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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Today's Look

Snippets of today's outfit:

Coat: No tag. Exchanged at a craft fair for something vintage from my booth
Purse: Clothing swap. No tag.
Top: Dickie's top from a clothing swap.
Skirt: Smart Set. On sale for $12 over a year ago
Ankle Boots: Forever 21. On sale for $20
Tights: Fleece-lined and on sale from a shop in Ottawa. $5.
Scarf: H&M. I have no idea when I got it. It's the same as the one I bought but with no hole. 

Not bad for $37.

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My Take On Montreal Fashion Week 24, Written for CultMTL

check it out over here. ;-)

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Montreal Fashion Week (and why I have to write about it).

please pardon the radio silence, which i'm sure seems all the more bizarre given that it's montreal fashion week. i'm currently working on a piece for a local publication and i want to be sure that nothing i write here overlaps with what i'm preparing for them. that said, i'll be sure to post something about it all within the next few days and you will be hearing from me before then, too! 

i hope everyone is having a great week. 

back to work i go!

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Today's Simple, Office-Friendly Look

it's -40 degress celcius with the wind chill factor, today, and motivation to get dolled up just a wee bit more was simply not there. this is today's office look. my velvet blazer is vintage and i've had it for years. my sheer, black blouse was bought at winners and i really should have looked at the label but, again, this morning i just wasn't having it and it's new so... my pants are from forever 21 and i bought my oxfords on ebay. one ring is from le chateau, the other is vintage.

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The Cringe Factor Behind John Galliano and Oscar de la Renta's Collaboration

one thing that is always hard to deal with is watching someone you never want to have to dislike do something completely deplorable and, essentially, unlikable. i hate to admit that, if it had been almost anyone else who had made those horrible, anti-semitic remarks, in two-thousand-eleven, i would have felt utter rage before anything else but it wasn't anyone but john galliano, one of my idols and someone i loved to like. that isn't to say i wasn't terribly angered by the news of the outburst but i first felt shock, then the horrible sinking feeling of disappointment and then, after all of that, i was right pissed. the higher the pillar, i guess, and i know i'm far from the only one to have struggled with feelings such as these.

i understand that addiction is a disease. i have seen people close to me fight it and win and i have seen others lose the battle badly enough to have ended up dead. i get that. what i don't get is that this was an act of hate. i don't care how drunk or high you are or even if you tend to really fly into a rage when intoxicated. there is general anger and then there is the type of anger and hatred directed at another race or religion. a line that i don't feel has anything to do with simply being blitzed. that said, i am happy that he sought rehabilitation and has apparently been on the wagon since.

four days ago, it was announced that john galliano was invited by oscar de la renta to work with him in his new york studio for three weeks. i get that there is a giant, galliano-shaped hole in the world of fashion when he is not creating and again, i hate having to dislike anything about him but all of this has me on the edge of my seat and not in a good way. i've waited this long to write about it because i wanted to see how everyone else would react to it. i'm not usually one to play it safe when it comes to speaking my mind and i don't encourage it in others but i must say that the well-known members of the high fashion community that are keeping their remarks with regards to this positive but without elaboration are the ones not making me cringe. alexandra shulman's "this is terrific," tweet is a fine example of this. nina garcia also tweeted on the matter, saying, "welcome to new york, john galliano!" both statements are pleasant and welcoming without defending his actions.

the anti-defamation league claims that he has "demonstrated effort to learn from his remarks about jews, hitler and the holocaust." the organization's national director, abraham foxman, also stated, "we believe that individuals can change their hearts and minds as long as they demonstrate true contrition."

i wholeheartedly agree with the latter half of these statements but on what planet must one be living in order to have not learned enough about the holocaust that you would need to, as an adult, be educated on the matter so that you can stop hurling anti-semitic remarks at people, when you're drunk. he used the term "gassed", for crying out loud. this was hatred and not ignorance.

headlines like rt.com's "fashion's bad boy is back on track: john galliano to work for oscar de la renta," are what's not helping the matter. to use a playful term such as "bad boy" in this case is, in my opinion, inappropriate. and, easy tigers, he's going to be there for three weeks, in order to supply oscar de la renta with his input on the upcoming collection and then they and everyone else will see what happens.

all of this having been said, i, along with slew of other people, am anxiously awaiting the results of this alliance and i do think this was a smart business move on oscar de la renta's part, as all eyes are now on them and will be straight into fashion week.

in 2011, john galliano was hired by kate moss to design her wedding dress.
photo source: patmoyerweddings.com

