Bridal Shower

I wish I took more photos of what I wear day to day... I would like to post that sort of thing more often... But I don't have a very glamorous (or remotely glamorous) setting to take photos on a daily basis, I don't have a tripod, and the boyfriend's schedule is different enough from mine that I would be pretty lucky to have him take a snap during sunlight hours...
This weekend I went to bridal shower part deux and got my mom and the b/f to snap a couple shots of me. I switched into the cowboy boots after the shower since to get into my home right now I have to walk through dirt and mud (my entire street is under construction) and heels tend to sink into that. Plus the swede doesn't stand up so well to such treatment...And a photo of Le Select, the incredible cafe restaurant I was taken to. The menu was wonderful and the decor gorgeous... Plus I was in the company of some pretty wonderful ladies! To spend a few hours with me and celebrate my upcoming nupitals were Laura, Laurie, Dana, Lisa, Lilly and my mom.My mom and Laura came over to my place after lunch to help assemble the silk flowers I ordered into bouquets and we enjoyed each other's company with my favorite caramel coffee. Thank you ladies for all your help and generosity!!

Day 4 at FAT

So I made it to the last night of FAT with my friend (and bridesmaid) KT. I found the whole event to be so inspirational! The shows that stand out most in my mind right now are Jennifer Allison and Heidi Ackerman. Jennifer's work seemed was feminine and light. Lavish with intense texture and detail. A cut about the knee A-line dress comes to mind that was made very volumous with so much tulle a fabric. The styling of the whole show was gorgeous and very consistent. Antlers poked out of mass curls and textured hair. At Heidi's show there was a great exploration of shapes and ideas. The skirt that graces the promotional material for FAT is a Heidi Ackerman piece. I wish could find more photos of Heidi's work! I remember a black dress with very large and sharp shoulders and an egg-like kitted form that fit around of of the models that restricted her arm movement... There was some very futuristic and gorgeous work by Martha Sharpe. If you go to the FAT about page you will see one of my favorites. I posted it below as well. And the LOVAS line by Wesley Badanjak I think stood out from the other collections in a way... It was very chic, something you could easily wear to work or to functions and you would look ultra smart and edgy. I enjoyed the cool blue aquamarine fabric against the blacks and greys. I remember seeing a lot of fantastic shoes and gloves, (I think gloves by Wesley Badanjak and shoes by Martha Sharpe...) So unique and exciting... There was a lot of awesome stuff all night. My camera is no match for low-light model strutting goodness so I didn't bother to try. I just enjoyed the visual feast and occasionally shared thoughts with KT. I'm going to check back at the FAT site soon and see what photos get put online. For now a fantastic set of photos can be seen at the FAT photostream on flicker.

Plastic Chandelier by Katharine Harvey

Today I went to Waterloo to have a gown fitting and discuss day of details with my wedding photographer. Steve picked me up at the train station when I got back into Toronto and on the way down Bay Street to get home I spotted something dazzling in the window of a Brookfield place. It turned out to be a massive chandelier made of plastic containers pulled out of recycle bins made by Katharine Harvey. From the street the thing really was dazzling, sparkly and bright and drew you in like a moth. up closer it didn't seem to sparkle so much and all the individual pieces were visible.On the train ride to and from Waterloo I was delving into my copy of Concepts of Pattern Grading by Carolyn L. Moore, Kathy K. Mullet and Margaret Prevatt young. The cartesian graph sent me right back to grade 10 math! I am so interested in it all though, so it's not such a heavy read as I thought it would be. For me when something comes naturally or is very well understood by a person, I call that being liquid. Music is liquid to Bach. I can't wait for pattern grading to be liquid to me.

FAT - April 21-24 2009

Is anyone else planning to check out FAT this week?

Sussman's and Preloved Sale

My new goal: bring camera with me more often. Sick of gross cel phone snaps.

I found the most amaaaaaaazing trim shop on Queen Street today!!! It's Sussman's Bridal Supplies. They specialise in trimmings and they have so many sequins.... Loose by the bunch, as pieces to add to garments, in ribbon, as masks, they have ribbon and fringe and wigs and feathers and even sparkly false eyelashes!! It's spilling out of boxes and off the shelves and it's wonderful... I've actually been in Sussman's at least once before, way long ago, but wasn't into it like now. But now... I must return with a project calling for fabulous trim...I also noticed when walking past Preloved that until Wednesday April 22st, if you b.y.o.b. (bring your own bag!) you will receive %15 off of a purchase at Preloved. Sweet Earth Day!

