Under the Big Top

I had an amazing day yesterday in Toronto. It was my sister's birthday this week, and as her big present we went to see Cavalia's Odysseo. I also went to see the special Picasso exhibition at the AGO before the show. I was very excited to see the exhibit because, ironically enough, when I was in Paris this past winter the Picasso exhibit was closed for renovation. I was also excited because I knew the AGO had this great gallery space, perfect for a photo shoot.

I wanted to emulate the feel of Cavalia by dressing in this circus-esque type outfit. This is actually a top and skirt combination that just happened to match perfectly. The top is from Anthropologie, and the skirt is from Benton. I couldn't believe it when the two colour of blue matched up perfectly, it's as if they are from the same bolt of fabric. This top is an absolute favourite of mine, the silhouette is so beautiful, and the back is actually a corset type construction. 

This is one of my favourite bracelets. I own a lot of blue it would seem, so I end up wearing it a lot. What I like about it is the combination of beads, there are glass, plastic, painted, and even ones with fabric on them. I was so happy when someone complimented me on it.

Cavalia was an amazing show. It had such a good reception that it was held over twice, luckily for us. I love looking at all the amazing outfits. I have never been to a circus, but this is how I would imagine the outfits would look like. Some of the most impressive ones are in the photo pictured above. What I love about these ones, is that the back of the dress covered the horse, it's the closest they were going to get to dressing the horses. The colours were amazing, and all of the outfits were a multicolored spectacle.

5 Problems with "Fashion" Magazines

Fashion blogs have been something of a revelation for me. I've always thirsted to know more about fashion, but somehow it always felt like it was a world reserved especially for the for the fashion elite, editor's, models, and so forth. I had no real idea of what to expect from the world of fashion blogging when I signed up. What I found opened a new world, it was as if what I had been looking for for years in fashion  magazines, was finally there. No more looking through countless pages of advertisements in order to find one small article, with a few small pictures of the latest runway show. I was finally able to get real objective opinions on what was coming out of fashion week, and what was trending on the streets. What I realized from this was how fashion magazines, even the most elite of them, are just a lump of paper.

I've never subscribed to a fashion magazine before, sometimes I'll find one lying around the house, so I'll pick it up and flip through it for a couple of minutes. The headlines on the front cover always seem so promising, latest fall trends, what designers are saying about this season's looks, but it always falls short. Not only is the table of contents spread out over three pages in the middle of the magazine, but there often isn't any article even remotely like the one advertised on the front cover. I never feel satisfied after reading a fashion magazine, there is no substance, it's all fluff.


Some people will argue that certain magazines are better than others, and that is true, up to a certain extent. For the purposes of this post I bought the latest copy of Elle, Harper's Bazaar, and then sourced out a Vogue from a couple of months back that I had. I've read each one of them, cover to cover, to figure out what the problem is with the traditional fashion magazine.

Irrelevant Articles

Irrelevant articles are something else I've found very unsatisfactory when it comes to fashion magazines. For instance, while reading Harper's Bazaar, I came across an article on vegans. I have to honestly say that when I buy a fashion magazine, it's not to read about veganism, it's to read about fashion. Another example is a story in Vogue on antidepressants, this has to do with clothing how? I would say that Vogue is the worst when it comes to irrelevant articles. On the April cover, of the six headlines, only one has even mentions anything fashion related. I'm not saying I want every single article to be devoted to what's in style, but the majority should be.

Celebrity "Interviews"

 (Gossip)

Celebrities have a huge impact on what we wear and what the designers create. For instance, Audrey Hepburn was a muse for Givenchy, and now more recently people like Kate Middleton and Lady Gaga are having there own influence in the fashion world. Fashion magazines capitalize on rich and famous people by writing about them. What ends up happening however, is that fashion gets sidestepped, and instead the articles focus around their life. An example would be in Elle, there was a questions and answers interview with Tom Hardy. Not a single question had even the remotest allusion to anything fashion, instead it played on how much of a romantic he is. Another example would be in Harper's Bazaar, with an article on the Ecclestone heiresses. I felt like this story was much better suited to a Vanity Fair type magazine. The main focus on the article was to explain to people that, just because they are rich, doesn't mean they just sit around all day.

