lessons learned

My my my. Hump day has come and practically gone already. The days sure go by fast when you are restoring your life from the bizarro, and in some cases, unfortunate chain of events that happened this past long weekend. 

Now you might think this post is going to be a description of the nitty gritty details of how this weekend had me losing my identity at an electric pow-wow, a friendly misunderstanding with Quebec officers and an extraordinary coincidental meeting with a man I had never met, but we are connected by a picture of a tattoo; but, i swear, if i told you, you probably wouldn't believe me. 

Instead this post is more of a fashion "how to": how to make one dress work for both a sage-smudging seance and a day time look.

 1. Set up materials.

Needed: candles, matches, cigarettes, sparkling wine, sage, music, your friend's newly acquired apartment

2. Fire

3. Dance around house banishing bad omens or spirits

4 Attire

Don't be predictable. I say seance, you think black, right? Choose something that makes you look like you don't need to prove your smudging and chanting abilities to anyone. It's not the costume that is going to banish those bad omens, is it? 

Wear something comfortable; something that uninhibits your freedom and wild moves. Don't wear too many bangles, fringe or anything that could easily catch fire.

Daytime. 

With a few key accessories, you can easily take the dress you wore at the divination and turn it into an appropriate outfit for 10am coffee sippin and park walking.

Throw on an over-sized sweater or coat to give it that casual-cool look, also if you accidentally burned holes in the sleeve of your dress your coat will hide that little blunddr. The coat pictured is by eco-frindly, Toronto-based clothing company Passenger Pigeon. 

Wear flats. Your feet are probably sore from all the dancing the night before. no need to hurt yourself now.(pictured Diesel boots).

Tights. You may have felt it appropriate to be fiercely tight-less the night before, I mean, you probably were a bit sweaty with all the fire and frolicking, but it is daytime and it is Fall girls. Lets keep it classy, ok?

Seance.

Daytime.

I hope you 've learned something today. Until tomorrow's fashion adventure, bon nuit!

turkish delight

Craving Turkey? Me too. Just not in bird form.

Vogue Turkey Editorial. Vogue Turkey?! Who says the fashion mag industry is in trouble?

If you are like me and have to take vacations in your head at times because your wallet can't quite afford European escapades every few weeks, check out Adam and Eve Hotel; located in, well Turkey (there is a theme here folks). 

This hotel is what dreams are made of and easily a place where fantasies could become real. Defintely a place I could picture myself sinning a weekend away. 

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!

laying low

(grey diesel vest, club monaco shirt and belt, current elliott jeans, aldo necklace)

I have the tendency to go into "professional reclusive-mode" as I like to call it. I usually barricade myself at home, embrace my hermit-side and let my voicemail answer most of my calls. I refer to it as "professional" because this is the time I usually get down to business: uninterruptedly, I can tackle my pile of to-do lists, re-organize music/computer files/portfolio images, write peacefully, play dress up in my closet and discover all of the neglected clothes from past years, clean my fridge out, organize all the scraps of notes on napkins I collect, catalogue all books and magazines....you get the picture.

I openly embrace my need for solitude and am very fortunate at this point in my life I can afford to take a quiet step back from all the hustle and bustle to tend to the small, but important parts of my life that need a little loving care sometimes.

So, you are probably thinking, well, great for you, but what's the point of all this yammering about my space and free time, blahblahblah? Well, good news for you, i have had plenty of time to put together another playlist for your listening pleasure. After an afternoon listening to Soloman Burke and sipping on my luke-warm coffee while flipping through all my records, I was inspired to put together a little something something for you. Hope you enjoy!

model-like

library trip

That plus a few other errands was what I did today! Yes people. Another exciting day in this gal's life.

When I first moved to Ottawa, the library was like my refuge. I would be huddled in the back corner of the fiction section for hours on rainy Sunday afternoons or curled up on the comfy chairs flipping through Big City Junk and American Junk by Mary Randolph Carter or sprawled out on the floor of the art and photography section skimming through giant hardcover books. I always felt strangely at home surrounded by a bunch of books and ideas and by people who perhaps were as shy and seemingly timid as I was. 

The book I started reading is Albert Camus', The Fall, which was recommended to me by a friend. I'm not too invested in the book yet, just a mere 8 pages in, but so far so good.

(urban outfitters jacket, zara jeans, nine west shoes, vintage belt and purse)

In addition to my "exciting" trip to the library, the rest of the day was spent getting ready for a photo shoot I am doing tomorrow with CoverModels Management, a few projects around the house that I have been putting off and a trip to the market to pick up butternut squash and pumpkin to make a seasonal soup.

If you are like me and enjoy perusing food porn blogs for yummy cooking inspiration, I highly recommend She Eats Bears for a local food enthusiast's thoughts on all things worth digesting.   

x

Ah. Paris Vogue. How do i love thee, let me count the ways. Can't wait to pick up this monumental October issue! Ottawa seems to receive Paris Vogue about a month after it actually comes out, so I usually end up seeing most, if not all the editorials floating around the internet by the time I get my hands on it. But alas, my heart still races when I walk past Mags and Fags and I see it sitting there in all its provocative French glory! Smoking, tits and subtle S&M themed editorials: the perfect magazine.

