PINK EMPIRE STUDIO

2011-07-12T17:44:00.001-04:00

THE DAY ZACH CAME INTO OUR LIVES.

I wrote this 3 weeks ago when I left to give birth.

It is now June 18th and I still haven't given birth. A bit frustrating to say the least. But at the same time my time is still mine. Mark's been off for 1 week. We are doing some serious hanging out of which we haven't done in so long. Well actually since we've been in Paris in September 2010 when we conceived this little man. See?

Ahhh good times! So the story is that he's 9 days late. Whatever that means. In Quebec, a baby should be born between 37 and 40 weeks. In France it's 41 weeks. So since he's just getting bigger in there, I'm going to get induced tomorrow or whenever there's a room in the hospital for me. Apparently the hospital is packed. There's a baby boom in Montreal!! Is it because I'm pregnant that I notice all the other pregnant ladies and newborns? Maybe. But it just seems that there's a whole lot of them these days. More than when I was in my 20s.

OMG I just got the phone call from the hospital to be induced. It's 12:50. See you when we get back iwth a baby!!

2011-05-26T16:50:00.000-04:00

MY ROCKIN' BABY SHOWER!

On May 7th, I had the pleasure of celebrating my baby shower with the best-est ladies in my life. All organised by my BFF Vee. Friends from high school, Cegep, work, life downtown, and of course my family were in attendance. I can't tell you how nice it was to see everyone I care for together. It's so rare. It was a Rock'n'Roll themed baby shower so Hilary decorated balloons with Bowie, Ramones, Grateful Dead illustrations, Christy and Hil decorated the place with pictures of Keith and Mick with their children and all kinds of fun stuff like that and Tanya made us a yummy rockin' cake. I got some really awesome presents for baby(no name yet) as well as for Mark and I. We received really cute clothes. My mom went crazy with the knitting. She made little jackets and hats and socks. So cute! We got THE diaper service. Environmentally friendly cloth diapers with a cleaning service. They actually come and get the dirty diapers at my house and give me clean ones in exchange!! Why doesn't everyone do this?? I'm just so lucky! So here are some picts of the event.

Mom and me

Mom Rief and me

my big bedaine

Ramones balloon

Bowie balloon

The hostest with the mostest ...Vee!

Karen and Quinn and Vee

The ladies!

Tanya and her awesome rockin' cupcakes!

Look at this cake! Amp, Guitar, Pick, records and flames!

Man she's talented!

presents

more presents

my boy is going to be one cool kid

even more presents

Tons of presents!!

Natty!

Hilary (balloon illustrator extraordinaire)

Vivianne

Tanya and Christine

Hil and Christy

I'm so spoiled. Thanks Vee!!

2011-04-08T20:14:00.002-04:00

BOYS TOYS!!

I consider myself a real girly girl. So you can imagine my surprise when I found out that I was going to have a boy. I thought: "What am I going to do with a boy?" I know pink and unicorns, not cars and guns! As weeks went by I realized that there's pretty cool stuff out there for boys. Here's a small selection.

Look at these awesome puppets from Pintassilgo Prints. THey all represent my favorite rock stars. There's puppet John, Paul, George and Ringo. The different incarnations of BOWIE. The Ramones!! Unfortunately, it looks like they're out of stock. I will wait cos mama needs some puppet rock stars in her baby room!!

I found these when I was looking at my friend Tyson's awesome monster robot cushions. Dog Bot is really speaking to me. I hope it doesn't scare the little one.

There's so much out there and one really doesn't have to resort to the typical Walmart crap. It's just a start but I never thought I'd have this much fun looking for cool stuff for boys! http://www.dwellstudio.com/designer-baby-boutique/dwellstudio-collections/owls-collection/owls-sky-crib-set.html

2011-02-27T14:21:00.000-05:00

BED CRUSH
As I was perusing the old Craigslist for a second hand white shabby chic steel bed, I decided to see what would be my options if I could afford the bed of my dreams. My mind was blown when I came upon this artisticly molded steel bed reminiscent of a Tim Burton movie.
Tripoli Designs, a company based out of California is run by Tyrome Tripoli. Before he turned to furniture making, Tripoli had a background in art including painting and lost wax jewelry making. His three dimensional jewelry motifs were then successfully translated into larger-scale furniture pieces. These media have a common feature in the use of negative space in their constructions. The interplay of cursive shapes and gaps create a flow and tension that define the Tripoli style.
This would account for the design of my dream bed that looks "thick threads of incense swirling around the air. Wafts of the bent metal create a dreamy bed anyone could snuggle up to. "
A girl can dream right?

