Fashion Matter

Inspired - American Apparel and Me

2011-04-04T17:24:00.000-07:00

Here I am heading out to birthday dinner in March:And here I am trying out a $399 fascinator at Myer:So what I wanted to post about: American Apparel may file for bankruptcy!!! I really hope the company can figure their shit out and pull though. I know there is a lot of gossip about the way the company treats/hires it's employees and about Dov Charney, but I do think it is a very unique and special company. I hope AA can come out clean and stronger than ever. I've made up a "fantasy shopping list" of things I want to buy from AA. Sounds silly eh? But if they are going away, I must stock up on tight pants and leggings!! LOVE!

CEO Dov Charney says the situation his company is in is making him feel inspired, which I totally understand. I use my personal fears to motivate myself often. It may sound strange... But I have some big goals and I want to reach them, badly. Crazily! Chasing after my goals is why I have not posted on this blog in a looong time. I am just too busy. If I get a little depressed or doubtful, I just think about that final goal and I am invigorated.

I had a birthday recently and got some birthday money from my dahling mum/stepdad/sister. I spent the majority of it on AA clothing. I received a coupon from AA for %25 off my order since it was my b-day. I got a long skirt and some acid wash leggings. The skirt since, on my birthday outing day I tried on a gorgeous high waisted floor length red skirt by Acne and was a little disappointed to realise it was $435. So AA's black floor length skirt fills that void, even though it's not red. And I got the acid wash leggings since I have a pair but they have been loved a bit much - they have a couple tiny holes in them and some of the seams and stretching.

Hot Summer... and a move...

2010-08-11T21:34:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile. Summer is racing by, hot n' muggy... I failed at my New Year's resolution months ago to have a monthly budget but now I'm trying to not acquire any new clothes... Since in a few months I'll have to have all the clothes I want shipped to Australia! I'm moving!! In a few months I'll have to report some fashionable happenings down under...

Sexy Summer Sandals

2010-06-06T06:36:00.001-07:00

Pour la Victoire Women's Raquel Flat Sandal - they make me think of Uma Thurman kicking butt in Kill Bill.
These ones are little intense - ZiGiny Women's Starter Sandals. I'm sure they would turn heads:
These espadrilles remind me of jika tabi. They have the split toe thing going on. They are by Dolce Vita.
Less fierce, more gorgeous, I love these t-strap sandals by Badgley Mischka!

Found these sexy sandals by Georgina Goodman on shoeblog.com I was struck by the great combination of bright colours and shine, though my favorite part is the overall shapes. The three "O" 's wrap around your feet to cause design gorgeousness. I discovered the second image when I hit the link to endless.com and saw the champagne pink and black combo - a favorite of mine. They even look comfy to walk in, wedge heels and ankle strap and all.

Like these Marc by Marc Jacobs Platforms as well:

Maybelline EyeStudio Photos

2010-05-18T20:41:00.001-07:00

I've been experimenting with the Maybelline EyeStudio kit. It came with a lot of palettes, all very sparkly. I did a lot of blending and soft looks for work and glammed it up when I went out at night. Unfortunately, none of the looks I created photographed well... Well, I think my makeup looks nice but it's hard to see real gradient... Here are a few of the better shots:

I gave a pile of palettes to my sister Karen. Her pic is nice, you can see some golden brown eyeshadow.
I intend to to write a review specifically about the 4 mascaras included in the kit. I'm honestly still experimenting with all the products.

Maybelline EyeStudio kit

2010-05-03T05:48:00.000-07:00

I received a Maybelline EyeStudio kit - it's the entire collection! Mascara, eye shadow palettes and cream eye liner liner. I've been trying out the collection and taking photos since I got it. I've been creating a lot of softer 'for the office' looks and the occasional glammed up babe look for when I'm out at a fun event.

More pictures to come...

