Thanksgiving in The Laurentians

Last week-end, for Thanksgiving, four friends and I rented a lovely ancestral home in the mountains, between Saint-Sauveur and Mont-Tremblant. On Saturday, Alex made his grandmother's borscht and on Sunday, I roasted a turkey and prepared a feast. We drank by the fire pit until four in the morning, visited Tremblant Village and the resort, drank wine by the fireplace and escaped to quiet corners to read, write, think and nap. Several deer came up to the house and, although we heard wolves and coyotes howling every night, one wolf got within 200 feet of the house and howled for a good ten minutes, while I cooked. All in all, it was pretty goddamn perfect.

All photos were taken by me, with exception of the last one, which was taken with my chum Alex' camera.

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Ten of My Favourite: Capes

For as long as I can remember, I have loved to wear capes. I've worn them in different ways throughout my life, starting with when I wore them to play dress-up as a child. I later wore them both ironically and then with all of the seriousness I could muster, when I was a Goth. The first winter coat I ever made myself was a cape made from Italian wool and lined with fleece. It had a hood and wee bells dangling from the ends of  its cordon.

Years ago I noticed that people in a lot of European countries also wore capes. In NYC capes were huge during the sixties and seventies, going from shorter mod versions to longer, peace-and-love and flared pants-covering ones. Then, around 2010, they made a comeback and have been holding steady since. Here in Montreal, I only began seeing capes on racks last fall and it's only this year that they could qualify as trendy, although I have barely seen any on actual people. the lack of a garment's popularity in Montréal has never swayed me before and it certainly won't now.

My criteria this time is simply that it looks good. You can easily style a cape with what you have on your arms or legs and feet and by changing what you do with your hair.

...Onward to ten of my favourite capes!

1. The Michael Kors pea coat cape for $295.00 USD.

2. ZARA's checkered studio cape for $269.00 CAD.

3. Banana Republic's monogram colorblock wool cape for $225.00 USD.

4, 5, 6. The next three are all from asos.com.

The Jarlo Kerry Check Cape for $85.43 USD.

The Cooper and Strollbrand Cape for $104.12 USD.

The Mango Wool Cape Coat for $177.96 USD.

7. As much as I would love to point you to stores that have several of the same thing in stock, I'm afraid this is where my mainstream retail list runs dry. That said, I have acquired most of my favourite capes and coats from the thrift store. Along the same vein, I will show you four gorgeous, vintage capes currently listed on Etsy. It's also a safe bet seeing as most capes will fit most sizes.

This Irish wool cape is $94.99 CAD.

8. This 1960's Betty Rose cape is $84.32 CAD.

9. This reversible cape from the 60's is $307.40 CAD.

10. This argyle cape is currently on sale for $40.56 CAD.

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Week-End Roundup (Or: A Makeover, A Silent Flick, Jamaican Proverbs and Not One But Two Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cakes in My Freezer)

Last week-end, I took a much needed break away from my clothing line and had a fantastic time.

Friday night was the second night of Terrasse St-Ambroise's Oktoberfest. My son and I headed there for a wee bit so I could drink a surprisingly huge mug of beer (I'm not sure what I was expecting, given that it was Oktoberfest but that shit got heavier and heavier as time went on, despite me working diligently at draining its contents). My son was studying for his high school entrance exams, with ear buds in, until this really loud Bavarian band hit the stage and started jamming.

On Saturday I met up with a fantastically talented and inspiring friend who has scored a two-month singing contract in Morocco. Before heading out, she wanted to undergo a make-over and add to the stage clothing she already owned and so she hired me as an image/fashion consultant. After having hit up my favourite thrift store and having her hair colour changed, this week-end was our second and final shopping trip before she zipped out of here and I had a lot of fun! After hitting up the shoe and underwear departments of The Bay, Lolo sat down to have her make-up done by Simon at the MAC counter and to receive a tutorial on how to recreate the look at herself. She looked smoking and, from certain angles, she really reminded me of Juliette Lewis. I had my face done by Simon years ago and I would definitely go back to see him, whether for clients or for myself.