The Braided Hair Trend

Are you into the braided hair look? I think it's pretty cool... It's only really been on my radar recently but a quick search shows that a lot of celebs are sporting this look, especially Jessica Simpson and Nicole Richie it seems... Gaga has the most unique/unusual interpretation that I've seen... I want to braid my hair... I remember loving a side ponytail when I was a little girl. You can actually purchase braid and hair accessories that do the braid trick for you, if your personal stylist isn't about... Here are some products by Tonytail and Flora Designs as well as some snaps of celebs sporting the look:

Gaga goes purple

And some shoes I love from the theoutnet.com; Marni metallic leather flats: Giuseppe Zanotti metallic knot mules:Bally Imra platform pumps:

Why I play it safe at work

So today my boss (one of 'em) noticed my bright yellow nailpolish. I tend to play it really safe at work, fashion-dressing wise. (On the weekend heading out with mom and sis to have my trial updo for the wedding I wore stuff I really love to wear... 5 inch lace up 'construction' heels, fresh yellow nail polish, Green lacy patterned stockings over a frilly black cotton skirt and my trusty 'bride' shirt that I designed. My makeup mimicked what I'll have on my wedding day just so I could see how it looked with wed hair.) Well, today I wore very little make up, a basics Urban Outs shirt, jeans and cowboys. So later in the day (after monsieur director had his reaction and even unglamorously pointed out my nails to a fellow co-worker just for good measure,) him, myself and a few other animators were chatting about how to handle a prop issue in some shorts we're working on and when I tried to describe that I thought the prop might be floaty (I meant floaty, weightless animation) I got some smiles and the boss said he thought it was the nail polish talking.

ugh.

So for the rest of the day when he was around I hid my nails from him.

I hate having to 'tone down' my style for work... And I work in an artistic industry too!! But I can't stand to have people look at my clothes and not me at my job... The office is not the runway... (Everywhere is the runway in my head.)

As for the trial updo on the weekend, it was so frickin' awesome! Shannon (my stylist at Redd) was super excited about the look I want. It was such a pleasure to have her go for it with my hair and see the gorgeous results. I had a hairsyle picked out from an Anne Barge ad and Shannon told me most salons wouldn't even try to attempt the hairstyle or they'd do a crap job. Whether that's totally true, I don't really know... But it was not the easiest do and she was excited to create it for me. To get the volume needed, I have to apply a mousse to my hair after showering the day before the wedding and blow dry it, not shower day-of, and then she will pin a hair net full of hair extensions to the base of my head and build all the volumous curls on top and around of that.I was wondering if maybe my wed look would actually be kinda safe... I hate safe... You know, white dress, necklace, earrings.... But the way my hair turned out, and thinking of the trial makeup I had done at MAC, and describing the 3/4 length black beaded gloves to Shannon, my black satin 5 inch stilletto platforms and that even some of my flowers are black, finally testing out the white birdcage veil when my hair was done... It was very exciting to start to see it all come together and realise how un-safe my wed look will be...

Bolero Jacket Gift

I finally finished my surprise gift! I had blogged earlier about something I was making but didn't want to post any details in case my sister (and maid of honor) stumbled across the entry since she was the recipient of the gift! It is a black bolero style jacket, lined with purple satin and there are white stripe details around the collar. It fits the colour scheme of my wedding (coming up fast!!) so she can wear it with her dress that day, and any day after. I don't have any photos of her wearing the jacket yet, (waiting) but it looks so much better on Karen than on me, or my judy. That's because it was made for her! I do have a couple photos of the jacket in progress, this is while I was working on the lining and the jacket is inside out:And here is a sad photo of me with the jacket on, just to see how it's coming along... The on me is ill and the sleeve lining wasn't attached to the insides of the sleeves yet... It's kind of a sexy thing, with the low, single (vintage) button in the front, (I'm holding the button since it's not actually sewn on yet) but it was designed to go over Karen's dress which is a cocktail dress with a square neckline.Below, my new yellow nail polish. I also picked up hot pink and I really want neon orange and green.Window shopping on Queen street. Another cel phone picture (I really need to take my camera with me more often) of the display at Red Tea Box who I wish had a website.Window shopping on Queen street. Anothe cel phone picture (I really need to take my camera with me more often) of the display at Red Tea Box who I wish had a website.

Mine: Black Patent Peep Toe Heels!

Soon to be my best friend out dancing with me