American Apparel

2010-03-09T17:45:00.001-08:00

Urban Outfitters... I'm leaving you for American Apparel. I'll visit every so often and see if you skirts are still just barely able to cover my butt cheeks and whether or not you're still making ill-shaped cut out style tops... Ok, I'm being harsh. I still love Urban Outfitters. For the most part though, I am interested in getting away from details and strong preppy/hobo trendiness influences. I am in love with huge baggy tops over tight bottoms and tight tops over big flowy pants. And I love rompers/one-pieces/jumpers/onesies whatever you decide to call them. Harem pants I love. High-waisted bottoms, basic pieces cut extra long or short, loose vs. tight and layering are doing it for me. Plus - I'm just dyyyying for summer to come... Yesterday I was beckoning summer by putting on my new sleeveless chambray jumper, flat stringy sandals and floppy straw hat and doing a ritualistic dance in my living room. (Actually I just got my husband to take some photos of said outfit.) I picked up this jumper yesterday and I adore it! It's so cute! Comfy! Flattering! Fun! Summery! I got it in 'black' (white with overload of black flecks) and I think it looks nicer on me than it does on the model in the photos on the American Apparel site. Sometimes it's a little frustrating when you want to see a garment and every photo they shoot had the model raising her arms or yanking on the fabric... At least for longer garments they post a length measurement and a good description. Reviews are also often bountiful and helpful.

My goal for the year to not spend more than $53 a month was going quite well. I was feeling so frugal that I stopped counting every cent and dollar I was spending. This year, I've only bought 2 takeout coffees. I have seen a couple movies at the theater and did a small bit of clothes shopping in January. I've been pretty good! But now I've made another purchase from American Apparel, including my new jumper. There are books and movies I want and they are actually 'good for my career' type stuff so I don't see these as 'guilty purchases'. But a purchase is a purchase and if you don't need something it technically is a guilty. (Not so much guilty as not necessary.) So will probably just continue to make my own coffee (with my adored moka pot) and walk to work and try to be frugal but reasonable with my purchases. Maybe I'll add it up and see how much I've spent. But not today.

Through American Apparel I also discovered Viva Radio which I am really digging. They are very specific about what gets played when during air time. I've enjoyed some slow punky techno rock stuff and also listed to some soul and now it's some twangy, slow love song stuff. I love music but I don't have much of it coming into my ears on a regular basis. I am excited that I've found this way to listen to music I enjoy and so far I've only recognised one song and then one artist. It's all new for me which is brilliant. I like to listen to 'No Coincidence', a techy dance song by BeatBurrito which I love to listen to when Viva Radio isn't making me happy.

Pictures! These are me sporting a crazy pair of sunglasses I found on e-bay that I've been waiting for summer to wear, my chambray suit/floppy hat summer combo and a jumpsuit I got in January form UO paired with a vintage beaded belt. I had to order it online and I got it a size too big. I didn't want to deal with returning it and I don't mind the oversized nature, but I have to tape the front opening to my boobs to keep the top on. Also the photos are completely unedited, I could not be bothered.

What I wore Jan 2 - print and print

2010-01-05T21:46:00.000-08:00

Kinda late with posting these but this is what I wore when I went to see Imaginarium on Saturday. A few of my favorite pieces here, half of my newspaper suit and my zebra printed jeans.

New Blog Title Design! and I saw The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

2010-01-02T23:08:00.000-08:00

I saw The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus directed by Terry Gilliam this afternoon and enjoyed looking upon all the gorgeous costumes, people and special effects in the film. It was very entertaining, albeit a little confusing. It was a fantasy vacation for the mind. I'm not totally sure what to think of it... The ending was a little extra happy for my liking. Overall a very nice film. Great acting.

