The Wind Rises

December 9, 20141 Comment

I’m so excited to be able to share with you the final images from our editorial published in the most recent issue of Bricks Magazine. Getting to work with Audrey was such a dream and she was the perfect model for this concept piece. I can’t get over how beautiful she looks (always) and what an amazing job Gerald and the whole team did on this one. If you’re interested in getting a copy of the magazine you can find it here.

The Wind Rises for Bricks Magazine
Photography: Gerald Larocque
Model: Audrey Kitching
MUA: Lisa Arsenault of Pinch Cosmetics
Styling: Alexandra Spence (me!)
Clothing: Larkspur Vintage, my personal wardrobe and Rosehound Apparel

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

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

Behind The Scenes / Winter Whimsy

November 25, 20144 Comments

On Saturday I made my way over to Brantford, ON to style and work on another photoshoot with Gerald, Annya and our model Emma. About 1 month ago I was given some pieces from Mode Laboratory’s SS 2015 collection and was waiting for the perfect time to use them. While the pieces are indeed Spring/Summer I thought they worked splendidly with our wintery photoshoot. There is something so magical about winter landscapes and a model adorned in white and pastel pieces. Mode Laboratory’s pieces are whimsical in and of themselves and I think they were a match made in heaven for the work that Gerald produces. I’m uncertain when I’ll be able to show you the final images, but for now, here are a few behind the scene photos I took during the shoot.

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