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29 December 2010

Today I'm stalking... Daisy Lowe




who: model

age: 21

made in: England

style: quirky urban hipster with ultimate sex appeal

wardrobe staples: dresses with cinched-in waistlines, loud and busy prints, anything decolletage, drapey tees, impossibly-high heels

why we love her: she documents British Vogue's Today I'm Wearing feature (which we are also totally stalking).

why you should love her too: she's fearless, cheeky, and refreshingly frank about her inescapable celebrity. That, and her Pa's married to Gwen Stefani.

life story (abridged): Mama is singer-cum-fashion designer Pearl Lowe, and Papa is Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale. Originally, Lowe was thought to be the child of Pearl's ex-husband Bronner, but a paternity test and Daisy's type-O blood (which neither Pearl nor Bronner have) proved otherwise. Lowe began modelling at age two, and was scouted at age 15. By 16 she had been featured in Italian Vogue.

overheard: “You've got to deal with it. There's no point going to cry in the toilet.”

26 September 2010

Damn, we feel legit

Last night Fashion Media Group put off a fantastic fashion and talent showcase at Club V on George Street. The show was a charity fundraiser for MUN HOPE (Health Outreach Programs and Education). It featured two absolutely stunning collections pulled from Model Citizens (on Duckworth, just below the War Memorial - go now), but even more exciting for those of us at the Chrysalis, the show featured a pair of our shorts!

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, in the final number at Vanity @ V our high-waisted four-button black shorts made an appearance on an actual runway. Damn, we feel legit.



Photo by Eric Bartlett, http://www.ericbartlettphotography.com

25 August 2010

Today I'm stalking... Dree Hemingway!



who: model, ballerina

age: 22

made in: America

style: classic American casual with a borrowed-from-the-boys influence

wardrobe staples: chunky boots, sky-high heels, distressed denim, structural jackets, cool neutrals, superskinny pants, quirky accessories

why we love her: she effortlessly marries high-end designer pieces with budget brands and (yup, you guessed it) vintage!

why you should love her too: her great-granddad is Ernest Hemingway. 'nuff said.

life story (abridged): Born in Sun Valley, Idaho, the daughter of actress Mariel Hemingway. Attended Ernest Hemingway Elementary School under her father's surname, Crisman. Studied classical ballet for 15 years. Left high school after two and a half years to take a stab at modelling, and hasn't yet looked back (or, for that matter, needed to).

overheard: “I’m a huge fan of things that are affordable. I do wear a lot of designer when I’m out at events, but I prefer to buy pieces that look expensive, but aren’t.”

05 August 2010

All the dirt on recycling

During a political science lecture in my first year at Mun, my prof asked our class a simple question: where does the food we eat come from? I found it fascinating that despite my own disposition to curiosity, I'd never given my food supply much thought. It's a luxury to live in a country where the word “famine” evokes images of a distant time and place, and where most of us hold the vague notion that our food comes from the back of the grocery store.

My prof was trying to make a point about the politics of food, but her question got me thinking about another system that's so entrenched in our world that many of us never question it – waste collection. I think most of us have some understanding of what a landfill looks like, whether thanks to the Discovery Channel or to the obnoxious proselytizers of the Gospel of Al Gore. Most of us care enough or have been nagged enough to invest a little time sorting out paper from plastic or rinsing out empties, so long as a big stinky truck shows up every week to haul it all away.



But what I didn't know – and what a whole lot of dedicated green freaks don't know either – is that just because you left it on the curb in a blue bin doesn't mean it's not headed for the landfill. Recycling is an industry, and like any industry, if there's no buyer for the product, then the product has no value. We have a word for things with no value – garbage.

Certain materials are much more amenable to the process of recycling than others. Aluminum cans, for example, are far easier to manufacture from post-consumer content, and because this process uses only 5% of the energy required to make new Aluminum, it's an attractive alternative for companies looking to cut costs.



Unfortunately, not all materials are like Aluminum. Often recycling processes actually use more energy than would be used to create the same product from new materials, trumping the benefit of reduced landfill space. Paper products can only be recycled two to three times before the raw material breaks down and is no longer usable. It has been demonstrated that, because tree farmers are required to plant more trees than they harvest, the use of recycled paper materials actually has a negative effect on tree populations.

