i can has colour?

I seem to be collecting lots of colourful images to provide springtime inspiration. It's all about the unexpected combinations and mix-don't-match.

Spring isn't so much springing here as it feels like winter is reluctantly being eroded to slowly reveal spring. A crocus here, a sunny morning of birdsong there. Yesterday was lovely, but the forecast for this week is rain.

Back in Time

We had a great time at the show last night, the one I mentioned in my last post. A little tricky to describe, but: a hall in Strathcona transformed into a 1930's dance hall with wooden grandstands built on three sides, a dance marathon and amazing concert inside a play, puppets, projections, acrobatics, magic. Part of what made it fun was the fact the we really had no idea what to expect, but we were pretty impressed! It was also really cool to see so many people in the audience dressed up.

Hard Times

Tomorrow night I'm going with some of my favorite ladies to see this show and I'm pretty excited about it. It's, obviously, a theatrical extravaganza: part concert, part play, part dance marathon, all set in the Depression. I love the Depression, and the audience is encouraged to dress up, so I can't wait to see it all.
But here's my tale of woe, the proverbial dustbowl of my soul. This dress. I got it at a flea market years ago, knowing that it's basically unwearable. But it's so heartbreakingly, achingly beautiful. It's from the thirties, and it's cotton lace with silk chiffon at the neckline and crepe de chine lining and, oh, how I adore it. It would be more than perfect to wear tomorrow night, but the lining is shredded, as well as some of the chiffon. If I even attempted to put it on, let alone wear it, I would destroy it. The lining is as fragile as a cobweb. I tried to fuse the rips in the lining, but it was hopeless. Even putting it, gingerly, on the mannequin, shredded it further. The only hope would be to replace the lining, except then the shredded chiffon would be the weak link. I've resigned myself to gazing forlornly at it, and dreaming of remaking it anew someday.

Sadness!

Another rainy day.

Last week my mom reminded me of this book. I had it when I was little, and it was pretty depressing and kind of crappy, but I guess I picked it to be read disproportionally often. We laughed about how despite your best efforts to give your kids enriching quality storybooks, you can't control which ones become favorites. Anyway, it's starting to feel like the winter that wouldn't end, and I'm running out of strawberry jam.

Things are looking kind of bleak in the city this week. I'm making a dress for a customer at work for a big family party in Lima this spring. She's Peruvian and her friends here call her Gloria, after the character on Modern Family because she's loud and showy. The dress is fuchsia, red, orange and black and it looks amazing, but she says that if her Canadian friends saw her they would think she was crazy because all they ever wear is black. I thought about that on my way home today, and she's right: so much black. And gray. Blah.

Spring fashion is always about colour, and this year bright colour seems to be the focus. Shall I attempt red again? Never say never. For my outfit today I was kind of inspired by the colours in these shoes I posted the other day. The tights and piping on the blouse are navy. And the blouse is white! Speaking of colours I never wear... and it made it through the day without much visible damage.

Footloose

Time to start planning for the two weddings I'll be attending this summer. I have a couple of pretty pieces of silk stashed away - one is navy with a white print and one is emerald green with a white print. I haven't decided on the style, but I've got a few months to figure that out. The "problem" may be that I might possibly need a new pair of heels to wear. Sad but true. I feel like I don't have anything properly festive for a fancy summer wedding, so I did a little scheming and found a few options online. A girl can dream...







I'm sure I won't find the exact same colour as whichever colour I choose for my dress, so I should take the advise that I give customers and go for something totally different instead of being just a shade off the dress. So I'm picturing the green shoes above being worn with the navy fabric. And I think I might be the last girl on earth without the basic nude shoe, but all of the ones I see just seem so basic, which is why I like the top two shoes. Anyway, I'd never really buy shoes online, because I've got to be able to dance the night away, but it's fun to imagine.

Snow Day

We got some real snow on the weekend, though it was short lived. After shoveling duties on Sunday morning I went for a nice walk around my neighborhood on the way to get groceries. Somehow with the white snow as a background, the usual colours looked more interesting than usual. Does that apply to clothing? Hmm...

Back lanes are so much more interesting for walking. I love checking out people's back yards and gardens and the stuff they leave out for scroungers. I could have been the proud new owner of two doors, a fridge ("works"), multiple chairs, a kids picnic table, several mattresses and a hideous love-seat. I'm sure there's a reality show about back-lane pickers.

