the people all call her alaska

pop gold

2009-06-02T13:09:00.002-04:00

Two days in a row, while driving to work, I hear ABBA’s ‘Take a Chance on me’ and Corey Hart’s ‘Sunglasses at Night’. Oh morning radio, endlessly and repetively mining the past for pop gold. I’m not complaining.

This top is all the best of the 80s, none of the drek

2009-05-29T22:32:00.003-04:00

(source: dirylittlestylewhore)
I'm fairly certain this is Mischa Barton. Boy am I quite pleasantly surprised at how she's channeling some 70s-era Jane Birkin in this outift, with some puffy pom poms thrown in for a slice of whimsy. Not much of an actress, but boy can she pull off this wild mix of prep and a hint of rock and roll. She's come a long way from little old Orange County (what do you mean, "It wasn't real"?)

cruel cruel summer

2009-05-23T15:12:00.004-04:00

Not quite cruel, but definitely busy summer has kept me away from the more interesting parts of the internet, including my much-treasured bloglovin' list and this here sad corner of the internet.

I've been seeing lots of red lately. No sun burns or even lobster fests, just lots of vintage finds which come in various shades of a bullfighter's cape. Most of the items below are available in the etsy store.

clockwise from top left:
1. Kindergarten cardigan with adorable apple buttons. Skirt is from my closet of awkward yet amazing items, and though it's a wee bit too short and a wee bit too tight, I'm no Goldilocks and am hanging onto it until I find a way to make it work.

2. Embroidered silk blouse. Was my mothers, though I don't believe she ever wore it as she has about five different versions of this blouse in a bag at the back of her closet. I'm of the camp that Asians in chinoiserie is too much of a good thing; the stylistic references are too close to reality. There are many exceptions, to be sure, but I haven't found many that work for me.

3. A shirt for summer adventuring. For crawling under chain link fences, running to the top floor of multiple-story public parking lots, creek hopping, lake-swimming, bicycle riding and picnics. Try not to drop your slushie on it.

4. Puff puff poof! Puff sleeve dress. The original owner of this dress was likely 10 times more amazing than any Chris DeBurgh dream object.

WANT

2009-05-05T12:41:00.003-04:00

Spied this clutch amidst a mess of other things* on WWW and I think I'm a little bit in love. But not enough to crack open my wallet; this is just a fashion crush. Have spent a few dollars in celebration of the end of the school year, but the rest I'm stuffing underneath my mattress in anticipation of some incredible summer adventures abroad. Apologies for my internet absence. Very soon after my last exam I jumped into a new and exciting summer job. A dream position! It dovetails with my academic areas of interest and works with the little jaunt to another half of the world planned for mid-June. So much to look forward to!

* I love Who What Wear, I really do. But I find it difficult to click through and then scroll up and down for info on the pictures. Little miss lazypants over here needs my info up front and center stage!

two faced girl

2009-04-17T15:15:00.009-04:00

I'm fairly certain this Alexander Wang dress is what the comic book villain Two Face would wear if he were female. And had an extra $575 dollars laying around. But wait a minute, aren't super villains also usually super wealthy? Who knows, what with the economy these days. Their stock portfolios of evil have probably taken a nosedive.

it's a good life if you don't weaken

2009-04-15T18:29:00.007-04:00

When I bought this skirt, half my heart was ready to post it on etsy, while the other, more optimistic and squishy part of my heart, was thinking perhaps I could somehow manage to pull it off. After walking about the house in it a bit, doing a few lunges, seeing how ye olde oversized calves looked in them while wearing flats, I realized that I would likely feel a mite bit self conscious slinking about town in it and would want to hide around corners/behind tall desks. It's one of those items of clothing that announces itself constantly when you wear it. Not something I normally turn my nose up at, but I've spent the school year in nondescript jeans and cardigans- heading back out into the fashion light should be a slow, easing process, not a mad dash to blindness.

Sorry for the long absence. Still wandering about in a fog of exams and worry.

there's something about chloe

2009-03-27T12:18:00.006-04:00

one dress, three ways. It looks like a different outfit from each angle.
Dress her up, dress her down, she still manages to look fabulous inhabiting each realm. One thing I've always liked about c. sevigny's style is that while it is slightly wild, it is still measured and mature. Edited. So good at paring down, rather than be a tornado of bangles, chains, rips and scarves. For those that love extremes I suppose she's not quite edgy, as she does float towards the main currents as she gets older, but she still has this casual flair that I'm quite captured by.