Here's Lily Cole as Valentina

2010: The Year to Make it Work

2010-01-01T12:47:00.000-08:00

what I wore today

I have (what seems) to be an intense New Year's Resolution this year. I came up with it yesterday after some boxing week shopping. (There was this gorgeous crocheted full length sweater I wanted from Fashion Crimes...) I had a rather splurgy 2009. My husband and me both. (Got married - [just realised I never posted any wedding photos!? Only honeymoon photos...], went to Disneyworld for our honeymoon, lots of clothes, shoes and makeup were added to my wardrobe, Steve and I got splurgy Halloween costumes and I got an outfit for the Gaga concert, expensive Christmas gifts bought, everyday gifts (camera), concert tickets, new TV, couch, furniture.......) I think I have become accustomed to spending a lot more than I used to. I used to be very frugal and I got my student loan payed off as quickly as I could after graduating. I need some more frugal time. I'm sick of feeling guilty and anxious about spending. So this year I've decided that there will be a small budget for myself to use frivolously each month. It sounds like a small amount to me right now, especially with shopping trip totals in recent memory, but I do think it's totally manageable for me to still do pretty much whatever my friends are up to each month and maybe get something small for myself every now and then, be it my favorite foundation, an espresso or some new fabric. The magic number is 53. I have $53 to spend each month on ME. I figured out my living expenses and the leftover I am going to save or invest. If I don't spend the total $53 allowance one month, it will carry over to the next month. I will have to decide what costs fall under 'necessity' and what fall under 'splurge'. There is one clothing item I really would love to add to my wardrobe right now, I really want a onesie with a harem pant style, something like this. And then I spied these back zip up cigarette jeans... And I want a grey lipstick... Maybe some lovely perfume... Well 2010 will be the year to...

MAKE IT WORK!

With my $53 budget I can choose to go see a movie with friends or buy some zippers to stick into the back of jeans I already own... I will have to love my wardrobe for what it is now and if I really want something new or different that is out of the budget, I will just have to make it. This army has a sewing machine and a box of fabric and patterns!!! Also, there is this necklace I've been wanting to make for ages, but I am not ready to make it just yet. I am collecting lot of items to make it with. It will be very chunky and random. Though since I am collecting all the pieces over time, each item on the necklace will have a history personal to me. I've also been keeping a mountain of old jeans with the dream of making a ballgown out of them. I may not have enough jeans, I certainly haven't had the time to tackle that project yet. I also want to silkscreen some t-shirts and stockings! So many things I want to make! Maybe this year I will find the time for a couple projects... I got a keyboard for Christmas from Stephen and I am sooo excited for that! I want to have at least one song well practised to play for next Christmas. And I've got my classical animation demo reel to finish... So many projects... $53 a month... I wish I could buy more hours for each day...

my new keyboard!!! (Now it has a home in my living room on a stand instead of my parents living room floor)

the perfect breakfast which was actually my dinner today: fruit, granola with nuts/seeds/dried fruit, low fat vanilla yogurt, a drizzle of maple syrup, dashes of cinnamon, cloves, cayenne pepper... no preservatives, aspartame, sucralose or anything I can't pronouce!!! The fruit and syrup were leftover from the New Years Day brunch I had at my place. Made cappucinios and waffles with a mountain of fresh cut fruit for all my friends to nosh on.

BLOG REVAMP COMING SOON

2009-12-22T21:18:00.001-08:00

I won a PDF copy of Danielle Meder's Paperdoll Book! For entering her paperdoll cut up contest. My entry was a little silly but still something I would wear... I only found out about the contest a few hours before the deadline unfortunately... but it was fun to cut up the pieces and try them out in different ways...

Today I went to MAC to get a fresh studio tech foundation for myself. I've been using a crappy drugstore powder foundation for too long. When I asked the price of the Studio Tech I remembered while I had temp switched to the crappy brand. Last foundation shopping trip at MAC I made I picked up Studio Fix Fluid. I tried it on my face in the store and it looked good - but when I got home I found the shade to be ever so slightly darker than my own face... Kind of annoying... I lean towards the paler look... So I got a lighter shade this time, my usual NC15. (I know you can return the product even after giving it a test at home but the shade was so close to my own I couldn't be bothered. Though next time I think I will bother.) I can barely remember what it feels/looks like to wear the Studio Tech at this point, it's been so long. Now I can give it a (re) try and compare it to the Studio Fix. Reading the most recent post at gloss spot makes me think I should really try a new brand altogether sometime...

When I asked a makeup artist as MAC to help me figure out if I was getting the right shade of foundation she said "Oh I know, I like a lighter foundation too because you can always go darker but with a darker foundation you can't go lighter." What???