2011-02-21T11:18:00.000-05:00

THE STROKES!!
OMG I've been waiting 5 years for this! My expectations are high. I already have a friend that's not impressed with the first single, but I like it. I'm sort of the fan that will like everything they do and not judge them. But she can't help it, she's a music critic. Anyways, here's the cover.

Not super inventive. Sort of deja vu. But again I'll take anything they offer me.
Little story. My BF and I have been huge fans since the first album. There's just something about those boys. Their sound, their look, their attitude. LOVE! I can remember driving down to NYC shuffling the albums and singing our little asses off in the car. Good times! Last year, Vee and I were in NYC for a visit with our friend Pete. We were looking for a place to eat breakfast/brunch. I kept telling her that there this place on St-Marks that has a nice terrace and good breaky and feels like home. I think it was call Orlyns? Mark and I went almost every morning last time in NYC. After a few hums and haws, we walked by and saw a free table. I said let's go! We sit, chill and I start people watching from my angle. Boy did I make a double take. whatwhat?? There are basically 2 artists I will go gaga for if I see them. David Bowie of which I saw a few years before eating lunch with his daughter at the Moma. You go gaga, but you leave in peace because of tremendous respect. AND the boys from the Strokes. THere they were eating breakfast and talking music business talk. Yes we were eavesdropping. Nick and Fab. Ahhh and glad to say they were still dirty hipsters just like 6 years ago. They haven't changed and they actually hang together after all these years. So we sat, admired as person after person would come up to them and say remember me from blablabla...and they were polite enough to say umm yeah....
Yep that's my story. Not huge but when you're not expecting it... it's kinda cool.

2011-02-19T14:57:00.001-05:00

NEW JOB!!
My life is a rigamaroll since Christmas. Right after the holidays, I found out that my company was moving away and that they couldn`t afford to take me on a full time basis just freelance. As awesome as it could be to start a freelance career, it just seems like a lot work and hustling. Not my style. Well lucky for me, the creative director in another division of my company had her eye on me. And when she found out that I was available, offered me a job as the designer for Secret Legwear. So now I'm knee deep in packaging. I loved doing all the product design at MyTagalongs but this is kind of fun too!

2011-02-05T22:48:00.000-05:00

THE GREAT DYLAN I`ve been admiring this Dylan poster for years. Love the 60s psychedelia design. So perfect for my boys room. Might as well initiate him to good things right away!

2011-01-27T19:56:00.000-05:00

OH boy it's a boy!

New Years BANG!

2010-12-30T10:01:00.000-05:00

New Years is right around the corner and I couldn't be more happy. This year's going to be a doozy. Yes a doozy! Since no one reads this blog I will come out with it. I'm pregnant ! 18 weeks as of today! As much as I'd like to say that I'm not going to change, it's going to happen even without knowing it. I'm ok with that because I've had plenty of years to think about myself. Not that I will let myself go, au contraire this is the time that I need to get a hold of myself. Let the things go that have been hanging over me, and forgive myself for the things that have made me feel like shit all these years. Some people will not understand. That's ok. They will one day. Or not, I don't think I care.

I hate making plans that I might not be able to accomplish, but I sure will try and that will be half the battle.

So in keeping with the New Year tradition, here's my list of to dos for 2011:

1-Stay motivated

2-Wake up early and get going right away.

3-Look for clients. Hustle Hustle Hustle

4-Learn how to build a web site.

5-Post everyday on my blog.

6-Cook more and spend less on restaurants.

7-Clean the house more often.

8-Try to sew at least one garment this year. Just one.

9-Be a good mom.

10-Listen to my instincts and be good to people.

I think that's a realistic plan. So now I just need to start with a bang! Time to learn HTML!! Baby will come when ready!

2010-12-20T11:36:00.000-05:00

PIX LOVE

2010-11-25T10:47:00.000-05:00

It's La Chatte Bottée party time again! So that means another flyer to design. This month I was really stoked cos I found a picture that I've been wanting to use for years but could only find very low res quality. It's 4 ladies in boots posing for legendary photographer David Bailey. This guy shot everyone that was anyone in the 60s and he was the inspiration for the main character in the movie Blow up. He's shot everyone form Jean Shrimpton to Twiggy to The Stones and Beatles.

