Penny Arcade and Holiday Trunk Show

(No not the online comic by Tycho and Gabe) but a new vintage shop opening up at 1177 Dundas St. W. at Ossington. Self Described as a new spin on vintage fashion, Penny Arcade opens it's doors to the public on December 12. It sounds like more than just a clothing store... also a fun place to just relax... read a book... listen to some music.... And at night the store will serve as an event venue where musicians can put on a show and fashion conscious art lovers mingle.

The opening night sounds like it will be fantastic, I personally can't make it having already been invited to 2 Christmas parties that evening but if you can, try to get out there at 7pm this Friday the 12th to have a drink and admire the vintage finds, each hand picked by Rachel Sheehan, the entrepreneur behind Penny Arcade.

I did manage to make it out to The Workroom's holiday trunk show today. I had a certain someone in mind to pick up a gift for and found something fabulous. I guess I can't really post a photo until Christmas is over! A couple wonderful things I did see that I can safely post about however:
adorable handmade bobby pins and hair elastics by PandaCub
this gorgeous handmade swede stocking by Jennifer Buckland

Repo! The Genetic Opera

Going to see Repo! The Genetic Opera tonight! I am so excited to see this movie. I read a review of it saying that if you like Rocky Horror, Phantom of the Opera or the Saw movies, then you will like this!Above - Paris Hilton as Amber Sweet

In Toronto it's playing at the Bloor Cinema, for one week only, Nov 21-27. Unfortunately the Bloor Cinema site hasn't been fully operational, you can't even check out the schedule and the last time I called them their mailbox was full. SO if you wanna check out this movie, here is the schedule:

Sat:	9:30
Sun:	9:00
Mon:	4:30 9:00
Tue:	7:00
Wed:	9:00
Thu:	3:30

Below - Sarah Brightman as Blind Mag:
A lot of film critics are whining about the fact that Paris Hilton is in this movie. I don't get what their problem is. Apparently director Darren Lynn Bousman refused to audition Paris at first and she had a copy of the script smuggled to her while she was in jail so she could rehearse the role.

Stella McCartney Care Products Review

It's been a little while since my last post and much has happened to me but work has been picking up so I've not had as much time to write. I must write however about a very nice line of luxury skincare products that I was asked to try out. The full line of Stella McCartney Organic CARE luxury skincare products was given to me by Matchstick Inc., a Toronto based word of mouth style marketing company.
I really wanted to just give these products a chance, try them all over time and see how they could fit into my own skincare regime. Sometimes you pick up a product that seems great but it doesn't wow you or it never really finds a place in your daily regime. Some of these products are very comfortable and good, useful products, some others are completely new to me and I'm not even totally sure how to use them such as some of the elixers. I gave them my own spin I guess. There were a good deal of moisturizers and cleansers. I wouldn't mind a comparison between the products written by the company producing them. I don't think I would go out and buy a handful of face cleansers on my own, I would probably pick one up judging by it's use and description and then if I liked it, stick with it, if not so much then I would try a new one until I found what worked for me. So it was certainly interesting to have a moisturizing cream, a moisturizing fluid and a day/night cream given to me to try at the same time.

Of all the products, I think I actually like the cleansing products the best. The foaming cleanser is foamy and light, nice to use at the sink to wake up in the morning. The cleansing milk is heavier and super creamy, it makes your skin feel great while and after you use it and I prefer to have that one in the shower. It's nice on all skin really. The toning floral water is pretty fun, I'm betting this would be a great one to use in the summer. It come in a spray can and is mostly water with some green tea and (other) extracts in it, it feels nice and cool and light. I'm a little wary of the night/day cream, it's got a really rich texture and I love that but I'm still trying it out. I'm just curious how that one will work out for me since I tend to have oily spots on my skin. (ELIXER) is lovely, it comes in a little dropper style bottle and it just feels great to use this product. The elixers were all new to me, there isn't much instruction or description on the products so, knowing where to use them on the body or how often, what they really do... it's an experiment for me. This line will be available to consumers at Holt Renfrew in the future so hopefully the skincare people there will be able to discuss the products with their customers and answer any questions they might have about them.

I love the fact that all these products are organic. Nice to treat the planet (and my face) with some respect. The packaging is pretty simplistic but in that way a nice reflection of the line itself and of the idea of 'calm'. Overall the products tended to have a similar smell, sort of like pine... Can't quite put my finger on it... It's a nice smell, pretty different from any body product I've used.

I've just gone to the Stella McCartney CARE products webpage and there are a lot of fabulous ideas on using these products! I checked out the Nourishing Elixer first and one of the suggestions is to use it on hair before washing it or as a hair mask, or to put a few drops in bathwater. I will have to try those suggestions! Check out all the suggestions for the products on the site.

There are so many online reviews of these products!! I think people are excited to try a luxury line that its organic made by a designer we already love not just for style, but for her ever present concern for the well being of the environment. If you want to read some other reactions to these products please check out some reviews by:
Sephora
Kiss and Makeup
Treehugger.com
Whippie Chicks on a Mission
Chick Advisor
Zucket
Makeup Junkie (a nice, thorough review, but you'll have to find the Stella McCartney tag to find the review.)

CreativFestival - Dressforms - Sewing Supply Shopping

oohh, I don't want to see my next credit bill...

I spent yesterday and today at the CreativFestival taking sewing classes and spending dollars. I was so glad I went, it was pretty fun and I picked up some new sewing skills. I did the 'Yes You Can, Making it Fit' class held by Robert Wylie, a class about getting garments to fit well, especially in two common trouble areas, the bust and crotch. The class I took today was 'Sewing Shortcuts: Apronology' by Rosebud, a class that teaches speed sewing, industrial shortcuts and how to sew without needles!