I'm very excited for some black sequin leggings I picked up on the weekend. They are tiiiiight! I also purchased a vintage top from The Public Butter a couple weeks ago and just got it back from the drycleaners yesterday. Lots of fun things to wear for the holidays!

My Paperdoll Contest Entry for Final Fashion

2009-12-21T19:28:00.001-08:00

Some kind of Canadiana

Here is final fashion

What I ended up wearing to see Gaga

2009-12-03T18:30:00.001-08:00

I bought batteries and brought my camera along to see Lady Gaga, all ready to take lots of snaps! Then discovered that I left my memory card at home. So I could only take a couple pictures but they're saved onto the harddrive of my camera and I can't find the cable to bring them to my computer! When Steve and I got home, he took some pics of me in my outfit.

It's a nude bodysuit, shiny *tight* high waisted black leggings, (thank you American Apparel), my go to black patent peep toe heels (Aldo), red lace gloves, white double breasted single button jacket (silence and noise for Urban Outfitters), my deadstock flip up glasses, nude colored multi-way bra (Victoria's Secret) and makeup/nail polish.

The concert was awesome, I am so glad that there were giant screens of Gaga since our seats were at a slightly unfortunate angle... I was most excited when she started to sing Speechless, when she was at the piano it was the best... She talked a lot which was awesome and the costumes were very cool... Want to see her again...

High Heels for Men

2009-11-25T19:34:00.001-08:00

Stumbled across a fierce blog. It's High Heels for Men. The blog protests for men's right to wear high heels and stockings (and not be considered a crossdresser for doing so.)

I've got Gaga tickets!!!

2009-11-01T18:30:00.000-08:00

Seeing Gaga in Toronto on November 28!! It's the second stop on her world tour. Crazily/Impressively she's touring at least into April of 2010. So I've begun to think of what I might like to wear to her concert. Right now I am thinking.....

white and gold Venetian style mask
netting over too-big hair, (crimped, curled, pinned and pinned)
black lipstick
black nail polish
black makeup around eyes
black latex fingerless gloves
nude bra worn under:
black fishnet bodystocking
black 5 ¾ inch platform peeptoe patent heels
multi-layered pearl necklace
black frilly skirt
ivory double breasted jacket

ooohhhhhh, but we'll see... I have so many Gaga inspired and Gaga appropriate items in my closet.... And I couldn't find my black skirt... I remembered some silver stockings and a fringed leather jacket while I was looking around for the items I'm already thinking of... Love Gaga...

Halloween Makeup - Eyebrow Covering

2009-10-26T20:48:00.000-07:00

Halloween (the best day of the year) is this Saturday!!! There are parties to hit up and looks to rock. So I've just cleaned the test run off my face... Putting on my makeup and costume takes over an hour! (Feels like my wedding day again, though that was a little more work...) I've been watching youtube video tutorials to learn how to cover up my brows so I could redraw them up higher and more arched on my face. It's not easy. A couple of my favorite videos; the gluestick method by Blanche Babcock (so cute), the gluestick vs. the spirit gum and browwax method by petrilude and the soap method by Glosspot in her how-to Columbia video for Halloween.

These weren't even all the products I used to get my Jessica look... (above)

What's there is:

1) MAC studio fix fluid (foundation) (love this product)

2) MAC lip conditioner (use often)

3) Quo brush cleaner

4) MAC select cover up (concealor)

5) Sally Hanson eyelash curler (I didn't actually use this today to preserve my faux lashes for parties this week)

6) Annabelle Studio - Karma pigment

7) Rimmel blush - 34 Sienna

8) Maybelline Dream Matte Powder

9) Covergirl blush - cheekers

10) Quo brush kit

11) Quo lip brush

12) Lancome Palette - I didn't end up using this actually!

13) MAC lipstick - Ruby Woo (one of my fave shades)

14) Covergirl loose powder

15) MAC prime and prep lip (a luxury for lips)

16) Maybelline mascara

17) Annabelle lip liner (for brows too!)