Oh look it is the personification of springtime.

lily and swallow

2009-03-26T14:47:00.003-04:00

Birds and thoughts of spring are definitely on my brain. I'm very much so looking forward to receiving this from lula boutique. It is both easy on the eyes and wallet; the perfect fashion storm. I already own the below necklace from the same spot. Subtle enough for almost all occasions.

spring: under the influence

2009-03-26T11:40:00.005-04:00

Refinery 29 talks to some adorable fash bloggers about what their closets will be bursting with this spring. I cannot believe it's officially spring! Looking forward to walks in the park and curbside slushies. The outdoors keeps beckoning and distracting me from work. Once I hack through this jungle of exams and essays it will be summer, and the world will tilt back to its rightful place.

ack.

2009-03-20T23:19:00.006-04:00

ack. I am so so poor at keeping up to date with things. Lately it's as if I've been chased by a mob of angry obligations- busy busy busy. Today I wore a suit for the first time ever.

I've rediscovered tumblr, the perfect spot for space cadets and attention-poor folk like me. Launched a new project today that combines my etsy store and my long dormant creative writing tinkering. Still dusty, but thrashing awake.

Please add me if you're on tumblr. I'm friendly folk.

new old things I'm excited to find good homes for

2009-03-15T12:51:00.007-04:00

As I get older (shhh...), I always love to ask new people I meet two questions. 1) What was your first job? and 2) What did you wear to prom? These were especially useful questions when I wasn't living in Canada and making friends that I didn't know in High School/Uni. These people came to me as full-formed 20somethings, and I always wondered- what happened before?

Most people are now well out of their first jobs. When I was slogging my way through the working world, I would often meet successful and powerful people who told me their first jobs were at tiny grocery marts or mowing lawns. Everyone starts somewhere, and it's inspiring to see what leaps, bounds, and meanderings led a person to where they are now.

The prom question also offered me a weird and often amusing glimpse into the past. 20something stark-black-outfit-wearing fashionistas would tell me about their baby blue Cinderella prom dresses. People would sigh and get misty-eyed, or cringe and instinctively go and burn their photo albums.

This is exactly what I wore to prom seven years ago (a modern re-creation). A purple dress from Holt Renfrew that was twice as much as I wanted to spend on a dress. I told my parents I would wear it again, and to keep the entire budget down clopped about in $25 clearance Anne Klein heels (pictured) and did not get my hair done.

Flash-forward seven years and true to my promise to my parents, I am once again swanning about in this gown. Once again, to a school 'formal'. Yes, it only took almost a decade to "wear it again", but I am getting more use out of it. It looks a bit awkward and bunchy in this photo (smoothed out a bit in reality), but I hiked it up a bit and dropped one of the shoulders. In my tradition of wearing obscenely cheap shoes, I am wearing $8 shoes purchased from a Shanghai market.

What will you wear to prom? What did you wear to prom? Do you still love it? Oh, nostalgia!

p.s- I'm still dating the same fella I went to prom with. Well I suppose some things never change.

just one of those days

2009-03-11T19:55:00.002-04:00

Just had one of those blerg days where even trying on a whimsical sequined bird sweater didn't cheer me up. Summer is simultaneously too close and much too far away.

spring is upon us, follow my only song

2009-03-07T21:30:00.003-05:00

source: loveology
sure, pictures, why don't you just slay me with your feather-light beauty and brilliant softnesses.

Around these parts, spring is drifting slowly around the corner. Lately, rain instead of snow. I'm looking forward to the sort of comforting sparseness that summer brings.

In winter, I huddle indoors and pack around me worldly possessions. When the outside is so white and blank, the insides need to be lively and warm- almost womb-like. But in summer, I can shed a bit of the padding of 'things' and 'stuff'. When everything outside my window is bursting with life and inviting, I can rid the insides of a lot of clutter. White walls need not look so bleak. An entirely new and stripped down aesthetic can adhere.

Today was: baseball game and friend times. Tonight is: basement office assignment-writing, about-summer-stressing, daylight savings

bag o' wonder, basket of dreams

2009-03-04T21:31:00.004-05:00

The best seven dollars I ever spent. A soft vintage metal bag from Value Village. In the winter, freakishly cool to the touch. If it's in my lap for a while, it grows deliciously warm.

Good For: starting conversations with strangers ("wow is that chain mail?), amazing and alarming friends (who pet and poke and mush it in their hands), being the temporary home for wallet, keys and mobile whilst slung across body against hips or dangling off one shoulder, being reminiscent of the eighties, the middle ages, and nothing in between, holding apples.

