OUR MENTAL HEALTH APPAREL IS LAUNCHING SOON

It is no secret that Dunnebells is not an apparel company. However, it's also no secret that here at Dunnebells, we love to rise to a challenge and push ourselves outside our comfort zones.

Every so often we get this grand idea that we should launch some sort of apparel, and in the past, we’ve had a few tank tops, a few tee shirts, one jumper, and our hottest item to date - toques (or beanies, depending on where you live and what you want to call that thing that goes on your head when its cold outside).

Our apparel has never been what's exciting about us and if we’re honest - we’re totally okay with that. We are VERY good at what we’re good at (we think so, anyway), and we want to keep it that way. However, with all that being said, we also want to try new things, expand ourselves, and give back in ways that are important to us.

This is why we've been consuming ourselves for the last handful of months with our new apparel. Our decision to start the process of creating this apparel lined up nicely with our preparations for our Dunnebells Mental Health Challenge and has continued on throughout the course of Mental Health Month (May), expanding into June as well - which is fitting because if we’ve learned anything about mental health, challenges, and talking about our complicated (and beautiful) brains, it is this - mental health is something that we need talk about and focus on throughout the whole year, not just one month. 

Our conversations have become more meaningful in the months that this apparel has been in the cards for us. We’re softer with ourselves, and with each other. There is space for the feelings of being too much and the feelings of being not enough. We’re quicker to rid ourselves of judgment and slower to want to escape reality.

One thing we’ve learned since this idea came about is that if we’re going to create these items and encourage you all to wear them proudly, then we too, need to wear them proudly. 

To us, wearing our new apparel items proudly means that there has to be a level of belief in the messages that they’ll send. We’ll dive into those messages shortly. 

So while we are not an apparel company, we are a company that is launching some apparel.

GO US!

We think that's pretty cool - gone are the days when businesses need to just be really good at one thing. 

Thank you for joining us on this journey.

Now, to the good stuff.

What are the items, and why are we so bloody excited about them?

This apparel launch, which may or may not be called ‘The Dunnebells Mental Health Apparel Launch of 2022’ includes three main items.  

There is one hoodie, and there are multiple tee shirts. 

We say THREE main items because there are THREE themes within the one large theme of mental health. 

Let me explain.

This is our hoodie, and from what we can tell so far by all the responses on Instagram already, this might be our best seller (but, we will have to wait and see). 

There have been multiple photos of this shared in detail, so there's much to keep hidden at this point. There will be no element of surprise with this one - other than, you can almost get one for yourself. YAY! We came up with this phrase and once it was said, it sort of just stuck. You know those moments? Moments where, somehow, words just slip out and everyone looks around like “did this just happen”? This phrase was one of those moments for us and we knew that it deserved our full attention.

We believe that over time humans have been encouraged to hide their feelings. Whether from society, their parents, their friends, their spouse, their co-workers, or themselves - the idea of keeping it to yourself has been a (yes, we’re generalizing here) message spread to most of us in some way, shape, or form. 

And while sometimes it feels good (I say this because I struggle with mental health a ton and sometimes its WAY EASIER to just tell people what they want to hear vs. telling them what I’m actually feeling and thinking) to hide our feelings from the world, sometimes it feels good to not. 

Sometimes it feels good, to tell the truth. Even though it can be extremely scary at times, it can also be extremely rewarding to speak your truth.

And because we know that it's not always the time, or the place, to lay all your sh*t on the table, we’re not trying to encourage you to do that. Some people don’t deserve your deepest darkest truths, and that's something we want you to remember. 

This hoodie, however, is meant to remind you that your truth is valid. It's meant to remind you that at least once a day, someone is bound to ask you how you are, and it's your choice how you respond.

If you’re good - please, by all means, say you’re good. 

