Tuesday, 6 April 2010

I surf in "business casual"

What is going on here? Riding the waves in a Chanel two-piece tweed suit and kitten heels is ridiculous even for my warped ideals of appropriate dress. I can't even imagine being seen at the beach in that get up much less CARRYING A SURF BOARD. 

On the other hand, I kind of love this Chanel bike with the quilted purse attached for $17,000. I would fill it with little tins of caviar and feed it to myself at traffic lights using a tiny spoon carved out of white gold. 



Thursday, 1 April 2010

Rainy Day Cheer

Bleak weather = BRIGHT PINK LIPSTICK

When the weather  is grey, rainy or is just so depressing I am ALMOST driven to listen to Coldplay, I like to break out my bright pink lipstick for a little superficial cheer. I discovered MAC Girl About Town lipstick after helping out my friend Abi backstage at a charity fashion show she was organizing.

All the models wore black headbands (like the one below on January Jones) and had this amazing bright deep fuschia lipstick on that my friend Jemima and I became obsessed with.She went out to buy it soon after (and also uses it as a blush) but it took awhile for me to ditch my sheer rose tinted lipglosses for bold lip colour. Now I swipe this on without even thinking about it. It's a bit much for dressed down west-coast style Vancouver but if I cared about looking silly I wouldn't dress like an old lady. Hah.
(via peachpiefashion)
brightlips.jpg


Glue Gun Rampage

Apart from two years of sewing class in high school where I made some ill-advised palazzo pants, a skirt that unravelled on its first outing and an asymmetrical pair of flannel cat pyjamas, my foray into fashion design has been rather unsuccessful.

The itch to make stuff continued and slowly filtered into making my own headbands, changing buttons and detailing on vintage finds (particularly coats and cardigans) and plain t-shirts and general glue-gun abuse.


For the crafty among us, or those who just want to try their hand at making their own clothing and accessories without investing in the requisite sewing machine, Vancouver is getting its very own sewing lounge this spring called Spool of Thread.

Both a retail store and a studio space to make your own clothing – there will be sewing machines that you can pay-by-the-hour to rent during store hours along with large cutting tables, irons, dress forms and other sewing accessories. There will also be sewing workshops and classes with instruction from expert sewers and crafters.

The idea is a similar one to a very popular concept that I go to in London called The Make Lounge, which offered contemporary crafts workshops for groups where you can learn how to do stuff like crochet amigurumi toys, make your own A-line skirt to take home or embellish your own underwear.
briefs, boy shorts, thongs, knickers

I know all this DIY self can sometimes go awry and no one wants to look like they're wearing something they fished out of the bin and glue-gunned some lace onto. You don't have to be an expert, I can attest to the fact that all you need is an idea and some guidance and before you know it you may even be tempted to open up your own Etsy.com online shop to peddle  your wares. It's a lot easier than it sounds and reminds me of those glorious DIY projects I used to do when I read Teen Vogue and I once made a t-shirt out of a pillowcase and went on a date in it (true story) much like in this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypqNfk__qc8

Teen Vogue actually have some really easy ideas on how to embellish and add things onto plain clothing yourself, like this article on how designer Brian Reyes embellished a plain white t-shirt with some simple gold washers (you can buy at any hardware store) and a glue gun.


A few good shops to purchase DIY fashion and sewing supplies:
Button Button ( a little shop in Gastown at 318 Homer St. that sells buttons from all over the world, buttons you never thought you'd even need!) and Dressew Supply Ltd on 337 Hastings Street West – wall to wall zippers/buttons/notions/lace/ribbons etc!

Got Craft? Is also holding a spring indie craft fair with over 55 local and handmade vendors. It's on Sunday May 10th from 10am-5pm at the Royal Canadian Legion 2205 Commercial Drive.

You'll be sporting your own handmade lace bolero in no time. However, I would advise not wearing pillowcase shirts on dates.

Opening Spring 2010:
Spool of Thread
101-649 E. 15th Avenue (At Fraser)
Vancouver, BC
V5T 2R6

http://www.spoolofthread.com