Glósóli

2010-11-22T11:05:00.001-05:00

It's a gloomy, rainy day in Montreal. I'm feeling a little nostalgic. Saw my parents yesterday. Always makes me feel like a child. Made me see that I'm still longing for my childhood and growing older is bittersweet. It would be nice to just walk around with your friends all day banging the drum and imagining other world's where you can fly over the ocean to wherever... sigh. Just gotta keep our childhood spirit alive.

2010-11-19T16:29:00.002-05:00

2010-11-12T09:38:00.001-05:00

2010-11-10T09:17:00.002-05:00

2010-09-27T15:02:00.000-04:00

La Chatte Bottée Sale this Thursday!

2010-08-24T09:02:00.001-04:00

2010-08-23T20:39:00.001-04:00

2010-07-05T09:27:00.000-04:00

2010-06-22T10:15:00.001-04:00

Why do the good girls always want the bad boys?

2010-06-22T09:43:00.002-04:00

LA CHATTE BOTTEE

Vintage shoes & Boots

Shopping Party

SUNDAY JULY 11 2010

ALL DAY!!!!

Noon to 5pm

LUSTRE BOUTIQUE

4068 boulevard St-Laurent

La Chatte Bottee vintage shoe Party coming up...This Thursday!

2010-02-24T08:58:00.002-05:00

The Sonics - Psycho a Go-Go

2009-06-30T16:33:00.001-04:00

Leather love

2009-06-22T11:24:00.017-04:00

I love going on random searches for designers. Sometimes I think I've seen it all. But other times I come upon the most amazing designers, they make me totally jealous I can't sew. Here's one of those OMG moments. I was looking to see if my stuff would come up on Etsy when I did a local search for Montreal. Low and behold, I discover this great designer called Audrey Cantwell. Turns out she's a stylist and a designer and she's worked with photographer and one of my old school mates Richmond Lam. She has 2 collections with very different silhouettes but similar dark moods. The first is called Howl. It includes beautiful structured leather dresses, bustiers and skirts mixed with tiny silver studs, uncovered zippers matched with a simple striped yellow cami. Gorgeous!

The second is called X and it features flowing unstructured dresses, tops and bottoms. But the stars of that collection are the stunning leather jacket and vest. These babies are custom made of lambskin leather with draped front, the edges (hem and hem of sleeves) are left the natural raw shape of the skin. Mon dieu! I would wear either of these in a heartbeat.

2009-04-21T23:10:00.003-04:00

2009-04-09T10:05:00.000-04:00

2009-03-12T11:44:00.002-04:00

Feeling the Blondes

2009-02-01T15:27:00.006-05:00

Whats a Girl To Do - Bat For Lashes

2009-02-01T13:03:00.003-05:00

Ever since I was a little girl, I've had this fear of men with their face painted up like clowns or even Santa with his big red cheeks. Scary! But the worst were masks. There's something about the anonymity of the person that scared the shit out of me. Why are you hiding yourself? Who are you that you can't show your face. Well, yesterday I got those chills again when my girlfriend Vee showed me this cool video from Bat for lashes. You got guys on bikes with bunny masks and stuff following an innocent girl . hummmm... good thing I'm a big girl now. Actually, I kinda think it's freaky and I like freaky. Check it out!

2009-01-28T13:53:00.003-05:00

Another sale is coming up and of course I designed a new flyer. I was inspire by Scarlett's aesthetic. A kind of rockabilly glam gothy black clothes shop where I used to go to all the time because they were the only boutique that had clothes made from Montreal designers. They also carry all kinds of new retro inspired accessories. There's a big snow storm right now so the set up is going to be a drag and hopefully it's going to be a good match.

La Chatte Bottee at Moly Kulte Nov 2008

2008-11-29T13:38:00.010-05:00

Here's November 2008's La Chatte Bottee flyer. I was in a groovy mood...

Thrifting for GOLD!