I met the lovely Denise my first day at the festival. She was representing (and owns) The Sewing Studio and had a row of Janome machines for anyone to come along and do a little project. One of the first things I did at the festival was sew a little zipper pouch cuff with her. What a super sweetheart. For those looking for sewing classes, The Sewing Studio has some good ones, check out their site. She just saw me wandering around and asked me over to try out a project! It was nice to test run a Janome. I have a Huskavarka Viking at home which is my baby, but how come no one ever told me how fricking easy it can be to put in button holes and buttons?? The Janomes had a special foot that did it all!! The buttonholes came out perfect everytime. I used a Pfaff (I think) in class today, also another completely different machine.

Carolyn Rohaly has written on more than one occasion about where to get dressforms... affordable ones... If you are in the market and can wait around for the spring or fall CreativFestival, (this time around at least) MacFab had nice adjustable ones $100 off!! I so bought one. I've been wanting one for months. Even though Fabricland had a sale back in March or so, I just wasn't comfortable at that point shelling out for something I wasn't %100 sure I'd use and wasn't ready to use yet. Waiting for a sale is the way to go!

Galligator at Shoeblog.com recently wrote about Project Runway sketchbooks and illustration books that she found at Toys R Us. Apparently they have a whole line of actual sewing and design tools as well! This weeknd I saw Project Runway rulers, seam gauges, needles, sewing kits, tracing paper, french curves......

Other stuff I bought this weekend at the festival:
-machine needles
-A book on sewing called: The Complete Photo Guide to Sewing by Singer
-a fabric eraser (hate those marks all over my fabulous new clothes)
-some silk organza, to line a pair of pants and to use as a pressing cloth
-an instructional DVD on Industrial Shortcuts (part 2 to what I learned today in class) by Islander Sewing.
-a pressing stick (I didn't even know what this was before today! It's a rounded wooden stick that gets inserted into thin sewn strips (like apron strings or perhaps a tie or belt) so you can press your seam open before flipping it right side out.
-a project runway seam gauge

It's funny how something like a ruler... (or a seam gauge) can make a girl feel all giddy and special just because it says 'Project Runway' on the packaging.

I've also ordered another book a week or so ago called Concepts of Pattern Grading: Techniques for Manual and Computer Grading by: Carolyn L. Moore, Kathy K. Mullet, and Margaret Prevatt Young. This was one Carolyn advised to read on her blog.

Has anyone else seen Britney's new music video, Womanizer? Loves it. She's looking hot and the video reminds me of her Toxic video... I like the song too, of course. It's one of those songs I can listen to 100 times and keep enjoying it.

Apparently people like my fashion illustration... I am going to do some more soon and post them.

Learning to Sew in Toronto

If any of you lovely readers out there are also learning to sew or already do and you live in the GTA, you have got to check out the CreativFestival this weekend!! It's being held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and is already going on. There are tons of classes and seminars happening and there will be booth after booth offering fabric, notions, tools, you name it. I went to a seminar last night hosted by Ron Collins on Interfacings and Underlinings, it was pretty interesting to listen to someone's tips and advice on something they've done the trial and error game for years on. Maybe I will line those wool pants I was going to make...

Summer Sewin'

At last I've finished my 'summer dress'! It's an autumn dress now. I think the colours in the fabric are a bit moody for warm sunny days anyway. It was left untouched for awhile but I've been sewing away in my scraps of free time recently, in time to have it completed to wear for Thanksgiving with my family and of course, the one-year anniversary of The Workroom. The Workroom is where I purchased the fabric. It was a pleasure to sew this dress, I am all the more eager to start new projects and keep learning. I learned how to do a blind hem and sew on buttons on my machine this time around. My buttonhole making skills have drastically improved. I know it's kinda crafty looking... It's not the sort of thing I would be drawn to in a shop although I like it. I am really interested in using all these project to learn to sew.

Nuit Blanche 2008

So much has happened since I last posted! Firstly, last night was Nuit Blanche in Toronto. The first thing I did was head out to Over the Rainbow to see Danielle. She was doing a bit of sketching and her demin art installtion was on display in the front window. A huge Globe made of denim pieces! There was a lot of texture to it, even a zipper here and there and it rotated from a wire attached to the ceiling.
Danielle and I (above)

A picture of Danielle's Demin Art Installation Denim Globe (below) I had Stephen, Dan (my brother), Liz, (his g/f) with me so we tried to hit a bunch of events that each of us was interested in seeing. A really fun one was hosted by Bravo!FACT/The Music Gallery Sports Bar, it was a filming of a bunch of shorts. They were funky and cool, the venue was very interesting, all the films were being screened in a little church. I was happy to sit down for a bit and ended up entering the win a trip to Paris contest being held by Nuit Blance with my cel phone. Then a short came on called Roast Beef and the sounds and I couldn't tear my eyes away from the screen... I loved it.

Another event we made sure to see was Project Blinkenlights at City Hall, an interative light installation built inside Toronto City Hall. This project will actually run each evening from October 4 7pm - October 7 at 7am. You can learn more at www.blinkenlights.net. Different things were happening on the windows of the buildings, often a game of pong was being played, or perhaps an animation flashed by of an animal run cycle...
Another installation was titled Into the Blue and it hung from the ceiling of the Eaton Center. It is meant to be view from afar, where one may se the balloon levels reflect and refract light, as well as from underneath where it is to be experienced like an environment.And of course I went to see Art of Fashion's Between the Lines Designer exhibit. There were several young designers collections based on the theme of Between the Lines. There will be a designers Trunk Show held at the Drake Hotel hosted again by Art of Fashion Thursday October 16 from 4pm - midnight.