What can't this bag do. Perhaps one day it will stop a bullet for me.

blazer-thon at the blazer corral

2009-02-27T14:56:00.003-05:00

There's a regular blazer-thon going down at the blazer corral a.k.a. some vintage shrunken blazers up for sale in my little home on etsy.

off to see the wizard of law

2009-02-27T14:19:00.008-05:00

shirt dress:H&M
leggings & scarf: Shanghai market
white bag: H&M
Had an appointment with a professor today so I tried to dress a little more respectably than I usually do. Not that professors don't appreciate over-sized wolf t-shirts and skinny jeans. Just that I look half my age when I wear sneakers.

and all the hate will turn to love

2009-02-20T12:25:00.002-05:00

(knightcat via TFS)
When Alexa Chung first sauntered onto the scene I thought she was the bees knees. But upon closer inspection, I started to think she was a little too artfully disheveled and a mite inconsistent. But darned if she isn't near-perfect in this picture. Not too constructed, not too haphazard; the goldilocks of looks!

(styleandthecity)
If I went to Paris I could probably just send a postcard home of this girl and everyone would know where I went. Wouldn't even need the Eiffel tower in the background. Just one achingly cool and nonchalant girl with an effortless scarf and unexpected purse.*

* as in, not a buttery black leather slouch purse nestled in the crook of her arm. I mean, those I love, but there's something so sharp about the shape (a little too big) and colour of her purse.

hoot hoot! have a drink

2009-02-19T23:11:00.003-05:00

These lovely owls came home with me from my latest thrifting session at VV last week. They're coasters, but I'm going to split them up and refashion them as a) a large button b) wall mount c) uh, coaster.

Interesting story behind the origin of these flightless birds. I had seen them at VV last week, picked them up, but ended up returning them to their shelf before I headed to the checkout. I'm deeply afraid of over-consumption and my room has been feeling cramped lately. After some thought, I stopped by a few days later to see if they were still there. Happily, they were! But, during my first run there were four, and now there are only three. Someone bought one coaster. Not that I can blame them- they're adorable. But they belong together! (yes, I'm splitting them up but they'll still be part of the same home).

totally tubular

2009-02-18T19:03:00.006-05:00

When the kind marketing folk at Matchstick offered to send me some samples of L'Oreal's Double Extend Beauty Tube mascara, I was faced with one of the easiest decisions I've ever had to make. Does the pope like tall elaborate hats? Yes!

The entire world of cosmetics has befuddled me for quite some time. There are only three necessaries in my beauty arsenal: Cover Girl CG Smoothers, Shu Uemera Eyelash Curler (legendary, I need not go on), and mascara (rotates between Maybelline Colossal and whatever I feel like stealing from my sister). Sometimes I'll dab on some blush (*rummage about in bathroom cabinet to find label- aha!- Tarte), but aside from those items, my little island of beauty products and expertise is quite limited. Had they offered to send concealer or bronzer, I would have had to politely decline. I have as much experience with those items as I have with unicorns.

But in the corner occupied by mascara, I've got a swinging chance and a steady amount of experience. I've been trying to plump up my lashes since my mid-teens. Alas, the same genetic heritage that has blessed me with hyper-metabolism and wrinkle-free skin has also cursed me with myopia and stick-straight stubby eyelashes!

The premise of the mascara is simple. First, you put on a layer of white goo (highly scientific term recently invented by myself) that moisturizes the crap out of your lashes and readies it for the next step. Then you wiggle on some of the black mascara, which forms tubes around your lashes for lengthening wonder.

I debuted the new lashes on Feb. 14. I figured I had already spent 400% more time than I usually do readying for my date- might as well tack on a few extra minutes to take pictures.

As you can see from the before and after picture, the Beauty Tubes fought the good fight, but in the end they were battered down by the overwhelming need for my eyelashes to be lazy and basically lie down. During the 'white' moisturizing stage, all the good curl that the Shu Uemera curler effected slowly became undone, and by the time I frantically applied the second step, they were already wilting pathetically. I was able to boost them up a bit by re-curling, which I generally try not to do after I've put on mascara; they tend to just jolt upright in a very unnatural fashion.

Despite the failure of my puny lashes to stand up, the mascara actually did lengthen (if not curl) my lashes to the max. And for lazy lasses like myself, it was very simple to remove. All I did was lightly scrub with water, and it flaked off without making me look like a raccoon/Taylor Momsen.

