Safari Gypsy Queens

http://www.realstylenetwork.com/blogs/fashion-and-style/2011/10/toronto-fashion-week-attitude-by-jay-manuel/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+realstylenetwork%2FgYdN+%28Fashion+and+Style%29

Read on for my piece from last nights show at LGFashionWeek.
S.

Fever Business

LG Fashion Week in Toronto began this week with a flutter of pulses and a rise in temperature for the dizzy. I am covering the shows for Real Style and realstylenetwork.com, so last night I entered the ring (as circus comes to mind, not boxing ring). Beginning with ATTITUDE Jay Manuel- the silver-haired sweetheart showed the S/S 2012 collection to a crowded tent of media, designer guests and sponsors. I can only describe the collection as the "surprise vacation" wardrobe for the everyday, Sears shopping woman. If someone told you to pack your bags- but you didn't know if you were heading for a Safari, a cruise on a yacht in the Riviera, or a free-loving gypsy beach vacation. One part safari queen, one part glamourous St. Tropez beauty, one part boho gypsy sun worshipper...diluted down to wearability...that's this collection. Photos were taken with my berry, so don't mind the quality.

(And no, I didn't catch one of supermodel Yasmin Warsame's fall. Ouch.)
Joe Fresh show tonight,
From LGFW,
S.

Like there ever was a difference, I will paint my face with lipstick

"To what a degree the same past can leave different marks-and especially admit of different interpretations."
Sigh. Birthdays.Someone asked me how it feels to be a quarter of a century. Halfway to fifty, he prodded? But, I said, isn't 25 halfway to thirty?

1/2 way to somewhere

 56 hours into being 25, though, I don't feel like more of an adult, or an even-slightly complete human being. Maybe, though, more of a woman. This is the year I will absorb all that there is to appreciate about being a woman. I will embrace...life...love...laughter...lipstick?

Sheerly ripping off Dalmation steez?

1940's Vogue

 Lipstick and polka-dots- combined, enough to inspire this graciously, gratefully 25-year-old ex-girl to finally post after 4 long months of living in the moment. But looking to the past never hurt, either. (That's not looking BACK, by the way. Different baseball game.)
"The distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion."


S.

Exhibit A- Woman

Saturate

Seven decades flew by while we waited in line

In the twilight, of these white nights

Calvin Klein Collection SS11

                  

Calvin Klein Collection SS 2011

. 

                                                         

Carte blanche, blank slate ...  monochromatic pales and shades of white took over the runway and my deepest dreams.  I keep being drawn to the lightest, brightest... whitest. Especially, the purely gorgeous white in  Calvin Klein's spring 2011 collection lately (above). On vaca, I found some amazing sheer button-up blouses at CK, including this white raw silk one, below.

Inpired...Bianca Jagger with daughter Jade in 70's

Gisele covers French Vogue April2011

There have never been so many ways to wear white. Ahhh. Makes me want the sunshine to hurry up, or at the very least, a free trip to the Riviera. 

 "These dreams, under my pillow, in the twilight, of these white nights"- Oh Land.

S.

You are all over my rainbow

Little is as jawdroppingly brilliant as a rainbow. But, then Spring comes...And it's arguable.
A blend of the beauty of Spring's intensity- and the intensity of  rainbow-hued colour-blocking- melt my winter soul. 

Gucci Spring 2011

Dior Fall 2010

Gucci S/S2011 Ad Campaign

gucci continues to colour my world for fall 2011

never too many colours

Dior F/2010

Vogue rainbow fiesta-March 2011. 

Dior did it extravagantly for fall 2010, then Gucci luxuriously spun the trend for Spring 2011. Now, Designers are keeping it up for fall 2011, like Gucci once again- this time in richer, ,deeper jewel hues.

Winter soul officially thawed,
S.