18) Bonnebelle - noir eyeliner

19) MAC brow gel -ha I so didn't need this, after glueing my brows down!! (another luxury - nice to have)

20) MAC liquid last liner - point black (a brush is a must to get this one right)

21) L'Oreal HIP duo pigment - flamboyant (an affordable decent quality product)

What's missing is:

G & T gluestick

style 110 eyelashes and lash adhesive by Sephora (so fun)

Quo cosmetic wedges (sponges)

black eyeliner

Covergirl neutralizer (concealor - to cover brows)

A bunch of these products I use fairly often or are part of my arsenal already. Some I picked up just for Halloween, such as, extra purple shadow and the lashes and glue... MAC is my hands-down favorite maker of products. Some of the other brands are great too, but tend to be a little pricier. Then I pick up a lot of products that aren't as good of quality, but are a little more affordable. I've had to start using a medium size handbag to keep all my makeup in.

So here it is! (below) I'm hoping to get some better photos on Halloween. I needed to practise the makeup and I wanted to take a photo of the whole thing as I cannot wear this dress to work. It's a little too slutty... I am planning on wearing the shoes/gloves/makeup/stockings/hair with a more conservative outfit... My new highwaisted skirt and a red top.

Here I am mid brow covering: (below)

Beautiful Woman.... Lizzi Miller

2009-08-20T14:45:00.000-07:00

Been a bit too busy for blogging recently, or even tweeting.... But here is something worth blogging about; look at this gorgeous woman that Glamour put in their September issue:

She hasn't been touched by an airbrush and... she... glows!

On the other hand we have Keira Knightly:

(Article) And nothing against Keira, I've read that she gets pretty agitated by people altering her image... The blame should be on the marketing crew of Chanel. If she wanted those she could damn well buy them. Women do come in every shape and size after all. But it's SO GOOD to see that image of Lizzi Miller, untouched!

Maybelline Pulse Perfection Mascara! and Mascara Giveaway!

2009-07-26T19:30:00.000-07:00

For a couple of weeks now I've been trying out a new mascara... It's Maybelline Pulse Perfection Mascara . It's a mascara with a vibrating wand. It honestly sounds a little scary to me, it did at first, but I had the opportunity to give this mascara a try, for free! Courtesy of Matchstick, a word of mouth marketing agency in Toronto. I actually love trying out new mascaras. This one isn't available for purchase yet in Canada. Even though it's been a couple of weeks, I'm still trying to like the 'pulse' - the vibrating part. It's not scary at all. You have to be a little more careful while applying of course and you need to get close to the mirror - leaning across the countertop in a public restroom isn't really going to work, nor is trying to apply right after a wicked arm workout at the gym. I find the vibrating action really forces you to apply the mascara a lot more slowly. Maybe that's a good thing... In the end I can't really tell if the vibrating helps thicken or benefit in anway the appearance of lashes. I do think this is an exceptional mascara - I like the wand and the make up of the product does the trick, it's thick but not too thick and it's kinda wet-ish... Doesn't feel dry on application and it's not tricky to clean it off. It does make lashes appear thicker, longer and if you don't get too carried away separated. If you keep applying and applying then the lashes will start to stick together.

I'm going to keep using the mascara - keep testing the vibrating aspect.... Sometimes I don't even bother, it seems faster/easier to not use it. I still get great looking lashes. I'm thinking the vibrating aspect is pretty much a gimmick - and it's a great product without that... Which without would make it more affordable to the consumer and still reliable. I guess Maybelline is really interested in selling this mascara, perhaps there is a mascara war of sorts among makeup companies. I think a great ad/marketing campaign and providing free samples or demos to customers and relying on the prospect of... well... reliability... would do just fine.

I've given a couple of the tubes to my girlfriends so I'll have to ask them how they're liking theirs.

Maybelline Pulse Perfection Mascara GIVEAWAY:

So I received a few extra tubes of Maybelline Pulse Perfection Mascara, if you would like me to send you one all ya hafta do is answer me this: (a question tied somewhat to my career and my other passion; animation!) What designer recently put together an ad campaign with animated characters alongside models wearing her/his line? Please leave your answer as a comment and include your e-mail. (Please, only Canadian and U.S. residents)

Awesomeness

2009-07-10T22:55:00.000-07:00

Amber Rose

Guerilla Shoe Photography

2009-05-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

I saw these adorable swede mossy green shoes tucked under a bench at the gym yesterday morning and had to snap a shot with my cel phone camera... There was a label on the sole under the green insoles, but it was a little faded, looked like myas or myras or something... there may have been more letters before those that were completely rubbed off... Anyone know the brand?