2008-11-29T13:37:00.000-05:00

I’ve had a love/hate relationship with vintage for about 15 years. Garage sales, fripperies, second hand stores, and the like. What always bugged me is what I love at the same time. The constant feeling that I’m about to sneeze, keeping my hands away from my face cos my hands are perma dirty, having to keep a constant peripheral eye on my cart or else the crazy ladies will keep digging into it thinking it’s there’s for the taking. What are they thinking?! It’s hard enough finding the right stuff! This brings me to what I love about thrifting. Going through racks and racks of old stuff and having that moment when girl and treasure come together. I used to just wrap pants around my waist or stretch shirts around my boobs to see if the piece fits but…. I learned my lesson years ago. Not just because it’s cheap means that you have to buy it. It’s all about editing. Something that looks awesome on hanger won’t necessarily look good on you. 10 dresses later...Victory! I’ve left with a purple beret and a grey and black geometric art deco print scarf dress for this evenings festivities. $1 for the beret and $7.99 for the dress!! Compliments and remarks all evening…that's priceless!!

Electrifying Flyer

2008-10-23T12:40:00.005-04:00

Chaos is about to enter my house again. It's the end of the month and we are about to throw another La Chatte Bottee party/sale. This time our host is Yasmine, owner and designer of boutique Lustre, the prettiest shop in town. On top of that, it's the day before Halloween...mououahaha!! Hopefully people will be shopping around looking for last minute stuff for their costumes or just walking around. Anyhoo, a new flyer was inevitable so we got going on the theme. Luckily, Vee started researching WAY before me so I didn't have to hit my head against a wall like I usually do. We didn't want to do the obvious Pinup witch on a broom. So, some research was in order. I don't know what Vortex brought her to this idea, but she started looking at medical pictures and found this awesome image of the x-ray of a woman wearing a high heel shoe. Freaky! Love! That's when I remembered our last trip to Ottawa. We fell asleep at our favorite murder motel (that's a whole other story) watching Mindfreak. Cris Angel wanted to see how much he could stand to be electrified. So he stood there as a lightning bolt of I don't know how much voltage zapped him. Freak! Hence, my inspiration for this months flyer. Voila!

It's BOO Time!!!

2008-10-23T10:00:00.004-04:00

It's really over this time. The heat and the sun is replaced by falling leaves and yes the smell off Halloween. You know the mix of dying leaves with a little wintery air. Well fortunately, it's also the time of year I love the most. Getting my sweaters out of the drawers, layering my hoodies and leather jacket. And most favorite of all, wearing my VINTAGE BOOTS!! Oh vintage boots, how I love all of you. There's not much time to wear all of them as the snow and sleak might hit anytime. So I'm dressing from the ground up. Meaning, choose a boot and build an outfit around them. IT's not complicated though, I wear black all the time or denim or black denim. Meet the girls.
There's my trusty tan leather cowboy boots. I don't care how classy I look at the top, these girls go with anything. Just got to be careful Not to look like Britney! That's a nono. Then there's my forest green sueded booties. Little kitten heel with a fold over or scrunched at the ankle. Mon Dieu! My buttery leather off white Zodiacs with wood stacked heel. They're kind of too high, but you just have to get used to it. That's just a sample. I still feel like I need new ones. I love the girls but they need new siblings this Fall.

Everything always happens at the same time!

2008-09-22T15:09:00.008-04:00

Ok! I haven't been able to keep up with this blog. It's either I've got nothing to say or nothing to show or the paranoia strikes again. You know the one where you feel you're giving too much information. But you know what? In the immortal words of one George Costanza...I'm back baby!
SO what's new first. I just finished school so no more sitting in a class room at 8am! Yuck. What else, oh yes, it's Lustre catalogue time. I cannot wait to see the new photoshoot and of course the clothes. Hurray for Lustre! It's all coming together. Next, and most exiting is this weekends activities. It's our next La Chatte Bottee shopping party! Vee and I have been scouring the globe to bring a huge selection of vintage boots and shoes to our awesome clients in MOntreal. This next sale will be this Friday evening at Boutique Headquarters on Amherst. IT promises to be a crazy one as everyone's looking for boots for the Fall season. Even more exciting is that the next day (Saturday), we are taking all our boots and shoes and travelling to Ottawa to host a Shopping party at Boutique Victoire on Dalhousie. Certainly the prettiest shop in all of Ottawa. IT's going to be our THIRD sale there and Katie and Regine always make sure that we are very well promoted and it;s just getting better and better... That's going to be a blast as we usually party after with their girlfriends. These girls are hilarious and might I add very stylish and chic. In preparation for all this craziness, Vee and I have alot of work to do. Cleaning and repairing shoes, inventory, sending invitations, setting up the sale...all this and Vee has a full time job on top of everything AND trying to get her motorcycle license so she can ride her brand new awesome vintage VESPA!! Go girl!
Well that's it for now. Oh and a message to Ze, I'm fine, just a little lazy. If you're near the Village on Friday, come and say hi! The address is on the flyer. If i don't see you wish me luck this weekend!