Plastic, one of the most ubiquitous materials in our disposable world, is actually one of the least amenable to recycling. Plastics often need to be of nearly identical composition in order to mix properly. Biodegradable plastic is not recyclable, but is often mistakenly mixed with recyclable plastic, contaminating the material and making it ineligible for recycling.

My feeling is that we need to seriously reassess the practical value of our current recycling programs. For a lot of us, the blue-bin/green-bin system is the only alternative we are aware of. In St. John's we barely have a conventional recycling program to speak of; there's no city collection, so if you bother to recycle at all, that means weekly trips to the depot to drop off your paper and plastic.

So now before you throw up your hands in exasperation, let me present you with a third alternative. It's hardly new – in fact, it's probably something your grandmother has been doing for years. Wartime recycling aimed to conserve resources with massive, government-supported campaigns. There was no large-scale system for recycling – conservation was done on a human scale.

Wanna know the crazy part? It was really, really effective.

Frankly, I think the current discourse on sustainability is way too focused on large-scale, systemic solutions. I don't know that sticking a few bins out on the curb next to a pile of garbage bags will make us more environmentally conscious. Sometimes it feels like environmentalists want to create some mass-produced cure for the problem of mass production. It's a dubious solution, and so far has had limited success.

Bringing recycling down to a human scale isn't only an effective way to approach sustainability, it's also a way for ordinary people to take ownership of a solution. Ordinary people, with ordinary lives, remaking, reusing, and repurposing ordinary things. On a human scale.



Sounds to me like a pretty extraordinary idea.

30 July 2010

In a surprise twist, we become impossibly cool

When I was a kid, my mum would take me shopping in thrift stores. I hated the smell of dusty old clothes, and the horrifying 90s concoctions that would leap out from behind rolling racks, all busy florals and synthetic fibers. Worse than anything was the thought that someone from school might find out that my new Bootlegger bell-bottoms were actually from Goodwill.

A lot has changed since I was a kid, my taste in pants included. Nowadays Kate Moss and the impossibly cool Chloe Sevigny wear their used threads with pride. Discerning hipsters and clotheshorses everywhere see vintage clothing as authentic, unique, and no longer the hallmark of the budgetarily-constrained.

(That's right, I said budgetarily. You feelin' lucky, spellcheck?)

On the crest of this new wave are trendy recycled boutiques, where you can snap up these made-to-last, few-of-a-kind treasures without that heady thrift shop aroma. There's Frock Me!, a London-based exhibition of vintage garments; The Way We Wore, a trendy LA vintage shop whose clientèle coolness rating is basically off the charts; Courage My Love, in Toronto's Kenzington market, which has been slinging second-hand since before I was born.

Closer to home, you've gotta love Model Citizens on Duckworth Street (down the steps of the War Memorial... but you knew that I'm sure). Almost everything in their collection is recycled and refashioned in some way, and the trendy, boutique-y shop suggests anything but a thrift sore.

Even Oxfam's British charity shops are giving their image an overhaul, with Brit It Girl Alexa Chung as the brand ambassador. Can I just say that this is one fucking exciting time to be putting together a vintage collection.

24 July 2010

Today I'm stalking... Alexa Chung


who: It girl, model, television presenter

age: 26

made in: Britain

style: classic pretty layered with a tomboyish twist

wardrobe staples: oversize tees, neutral bags, mid-thigh hemlines, cardigans, statement jewelery, dark tights, chunky heels.

why we love her: she's campaigned to combat AIDS, climate change, and has her own line of Fair Trade jewelery.


why you should love her too:
she's the brand ambassador for Oxfam – that's right, even It girls shop second hand!

life story (abridged): The youngest of four children born in Privett, Hampshire. Discovered at 16, Chung walked away from modeling after only four years to pursue an education in art and journalism. In 2006 she was offered a job co-hosting British show Popworld. Since 2007 she has topped major best dressed lists in the UK, US, and Canada.

overheard: “There’s not much to being an It girl. It’s really quite a depressing title to hold.”

12 July 2010

The compleat works of my sewing machine (abridged)

The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (abridged) performs its first show tonight in Topsail Beach! I spent a solid week on the puffy Shakespearean shirts for this rib-crackingly hilarious show, and boy do those actors wear 'em well!