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Final Fall/Winter 2012-2013 Office Wardrobe Update

i'm going to lay the whole fall/winter wardrobe challenge to rest today so that i can move on to what i want to put together for spring, as of next week. seeing as i was busy job-hunting, writing up "25 days of etsy christmas", redecorating three rooms in my flat (pictures of that are forthcoming) and working on the new shop, i didn't really give myself time to sew until now. that said, i did scour thrift stores and go through every piece of clothing i own (no small feat, i'll have you know!) and i did put together twelve basic, occasionally interchangeable outfits that are great for the office and that work for fall and winter. i've put together a few collages to give you the gist of these and, although the brands vary from those that i found and own (a lot of my pieces are vintage and i prefer lancome, dior and sometimes mac, when it comes to make-up), you'll get the idea!

i must say that the following h & m trousers were really well priced and are ridiculously comfortable.

i was so happy when i found a similar pencil skirt in this exact shade of purple, in verdun, secondhand, for $5!

my glasses have more of a cat-eye shape and, after buying a pair of cole haan chelsea boots online only to discover that they are too narrow for me, i came across a great pair of baxter boots at last year's swap team exchange. you can see them here.

even though i am a white girl with some arabic blood and probably shouldn't wear yellow, i can't seem to stay completely away. for a more casual work look, i've put together an outfit resembling this one and i like to wear it with a good 'ol fashioned french twist or by styling my hair with a slight, 60's bump at the crown, pinning up the side and letting the rest of it down and slightly curled at the ends. 

although i do my best to jazz up my office wardrobe, i'm usually seen wearing this combo or something quite like it:

a friend of mine bought this betty page clothing dress, never wore it and sold it to me for $20. i wear it with neutral panty hose or stocking and burgundy, suede mary janes that i also got from this friend but at a clothing swap. 

i was also lucky enough to come across a lovely, burgundy, a-line dress with leather pocket trim from lord & taylor. i bought it at my favourite verdun thrift store for $7 but most of their house brand dresses are between $110 and $300 so i'm quite pleased! i won't be able to shoot in natural light until next week-end and i can't find an image of the dress online so it'll have to have its own post, sometime soon!

this is the last time i'll be referring to this particular wardrobe, as i'll be focusing on the spring fashions i want and/or have, as of next week. the timing is great, too, because i go back to working nine-to-five in an office, tomorrow morning. 

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Roots. Part Two: The Wicked Stepmother. 1987-1996.

after my parents got divorced, my father moved my brother and i to an ottawa suburb and life changed dramatically. i went from living in a rosemont duplex, raised by my parents, my grandmother and my aunt and playing with dirty, poor kids in the back alley to living in a townhouse with my father, my uncle, their friend and my brother, playing with slightly less dirty kids in our backyard and on the lane and suddenly being able to afford outings and take-out and a huge, ninth birthday party. as far as my brother and i were concerned, we missed our mom but we were completely wooed by this new lifestyle and, to this day, we agree that it was the happiest year of our childhoods. a few unorthodox events took place while we lived there but we were used to that beat and none of it scarred us in any way.

the school we attended wasn't so understanding. my dad was called in for a meeting and was informed that our home situation was unacceptable, given that i was living with a boy and at least two men (the friend left after a few months but because he owed the brothers money, they confiscated  his bedroom set and gave it to me until the funds were reimbursed) and that the stories we were telling our friends might seem rather interesting to a child services worker. my father decided that the best way to have the hounds called off would be to ask the female accountant they'd just hired to work a bit of overtime and pick his children up from school so that they could be made aware that such a presence existed in our lives. 

in what seemed like no time at all, my brother and i were sitting in the backseat of my dad's truck, parked in the driveway of an unsightly duplex with aluminum siding in gatineau, quebec, with my father having gone inside the building and his accountant-turned-lover sitting in the front seat. she turned to us and asked us if it would be okay if she moved in with us and we all lived in the home we saw before us. we hesitated and then said yes, knowing we didn't really have a choice. the had already purchased the duplex. our year of fun was over. 

on the very first day we crammed ourselves into the two-bedroom, basement apartment (they took over the living room and my brother and i each had a bedroom), she told us that we should call her "mom" and that, from then on, my mother was to be referred to by her first name when she was not present. 

what ensued was eight years of verbal and occasionally, for my brother, physical abuse. that's why it took so long for me to come to terms with the fact that one of my greatest style influences was the stepmother that had raised me for the second half of my childhood. i've come to terms with everything and so i am free, now, to discuss this woman's fierce sense of aesthetics, without conjuring up any ill feelings.

