Busy Beaver

December 8, 20148 Comments

I’m in the midst of a very busy month (who isn’t?!) – I have two dance shows this month, so I’m at rehearsals every evening for the next little while, on top of work and trying to get my act together for Christmas – so I am especially excited when I get out of the house to just do something because I want to. On Saturday Meaghan picked me up and our plan was to head to the Distillery District Holiday Market, however, we clearly didn’t have our thinking caps on because it was very busy. The kind of busy where you could drive around the neighbourhood forever trying to find a parking spot to no avail. We ended up giving up on that idea and just heading to cherry beach to snap some photos and enjoy the sort of mild weather. It was a short excursion, but excursion none the less, and one I desperately needed, because I find during my very little down time I am just marathoning Buffy and being as lazy as possible, which is fine, but doesn’t really make for a social and productive human being.

I’ll have to cut this short today because I’m in a bit of a rush. But I hope you all had a lovely weekend and aren’t feeling too stressed about this holiday season.

*photos by Meaghan

Dress: vintage via 69 Vintage
Blouse: thrifted
Coat: vintage via Toronto Vintage Clothing Show
Toque: H&M
Boots: Samantha Pleet x Wolverine
Bow tie: handmade

Sur Ma Tête / The Winnie

December 5, 20146 Comments

So Winnie isn’t truly vintage (parts of her are), but she is handmade (I figure this series doesn’t have to be limited to vintage, if it’s sur ma tête at any point, then it deserves a wee mention) I did however get her at a vintage/antique shop called Ransack the Universe, here in Toronto. She is made from a vintage men’s tie, and crafted into this exquisite headband, which has a fascinator feel to it and likely the reason I was drawn to it. It’s such a fun piece, although, I often have a terrible time finding an outfit to pair it with. It may be that I don’t own anything that seems to really go with it, color wise. If I want to wear it, I find I end up styling the outfit around the piece, instead of the other way around – all my other hats just go with most things in my closet, but not this demanding baby, no no, she likes to be the star of the show.

Name: Winnie
Age: it’s hard to say, she was reincarnated, so she could be like really old…
Talents: she makes you feel like Blair Waldorf, which is to say you feel ultra gorgeous, dangerously seductive, too rich for your own good, kind of snobby, the most stylish girl in school/life and everyone hates you for it, but you’ll prove you are actually a decent person one day cause you are just a product of your environment and don’t know any better – so Winnie can turn you into a tv show character, the ultimate talent.

Updon’t

December 1, 2014December 1, 2014Leave a comment

My hair being worn in any way other than down is a rare sight. If I’m being honest, I don’t much like the way I look with my hair up, but that feeling flip-flops. When I had short hair I didn’t mind having an exposed neck, and quite often when I was growing it out I would just throw my hair into a top-knot and go about my day (the top-knot was way better than the weird length it was at). But now that my hair is long it has become a pseudo-invisibility cloak of sorts. It hides all the things I am a bit self-conscious about (forehead, ears…), silly things really, but I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way sometimes. The other reason that my hair often stays down (or in a side braid) is that my hair is thick. When I’m at dance rehearsals I won’t even bother trying to put my hair up and out of my face because inevitably it will fall out after 2 minutes of moving around. The only way to ensure my hair will stay put in a bun or pony tail is a whole lot of hairspray and bobby pins galore. So what’s with the low bun in these photos then?! Well, sometimes after I take photos I realize my hair was covering some interesting and pretty details of my outfit. I really didn’t want that to be the case with this cardigan. I’ve been wanting to photograph this vintage dream for awhile and I originally thought I wouldn’t do so until around Christmas time…but well it’s close enough now, and there is no rule saying I can’t dress it up with a fancier holiday-inspired outfit later on like I intended. I’m still unsure how I feel about this low bun – although it’s still sort of on the safe side since it’s covering the things I always try to hide – I doubt it will become a go-to hairstyle for me, but I’m really glad my giant mane was not in the way of getting some nice photographs of the beautiful bead-work on this 1950s mohair cardigan.

*photos by Ryan

Cardigan: vintage via Carousel Antiques
Blouse: thrifted
Skirt: vintage
Coat: Vintage via Gisela and Zoe Vintage
Shoes: Sylvie and Shimmy
Scarf: H&M
Purse: vintage via Public Butter
Tights: old ballet tights

Sur Ma Tête / The Florence

November 27, 20142 Comments

This fascinator is my favourite of all my hats (and you probably know that cause I’ve worn it plenty on this blog). Doesn’t it feel like it could have been worn by a bride?! There is something very elegant and ethereal about it that just makes me feel really good when I put it on. It’s covered in cream floral appliques and each top flower has a darling rhinestone. I got Florence from a vintage/antique shop in Ithaca, NY. The name of the shop fails me now, which I’m sad about because the owner was lovely and had some truly amazing vintage pieces in her sweet little shop. I truly believe this was a very special piece to someone at one point, and now it is very dear to me.

Name: Florence
Age: 60-65yrs (1950s)
Talents: she can teleport you to otherworldy places, her air of innocence can make even the naughtiest of people seem like sweet angels, those dreams you have where it’s so good you never want to wake up…they happen because of her
Fascinator: vintage shop in Ithaca,NY
Cardigan: vintage via Carousel Antiques

Assuming An Identity

November 24, 20144 Comments

When I put this outfit on I thought to myself “Okay, you’ve become a librarian or a Sunday School teacher, or both. Maybe you’re a librarian during the work week and Sunday School teacher on…Sundays. Either way, you look like someone with a seemingly stuffy and boring profession.” Not really a fair judgement of either occupation – singing songs with children on Sundays is probably a lot of fun and being surrounded by books all day would also be awesome – but you get what I mean. All this to say, the way I dress now seems incredibly reserved to the way I used to dress as a teenager. I like thinking about how we as humans are always changing and evolving. Some people do it a rapid rate, others seemingly stay the same way for a long time as if they have been certain of themselves all along. I’ve always been a person of change. My appearance and dressing myself has always felt like art to me, and as soon as I grow tired of the art I’m producing I change it up, taking on a new aesthetic. I think thats why I love vintage so much. There is always something new to learn about how people used to present themselves. We can take cues from the past and present them in a modern way or we can just downright look like we teleported from “insert your favourite era”. Either way, it feels like a mindful way of getting dressed. Instead of just allowing present trends to dictate the things we wear, we can assume identity through a myriad of pieces that no longer fall under a category.

Blouse & skirt: thrifted vintage
Cardigan: Larkspur Vintage
Hat: Shop Ruche
Purse: vintage via Public Butter
Shoes: Sylvie and Shimmy
Bow tie: handmade