Check out this awesome production for $15 ($12 for students!) at the Topsail Beach Amphitheatre in CBS on Sunday and Monday nights. The show starts at 6, and tickets go on sale (cash only) twenty minutes before showtime.

The show starts Janet O'Reilly, Ross Moore, and Kyle McDavid. All photos by Chris Hibbs (another very talented SBTS alumnus)... enjoy!







07 July 2010

Until the end of the world...

Military chic was all the rage on the spring runways this year, and what could be a more appropriate leader-of-the-pack item than the bandleader jacket? Proving yet again that art imitates life, bandleader jackets (in a less-than-subtle homage to the late Michael Jackson) have wooed some of Tinseltown's most devoted clotheshorses.



I'm not a fan of the bandleader jacket. Maybe it's because I've always had a slight hang-up about my shoulders being too broad. Maybe it's my dislike of Michael Jackson, who I find just as creepy and kitschy in death as I did in life (sorry). But I have to say, as for the rest of the military chic offered up on the spring runways, baby I am down, down, down, down, down.

It started with the L.A.M.B. cargos, a pant I have never before associated with the long-and-lean look. Somehow Gwen Stefani's line has churned out an impossibly chic pair that not only make legs look miles long, but also create a tushy on those of us not blessed with bootylicious assets.



After the L.A.M.B. pants came the Doc Martens darcie boot. A combat-esque shape plays for attention through the ironically girlie tint and heel. As far as I'm concerned, the darcie boot is the ultimate addition to the wardrobe of a post-apocalyptic fashionista. Just to be safe, I'm grabbing my pair pre-apocaylse.



But none of this even comes close to the offering of the delectably destroyed Balmain spring/summer collection. Lovely Canadian supermodel Daria Werbowy stomped down the runway in clunky leather shoes reminiscent of combat boots and a ripped-to-shreds cammo tee. The girl looked like she was fleeing the most stylish war zone in history.



What it comes down to is this: I'm thinking the chrysalis is in serious need of some cropped-to-death army surplus items. Flak jackets, combat boots, and jewellery that looks like chain maille, all coming soon.

If you buy into the whole 2012-doomsday scenario, you're just in time to stock up before the end of the world... for those of us who just dropped serious cash on army surplus, I'm hoping armageddon holds off just a little bit.

24 June 2010

Shakespeare got to get paid, son

I'm sure you've all noticed that tell-tale silence that has descended on the fashion-blogosphere in my absence. How the world once survived without my self-important musings, we may never know.

This week's post will be a quick one, as I find myself overrun with the task of making puffy Shakespearean shirts.



(I know I'm ignoring my blog - cardinal sin! - but Shakespeare got to get paid, son!)

The shirts are for Shakespeare by the Sea Festival's summer production of The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr [abridged]. This year the Festival opted to use recycled materials for the shirts rather than buying new! God love 'em!

And sustainable costuming choices isn't the only thing SBTS does well. With three actors, 37 classic plays, 90 minutes and approximately 153 laughs, the Compleat Works is one hilarious night, and it don't hurt that the show plays in the seaside Topsail Beach Amphitheare – where else can you take in a glorious sunset and the world's shortest-ever performance of Hamlet at the same time?

If you'd like to catch the Compleat Works, or another one of Shakespeare by the Sea's six summer productions, check out www.sbts.info

And don't worry – all this excitement can't derail our mission to give gorgeous clothes a second lease on life. Notable finds this week include a yellow and blue Tommy Hilfiger silk tie, and a pair of Rampage bootcut dark-wash jeans. Pictures coming soon, but for now if you wanna check out my puffy-shirt handiwork you'll have to check out a show this summer!

See you on the thrift side!

TC

17 June 2010

Once upon a time in Nazi-occupied France... fashion!

Unlike most sensible people I know, I am capable of watching an absolutely ridiculous, boring, or contrived film (and genuinely enjoying it) if I find the costumes interesting. The best example I can give of this sort of movie would be Sofia Coppolla’s Marie Antionette, a film which never managed to break its pedestrian pacing despite a strong cast and critically-hailed director. What it did manage, though, was a visual feast of costuming… I mean that in a literal sense, the clothes and shoes looked tastier than all those shots of French pastry!

