Mine Eyes Deceive Me

November 10, 2014November 11, 20144 Comments

It’s interesting to look at these photos and see how feminine I look and how, quite often, I don’t feel that feminine. If we are generalizing femininity, outwardly I am quite a feminine person – long hair, makeup, painted nails, dress. And it’s interesting how this type of look will lead people to draw conclusions about your personality, even if it may be very far from who you actually are. I remember after Ryan and I started dating, he had told me when we first met, he thought he was going to have to do a lot to impress me. Essentially, that based on the way I looked, I would probably be a high-maintenance, sort of elitist person (I’m speculating here, those may not be the words he would choose). I’m not pointing the finger at him, because most, if not all people jump to conclusions about who a person must be based on the way they dress/look (I do, you do…) But still, I was almost shocked that he thought this about me, because I have always thought of myself as a very low to medium maintenance girl, and truthfully – if we are again generalizing femininity – I don’t act much like a textbook version of a girl (or the 1950s version of a woman) – I think poop jokes are funny, farts make me laugh, I swear a lot more than I care to admit, if I’m at home I sit in the least lady-like positions as possible…you get the idea. The most feminine thing about me is the way I look. I can be incredibly emotional, which a lot of people regard as a female trait, but I feel it has nothing to do with being a girl and more to do with being a Cancer (or a human being). I like wearing dresses and skirts, but that’s because they are just categorically better than pants (you can argue me on that). But what’s even more interesting to me is that almost inherently, we have learned to categorize almost every type of person out there solely on how they choose to dress. Maybe movies did this to us – made us assign a personality type to every style there is, so there is no need to actually get to know a person. Heck, there are probably times when people actually assume they would not get along with someone just based on the way they dress/look. How sad is that?! That we may prevent ourselves from getting to know someone who may actually be awesome. The world is a strange place. I often wonder if the conclusions we jump to is a nature vs. nurture thing. Most likely nurture, but maybe it has been so much about nurture and engraved into our brains that it has actually become nature over time. Anyways, food for thought.

I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was busy and didn’t feel like much of a weekend, but that’s life sometimes.

Dress: vintage
Bow Headband: vintage via Victory Mills
Lipstick: So Chaud by MAC
Nail polish: 5th Avenue by Essie

Sur Ma Tête / The Susie

November 4, 2014November 11, 20147 Comments

I thought it would be fun if I started a mini series about my vintage hat collection. You’ve seen a few of them on here already, but some of them don’t get seen often, and well, vintage hats!, I love them and thought they deserve a spotlight on this blog. My collection is not nearly as extensive as one might think, but I can show you what I do have and then hopefully just continue adding to this series as I get more, because one can never have too many vintage hats.

This gal here – I have named her Susie (I also thought it would be fun to name all my hats for this series) – hailing from the 1950s, is a pillbox hat with a veil and a sweet lil’ bow. I got Susie at one of my favourite vintage shops, Public Butter. I think she was actually the first vintage hat I ever purchased for myself, and thus, very special to me.

Name: Susie
Age: 60-65yrs (1950s)
Talents: is pink, has a bow, has a veil, makes you feel really cute, makes you think of candy, the fun-loving quirky girl of the hat world

Do you guys love vintage hats? Tell me about your favourites.

Hat: vintage via Public Butter
Blouse: vintage via Common Sort
Lipstick: So Chaud by Mac
Nail polish: 5th Avenue by Essie

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.

Dress, blouse, belt: thrifted vintage
Jacket: H&M
Hat: vintage via Common Sort
Bow tie: handmade
Boots: Samantha Pleet x Wolverine
Tights: Target

Gwendy Darling for Miss Robin Fanzine

October 3, 2014November 11, 2014Leave a comment

Back in May I styled a shoot with photographer & editor-in-chief of Zeum Mag, Danielle Suzanne. I am finally able to share the images with you, as it was just released in the latest issue of Miss Robin Fanzine. You may recognize the model from previous shoots I styled, but this was the first time I met/worked with Gwen (aka Gwendy Darling), although obviously, not the last. I love this girl – she is gorgeous, and silly and just an all around cool chick. As for Danielle, I feel so lucky to have been able to work with her. She is super talented (honestly, you need to check out her work), pretty damn adorable, and also, an all around rad chick. For the styling I used garments from Larkspur, as well as my own personal items and some pieces from Dolores Haze SS14, which I sort-of wish I could have taken home with me. We shot on Toronto Island, and while it may look like a warm Summer day, it really did not feel like one. Gwen was such a trooper though, traipsing around in a swimsuit and next to nothing. Anyways, enough of my blabbering, I hope you enjoy the images, I’m pretty in love with them.