I was also sent an extra Double Extend Beauty Tube. The ziploc bag that normally holds my meager collection of make-up has reached its breaking point. So, if you are a gal or guy with lashes with natural curl (p.s. I hate you), feel free to leave a comment, and prepare yourself for some lash-lengthening madness. I will choose someone next week to send a wee packet of tube-y goodness.

happy VD

2009-02-14T17:26:00.002-05:00

chloe s.(source)
Happy day of cinnamon hearts and loaded expectations! I will be spending this evening at the boy's house. We're not much for the outdoors, and by outdoors I mean sparkly date-night prix-fixe menus overflowing with smoochy couples; a high-end noah's ark. Tonight we are hermits hunkering down for a night of peppermint hot cocoa, elaborate snacks, and a dvd or two.

so zooey

2009-02-12T11:32:00.002-05:00

marmalade eyes!
(source)

bohemian rhapsody

2009-02-08T22:34:00.005-05:00

For a Saturday night house birthday party/dance-off.

I get antsy when I wear light and wispy clothes like this top. They don't necessarily fit with my personality (which is not necessarily prickly or sharp-edged, but certainly not cloud-like and sun-speckled). I picked it out from a Shanghai market for $7 way back when. The dreamy cotton, layers of necklaces and growing-out perm scream 'bohemian princess', and combine just a little too neatly into a 70s motif. I certainly didn't want to look costume-y, or as if I fell out of some absurd flower patch.

My solution was to balance it with an ancient (10+ years) pyramid stud belt that likely found its genesis in some bin in Claire's accessories. It has survived my teenage faux-punk and raver phase, many-a pair of flared pants, and other assorted indignities. Its reappearance in my wardrobe after many years of closet banishment just reinforces the foundation of my packrat mantra:

Never. Throw. Anything.Away.

It will come back to you, like a fashion boomerang, and you will smartly piece it together with something in a creative fashion. I wonder what else in my closet I can bring back up to the majors. Fleece bags? Over-sized Mossimo shirts? The possibilities are endless (and embarrassing).

dress steps for the clumsy

2009-02-06T17:53:00.004-05:00

ONE-THREE Make dinner date with school friends at fancy Italian restaurant for Winterlicious, pop into dress, imagine self as Peter Pan, prepare to dash out the door.
FOUR: Drop electric toothbrush down the front of dress (edit: with toothpaste on it! blast!), wash, blowdry, curse the heavens.

looking so crazy in love

2009-02-03T15:30:00.003-05:00

Feverishly in love with photos from THE NEVERENDING STORY

springsteen in overtime

2009-02-01T13:35:00.013-05:00

I will be spending this evening in front of the television watching hulking multi-millionaires in tights run after an egg-shaped ball. Not normally my cup of tea but I've been told there will be elaborate snacks on offer, which appeals to me greatly. I spent a large portion of last night on the dance floor shaking my tail and possibly throwing out my back; I am excited to loaf about in front of the television for a bit.

More my cup of tea: old school Bruce Springsteen. Especially pre-Born in the USA lanky and bearded Springsteen. Simplicity- well-fitting jeans and a t-shirt- seems to be lost in the world of men's fashion these days, awash in boot cut jeans, square-toe shoes and tribal-symbol button-up shirts.
Look for him at the half-time show. The years have beat down on him, and he has been sporting a spotty goatee and earrings lately, but his music still breaks my heart in the best possible ways. I would sell all my worldly possessions to go back in time to 1975 and be at this concert.

Recommended Listening: I'm on Fire, Backstreets, Jungleland, Streets of Fire, Janey Don't You Lose Heart, Bobby Jean, Badlands, Growin' Up, The River, Dancing in the Dark, Darkness on the Edge of Town, Sad Eyes, Waiting on a Sunny Day, and everything. Also, Sexton Blake's sadsack cover of Hungry Heart.

Matt Dillon in Francis Ford Coppola's 'Rumble Fish' (based on the book by S.E Hinton) also has the sharp yet slouchy cool I admire in a fellow.

vince is the word

2009-01-30T17:25:00.006-05:00

Boxing Day cashmere Vince cardigan from Holt Renfrew, approximately a billion percent off.

I opted out of the boxing day scrum this year, student-broke and still ringing with disgust/embarrassment from the two-year clothes consumption-fest that was my stay in Asia. We opted for a more understated Christmas this year, but on boxing day my mother brought home an extra treat! The first cashmere item I've ever owned; it only took a quarter of a century. It is warmer than a thousand suns and light as a cream puff. I feel like a real woman now. Bat Mitzvah by cashmere!

venus in furs

2009-01-30T16:55:00.005-05:00

Picked up this jacket for a song at Value Village ($35).

