If you read this blog fairly often (or even don’t) then it’s no secret that I am hugely influenced by Jane Aldridge’s blog Sea of Shoes and beyond that, am totally obsessed with it. (I’m so sorry I ended that sentence with “it”, Niles Crane would have my head.) Anyway last summer I saw her post entitled “‘Charity’-for Branded” in which she and her mother had seen an article in Australian Vogue about a furniture set that had been drawn on by children and they wanted to recreate it for charity. They took one of their old chairs, covered it in canvas, took it to a children’s hospital so they could all colour on it and then the money from the auction of the chair would go back to that hospital. The outcome of that chair:
The second I saw this I knew I wanted one. No, mine won’t be drawn on by children since I don’t know any and I won’t be auctioning it off…okay, I suck and they’re much more noble, I’m sorry, I just want a chair like that! Moving on, I knew it had to be a nice chair or else it wouldn’t look right, and I don’t have gorgeous chairs lying about my house that I can cover in canvas so the search began for a cheap, but workable, chair. That’s where one of my favourite stores comes into play, The Elegant Garage Sale. The title says it all, it’s basically a well put together junk store by Bayview and Eglinton, but they have some real gems there and usually at reasonable to shockingly low prices. I found a chair for $50.00, had the wood painted and it reupholstered with white canvas:
My chair!
This was all done last summer, the reupholstering done by October, and until now it has just been sitting in our living room covered in plastic. Until now because now it has a home! It will be moving out of the living room and into My living room come October (only took a year plus…) So I’ll be posting updates of how the chair is coming along here. It has to be drawn on on the seat, the sides, the back and the actual backside of the chair since the canvas extends that far. So far my sister has helped, my mum has promised to and friends who have been aware of the project since the very beginning either want to help or feel quasi-obligated, which is fine by me.
I’m not sure if a stranger would be able to tell the age of the person who has done the majority of the drawing, but I like to think they would guess a number far lower than 20. My mum says a lot of it looks exactly like the drawings I used to make when I was little which is either a compliment to my little self or an insult to my older self… So much more to draw and therefore more to come!
Warning: post contains T&A.
Tila and I have decided that we do not appreciate Toronto enough. Most people probably don’t, easier to go places you know, same old, same old – so we have been planning adventures. Our first one was supposed to be to a burlesque club called Jezebel which we found on blogTO:
The entrance is (or rather was) at the rear of the building that you can only get to by walking down an alley…so we walked down an alley…in an area we are unfamiliar with, in too high heels. I’d say our adventure was already going well.
We see the Jezebel sign and then two doors, one with a handle and one without, but with a peephole. The one with the handle is locked so I figured that it must be really cool and secretive and you have to knock on the door sans handle and then they’d check you out through the peephole before they let you in, or not if they decided you weren’t cool or mysterious enough. I obviously made Tila knock. Obviously nobody answered. Obviously…I’m insane. Anyway, we wandered across the street and what did we find? Burlesque! The burlesque gods weren’t letting us end the night without seeing some nipple tassels first. She was kind of dressed like Snow White, or how one would imagine Snow White to look were she about to dance on a bar and strip to covers of old 90s tunes. The place was called The Painted Lady and had fringe lamps and velvet couches, so that plus on-bar burlesque kind of made up for the night we had imagined, but there was no way we could take “tourist” like photos. We stuck out, and not cause of our purdy mugs.
Where we’ll try to secret-code-knock our way into next? Hopefully some place where the entrance is (or rather was) not in an alleyway.
It was my first real fashion show. As in it wasn’t a high school/uni fashion show. I probably didn’t keep up with the always in style “too cool to care” vibe, but I wasn’t alone in my excitement, so as long as we over-exciteds all go down together… The foyer before the doors opened for the Aritzia fashion show was filled with beautiful women, all impeccably dressed with great shoes. Then those lucky preteens whose hot young moms buy for the whole family at the store who were lucky enough to be invited. I have always been a very loyal Aritzia shopper, but I guess we were extra loyal this year because we were invited to this fashion show (even if we sort of did pay our way in, great clothes = fashion show? I’m in.) As you can tell from my over-excited ramble I am so glad we were invited because it was great, just great. You know when you fall in love and you can’t describe it so you just sigh and giggle? Okay, that’s how I feel about this show. Ask me in person, I dare you.
