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: