Quebecois fashion, an oxymoron?

Hi fashionistas,

It's summer time and that means no school!

I will be going to Germany in a week and I fully intend to capture some German outfits pour vous. But in the mean time here is some Quebecois fashion.

Do you know about this other region in Canada called Quebec?

Let me just say it's complicated. Quebec is like that quirky aunt who is related to the family, but she functions in her own world, speaks her own language and eats her own kind of food. But DAMN her sons are hot and she makes good dinners. You love her cause she's different and adds a little "je ne sais quoi" into the family tree but aren't sure exactly how you managed to be related to her.

That is Quebec.
Quebec-ers live with an inferiority complex. Some think of them as as the red-necks of Paris.
They speak french with a hick-kind-of with an accent, some phrases are more-hick than others, (eg. In Quebec, the word for boyfriend/girlfriend = "chum" instead of "petit ami" in Paris) and the specialties are home-styled food BUT they AREN'T snobs like Parisians. And isn't that the important part? They make you feel like family.

Who said that the Quebecois are hicks? They have style too non? See for yourself.

Phase two complete?

I went to the TNT Anniversary at Yorkville.
For those of you who don't live in Toronto, Yorkville is the posh of the posh neighbourhood in Toronto. High-end designer boutiques, expensive salons and wedding dress shops, pricey bakeries and patio restaurants where all the stars come to mingle when they're in town. The Four Seasons hotel is right in the heart of it, which is a reason why so many celebs are spotted there.
If you come to Toronto and want to see a celebrity, just put on your sunglasses and sip a drink on the patio of Sassafraz.

Anyways, back to phase two.
I went to the TNT party. I was really thinking that it would be for customers and fans of designers mostly. I was surprised when everyone was dressed to the nines. They looked liked fashion buyers, magazine editors, media people. Dan J Levy was there, Johnny Hockin, models, Greta Constantine. I was the ONLY and i mean THE ONLY girl not in heels (i had to subway and walk!).

So I had thought about what to wear beforehand, knowing that my friend is very fashionable, and I didn't want to disappoint. I wore the Urban Outfitters Alphabet shirt see here for a refresher.
So I try navigate the party with my head held high, wine in hand, pretending that I belong just as much as the next girl.
And as I'm walking out, a lady stops me and says "I just wanted to tell you that I love your shirt!" I reply with a cool "Thanks" and don't stop a beat in my pace.

As I'm walking away what I'm really thinking is "EEEEEE! I went to a FASHION event and got complimented on my CLOTHES. WOO HOOOOO"

So I guess I can give phase one a complete check and maybe phase two a good spanking?

Check out here for some pics to the event to get a sense of what I'm talking about.

Also just as a little extra some'n, I'm leaving the store and a walk in front of a short bald man. He stares at me for a little bit, I do a double-take on why he's looking. Turns out it's Tie Domi. Ok I guess Tie Domi can be a little creepy if he wants. Again, I walk ahead of him like it "ain't no thang" but inside I'm thinking, this is SO cool.

Meet Nicole Richie AND get 25% off top brands

Hi Fashionistas,

I have a friend who is working at TNT (no not the chinese supermarket, the other TNT).

It's a boutique firm that sells contemporary high end fashions like Alexander Wang, Greta Constantine etc.
They've got stores in Yorkville and Eglinton, and Montreal.

Tomorrow their Yorkville store is having an anniversary party.
I'll be there. Check it out. They're featuring designers, including Nicole Richie, Greta Constantine and Camille de Dampierre.

If you donate 20$ you also get 25% off their merchandise.



Check out the list of designers and description of the event here:
http://www.tntfashion.ca/tnts-20th-anniversary-designer-launch-list/

Yves Saint Laurent Movie

More fashion movies eh?

Watch the trailer:
Here

Whitney Port = fashion designer?

I watched the City, loved the City, I watched the Hills too, love Lauren Conrad.

But something about Whitney Port. I've never taken to the way she dresses.
Her clothing line is cute and most of the time what she wears is really border-line fashionable. But this really??



Is this an outfit a fashion designer would wear??
This looks like something my mom put me in, in grade 3.

The elastic band sweatpants pulled up to the waist with underwear securely tucked in.
Accompanied with some sweatshirt with an indistinguishable-design.
Add some bright pink plastic clips in the hair.

One of the hallmarks of moving from elementary school to junior high school is that you don't have to wear Ninja Turtle sweatpants anymore.

So then why is Whitney Port wearing this???

Also her friend with the ripped sweatshirt. Isn't this more confirmation of the derelict trend? What is with the hobo look. That is NOT a good look.

Final details

Law ball is tomorrow fashionistas and a few final touches are in order.

First order - dress.
See below.

Second order - shoes.
I was thinking of wearing these shoes with black tights.



The pair that I own has gold string detailing on the edges and isn't as platform-y at the front. It's black suede with gold detailing.
FYI: This was my first DVF item. (disappointed in the quality shoe though. The bottom of the shoe is imprinted with DVF DVF DVF etc, and after the first time I wore it indoors, the bottom of the shoe is coming off and the wood is being exposed) It says made in Italy...

Third order. - accessories.
Earrings: I bought a pair of earrings in Paris in the Marais district. In the Marais they have a convention building that features art exhibitors (similar to the One of a Kind show here in Canada). Like most things in Paris the items are nice but pricey. I bought a pair of drooping earrings that are mesh with beads inside. They were only 8euros. Wish I would have bought a pair for my friends as well. I will take a picture one day, I constantly get compliments for these earrings from friends, strangers and sale people.

(Also when I was walking there, I saw Ms Jay from America's Next Top Model. He was dressed in all black (as a man), carrying a black carry-on type bag. He was walking straight at me, just the two of us on the sidewalk. I smiled at him, but he didn't smile back.

Bracelet: My grandma gave me a silver cuff it's a silver flower cuff.

No necklace. Thoughts? Too simple?

Family Day therapy

So here in Ontario, we have a statutory holiday known as Family Day on February 21st.

What do you do if you are hopelessly behind in your law class readings, and months behind in having reading a contracts case???

You go to the local supermarket, buy a Family Deal Meal ($9.99 for a roast chicken, bottle of pop, bag of chips and 2 side salads) and buy some clothes at urban outfitters.

Take that government-regulated-attempt to mock my lack of family-ness!

Urban Outfitters is having a 30% off all sale items.

I'm still a little unsure about a few things, considering I bought them because they were of good value and I liked them, and not necessarily what I needed.

I can feel myself becoming less deliberate in my purchases and as a result I wake up not knowing what to wear. I'm less certain. For a little while I knew what I wanted to wear and woke up excited.

Lately I've been feeling less inspired. Even my go-to blogs like The Sartorialist or Jak and Jil have seemed picture the same old outfits. I need me some inspiration.

In addition, I am officially sick. I have been healthy up until now, but the fickle cold and warm weather, combined with my lack of sleep and general lackluster attempts to dress warmly because I live next to the law school, has made my body refuse to cooperate.


Despite all this, the possibility of dressing myself is still making me happy.

Here's what I got.


This is probably the most fashion forward thing I've purchased. It's pretty out of the box for me. I'm not comfortable yet wearing it with just leggings, so far I've just worn it as a blouse. I like how finally a blouse and it's buttons fall exactly right so that I don't feel like a prude or a slut. Ideas for wearing this is in desperate need.

I also bought grey/sparkly tights. Buuuuuuuuuuut how do I wear them?

Law Ball

Hi fashionistas,

Law ball is coming up in March.

Unfortunately Ottawa lacks major fashion stores. There is a Zara, Jacob and Urban Outfitters. There's no FCUK, no ForeverXII, no H&M. There are some cute little boutiques (but more on that in a later post).

So that being said, I knew that this being one of my last weeks in Toronto, I needed to find a dress for Law Ball. Not only would I have no time to go looking for a dress back in Ottawa but I wouldn't be able to find one even if I had the money.

I was feeling in the mood for something chiffon-y, flowy and classic but also sexy.

I had tried these dresses on previously. The Bordeaux dress and Bisque dress from Jacob.

I tried them on a second time and they didn't look as good anymore.


Then I tried on this dress from FCUK.



I was planning on wearing it with black tights. Can you wear black tights with open toe heels? Or is that a no?

What do you think?

Little Red Riding Hood

I picked this up at Urban Outfitters.
This is the first red dress that I own. What do you think?

The other thing is, what bra to wear with this?



Urban outfitters

Happy Holidays Fashionistas!

Check out these rings, they make the perfect gifts!!

Beautiful Life

Step One complete?

Guess what bloggers!

So I moved to the capital of Canada for law school and I've been hanging out with my new friends. Two of my girl friends commented today on how I dress. One told me today "You're always so fashionable!" And another later in the night, said to me "You always have such cute outfits."

No one's ever told me that before! Really?? I feel the transformation myself. From old shirts and just jeans to a cute sweater dress, jean jacket and a scood (scarf hood from the men's department at Zara).

I guess change really does happen?? I don't feel entirely fashionable yet but perhaps I will get there one day.

Just a lunch date, no big deal

Two days ago at lunch I met Alexander Wang. He was at Holt Renfrew at Yonge and Bloor doing some purchasing stuff in the morning and in the afternoon did a meet-and-greet with fans. Major major fashion calling. Lots of NYC style hipsters, especially can I say skinny skinny tall guys in long shorts, loose worn t-shirts and fashion shoes. Also, lots of girls in hobo-chic. I would describe some of Alex's basic stuff as Derelict chic?? Is that going too far? But it reminds me a little bit of the episode of Zoolander with the Derelict run way.

Anywho here are some pics. Enjoy.






Great service, friendly staff. Very well managed event Holts.
Note the professional picture-taker in white and professional bag holder beside also in white.

Fashion Crimes

Good article by Oyster Magazine on Fashion Crimes including Chanel's floundering with Nazism and some juicy million dollar jewelry thefts in Paris.



Fashion Crimes - Oyster Mag

Marc Jacobs et Louis Vuitton Documentary

It appears that the cloud of mystery that had surrounded the inner workings of the fashion industry for so long, may finally be passing. These past few years, have you noticed the influx of fashion appearing on the big and small screen?

Case and point, the number of documentaries that have popped up including:
The very widely marketed The September Issue following Anna Wintour's reign in Vogue.

(I thought this movie was just meh)


Valentino: The Last Emperor


Habilees - Spring/Summer Report by Loic Prigent
(I liked this one. It talks about emerging designers in France receiving a lack of support within their own country and compares it to NYC and London where young designers are burgeoning. To me, it revealed the underside of Paris' oh-so-iron-clad-image as the fashion capital. Very interesting and Agnes the narrator/interviewer is very entertaining as she flounces from one place to the next.

You can view the documentary here



And then there are the movies: Coco, Avant Chanel

(Fact bit: During the second world war, Coco apparently had an affair with a German Nazi spy and collaborated with Nazi SS to set up a meeting with Churchill's relative. !!)


So the other day, I was at my local library (again) and the cover of this DVD caught my eye.

It's a documentary about Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton by Loic Prigent. And because I know virtually nothing about fashion, I loaned it.

After watching it, I would say that this documentary is a must see! It truly gives you an inside peek into Marc's creative process and his life. I would say even more than The September Issue did for Vogue or Anna Wintour. The movie You get a sense of how Marc Jacobs thinks, what his quirks are, who he is as a person and what he does in his spare time.

Before watching this documentary my only conception of Marc Jacobs was as the label of his brand of bags and clothing. But after watching this documentary, you get a sense of the person behind the name Marc Jacobs . And that person is adorable! You see footage of him dancing and playing with his colleagues at work, even sharing his food! It brings a sense of closeness to his "name" and you can truly imagine him as your friend beyond the name Marc-with-a-C.

You have to watch the documentary for yourself, but here are some highlights of some of the things I took away from it:

One)
I was surprised to learn that 24 hours prior to the Louis Vuitton shows, the fashion house is basically playing musical chairs with their bags and accessories! Here they are swapping this look with that, to determine what bag/shoes/headband/scarf go with what. I was always under the impression that designers had specific images of the outfits in their minds all along and even so, this would have been done weeks in advance. How exciting!

Two)
Marc's take on balancing his life: "I have no separation between work and life."

Three)
Marc's take on what success means to him: "I don't know how define success, I guess it's just to keep doing what I'm doing."

Four)
Oh how wonderful!! They show the creative process of how Louis Vuitton bags come into existence. It's incredibly wonderful to see!

Do you remember this polkadot bag??