I decided to go for a fairly girly look for me and very colourful compared to my usual – black, with the Meows Meows (Miu Mius) in tow of course! And I guess it worked! One girl actually came up to me and told me a group of her friends told her to go find me and see what I was wearing, I’m pretty sure I almost hugged her and asked her to be my best friend forever; see how easy it is? I was accompanied by my mother since the invite was under her name and since it said non-transferable we didn’t want to risk it by not having the real Dr. Davis, though I’ve passed for a doctor before. She refused to pose, so I just kind of snapped randomly – hey, I tried. I also have my mom to thank for the hustle she showed when the doors opened, I looked around and she had two front row seats: thanks, mom. A cool rapper/singer/myvoicedoescoolthings-er opened the show and she was as I said, very cool. My first thought was “she’s way too cool and unique for this”, but it worked with the whole vibe. I was snapping like crazy, I swore to my mom it was for the blog, but she’s right I just wanted a better look at the clothes for later: thanks again, mom. I’m not going to post them all as there were just under 70 looks…which is a lot, and this is just the beginning of Aritzia’s fashion shows so I don’t want to give it all away, so I’ll just post some favs.
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- thanks, mom
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- Mom. (In Pucci!)
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- Sea of Beauty
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- Eee!
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- So close!
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- Yet so far…
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- thanks again, mom
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- Too cool.
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- Adorable.
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- Hawt.
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- LOVE.
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- Super hot.
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- Love the coat.
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- Love the dress.
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- The End.
My captions allow you to go through the deep emotions I was going through as the show progressed. As if you were there. In my head. Or anywhere near me as I “oohed” and “aahed” and probably used the word “cute” 17 times too many. In the end we ordered some great pieces and I’m already thinking of three that were accidentally left out, basically my love affair with Aritzia is probably going to enter the serious relationship phase because I see no signs of either of us letting up. So I guess all I have to say is…thanks, mom.
I’m not usually big on acronyms or abbreviations (minus “obvi” and “def”…I’m still human), but Alexander Wang brings it out of me, mostly because I wish my name could be transformed into something that looks as cool as: AWANG. Mine would be…HKHOS. Mine kind of looks like a disease, or a global organization that’s secretly (or not so secretly) corrupt and therefore evil. Yup, sounds about right.
Moving on, AWANG was at HR (Holt Renfrew, not Human Resources) and ‘obvi’ myself and a bunch of wannabe bloggers grabbed our greatest and darkest and dashed on over. Just so you know, when I say “darkest” I am referring to clothing and it is not in any way linking back to the evil mentioned earlier. I actually wrote a blog post all about Wang, his Holt’s visit and his designs elsewhere which you can read here so I don’t have to work any harder than I have to; God knows blog writing is tough. I was joined by my fabulous friend, Cat. We went to school together then she went off to become a make-up artist supreme, which she most definitely is. Even before she became pro her make-up was always amazing, she has some serious skillz. Yes, skillz.
The meeting. Time started moving slower as we approached Alexander (or Alex as we, his BFFs, now call him), it’s as if the world knew that this was a moment to be savoured. My body froze up, I had to concentrate on moving one heavy wedge wearing foot before the other. My breathing quickened, I could feel sweat forming on my forehead and then I heard the words I had been aching to hear “Hi.” …Okay, it was nothing like that. But maybe it was and I was too delirious to remember…okay, that’s not true either. Cat went up and stood on the left which was a big change as everyone stood on the right, but she wanted to show her good side, and who doesn’t? I stood on the right when I went up, because I’m a sheep. We each took each others’ picture, I slipped in a “P.S. The new boots are fabulous!” cause I’m suave like that and then it was over. Things we did get to see: he took off his sweater to an eyeful of tummy and Calvin Klein tighty whities, and he practically ran into Cat in the shoe section when he was going to the washroom. Hello!
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- AWANG
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- My boots…
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- CAT & AWANG
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- HKHOS & AWANG
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- Chillin’
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- Met him.
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- 1 o’ the million bloggers
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- Met him.
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- “We’re at fashion week.”
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- “Yay, fashion week!”
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- “Waiting for the runway.”
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- “Hard times at fashion week.”
As you can see we had a bit of a photo shoot after Alexander Wang had left, but who can expect any less when a tent is set up with a TV inside? Our story? Models at fashion week. I think it comes across crystal clear. And when I say “My boots” I do mean it; coming to a blog near you this October!
Filed under: Fashion | Tags: China, Fashion, Marc Jacobs, Pride, Sequins, Skirt
So, first I must start off with a change that I have yet to embrace (even though I made it). Looking through Blogger blogs I noticed that there seemed to be more traffic so I decided I would switch, but it’s scary, new, harder to use and not as pretty. So for now I’ll just simultaneously update both which is fairly easy minus pictures (so much harder and less organized on Blogger…sorry, Blogger). You can check out La Mode Au Naturelle on Blogger and ya know, follow if you happen to have a Google account and I know most people do so what I’m really saying is “Please follow, I’ll be your best friend”. Due to the change I’ve been afraid of blogging because I just can’t let go of WordPress, but we all read the aforementioned solution so here is a combination of two events: the Sunday of Pride and my trip to China in Toronto.
