Happy Belated

July 14, 2014November 11, 2014Leave a comment

The past few days have been pretty amazing. Friday I spent the day styling the one and only Audrey Kitching which was sort-of insane and it’s kind of hard to believe it actually happened. I took plenty of photos from the day and shoot, so I’ll talk more about that later. These photos are from Saturday, which was my 26th birthday. Ryan and I had brunch at one of my favourite spots, Rustic Cosmo, or as Meaghan’s boyfriend Nick calls it, The Rusty Combo (don’t ask), and then headed to Toronto Island to relax in the sun listening to garage rock and sipping much-too-sweet alcoholic beverages. Ryan took these photos of me at Ward’s Island – my sort-of dream spot if I could afford to live here, and if anyone would actually give up their home. The houses have a wonderfully cottage-y feel and you would never know that just a ferry ride away is crazy ol’ Toronto. After the island we went to Hogtown Vegan, and if you are ever visiting Toronto and like crazy cool vegan food, this is the spot. It’s vegan comfort food, and honestly makes you wonder why you ever ate meat in the first place. The night finished off with drinks at Geraldine’s, a new-ish 1920’s themed bar in Parkdale, (super pricey, but totally worth it) and then to Pharmacy, and like the name insinuates was once a pharmacy, also in Parkdale, but is now a quaint bar where you always run into a familiar face. It was a great day and night. There were a lot of people missing that I wished could have shared my birthday with me, but it seems a ton of my closest friends reside all around the globe now (cries!!). On Sunday I had brunch with Meaghan and Ryan, and Meaghan bought me a jade plant from Crown Flora, which I have yet to name (Ryan also bought me a cactus, who needs a name. suggestions are welcome). I spent the rest of the day cleaning my apartment that looked like a clothes bomb had exploded everywhere (i hate unpacking after shoots) and re-watching Short Term 12, bawling my eyes out (i love a good cry) cause it’s so good and so sad!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend as well! Today I am off work and am going to start prepping things for my upcoming Larkspur lookbook. It kept getting pushed back due to other shoots I was styling, but it is finally happening in the next couple weeks, so stay tuned.

*photos by Ryan

Dress worn as shirt: H&M
Shorts: TLO
Hat: vintage via a wee shop in MTL
Shoes: thirfted Giorgio Armani

I want to ride my bicycle

July 7, 2014November 11, 2014Leave a comment

I recently got my bike fixed (Ryan used to be a BMXer so I’ve got my own personal bike repair man right at home) and have been biking as much as possible. I told myself at the beginning of this month I would not buy myself a metro pass so as to force myself to ride to and from work everyday (weather permitting), as well as anywhere else the weekend takes me. Dressing yourself for biking can be a challenge if you are someone like me. Ideally you’d wear shorts and a light shirt – that’s a pretty standard biking outfit – but well, I like to switch it up. I’m not always a shorts and shirt kind of girl. Many things must be considered when choosing an outfit that is biking appropriate. Since I wear dresses and skirts mostly I have to be careful that the dress/skirt has some moving room (sorry to my a-line minis) and is a comfortable length so it doesn’t fly up exposing your unmentionables. Midi skirts are perfect, but I have come to realize I don’t own as many midi skirts as I thought. This dress is an ideal biking outfit (also the print on it?! right!?), – and I had almost completely forgot about it in my closet because I consider it very much a Spring/Summer dress and wear it in no other season – it checks off all the boxes for appropriate bike wear, but I cannot wear this everyday, for obvious reasons (smelly!). I was reading on the internet how I could wear my shorter skirts/dresses without worrying about them blowing up in the wind. There is this neat trick where you tie a nickle (or penny or quarter) with an elastic band underneath the bottom of your skirt and it weighs it down for the ride. I tried it out on one of my short, lightweight dresses over the weekend and it worked wonders. Problem solved! Now to figure out how to wear hats without them flying off your head.

*photos by Ryan

Dress: vintage (hand-me-down from Meaghan)
Boater hat & belt: thrifted vintage

Into It, Intimates / The Loved One

July 4, 2014November 11, 2014Leave a comment

Well it’s due time I talk about The Loved One‘s lingerie, but if you’ve been a reader of mine for awhile you likely already know how enamored I am with this American-made lingerie line and vintage retailer, founded by Elvia Lahman and Hannah Metz. However, it would be silly of me not to include TLO in my new series, so here we are. The Loved One is indeed my favorite intimates line (no surprise there). It’s rare I find an intimates brand that I would absolutely buy every single piece from, but I can honestly say that is the case with TLO. Their aesthetic is one I feel a real kinship to, and it seems like each piece was specifically made for someone just like me – a lingerie brand after my own heart. My love for them is likely due to the fact that each piece feels authentically vintage, even though it is new. Having a modern take on vintage-inspired lingerie can be great, but I think it can be wonderful to just recreate styles popular in eras past. Afterall, it’s so hard to find vintage lingerie that is in good condition at a reasonable price point, and well, sometimes people just don’t like wearing other peoples old panties (I can’t purport to be one of those people though). I’m not sure of their plans to release new styles any time soon, they have had a few of these for quite awhile now, not that I’m complaining, but I’d love to see what they come up with next, and I’m sure you agree.

My favorites: Agony of Love knickers, gold Sin In The Suburbs knickers, Ballet Pink Fuego Top, She Should Have Stayed In Bed Bralette, One Shocking Moment Bra (already own it, teehee), How To Make A Doll bustier

Marilyn Monroe Moments

July 2, 2014November 11, 2014Leave a comment

This dress was a mistake for weather as humid and windy as it was yesterday. When I bought this dress I specifically thought it would be a nice summery dress because of how light-weight and airy it feels, but I was wrong. I always forget Toronto doesn’t really get dry heat. It’s a sticky, humid, ‘sweat between your butt cheeks’ type heat that can only really be fought by leaving as much skin exposed as possible (danger to fare-skinned folk). I was indeed correct about how light-weight it is though. It’s the type of light-weight that if there is any gust of wind, a few people are going to get a flash of your buns, so it was really not ideal for me to wear this dress while taking photos so close to the beach. Think of the infamous Marilyn Monroe ‘Seven Year Itch’ scene, but way less sexy and charming. Needless to say, I was panicked to get home after taking these photos. I spent the remainder of this day in a lace short-sleeve button up and high waisted denim shorts (and no socks! it’s amazing how much warmer you feel with socks on). I do love this dress though. I’m a huge fan of stripes (typical.), but this may very well be the only striped item I own these days. In my goth days I rocked a pair of Beetlejuice pants, but they are no more, and may they rest in peace.

Dress: thrifted Zara
Fascinator: vintage shop in Ithaca
Socks: AA
Shoes: Seychelles

Behind the Scenes / Gerald, Gwen, Leesa and Larkspur

June 30, 2014November 11, 20141 Comment

A couple weekends back I had the pleasure of working with Gerald again. I styled two shoots in one day, using Larkspur garb, as well as my own personal collection. I got to dress up the always lovely Gwen, who I have styled before. I worked along side hairstylist/makeup artist, Leesa – who I have also worked with before – to turn Gwen into an enchanting woodland goddess. This time I was not modelling myself, so I helped out behind the scenes in between putting outfits together. It was a long day, but magical and full of laughs. It’s nice getting to work with a model you have already met. Gwen is a little firecracker and I sort of fell even more in love with her. I feel a kinship to her goofy silly vibes. As always, it was a pleasure working with Gerald and Leesa, they are both such kind, lovely people. There are definitely worse ways I could have spent a day. I promise promise once any of the three (well four, if we include the one I did with Danielle) shoots I have worked on are released, you guys will be the first to know!