The prettiest boutique in town.

2008-08-22T14:15:00.000-04:00

I love going to Boutique Lustre on the Main. Once every few months I'll go and hang with Yasmine, the owner/designer and gab for a couple of hours. I always feel at home in her shop and the clothes are so pretty, I usually end up trying everything on that could possibly fit. Her designs are always lovely and very feminine with a retro/vintage feel. Yasmine is very generous with our local entrepreneurs and designers stocking her shop with gorgeous jewelery, hats, artwork... But more importantly to me, she carries a sweet collection of La Chatte Bottee vintage shoes and boots( that's mine and Vee's company of course!) and we so appreciate it. It's gives us a place to display a selection of our collection available every day! Thanks Yasmine!

The new La Chatte Bottee flyer

2008-08-20T21:50:00.005-04:00

I love that feeling when the flow starts and all the elements fall into place. That AHA moment when you know you have to stop because it's done. God there's nothing like it. After starting this flyer over about 5 times, I finally opted for the chic on the bike image. Gave it little pink pop and voila! Might be my favorite Chatte poster up to date.

Crazy.

2008-08-19T21:20:00.005-04:00

Here is a logo and business card I designed for my friend Tanya's cupcake company called Crazy about Cupcakes. She's an at home mom that loves to bake cupcakes, really loves it. One could say that it's a passion. I'm so happy for her. Everything is her life came together like bang! within 2-3 years, everything happened. love children and a passion that makes her money at the same time. There you go. Now just ride it. And man are her cupcakes good. Crazy.

2008-08-15T15:00:00.003-04:00

Oh Geez! I write that I'm going to put up my stuff up finally and then almost 2 weeks later I haven't. So, here are some flyers I've designed for La Chatte Bottee's monthly sales. I love doing these because every month I have to find a new theme and give it go. And quick too! Voila! This is just a sample. I might put some more of these up later.

Happiness is going for it !

2008-08-01T18:40:00.004-04:00

I made a big decision over 1 year ago. I decided to go back to school to learn graphic design. I had no skills except marketing sales and the ability to convince people I can do a job. But sometimes their are limits. I have said that I would never go back. But never say never. Lucky are the people who are self motivated to learn technical things by themselves. I now know that I'm not completely self sufficient. And anyways it wasn't going to be for along time. So after 1 year and a month, I am at the end of my program and thrown into the ring with my confidence at a higher level. I am now ready to post stuff that I've done whether it's a sketch, an ad , a logo, art, whatever... So from now on this blog will be about fashion, design, my work, inspirations, stuff like that. This is my journey now. This is what i want to do with my life.

Summer time blues

2007-08-24T10:12:00.002-04:00

I started this blog over 1 year ago but just couldn't get into it too much as I was too busy to keep up with the writing. Also I was sort-of embarassed about being open in a medium that can be read by people. But come on, who's reading this thing anyways? So I figured I would use this blog as a diary of sorts. I actually went back and checked out my drafts and found half-written ones from last year. It's so cool to see what was going on. So, here it is.

Well it's smelling like the end of the summer. Boooooo! Unless it gets really warm, you won't see me jumping in a lake any time soon. On the brighter side of August, we just had our monthly La Chatte Bottee's sale party at Boutique Lustre. It was a lot of fun. We got interviewed by Catherine Pogonat of Mange ta Ville in front of everybody in the shop. Very cool girl. I can't wait to see it . Doing TV is always nerve raking. The first time Vee and I did it, we did a morning show on Global. Very very early show. I didn't do my make up before thinking that they were going to do it. Turns out they just paint you beige and a way you go. No blush or anything. I was caked on with without any angles in my face. I looked ridiculous. They told me to not to wear white, they were right. I hope tht that clip will be lost in oblivion for ever! Also found out we were in the Loulou of June. We're getting editorial mentions and we didn't even know it.