Last weekend was The weekend of The Clothing Show. I had wanted to go on Saturday but ended up spending Saturday doing a fabric crawl around Queen West. So I made it out to The Clothing Show on Sunday. The fabrics I ended up getting were amazing/insane. A boiled red, blue, yellow and green wool I nabbed for some vintage 70's high waisted pants and a sheer, very soft and drapey I'm not even sure what kind of fabric, it's a bit net-like if you look closely is for a jacket I'm going to make. I was very happy to get the wool, I needed 1 3/4 yards and that was exactly how much of this fabric was left for sale! Apparently another customer had been in the store thinking of buying as well.

The CreativFestival is taking place October 17, - 19 this year and I've registered for a couple of classes and a Bronze pass. Going to pick up some new sewing knowledge and scope out the many sales and events.

The Workroom is having it's one year anniversary soon and and is hosting a party on October 14 from 6-9pm.

Erdem

I have discovered the clothing of Erdem Moralioglu through a link posted by Danielle. She links to this article and I found his website... There is a floor length strapless black and white striped dress from the Spring/Summer 07 that actually made my heart beat a little faster... (look 4) His clothes are truly beautiful.

I managed to get all my work done this week before the weekend, so tomorrow I'm off to The Clothing Show and hunting for fabric for all the new patterns I've picked up! Also I need more tan coloured thread, I ran out while doing a blind hem (something I never did before!) and the dress I'm working on is waiting impatiently to be finished.

Shomore on shoeblog.com recently wrote about the dangerously high heels of Sping 09 collections... whist browsing Spring Runway photos I found another Dolce and Gabanna pair that are lovely, but also very high shoes:

Stella McCartney Ankle Boots and Net-A-Porter Offerings

I really love these patent ankle boots by Stella McCartney. They are sky high so some fancy footwork is required. At least they're wedges... Couldn't be thaat hard to walk in them... It always seems that shoes feel great strutting around in shops before you've bought them, but when it gets to wearing them in a real life situation... not always so comfy... These babies will set you back a cool $1395.
I've been too busy at work recently to pay a lot of attention the fashion weeks flying by, but many a blogging fashionista has got it covered... I can read all about fashion week news online at my favorite blogs. So I've gotten to scoping out the world of what is lovely on sale online. Some of my fantastique finds:

Layered Chiffon Dress by Chloe:
Marchesa Tiered Organza Gown:

Nina Ricci Layered Tunic Dress:Emilio Pucci (who also makes beautiful and colorful shoes!) Cristalle Print Silk Gown:I got to about page 3 on the 'dresses' section of Net-A-Porter. There are far, far too many beautful items to look at in one evening! I must get my beauty sleep now.

Blog Overhaul

I am attempting to give my blog the layout I want it to have right now, but it's a work in progress... I'd like to get a website going actually but that won't be for a little while, far too busy right now. Work has been keeping me on weekends and often until as late as 10:30pm on weekdays. I think the solution for me is to 'work faster' as there is just a lot of work to go around and perhaps not enough people to do the work in a reasonable timeframe. This weekend I'll be heading off to The Clothing Show, I won two free passes courtesy of Bianca at A Wee Bit Skint! So I'm looking forward to that and seeing my family at Thanksgiving. Plus my four year anniversary with Stephen is coming up soon! So there are lovely things to look forward to among the chaos that is my workload.

Lady Gaga (and more vintage)

I have discovered Lady Gaga and I adore her.Picked up her CD a couple weekends ago and listen to it non stop. Check out her amazing performance on So You Think You Can Dance here. Her official site.

A dress I found online that I am loving by Max Kopp circa 1940:The freelance job I took is about %65 done!!! Can't wait to have it completed.

Vying for Vintage

Ooh sorry for the lack of updates. Been busier than ever, even with my new job and drastically reduced commute to work! I've just purchased a bunch of patterns, I'm really wanting to get sewing! My 'spring dress' is close to being done... It has a long hemline so I guess it will be good for fall as well.

I have had a little bit of time for surfing... Here is one site I found that sells lovely vintage clothing, http://www.poshgirlvintage.com/. A dress of theirs that I adore:

Glam heel by Oh DEER!

I think that I will try to put up photos of shoes I enjoy more often. I love shoes and get my fix at my favorite shoe blogs daily. I love reading other people's thoughts on shoes, see what they like and read what their thoughts on the industry are. I was really needing an update at my favorite shoe blog the other day and it wasn't happening... for about 2 days... which is fine... But it made me want to start posting a few of my own likes and thoughts. I stumbled across this Oh Deer! heel at Jildor.com and I love it. Kind of art deco, very glamorous and unique. Not such an outrageous heel as to kill your feet in under 10.

Pretty things

wow, it's been awhile since my last post... Sadly I've been too busy for the world of fashion recently... I still check out my favourite blogs daily, one of those being shoeblog.com. For the past couple months I've been much more interested in shoes than clothes. I'm coming back to clothes though and I'm craving making my own clothes... Gotta finish that 'spring' dress I started way back when and get some other projects going. I have been way too busy, got my full time job with 3 hours commuting a day, plus a freelance gig I took on top of that. I'm desperate to get the freelance work DONE and get back to my life and plan my wedding... I did pick up a 'changeinto' pair of shoes for the big day a couple weekends ago. Since my wed shoes are 4 inches tall I wanted something with a very low heel to switch into in case my feet get tender. They had to be black. I found a pair of shiny patent quilted flats with a low heel which seemed perfect. They fit the theme of art deco, 1920's, mimicking something Chanel of the time.

I also decided on a pair of satin black gloves, they go to the elbow but not past and they have a gorgeous beaded design on the front. Picked those up at Fashion Crimes.