How did it come to be??

He got his inspiration from the Polkadot Queen in Japan: Yayoi Kusama


They called the bag the Macaron layout! The colours are just like the pastel colors of the macarons at LaDuree!


There are even macarons at the dinner table every night work Marc works. But don't be deceived he doesn't eat them.

What does Marc Jacobs eat for dinner? For that, you'll have to see the movie yourself to find out ;)

Next on my docket of movies to watch for some fashion smashion inspiration nation...probably is this documentary on Karl Lagerfeld and Chanel: Signe Chanel by Loic Prigent.
Why don't you watch it with me?

My first real bag

Dior recently came out with a video featurette starring Marion Cotillard called The Lady Noir Affair. It's the latest in the fashion industry's latest embracement of technology. This video is Chapter one of two videos from Dior. They say that there should be installment two being released soon.

If you want to see just the bag, you can skip ahead to 1:10 to see the little classic black bag.




Cute non? At first I felt as if the bag was maybe a little "too classic" and that there wasn't a hip enough feel to it, making it difficult to wear in the everyday sense. But then I've been seeing girls walking around downtown carrying similar purses on the street, really without a big woo-ha of an outfit. Sometimes with a boyfriend blazer, sometimes with a cute skirt and tights, but less so with jeans and a t-shirt (which has essentially been my uniform for the past 21 years).

Recently, I visited Hong Kong and Taiwan and really badly wanted to come back with something like this bag, knowing that there is more selection over there, and at better prices.

Second hand Chanel bags like this were really what I was looking for and wanted...
...but even fake Chanel was out of my price range.


So instead I found this "Chanel-inspired" bag.

It even has a poche sourire in the back!

It's not perfect but I promise once I have enough money I'll buy some real Chanel.

In addition to the poche sourire, I like that I can wear it across the shoulder or carry it short depending on my mood. It also sits higher than traditional messenger bags - right on the hip, making it ultra fashionable than most other messenger bags.

Do you think this is a good substitute for a poor student?

Can I wear this with a boyfriend jacket and jeans?

Alexander the Queen

News just broke. Alexander McQueen found in his London home. No vital signs.

Check out the news.
Alexander McQueen News

He was 40 years old. Very sad. I'm pretty sure most designers thought he was the next up and comin'. Known for his extravagant shows, those big lips.



And his latest runway show: the animal-esque prints and hoof-like shoes.

I saw some red-carpet c-listers wear them.. to my disbelief. But I think the bold prints were definitely coming back.


Do you think his clothes will become more famous, as a result?

Fashion in the library

Books on fashion.

I went to my local library today and tried to see what they would have. I think the last place anyone would go for information about fashion is the library. Books published on clothes are almost inately outdated. The sheer idea of publishing a book about fashion implies documenting the past and fashion is so much about the future - the next pairing of clothes, the next show, the next designer, the next season.

Regardless, the fact is that it's free. Free = good.

I did a simple search in the catalogue for "fashion" and walked away with this: Fashion 101


Fashion 101 - it's a dictionary for clothes. Sorted by clothing type - skirts, pants, tops, shoes, coats. It gives short paragraphs on different types of skirts and who they were made famous by and how to wear them. I found it marginally useful. Probably only worth a skim, though the drawings are nice. It was interesting to find out the names of some items and how they originated eg. Mary Janes or Wellingtons, but other than basic knowledge, the book doesn't add much purpose to helping develop my fashion sense.

I guess now I know how to call certain items when I'm at the store... so as not to look like a fool, but I wouldn't recommend a buy.


The second book I picked up was Vogue Fashion: Overview of 100 years of Style by Decade and Designer
It's sorted by decade and designer as the title suggests. With lots of pics. For a newbie like me, it gives brief blurbs about designers like Lagerfeld and Gaultier. Will give a more thorough analysis when I go through it in depth.


Magazines - Flare.
I used my Roger's gift for the Flare subscription. There's something that caught my eye in this season's issue.


I've walked past this model display eight times a week as I head to class. It's from Burberry's latest collection and was featured in the magazine. And I found this pic off the Sartorialist's Nov 2006 page. I think closed toe looks a lot better than Burberry's open toe version




Is this really coming back? Socks and heels??

What do you think? Will this survive? Does it look good?