And none other than Lara Stone is photographed for the cover of its 90th anniversary issue. 

Oh la la!

Read this! It's a really great Q&A with Carine Roitfeld written by Eric Wilson for the New York Times.

Happy weekend-ing all!

the dog days are officially over

Yup. That's right. If you thought there might be a couple weeks left of lingering summer days, that dream just drowned in the downpour today. 

If definitely feels like Fall in Ottawa now: full day rain without any relief, knitted hats are a sensible, if not necessary option, afternoon cappuccinos are chosen over sangria, new apartments are being occupied, new jobs are mere weeks away and projects that i have been working on over the past few months are fast approaching launch dates.... change is in autumn's cooler air, and unlike the winters I so very much dread, I am eagerly waiting for this change to come!

vintage dress, slip and necklace, divine jacket, spring boots, h&m hat

Maple syrup cappuccinos from Wild Oat. Mmmm.

this day started in the middle of the night

(Angela Bucaro dress, New Moon by Wilfred coat, aldo boots, thrifted belt, purse from a market in Florence)

so you will have to excuse the swollen, heavy circles that have inhabited my eyes.

The previous night had it in for my friend. The night stole our playfulness and hardened our gauzy midnight dreams. It left her young and helpless and hanging on by a thread. And, both fortunately and unfortunately, I was there with her to witness when shit got bad.

Needless to say, the most valuable things we learn, about ourselves and love and the people in our lives are usually in the most painful of ways.

Life has a way of pushing feelings into your pressure points until you can't take it anymore and you hit the ground, crack and collapse. And when we are left as emotional dust, vacant and transparent, like a rubber stamp pressed onto paper too many times; the outline is so faded and the original form lost; is when we can finally breath calmly like we have nothing more to loose, and re-start. 

My friend is an instinctively strong girl, who without question will tear up those somber feelings just as much as they are consuming her. She is someone who knows that life is too short to be chasing feelings that bring you solely happiness or contentment or luck. When you like to play with fire and walk around letting gasoline drip from your heart, you are bound to get burnt. So I guess I am not too worried anymore; maybe excited to see what happens next. Maybe still slightly delirious from lack of sleep. Maybe a bit of both.

lo-fi video experiments

Making a Shell from Tell No One on Vimeo



Seaweed from Tell No One on Vimeo

heads down. lean in

(newport news dress, vintage belt, shoes & accessories, BCBG blazer, Club Monaco clutch)

Today is Sunday. I've read Lullabies for Little Criminals from cover to cover.

I haven't talked to my mother in a long time. Longer than I care to admit. 

I miss telling her about my lucid dreams, where i am falling and the only people that get comfort from my embrace are strangers, thieves and sailors. 

She would smile and give me a discerning eye of acknowledgment. At once, making me feel both comforted in her prudency and lonely at the same time.

I have ink on my fingers and my eyes are sore from the beautiful words I've tried to sear into my head today.

I would rather be kissing someone.

dayxday

banana republic shirt, smart set pants, vintage belt and cuff

fall pt2

Preen

Haider Ackerman

Max Azria

Vanessa Bruno

Like most other things in my life, my taste in fashion this season is pretty diverse, maybe even close to damn-near-chaotic. 

I can't seem to get enough draping fabrics. Whether it is sheer, jersey, layered or on its own, I simply adore the delicate, feminine and misshaped lines and layers. Especially contrasted by over-sized industrial and masculine jackets, cinched waists and bootsbootsboots! 

This season I want to focus on the word "classic". While you can flip open any magazine and see this word, in all of it's fashion-meaning: "crisp white dress shirts" and "perfectly tailored blazers", "well crafted denim" and some version of the "little black dress", I want to create meaning for this word on my own terms and by my own rules.

I consider my fashion inclinations to be evolutionary and rarely at a stand-still (ok, once in a while a brief halt). And while, I certainly don't define myself as someone who is trendy, I do make attempts at changing my style and trying new ways of wearing clothes regularly and often within the perimeters of what Paris Vogue defines ;) 
However, over the last few weeks, while day dreaming about my fall wardrobe, I have sworn to myself that I will not get lost in any more trends, rather, attempt to define what is actually and classically my style; not necessarily with definitive words, but by what I actually decide to wear any given day of the week, what I am drawn to and what I consider stylish. 

"Classic" for me is a worn-in motorcycle jacket thrown on over a cleverly, sexy dress. Or flared denim, a tousled white t-shirt and an arm full of my favorite vintage bangles. I love one-shoulders and Grecian-inspired dresses. I adore hats, particularly large-brimmed circa 1970. 

When I think of the paramount way clothing can fit a woman, I like to envision walking naked through a windstorm and, by chance, a delicate and supple piece of fabric is blown against my body. 

The idea of clothing that moves with you and is subtly subversive; clothes that accentuate the body and indicate feminism in a phlegmatically daring way is, in my opinion, ultimately the most sexy, strong and stylish.

Realistically, I will still pull out the faithful skinny jeans and trench coat once in a while, making my "classics", look like everyone else's "classics". But, while the rest may be double wrapping their scarves around their neck, preparing to brace the chilly fall season, I will be throwing my scarf into the air and hoping for a windstorm.

Here's to Fall!