Bridal Shower

2009-04-27T17:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-25T09:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-23T21:27:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-19T20:09:00.000-07:00

Is anyone else planning to check out FAT this week?

Sussman's and Preloved Sale

2009-04-19T19:43:00.001-07:00

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

2009-04-18T21:12:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-17T20:44:00.001-07:00

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

2009-04-15T15:38:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-11T16:03:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-04-02T05:26:00.001-07:00

Soon to be my best friend out dancing with me

Books on Makeup

2009-03-11T21:35:00.000-07:00

Picked up Making Faces by Kevyn Aucoin recently. I've known about this book for awhile, my brother's girlfriend (Liz at The Gloss Spot) has a copy and I don't think she'd lend it to me, I was told that book was her baby. Now it's my baby too!

It's a pretty inspiring book. I find Kevyn's attitude towards beauty and makeup to be so refreshing and relaxing... The way he can see that someone is beautiful whatever is or isn't on their face, and help women (and occasionally men) to see the beauty he sees, as well as the way he repeats throughout the book that there are truly no 'makeup rules' make me feel wonderful. I've heard a ton of 'makeup rules' already and opinions... I feel like I can toss those out the window!

I found some other cool makeup books that look fun:

another one by Kevyn Aucoin:
By Linda Mason:
By Robert Jones:And some amazing shots from the spring runways! I must try these....

at Emanuel Ungaro:
Lucia Pieroni for M.A.C. at Zac Posen:Tom Pecheux for M.A.C. at Doo.Ri: (an article on the look seen here presented by Beauty Addict)Lisa Butler for M.A.C. at Miss Sixty and Nicole Miller:James Kaliardos for M.A.C. at Preen:

Flowers soon... and gowns by Vera Wang

2009-02-16T10:11:00.000-08:00

Well, I finally heard back from the shop I ordered my silk flowers from... It seems they will be sent out tomorrow... Arriving in a week or a week and a half or so... So it's been a long wait considering they were ordered January 30th, but as long as they get here and are what I want then that's ok by me... Finding black flowers is nearly impossible and I am so set on it... Vera Wang is totally a fan of the black touch with the big white dress... I have a bridal magazine at home where she poses with a big white gown on a body model and the model holds a big round bouquet of shiny black roses and has a black ribbon tied around her waist. While looking around for some black accessory with white gown stylings by Vera I found this knockout style board posted at Style Me Pretty:
If you visit Style Me Pretty they have a fantastic Marie Antoinette inspired invitations entry to gape at right now.

Some gorgeous gowns designed by Vera Wang:The black accesory headpiece:

Happy Valentines Day!

2009-02-14T14:57:00.001-08:00

My Valentines Day is pretty tame this year. I have a migraine and work and wedding planning have kept my dearest and I far too busy and cash conscious for too much frivolity... We were going to make a nice dinner together but since I'm not feeling well we've decided it's going to be our favourite sushi take out while watching The Tudors (season 2, my V-day gift from Steve). We'll make a nice meal together and eat in when he gets back from the business trip he's going on next week. I made him a gift as well... I've told him it exists but I'm going to give it to him for his weeklong business trip... He can open it on Monday when he leaves. Maybe I can get some snaps of that up here later.

Very unfortunately, my silk wedding bouquet flower order fell through. The bouquets I fell in love with are discontinued and unavailable! I think it's pretty bad practice to have products listed on your site that are simply unavailable for purchase. At the very least, provide custumers with a means to check how many of an item are in stock! I found some more bouquets I liked and again, they were unavailable. I decided to order loose silk stems and sprays and assemble my own bouquets. I was able to order lots of fabulous flowers, all the types and colours and sizes I want! However it's been 15 days since my order and the site I ordered from has taken my money but have yet to process my order. Arghhhhh!!