On my craving for shoes and taking advantage of the spring/summer sales going on right now I finally aquired a pair of sandals without a giant heel on them for summer strutting. They make me feel like a superhero:On the same day I picked up the gloves I got these babies; black n blue tiger striped skinny jeans by Criminal Damage at Change Room on Queen. I love them!A headband I picked up at Urban Outfitters yesterday. Looks great with a pony tail or pulled back hair, also good with hair down.

I have been noticing feathers more and more for sale as items to wear... I saw a lot of this at Urban Outs. On shoes, earrings, hair clips, headbands, dangling from Minnetonkas, adorning hats... I've seem them at a bunch of places and I actually picked up a feather headband way back. I feel a bit bad though, do we really need feathers on so many items? I think some faux feathers need to be created, for the sake of the birds getting all their feathers plucked... There's faux fur and pleather so why not imitation feathers? And what is with all the swede shoes? They are lovely but, hey I live in a place that SNOWS in the winter and rains in the summer... So I have swede shoes but what the heck am I meant to wear in the precipictation? I've been on the hunt for some nice rain boots for awhile now too... I think most of them are ugly and bulky... I found one gorgeous pair but they were $400 something, I'm thinking like $50... It's tough to find a pair you can fall in love with...

It's warm outside

Finally some nice warm weather! I feel so energetic because of it... I got back to working on a dress I started making in April last night and hope to get working on more projects as I finish old ones. I bought a whole bunch of patterns a while back and have a bunch of fabric kicking around too... I wish I had a big drafting table to cut and mark patterns on, for now it's my tiled coffee table... A little awkward using the tracing wheel and I have to sit on the couch and hunch over to use it... When I was at my parents place yesterday I saw some ads for applying to Project Runway Canada - season 2 and that was exciting to see... I want to learn much more about sewing and designing! It was a good inspiration.

Sex and the City: the Movie

Saw SATC: the Movie last night and LOVED it!!! It was very satisfying, and the best conclusion to the show. It was about love, the pursuit of love, trust, forgiveness and imperfection. Samantha is my favourite. If you want to see this movie, put on your favorite pair of shoes and see it soon, while the theaters a packed full of excited women, buy your ticket in advance and get there EARLY to get a great seat!! (Leave your manfriends at home too! Unless they want to come along.) I promise it will be better than renting it later and watching it on your crummy TV in your living room at home.

The Movie Website
The Show Website
Apple Trailors

Blog Blur

Yay! Rags n Mags is back! Get updated.

I've become a little frustrated with myself since I had another blog before this one and though I wanted to separate my interests into two separate entities- My interests and their interaction with my everyday life blur into each other... just as I like them to anyway.... And I barely have time to update one blog these days let alone two! So I just put a blurb on art-candy about my wedding planning and that's about all I have time for these days. Not going to repost it all here, you can just check it out there.

My summer dress is still in pieces. It's 11:00 already. I worked until 7pm today, made the 1.5 hour commute back to Toronto and then went to the gym.

Wedding Shoes - my version of glass slippers

The gorgeous black shoes I splurged on from Marciano to wear on my wedding day that I picked up this past weekend:My dress is an off-white but nearly all my accessories will be black. I can't believe these will sit in the box for over a year!!!!!

The Real Reason I've Been too Busy to Blog Recently...

For the past couple months I've been planning my fiancee Stephen's b-day. I decided that I would make him a gift this year, a (short sleeve) shirt, a tie and a vest and ultimately decided to throw him a surprise party as well. It's a little tricky inviting someone else's friends to a party... We went to Alice Fazooli's and the food/atmosphere was great. I scoped out a few places downtown in advance and Alice Fazooli's was the sexiest casual spot that I found. I reserved the 'interactive table' for eight in the lounge. There was a live DJ and I liked her music picks so much that I got her info with the wedding in mind.

Steve goes to rockclimbing 3 times a week and so for every 3 hour snippet he was out, 3 times a week, I was at home, sewing, sewing like crazy! I estimated that the shirt took about 28 hours and the tie 3.5. The tie I actually made in an evening sewing class at The Workroom. I've never made a shirt or tie before... I tried to make something not too out there that he would like, keep it masculine, but of course be funky and somewhat reverberate a sense of myself as it's a gift from me... I was inspired by a New York taxi graphic kind of idea, or a racecar, just something graphic, a mix of solids and one print. Recently I've been noticing a lot of check used in Dickies apparel... He seems to like it and was impressed at me making him a gift... I'm confident to say he had a great night out and appreciated his gift and the time I put into it. It was nice to bring out all his friends for him... He hasn't had a party since I've known him and says he rarely tells anyone it's his b-day. After the party he told me it's the first b-day party he's had since he was 12, so that made it easy for the surprise factor. I told him a bunch of my work friends were going out for dinner and that's how I got him to come along.

I will take a picture of him when he wears the shirt. I just did not have time to make the vest, I've got all the fabric though, I found some warm brown wool for the front of the vest and a forest green silk for the back and the lining. What is nice about the vest, if that it will give him two pieces, and if the check/yellow is too much, he could always tone it down by having the check peek out from under the vest, or use any of the three pieces in combination with articles he already has...

I wore the skirt that I made in my class at The Workroom with my newly acquired Ruby Woo lipstick to match the bright red shirt I had on. I got a bit ahead of myself when I hemmed my skirt and ended up doing a quick zigzag stich to hem it, but I plan to go back and get the edge done on a surger and finish it with an invisible hem. The zigzag wouldn't even be that bad but my sewing machine seems to skip stiches, pretty frustrating as it was just taken in to be repaired not that long ago... I did try changing the needle and tried a couple different fabrics... Just don't know. I still have a summer dress to finish up as well... and an entire hamper full of fabric I picked up at the last fabric swap at The Workroom...