Beauty&Lifestyle, Not Fashion

The beauty and fashion industry are very closely associated; however, in my mind, they are still two separate entities. Fashion magazines, on the other hand, seem to treat them as interchangeable. I find that too much emphasis is put onto the beauty side of things in a fashion magazine. Almost half of the articles in fashion magazines put their emphasis on beauty and/or lifestyle. In Harper's Bazaar there were five different interviews with women called Beauty Diaries which included diet, fitness, skincare, makeup, hair, and body. Like I've said before I'm not completely adverse to having a little bit of everything, but I still think fashion should be the bigger focus. There are already plenty of  magazines focusing on beauty etc. Another example is on the cover of my Vogue magazine. Of the six different cover stories, three are focused on beauty and lifestyle, with only one about fashion. 

Cover Story&Women

There are a selected few in the world with a truly unique sense of personal style, but that's not to say they don't exist. The women who grace the cover of fashion magazines are all too often the generic celebrity. Celebrities are fortunate enough to have enough money to dress in the latest designer clothes, it doesn't mean that they necessarily have the greatest sense of style. Celebrities on the cover of magazines are there to sell the magazine, editors cash in on their popularity. Because theses women don't have particularly interesting styles, they end up writing about their careers, their love life etc. Like the rest of the  magazine the cover stories tend to be just a lot of fluff and not a lot of fashion.

Advertisements

I would say the obvious problem is too many ads. I started counting the number of ads in the Vogue magazine, but stopped after it reached over 100, and I hadn't even gotten half way through the magazine. Of course I understand the purpose of ads, multimillion dollar corporations have to make money somehow. What I object to are some of the kind of ads. It's fine in a fashion magazine to advertise clothes, but what I don't want are dozens of Botox and anti wrinkle cream ads. Unlike a lot of people, I don't agree that beauty and fashion are in the same industry. Ads for Armani, or gucci are O.K. because they actually show CLOTHES, something not often found in fashion magazines otherwise.

Fashion magazines are overrated, and don't deserve all of the hype they receive. The majority of the content found in these magazines would be just as suited to a celebrity magazine such as Vanity Fair. I don't want to have to work to find fashion in a so called fashion magazine, especially now that I've found the world of fashion blogs.


What do you think of the traditional fashion magazine? Do you prefer reading fashion blogs to magazines?

Rolling Down Fashion Blvd.

As surprising as it might sound, I made my first purchase from H&M a couple of weeks ago. I had been in H&M once before, but didn't see anything that interested me, so I decided I didn't really H&M. Lately though I've been desperate to find some good sundresses, so i decided to give H&M another try. This time I was actually able to find many, many things I was looking for. I especially like this dress because of the colour, which I think really stands out against my skin tone.

I love wearing dresses, and even when I' biking I don't change my outfit. It's perhaps a little more impractical than pants or shorts, but it's by no means impossible. I am inspired by the women who were the first trail blazers when it came to women's biking. This is a link to a previous post I did on the subject.

Olympic Fashion Gold

I have been looking forward to the Olympics for many weeks now. I love the spirit and the coming together of all the different nations and cultures. While I know that the incredible feats of athleticism are what draw people, I've found it interesting to see which countries were able to step it up when dressing their Olympians. On the podium for Olympic fashion are:

Bronze

Russia

Tracksuit

Gymnastics

I was on the fence about the Russian tracksuit jackets when I first saw them. It took me a few days to decide whether I loved them or hated them, I decided I loved them, which earns them a bronze medal. Most countries opt for a simpler tracksuit, but the Russian went full out, and it paid off. I also like the gymnastics outfit of the Russians.

Silver

Japan

Gymnastics

Trampoline

Tracksuit

The Japanese Olympic outfits work because they aren't flashy. The gymnastics outfits are interesting because they aren't typical, they're much more creative than most. The trampoline outfit is simple, but elegant. Finally the tracksuits. They're certainly nothing special like the Russians, but again they are simple and elegant.

Gold

The Netherlands

Opening Ceremonies Uniform 

Gymnastics

Sneakers

Tracksuit

Field Hockey

I don't know if it's due to the fantastic colour, but the Netherlands have absolutely owned the podium this Olympics with their outstanding outfits all around. The colour has to be the most amazing part, but a lot of countries don't know how to dress with colour.The two things I find the most amazing are the shoes, and the gymnastics unfirom. Those shoes are so amazing looking, I can't imagine you wouldn't go faster wearing those shoes. Out of all the outfits at the Olympics, the Dutch gymnasts had the absolute best. The sparkly flower was unusual and unexpected, and completely gorgeous.

Special Mentions
good&bad


Not all countries were able to make the podium, but these ones had a few good shots.