But if you’re having a horrendous day and you quite literally want to crawl into a hole and never talk to another human, maybe it would be okay to say something like “you know, I’m actually not having the best day, thank you for asking”. Just maybe, by telling the truth, you will create a safe space for that person to tell the truth to you, too.

For instance, my wife came home a few months ago from a footy training, and here's what she said to me: 

“Do you know what _____ said to me tonight? I asked her how she was and she responded ‘I’ve actually been struggling with my mental health lately if I can be honest’ and that really meant something to me. I was happy that she felt I was someone she could be open with and my response was simple. I said ‘thank you for being honest with me. If there's anything you need or anything I can do, just let me know’. I just thought I would tell you because I know you and I have been talking about this a lot lately, and it was just really nice to have someone respond that way. I now know what it is like to be on the receiving end of it all. I walked away from the whole encounter, though it was short and sweet, thinking that she and I have bonded on a new level and I also now feel like I should check in on her every once in a while and make sure she's doing okay.”

To us, nothing could feel better. Having someone feel like you’re a safe space is one of the best feelings. Did this girl's response require a full-blown conversation afterward? No. Not at all. However, it did create a knowing that if either party ever needed to chat about anything, the other person is happy to hold space for them. Her response did, however, create a long conversation between my wife and I hours after it happened and it also created a sense of relief - that she said what she was feeling and felt safe in doing so.

1 in 5 people struggle with their mental health and over 70% of those people state that the stigma around talking about their mental health is something that holds them back. This hoodie is designed to break down that stigma. With mental health issues becoming increasingly prevalent, we believe that we must move mental health to the forefront of conversation topics and have transparent discussions about how we are truly feeling. If you don’t feel comfortable sharing how you’re really feeling, know that we won’t be disappointed. This hoodie isn’t for everyone, much like waffles aren’t for everyone. Respect goes out to all, always. If you’re interested in speaking your truth more and starting more conversations and feel safe doing so - we think you’re going to totally vibe with this hoodie - plus, it comes in two stunning colors. 

I can’t fully recall if this image has been shared already or not, so instead of giving it all away, I’ve kept part of it a secret.

I know, I know - it’s annoying. Too bad for you, I’ve been told things I do are annoying many times so it's not a shock! Plus, I’m trying to be annoying, so guess what? I’ve succeeded. 

What I will tell you about this tee shirt is this - when we came up with the idea for it, we knew that we wanted it to somehow get other people involved. The idea is that when you wear this shirt, yes you feel empowered and like a light in a dark room, but you also create that same empowerment in others.

A true win-win situation, if you ask us.

We’ve always loved the idea of a message being written on the back of a clothing item. Business in the front (literally) and party in the back.

This tee is the Dunnebells Mullet. 

HAHAHA.

We’ve tried and tested it, and it works. 

I’ve gone to the gym with Lucy when she wears this and I can see people reading the back of it, with a little smile on their faces (not a big smile though because then people would know that they were watching someone else at the gym which can be kind of creepy but also everyone's doing it - like me, watching them watch her). 

She's worn it to some of the classes that she teaches at the YMCA and people are always commenting on it. 

I’ve worn it with a pair of jeans walking down the street and more often than not, someone stops me to say something. 

And, the least flattering (but most memorable) moment I have of this tee shirt is from a day when I was feeling particularly grumpy and was consumed with my extremely negative self-talk. My wife convinced me to get up, get dressed, and take the dog for a walk with her. I obliged, knowing that a walk might do me good. Then, as we were walking down the stairs, I said something negative about myself and she turned around and said “Read my tee shirt. Outloud. Just read it”.

I was SO annoyed. 

I knew exactly what it said and I knew exactly what it wanted me to do and I was annoyed that she was right and I was wrong. I read the damn tee shirt out loud and guess what? I felt better. My crap attitude took a turn, and although it was slow, my day eventually did get better and my self-talk started to be a bit more positive too. 

Because I am amazing and sometimes, life is hard - but that doesn’t make me less amazing. 

