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Final Fashion x Jabberdust Fall Winter 2011 – 2012

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Leah Barrett, Jabberdust designer, emailed me to let me know that a little project she worked on with Danielle Meder of Final Fashion is available for sale. Last year, Leah approached Danielle about illustrating some design concepts for the company. Danielle explains the whole process in this snippet here from her blog.

Designer, entrepreneur, professor and blog reader Leah Barrett approached me with a project. Leah’s label, Jabberdust, is a line of scarves and accessories that features incredible handwork. Leah works closely with factories in India to showcase the possibilities of embellishment. Her background is in production management, and she surprised me with a rare proposal. I’m paraphrasing here – Leah said:

“I’m very comfortable with the production aspect of the business, however I find the conceptual aspect of design more challenging. Would you be interested in designing a number of concepts and illustrating them – it can be anything you wish – and I will take those ideas to the factories and handle the technical development of the samples, and if they’re successful, the production?”

Danielle’s only condition was that she wanted to blog about the experience. You can read the posts here.

The Ice Shrug and Feather Hooded Cape are part of the four piece Final Fashion x Jabberdust Fall Winter 2011 – 2012 collection.  There are two additional pieces (Reversible Tabard and the Tuck Scarf)  that you can see on the Jabberdust website.  My favourite piece of the collection is the Ice Shrug myself.  The Feather Hooded Cape has a hand made feather fringe and is made from wool silk jersey.   There is also and all black version.  The Ice Shrug is made from nylon mesh jersey with hand sewn crystals and beads.  It has an alternate colour too and that is offwhite.

You can contact Leah through the Jabberdust website if you’d like to inquire about purchasing any items from the collection.

images: courtesy of Jabberdust

TIFF 2011 – Alliance Films Party Red Carpet Photos by Paul Baik

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The whirlwind that is the Toronto International Film Festival has come and gone. This year TIFF was very quiet for I want – I got. I wasn’t on vacation like last year and client deadlines at the day job resulted in a low-key festival. I did send my friend and photographer Paul Baik to hit the red carpet at the most hyped TIFF party hosted by Alliance Films celebrating the 21 films they submitted to this year’s festival. Huge celebrities were invited and expected to walk the red carpet for this event.

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It didn’t turn out that way and the major celebs didn’t walk the red carpet. That’s the way things go sometimes. Paul stuck it out for a few hours and he said he had a good time (it was his first TIFF!). Here are some of his shots.

Sarah Silverman 5

Evan Rachel Wood 4

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Paul Giamatti

Robin Wright

See all of Paul’s photos in the slideshow.

Thank you Paul for braving the TIFF scrum!

images: paulbaik.com

WORN Journal Presents: Diversity and Fashion Magazines Panel Discussion – September 25, 2011

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WORN Journal Presents: Diversity and Fashion Magazines Panel Discussion – September 25, 2011.

Hold me closer tiny pantcer

Sunday, September 25 · 5:00pm – 6:00pm
Word On The Street @ Queens Park

Diversity isn’t just a buzz word: it’s a commitment to showing equal representations across culture, subculture, gender identification, sexuality, size, race, and age. On Sunday, September 25th, join WORN Fashion Journal at the Word on the Street Canadian Magazines Tent. Editors Serah-Marie McMahon and Gwen Stegelmann will discuss the responsibility of fashion magazines to provide a comprehensive overview of the world outside of… mainstream fashion with a panel of industry insiders.

PANEL GUESTS:
Anita Clarke is the founder and EIC of the popular Toronto fashion blog, I Want – I Got. She’s been called one of Toronto’s most stylish people in 2011, a Toronto Fashion Hero by Now Magazine, Woman of the Year by She Takes on the World and one of the Worthy 30 by Shinan Govani. She has spoken on the topics of fashion, marketing, public relations and social media for various television and radio programs as well as print magazines.

Elizabeth St. Philip is an award-winning journalist with over 15 years experience producing documentary and national news stories. Her NFB documentary, “The Colour of Beauty” explores the fashion industry through the eyes of an ambitious black model.

Iris Simpson has been an influential force in Canadian Fashion for more than 30 years. She has built a diverse career working in fashion buying and styling for companies like Holt Renfrew, Yves St Laurent, and Creeds. Iris has appeared in Chatelaine Magazine, THE STAR, and on Cityline. She is currently an instructor at the Ryerson University Continuing Education Program in Fashion Styling.

For more information visit: http://www.thewordonthestreet.ca/wots/toronto/whatson/canadianmagazines

I hope you’ll be able to join us in this lively discussion.

image: wornjournal flickr page

i want: Beau Coops x Karen Walker Fall Winter 2011 – 2012 Shoes

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Daniela, owner of Chasse Gardee, is an accessories pusher. I was in the store one day and she showed me samples from the Beau Coops x Karen Walker Fall Winter 2011 – 2012 collection. They are now my newest obsession and I can’t wait till the shipment comes in so I can get myself a pair of the white leather brogues.  Shush now, I know I already own a pair of white derby shoes by Rokin.  Hmm, the Rokin’s were from Chasse Gardee too.

Beau Coops is a London based footwear label designed by Carrie Cooper. Cooper’s designs are influenced by unisex dressing, menswear and androgyny. The label produces sculptural platform wedges, lace-up brogues and contrast toe ankle boots.