Vintage shopping is great for deals. But, you're often faced with a dearth of information, and forced to invent backstories for your new-treasured items. I don't know the material of this jacket, nor is there a hint of a brand or label. What I do know: It's of astonishing quality, and painfully perfectly fitting in its wrist-skimming glory. The lining is sturdy and in perfect condition. There's even a wee inside breast pocket, for jewels or maybe a watch fob. And best of all, it lacks the mysterious musty smell that vintage clothes usually carry.

I'm quite torn about ever wearing this. It's light as a feather and oh so soft. It's not the size of a tent. I could imagine Kate Moss stalking about the streets of London with this tossed carelessly over her shoulders.

But, sigh, it may be real fur, and I'm still waffling about the fur debate. I'm far from a vegetarian, but I'll agree that there's something especially undignified about the whole fur industry. Does or should it matter that it's vintage?

Urg. I'll put this away in the closet for a bit and keep trying it on periodically until I convince myself either way.

the ministry of silly walks and sweaters

2009-01-27T20:45:00.011-05:00

My father's vintage missoni sweater.

My father is not a flashy man. He wears lots of monochromatic outfits and subdued respectable tops. I've never ever seen him sport a sweater with more than two colours on it. So, when I found this in his closet, I couldn't help but start with the good-natured jabs.

"What was it like starring on the Cosby show"
"And what exact blind flamboyant zebra did you steal this from?"
"I'm sure it was a lovely carpet but I'm not certain it really works as a sweater"

And then: "uh, can I borrow it pretty please?"

the olden days

2009-01-27T20:34:00.005-05:00

I have one pack of polaroid 660 film left and then it's over. No more snap happy-ness and whirring noise and eager waiting to see how the light fell.

The mug shots above are from 2003-2006, capturing my last years of undergrad and then tapering off when I left the country and left old faithful (SUN 660) in Toronto. They're not particularly spontaneous- I originally started it as a project (friends/fiends) to document all of my friends but in the end it's just a small slice of my delightful pie of pals.

one dress to rule them all

2009-01-26T14:04:00.005-05:00

This is an offshoot of an h&m dress from a few seasons ago. Many, many, fashionable girls were swanning about the internet in a version of this dress and the minute I clapped eyes on it, I knew I wanted it. I just didn't know how to get it.

At that point I was living in Shanghai. I wandered over to the recently opened downtown H&M to poke about in the racks. No luck. But this is China, I said to myself, and that is H&M. The H&M dress is likely an iteration of some catwalk conception, and if it's good enough to be interpreted by the Swedes, it is damn well good enough to lifted by designers in China.

Many months later in the scrum of the bargain Qipu shopping markets I discovered the above gem hanging in a rack of bedazzled shirts and awkward fitting pants. I inquired about the price and the boutique owner quoted $20; I nearly started hyperventilating with excitement. By that point I would have given a kidney, a gold mine, or perhaps even a small elven ring of power, to have that dress. She mistook my pause for hesitation and dropped the price to $12. I paid, folded the dress into my purse, and walked away with a goofy grin on my face, the theme from Rocky ringing in my ears.

megan whitmarsh

2009-01-24T18:43:00.003-05:00

The work of the magnificently talented ms. megan whitmarsh. I want it all times forever. It's a very robust imagination that dreams up funktastic embroideries of jamming Sasquatches and magical mushroom folk. Her use of colour and the sparseness of the pieces make each figure so arresting.

First found her work when stumbling around the internet, filed it away in my head as something to dig about in, promptly forgot everything, and finally rediscovered her in an old issue of Bust magazine.

ye olde ridiculous China perm

2009-01-24T18:00:00.005-05:00

These photos were from the days of my $40 perm, which I got from my local hairstylist when I was living in Shanghai. After a series of successful $5 haircuts I decided to take the plunge and hit the rollers. I want those wavy/mildly puffy-haired days back again, but I can do without the hay-like quality of my lousy tresses. Shortly after my adventures in perm-land I ended up moving to Beijing, the land of hard water and awkwardly showering over a toilet. That mess, combined with the dry heat and occasional sandstorm, left me with crackling dehydrated hair. Thank god I sensibly moved home and started swiping my sister's bumble & bumble leave-in conditioner. Leavin' and thievin'!

happy weekend!

