Fall Friday musings

I'm in a certain mood, and feeling a certain word these days that if it slips away, I try (because as Yoda says: Either do or do not, there is no try) I work really hard at bringing back into my consciousness and approach to everything.

Organic. Less in the no-fertilizers or pesticides way but in the natural, harmonious, flowing, isn’t it easy way.

I am admiring people to whom good things seem to come naturally and easily...because I know things don't come naturally and easily at all, rather because they are able to accept such gifts with grace...versus my reaction which is often times shock, disbelief and the suspicion that something bad has to be around the corner to counterbalance the good.

I am working at acceptance, and trust, and always, always...always hope.

And, I am in the mood for fall.

For cozying together, for the smell of leaves and fires at night...for reading and cups of tea and warm, soft sweaters and dark denim and leather boots. For baking and making stew, sewing a quilt (hello, Posie Gets Cozy's Ollalieberry Ice Cream Quilt) with matching pillow cases to make a true nest to sink down into on a cool fall night

(I'm getting started), and knitting a blanket.

Here are some images that inspire me this season, and that to me speak of organic. (Click to make image bigger.)
1. Alex Marshall serving bowl, on sale from $108 to $69.99, at Remodelista.
2. Fog Linen Work Apron, £35 at selvedge dry goods.
3. Vintage German grain sack from Stephanie Lloyd.
4. A Madsen kg271/bucket bike, $1299. What would I put in the bucket? Pooch. Pumpkins. Picnic. Anything!
5. My Fiorentini & Baker boots - blogged about before, and coming to me this weekend!
6. J.R. Watkins Black Cleaning Bucket, $10.99

And, I am so happy that The Swell Season's new disc comes out in October. I heard one song on CBC Radio's Q and I cried (thanks, Jian Ghomeshi!). If you're in love, or you wish you were, I defy you to listen to this song without at last one tear rolling down your cheek. "...maybe I was born to hold you in these arms..."

Next week - Fall Fashion musings. Til then, have a glorious fall weekend.
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Weekend whimsy/Favourite Things

I haven't shared a Favourite Things post for a while, and as I bake in 26+C weather in late October and actually (gasp!) miss cooler weather back in Vancouver, this installment will illustrate where my head is at for the moment. The grey and black palette isn't a sign of my mood...just of my fall homesickness!

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ModernGear Women: Sweater weather is finally here!

You might think I'm crazy to rejoice in such a fact but cooler weather is here, and I love it! Now I'm not completely odd - I don't love winter, but fall is definitely a season I'd extend if I could. There's just something about that scent in the air - the perfume of Autumn, and finally being able to layer a t-shirt with a sweater, over jeans and boots. Aaaah. Cozy.

Last year I was all about Vince...and so were some other very fashionable women.

Halle Berry in Vince

Sarah Michelle Gellar in Vince

Katherine Heigl in Vince

Kate Moss in Vince

And sometimes my tastes wax and wane, so I wasn't sure if I'd still be such a fan this fall. Oh, but I am.

And I'm about triple excited too because Vince but launched an e-commerce site so while I can find Vince sweaters and clothing on other sites, I can find the whole collection there. Let me share my favorites!

From FashionChateau.com
Vince Knit Charcoal Car Coat
$297


This style is also available at Tobi for $285 as the Vince Sculpted Car Coat.


Tobi also has another Vince style that I think could transition from late summer into fall very well, imagine it with a nice crisp white blouse underneath.

Vince Fine Cashmere Tunic Top
$235




From shopbop.com


Vince Tie Front Wrap Neck Sweater
$345/35% wool/35% alpaca/30% acrylic



Vince Ensign Cashmere Cardigan
$320



I like to look at my favourite e-boutiques as often they'll have sales that the designer's own web sites won't have until end-of-season, but I can say that the Vince selection out there is pretty light. No store, after all, can afford to carry the entire collection.

So from Vince's new e-commerce site where I could seriously shop til I drop, here are my additional favourite sweaters:

Reverse Stitch Kimono $295
Ultra light cardigan $320
Ribbed cardigan $265

I know these are quite expensive pieces, but I find their design to be timeless, and the cashmere is top quality...so these are investment pieces, and keepers.

Vince has a lot of other goodies besides sweaters, but that's just what I am in the mood for today...check out their new site.


