Duke

Duke is a glossy, full-color, lifestyle magazine – if your chosen lifestyle is that of an ’80s obsessed Australian charity shop addict! Put together by the hyperenergetic duo of Raquel Welch and Emily Hunt (yes, really), it’s a 64 page glimpse into their world of glamour on a budget, outrageous dressing up, dance-offs, crazy theme parties and extreme devotion to duty in the cause of scouring Sydney’s charity shops. There’s interviews with extreme hoarders; chats with grannies in the street; a scary article on stoner style; Raquel & Emily’s A-Z of collecting, a four page guide to their museum-like apartment which I can personally very strongly identify with; a “We live here so you don’t have to” guide to every shop and restaurant in their local scuzzy neighbourhood of Parramatta Road; and a feature on Lady Di’s hats, frilly frocks and pregnancy dresses! Plus plenty of contributions by their artist and illustrator friends, and an all too familiar guide to “Things that ruin our lives in opshops” (trans. ‘charity shops’): the endless who-would-ever-even-have-wanted-that-when-it-was-new items that pointlessly clutter up charity shops creating obstacles and making the hardcore thrifter’s mission to find the good stuff harder. After reading Duke I was exhausted and needed a little rest. There have been charity/thrift shopping zines before, but with Thrift Score and Cheap Date both now defunct, Raquel & Emily have inherited the ill-fitting, slightly scratched charity shopping zine queen crown.

Duke – www.huntandwelch.com

Reviewed by Mark Pawson for Variant Magazine