2009-01-23T18:30:00.003-05:00

It's hard to muster up enthusiasm for dead-of-winter weekends. Toronto is a slush bucket and I'm so far suburban flung, my downtown friends seem more than miles away. But tonight I'm heading out to the coziest starter apartment in town to eat snacks, drink a soda pop or two, and see old great chums.

The kitchen wall, and lobster art.

fairweather non-fan

2009-01-23T11:49:00.005-05:00

Aside from the prevailing desire for comfort above all, I only have a few fashion rules. No large logos. Little to no printed/graphic tees (though I did go through quite the slogan tee phase in high school/early university). Nothing too skimpy. The 80s, generally.

But ever so often my latent former-radio-show hosting, independent-music-store-working,indie-music-loving obnoxiousness rears its horrendous hipster head. No band T-shirts unless you can rattle off three albums and three songs off each album under 45 seconds. It's a yardstick. And it should be used to beat offenders from time to time.

I would extend that standard to other groups such as teams or organizations. And for that reason, though I am in love with the slouchy warmth of the below vintage handknit sweater I picked up from VV, the center of this relationship cannot hold. I've only ever been to one Toronto Maple Leafs game in my life. I flip away from games when they pop up on the television. The only merit that team has in my eyes is that they break my boyfriend's heart more than I do, and make me look fabulous in comparison.

the rip van winkle of breaks

2009-01-22T19:48:00.006-05:00

My life is a series of fits and starts, and right now I'm in a frenzy of activity and thought I'd wander back to this direction to see what's going on in this corner of the internet.

Nothing.

That's my fault. But school was a mess over the past few months. There were some lulls, and then I was hit with the most agonizingly protracted exam period in the world. One would think that having exams pushed back to after Christmas holidays would give us poor overtaxed grad students some relief, but we just spent our 'holidays' worrying and haphazardly studying, only to get hit with a wall of stress and sleepless nights. I'm back in a dip so I've been digging through my closet and sighing and setting aside all the little gems that either do not fit me anymore or are better off finding other homes.

Goodbye Letters

Oh, 'Jean Paul Gaultier' sample bow front dress, I hardly knew ye. In fact, never knew ye. I bought this fabulous frock in a little boutique in China. The owner kept telling me it was a 'Jean Paul Gaultier' sample, and there was indeed a label inside, but I had lived there long enough to know that that dress was as authentic as that woman's curiously blue-ish hair colour (don't worry, not trying to pass it off as JPG on ebay). You generally aren't able to try clothes on in boutiques in China, and when I got home I discovered that I could barely stuff my obnoxiously broad swimmers shoulders in the little cap sleeves. Sigh. I held onto it as long as I could- took it to the fabric market to see if I could get it altered, occasionally pulled it out of the closet and tried to shoe-horn my way back into it- but my flimsy wallet and overstuffed closet are compelling me to let it go. Some teeny-shouldered gal will get to skip off in the sunset, hands in pockets, front bow flapping gloriously in the wind.

Another sad casualty of the 'no trying on goods' policy of the markets in China. I eyeballed this awesome wool skirt and apparently forgot about my second ass-cheek in assessing this fit. Not only is it snug around the hips but it is also shockingly short. I can't handle wearing thick opaque tights for too long in the winter or my gams start to feel like sausages left out in the sun.

I'm also jettisoning this ridiculously awesome navy blue shrunken fit blazer, and choosing to do so on etsy as ebay makes my brain hurts sometimes. There really isn't anything wrong with this piece. Again, it's a bit too snug around the shoulders, but given my chlorine soaked past, it's really nothing new. The major impetus, I suppose, is that I own approximately 8 billion little boy blazers. I started wearing that vintage style many many years ago when I realized I have the upper body of a 10 year old boy- great for vintage deals, poor on self esteem. I have houndstooth jackets, tiny black tux tops, 70s style brown-velvet trimmed cream-coloured jackets. My wardrobe is the envy of the local middle school. And that has got to stop.

I'm testing out ebay and etsy concurrently to see which one I like best. I gravitate towards the clean simplicity and class of etsy, but there's something about the hardscrabble scrum of ebay that may keep me going back.

ready and willing

2008-11-17T17:45:00.006-05:00

typewriter: 5.00
granny sunglasses: 1.50
bow-tie pins: 50 cents (for two)
purple clutch: 2.00

Today was 50% off day at Value Village (also deemed affectionately amongst my group of friends as 'Val Vills', 'Cape Value', 'the Tiny Village of Value), and I hurried over as fast as I could to the nearest outlet to get my secondhand fix.

