Brooke And Rach Let Us Slide Into Their DMs To Talk Loving, Learning And Creating A Cool Future

The final notch in our series, which asked contributors and collaborators to think about the gift of intimacy with and within Australia, is carved by cool and calm Sydney couple Brooke Greentree and Rachel Langham.

Cast by new Oyster fave, photographer Daniel Goode, who spotted the pair showing a super dreamy adoration for each other via instagram — Brooke and Rach dedicated their only shared day off a week to being wonderful together by the water and letting us poke around in their relationship… Afterwards, they let us jump into their DMs and we spoke about the positive giving and taking inside their love, their instant attraction, old habits and new similitudes. We discussed different types of intimacy and their relationship with Australia and family, and we talked about what’s on the inside and underneath — which, in most cases, is Bonds.

Brooke wears Matin top, Raey jeans from Matches Fashion; Rachel wears Bonds Lurex Bandeau bra top in Flamingo Shine ($19.95) and Lurex Hi Top underpants in Flamingo Shine ($19.95), Lee Mathews Clements Pleat Skirt ($459)

So what type of people are you? What do you like to do when you’re together, alone, at work etc. What kind of stuff makes you happy?
Brooke: We’re both pretty laid back. I’m 30 and Rach is 23. We both work full time, and I enjoy my quiet time at home. We have five budgies and I have an 8-year-old Russian Blue cat, Jacob. They keep us company at our house in Glebe, Sydney. I have a fairly decent collection of plants which keep me busy at home and I am pretty into photography in my free time. We enjoy heading out for a drink or two at some of our favourite little bars around the city, it’s something we’re yet to outgrow from when we first met two years ago. What makes me happiest is spending time with my family — I have three sisters and it’s always the best feeling in the world when we are all together!
Rach: Cooking and baking — I love trying to take a yum dessert and making it healthy (doesn’t always work out). Being at home with our budgie and cat children, and drinking lots of coffee. Sorry if my answers are short haha I’m writing in between work 😘

All good take your time!
Rach: I love trying to create a balance in our life, be healthy whilst still enjoying a cocktail a couple of nights a week.

Brooke wears Bonds Originals Racer Crop bra in Mango Salsa ($24.95), Albus Lumen pants and hat; Rach wears Christopher Esber top

When did you first meet? What was the thing you did or spoke about when you kind of realised you got along — your common ground?
Brooke: When we met we actually lived in different states. We were ‘Facebook friends’ for quite a while. I went down to Melbourne to see a friend and I made contact with Rach. For eight months we flew back and forth to see each other. She moved up to Sydney last year and it’s been wonderful ever since!
Rach: Brooke actually introduced me to her family the second time we met up, I flew up the Sydney two weeks after we first met haha. I can’t really remember what we even spoke about, I think we were both pretty straight up with how we felt and that confidence in our feelings really blossomed our relationship. It’s like we created a ‘something in common’ with each other.

from left: Brooke wears Bonds Originals Racer Crop bra in Mango Salsa ($24.95), Albus Lumen pants and hat, Bally shoes; Rach wears Bonds Lurex Hi Top underpants in Flamingo Shine ($19.95), Christopher Esber top, Bally shoes

And how do you differ from each other? What is it that the other person brings to the table that you think you couldn’t bring yourself? Or what’s the best thing you’ve learned from the other?
Rach: Brooke and I are so different. I love Japanese food, she loves fried chicken burgers. She’s into photography and I’m into coffee. She loves Missy Higgins and I love Amy Winehouse. We complement each other…
Brooke: No, I love AMY SHARK!
Rach: …I’ve learnt so much from her and she has from me.
Brooke: Not Missy haha. Rach is so jealous that I love Amy.
Rach: Hahah so true… I’ve learnt how to be an adult and I think Brooke has learnt how to still be a kid. We’re looking at buying a house in the next couple of years, which is something that I’d never thought I’d do until Brooke spoke about it. We both lived a wild life while we were very young and I think we just got to a point where we want to evolve our lives. We’re just two average girls that love each other, who have worked full time jobs since we were 16 and just want to create the best life possible for ourselves. I think we both get it from our parents — my mum is 52 and my dad is 60 and Brooke’s mum is 58 and her step dad is 40. The age difference brings a whole different edge to the relationship, we have to learn and re-learn and understand from a completely different perspective.

I love this! I want to be friends with you both! What’s your favourite thing to share together?
Brooke: Haha thanks for listening — would be great if we were all together! At the moment we don’t get much time together, Friday is our only day we both don’t work. We’re trying to figure out how to build a play thing for our budgies at the moment. We really appreciate our 24 hours of alone time together. For me, personally, I love reflecting on each other’s crazy and different work environments week to week. There’s always so much complaining about our work, bosses and everyone around us. We’ve found it so hard to find real solid friends. It’s kind of just us at the moment — friends have come and gone. We don’t mind admitting we have no ‘friends’ but we have each other and we know that’s ok! And at the end of the day, we love delivered food, usually something nasty. And we watch Man vs Food to make us feel better after the big pasta we just ate. I feel like any boring couple admitting that!