Heading to The Clothing Show tomorrow with Liz, my brother's girlfriend. I won a couple free tickets from Bianca at A Wee Bit Skint. On her blog she asks which two cartoon characters Marc Jacob's recently tattooed onto his arm...Spongebob and the Red M&M!
By guessing right I scored myself 2 free tickets!

I love my lips

I picked up a tube of Ruby Woo lipstick from MAC on the weekend and I love it! Got an outfit in mind. None of those little colour swatches of lip colour seem to do the products much truthful representation on the MAC site... I hate buying stuff like that online, 'd rather go into the store and swatch it all over the back of my hand.

Anti-Consumerism

I've been a little bummed at blogging the past couple weeks... I find myself very often 'headblogging', (thinking of how I want to work my thoughts via a blog entry). My opinion on fashion has evolved since I last wrote here, and I've been too busy recently to write, one day I even took my laptop to work so I could write an entry on it while GO-training to work. I didn't finish the entry on the way to work and didn't want to finish writing it on the way home. I don't want to write too much ranty lecture philosophy stuff here, I think I was forgetting that this blog is about me... I'll mostly stick to writing my reactions to things from now on and posting about work I've done. (Clothes and art I make and design etc.)

WATCH THE VIDEO AT THIS SITE:
http://www.storyofstuff.com/

It's a video on consumerism, it's pretty much what I'm feeling. Instead of the anti-fashion thing, I'm thinking anti-consumerism, (though I think they are actually cousins of sorts.)

I saw Paramnesia

Well, I don't get to go to Alternative Fashion Week, but I had a brilliant surprise this week, I got a last minute invite to the friends and family night of Mass Exodus - Paramnesia it's called this year - this past Tuesday. So I went to that and I've been too freaking busy to even write about it since! But it was a great show, I'll blog about it soon.

Missing out on FAT

Well I was really looking forward to going to Alternative Fashion Week (FAT), but everything seems to be adding up these days and I'm feeling a little squeezed... I've been spending a lot of my extra cash on sewing lessons and fabrics, and with wedding expenses on top of that, I can't justify spending more. So if you're going, please take pictures! Write about the show on your blogs! I think the FAT site looks great, but I don't think it will get much media coverage, not like L'Oreal Fashion week, so it doesn't seem like I can skip the runway and just see photos of the shows hours later online...

Yesterday I went to the fabric swap at The Workroom and I can't believe how much fabric people considered 'garbage'!!! I got a steal of a deal, mountains of wonderful fabrics for just $40. I'm pretty pleased, using this forgotten, vintage, thrown-away fabric will be recycling and reusing, exactly what I want to incorporate into my creations. Some of the fabrics seem to have come from couch covers and curtains, some are just big sheets and some little scraps from other people's past projects.

Danielle on Final Fashion wrote that she thinks there is a cotton conspiracy. There totally is. My fiancee Stephen's 4th year film for his Animation course was precisely about that, the growing of cotton and how it destroys environment and communities when done improperly. It's an economy thing, like so many not so great things in our everyday lives that hurt the environment. Consider the situation going on with The Aral Sea. You can see Stephen's film, Quiet Chernobyl on youtube.com.

30 day Photo Challenge

I'm going to do that challenge after all, like I wrote about previous post. I started last night. The challenge is, for one month to take a photo of what I wear each day. I started last night. Since I didn't leave my apartment today and just wore my pj's, I'm thinking it will be a lot nicer and less embarassing to post all the pictures at once when the 30 days pass, instead of stick up a pic of me in my comfy gear on days I stay in on weekends. It was a lazy day today. When I take the photos, I'll record the time they are taken at as well, since you tend to look different at the end of the day, or if it rained or you're wide awake, hair windblown, makeup smeared, whatever.

Back to working on my summer dress.

...henrietta + The State of the Industry and more...

Henrietta
Here’s a comic I whipped up last night, (to the left, click to zoom) I’ve got this character Henrietta kicking around in my head and here she makes her first appearance on my blog. She is loosely based on me, but by no means is me… The drawings are pretty sketchy, like the way I do my storyboards. I’ll do some cleaner stuff sometime, but for now I had to just get her out there and start putting down my ideas.

The state of the industry
I just read the response posted by ticia royal at bits and bobbins, (cute blog design and name btw) to an article titled "What's Wrong with Fashion" and the article really resonated with me. A month ago or so I picked up a copy of Fashion Magazine and got really excited about all the spring fashion trends. Gorgeous stuff, volume, loose flowing skirts and fabrics, and colour! I was also loving the patterns and the raw look of hand painted canvas. (See these dresses by Dolce and Gabanna.) I craved a piece of it for myself… A week or two later I was at the Eaton Center and I’m guilty of purchasing a ‘spring’ piece that I have yet to wear. It’s a sleeveless, flowy top with a bright flowery print held above the breasts with a wide elastic band and again just below to the butt. I tried it on with a complete outfit in the store, including a short sleeved blue cotton jacket with oversized buttons. I purchased the jacket as well, but not the rest of the outfit. I’ve worn the jacket several times, (even over a long sleeved snug fitting grey turtleneck at L’Oreal Fashion week,) but the top remains where I left it on the shelf in my too short for properly hanging dresses closet. It just doesn’t look so good with anything I have- so now I have this trendy type piece that looked great on the mannequin on the store and I have yet to wear it… And I don’t think the top speaks volumes of ‘quality’ either… It looked good on the mannequin anyway.

