manteau

Haha you're from Canada. Lots of snow, eh?

Yes it gets cold here. I would assume by winter it means the temperature is lower than the other seasons. We just happen to have it for longer periods of time than those who live closer to the equator.

agnès b. homme via

Winter means winter coat shopping. I already have a great black wool coat. It was wonderful find at Nordstrom Racks. A military black wool coat from Miss Sixty (believe it or not) that was $80. I've had it for two years and it's perfect  but you know you're always itching for a different option since all people see you wearing for a few months is a coat. Perhaps a nice navy or grey one to switch things up and let the other one dry and breathe for a day.

In 2007/2008 I saw the greatest trench coat of my life. I tried to hunt it down but it was sold out

It is from Portland designer Suzabelle and it is my goal to own this coat some day
And it didn't hurt that Natalie Portman had it in navy/black

Next coat that I really liked was from Camille of Childhood Flames and from Oak and of course it was sold out.

Here are some handy polyvores of coats that I like. I've also seen a few from Sandro that seem quite nice but they aren't on polyvore for some reason.

       

The one on the right is from All Saints and their clothes are very good quality. I tried on a few leather jackets in New York and I may get one in the future. I'm not sure if I would get a toggle coat because I find them a bit twee.

I would love to support Smythe (Canadian) but since it costs over 1K and I'm not the Duchess of Cambridge, it is not a likely choice.

You may notice my topics are Canadian-centric. We are not known for bragging nor are we as patriotic as Americans so I make a point to support my fellow Canadians as much as possible. Also, we're really talented.

the big three

There are a few people I cannot stand in the fashion community. There are only three that I absolutely loathe and in one issue of i-D, they mention them which really grinds my gears.


|1|  Terry Richardson

No different from the photographer who took your school picture

This man is disgusting. His style of photography is neither innovative nor memorable and the one theme he does is sex. All his photos look exactly the same. He sexually abuses models yet people still hire him for campaigns and editorials. In any work situation, it is not acceptable for a man to expose himself and ask a woman, let alone a 16-year old girl, to grab his penis. I think if modeling agencies had any morals, they would not send any underage girls to be photographed by Richardson.


| 2 |     Erin Wasson

Another collaboration that irritates me: Zadig & Voltaire teamed up with Erin Wasson to create a collection that sounds horrible. 

According to Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster by Dana Thomas (a fascinating read I highly recommend it), Zadig & Voltaire clothing 
is produced in Mauritius, where there is a higher attention to quality which I can respect. 
Sweatshops and labour rights is another thing but considering the price point of certain 

labels, I expect a higher level of quality. For example,  Marc by Marc Jacobs clothing may look 
well designed but the price is grossly inflated for the quality. A Made in China label
is not necessarily an indication of bad quality. Many luxury brands have factories in China
and send it to Italy or France to do the final touches so they can stamp a Made in Italy 
or France. 

But what really makes me furious about Erin Wasson is this quote. "The people with the best style for me are the people that are the poorest. Like, when I go down to Venice beach and I see the homeless, like, I'm like, 'Oh my God, they're pulling out, like, crazy looks and they, like, pulled shit out of like garbage cans."


However, Rei Kawabuko once said that she designs for the bag ladies of New York. As controversial as these statements are, Kawabuko said it in the 1980s and Wasson said it in September of 2008. Also, I make a distinction between these two: one is a highly conceptual designer and the other is, let's face it, influential because she was lucky in the gene pool.


Lastly her style does not appeal to me. She's famous for being a successful model and subsequently was able to create a jewelery line that was ridiculously hyped and lauded by fashion bloggers. 




| 3 | Tommy Hilfiger


Note that the so-called racist rumours made on Oprah's show is an urban myth. I've never understood why this man is considered a designer. To me he's more like Jessica Simpson in terms of "designing". He may be well known for being an American designer and built a global mega-brand but in my opinion he is not even close to Ralph Lauren or Calvin Klein. Unfortunately he is collaborating with G.H. Bass & Co (my preferred brand for reasonably priced shoes) to recreate the infamous Weejun penny loafers. Why him?


I'm highly critical of these three and such are my reasons. Whenever I see these three mentioned I am biased to hate it automatically. Most of the time I ignore them but I was disappointed they were collaborating with companies I respect. I really wish i-D would stop asking Richardson to contribute since there are dozens of photographers who are infinitely more talented (and with better morals) who would love to be featured. 


Aside from that, the August issue of i-D is worth flipping through if you get a chance. There is an interview and editorial with Raf Simons on Jil Sander as well as an interview with Hilary Alexandra retiring from the Daily Telegraph.


In more consumer-istic news

Look Gareth Pugh x MAC! A collaboration I wholly support.  I'm more into skincare than makeup but I do want that bag. Unfortunately it is $90 CAD. Sigh.

row crew

I've been through J.Crew a few times on my visits to the States but I've never been impressed by the quality of their clothes, especially given the price hike in the last few years. 

They style their clothes very well so perhaps it is more of a source of inspiration rather than the place I would turn to for clothes. I'm assuming much of the styling is because of Jenna Lyons.

via//

bubble

Why style bubble will always remain one of my favourite fashion bloggers: click

This is a shoot Susie styled back in 2006; Can't remember the specific publication

I've been reading fashion blogs since 2006. That's a long time. The 2007 collections will remain my favourite. I remember when Susie was still posting on mystylediary. That's how long I've been following this phenomenon. I would check thesartorialist (before his ego took over) and I would save the photos of the well-dressed New Yorkers.

This photo is from 2006 and I'm stilling looking for that trench; The Sartorialist

Very few fashion blogs have remained as popular as Style Bubble. Many have stopped posting. A new crop of blogs (along with the new methods of blogging) have popped up over the years but I don't think anyone's content can match Style Bubble.

iv. canadian

Courtesy of Grandoise Lab

How perfectly morbid and beautiful. I must also commend this because it's Canadian!

But I wouldn't want to use this soap; it would be for display purposes and I would actually be upset if someone did use it wash their hands.

On the subject of Canadians, I was happy to see Naomi Klein on Up with Chris Hayes.

I'm so happy msnbc doesn't put a region block so I can enjoy his show online. I am most certainly not a morning person and on the weekends, even less so.

And thank god I found out about him. Colbert and Stewart are off this week!

It has begun. There is less time with the sun and the weather is getting colder. 

I'm considering burning my Tocca Stella candle but it just looks so pretty. I really like that all Tocca candles come with their own beautiful matchbook and of course I don't want to use it.

I think this is a relatively good start on my goal to blogging more often and with more writing. It's on the more frivolous side but it's a start. I've already edited it a few times because I have found grammatical and syntax errors. I would appreciate if you find a mistake to let me know about it. 

I think part of my reluctance (or lack of wanting) to be more pro-active on my blog is because I'm gun shy of putting myself out on the internet. It's a wonderful but scary place, full of judgement. 

People can hide behind their screens but I too can just as easily hide behind mine.

the rain in spain

I think I'm going to try and do more writing on this blog. For one, my spelling is atrocious in comparison to my grade 7 self or I'm just lazy now because I can use google whenever I don't know how to spell something.

I also need to work on articulating my ideas. There is nothing wrong with free conscious writing but it's better if people are actually able to follow your train of thoughts. Editing is necessary.

Blogs have the option of comments meaning there is the possibility of a dialogue and I'm hoping to incite a discussion here. I'm wrapped up in my own head too much and that needs to change.

I need an outlet for my opinionated self and I'm going to work on producing at least one post a week here. My tumblr is so self-indulgent and calming that it makes me neglect this blog.

I will sorely miss you. To paraphrase Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, it's as though he died way before hitting old age like the other great inventors and we didn't get to milk him for everything he had. His work was not done yet. He was perhaps the greatest salesman of all time and no one could make you lust for a product like he did. Turns out competence is not common. Last American Who Knew What The Fuck He Was Doing

I still use my iPod nano 2nd generation and I never got into the craze of owning the latest apple gadget because they can withstand my constant abuse. I put the nano through the wash once and flipped out thinking it was dead. I let it dry for a few days and it worked fine.

Erdem

Erdem 


Oh...kay? 
Polyvore automatically posts to your blog when you make a set. I see what you did there Polyvore. 

d'accord

Why I hate street style photography by Anders Christian Madsen

If you’re a woman and you want to be photographed by a major street style photographer, follow these simple rules: wear lots of big tawdry jewellery, have a tiny it-clutch (because that’s so practical for fashion week), wear heels that look like they were built in Lego by a special child, try to be a model or at least have a model’s body, and most importantly, wear a runway look. You’re only allowed to style your outfit with accessories. Apart from that you should be in a full look from a major fashion label, the way it was worn on the runway. Should you not live up to the body requirements, you may be still be featured but only as an accessories shot. There are no fat people in the street, as you know..

I don't get the appeal of Hanneli and Madsen pretty much sums it up why. 

Hermy-own

A 47-min documentary has been made on the artisans behind Hermès.

View it all here

At times (usually midterm season) I have dreamt of moving to France and becoming an apprentice at one of the Hermès ateliers. I imagine it to be rather peaceful, although I am not good with detailed and precise work with my hands. There are very few people I know that are capable of making one thing start to finish by hand and hold up the finished product proudly. 

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My Bill Cunningham New York DVD is on its way and I can't wait for the extra features.