Wake up, wake up, wake up

50 Aprils later...

50 Aprils ago- Vogue April 1961

25 Aprils ago- Vogue April 1986

Now-Vogue April 2011

It's the first (well...7th) of the month. Welcome to April.
This also means the new issue of Faces mag will soon be online- to read the April issue and my latest Diary of a Fashionista column go to  http://facesmagazine.ca/halifax/current-issue

Emerald City

Lucky Charms

Nothin' but a G thing baby ... G-R-E-E-N to be precise. Green is timeless. Just look at the sumptuous emerald and forest shades of this wool/silk/fox fur cape and butter-soft leather riding boots given to me by my beloved and beautiful maternal grandmother a few years ago. Both from sixties-era, exquisitely made, and just my size, they'll never go out of style. Quality and truly timeless beauty never do.

Envy's shade

Louboutin Garibaldis

"You see I've forgotten, if they're green, or they're blue ...but anyway, the thing is, what I really mean ... yours are the sweetest eyes, I've ever seen."
S.

You're so, far away

I am out of the country on vacation -- posting will resume next week...
In the meantime, I'm shopping...so I will have lots to show you.

Basking in sunlight,
S.

Put your hands to the constellations

Kylie Minogue .

Camilla Belle

Olivia Wilde

Well hello, Friday. Let's play looks of the week...


Skinny menswear suiting with feminine accents.




Jumpsuits.




Cropped knitwear with shorts.

Rose Byrne 

                     Seventies-inspired bohemian dresses as formalwear.

Cropped knit, $595, Miu Miu

   ...Nicely played, ladies.

Leighton Meester

Kate Bosworth

And for all the devils in new dresses...

"The way you look should be a sin, you, my sensation"

S.

She says what she means, and...

 (Yes, I happen to take pictures of bathroom-stall graffiti.)

I mean, what can I say?

Lilli Ann's of San Fran jacket

My eye for vintage is improving by the year. I recently saw this black, sharp-shouldered, fit-and-flare, peplum blazer and knew I had a good thing on my hands. Though the rectangular crystal buttons threw me off ( I now know they were an after-market embellishment to the jacket), I brought it home with me for around $15 and researched the label- "Original Lilli Ann of San Francisco". 

If the blazer fits, wear it. And it does, perfectly.

Turns out, Lilli Ann was a women's suiting company that was integral in the economic development of the city of San Francisco from the 1940's and through the war years. Through WWII, the line remained committed to their brand's luxury even amidst textile shortages. 

1946 ad for Lilli Ann suiting

This label shows that my vintage jacket is from the 40's.

Fitted waists and peplums to the hip were a trademark of the company, so it was hard to surmise what era my jacket is from. But I have researched, and the National Coat and Suit Recovery Board seal on the inside of my jacket tells me it is a coat from the 1940's. This label assured consumers that the garment was made by workers who were not working excessive hours and who were being paid a fair hourly wage.

The delicious history of this amazing jacket aside, it fits me damn near perfectly. And, it's kind of got that "She means what she says" quality, I think.

Hmm...imagining the strong, free spirit of an eloquent 1940's beauty who meant what she said, captured in the beautiful black wool.

S.

But baby, you'll freeze out there

Scarf-ection perfection, on thesartorialist.blogspot.com

 Rag&Bone, $115 on netaporter.com

My $20 homemade creation- two-ply is always better than one

There are few things that make me happier than being so cold my eyeballs ache. Sense the sarcasm? Well, in this climate (A balmy and tropical -31 this week) nothing combines practical, warm, and insanely chic like a big, drapey scarf. When the snow thaws in spring there are only two things I miss- wearing scarves, and seeing little pets walk down the street with itty-bitty coats on. (So cute, no?) 

And I get over it.

But although scarves are my winter security blanket, it can be tough to find ones long or bulky enough. After a few wears, most pashmina blends, cottons, wool or synthetics lose that fluffy quality, and who likes a limp stringy scarf flung around their neck ... nobody, that's who. So I did two things. First I went to fabricville and bought two yards of pale aqua stretch cotton jersey, and made a scarf identical to the great unfinished-edge jersey ones at American Apparel. Then, I bought two of the same cheapy (2 for $20) Ardene's scarf, times three. (That's six, people) and doubled up. Once two are sewn together, it's long, drapey ... scarf for days.

My homemade leopard scarf - $20

Yves Saint Lauren wool/cashmere leopard scarf, $995, netaporter.com

I wish I knew how , your eyes are like starlight now, 'cause baby it's cold outside.

S.