I think mass produced clothes are for the most part these days being produced to look best with a whole new outfit and don’t withstand the test of time. They aren’t meant to. I’m determined to make this spring top work, even if I have to chop it up and make it into something new- Next time I think I’ll consider the quality and longevity of my purchases before buying. In the mean time I’m making a couple dresses of my own with some gorgeous `spring` fabric that I feel is far more timeless and classic looking.

Fashion school continues
The couple dresses I’m going to make are rated as very easy to make by Vogue Patterns. I’ve still got the pencil skirt I’m making at sewing class at The Workroom to finish up and I have a few more patterns on the way in the mail. I’m building my design chops up and when I’ve ‘graduated’ from my own fashion school I’m going to start building my own collections. I want to make eco-friendly clothes though, mix vintage pieces into my collection and create a purposeful wardrobe out of recycled and organic materials. I want to build a ‘permanent collection’, it’s like a permanent collection in an art gallery in a way. Pieces build well to sustain trends and time to last until they literally fall apart. I’ll draft the patterns of course and keep them, so I always have them and could remake pieces and make pieces for other people.

I attended my third out of four pencil skirt classes this past Wednesday evening and sadly had to miss the Shopgirls spring launch that evening. I’ll visit again soon! From outside the store, everything inside looked gorgeous. I had fun at sewing anyway, here's the skirt in progress:
As part of my fashion education, I’m going through fashion related books. Right now I’ve got 100 Years of Fashion out as well as Guide to Producing a Fashion Show.

Alternative Fashion Week - FAT
I am stoked to go to The Alternative Fashion Week show in Toronto! And I don’t even say ‘stoked’. The site looks professional and so enticing… And the fashion looks fun and unique, can’t wait to check out the runway.

Elle Show
Of course in a few weeks is the Elle Canada will hold the Elle Show as well at Exhibition Place.
Schedule
Thursday April 24th - Opening Night
Friday April 25th - 11am to 10pm
Saturday April 26th - 11am to 8pm
Sunday April 27th - 11am to 6pm

Daily Photo Challenge
This is a challenge for myself and if anyone else participates, post a comment and put the photos up online with a link. The challenge is to take a photo of what I wear, everyday, for a month. Makes me kinda go ugh, but I think it will be interesting to look back on.

I recently realised that getting off the train at Exhibition I pass by the Toronto Joe Fresh Style office every day.

Montreal Fashion Week Reviews plus Rags and Mags and my Wedding Gown!

Rags and Mags
I'm loving Rags and Mags by Danielle Medar and Carolyn Rohaly! Carolyn writes it and Danielle illustrates. It's perky, funny and right on the mark, a faux blog of two fictional characters working in the fashion industry. Max is a Toronto designer, emotional and artistically driven but young and inexperienced, Lucinda is a shmoozy fashionista extraordinaire who writes on fashion.

Montreal Fashion Week
Montreal fashion week just happened, wish I could have been there. I've been away from the blog for a little while now, I constantly find myself 'blogging in my head', thinking of things I want to write about and thought rethought but sometimes the time it takes to really keep up with it and provide something insightful can be tricky... This blog really is about my journey and experiences... my reactions to the fashion world and the offerings I have... I want to jazz up my blog for sure, I've got a comic that I want to start writing and post it here, just a matter of getting my characters designed I suppose... Being an animator and dabbling in the fashion industry is an interesting experience.

Nathalie Atkinson covers Montreal Fashion Week for National Post here and covers Rudsak, Helmer, Marie St Pierre, Bodybag by Jude, Envers par Yves Jean Lacasse, Muse, Thieves and MO851. I like Nathalie's Lessons from the Catwalk, she reflects on Toronto and Montreal fashion weeks as well as the state of fashion in Canada.

Next month, the Palais de Congrès in Montreal will exhibit 60 of Haitian-born Montreal designer Helmer's pieces, described by Nathalie as kaleidoscopic and possibly the closest thing Canada has to actual haute couture.

National Post/The Apersand's coverage is lacking in eye candy however, the official Montreal Fashion Week site has lots. Click the photo link to the left.

There's a black and white jacket cinched with a big red belt and peeking out is a red/black/beige diamond patterned skirt by Helmer I love, as well as an extravagent mostly black jacket, layer after layer of black grey and red ruffles. I love the pink pant visible underneath and the red and gold lining when the model walks. The collection is a lot of dark, the usual fall/winter palette, but there's hints and pops and sometimes lots of bold colour. I like liked much of Marie St Pierre's pieces- she doesn't use many colours per outfit. Soia and Kyo have some interesting assymetrical jackets, and I liked the presentation.

My Wedding Gown
I ordered my wedding gown today- the entire search for the gown was a very interesting process... I think I've got too much time to ponder and think about it, the whirlwind search was thrilling at first- but I think when you find a gown you love you need to order it sooner than later! I've been trying on gowns for months now and some that I like have actually gone out of production at this point. At first I was open minded to anything, then I "realised" I wanted a big ballgown, and now I'm much more interested (and I look good in) an A-line gown. I love lots of streaming and textured fabric, ruching and gathering and not so much the mountains of structure and tulle I once worshiped in a massive ballgown. I still adore those looks, but I don't think that I feel the way I want to feel on my wedding day when I put on a ballgown. They seem too youthful and princess-like. I have a look in mind for the wedding, a vintage plus modern look and I want it to be black and white. Think white gloves on Stephen with a white vest/black tux/maybe I can get him to wear a silk top hat, and a white birdcage veil on me with black accesories, a black ribbon or lace around my neck, maybe some short silky gloves, long strand of peals.... I think of black and white dice and playing cards, classic black and white patterns and peals and black satin and lace... Gold makeup and pink blush... I love the gown I purchased, I think it will inspire much of the theme... I feel I found something I really wanted and I love that my mom adores it too. She saw it in the window of our favourite bridal boutique and wouldn't let me order 'the gold one' in Toronto until I tried this one on. So once again a visit to Waterloo was in order to try on gowns. Now I need a killer pair of shoes!!!