Brooke wears Bonds Shine Bandeau bra top in Axul Shine ($16.95) and Bonds Lurex Hi Top Underpants in Axul Shine ($19.95); Rach wears Bonds Shine Bandeau bra top in Flamingo Shine ($16.95) and Shine Hi Top underpants in Flamingo Shine ($19.95), Reliquia Letter R Necklace ($169)

Lol don’t worry – my partner and I are just sitting on the couch eating pasta and watching Fake Or Fortune. Huge mood. So what do you both do for work?
Rach: I manage two cafes in Glebe.
Brooke: I’m in retail management in the city.

Cool and how do you know Daniel? What’s your relationship like and how was it shooting?
Brooke: We didn’t know him, he actually reach out to me on Instagram asking if we’d be interested. He was so lovely and super easy to work with. We had such a fun day!

Oh cool! So the shoot is part of a series and we’ve been looking at relationships (friends, lovers, muses etc) and the different types of intimacy that exists within them. If it’s not too personal, how would you describe the intimacy you favour in friends/lovers? Emotional, intellectual, physical, spiritual etc?
Rach: Being gentle and kind but still having a fire.
Brooke: For me, definitely honesty and trust. I think for lovers it’s something that can definitely divide two people. Same goes for friendships I guess! Rach and I have never had a problem with our emotional connection. Earlier on in our relationship we definitely realised some small differences like what matters/doesn’t matter to us individually. We are seven years apart — I don’t like to use age as a factor, but it may have been the reason back then. I think most of our teething problems are behind us now!

Brooke wears Lee Mathews top; Rach wears Bonds Originals Hi Top underpants in Mango Salsa ($16.95), Lacoste top, Reliquia Letter R Necklace ($169)

Bonds Crop Tee in Washed Neo Sundance ($29.95); Bonds Lurex Hi Top Underpants in Axul Shine ($19.95)

Do you have a song that reminds you of the other? Is that cheesy? Or any one thing — a meal, an item on the shelf?
Brooke: If it were a meal, it would have to be Chinese noodle restaurant in Chinatown!
Rach: Lavender 💜

When you think about your lives now, is it what you expected when you were a kid thinking about the future? How has it varied?
Brooke: I think I am pretty satisfied with life so far. You’re so naive as a kid and don’t think about important things or big decisions… and definitely not money!

Have you had to sacrifice anything in life or love to be where you want to be?
Brooke: Not too often so far in life. Just the standard, bratty, coming-out teenager I was briefly. I had a big push back to my parents for a small moment in time! Aside from that, I have certainly let down a few past relationships because I never saw it working out (for me) long term. But we all need to do that once in our life right?

Or twice or three times. So what has growing up in Australia taught you? Or how do you think it has shaped you?
Brooke: I think we live in an amazing, beautiful and free country. I had such a great childhood, it’s changed so much from 20 years ago, but I hope my kids can have a similar lifestyle to what I had. It has definitely taught me that we are truly fortunate here. There’s so much darkness out there in the world, I think a lot of us forget that! We really have no reason to complain.
Rach: Sorry for the late replies, I’m dealing with my Christmas party hangover haha. I definitely think Australia has taught me to be grateful — we have so much at our doorstep and every place is different. It keeps us curious and, like Brooke said, I hope our kids get to grow up in Australia like we did.

Brooke wears Bonds Originals Boyleg underpants in Pom Pom Pink ($16.95) and Matin shirt; Rach wears Bonds Originals Racer Crop bra top in Mango Salsa ($24.95) and Originals Hi Top underpants in Mango Salsa ($16.95)

You’re repping a solid Australian brand in this shoot — what was your face piece from the collection?
Rach: I LOVED the orange crop set [here and here]. I felt strong and sexy in it as it fit all my curves perfectly. I loved it on Brooke too, the colour looked perfect on her skin.
Brooke: I loved the yellow/orange set too! It’s such a perfect colour for everyone, I usually go for black/white/grey so it’s not something I’d shop for but I think I’ll be getting some for myself. I loved the brighter neon colours on Rach, she has darker skin than me so the colours pop even more!

What does Bonds make you think of?
Rach: I’ve always had Bonds undies in my draw, I think my first bra was Bonds! Now I actually wear all the Bonds sports wear and just bought a new bra from there last week.
Brooke: Bonds takes me way back to high school, I wore my pants super low (still do) so when I discovered the hipsters I got as many pairs I could afford! They’re still my go-to’s, I’m yet to find any other style that fit me perfectly!

Bonds Lurex Bandeau bra top in Flamingo Shine ($19.95) and Lurex Hi Top underpants in Flamingo Shine ($19.95); Brooke and Rachel both wear Matin tops, Bonds Originals underpants and Lee Mathews hats