Fringe Benefits

My great friend Martha (Flip Hair Design, Scollard Street), also my hairdresser extraordinaire for 20 years (not typo), on learning about Enc's indecisiveness re: getting bangs, gave me the best line:


Bangs are a French woman's botox.


HILARIOUS! Not only is it true that bangs are cute and a la mode, they hide any lines that years of expressive communication have wrought.

Now, due to her amazing skin-care regimen, healthy lifestyle and good genes, Ms. E doesn't have a wrinkle to her name (not that I malign wrinkles, mind you. Nonetheless, bangs are an amusing distraction in these crazy times.



So, in the spirit of bringing her into the fold, here's a glimpse of my haircut experience today.

We went from muffin head to close cropped in the blink of an eye (full of fine, itchy hairs!).

This shot manages to look a) horrible and b) nothing like me (cuz I'm gorgeous, ok?). It's simply a vehicle for showing the hideously long bangs:

Here we are after the haircut but before the colour. The fringe is shorter than ever - but that's the kind of haircut risk-taker I am :-). Gotta love me in that robe!:

And, finalement, here's the finished product:

FYI, it is seriously difficult to take a photo of yourself using a cell phone camera without cutting off half of your face and forehead.

Why Do You Shop?

Yesterday's post was inspired by this idea that's been tumbling around my brain for a while...

As you know, I don't have all the space in the world and I don't have a trust fund. I don't work at a fashion magazine or a sexy agency. I do not own a gallery. People don't pay me to dress stylishly. So why do I shop so frequently? More to the point, why do I buy?

Of course, the answer isn't simple. (Arguably the question isn't either.) I shop because I love the activity. You know how some people knit. That's how I shop. It's not some mindless function for me. It's a creative undertaking, a perfect form of mood alteration, a social occasion. Not unlike a fine meal or yoga or sex.

I shop because I enjoy observing beautiful things in their natural habitat. That stripey nautical T in it's spot at Club Monaco. That perfect snakeskin bag at Apt. 909. These items exist so harmoniously with their appealing surroundings that I can't help but to want to experience them for myself. And then, what starts as a theory, when it looks right on me, becomes utterly compelling. Come on, you know that feeling. There's nothing like becoming one with something new (especially if it had another life before you).

Vintage is perhaps the most appealing, not only because of its general pricepoint, but because it's like that badass boyfriend who took all those drugs and fucked those other girls before you. It's lived a life, you know. It was there a long time ago and it will likely outlive you and that is powerful shit.

So that's part of why I shop - who can even quantify the full landscape of reasons - but why do I buy? As people have suggested to me (and to themselves, I'm sure), why not look and touch and try and then walk away? Well, peeps, believe it or not, how much I shop is a testimony to how much I walk away - if this makes any sense at all. I frequently walk. I always buy less than I want. And sometimes that sadness for the objet that got away trails me for miles like a stray leaf caught in the breeze.

Which is why I love shopping with and for others. I am thrilled to search out beauty on behalf of someone else. Occasionally, it even blinds me to the gorgeous things I'd like for myself and I have a true "cake eating" experience. All the creativity, the opportunity to perform a service, a chance to observe someone grow in confidence with lovely new purchases, all on someone else's dime. I know, the selflessness :-)

I'm curious to know why you shop. Do you think you have a "problem" or are you a collector? Do you curate the pieces, treat them with the love and respect they deserve or are they, eventually, creative clutter at the bottom of your drawer? Please share your thoughts...

Boutique Chez Vous

While stay-cationing, you may like to do a bit of shopping, non? Well, according to the pundits, the new chic locale is the old wardrobe. Like the one that stares you in the face from your cozy bed. Not as fun as Holt Renfrew, I agree. Though palatable - nay perhaps even exciting - under the following circumstances:

The closet organization has to rival that of the shelves at Marlowe. This is what will make your former purchases as enticing as new ones.

Those things you bought and then forgot about immediately (or wore a lot and then retired temporarily) must be clean and pristine. If the skirt you haven't worn in 3 seasons has a moth hole and 2 buttons missing, you're not exactly going to grab at it.

IMO, you should start the home shopathon with a list of all the things you're hoping to end up with - much as if you were out for a regular retail experience. If you're looking for a cool body suit / fitted T / pair of denim shorts, that's what you need (desire). How cool to want it - as you did at some past moment when you actually procured it - and then find it (already folded and colour coded on the bottom shelf) for free?

Don't kid yourself. You bought these things at one point because you loved or needed or wanted them. As such, you'll likely feel the same way again if you give the garment half a chance. And, if you look at it (that thing you lost at the back of the closet days/weeks/months/years ago) for more than 10 minutes and get an itchy "yuck" sensation, please toss it. I mean recycle it. Because it probably isn't ever going to flip your switch but it might just be perfect vintage to someone else...

Poetry

Here's the Haiku skirt I got in Mtl, as worn to work in the heatwave last week:

Seriously, I haven't taken off that painted shell necklace since I bought it. I wish I could figure out its vintage. I did email HQ but I haven't heard anything back so if anyone has any ideas, pls let me know.

Oh and, PS, I realize that the garden looks like shite here. It's because the part we haven't yet landscaped (the weed farm behind the tree) is taking over. If ever I could remember to turn myself around, prior to taking a photo, you'd see the pretty - which is to say orderly - view.