My mother described my pride ensemble as a “Gay Princess” which was exactly what I was going for so yes, it’s a compliment. I did change 20 minutes later, but I basically just added a gold bandeau underneath which was a huge mistake. We go to a bar, bouncer sees bandeau, assumes the shirt over top wasn’t there before and demands I take it off or he’ll pick me up and hold me upside down and that’s where he went into great detail that I don’t think I’ll add-on here…use your imagination. Basically, always stick to the first outfit decision. Then this past Friday I experienced all that China has to offer in Toronto…it was very interesting. Most of it was at Pacific Mall then some strip malls. I got a blinged out phone case (obviously), but that’s as far as that went. Otherwise there was a lot of food and a lot of confusion. Often I just stood there while matters were figured out in Chinese; not to worry, I mastered smiling and nodding knowingly.
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- Sparkles. Obvi.
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- G.P.
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- The necklace
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- Colour!
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- Too much banana
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- Rainy day
The skirt in the last three photos was $5. I just had to throw that in there. And when I wear it I feel all cute and little because of the colour and length. Who needs short skirts that fly up? Not I.
P.S. New fav: TheChicMuse.
(See what I did there?)
The next few posts will probably all have something in common…flaunting my healed ankle! So your ankle never had to heal, whatever, mine’s back and ready to take your ankle down. Downtown. Downtown to work. Anyway, now that I can wear ridiculous shoes I’ll take every chance I get to do so, so basically if I have to dress in order to be not-naked to go in public, there will probably be ridiculous shoes. Unless we’re hiking…in which case I’ll just have to get these. It even says they’re for hiking. Speaking of DSquared though, if you follow Sea of Shoes you definitely saw the DSquared Skeletal beauties, and if you want to know more about them you can read a post I wrote dedicated to their beauty here. I only have so many ideas so I try to spread them equally between the Coco Blog and here so just click the link you lazy git! Sorry, I lost focus when I mentioned hiking in high heels…so back to the ridiculous shoes I own and hiked downtown in. Remember that post ways back I did on the merit of lucite? It was so cleverly named “Lu-Lu-Lu-Lucite“? Well thanks to the Holt Renfrew shoe sale and a mother who loves anything that reminds her of our childhood (these shoes remind her of the Gap Kids’ Jellybellies I had way back in the early 90s in varying colours and styles and one clear pair with glitter, hah!) I was able to acquire these beautiful Prada Lucite Chandelier mules…
P.S. For those of you that have witnessed me trying to pose in sunlight…it happened again. I can’t open my eyes. I blame my weak pupils on sunglasses, trendy little buggers.
Thanks to my sister for taking these pictures, because Mini-Me has many days ahead of her. But really, I’m just helping her learn a skill, right?
Anyway, modern-day Cinderella or what?!
The ankle is healed (mostly)! It’s still weak…I’ve kinda forgotten how to walk in heels on my left side as a result, but what better way to learn then jumping in feet first. Quite literally. Balenciaga ’07 beauties, with a height of…really super high. A wondrous, wondrous eBay find since the navy is pretty darn hard to find; we have Ashley Olsen to blame for that. I came out of my flat-wearing closet tonight for dinner and an upcoming passion party (we’re waiting impatiently…yes, that kind of party) so Tila initiated a photo shoot on her balcony, ghost chair and all! Oh yeah, plus some of the loot I picked up at the pre-sale at Aritzia, amazing. So Tila, this one’s for you, baby…well, photo cred that is.
Oh the shoes you will see…
Filed under: Fashion | Tags: Alexander McQueen, Alexander Wang, Chanel, DSquared, Gabrielle Marina Gonzalez, Louboutin, Shoes, YSL
It’s raining. I’m supposed to be reading. …I’m not. My ankle is mostly healed, so this means many pictures to come because I’m no longer in a no-heel-wearing-induced-depression. But for now…I spent far too long making this (and it maybe got a bit out of hand):
Yes, the quote above is in reference to Tila and myself. Wherever Tila and I go we collect fans…probably because we’re famous princesses. We went to Zelda’s one Saturday night and had the best time ever. I thought for a while about when the last best time would be, but I think “ever” is right; just had that much fun. Zelda’s is both a restaurant and bar, but we’ve only been upstairs to the bar to join in on the drag fun! The Saturday we went we watched some Lady Gaga and much else…but as most fun nights go, they’re not always the easiest to remember in great detail. There was a competition for a sport (that isn’t really a sport) which I somehow set off due to my “Samantha”-esque vibe…it didn’t end well for me, but in my defense I have a twisted ankle and it was a “very fun” night. Tila and I were back-up dancers…found a fourth for our SATC group (which would be how the whole “Samantha” thang came up)…and there may or may not have been some silly “naturist” moments. I’ll leave it at that. And “that” is probably already too much. Whatevah, whatevah, I do what I want! …Sorry.
