Country Charm

This pretty floral cotton skirt is my current favorite.  It's Ralph Lauren, but thrifted of course, and has a sweet little pleating detail near the hem.  It's definitely just a March to August garment, so I'll be making the most of it this summer.

When I was growing up, the little gift store on the island was called Country Charm Boutique, so whenever I hear that phrase I think of the hours I spent admiring shiny stickers and mugs with kittens on them, trying to decide what to spend my allowance on.

'Jugendstil' Adrien Sahores & Thomas Bukovatz by Eric Nehr for Influence No. 10

I'm impressed by the work that has gone into these re-creations of Egon Schiele, brought into the modern day as a considerably more covered-up menswear editorial.  I wonder if the models were painted, or if all of that was done with photoshop afterwords.  See the rest of the images here.

Exhibit B - new cotton bowties!

Whee!  Fresh new cotton bowties, hot off the presses...  For more information about these fabulous locally hand-made bowties, visit our website: exhibitbties.com.  Between work, bowties, and gardening, life is just about busy enough.  A friend of Karl's was over last night, and he actually remarked that the house was looking kind of, um, messy.  Gosh, thanks!  No filter, obviously, but he was right.  It's not dirty, it's just busy: lots of surfaces covered with tie stuff.

More Smells of Spring

I know it doesn't look like much yet, but there are little green buds starting in my garden!  Some of my neighbours already have great displays of growth, but I'm always a little bit nervous to put seeds in before I know spring is really here.

Oh, and one way that I know that the warmer weather has arrived: smells.  Specifically, the smells we travel though on the bus ride home.  First, as we pass within a few blocks of the sugar refinery, we get a sweet whiff of burnt, caramel-y sugar.  Then a few minutes later we are downwind of Westcoast Reduction.  It's gross.  I won't get into the details, but it's a few hold-your-breath moments.  And today was the first smelly ride home of the year, so the warm weather has arrived!

Green glow

This time of year the view from our front porch is so soothing.  I know it's not a mountain view or an ocean view, it's just our little front yard, but I love the green glow that filters through the trees.  You can hardly see the sidewalk, and it even feels like the noise of passing cars is muffled.  It's perfect for sitting out with a cup of tea or a glass of something cool and a good book.

The weather has been lovely, and forecast is great for the rest of the week!  I spent most of the day working in the garden; the soil has finally warmed up, so most of my seeds are planted, with the exception of zucchini and cucumber, which I've started inside.  It's great to see everything coming to life!

Sweet smells and sunshine

The house is full of one of my favorite scents of the season: lilacs!  I'm so lucky to have two lilac bushes in the back yard.  There's a white one that was here when we bought the house, and a dark purple one that we planted a few years ago that is really starting to be impressive, and sooo fragrant!  This editorial in Plaza Kvinna makes me want to get dressed up and visit a botanical garden.  Maybe if the weather stays great I'll go for a walk at Queen Elizabeth Park and admire the blooms.  I noticed that several of the dresses featured are by Natalia Grsybowski, from that fantastic collection of botanically correct prints.

When in Russia...

...dress well and look a little crazy.  All the best photos I saw this week were in editorials from Interview Russia and Harpers Bazaar Russia.  Not your usual cheery spring shoots with pastels and florals, they caught my eye nonetheless.

Exhibit B - Spring Fresh

I sewed up a fresh batch of 100% cotton bowties today!  Crisp, clean, preppy and cool.  Check us out at exhibitbties.com for more information.  These bowties are not pre-tied; part of our philosophy is that being able to tie your own bowties is a great skill for a modern guy to have.  People will be impressed. However, that's not to say that you can't fake ignorance in order to get an attractive woman to tie it for you - see Roger Sterling in this week's episode of Mad Men!

Exhibit B Bowties

Exhibit B Bowties are open for business.  Visit our website, exhibitbties.com, for information on retailers.  OK, we don't have the information there yet, but visit anyway!!  They are handmade in Vancouver from reclaimed vintage neckties, as well as 100% cotton and 100% silk, and they are gorgeous!  As in, you might want to buy one, but then when you start trying to pick, they are all just so amazing that you try to narrow it down, but each one seems to be calling your name, so you end up with more than you bargained for.  At least that's what happened when we let our models and photographers pick out a tie as a thank-you for their awesome work.

And yes, below is their awesome work.  The guys from nordicaphotography.com did such a phenomenal job.  I love watching them work - so fast and intuitive, I wonder if they share some ESP-like connection.  And our models Thomas and Randy were perfect; they didn't even need a change room.  Now that's skill!

I'll keep you posted on retailers and bowtie-related goings-on.  Busy times ahead in the world of increasing the dapperness of Vancouver's menfolk!

Botanical Beauty

This time of year, I can't walk outside without being bombarded by blooms.  Every tree, every plant, every flower: just bursting with life and lushness.  This poster reminded me of that feeling.  I love old botanical illustrations!

 Aren't these designs by Natalia Grsybowski stunning?  I'd love to be able to design custom prints for my dresses.  It's a whole higher level of creativity.  The effect here is feminine and pretty, and kaleidoscopic and provocative at the same time.  Garden party dressing to the extreme!

I've lost that shopping feeling

Sometimes I get such a strong urge to go clothes shopping.  It's one of those silly urges like wanting a whole plate of brownies; there's really no justification for it.  There are two pretty obvious reasons why I've learned some coping mechanisms to help the craving pass: first, I absolutely don't need any more clothes, and second, I can't afford it.

The best, most virtuous, way to lose the shopping feeling is to organize my closet and drawers, which seem to always need tidying.  This works for a few reasons.  For one thing, it reminds me just how freaking many clothes I own!  It also kind of burns me out on looking at clothes; I'm just over it.  Also, I come across clothes that have been buried for a while, and that rediscovery can fill the novelty void.  A pleasant side effect is orderly drawers, and usually a bag of things to take to the thrift store to donate, and a much clearer idea of whether or not there might actually be something I need.

So I'll leave that bag of clothes to take to the thrift store aside until I have another shopping urge, at which point I might give in and go to the thrift store.  It's not so bad though, because I'm getting rid of more clothes than I will come back with, and I can give myself a ten dollar limit, which is often way more than I spend.  Also, I feel like the thrift store gives good shopping bang for the buck, in terms of lots of browsing, lots to look at and touch, and relatively little to actually buy.  I can easily spend an hour looking and maybe part with three or four dollars.  Compare that to an hour at the mall: I'd be in and out of a dozen or more stores that don't sell anything for under twenty bucks.  Too tempting!

Another good remedy is to find an old gift card stashed away.  At any given time I might have a couple of gift cards with money on them and no matter where they are from, shopping anywhere can satisfy the shopping need - it's just that little splurge that I want.  Right now I have a ten dollar gift card from the Superstore, which could get me some Joe Fresh socks and undies, or something from the clearance rack.  Or that plate of brownies.  No!  I've also got some money on a gift card from a kitchen supply store: maybe some fancy tea or pretty paper napkins; there's lots to look at.  Even the few bucks on a Starbucks card could buy me a fancy drink which is a treat I almost never indulge in.  Gift cards let me shop a little without spending a lot.

A couple of other ways to ease the desire to shop: online pretend shopping, trying testers at Sephora, browsing at Holt Renfrew or somewhere else so expensive I know there's no danger of buying, and turning a mundane purchase into an experience.  If I need toothpaste, I might go to a couple of drugstores looking for the best price on a new flavour of one of the all-natural brands of toothpaste.  It sounds silly, but it takes the edge off!

Have you got any tricks to lose the shopping feeling?

Spring blouses on the street

Is it just me, or are street-style blogs kind of blah these days?  I just spent the last, um, hour browsing through a bunch of them, and nothing really got me excited for spring.  I even looked at a bunch of photos from Coachella and ripped denim shorts aren't really doing it for me.  Interestingly, my three favorite looks were all from The Sartorialist, which is rare, but they all feature blouses - not so rare.  Three totally different vibes going on with these ladies, but I love to wear blouses in lots of ways.  And isn't that hat on the third girl fabulous?

The Mid-April Rush

Thanks to a sunny weekend and attending my first wedding of the season, it really is starting to feel like spring.  There's lots of hustle and bustle at work, and with the bow ties, and the longer days always seems to bring more visits with friends in the evening, so there's a good energy happening right now.  We had a great couple of days with my parents in town for my cousin's wedding, and it was a great wedding!  The sun shone, the couple glowed, the extended family was mostly there, the food was great - really no complaints.  Well, except for the fact that I didn't manage to take a decent photos of the bride and groom, but that's often the case.  The professional photographer was getting the good shots, so I got the backs of other peoples heads and the awkward angles!  However, I did get a nice one of Karl and my dad modelling their bow ties like good sports, and one of Karl and I that shows just what an amazing day we had!

Farewell, FT!

After being on the air since 1985, Fashion Television has been cancelled.  I can't say that I'm surprised; in this instant Internet world, a television show about fashion seems so slow, and it seems like Jeanne Beker has plenty of other projects on the go that are more relevant.  But it's the end of an era and I'll miss seeing her elbow her way through the crowds backstage to get some face time with the worlds biggest designers.

I can't remember how old I was when I started watching FT, maybe around ten or eleven, but I was instantly a devotee, especially because since it's a Canadian show, it aired on one of the three channels we got on our tiny little TV!  That was the time of the Supermodels and with Jeanne's help I could name every one who sashayed down the catwalks, and I loved her little interviews with the designers and especially the critics, who weren't afraid to say so when a show bombed.

In the last few years I've probably only caught a handful of episodes, and while it might be last seasons shows that they are discussing, I never tire of Jeanne's energy and obvious love for the industry.  I can't wait to see what she'll do next.

Sunny day, funny jeans

Still a little chilly for shorts, but at least a day with out rain allows me to take a few pictures outside!  These thrift-store jeans are kind of funny: really high waist, short legs, pressed front crease, rhinestones on the rivets, weird blue-grey colour, slight flare at the hem.  The label is all in Chinese, which explains who the previous owner might have been.  In my eyes, they're cool, but I certainly understand if no-one else thinks so!