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| Bonjour, lovelies! Tuesday was really, really great, to say the least. After school, I rushed over to Gastown to meet the most amazing streetstyle photographer in the world, whom I've been following for over three years and who never ceases to amaze me - The Sartorialist. He's provided me with endless inspiration and shaped my personal style since I discovered him. Needless to say, I was beyond ecstatic when I finally met him, after 2.5 hrs of waiting in line to see him at the "Secret Location" store in Gastown, Vancouver. I can honestly say his books are an essential fashion bible for any fashion enthusiast, such as myself, or even someone who is looking for a simple style update. And another thing - he's so nice!! We had a mini conversation while he signed my book, and as a major fan, my responses were... more or less frazzled. But I think I got my point across. I think. 2 days later, and I'm still starstruck. I can get used to this, though. Waiting in line was actually not half bad, since I met some really cool people, had some intense fashion convos, and learned a lot. You know it's been a good day when you can have an intense conversation about fashion with a person in Vancouver. |
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| Bonjour! Last night Karen and I decided on a whim we felt like practising for halloween, so we got out all the makeup we could find, and went a little crazy :) Our inspiration was the mexican sugar skulls, which are basically pretty skulls painted on faces with little ruffles around the eyes. Some traditional sugar skulls can actually get pretty intricate, and coloful, which I think is awesome. They're very creepy-pretty. So if you're at loss for halloween costume ideas, this one is super fun and easy to try out. Enjoy! -Sera |
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| Part of my outfit - wearing my beautiful vintage 6-inch heels |
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| Part of my crew - Me, Monica (check her out here), Mumbi and Jess. We're missing a couple people in this shot, unfortunately, but I'm sure you'll see them again :) |
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| Sectioned-off shot |
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| Favorite piece for all of the women's collections - this was "The Parrot" model |
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| Men's collection time! On each and every jacket, they had a unique symbol or phrase, which I thought was fabulous. |
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| Finale of the men's collection |
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| In love with the detailing on the sweater |
September 6th, 2012, was indeed a very exciting day. It went by in a blur, but it was fantastic. I had started my first day of fashion school, and then after I had to rush downtown, and wait in line at 4:00. We HAD to be early, since they were giving out swag bags to the first 100 people. So naturally, we decided it was necessary to be an hour and a half early. But strangely enough, the waiting was actually kind of fun! Because we were in such a large group, there was never a dull moment anyway, but on top of that, there were people that were handing out bags of chips to everyone in the crowd, and they also used that waiting time to pass around flyers for local stores. On top of that, there were "fashion police" which I thought was hilarious, and photographers! Jess was standing back to take my outfit picture, when all of a sudden this photographer went all paparazzi on me and snapped 5 quick photos flash and everything, of me! I was so stunned, I felt like a celebrity.
When they started to let people in, they gave us these gorgeously decorated swag bags, that looked absolutely exquisite, but we decided not to open them until later, since we wanted to get a good seat. Going into the actual show required a lot of walking. I was obviously not aware of that, and ended up wearing out my feet before we even started the show, since there were several flights of stairs we had to go down. Thank god for ballet flats. I think they literally saved my life.
But before we entered the runway premises, there was a sort of photography set-up, where everyone that passed through got their picture taken with their friends, just like on the red carpet before a major event! I didn't think that day could get any better. So after a quick shot with all my friends, we headed into the room of the fashion show. It blew my mind. I'd never seen such a cool set-up in person. There were high ceilings with big, professional lights hanging above us, a beautiful runway backdrop (pictured - the colors reminded me of tie-dye!) and soooo many seats. Although when we got in further, we noticed there wasn't a single seat for any of us, even though we were almost at the very front of the line! They were all VIP seating. So, standing there in my 6-inch heels, I was a little (okay a lot) disappointed. So we found a spot near the end of the runway behind some VIPs, and set up camp. Dropped all our purses, starbucks, and swag bags to the ground and waited for the show to start.
When the show started, I was so excited to see what Vancouver designers could have come up with, and I'm standing there with the camera all ready to go, and then out comes the models. My mouth drops. One by one, walking down the runway, was probably the most boring collection I'd ever seen in my life. They might have well been modelling Lululemon dresses. They were boring, simple dresses that you could basically wear to a yoga class. I was furious. So I waited patiently, waiting for something amazing to walk out, but nothing did. Disappointment.
Next collection came out. Same thing. I started noticing the models a lot more. The hair and makeup were exquisite, but the clothing was god-awful boring. And the models were not very good at all. There were some models that had terrible posture, others with a terrible walk, some with the most boring expression on their face - not even simizing - and then there was one model that walked so slow, the next model had to wait until she got to the end of the runway to start walking. A model should never ever have to wait for another model. NEVER. I feel a little bit like a critic here, but whoever did the model casting obviously didn't know how to pick a model. I could've done a better job myself.
Sometimes, every couple collections I'd notice one really good stand-out piece that I really liked, but it wasn't very cohesive with the rest of the collection. I'd started to get into the mindset that Vancouver designers had no talent.
Then out of the blue, the men's collection came out, and I was blown away. Not only were the models drop-dead gorgeous, complete with abs and all, but the clothing was amazing! It was a million times more interesting than anything I'd seen previously in the show, and all the models wore these crazy masks that looked like some killer-clown out of a horror movie, but less killer-ish. And on every jacket, was a new, unique symbol or message that just made me smile. I all of a sudden had faith in Vancouver.
Overall, I'd give the show a 3 star rating. The women's collections were flops, and most of the women models were terrible, but everything in the men's collections were perfect, and the set-up of everything was very well-organised and professional. In the end I enjoyed myself, and I think I can speak for all of my friends when I say that it was a fun experience, and I'll definitely be returning for next year's show.
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| Who else was excited for back to school? For some reason, I was beyond excited, and decided to go for a cute summer-fall transitional look, paired with the old faithful - the denim jacket. The lace top was so pretty that I couldn't resist wearing it a minute longer, so I decided to pair it with my new favorite pair of vintage red high-waisted denim shorts and little wedges. As for Fashion's Night Out Vancouver, the photos will be up very soon, and we'll have more stories on that later :) Happy Monday! |
Hey everybody! Summertime has left me busy doing nothing, and I never thought I'd say it, but I'm a little excited for back to school!... Anybody else? Maybe it's the fall wardrobe, or the exciting new things I'm going to be starting this year, or the thought of catching up on summer stories with all my friends... But most of all, I'm excited let you guys know about Fashion's Night Out Vancouver, on September 6th! The details can be found on facebook if any of you are interested - there's going to be live fashion shows from tons of cool brands, and best of all - it's a free event! So tell everyone you know, and see you there!