one of my stepmother's own style icons was elvira, mistress of the dark. we'd occasionally stay up late and watch her on television and a certain spooky seed was planted at the back of mind at this time. around this time, so nineteen-ninety-three or the year after, she took on a part-time job as a barmaid on the hull strip to help with the bills and to finance her car, while she also studied at algonquin college. i absolutely loved watching her get dressed and made up for this job! she had layered the top half of her dyed-black hair and backcombed the hell out of it so that it stood up in a dome of sorts, much like elvira's. she wore one green contact lens and one yellow one, purple eye shadow, lots of black eyeliner and blood-red lipstick. from her closet, she pulled out all sorts of interesting outfits i'd never seen the likes of before, all outfits she'd bought at flash cadillac, on rideau, in ottawa (part of this shop then became savannah deville's, when it had to shut down due to marital conflict between the owenrs). my favourite one was this crazy, off-white, denim, sleeveless catsuit with small gold zippers at the ankles and one wide, gold zipper starting at one knee and going all the way up to its bust line. there were suede booties and studded catsuits and skinny jeans with zippers. there were gold stilettos, wide, studded belts and itty bitty mini skirts with corsets and bustiers. my stepmother shopped at the same store the ottawa punks shopped at and styled her hair in a manner that would make most goth girls of the time quite envious. 

she drove around in a silver, souped up, 1987 audi gt coup, leather racer gloves boasting audi's famous rings on their wrist straps, her left hand resting on the wheel, with a du maurier cigarette usually held between its index and middle finger and her right hand busy shifting gears. she loved classic rock but also played the cult, the cure and the clash when driving around. her absolute favourite band was ac/dc and i can remember "highway to hell", "hell's bells" and "back in black" playing loudly as she gunned down ottawa's highways.

once i started peeling back the layers of anger and bitterness and was able to remember these details, a lot of the fashion paths i've walked began making a whole lot more sense and, as i like to extract and retain the positive from any situation, i guess that's one thing i have to be thankful for. 

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...Almost Back

i hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season! i spent some time with family and friends in gatineau, québec, prince edward county, ontario and toronto before returning to montréal just three days ago. tomorrow i'm hosting my annual turkey dinner, pot luck and gift exchange for my best local friends and then i'll take a few more days for myself before i come back to post on a regular basis.

in the next six months you can expect the unveiling of my new etsy shop, sewing and craft tutorials, interviews with designers and local artists and a variety of articles that will be written in response to what's happening in the fashion world both abroad and home. a few surprises are in store for after this period as well. 

à bientôt! 

xx
rosemary

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25 Days of Etsy Christmas Gifts. Day Twenty-Three: Montréal, Part Three

the more i see people encouraging others to buy locally and to support artisans and small businesses, the more i am liking this time of year. hopefully, at some point during this series, i featured a shop from wherever you are in the world (and based on my stats, you guys come from all over the place and i am so pleased that that is so!) but, i am from montreal and i am happy to close this twenty-five day series with five days of etsy shops based in my home town. today is day twenty-three and so this is the third day of montreal shops; i hope you enjoy these and find something for someone on our list and/or maybe even for you!

1. while i do recommend that you peruse pavlina dadakova's shop, i would like to draw attention to the first photo. this is the "recessionista dress" and i promise that i will be featuring it again in the coming months. it comes in black, brown or navy blue and can morph into a skirt, a tube dress, the halter dress you see here and more. go check it out!

2. if you're looking for fun, stylish jewelry to stuff stockings with, be sure to have a look at little bear's mom for a great selection of almost four-hundred listings!

3. based in montreal west, the cottage cupboard offers up a huge selection of decorative pillow covers. be sure to check out the sale section, too!

4. for your four-legged friend or for someone on your list who has one of their own, i recommend chuckle hounds for stylish dog accouterments. 

5. i love 3 dots for beautiful, modern jewelry. i really dig several items in this shop and i'm sure someone on your list will too! 

6. for gorgeous felt and leather accessories, be sure to have a look at rimanchik!

7. little houses clothing offers up a nice selection of mostly-asymmetrical fashions for her and him. 

8. some of you know how much i love revamped and recycled goods and so, even thought they are not taking orders until january, i have to include remakerie, in case you have a holiday party in january or are seeing family from out of town then or if you have a child's birthday coming up soon, in the new year. the rabbit shown here? it's ridiculously cute.

9. another jewelry shop that i absolutely love is red sofa by joanna szkiela. check her out but be sure to order soon, as the shop will be closed for the holidays as of december 19th!

10. last but not least, i recommend miss comics if you're looking for stocking stuffers for the geek woman or teen on your list. the shop is holding an incredible sale, right now, and you can order several items for very little!

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