I think I'm craving some navy blue. And steamed broccoli.

Learning about Fashion Week

L'Oreal Fashion Week - Day 2 and 3

Spending a day at fashion week was a learning experience for me - and wicked fun! I think I prefer being backstage though... I was a volunteer at BC Fashion week last season and I loved that- running around like mad and dressing the models, seeing and touching the clothes and meeting the designer... But watching shows is definately a pleasure...

As for the learning experience- one thing I learned, is that if there is a show you really want to go to, skip the show preceding it and just wait in line in advance to get in. (At least if you're general admission). I wanted to see every show and when I walked out of Talenti Moda Milano, to my dismay the line to see Lucian Matis's show was already to the door!!! So I waited in line but didn't get in. At least I could watch the show live on the TV screens outside the runway tent and made sure to get a front row center spot when Lucian was interviewed by Fashion Television. He's soooo charming... And I love his voice... From the photos of his show I think seeing it close up and on the runway would have been a damn lot nicer than on a TV screen... Makes it a little tougher to really see the craftsmanship and the detailing... Especially since it was his 'black collection' after all.

With my camera it was impossible to take pictures of moving models... They all turn out super blurry. So I ended up just taking videos instead. However, to get the closest shots I flipped my camera sideways which is all fine for a photo, but for video it's a little screwy since it's all filmed sideways. I'll have to break out the After Effects and see what I can do about putting all my footage together in a watchable way.

The crowds got bigger and crazier throughout the day, which I love. The more energy in there the more excited I am!!Lucien Matis being interviewed post-show for Fashion TelevisionThe fabulous Robin Kay at the Talenti Moda Milano Conference Mayor David Miller at the Talenti Moda Milano ConferenceLights!
My new baby!!!! The sewing machine my mom used to use, given to me as a B-day present and now filling some table space in my work area at home.
Here's something wicked awesome, it's a made-from-recycled materials, bio-degradable food box!!! I had leftovers after dining at Fresh (my favourite) with Stephen and my parents for my b-day and I love that they package your food this way. Not in goddamned styrofoam... No plastic utensils or plastic bags here either!!

L'Oreal Fashion Week!

Day 1:
Check out coverage at TheStar.com and Flare.com. The Star has an article on the designers that competed in Project Runway Canada. The few articles I've read today about this have an inconsistent list of the designers- some leave out Lucien and some leave out Stephen... Weird. I took the Fashionista Quiz on Flare.com and I according to that I'm an Urban Fashionista. Sounds about right. I like to change it up sometimes though. I get bored of the same thing.

Looking about at galleries and video coverage, Nadya Toto's stuff looks incredible. Seems a little heavy for spring, it's stuff that looks to keep you warm and the colours are a lot of black and red, but beautiful all the same.

Mellinda-Mae Harlingten has a nice collection as well... A lot of red, black, grey white, similarly 'heavier cool weather' looks. I love those top hats and architectural chunky earrings...

Denis Gagnon's stuff looks gutsy, wearable, mature and original. Again, a lot of black! Seems Denis' show was the best received yesterday on the runway. His stuff is beautiful.

I want to see some colour!

Take me shopping

Last night I passed by Shopgirls and had to go in to check it out- It's a shop with over 40 Canadian artists work for sale, designers of clothing, jewelery, painters, woodworkers, a lot of wicked art. I wish I had some money to spend, I found so many awesome pieces there! One of the sales ladies mentioned to her co-worker that Flare magazine was going to drop in today to do a piece on Zoran Dobric. His stuff is pretty wicked, very professional looking and creative as well. Canada.com says: "The collection is praised by the media as one of the most outstanding collections currently in Canada, and Zoran has won international and national awards for his design work. The design process is personal and expressive, rather than fashion trend driven. Zoran’s goal is to create timeless, soulful creations that evoke emotions and reflect wearer’s sensibility." His stuff is currently available at Boutique Le Trou (940 Queen Street West), and at Model Citizen, (913 Dundas Street west). Check out his website, (very ilustrative and sexy site) http://www.zorandobric.com. He will be showcasing his new spring 2008 collection at L'Oreal Fashion week at 4:00 pm on Thursday next week.

Dress for Spring/Summer 2008 by Zoran Dobric:
I saw some coats by babu et moi which I really liked as well. I will have to go back, get more names, there were a lot of wicked pieces there.

blue coat by babu et moi:On Tuesday I picked up my pass for L'Oreal Fashion week, it's pink. When I got to The Proof Bar to pick it up, I entered from the street and upon stepping inside I found myself surrounded by soft brown curtains in a little room. I had to peek through the curtains and saw the mass of passes and media grab bags and couple of girls asking 'media? industry?' General Public I said. Sooooo excited.

Watch out for the next episode of Flare magazine!

Canadian Designers learn to 'sell themselves'

Canadian Designers learn to 'sell themselves' and establish their name in the multi-billion dollar fashion industry, article here.

Hot for Spring

Ok, I juuust finished watching Project Runway Canada the other night. I didn’t have cable or even really a reliable internet connection when it aired while I was living in Vancouver, but my stepdad taped every last episode for me and when I finally got to watching them- I was hooked! I watched the entire season in the course of a few days. The last episode was pretty emotional and so thrilling! I wish I could have been at that fasion show. I loved the whole thing. I felt bad about a couple of the designers leaving, like Carlie and Shernet. Ultimately the outcome was satisfying…. I do agree that Bidell has ideas, he wants purpose to create. Like helping the environment or a worthy charity. I love MG, I think her stuff is great but sometimes she really hits the mark and sometimes not… Don’t know why… I think that maybe she could have done better than what she put on the catwalk for fashion week. It was a little inconsistent. I would love to see more by her… There were many pieces by her throughout the show I thought were so hot… And Lucien… well… his stuff is amazing… Very "Lucien" of course, I want to see more from all of them. The model that Biddel had wearing his jacket (made with the deerskin his family shot) just summed up his collection for me. Her badass attitude is what Bidell's collention was about.

