The Life of a Dress

January 19, 2015January 19, 201513 Comments

I have such a hard time feeling okay about buying clothes that are not vintage or thrifted (this excludes independent designers). I’m not sure why – maybe they just don’t feel special…maybe I don’t like the idea of fast fashion – whatever it is, I actually feel like I have something against new clothes. Recently Forever 21 opened a location really close to my house and I thought, “okay, cool, I can take a peek, maybe they’ll have some cute things.” But the second I tried them on, I didn’t want any of them. It just didn’t feel like me. But say I were to find that same item in a thrift store and I liked it, I would probably buy it. Maybe hunting for clothes is part of my love for vintage and thrifting.

So it’s odd for me to say, but the only thing that is vintage in this entire look is my hat. This dress may look vintage – what with it’s 50s shape and fun novelty print – but it is indeed new. And it had me wondering…will I love this dress? Why shouldn’t I love this dress? I mean, when I saw it online, I fell for it almost immediately. But as soon as I knew a ton of others could purchase it, or that it doesn’t have an interesting past, it’s like my brain tried to sabotage my initial like for this dress, as if it was less special because it hadn’t been worn by another. But I’m glad I do own it. I am very fond of this dress. I no longer have any dresses with this silhouette in my closet – I sold all my 50s dresses with a similar silhouette long ago because I’m not really a 50s kind of girl (usually). But the length of this dress feels very 60s and it can act as a pinafore, which we all know I love. It may not have a history, but I’m the first home along it’s journey. I hope one day it will make some others girls happy. After all, all those vintage clothes I love so much now started out as new.

Hold do you feel about buying new vs old? Do you even care? I’d love to hear.

Dress c/o Larmoni
Blouse: H&M (old)
Socks: UO
Hat: vintage via Common Sort
Boots: Samantha Pleet x Wolverine

Wrapped Like a Present

December 29, 20143 Comments

I can’t believe Christmas is over and it’s nearly the New Year! I hope all those that celebrated or got some time off had a wonderful holiday – mine was just what I needed. I tried my best to give myself a few days off from blogging and anything blog related so I could enjoy time with family (Ryan’s) and friends, which I think is quite important to do from time to time. Blogging can really bleed into your everyday life, it’s sometimes hard to tell yourself that you don’t need to document absolutely everything that happens.

I wore this dress for Christmas dinner, and while it isn’t in traditional Christmas hues I think it was the perfect holiday dress. I liken it to a present with it’s rich metallic taffeta skirt and velvet bodice adorned with two sweet bows on the shoulder straps. But, the real star of the show here are my new boots. I’m pretty darn excited about these babies! They were a Christmas gift from Ryan. I had been wanting the Arc Boots by Samantha Pleet since they first came out a few years ago, and now I own them in the most beautiful marmalade colour. I’m sure you’ll be seeing a lot of them here.

What did you guys do the for the holidays? Did you receive any gifts you are super excited about?! Spend time with people you don’t get to see often? I’d love to hear.

*photos by Ryan

Dress: Vintage via Common Sort
Coat: Vintage via Gisela and Zoe
Boots: Arc Boots by Samantha Pleet x Wolverine
Tights: old pair of ballet tights

Solace

December 15, 20148 Comments

I apologize for being sort of absent last week – I had such a nutty, busy week. I can’t complain though, often times I feel really lucky to be so busy doing all the things I love most. Our dance production, Choices, took up most of my time this past week, and thank goodness for that because I don’t think our two performances would have been as wonderful as they were without everyones hard work and time. I don’t talk about dance much on here – it’s just a thing you guys know I do – but dance is a huge part of who I am. It’s hard to explain without it sounding so cheesy and non-sensical, but my solo in the show entitled Solace, was a piece that was very personal to Shameka (the choreographer) and me. It was a story about her and at the same time, it felt like a story about me. So many people said such wonderful things about my piece – about the way I danced it, about how captivating it was – such kind words that all I could really muster was simple thank yous, which feels so insincere, but really there were no words for how grateful I was feeling during this time. When you are really able to just let go of your inhibitions and just be who you are on stage, well it is unlike any feeling I can articulate. And having people feel with you, even though they are sitting in seats many feet away, unable to really understand the inner workings of your mind at that very moment, it is again a feeling I will never be able to articulate. But it is special, and will always be special to me. That’s all I want to do as a dancer and as an artist – I want to feel with intention and I want others to feel with me. I came away from this show realizing that our bodies and our minds can be painfully connected, sometimes they fight each other when we are not at ease, but when we allow ourselves to just be, the two can work so harmoniously together, if only for a moment, we can find solace.

Coat: vintage via Tabula Rasa
Blouse: vintage
Skirt: Club Monaco via Common Sort
Cardigan: thrifted
Shoes: Topshop
Scarf: H&M
Beret: vintage
Tights: old paid of ballet tights
Bow tie: handmade

Not A Rebel

October 13, 2014November 11, 20142 Comments

My pictures have been a little boring as of late. Now that I have moved, I’m trying to seek out new locations that are a little more close by to take my pictures at. My old haunts are still not that far, but they are no longer walking distance, and I much prefer to walk to a location than to take transit. I scoped out a school near by recently that I would really like to take some fun images at, but the gates were all locked and I’m not much of a rebel these days (when did that happen!?). So here we are with a plain old wall. However, my home is coming together (slowly, but surely) and I’m excited to share it with you, in the form of some much more interesting shoots.

Recently most of my outfits have been in shades similar to this one – brown, mustard, black, burnt orange. My fall wardrobe consists mostly of these colours, and it got me thinking I need to add a few more colours to my palette. But for now, this works just fine – why fight the things you obviously like?! I threw this outfit together before a surprise party I went to over the weekend and quite liked it. Sometimes the outfits we throw together with little thought end up being the best ones. I would say, however, if I had a mustard skirt to match my blouse, this outfit would be better. But I’ve been unable to find one anywhere (let a girl know if you have seen any!) Maybe it’s time I bring out the ol’ sewing machine, and make a skirt just like this one in several colours. You can never go wrong with an a-line button down mini. The 70s knew what they were doing when they made this guy, that’s for sure.

Anyways, It’s Thanksgiving Monday, which means I have the day off, and I’ve got some vintage soaking in the tub that needs to be rinsed and hung to dry before they head to their new homes, so I must be off. To all my Canadian readers, Happy Thanksgiving! Hug your parents for me, because I don’t get to see mine.

Blouse: Common Sort
Shirt: thrifted
Skirt: vintage via Odd Finds General Store
Boots: Samantha Pleet x Wolverine
Tights: Malabar (old pair of ballet tights)
Lipstick: So Chaud by MAC

Uptights

October 6, 2014November 11, 20142 Comments

I have unearthed most of my tights now. It’s sort of a bittersweet feeling. I love Fall weather and dressing myself for the chilly months, but I kind of dislike wearing tights, which is a necessity when you wear dresses/skirts as often as I do. If I could wear bare legs all year round that would be ideal. However, I’m a big fan of white tights, which came about I think only last year. But I don’t much care for black tights, which seems to be the preferred choice of most. With the exception of wearing black shoes with black tights, I find they tend to cut off my legs instead of elongating them, and it makes it very hard for me to see anything but that. I don’t know when I started to notice that, because I used to wear black tights almost religiously. I struggled with this outfit and forcing myself not to just throw on my white tights, as I usually do. But I don’t totally dislike the look. It’s good to force yourself to try different things, and realize maybe the things you notice are only in your head, and others don’t necessarily see or share the same qualms. So, hey black tights, hopefully we’ll become better friends this year.