Hair-Brained

           

source: Barber & Fritzhttp://barberandfritz.com/

For some reason I'm really obsessed with spiral braided headdresses, maybe because they are so unpractical! The braided headdresses in the photos for luxury hair product line Barber and Fritz, as well as for Danish jewelry artist Denise J. Reytan, incorporate an element of installation art, with a look ranging from folky, to aristocratic, to strange. Photos that are styled using elabourate props are my favourite; a crafted headdress is both hat and fancy hair-do. The best part is instead of making and re-making such a complex hairstyle, the"do" can be removed whenever.

I also needed to throw in some of Toronto artist Winnie Truong's gorgeous & strange pencil drawings. She is such a master of clothing her Neolithic characters in hair they've weaved to armour and embellish themselves with. My absolute favourite detail within these drawings has to be the "hair flower" woven into the side of a messy bun. The texture of the hair flows into the flower creating flora that looks prehistoric.

source: EINTR8 by Denise J. Reytan, Photos by M. Fischinger http://www.reytan.de/

 

Source: Pencil Crayon drawings by Winnie Truong http://www.winnietruong.com/

Winterish Wolfhound

Before/After:

Hello,

I wanted to post a drawing that I was working on that I decided to colour digitally. I was having a lot of fun creating the tie dyed effect in the background because there was a lot of white space to work with. I thought that a white winter scene could use some pizazz. I was spending hours indoors with a hot toddy and some roasted peanuts (!) figuring out how to use photoshop. Internet tutorials sure are helpful for autodidacts. I love the idea of hand-drawing something and adding colours digitally now, and plan on continuing this winter with some more feverish cold-weather scenes.

Creature Comforts

Turquoise House, Russian Federation/Cozy Upscale Throw from Modcloth/Enamel Teapot from Maisy & Grace/Ebba Shearling Booties/Photo from Hello it's Valentine/Triple Ginger Cookies from 101 cookbooks/The Abominable Snowman.

It's still snowing outside! Last night I was watching the snow fall for an eternity, lit by the orange street-lamps outside. It's almost as if the weather is acting on cue this year. Definitely in a nesting mood lately. I made some Triple Ginger Cookies from 101 cookbooks, swung back with a pot of tea,  and studied some video tutorials on writing HTML and CSS scripts, a little like learning a new language for me. I'm also in the process of figuring out the shipping fees for my etsy shop to get the ball rolling on Siouxvenir the vintage shop. I was also browsing around for some winter-themed goodies while procrastinating about starting a new drawing, a stately Russian abode, some comfortable household items, hot beverages, cookies... some critters from the park?

On new years my friends and I ventured into High Park to toast at midnight. We found the most rickety little bridge over the littlest creek deep in the park. We barely popped the bubbly in time, slipping all over the place, but somehow managed to under the influence of a few alcoholic ginger beers spiked with rye. I heard an owl on the way home, and just caught its silhouette in the trees before it swooped down and vanished. I could tell it was an owl because I could see it's head turning and bobbing. The park is so full of cool things, I have to remember to go more often.

Russian Headdress

      

     

Russian Patterns. Source: http://forums.thefashionspot.com/showpost.php?p=8925415&postcount=59

Welcome to 2013.

I found these scans from what appears to be either Russian Vogue or a Russian pattern magazine. I especially love the last image, with the pearls dripping down the back and the gorgeous lace bonnet. As a symbol of the new year I thought it was fitting to show some way of bringing traditional into a new era. This new year should be all about creative energy, power, celebrating traditions, and bending the rules a bit, or at least thats how I would like it to go. I keep all these things in mind as I am building my shop to offer up some goodies in the near future. Stay tuned!

Lady of the Woods: Outfit

Coat: H&M

Cashmere Scarf: Brora

Sweater: thrifted

Skirt: thrifted

Boots: Ariat

Now is the last chance to go for walks through the park without the really cold bite of winter, the weather is warmer than usual this year. Last week friends and I were walking through the park at dusk and a coyote ran past! I was almost hoping to catch sight of one while I had my camera with me this time... 

I love winter: piling on the vintage furs, the wooly sweaters, and checking out the silhouettes of dried milkpods and evergreen trees. Nature has a whole new look and so does my wardrobe. There are ways of layering that means you don't have to hide under a Canada Goose jacket all season. 

VERUSCHKA as "the Girl in the Fabulous Furs"

                                       

 

Photos from the Richard Avedon photoshoot "the Girl in the Fabulous Furs"(from American Vogue October 15th 1966.

 I just saw the documentary about Diana Vreeland called "The Eye Has to Travel" at the Bell Lightbox, and my head is still spinning from all the eye candy. Vreeland was the notoriously uncompromising and always colourful editor of first Harper's Bazaar, then Vogue. Aside from Diana Vreeland's willingness to live out her grandest fantasies in full technicolour, I also love that Vreeland had her clothes made by Coco Chanel back in the 1920's, as well she managed a lingerie shop in London that sold naughty items made by nuns.

Veruschka was a supermodel of the 1960's into the 70's (maybe even still?), and fancied herself more a muse for artistic editorials, even turning down more mainstream commercial modeling work if it was not of a certain creative standard. Vreeland favoured Veruschka for some of her more fantastical projects, including an editorial that was shot on location in Kyoto, Japan, and published for Vogue in October 1966 entitled "The Girl with the Fabulous Furs". Richard Avedon was the photographer. In these photos we are transported to a wintry Kyoto, misty and snowy and full of mystery.

I had travelled to Kyoto a couple of years ago in the dead heat of summer, and have always wanted to return there in winter, to see everything under a blanket of snow. I love the idea of travelling to places in winter, being cozy inside a warm coat or blanket while drinking in the landscape (and maybe some hot local hooch).

the siouxvenir break down

Building a shop.

Liliana Porter, Untitled (triangle). 1973. B + W Photograph.

I've got mounds of vintage clothes piled up, to be sorted, documented, getting ready to be shipped to loving homes of some seriously fashionable ladies.

All the behind-the-scenes work that I've been putting into this project, siouxvenir, has been mostly invisible as a tech-shy artist like me grapples with the challenge of opening an online shop on etsy. The etsy part was not the hard part, nor finding the lovely vintage items, which I can spend time hunting for now that the winter season is bringing me more free time. It's this idea of having a blog, and somehow combining the familiar exercises of keeping sketchbooks, journals and photo albums in a digital world.

At any rate, the end result should be a fully operational shop of hand-picked jewels, up and running in a matter of weeks (or days)!

...So Welcome.