However, having recently read a post on Susie's blog, in which she cheerfully admitted to posting less than flawless images in the interests of showcasing the fashion object at hand - you know, the thing you care about - I'm working on becoming less uptight compulsive perfectionist.

PPS The alter ego who can't bear to read home decor magazines because they so starkly highlight her many shortfalls, is hoping you won't think less of me.

Change is Good

Have you heard of the Scandi swimwear and lounge/lingerie line Change? As far as I can tell, they don't have stores in the US but they're well-represented in Canada and Europe.

The lingerie, while it spans A - J cup territory, has never really worked for me. The back sizes are just too big (even at a 30) and the cup sizes are cut, if not small, then strangely. Let's just say this brand is for a different body type than mine. Nonetheless, I think they make some very functional and pretty things (if a bit fussy) that probably work really well for women who aren't stick thin and, as a result, don't have the smallest chests in the world (this in contrast to small women who have narrow frames and large boobs).

You know about my manifesto to beautify the shape of tits the world over, one well-fitted bra at a time. And the Change philosophy really is about selling women underwear that fits (as a result they don't sell online). So I'm down with it, even if I'm not going to buy. Oh, and did I mention that you can get a bra for less than $100.00. For a well-constructed, attractive bra in a larger size, that's fairly impressive.

Check out a couple of pretty looks (couldn't download the more interesting pics, so you're stuck with their "basics" unless you check out the actual site)...

Now, the swimwear line is a whole different story...

You know bras and bikini tops are similar, but different, beasts. What I really appreciate about Change's swim line is that it actually sizes the bikini tops with standard bra measurements and those sizes go from teeny to ample. The tops, as it happens, seem more suited to my shape than the bras. Maybe it's the way the fabric stretches, maybe it's that the bikinis are just better cut for me? They seem to work well for women with boobs that tend to spill out from the top (rather than bottom heavy breasts). Now that I think about it, they probably work quite well with fake tits.

Perhaps you know the general rule that you should go up a back size in bathing suits. It's this fact, I imagine, that makes the bikini tops actually fit me snugly (but not bulge-y tight) where the bra bands are just too big. Change has created numerous styles (see here) to accomodate women of many different breast shapes and coverage needs. They're bottoms are really generous and tops often come with a choice of skimpier and fuller bottoms from which to choose.

I tried, and really liked, the blue halter, #10 in the Flash slideshow. It gave great lift and a very sculptured line. And, it's on sale for 50% off! (BTW, tops and bottoms are sold separately...) I didn't buy it because, quite honestly, I rarely wear swimsuits and yet have managed to purchase 2 this summer already. And, while I'm warming up to the bikini - if Helen can do it, so can I! - I think I should get used to the one I just bought, first. Oh, and the suit above fits really snugly in the top. So it was practically pornographic. It's more a look for St. Tropez than Christie Pits Public Pool, if you know what I mean.

If anyone has bought from Change, do let us know what you think...

Buzzword: Staycation

You know how the NY Times (and every other media outlet) is all on about how oil prices and an American recession are sounding the death-knell of summer travel? You know how they're referring to that new trend, the staycation? (That's where you hang out in your own town, preferrably your uber-private landscaped backyard, and drink G&Ts flavoured with slow-food limes and spearmint while BBQing with your hepcat friends who are saving money in precisely the same, stylin' manner.)


Well, in the spirit of this - more in the spirit of having dispensed with all the away-cating I'm likely going to do for the foreseeable future - I decided to pretend TO is Mtl. And, then, when I realized that seemed pathetic, that it didn't quite do justice to this sophisticated city in which I live and which some people actually enjoy, I decided to pretend TO is fun. Not a word most people associate with this industrious bastien of commerce.


Cut to our Sunday lunch at Terroni on Queen St., a restaurant staple that is both uniquely TO and the real deal. 80-year old moms touch shoulders with tv personalities. First dates intermingle with harried (but hip) new parents and tiny tots.


And, though I didn't get a photo, we managed to dine today with the (not exactly warm and fuzzy) food-god himself, Susur Lee. Um, you know you're not eating crappy-style when Susur's at the table to your right.


Here are a few candid photos:




In case you're wondering if Mr. Lee was comped his meal en famille, the answer is a succinct "no". (I sneakily checked out the bill on his table as we were leaving. Don't judge: It was research.)

I Mentioned I Like to Eat, Yes?

In the spirit of all of those great bloggers who post great pictures of enjoyable meals, here are a few "artful" offerings of my own...

Mmmmm, cafe:

Note that this looked and tasted fantastic but, regrettably, got mixed up with my daughter's "decaf cappuccino" so I had a headache till lunchtime while she was literally so boing-boing wired I practically had to body-check her. Till I figured it out. Then I was seriously irritated. Like a caffeine addict needing a fix.

And here's Holt's Cafe, a place I always visit whenever I'm in Montreal. Of course, I live a mile away from my own Holt's Cafe (on Bloor Street), where I can get hideously overpriced, tiny meals in a space-aged modern room anytime I'd like, but somehow that location has no appeal.


This place is so truly "ladies who lunch" that child portions are actually larger than the adult meals and wine by the glass is excessively, ahem, generous.

Here are a few more photos of the beautiful Holt Renfrew Montreal. This truly is a beautiful shopping space: