LG Fashion Week - Life in Toronto in Early Spring

Hey guys!

This is going to be one of those blogs where I update on Petey and my little Toronto adventures and whatever else is up. I hope it's mildly entertaining at least!

This week is LG Fashion Week here in Toronto, Ontario and I am part of a massive team of volunteers who make everything happen with the shows all week. We set up the runways and seating areas and make sure everyone is where they're supposed to be etc. So... that's all great and whatever, but in all honesty there is one major perk to working this event that we're all obviously there for: we get to watch all of the shows right up close and personal. *ehehehehe* It's wicked cool.
Meaghan is also volunteering this week, but she's doing different kinds of work than I am so I'll get an update from her and talk about it later. I work in the "Studio." It's a smaller area for runway shows that are meant to be more artistically presented in a more intimate setting than a major runway. I spent a bunch of time measuring areas to put seating in to make it all look perfectly perfect and then got to sit in the second row corner, surrounded by industry people and press and sponsors and watch the entire show. It was a very cool thing to be a part of. (Watch the blurry video above that I took with my favorite new thing in the whole entire world - my BlackBerry/best friend, for a visual!)

So other than fashion week, I am currently in the midst of a 3 month blitzkrieg of formal wear concluding with three bridesmaids dresses, one wedding guests dress, one prom dress, and one very important wedding dress for a very important friend of mine. It's going to be a little bit taxing, but i am definitely up for the challenge. Also Meaghan like, shaved half her head, which is crazy and awesome. Just so you know.
Ps. Petey is kind of on hold at the moment for the preceeding reasons. we're collecting materials and getting prepared to make the dresses but they are tragically going to have to be pushed back until the fall for release.
It's okay though. It'll be worth the wait, we promise. ;)

(...this is also my way of saying, I'm sorry to those of you who read this, but I'll probably have to keep it to one update a week on the blog for the summer, I'm just going to die of exhaustion if i take too much more onto my plate... :D)

Other than that, I've become obsessed with the clothing I get to see on customers at work these days. I work on King Street where the fashion people are and some of the jackets, coats, scarves, rings, bags boots, heels etc etc etc are flooring me. Not to mention on the street and in the subway and everywhere else.

Keep it up, Toronto. You're fucking awesome.

John Galliano - His work.

Sooooooo I was totally going to blog about John Galliano, I really was. But every time I started reading up on him, ya know, for references and view points etc, I found that nothing I could say could possibly improve his image at this point... and that if I tried, it would look ridiculous. So alls I'm going to do is say this:

When I was about 11 or 12 I stumbled upon Fashion Television one morning on Star TV (Canadiana plug what what??) and saw the most beautiful imagery I'd ever seen in the creations of some of the top designers of the era. These included Alexander McQueen, back when he was just starting out, and Tom Ford when he was with Gucci, not to mention that (1997-98) was the time when Galliano was first hired at Christian Dior. I watched and drooled at everything I saw...especially Galliano. His chiffon bias cut dresses...his sense of colour and contrast that - seriously - I've been trying to copy ever since, not to mention his absolutely perfect sense of form and shape, evident in the majority of his Haute Couture work over the past 14 years.

John Galliano's work at Dior, and with his own self-titled line, has really been the biggest influence on my own work as a designer and it absolutely broke my heart to see his downfall.
So without going into that story, here are a bunch of photographs of my favorite and most influencial John Galliano desings.

Fashion en Francais - The House of Chanel

WOW I haven't blogged in a while. My bad... it's finals week so I've been working my ass off to get everything done before the end of the term. I've also been dreadfully ill, but enough with the excuses. I've got to get onto writing two posts today to make up for the lost time - one of which you're reading, and the next which will appear tomorrow.

Ooooooooh this is my favorite part of Spring, no doubt. Paris Fashion Week rises above all the rest to exemplify the qualities in fashion that have us all coming back for more, beautiful season after beautiful season. I actually have a specific love and weakness for French fashion thanks to my mother's very French background. Si une femme est mal habillée a Paris, on remarque sa robe, mais si elle est impeccablement vêtue, c’est elle que l’on remarque, apres tout. ;)

The House of Chanel was founded by the one and only Coco Chanel (aka the single coolest woman of all time) in 1909 in Paris. Even then Chanel was known for an extremely high level of sophistocation, workmanship and a modern simplicity that in 1909 was something extraordinary to behold. Imagine being 21, having the squeeze into a corset every day, and one day this woman comes along and says you don't have to wear that corset anymore - straight is in. Needless to say she became very famous and successful very quickly and the reputation of the House has been consistantly respected as the most exquisite haute couture the industry has to offer. When Karl Lagerfeld took over the line in 1983, he renewed that sense of freedom and elegance to the line, maintaining the basic Chanel staple silhouettes and textile choices.
This season's collection was ridiculously good. It appeals to two types of people. It's got the classic tweed jackets and the lace etc, but Lagerfeld has paired the black lace with black leather to make long straiht dresses. The most delightfully surprising thing about the collection was the presence of lots of baggy pants and tops, giving the collection a tom boy feel that has been missing from Chanel for decades. These are clothes that both, the fashionistas who love the luxury will wear, as well as the regular women like me who realize you've gotta wear flats when you're running around the city with garment bags and sewing machines. AmIRightLadies??
I just loved it. And if I become a millionaire in the next little while, I'll be sure to buy up the whole line. LOL.

Anyways I think this is an amazing step in the right direction for Chanel and definitely for the industry as a whole. After all, Dolce and Gabanna are making matching hers and hers suits and dresses, and Louis Vuitton is making women soldiers and body guards! Love it!

Short and sweet and I'm off to write about what I've been dying to write about for weeks - check out my reviews of the John Galliano and Christian Dior shows at this season's Paris Fashion week. ;)

Silver and Gold: Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier Fall 2011

On a carpet of sparkling gold, Vivienne Westwood's Fall 2011 Ready to Wear line was presented this week at fabulous Paris Fashion Week. Every season, Vivienne Westwood reminds me of how completely unique and amazing she is as a designer, using one of a kind prints, a sense of shape and colour like none other and combining the edge of her punk rock roots with her upscale taste for luxury. This collection specifically seems to be a winner, and dare I say that it is probably my favorite collection thus far of all the fashion weeks for Fall 2011. there is something for any type of woman to wear from this line, from tailored banker suits with flounced collars to silver and gold layered dresses and sparkly shoes. Not to mention the smudgy black and white warrior makeup on each model that tied everything together with the final Vivienne Westwood bow. Sparkle dresses, fitted suits and and floppy tweed all in the same collection. Fab.

Okay, I have a lot to say about the Jean Paul Gaultier show and it may turn into a rant about ageism in the industry, so I apologize, but enjoy.
Jean Paul Gaultier is one of those timeless French designers who has managed to continue to be relevant and still completely off beat with what the rest of the industry is doing. Honestly I love him for it and this season's line is definitely no exception. What he did, which is so amazing, is he acknowledged a very large part of his clientele and a demographic that has more or less been in control for decades as a result of their large numbers - the baby boomers - even though they are now getting up in age. His collection is totally inspired by the "old lady" look - even going as far as to put all of his 20-something models in silver beehive wigs. I thought it was clever, it was realistic and it was damn sexy.
I always read the Style.com reviews of the shows before I write about them, along with many other articles and blurbs from the fashion hangers on (such as Hilary Alexander, Jeanne B ecker and of course Vogue.com.) Though the writing on this site is pretty hilariously flowery, it usually adequately describes the highlights of each collection, noting history and concepts throughout... but the review for this collection was less than pleasing to my fashion criticism-loving eyes. The author basically said the line was too old looking, and that "Even matrons don't want to be mumsy," but like, the thing is, these are the styles that I see on those really stylish older women I see on King street downtown, and I bet he's going to make a bloody fortune on it. So whatev. And it's a fucking gorgeous collection. I'd wear it.

Two of my most favorite designers, who never fail to introduce new ideas into a season of collections that looked freakishly similar throughout. Gone are the pronounced box shaped dresses and geometric oversized patters. These two lines are quintesentially unique in their representations of the designers who created them. Really quite rejuvinating when i thought all the collections were looking great, but pretty much exactly the same. I am so excited to see what happens with the rest of PFW. Stay tuned for some of the biggies like Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent and Stella McCartney. (And who's excited to see the outcome of tonight's John Galliano show?? I am!!)

The Drama and the Glamour: The Debut of Fall 2011 Paris Fashion Week

You'll have to excuse the lateness of this post, I've been recovering from Galliano-related fashion depression for days now. More on that in it's own post, some other day. For now, I'd like to review the first of my favorite Parisd Fashion Week collections: three of the classic French fashion houses: The Houses of Balmain, Lanvin and Balenciaga.

I first looked at the lineup for PFW, I counted no less than fifteen shows that I wanted to see as soon as they hit the runway. I was delighted to see that the House of Balmain would be the first real eye popper on the list this season. The House got its debut at the end of the Second World War with Pierre Balmain, a man who would later be the tutor of the likes of Karl Lagerfeld and colleague of Coco Chanel. He would have been proud this season to view the new and interesting direction that the designer, Christophe Decarnin and his new stylist Melanie Ward, having only just started with the company this season. The collection was much less punky, as it has been in the past, but still maintained the edge the line is known for. This season instead the collection is almost disco inspired with a lot of metallics floating around. I'm absolutely crazy about those horizontal striped dresses...mmmm....

The Lanvin show is always something special, especially since the House's designer Alber Elbaz took the reigns. The history of the House is fantastic. Jeanne Lanvin, a French housewife in the early 20th century designed and constructed dresses for her daughters to wear on a daily basis. From this modest beginning, in 1909 she was creating dresses for the most powerful women in Europe and was inducted into the Syndicat de la Couture, making her a bonified Couturier. This season's collection was much akin to the tone of austerity, but in a very chic way, of course. Big black coat after big black coat made its way down the runway, but all under the shadow of extra wide brimmed hats reminiscent of 1940s maul-wear. The lovely accessories and the little flowy, sexy dresses were amazing too. All around it was a wearable, practical, beautiful show.

Finally, we had the House of Balenciaga, one of my absolute Paris favorites. Cristobal Balenciaga (wicked name!) was the founder and original designer of the house and was so renouned in his time that he was referred to by Christian Dior himself as "the master of us all". Though, like Balmain, we always expect a certain roughness about the line, known for its fabulous period jackets and the highest quality luxury goods, this season was full of over-sized florals, large shapeless coats (much like Prada, or pretty much any other designer this season...) and geometric patterns. They did manage to keep their rather somber, straight faced attitude with their clothing though, offering large fishnet inspired tops and

It seems simplicity is in this year guys, have you guessed?
I'll be back tomorrow to talk about the Vivienne Westwood, Yohji Yamamoto and Jean Paul Gualtier shows this week in Paris!