Diamond in the rough

2007-06-15T16:02:00.000-04:00

I know this isn't a post about fashion more like an unfashionable post. But I don't care, I've been touched and I have to write about it. THis morning I was checking some videos on Youtube when I came accross the British show called Britain's got talent. This ordinary man called Paul, ordinary boring job, not good looking in the least and kinda awkward comes on stage to sing opera. Not only opera, but the only peace that I really know and love called Nessum Dorma. I discovered it 10 years ago when I was looking through Mark's vinyl and that song really stood out. SO, I gave the man a listen. I was expecting the worst as these shows usually like to poke fun at ordinary plain folks like this guy. OMG!! This man made me weap like a baby. I watched it again and again...with the same result. Me, crying like a baby. Not just at the song but the man's extraordinary talent, his spirit, his unassuming stance, his presence. I say screw this competition and give this man a stage! And since I feel this way, I'm giving him the only stage I have and it's this blog. Here's Paul ! Enjoy...

Mille Femmes project

2007-05-18T17:15:00.000-04:00

It was a priviledge to be considered 1 of 1000 women that were chosen to be part of the Mille Femmes project by French artist Pierre Maraval. I went for the photoshoot 2 weekends ago and finally got to see the result this Wednesday at the vernissage. Having grown up in Montreal and watched Quebecois television pretty much my whole life, I was a little taken aback at all the powerful women in the room. There was a warm and positive atmosphere as singers, writers, politicians, fashion designers, journalists and more made their way around to see the 1000 pictures. Thanks to the artist for the good picture and thanks to Valerie Dumaine for nominating Vee and I for this awesome adventure.

NYC is like a box of chocolates...

2007-05-18T15:45:00.001-04:00

Ok so enough time has passed and I thought that the excitement would wear off but nope, it has not. A few weeks ago I went to NYC for a weekend of fun with Mark, Vee and Hilary. The weekend was somewhat unplanned. So nobody really new what to do and where to go. All we knew is that we wanted to see Pete(our bud), party, shop and soak in a little NYC culture. It's New York, whatever you want, it's there. I think that everyone can agree, great moments happen when you least expect it. So we went to our usual haunts on Friday. Went to Lakeside for some Brooklyn beer and the obligatory photobooth pict, followed by some late night eats at Vasilikas (damn those pierogies are good!) Saturday we checked out some vendors and vintage stores on St-Mark's. Then, we headed to the edge of Chinatown and LES on Hester st. to Girls Love Shoes. The originators and our inspiration for La Chatte Bottee! I hadn't seen it yet but Vee had already been there and told me all about it and THAT's when we came up with our little company. We get there only to find out that they are having a BIG SALE!! I wasn't going to buy anything as the prices are a little steep for the same shoes as ours, so... Needless to say, Vee and I went nuts. We bought 10 pairs BANG! Then to congratulate ourselves for a job well done, we went for Latte's in LittleItaly. I don't want to propagate an New Jersey-ite Italien stereotype but, 3 Carmela's (I'm not kidding here) were sitting in front of me, and one them says: "SO I says to him, I say, Franco, you goina haf to get yowselves a hoyty toyty loya and sue they asses off, I says." No joke hea, I mean here. Classic.
So, that night we ended up going to some classic rock bar in Chelsea to meet some of Hilary's friends and then went to a bar in East Village. The name escapes me but good times.
So Sunday rolls around and we need to move quick if we want to do anything. Vee and Hil go back to East village and Mark and I decide to go to the MOMA for a dose of culture. Damn 6 floors!! Since we obviously won't have time to do it all, we decide to see Jeff Wall on the top floor and go down from there. Then the 5th fora fantasmagoria of Modern paintings and sculptures. Brilliant, fantastic, and all that...but we needed a latte. When Mark and I go to museums, we like to take a break and go to the museum cafe. It was a beautiful day so we decide to sit on the terrasse and check out the great view of the sculpture garden. All of a sudden, Mark gives me the weirdest look and starts describing to me what he sees right behind me. Not what but rather who. "Is that him? No... impossible. Yep, there's a mulado girl in front of him sitting on an older woman. And there's 2 different color eyes OMG" I don't believe it's really him. How can I. I've been obsessed for years and just spent a whole day watching everything on youtube about him. But there he is right in back of me talking to his daughter in that low British tone. No mistake, it's BOWIE. That's right. BOWIE. For me, the most prolific, creative, beautiful, ecclectic...I could go on. So I sat there excited like a little girl. I didn't dare go up to him cos he was with his little girl. I don't even think that I would have anyways. I just basked in his presence and Mark starred. Sorry, but this is a Legend. So, there you go, my NYC weekend. You never know what can happen in the big apple!