I'm hooked on etsy now though! Since I discovered etsy and blogged about it I've checked their site daily. There's a lot of wonderful handmade stuff as well as oodles of vintage finds....

Some of my favorite finds:

A peacock patterened clutch lined in dupioni silk with an antiqued brass finish:A hand emboidered black and hot pink clutch:Steampunk vintage deco style earrings:
Some peanut butter and jelly felted earrings:A zebra cowhide clutch bag:
And this a-MA-zing off white leather fringe bag:

Dream Shoe Shopping

2009-02-01T16:49:00.001-08:00

My mom has found the dress she is going to wear to my wedding... A teal number by Tadashi.

So now she needs her shoes!! I did a little dream shopping at netaporter.com and found these:
Fendi Grosgrain bow-front pumps
Christian Louboutin Fortuna platform pumps
Christian Louboutin Cotton Club metallic wedges (my favorite pick for her)Christian Louboutin Simple python pumpsand just for fun,
Stella McCartney beaded sandals

wedding planning ate my social life

2009-01-25T20:12:00.000-08:00

Well, planning my wedding has taken up every bit of my spare time recently... and sometimes I'm distracted at work by planning too... surfing around online looking at flowers and garter belts...

The flowers have been figured out, garter belt and guest book with pen set purchased, deposit sent to the photographer and personalised, self-designed stamps and postcards are printing... Plus, there is another secret gift in the making... Involving sewing... The garter belt was a bit frustrating. I found one I luved on etsy.com but it wasn't the right colours... I asked the shop owner to make me one in black and purple and mentioned that black and purple and white are my wedding colours... So she made one in white and purple! I let that slide... I figured... it's gonna be up my dress anyway... But she changed the bow too and made it $2 more expensive... It's cute but in retrospect I think I could have just cheaply and easily made one for myself that was what I really wanted... sigh... I sent her a note with my order asking for the bow to be in the style I liked and if she doesn't change it maybe I'll just rip it off myself and sew on a black one that I like! What's extra annoying is she posted one just today, the same style in black and white! It looks great. Argh.
I looove the black and white anemones. When I first started looking at flowers ages ago, I really wanted black flowers. I still love that idea... I've got my cream white gown so I wanted as much of my remaining accessories as possible to be BLACK! I love the look of it, and I love the idea of doing the opposite of traditional... And the idea of black bringing a kind of deadness... I feel like the only reason my gown is white is because it's the only chance you get to wear a huge poufy white dress... Can't pass that up... The wedding will be pretty traditional overall but nearly everything has our little spin on it... I kinda fell in love with the above bouquet though, I also needed some purple in my look, as do my girls. So. There's still black in the center of the anemones. Plus there will be anemones on the cake. Which my mom is making!!! Gonna taste so good and look so pretty... And the bridesmaid bouquets... Fantastic purple, I love the shape of the bouquet as well. Eeee, excited!!!

As for fabric shopping in Queen West area of Toronto... Affordable Textiles is hands down my favorite. They are super helpful, fast, knowledgeable, professional, well-priced, and they have a fantastic selection of fabrics. I even like the organisation of their shop. Downtown Fabrics is great too, beautiful, quality fabrics and a helpful staff. Affordable just has a little more... affordability and selection... And L.A. Fabrics is OK... Gorgeous fabrics, a lot of designer stuff as well as a good selection of straight colours at good prices. I can't stand the way that staff rip my fabric off the roll though, instead of just cutting it... I get home and the ends are all puckered and threads everywhere...

50's research and Etsy finds

2009-01-12T06:27:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile! Blogging these days is not really a priority for me... I've been under a mountain of work at the job and wedding planning eats up the rest of my spare time. Going to the gym is making me fall behind at work. And THEN if there is any time left after all that, I'm working on an animated short film. It's set in the 50's and I've been doing a lot of research on the era. Naturally I am finding lot of great fashion tidbits. (My wedding has an art deco 20's theme, so again, lots of research and wonderful finds!) My next film needs to be in the 80's!!! There was so much insane and wonderful clothing from that era.