Canada

America

These are the countries of which much was expected, but in the end it was just a disappointment.

United States of America

What exactly is the message the Americans want to give to the rest of the world? Are they trying to say,  "we are ready for battle" because their uniforms look like their ready to join the air force. Utterly boring and lacking any creativity whatsoever, both the opening ceremonies uniform and the tracksuit are a disappointment.


Great Britain

One of the biggest disappointments by far, is the Olympic outfits for the host country. I was excited to see what Stella McCartney would do for her countries athletes, but it didn't turn out so well. I find there is no ingenuity in these outfits, they are simply sports apparel with the union jack plastered all over them. They are not nice to look at, which is unfortunate.


If I were the judge this is how I would distribute the medals, but I would like to know what your thoughts are. Who in your opinion got gold, and who flopped.

Fall's Basic Must Haves

My closet is anything but complete. I'm one of those people who would prefer to spend money on a statement jacket that can be worn with a limited number of outfits, than a pair of much needed jeans. Because of this I am missing some basic staples for my fall wardrobe. These are my must buys before fall gets here.

Button Up Shirt

Anthropologie- 78$

Anthropologie- 78$

Anthropologie- 78$

Club Monaco- 129.50$

The classic button up shirt is great because it can be used in so many different ways. The button up can transition from business to night time, and casual. Personally, my favourite way to wear a button up is in a fun print, like the two from Anthro, with a pair of jeans. I love it because it's an easy way to insert some colour into an outfit and at the same time have a clean tailored look. I also like to pair a simpler button up, like the last two, with a colourful blazer.

Boot Cut Jeans

Anthropologie- 189$

Guess- 138$

Shopbop.com/Milano- 174.73$

Jean shopping has to be one of my least favourite shopping experiences other than shoe shopping. It's great when one finally finds that perfect pair, but the road to get them is anything but pleasant. For me, I am very tall and slender, my hips haven't widened yet, so that what's long enough is often too wide in the hips, and vice versa. It took me multiple stores before I could find a size that fit, completely ignoring any style factor. After going through all of that last year to find some skinny jeans, I was less than inspired to try and find a pair of boot cut jeans. I found out though that certain things just don't work with skinny jeans, so this fall I need a pair of boot cut. Boot cut is actually my favourite jean cut, because it feels slightly more sophisticated and can be worn with a boot (obviously) and blazer, for a clean look.

Denim Jacket

ASOS- 53.88$

GAP- 80$

MEXX- 60 euros

I am very picky when it comes to denim jackets. I find it very hard to find something that doesn't look too farm like. The first denim jacket above I like because of the two tones, which gives it a more contemporary feel. The one below it I like because it is simple and classic. Denim jackets are great to pair with an outfit to make it more casual. One of my rules of wearing denim jackets, is to never wear denim jeans with them.

High Boot

Gucci- 1340$

Aldo

Aldo- 170$

As I mentioned above, I don't like shopping for jeans, however, not as much as I hate shoe shopping. It started when I was young. Endless hours of sitting in a kids shoe store waiting for the man to come out of the back with an uncomfortable pair of shoes, that I would eventually agree to buy just to get out of the store. Now that I'm older my problem is sizing. I am fairly tall at about 5'9, but my feet seem to expect me to get even taller, I have a size 11 foot, and I take a 12 in boots (Canadian sizing). COnsidering most stores stop stocking at size 10, it's always a struggle to find shoes. The last time I went shopping for shoes, the lady helping gave me a piece of advice, if the shoe fits, buy it. She said regardless of what it looks like, I have to buy whatever shoe will fit my slender size 11 foot. I think she might be on to something. I have not looked at the sizing option of the above shoes, but I am sure I would be disappointed. Despite all that, I love the look of a tall, brown/tan coloured boot for fall. They work perfectly with boot cut jeans. 

Duffle/Peacoat

Burberry- 1050$

Sonia by Sonia Rykiel- 540 pounds

Tory Burch- 425 pounds

I love duffle and pea coats. They are so elegant and sophisticated, and they come in so many different colours and styles. I love colour, so I naturally gravitate towards the Sonia Rykiel coat above. I once had a light pink duffle coat which I absolutely loved. I also like the traditional navy blue colour, which has a certain timelessness and weight to it. Duffle coats are so necessary to make that transition between fall and winter, something trench coats can't do. 

Hopefully I'll be able to check a few of these items off my wish list before fall comes along. What are some pieces you need before the cold weather gets here?