A great haul!

I wish we could have hung out more but Lo has some socks to knock right the hell off in Casablanca, where she went the next day!

Saturday evening, the kids and I headed to Westmount where we saw The Phantom of the Opera presented with live music. It was fantastic!

My daughter rocking some H & M and Forever 21, at the bus stop.

We started with a screening of The Red Spectre (1907).

While a member of the Cineclub changed reels before the masked ball scene, in walked The Phantom.

Sunday the kids and I went shopping and our day looked something like this:

Last day of the season for Dairy Queen apparently means mad sales.

Once in a while, I miss Jamaica so I gravitate to one particular shelf at the super market. This time, we picked up sodas and jerk sauce.

"Puss and dwag no ha de same luck."

photo cred: Thanks to my chum Ben Kalman for the photos of The Phantom.

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Ten of My Favourite: Dresses for Fall.

I'm going to break from the job contemplation series (after only one entry, no less) and provide you with a shopping guide mini series. I've been helping a friend of mine get her makeover on and, in doing so, I have come across pieces I can't help but share.

Every Wednesday in October, I'll feature ten items that I love. For this set, I'm looking for versatility and silhouettes that can compliment more than one body type.

...Dresses for fall!

1. This dress from Mango is $89.95 and will look as great over bare legs as it will over black, opaque tights. Outdoors, I would personally wear it with the tights, a chelsea boot, a basic black blazer and a layered, black scarf. I live in Canada and layering is essential to anyone who wants to be out from morning until evening in spring or fall!

2. From ASOS, I recommend this punchy dress. It's going for $64.13 USD and I love how versatile it is. You can wear this with practically any shoe I would, however, rock a tall, black boot with this) and, depending on how you style your hair and make-up, this could easily take you from the office to dinner.

3. I'm really loving this dress from ZARA. it's $79.90 CAD and can be worn with a simple or detailed camisole or tank for work, for more conservative events or if you simply don't want to show off your back and the look can then be dramatically changed if you whip that top off before heading out to your next event.

4. The Pink Tartan contrast shift dress deserves to be on this list, for sure. Once again, I can see this with black tights and chelsea boots for a cute early sixties' inspired look. It's $395.00 CAD and you can grab it at The Bay, as per the link.

5. I think this gold stud tie dress from Simon's is adorable. Grab it for a mere $29.95. I will wanr you, however, that this fabric and cut, bought at Simon's, can be tricky. The lining tends to ride up and lose its shape over time. If you buy this one, do it because you know that, at that price, it doesn't matter if you only wear it a handful of times.

6. And, now, how about a little colour?! I love this merino wool LAUREN RALPH LAUREN dress, also available at The Bay. It's going for $249.00 CAD and I would wear it with flat, brown, riding style boots, curly hair and a beanie or with black heels and a scarf in my straightened hair.

7. One last dress from The Bay that I must recommend is the Dorothy Perkins oxblood and black striped dress. Bonus? It's currently on sale for $31.50 CAD.

8. The I Love Glamp dress from ModCloth is a great one for this fall. It's going for $59.99 USD... which I would pay before heading to the fabric store to buy fabric to extend this dress' lining. I personally don't like the effect or the feel of a shorter lining on a long skirt but, again, it's eay to fix this or have ti fixed if you share my opinion on this.

9. I apologize for the tiny photo but finding one I could copy was difficult. You're looking (or squinting) at the colorblocked v-neck sweater dress by Ann Taylor and it's going for $109.00 USD.

10. Last but not least, I like the long sleeve button-snap front collared dress by Calvin Klein. It's $129.50 USD and I love that it can be worn with boots, heels, flat or, depending on how you style it, even a pair of Chucks. If you click on the link, you'll see it in purple and get a better view of it from the front.

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