I’ve always known Karen Walker for sunglasses. I’m going to own my first pair thanks to Moda Operandi sometime this fall. Karen is more than just sunglasses as she produces a ready to wear line and accessories.

images: stylebistro.com

Hermes Spring Summer 2011 Shoes

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This editorial for the Hermès Spring Summer 2011 collection is wonderful. I scanned the images from the Le monde d`Hermès magazine.

Normally, the only Hermès shoe I obsess over is the riding boot.   However, the last few seasons have been pretty fun for shoes and these are very colourful ones.

images: scanned by me

CND Fall Winter 2011 – 2012 LookBook and Video

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The CND Fall Winter 2011 – 2012 LookBook was a neat little take away from my Shellac manicure experience. It talks about CND trends on the runways, designer partners and even step by step instructions to recreate a few styles.

I’ve included a few pages of the lookbook here but you can download the full thing on the CND website.   Jen Kao’s nails (1st photo and below) are amazing.  So much work and layers of polish were needed.

 

Our cover concept plunges into the moody, trippy twilight-world of Jen Kao, embellished underwater-Avatar fantasy swirls and dominatrix swagger.  Our team created cloisonné-like, decidedly decadent nails edged in golden dagger-tips. The designer’s new collection spins a psychedelic head-rush of peacock tones in silhouettes cut for strutting: cinched, fringed corsets and the pure funk of purple satin platform boots. Flyness overload! Ziggy Stardust era references, like sharp-shouldered jackets in acid-bright prints and lurex leggings, call for nails that can’t wait to boogie down the dance floor. (source Lookbook)

CND also created a video for the fall winter 2011 – 2012 season during New York Fashion Week. They interview the designers (like Jen Kao, Jason Wu, Diego Binetti and) and head CND artists. It’s really interesting to see how much work goes into these shows.

I love this look from Jason Wu.  The colours are perfect together

For Jason Wu’s show this season, our team crafted almond nails in layers of Dark Ruby and Bloodline,
with baroque, 24-karat tips. (source Lookbook)

I love the look from Diego Binetti’s show. I’d love to have this manicure but I don’t like my nails that long and this style looks like length helps the effect.

For Diego Binetti’s show,  we created a darkly dangerous nail with a wicked, whip-thin silhouette. This designer’s lavishly beaded fabrics and black headwraps met their match with CND’s slim-line  enhancement contoured and slenderized with a base of Blackjack, then armed and dangerous with Dark Ruby and Bloodline detailing. (source Lookbook)

images: CND.com

geekiview: The Pillow Boot by Cougar Boots

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Pillow Boot by Cougar

The Old School

Last year, I reviewed some boots on the site. I made a flippant comment about not caring about Cougar because the don’t make my childhood pillow boot anymore. I was completely wrong. I learned at a preview that the classic boot was coming back for Fall 2011. The anticipation for the Cougar Pillow Boot has been building for months. I’m a such a sucker for some of these retro trends and thankfully Matchstick send a pair over to me.

Cougar Pillow Boots

The New School

In 1976, a Canadian classic was born. A tan leather, calf-high lace up with its famous red lining took an entire generation by storm. This fashion icon is the inspiration behind the new Cougar Pillow Boot.

Made with soft, supple leather this next generation Pillow melds a decidedly vintage look with a modern twist, while still giving you the option to romp through the deepest Canadian snow.(source: Press release)

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The weather isn’t conductive to a functional review but I’ve been wearing them around the house and they are very comfortable boots. I like the updated design. The grip on the sole is much better than their 70s counterpart.  I can’t wait to take them out in the snow this year. Matchstick and Cougar Boots asked to me contribute a photo to their Pillow Boot Blogger Lookbook on their facebook page.

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My Cougar Pillow Boot look is thick socks (I need to buy some work socks to really pull this look off) and a Philip Sparks dress. This is the only dress made in this fabric. I just had to have something different from everyone else. I would normally the boots with wool tights and a dress but I was a bit lazy at this point.

There are a number of retailers that carry the limited edition Cougar Pillow Boot. You can find them on the Cougar Website. Thanks to Matchstick and Cougar for making me feel like a kid again.

i want: Vintage Jewellery from Erstwhile Jewelry Co.

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I love PR pitches that are for interesting companies like Erstwhile Jewelry Co. They specialize in rare, one of a kind jewellery items. There finds include antique and vintage engagement rings as well as jewellery from the 19th century Victorian, turn of the century Edwardian, french art nouveau, art deco, and retro 40’s eras. Rare jewellery from Cartier, Boucheron, Tiffany & Co., Bakelite, Chopard, Van Cleef & Arpels and Bulgari are some of the designers that Erstwhile Jewelry Co. seek out.

Jewellery from Erstwhile Jewelry Co. isn’t cheap as you can imagine. The three pieces pictured (Victorian Gold & Turquoise Bangle, Gold Kieselstein-Cord Crocodile Ring and Gold and Diamond Ibex Ring) range from $2,400 – $4,900.

I’ve never been an engagement ring person but their selection of vintage engagement rings are so very beautiful.

images: erstwhilejewelry.com