This little guy (or gal) braved the elements for a little affection. So sweet. I wonder if my cranky cat secretly gives love to strangers that walk by. You would never think it, but it would be just like her to give it up to strangers and deny us.

lost art

I wrote a good old-fashioned letter this week, and it was so satisfying. Writing letters falls into the category of things that I know I should do, I enjoy doing, but I don't do. I used to write lots of letters, long ones, but it sort of tapered off with the rise of email, the lack of people to write to, and the lack of letters received in return. The letter I wrote this week was written on plain old notebook paper, but I was thinking about when I wrote letters when I was a kid (mostly thank-you's to my grandparents). I always had some cute writing paper with kittens or birdies in the corner. I perused Etsy for some slightly more mature options... In general, cuteness still rules.

I like the ones above - by a designer in Victoria.

wind chill

Cold and sunny... is this a step towards spring or a step back to winter? I don't know, but I'm happy that it's not snowing, and that the days are getting longer. When I was little I thought that meant that time was actually stretching out, like each hour and each minute would feel longer. But I understand now.


When I was on the bus coming home, I changed out of my high heels and into my runners. A minute or two later the guy beside me got up and moved to another seat. Was I being offensive? Is that bad behaviour for a public setting? I can't think of any other reason he might have moved, as he moved from a prime seat to a lesser one, but I was totally discrete about it: no stinky feel and I did it all basically under the seat and out of sight. I think he was horrified, even though I have the cutest feet ever.

Assorted Sweets

No unifying theme here, just a collection of pretty images that have been hanging out in a folder waiting to be called up. Lacey, fluttery, quirky, springy. I keep being attracted to white things, but I never wear white things. I did pick up a white blouse at the clothing swap, so maybe this spring will be a fresh start with white.

Natural Light

I've had this fig-leaf silk stashed away for probably seven years, and I was always too scared to cut it because I love it so much and didn't want to regret a hasty decision. Finally, the right pattern at the right time, and I even have some left over. I like it paired with the dark purple for some contrast, and it just happened to match this skirt exactly, which doesn't happen often.

Department of Redundancy Department

Do we really need

Jason Sudeikis...

and

Ed Helms?

I feel like there's a little too much overlap.

Can anyone actually pinpoint who's in what movie?

re-bobbed

The thing about short hair is that you really notice and inch or so of new growth. With long hair I could easily let it grow a couple of inches without even noticing, but after a couple of months of my new do, it was obviously time for a little maintenance. Feels good; fresh.

I love this blouse. I've had it for almost ten years. It's made by Allison Wonderland, where I did my internship in school. She got the fabric in Japan and it's so cheery and sweet. The blouse has survived many a closet cull, as it was too small for a time, but I couldn't part with it. I'd surely be missing it if I had.

Speaking of culling, I think we've got a little clothing swap planned for this weekend. I've got three overflowing boxing in my room that need a good home, and I'd be satisfied if I didn't come back with anything new, but what are the chances of that?

fashion weak

In this crazy internet world of instant fashion coverage, I'm a little bit nostalgic for the old days. Remember when it took months to find out what had transpired at a fashion week? There would be a little coverage in newspapers, then maybe some footage on Fashion Television, and finally a feature in Vogue magazine. During that time, not only would the year be edging closer to the actual season shown, editors would be distilling the essential looks and trends and deciding what deserved a valuable page in a magazine. This lead to a really cohesive feeling for a season, and a sense of trends building up then trickling down gradually through the fashion food chain.

Now fashion spins around so quickly, not only with the instant exposure online, but with all the pre-seasons and the constant release of new lookbooks. I find it dizzying and overwhelming, and so hard to settle into a season's essence. What's the fashion equivalent of not being able to see the forest for the trees? Mini-trends come and go so quickly that it's really not worth investing in anything of high quality, and because everything seems to be in style at once, I find nothing ever really looks fresh. It used to be that trends evolved slowly enough that it was as if your palette got cleansed, so when a designer came out with something new, it was really exciting. Imagine if, instead of military being coming "in" about every season and a half, we went without seeing an epaulet for three or four years... Wouldn't it really make headlines?

New York Fashion Week has just ending, and for anyone who cares, every designer and every look is available online. The factories overseas are already doing the knock-offs for H&M etc., and in a couple of weeks we'll be able to see the first looks showing up at the mall. I haven't really looked at much, except what I see on other blogs. Now that so many bloggers are covering fashion weeks, we're even more inundated with it. I feel like I'm suffering from overexposure. Am I the only one, or is anyone else feeling a fashion backlash in the air?