A New Year

January 1, 2015January 8, 201519 Comments

Happy New Year dear friends! So I’m a bit irked right now…I had written a whole post talking about some good and bad things that happened in 2014, but my computer malfunctioned and the whole thing got deleted, which has never happened before (!!!), so I guess it was a sign. Maybe those words were not mean’t to be seen…maybe all those things were mean’t so stay with 2014, in the past. I guess all I will say is that I’m glad to see 2014 go. It was not the best year of my life. I saw tragedy and illness and lost something very dear to me…the sort of things that would understandably make you feel like the year was kind-of a bummer. But, there was quite a lot of good too and I have this blog to thank for that, so I shouldn’t give 2014 such a bad rap. This little corner of the internet has opened many doors for me that would have never happened 2 years (it’s been that long!?) ago. Even without the successes I’ve had with and because of this space, I’d still continue blogging because it has given me things I value tremendously. I’m very thankful for this space, and for those of you who have been here from the start, and those of you that are new here. In this new year I’d love to get to know some of you guys. I know I follow a ton of bloggers and never comment…just sort of a silent reader. But if you felt so inclined, it would be cool if you commented and let me know who you are, or told me a little bit about yourself, or even just a simple hello…anything really. I’m quite excited to see what this new year has in store and I hope you guys will be here to share and follow along.

Dress: H&M (old)

Discovering Vintage

December 23, 20143 Comments

I had briefly mentioned last week that recently I was approached by StyleKick to be in a video for their YouTube channel. I spent the afternoon at Cabaret Vintage a couple Fridays ago with SK’s fashion editor Gabrielle and fashion photographer Celia making this fun little video. I’m so happy with how it turned out and I hope you guys enjoy it.

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

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

If The Shoe Fits

October 27, 2014November 11, 2014Leave a comment

Shoes are another item I don’t buy often. I own a lot of shoes, but most of them don’t get worn on a regular basis (and were bought years and years ago when I used to buy things just for the sake of buying something). In some respects, I am a hoarder of shoes. I have a very hard time letting go of them, so the huge shoe rack I have filled is mostly made up of shoes that I keep solely for “what if one day…” or for photo shoots I’m styling. I have the same few shoes in rotation on a day to day basis, and you see those on here quite often. Those shoes are the ones that I sought out after I saw them floating around the internet and fell totally in love (that’s sort of how I buy shoes now, I must be riveted by them first). The same goes for this pair I’m wearing. I follow a lot of local shops on instagram, one being Sylvie and Shimmy, a quaint boutique located in my old neighbourhood, Parkdale. I saw these shoes, (and another pair I ended up buying) on their instagram and knew I had to pop by. I was in luck that day. They had one pair left of each shoe, and both were my size, so I guess it was fate, or something like it. I now pretty well only by shoes I know will get a lot of wear, and slowly but surely I will hopefully start to let go of (or sell) the pairs that are collecting dust.