Mega Month of May

2007-05-08T14:00:00.000-04:00

OuF! It's not easy keeping up with a blog. So, it's May and already the month has been quite interesting. Vee and I already had our La Chatte Bottee party/sale on the 2nd. It went really well. We did it this time at Boutique Atelier Moly Kulte, a shop on St-Denis/Mont Royal run by 2 sweet eco-designers both called Genevieve! The shop is filled with all kinds of eco-designer wears and accessories, so, our Shoes fit perfectely! Coincidentaly, they will be participating at the Salon national de l'environement Fashion show organised by Annie Langlois from On and On. And because of that, we were both interviewed on camera for a video montage that will be showed before the fashion show. Vee and I are always a little nervous before doing things like that but, I think we did well. Can't to see it. Next, we were also asked to be photographed by the artist Pierre Maraval for his 1000 femmes project. That was this Saturday at the Belgo building. Pierre has already done this project in Paris in the 90s. SO it's really a lot of fun to see how different we are in Montreal and how a decade has made a differencein our appearances. The shoot was not easy for me as I don't really know how to pose. Again, I'm anxious to see it. But I will wait and see at the vernissage. There will also be abook published with all the picts. Frankly it was an honour to be asked and to be placed among the women I saw on that wall! My mom is going to be soooo proud.

Vintage

2007-03-27T14:11:00.002-04:00

I never usually see younger folks doing the rounds of the fripes on a Monday afternoon. Actually, it's usually just me and the ladies. So what's going on? Has vintage made it's way back to the kids again? Just a year or so ago, weren't they all in the malls getting Gap-afied? Le Chateau-ed and Buffalo-ed? Truth is, they probably still are. But there is a segment that have discovered the value and coolness in vintage. I remember back in the early 90s, I was in art school and my uniform was a little A-line floral dress I found at a church bazaar in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue that I wore with combat boots. Those were the days of grunge and I was really into it. Now, it's all about the hipster style. Vintage dresses, 80's fluorescent, bat wings, high waisted skinny jeans, etc... and it's all at the fripes! It's not the first time that kids have got into vintage. In the 60's, kids were showing their independence and rebellion by wearing old turn of the century army uniform jackets like in the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper and Victorian dresses like Laura Ashley.

Now, we have 15 year old girls with Francoise Hardy long dark brown hair with bangs, Chucks and skinny jeans shopping for 80s T-shirts with fluorescent prints. A couple in there 20s scoping the place for retro furniture and a girl checking for purses with cowboy boots and beret. You know that girl. OK so that means more people at the frips. That means that vintage is almost mainstream. I know, I know... I didn't want to believe it but it's true. Anyways, it's like anything, it's IN now, but pretty soon no girls will want to wear anything old. Maybe I won't want to either and then in a few years I'll be back investigating the racks at my local second hand store.

It's grand to be GRANDE

2007-03-21T11:07:00.000-04:00

Looking at the cover of April's Vanity Fair, I was transported back to the 80s when statuesque women where all the rage. This was before heroin chic, before the supermodel gang, before the impossibly skinny models. At least we knew in those days that we couldn't starve ourselves into looking like these women. Yes Women, not girls. They were born that way and there's nothing we could do to look like them. Think Duran Duran's Rio, think Robert Palmer's Addicted to love video, think Iman, think Azzedine Alaia...think legs up to the sky and meat on bones!!

Searching for Montreal Streetstyle

2007-03-20T11:02:00.000-04:00

I'm fashionably floored! After searching high and low for a Montreal streetstyle blog, I've come to realise that there are none and so...I decided that I will take it upon myself to try and start one. Not a nightlife streetstyle blog but pure streetstyle. As we are still knee deep in winter, it will probably be all jackets and boots. Well, that's style too! so let's see what I capture...

Vintage shoe spree

2007-03-03T10:58:00.000-05:00

So it’s the 50% off day at my fav Thrift store chain…This should be a challenging event considering what my friend and I went through last time. 2 hour line ups... enough said. But this time I’m going solo. Woke up at 7 am to make it to the store for 8am opening. I dashed out without coffee in hand. I’m not making this easy on myself. 8 pairs of boots and a couple of shoes later, I’m outta there without a scrape. That’s what I’m talkin’ about. Vintage shoes rock. My bread and butter right now. Here's a little sample of my spree.