Like the magnificent full moon, this special day comes around only once a month. Accompanying it is a lot of hectic dashing, tripping over fallen hangers, and attempting to maneuver politely around people while hauling around a giant tote of goodies. As the prices of secondhand goods keeps rising, it's hard to get a good deal in this town anymore. And although VV doesn't touch the extortionary prices of previously-loved goods in the Kensington Market or Queen st. boutiques, its prices often hit inexplicable heights. Which makes these discount days all the more sweet.

My shopping companion made off with a couple shirts, and I lugged about a typewriter (similar to the one a few posts below- it must be fate that I found it today!) and a handful of accessories. The typewriter is hands-down the best buy of the day. Although it's not the most charming typewriter I own, it's in fantastic condition.

School is out for... strike-times. Hopefully I will be on the computer more, updating and reading, although I will tiptoe about my dust-gathering textbooks quite guiltily.

happiness

2008-11-10T22:21:00.003-05:00

Glorious Kate Spade mittens! Perfect for the slow Canadian winters. Bet these would make some mean snowballs.

autumn!

2008-11-05T18:03:00.003-05:00

(leah bartholomew, gorker gallery)
Hurray for autumn! It is wheezing to a close over here in Toronto. Leaves flaming out and then drifting to the ground. I got off school early today after class and some meetings, peeled out of the parking lot, and made it home in time to cram in a quick walk through the local gardens with my main squeeze before the sun sank.

sharon margaret russell

2008-11-05T17:37:00.009-05:00

My parents came back from Australia/Hong Kong with a cartload of magazines that my middle sister, who lives in Sydney, had saved up for me over the past few months. frankie magazine (art*fashion*music*craft*life) was one of the best discoveries she made after landing on the other side of the world, along with the realization that toilet water swirls in the opposite direction. She's passed many issues along to me, and they've entertained me through long train rides through the country-sides of China; one issue really pulled through for me last year when I ended up in the hospital linked up to an IV for three hours, giddy from the antibiotics rocketing through my veins.

frankie is like the cool cousin who blows into town leaving perfectly-worn-in plaid shirts and old records underneath your bed. The columnists are hilarious and sharp, and the fashion's steeped in that natural laidback charm that Australian's are notorious for. Most importantly, the magazine talks to readers like they are intelligent and creative art-lovers, not like a lot of N. American fash/culture rags, many of which I feel talk down to readers or come off like one long advertorial (cough, Nylon).

Knitter/Photographer Sharon Russell's photographs featuring naughty knitted bits were showcased in the July/August issue of frankie. The tiny squares of wool juxtaposed against large expanses of skin are amazing and do great work in un-granny-fying the craft.

All images by Sharon Russell from the ‘A fleshy self : consciousness’ series.All images copyright Sharon Russell 2007

2008-11-02T10:00:00.003-05:00

{This is Glamorous} has the most gorgeous accumulation of fashion and interior design pics. The minute I click on that site my inspiration nodes start hopping and my heart starts to glow.

This framed chalkboard would be perfect for creating little menus at home or leaving messages for loved ones. Any To Do list written here would probably be completed with gusto and style.

2008-11-02T09:54:00.002-05:00

Old typewriter at the boyfriend's cottage.

It was placed on a little white desk, next to a teeny white chair. A brown rocking chair lilted slowly next to it. Places for so many great ideas to sit and rest before being dashed onto the page.

Type-itty type type!

black, white and bangs all over

2008-10-31T18:23:00.018-04:00

What's not to love about Leslie Feist? This maple syrup-voiced Canadian songstress might not have the mile high legs of Lou Doillon or the wide doe-eyes of Zoeey Deschanel, but she inhabits the world of 'awesome brunettes with perfect fringe and wardrobes to die for' with a quiet and understated charm. She stays close to a neutral palette of colours and keeps the make-up simple- the most unassuming background for all her overwhelming talent.

'Let it Die' came out at the perfect time in my life. During my summers off during my undergrad I worked at a record store and held other assorted jobs. There had been a strong murmur of buzz about Ms. L. Feist rumbling in the Toronto music scene for quite some time. Her NXNE show that Spring was gangbusters. She was a member of scene darlings Broken Social Scene- who had already capture my heart- rounding out the dazzling female trifecta which also boasted Emily Haines (Metric) and Amy Millan (Stars). And most intriguingly, she was connected to Peaches (her songs remind me of my last year of high school oh those days) in some manner- perhaps crossing paths in their expat and overly-musical lives.

