Department of style

Making the store particularly unusual is it has no online presence and no street-frontage, being tucked away in a corner of Manuka Court.

Told by locals that “nobody has ever made this space work”, owner Susan Taylor, with some help from husband Peter Jones, set about providing the shopping experience she valued, and the business has defied the odds as it rejects the status quo.

“It’s not about trends, we’ve never been interested [in trends],” Taylor said.

“It’s really about what looks right on people, I don’t read fashion magazines to read up on all that kind of stuff – it’s completely irrelevant. I think we get a lot of inspiration from the art world.”

Taylor has “a very active offline manifesto” she developed when making the switch from lawyer to shopkeeper in 2004, and has cultivated a loyal client base.

Her mailing list of 900 receives a hand addressed, hard-copy newsletter three times a year in the post.

Taylor stocks only Australian and New Zealand-made clothing, and partners with several local designers, including Mebourne’s Susan Dimasi.

Dimasi’s couture label MaterialByProduct is at the top end of exterior’s range and has a big Canberra following. Dimasi brought her latest collection to Canberra on Thursday, which doubled as a birthday celebration for exterior, with bubbles at the East Hotel.

She personally fits her pieces to the client, so it can take a month to receive a limited edition outfit, but Taylor said it’s worth the wait.

“It’s such a seductive thing to be wearing clothes that are made for you.”

All astronauts are pretty damn cool in my book, but taking the cake has to be Commander Chris Hadfield, who hit worldwide fame singing David Bowie’s Space Oddity in zero gravity during his time as head of the International Space Station.

He amassed over a million twitter followers photographing earth as he viewed it from space and carried his social media fame back to earth when he returned in May last year. In August the moustachioed Canadian is heading to Canberra for a show at Llewellyn Hall at the ANU.

He’ll join host Dr Derek Muller from ABC’s Catalyst and Dr Katie Mack, a theoretical astrophysicist at the University of Melbourne, as well as Dr Carin Bondar, whose web series on the evolution of sexual behaviour, Wild Sex, has over 16 million YouTube views, and Destin Sandlin, an aerospace and mechanical engineer whose YouTube channel Smarter Every Day has had 97 million views.

First release tickets to one of the two Sydney shows sold out in 10 hours, but there are still tickets available to see Commander Hadfield here in the Capital.

I’m told he’s bringing his guitar.

It’s the fastest growing women’s sport in the world and the only amateur sport in Canberra to play frequently in front of sell-out crowds, but there’s little amateurishness about roller derby, which starts up again on Saturday afternoon.

The theatrical roots of derby (it's pronounced the American way) attracts claims that it's not a sport, but it certainly helps the Canberra Roller Derby League regularly attract crowds from 800 to 3500 people – and don't let the team names or players' nicknames fool you into underestimating the athleticism of it.

While it shares the mock brutality of wrestling – the logo is of knuckledusters – there is nothing pre-determined about the full-contact bouts, with a family-friendly atmosphere.

“I think more and more derby is moving away from the costume uniform to become much more professionalised,” Anita Wesney, aka Hatchet Woman, said.

“I wear skins to training, take my fitness very seriously, and I haven't touched a fishnet stocking or sparkly shorts for years – we've moved on from there.”

The league – run completely by women – attracts skaters from all backgrounds and ages, from the minimum 18 up to late 40s.

Everyone goes through a lengthy “freshmeat” course and has to prove their ability before being drafted to one of the four teams in the league.

And behind such bouting names as Jaxhammer, Freudian Slit, Mae Q Sqwheel and Rainbow Spite are doctors, lawyers, mothers, teachers, chefs, students and economists.

“It's such a diverse group in terms of background and experience and personality and body shape and fitness levels and all of that, yet it's the most supportive and tight-knit community I've ever come across,” Heidi Yates, aka Heidramatic, said.

Heidramatic will be one of a dozen skaters to make their debut at the Southern Cross Stadium in Tuggeranong when her Brindabelters take on the Surly Griffins in the first bout of a double header.

It starts at 3pm. Tickets for one or both bouts are available at the door.

Former Canberran Thando Sikwila is set to return to the Capital in a few weeks, having been eliminated from The Voice.

Sikwila will play an acoustic set at A. Baker on July 13, testing out some of her own music from the EP she’s currently recording and giving people a chance to see “the real” extroverted Thando, who she doesn’t think came through on the TV show.

“There were a lot more people who shone a lot brighter [behind the scenes] than they did on the show. It definitely changes someone's personality and quality of performance when they're on that massive stage and there are thousands of people in the audience and all these cameras on you.”

Sikwila’s elimination sing-off episode was filmed in April, but even as the shows have aired, it has been business as usual for the 21-year-old soul singer who is back working full time while recording her album and planning a tour.

“I'll go out with some of the other contestants and they'll always get stopped for pictures and I'm just like, yep, I'm just going to slide into my hole of obscurity!”

While Sikwila thinks The Voice had a different target audience from hers, she came away resolved to work harder at her musical dreams.

“There was a part of me that thought being able to get on the show and sing to the whole country would be my foot in the door with the music industry for people looking for a certain sound.

“It really takes a lot more work than just going on a reality show and singing.”

As the live shows continue, Sikwila will be cheering for teammate Jackson Thomas: “He is the one person who can stop a whole room from doing the things they're doing, his voice is just so captivating.”

July 5: The winter Hustle&Scout night market and Forage food market is on in New Acton. There will be 43 designers, two live music acts and a DJ set, as well as 20 local food stalls.

The market will be supporting the Vinnies winter appeal, and Night Patrol volunteers will be accepting donations of gloves, men’s socks and blankets.