Speaking of a twisted ankle… After we went to SATC 2 Tila and I hung up (put away) our high heels. We both have twisted ankles. Both left. Both ankles we potentially made worse when we sacrificed them in order to wear high heels to a movie. I know, this is all makes total sense, you totally get where we were coming from. Well ever since we decided that we were bound to flats until our ankles were truly ready we haven’t been too excited to dress up. It’s just not the same without beautiful shoes, and we both have issues finding flats all that exciting. As a result of wearing flats we’ve rebelled (not really…), but I’m naked and Tila sparkles. Actually ever since we’ve been much more sparkly. Yesterday I wore a full sequined sweater to get breakfast…I need my high heels back. Men buy speedy, shiny cars, we hike up our skirts and cover ourselves in sparkle. (Yesterday I saw two sequins go down the drain in the shower, that’s the point I’m at.)
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- Gaga
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- Show stoppers
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- Big fans
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- Forgotten ankle
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- Obligatory pose 1
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- And 2
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- Trying to show the necklace
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- Zelda’s Pt. 2
I was wearing a necklace I love, but don’t often wear which I’ve tried to show without showing too much. You know what I mean. It’s apparently an unknown Québécois designer and there’s a bird in a cage and what I think are “jazzy squiggles”. I don’t know what it means or if it means anything, I just like it. I’d wear it in a smoky bar, with a smokey eye and a big hat. I’m sure that scenario will happen one day… (Oh P.S. Got it at The Bead Goes On!) Also, the last picture is from the following Monday when we went back to Zelda’s to play Bingo. Just a regular Monday night…there were some pretty great winnings, not on my part, but on those of others that I won’t go into detail about because it’s naughty. I wore a vintage black pleated, strapless dress that I got for about $20 on Queen street; it’s long enough not to worry about being a lady, but I never feel too covered up in it. Dress love. And I yanked out the LV from when I was 15. I think it works.
Side note: Watching the Tonys…I was ridiculously happy to see the Crane brothers together again. Biggest highlight for me so far. That and Lea Michelle’s performance, but not in a good way. Not in a good way at all… Oh, and now that it’s over: third highlight being the show ending on an infinite string of “Na Na Na Na Na”s. Love the Tonys.
I’m sure by now most of you have seen Sex and the City 2. I’m sure a lot of you thought it was silly. Cause you’re too cool, right? Well to the lot of ya I say “pish”. Sure it was ridiculous, extravagant, fantastical, over-the-top, out-of-this-world, had almost zero plot line, definitely zero conflict, but I loved it. Love. Seen it twice kind of love. Would pick it over the first one kind of love. An intense love. But then again I’m completely content spending time with my girls (yes, those 4) and comparing outfits. (I’m not crazy. We’re besties.) Anyway, I wrote a semi-review for a different blog ways back right after I went to an early screening, it was censored of course, but I’m going to lean on it because I don’t want to be repetitive. That and as I said, most of you have already seen it. Oh yeah, we dressed up. Oh yeah, we’re both wearing high, high shoes. Oh yeah, we both had (and have) twisted ankles. Oh yeah.
You can read what I wrote here: Read what I wrote here! As I said it was censored (I’m just so naughty), but the only part that a) really stands out and that b) I can remember are the two expository sentences that Stanford utters, “Remember that summer I was really into cocaine? This was like that.” Yup, this movie was like that too.
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- Yay life!
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- We were kinda twins…
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- See.
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- So I stole a man’s blazer.
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- Ring the size of a garden
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- Yikes, “sneaky” pic
Want to read more of my inspired writing? You do? Here ya go!
Anyway, that’s all for now. I’ve started going to those crazy early morning boot camps and if there’s no midday nap (for those of you that caught my enraged rampage on the Facebook earlier…I had no midday nap today) so this is all for now. Sparkles, sequins, animals, too-high-heels, bad jokes, bad references, “interesting” stories…and I think that sums up most posts. Ta-da!
I wear black 