I've also got really into Etsy recently. If you join they send you a daily e-mail of great finds and it's pretty cool to start clicking and find what you find.

Some cute finds from LianaKabel's shop:
As well, there are some fabulous things to find in The Pudding Shop, Blyth Hope's Vintage, and Pretty Little World:
And some 50's images I had to share:

Penny Arcade and Holiday Trunk Show

2008-12-07T21:48:00.000-08:00

(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

2008-11-22T11:21:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-05T06:32:00.000-08:00

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

2008-10-18T21:19:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-17T09:51:00.000-07:00

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'

2008-10-14T21:23:00.001-07:00

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

2008-10-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-26T20:11:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-25T21:52:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

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)

2008-09-07T21:53:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-04T20:48:00.001-07:00

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!

2008-08-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-10T06:56:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-07T07:28:00.001-07:00

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

2008-06-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-20T20:01:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-12T19:40:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-05-03T08:55:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-28T21:18:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-25T08:52:00.001-07:00

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

2008-04-11T06:20:00.001-07:00

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

2008-04-07T07:36:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-05T16:15:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-04-03T21:47:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-03-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-03-17T17:53:00.001-07:00

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

2008-03-13T18:04:00.000-07:00

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'

2008-03-10T19:02:00.000-07:00

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

Hot for Spring

2008-03-09T09:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-03T16:00:00.000-08:00

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

2008-03-01T21:19:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-27T14:50:00.000-08:00

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.

Alumni Benefits

2008-02-26T15:01:00.000-08:00

Turns out that as an alumni I'm allowed to borrow books from the fabulous library at Sheridan College for a minimal fee on a yearly basis... I've been craving a trip to Acadia to get my hands on some out of print fashion books but with my new library card I've got a wealth of books at my fingertips!! I took out a couple today, The Way We Look and The Vogue Sewing Book. They both look to be crammed with knowledge and I'm feeling uber inspired!

There used to be a fashion design course offered at Sheridan, but it was dropped over 10 years ago. Notable graduates from this program are Dominic Bellissimo, Wayne Clark and Linda Lundstrom. Unfortunately, Linda's company has just gone bankrupt, her company filed a notice of intention to file a proposal under the bankruptcy and insolvency act of Canada on January 31st. It looks like her company is looking for options right now which is good news. It's kinda cool to find out that these people (and lots of other fashion professionals) went through Sheridan, kinda too bad that the program was cut.
Check them out:

Dominic Bellissimo
http://www.shearlings.com/

Wayne Clark
http://wayneclarkdesign.com

Linda Lundstrom
http://www.lindalundstrom.com/

Welcome!

2008-02-25T19:12:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Fashion Matter! I just took my first sewing class at The Workroom on Queen St. last week and it was so inspiring! I used to know how to use a sewing machine and even had a cheapie one of my own for a few years until it died... So the course was a fabulous refresher for me. I made a pillow case with funky pink and green pattern on white fabric and it now decorates my desk at work.
I've already signed up for 2 more classes!

I didn't watch the Oscars, but here's the Best and Worst Dressed at the Oscars according to MSN Lifestyle.
(http://lifestyle.sympatico.msn.ca/OscarStyle/OscarsBestDressed_2008)
(http://lifestyle.sympatico.msn.ca/Oscars+Worst+Dressed+2008/OscarStyle/OscarsWorstDressed_2008.htm?isfa=1)

I think Marion Cotillard, Heidi Klum's, Anne Hathaway and Renee Zellweger's dresses are gorgeous, they looks fabulous!

A couple weeks back I designed a dress for the glam.com's Design a Dress Contest... Not really realising in time that Canadian's can't enter... And even though I sent off my sketch only a couple weeks ago, I already know more about conveying a pattern and stucture in fashion illustration... (Like drawing the seam lines...) Anyway, I still like the design, maybe when I learn out how to draft a pattern I'll make the dress for myself to wear. After all, this contest got me signing up for sewing classes and highlighting facts in my Sewing for Dummies book- It basically got me into gear... So I'm grateful that this contest took place whether I can enter it or not. I can't wait to start designing and making clothes!