Before you get worried, let me just say that I am aware that revolutionary French fashion is not a practical point of inspiration for contemporary clothing. But there are other periods (and other, better movies) that can lend their lines, shapes, and silhouettes to a modern wardrobe.

Last night, the inspiration was Quentin Tarintino’s Inglourious Basterds.

In past viewings of this film, I had been wowed by both Melanie Laurent and Diane Kruger’s “Nazi night” gowns (probably the only thing distracting me from the scalping besides the enigmatic Hans Landa that Christoph Waltz portrayed). But I was surprised to find I’d missed out on admiring so many of Shosanna Dreyfus’ ensembles, and the very ones that could conceivably serve as inspiration, too!


I love the 1940s ‘working woman’ aesthetic, that tomboyish image that most of us ascribe to Katherine Hepburn. Laurent’s Shosanna nails it: I’ve been coveting her loose-fitting trousers, tailored trench, her hat. These items are basics, but styled in a way that makes them timeless rather than boring. It’s enough to make me wish I were the proprietress of a Parisian cinema, though I`m not sure I could stomach the other elements of the story.


I`ll spend this sunny Thursday rooting through thrift shops, in search of classic Hepburn-esque trousers and cute, tweedy hats. But all I really want is to sit and read in a café, with a cigarette and a glass of wine…

I`ll see you on the thrift side.

TC

15 June 2010

Nothing new under the sun

What a week! In a completely uncharacteristic twist of fate, St. John’s in June is sunny, warm, and (gasp!) summery. All this sunshine and sticky heat is enough to leave any girl dreaming of light lace and breezy cotton, so it’s no surprise that my two newest acquisitions reflect my current preoccupation: the sundress.

It’s no secret that the recession has left its mark on the usually-untouchable fashion world; designers at spring 2010 runway shows dropped the verboten w-word (that’s “wearable”) with abandon. Or so I am told, because here on The Rock there isn’t much in the way of a fashion community (notable exceptions, y’all know who you are).

I think the sundress is the epitome of practical, wearable, functional fashion. The sundress is easy dressing embodied, because it’s a single-garment ensemble that takes minimal accessories. Your shoes can be modest and sensible (though really, where’s the fun in that?) Bonus: dress it up with bling and killer heels to transition your look into evening (without splurging on a dressier frock).

This week I came upon two fantastic cotton-blend sundresses: a bone-and-cream white lace dress, and a black embroidered sundress that reminds me of the 1950s. With some cleaning and a few small alterations (reinforcing seams to maintain quality, mostly) the pieces will soon be ready to take centre-stage in our 2010 Summer Photoshoot.

Let’s just hope the weather lasts until my gorgeous model Catherine arrives from Ontario... until then, we'll catch you on the thrift side!

TC

12 June 2010

Dear Mall: a breakup letter

Dear Avalon Mall –

This won’t be easy for me to write. With every new word spilled out on the page, another fond memory defies me to continue… but continue I must.

It’s not that I haven’t enjoyed our time together. I have. Even as I type this, I am fighting to resist your siren song of bar-code beeps and magnetic security systems, that modern symphony of commerce I have come to know so well.

I remember clearly when I first shopped in you, on the magical fall day so many years ago. You were more than I had been told to expect. I remember us being so happy.

But then, as time went on, cracks in that façade began to show. Soon, your shiny storefronts and brand-new wares no longer made me feel special. How could they? Everything you gave to me, you gave to every other girl. Remember when I brought home that funky blue hoodie? That day, I thought things had changed. But walking across campus later that week, I passed no less than three other girls in that same “unique” piece.

I just can’t let my dreams be buried in my lingering affection for you. I am a true fashionista, and I know now that you will never really able to give me what I need. I cannot be your fashion victim any longer. It’s not your fault, and I’m sorry if I’ve mislead you into believing I could be happy with things as they are.

Please know that this is not about anyone else – you’ll always be the only mall in my heart (sorry Village, but surely you knew this all along). I just need some time without a mall to really figure out who I am. Maybe someday, years from now, we’ll find our way back to each other.

Until then, I’ll see you on the thrift side.

Love Always,

TC