the bow tie

ever since i saw drew barrymore in an oh-so-casual date night bow tie, i've wanted one. alas, due to finances prohibiting a swoop through the whimsical floral selections at model citizen, i've had to made do with what i have: a faux-leather bow hair clip. strung around my neck by means of brown leather string (small sigh) it's a passable effort, but the vintage stores need to be scoured. clearly.

while drew's tossed on approach is admirable, i prefer the tiptoptailored look of janelle monáe, a current fave and the best menswear devotee since diane keaton (right?) yesterday the bow was paired with shiny oxfords, rolled b&w striped pants, sheer black blouse, caramel belt and a houndstooth jacket in various tones of brown; today it's the same shoes, navy pinstripe pants, b&w striped tank, grey vest, same belt and camel & black jacket. i'm going for old man at the library sans pipe. i wish i could gain the crispness of monáe; she's just so freshly pressed and ironed! now if only i had that shock of hair...

keren ann

she of the crystalline vocals is a (mostly) paris-based chanteuse who looked awfully similar to feist before chopping her locks into a beatlesesque do (pre-india). 'my name is trouble' is a catchy little ditty, but the best tune on her new album 101 is the eerie final track that goes by the same name and reads like a doomed list....

alison mosshart

i'm in love. this crazy tough broad has done me in. like a complete maniac, i simply cannot stop listening to the kills and mosshart's sultry pipes. midnight boom is definitely their best album, but 'future starts now' has me all kinds of excited.

you can holler you can wail

you can blow what's left of my right mind

you can swing you can flail

you can blow what's left of my right mind

(i don't mind)

and don't get me started on her dirty greasy messy i-just-murdered-someone-in-a-desert style (see the dead weather video for 'treat me like your mother to get the idea). cover me in stripes and leopard, please. and make 'em soiled.

peter sibbald

peter sibbald's roughstock exhibit finally opened at bau-xi photo (which has fast become my favourite gallery in the city) and was just what i'd hoped for. i say finally because working at a magazine messes with your head in terms of time - you're always two steps ahead of the game and i oft find myself thinking it's june when *gasp* it's only april! anyways, all of sibbald's work was fantastic, capturing moments from rodeos at various ontario locations, such as orangeville (who knew the place had some jazz after all.) i never had any interest in the ole rodeo life, but now i'm finding myself intrigued. most arresting were images with wonderful perspectives, like the horse above, and the chest below, in which sibbald caught small details that would be too easy to overlook. through his images he's managed to give something that could easily be dismissed as redneck culture a quiet dignity. now. i. really. want. a. camera. (or at least one that isn't a piece of trash!)

style on the street

these are some of my favourite looks from lg fashion week. the woman at the bottom is blogger anita clarke (iwantigot.geekigirl.com) who had a great look on the daily, keeping it consistent with her distinct sunglasses. when holt renfrew did their blogger windows a couple of summers below, she was right up there alongside the sartorialist and tommy ton. the model directly below this post had phenomenal personal style, yet i haven't spotted her mug anywhere online. if there's one person whose style should be celebrated, it's hers.

while there was plenty of inspiration style to feast the eyes upon at fashion week, there were also plenty of folks who seemed to have no sense of individuality, kids donning garb such as a little dress and sky high heels paired with dangly earrings. not that there's anything ...well....wrong....with that, but fashion week is not a nightclub. fashion week is the place where you can experiment! if you're shy with your daily choices, this is the place to branch out! i personally will wear pretty much anything i want anywhere i want, but i understand the nerves involved. if you're going to a show, you evidently have some interest in clothing - more than the average person - so why are you sticking to a safe look? do. it. up!

(all shots stolen from fashionmagazine.com and thestar.com; photographers are lewis mirrett and carlos osorio)

yours truly

well. i was simply delighted to be photographed for a number of blogs as well as FASHION magazine online and thestar.com. thrilled. my mug hasn't appeared on any other than the most important sites, with FASHION above (photographed by lewis mirrett, who has a great eye) and derick chetty spotting me for the star below. this outfit however was just a casual afternoon one which i'd actually worn the previous monday to the office! i wore my favourite outfit on friday for the amanda lew kee show, but alas alas snapped it was not. for no reason other than for the sake of remembrance (i don't even have a documentation myself) i wore the following: hair in a bun, studded white belt as a necklace, black tank, black pleather tulip skirt from busan, black tights, light pink girl's kimono as a jacket/dress purchased at an antique market in kyoto (worn as a little tribute to japan...) and black patent leather stiletto booties as the finale. oh and a fur collar also from kyoto - from a flea market we stumbled upon. a wonderful look, if i do say so myself! it'll definitely make a reappearance in hogtown....

amanda lew kee F/W 2011

If there was one show we were excited for this fashion week, it was Amanda Lew Kee’s sophomore outing on Friday night. As people settled into their seats, Robin Kay was spotted trilling about;Bernadette Morra, Susie Sheffman and Wesley Badanjak were presented with fluorescent rolling suitcases; and Jay Strut was caught slumming it in the second row. Lew Kee has been the talk of the town, and with celebutantes (sadly, none were present) wearing her garb on red carpets and with a mention in Nylon magazine, it seemed like the it-girl—known for her sky blue lips—could do no wrong. Our full coverage, after the jump.

The show began on a sombre note, with Moonlight Sonata spilling over the audience as a model in a black short-sleeved goat-hair coat made her way down the runway. A series of signature black-on-black looks followed—in velvet, chiffon and what appeared to be bouclé—with tailored silhouettes and exposed zipper detailing. We were stricken with a memory of Chanel from a sparkly black mohair coat, but it was the cropped tops in fabric reminiscent of an oil spill that had more of the urban misfit attitude we were looking for.

Kimono-inspired blouses reminded us a little too much of looks we’ve seen from Louis Vuitton’s S/S 2011 runway. Dresses made of shredded fabric, somewhere between mohair and tin foil, were perplexing at first—on second thought, though, we appreciated the risk (but recoiled at the orange). Lew Kee’s all-black dresses were by far the most desirable pieces of the lot and we’re chomping at the bit to get our hands on one particular sheer striped dress.

We admire Lew Kee’s colour gambles, but her overall vision didn’t seem to be quite as coherent as past showings, this time taking us on a journey from witchy vibes to Logan’sRun to Christmas morning. As the humble designer took her bow sans lipstick, the whole affair left us feeling a little blue.