I actually do get to see more stuff by Lucien pretty soon- To spend a day at L’Oreal Fashion week this spring I have to skip a day at work. Kristen will be coming with me and I am so excited!! This will actually be the first fashion week I’ve watched from the seating area, the only other time I’ve been was to volunteer backstage at BC Fashion Week. (I find that weird, that it’s called "BC Fashion Week" and not "Vancouver Fashion Week".) Bustle will be there, Evan and Dean, Preloved, so many… can’t wait… Sad I’m missing out on the other ones, but I do have a job… Can’t skip the whole week… Damn.

It seems like the movement of designer’s spring fashions this year are going in 2 distinct directions- the harsher, architectural, futurist and the soft, flowing, mad colour, reminiscent romanticism. I’m hot for the flowy stuff… Ruffles! Colour! Paint! Volume! So beautiful and exciting. I love seeing fashion moving forward, seeing it continually morph, evolve, change and even repeat itself in new ways... I'm looking forward also to my own evolution. I'm just getting started!

Went to my second sewing class yesterday and made two zippered pouches with lining. Next week I'll start making my pencil skirt and I signed up for another class at the end of April. I'll learn how to cut fabric on the bias and make a tie. Here's the pouches:

Holt Renfrew on ice! Saw this ice sculpture and a whole bunch more when leaving the Justina McCaffrey boutique last weekend. I guess the fact that the ice says 'Holt Renfrew' on it is a little hard to read... But that's what it says.
I want this book: “Fashion Illustration by Fashion Designers”.

Fat/Skinny

words to think about...

"Luxury is when the inside is as beautiful as the outside."

"A woman can be over-dressed, never over elegant."

-Coco Chanel

"A coutourier must be:
an architect for design,
a sculpture for shape,
a painter for colour,
and
a philosopher for temperance."

-Cristobal Balenciaga

fatties:
I found this article from The Wall Street Journal on overly thin models, it's dated Feb. 28, 2008. A quote from the article: "I think it's gotten worse," said Nina Garcia, fashion director at Elle magazine and a judge on cable television's "Project Runway," while we waited to see Balenciaga. "In the fashion industry, the models are getting thinner and thinner, yet as a culture, we're getting fatter and fatter."

When I send models down the runway, I want them to be 'fat'. Like, healthy!! We've all heard this debate a million times, and though a few companies and peoples decide to love real women's figures (like Dove) most seem afraid to be different here. It's just weird... So many people seem unhappy by the situation but it doesn't change...

Fashion Lesson 1

The purpose of the book, The Way We Look is described by author Marilyn Revell DeLong as “to relieve tunnel vision.” It teaches the fashion student a framework for visual analysis of dress. There are some visual exercises in it suggested to fashion educators to teach pupils to practise and understand analysis of dress. By using verbal language to describe clothing (apparel-body constructs) and understanding individual and group responses to such. One other interesting lesson is about relating perception and preference of visual form to exposure over time.

I’ve done the lessons in the book as I read it, but as I’m not in class with a professor or students, I can’t fully appreciate the execution of the lessons. So I’m going to put my answers here and please comment on them and feel free to do the lessons at home and tell me about your results.

Lesson 1: Understanding individual and group response to the apparel-body construct.

When comparing several apparel-body constructs it is useful to begin by analyzing the effect of the whole image and then to proceed to analyze what has caused this effect. To analyze the whole effect a recording of your spontaneous reaction is useful. Please complete the exercise individually.

Using the three numbered photos of contemporary apparel-body construct’s I've displayed on this blog just below, place each one’s number on each line below in a position between the two extremes (midpoint on the line represents neutral.)

Can you think of any other word pairs that would describe the apparel-body construct? List them. Now go through the word pairs. Note which number are placed together on a line and which, if any, are at the extreme positions. Write comments about observations. Please share your results! I will post my results soon! (As soon as I get back home to my lovely scanner.) I'm at my parents because I visited a bridal boutique with my mum today to try on some gowns, It's back to Toronto tomorrow for more gown sampling. To Justina McCaffrey's Toronto boutique! eeeeeeeee

PHOTOS:

Design Museum

The fourth and final week of Glam.com's Design a Dress contest is on now! Go to Glam.com to vote.

I stumbled upon the Design Museum website the other day. The museum is in London, England. It's a great resource to see and learn about design in general. Like the DX in Toronto it celebrates design mediums such as furniture, architecture, graphics, machinery (and more) as well as fashion. I was searching through some of the resources and found some images I liked, and decided to check out a designer I hadn't heard of before.

John Galliano I know, here's some images of his from 1998-2001 of some couture collections for Dior:The designer I didn't know and checked out was Philip Treacy. He is a hat designer. He makes them by hand and they are definately 'take you there' type pieces.

Treacy has made hats for Chanel, Valentino, Gianni Versace and Alexander McQueen at Givenchy. He says: “Having studied fashion design it helped me greatly when I started working with designers because I understood how the clothes draped or moved and the proportions. What I didn’t understand as a student was that fashion isn’t clothes, fashion is much more interesting than that, it’s a feeling and a mood – not dress-making.”

Here are a few of his couture hats:
I was interested to see that Urban Outs is selling high waisted styles now... See here.