you share a little bit about yourself, your background, career and upbringing? What aspects have contributed to the woman you are today?
I’m the founder of The UNDONE, a curated online women’s fashion store based in Sydney that is focused on a less is more approach to style, where everything works back with each other and can be worn again and again.
I grew up in Brisbane in a very modest but hardworking family. My father, grandfather and now brother all work for our family’s kitchenware business that has been running for over 40 years. They’ve instilled in me that you need to work hard over a long period of time, but be passionate about what you do. Nothing happens overnight.
When I was in my mid teens my mother, then in her early 40s was diagnosed with MS. This has had an incredible impact on who I am and the way I look at the world in terms of how lucky I am for my health and how quickly it can be taken away. MS is a very unfair disease.
I moved to Sydney when I was 21 after landing my first full time job in large organisation that was building an online store from the ground up. I was able to work alongside a team of extremely talented web developers, designers and marketers and it was in this role I really fell in love with all facets of e-com.
Before moving to Sydney and while I was working on my career, I was also building my online presence as a blogger with the website HarperandHarley. I’m really thankful for the timing of the blogging phenomenon over the last 11+ years. I considered myself an extremely introverted person and having a platform where I can share my interests and build a community of likeminded people has brought out a lot of confidence.
How would you describe your personal style? Has it always been this way or has it evolved over the years? How?
I found what worked for me in my early twenties and haven’t deviated since. I realised that bright colours and prints weren’t for me and a wardrobe of black, white and neutrals that could all be worn with each other made getting dressed a breeze and always made me feel my best.
Have you always been confident in your style, or is it something one learns with age?
It definitely came with age and taking the time to analyse how my clothes made me feel. If you give it enough thought I believe you can work out what makes you happy, and what you need to avoid. This can apply to most things in life, but in this case it also works for your clothing choices.
What do you love most about wearing Marle? How does it make you feel?
The pieces I have from Marle are some of my most hardworking items in my wardrobe. I love that I can wear them on a daily basis and style in multiple ways. I really appreciate the natural materials and how easy the items are to wash and wear.
"The pieces I have from Marle are some of my most hardworking items in my wardrobe. I love that I can wear them on a daily basis and style in multiple ways"
What is your take on a personal ritual? Do you have any rituals when getting dressed each morning?
I love the mornings, and luckily so, as my almost 3 month old is my new alarm clock. At the moment I try to get up before him to squeeze in some at home pilates, and if lucky enough jump in the shower before he wakes up. If not, I’ll make sure I get to that, and my morning skin care regime during his first nap or while my husband watches him during his morning playtime.
I always check the weather and make sure I dress for it, even if I might have had something else in mind the night before, but to be honest, I’m not much of an outfit planner and usually throw on whatever comes to me on the day. It helps that I’m very comfortable repeating outfits, stick to go-to ‘uniforms’ and everything in my wardrobe works with each other.
What do you wish people were more aware of? Is there something you wish was discussed more openly?
There are many things, but because of my mother’s MS and her being in a wheelchair, the awareness I now have regarding accessibility for the disabled has opened my eyes to how terrible we are at considering this day-to-day, and how this can isolate our most vulnerable. Steps, not having access to disabled bathrooms and tables placed too close together in a venue means that those in a wheelchair can’t access the space - and plans to get out of the house can be considered too hard and cause too much anxiety. Most of these issues are easily fixed, we just have to have the awareness and care to do so.
What is a piece of personal wisdom that you carry with you?
A problem shared is a problem halved.
We can sometimes feel the weight of the world on our shoulders, and it’s important to realise that there is always someone to talk to, and always a solution to a problem.
Quick fire questions
Most treasured accessory? A gold coin necklace from my husband’s family
Texture or colour? Colour – or more so the lack of colour
Spring/ Summer or Autumn/Winter? Spring/Summer
Find a curated selection of Marle pieces on The Undone now, and follow Sara at @harperandharley.