And since it was summer, and since I was sad, (and oh, since I had a store discount), on the day it came out I bought her album without even listening to it first. I was captured by the crispness of the black cover, charmed by how it was framed as if she was emerging from a hole in the ground. I spent a lot of summer sunsets driving slowly around the neighborhood and rocking up and down local speedbumps like a boat in troubled waters listening to 'mushaboom' and 'secret heart' on repeat. The spare and simply wonderful music got me through some tremendously wretched months and I emerged at the end of the summer a slightly less rumpled individual.

Sadly I now find it difficult to listen to her new CD and her remixes. I saw her play a free show at Harbourfront once that was strangely disappointing, and in the ensuing years despite many opportunities to see her at local shows I could not bring myself to go. Sometimes you need people and music to be what they were for you at the time you most felt them. And it's selfish to not be able to see them in new settings or play unfamiliar songs, but there are particular places for most-loved things. I'm not like that with all music but some pieces are like captured museum settings in my heart, unchangeable.

I still listen to that album every few months and I get hurtled back into the past. All that old sadness winnowed away and things inevitably changed, for the better, as they do. But if I need a snapshot of that summer all I need to play are a few tracks and it's there.

All dressed up and everywhere to go. Loving the costume jewelery necklace dipping into the black satin.

Here she is blowing through the BSS 'Almost Crimes' video burning like a fast match. I saw her play Toronto five years ago with Broken Social Scene. She strolled onto the stage in cowboy boots and a fringed white leather jacket and played the drums and sang this song and every boy and girl in the room fell in love with her.

criterion collection covers of wes anderson films

2008-10-27T18:45:00.007-04:00

Beautiful Criterion Collection covers of Wes Anderson films. The cover of Bottle Rocket was designed by Ian Dingman. The rest of them were designed by Eric Chase Anderson, Wes Anderson's younger brother, who also created all of Richie Tenenbaum's drawings in The Royal Tenenbaums.

The luggage set created by LV for The Darjeeling Limited is so magnificent and dignified. You could certainly stroll onto a steamship or a first-class sleeper car in style with these pieces trailing behind you. And the best part is, its ultimate function has extended beyond a prop or holder-of-beautiful-things-on-steamships. After the movie these pieces were auctioned off, with proceeds going to a charity in India. Stylish, functional, and good-hearted!

And a picture of the character Margaret Yang from Rushmore, probably one of my favourite peripheral Wes Anderson characters of all time. No hilarious over-the-top moments or obvious eccentricities; just a soft-voiced girl in a peacoat, spectacles, and beret with her own problems and an enormous depth of understanding.

MARGARET

...you were a real jerk to me, you know that?

MAX

I'm sorry, Margaret.

MARGARET

Well. anyway, nice to see you.

a brick of books from brick books

2008-10-27T17:49:00.007-04:00

A small brown package of books courtesy of Brick Books clunked through my mailbox just in time for some weekend cottage reading. Thin slices of poetry books perfect for tucking into my purse or back pocket.

I read the Elimination Dance out loud on the way out to the lake. The Elimination Dance is a poem written by Michael Ondaatje (of English Patient and In the Skin of a Lion fame) that was eventually turned into a short film by Bruce Mcdonald. The premise of the poem/short film:

"Instructions: An elimination dance begins with a crowded dance floor. At a signal, the band stops playing and the announcer reads an elimination, say, "Any lover who has gone into a flower shop on Valentine's Day and asked for clitoris when he meant clematis." Any dancer answering this description must sit down, and his partner is also disqualified. The process continues (e.g. "Any person who has burst into tears at the Liquor Control Board") until a single couple remains."

A fabulous poem that will inspire laughs and sad chuckles. A beautifully constructed game of 'I have never' (the worst game for weak-livered lovers of dangerous things) full of seemingly far-fetched scenarios rooted in a whole crock-pot of humanity.

sweater- mango $30
turtleneck dress- american apparel $20 (50% off)
spectacles necklace- $4
What to wear to get into the mood to dive into new books? Why a plastic spectacles necklace! I bought this necklace in the old Wudaokou market in Beijing when I studied Mandarin at BLCU last summer. It cost four whole Canadian dollars, which is actually quite a fair sum of money when most other jewelery pieces were going for less than two dollars. But I fell in love with the effortless geek chic of this necklace and didn't have the heart to bargain that hard for it, taking the opening price and dashing off triumphantly. Though they're really only large enough to be a misguided pair of monocles at best, whenever I wear the necklace it never fails that someone gets confused and thinks they are real glasses! For Lilliputians, I assume.