What does the tee shirt say? You’ll have to wait to find out. 

It comes in three different colors and honestly, we think you’re going to love it. 

We asked ourselves in preparation for this launch, what does mental health look like?

And we decided that it looks like a lot of things and like absolutely nothing at all, all at the same time.

The more we continue to dive into mental health and have conversations with people all over the world, the more we realize that each and every single one of us are unique in more ways than we can ever imagine.

What mental health looks like to us might not be what it looks like to you and what it feels like is a whole other story.

When challenged to come up with an image that embodies self-love throughout our mental health journey, we knew it couldn’t be done alone. We needed the creative genius of none other, than our dear friend Jill. 

Jill is a wife, mother, artist, adventurer, soul searching, ocean-loving, beautiful and inspiring woman who we absolutely adore. She's one of our dearest friends who, we believe, speaks her truth. Whenever we get together with Jill, we spend a lot of time talking about life, about struggle, and tapping into our creativity. We often laugh together, dance together, adventure together, and cry together.

And not only is she all of those things, but she’s someone who was there for us in some of the most difficult times for us. We had met Jill a few months after COVID had taken over the world and we moved to Vancouver Island to wait out our time in Canada before moving to Australia. We didn’t know anyone when we arrived, and then one day as we were walking along the coast, this loud and fun-looking lady starts screaming at us “It’s me, Jill! JILL PADDOCK” as if we were supposed to know who that was.

Turns out, that Jill had been following us on Instagram ever since we met one night when we were all living in Calgary. We had chatted here and there, but in the beginning, everything was online so the fact that she was yelling at us on the street as if we knew her didn’t register to us at all. Soon after that, we decided we should meet up and we’d go for a walk. Week after week, these walks turned into #walkiesandtalkies because we weren’t really allowed to do anything else, and we were all each other had. She had just moved to Victoria with her family, and we were there without knowing anyone as well - so we quickly became each other’s people. Thanks to COVID, we were also each other’s bubble - and it was so needed.

We became each other’s people in a time when people were needed. We happily relied on each other to bounce ideas off of, cry in front of, break down in the presence of, and laugh until our bellies hurt.

We knew Jill was the person we needed to design this teeshirt for us. So, with that being said together, in partnership, YOUR BRAIN IS BEAUTIFUL was born, and guess what? Wearing it feels like an honor.

An honor to Jill, of course, but also to the self. Our brains are beautiful. They are messy and confusing and painful of course, but within all that, they are also extremely bloody beautiful. 

This tee will come in THREE different design options - stay tuned. By buying this tee shirt you become one of a small group that gets to wear Jill Paddock’s art on their body, and we think that's one of the COOLEST things in the world.

Jill, if you’re reading this, we love you!

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And with that, I’ll end here.

Hopefully you’re as excited as we are. And if you’re not, that's okay too!

Just want to add one more small detail (that isn’t small, at all).


DUNNEBELLS WILL DONATE A PORTION OF ALL SALES TO CHARITIES THAT SUPPORT AND SPECIALIZE IN TEEN & ADULT MENTAL HEALTH.

You read that right. Dunnebells is not an apparel company, so we’re not over here trying to make a bunch of money off of tee shirt sales. We created this apparel so that conversations can start. We created this apparel so that you feel empowered. We created this apparel so that you feel heard. We created this apparel because we’re all so unique and beautiful and complicated in our own unique and beautiful and complicated ways.

We created this apparel for you, and for change.

We’re proud to be donating a portion of all of our sales to MENTAL HEALTH. Every cent counts and every person matters.

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ALL ITEMS ARE GOING TO BE LIVE ON FRIDAY JUNE 24, @ 10:00 am Mountain Time.

*want to follow along with Jill and support her too? She can be found over on Instagram @jillpaddock.art as well as on her website www.jillpaddockart.com


Thanks Fam for all the love, see you next week!

HAPPY SHOPPING.