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ModernGear Women - Favourite Things for Fall

I am a total fall girl - sweaters, jeans, boots, wraps. Love them all. I could happily wear cashmere 24/7 for the next 6 months.

I am all about the belted sweater this season. The full leg jean, the boot, cape with gloves and fab handbag slung over the arm. Silk dress and sweater over top, tights with boots.

Here’s what I’m a yearnin’ and a burnin’ for from a few of my favourite designers…

Gerard Darel - more than a few lovelies to choose from…

Knit alpaca wool dress, with Big buckle belt.
And the utter, breathtaking piece de resistance that had me saying, “Gerard Darel, I love you…” out loud, to my computer, while my husband looked at me quizzically…Knitted alpaca woolcoat (le sigh), Boot cut seventies indigo jean (le swoon), “Working Girl” Havana bag (le purr)…

Loeffler Randall has some wonderful pieces - Brenda from Toronto sent me a link to a FAB red cape but I can’t find it…can you send that again? I did find this - the Butterfly Jacket, $465 at Active Endeavors.



I have loved Tory Burch’s tunics, kaftans and ballet flats in the past but right now as the fall chill creeps in I am all about the cashmere. Here’s her Deneuve Sweater, $295 at Bloomies.


I could also snuggle into this warm, cozy and stylish wool Shannon Cardigan, $595. I love the length, the cable knit, the toggles.
And finally, Vince. His funnel neck shift dress, below, could well be my winter staple, with tights and boots. At $235, it’s not crazy unaffordable either. Under it is the cashmere Audrey dress, $290. So sweet. And then under those two is the Cardigan Sweater Coat, for $320.

Do you know what I secretly love about the shape of these dresses - not the primary reason but one nonetheless? I didn’t exactly get into bikini shape this summer, and fall’s soups, stews and general comfort food might add a few lumps and bumps here and there - fall sweaters, sweater dresses and long sweater coats are perfect for disguising figure flaws. They would also be great wardrobe additions if one were, say, in the early stages of a pregnancy when you weren’t quite showing yet but were feeling all kinds of bloaty. I’m just saying.



I am thinking that the very best footwear for the fall season would be one of these:

Fly London’s “Diana”, for $215 CDN. I have a pair of boots from this company and they are so comfy…
The standard favourite from “…the oldest continuously operating shoe company in the United States (Founded in 1863)”, Frye’s Campus style…

or Fluevog’s Big Ruth at $309 CDN.

As you can see from my collection of fall faves, I am feeling the fall cool in my bones. But I actually love this season the very best. Cashmere, wool, wrapping yourself in something warm and cozy as you sip tea and watch the leaves change…this is my favourite time of year. Click here to read rest of story...

My favourite things - fashion

I believe that there is true power in intention, and that this isn’t just the title of a Wayne Dyer book, but a way to live your life. I have also been taught by the Inner Bombshell and Carrie and Danielle, the women behind the Style Statement (I wrote an article about this process for the Globe and Mail, see it here), that it is a powerful exercise to look at pictures that give you a positive, happy and hopeful response, and put those all together on a page or in a book, as a first step on the path of building the life you want to have.

These can be pictures of a pair of shoes or ring you like, a building that opens your mind, a landscape that feels like the perfect escape, your favourite car…anything, and whatever works for you.

This is something I actually like to do on a regular basis. As I am poking around the internet, looking at various style and design blogs and web sites, I save pictures of my favourite things to a style folder. I also save images and even words from magazines and add them to a folder, and then every now and then on a Sunday morning over a cup of tea, I make a collage out of them and put in a book.

Why pictures? I find that even as a writer, to try to distill the essence of my hopes, dreams, wishes, and even image, into words is incredibly difficult. If I have a positive gut reaction when I look at an image (even with the awareness that many of them are often fully styled), then I know that I have hit upon something.

And why so image oriented? It makes me happy to find pretty things, and to look at them. It gives me something to look forward to, to try to take direction from clothing, furniture, architecture and other things that attract my eye and put me in a good mood. If you think this is not important, or something I should feel guilty for or apologize about, you probably shouldn’t even be reading this blog and I’ll just wish you luck and send you on your way now.

I would like to share my current favourite things with you, and will add updates from time to time. I am going to start with wardrobe - and mostly summer wardrobe because as I sit here tapping away at my keyboard, a warm spring breeze is blowing through the window. I will later add in architecture, and more but for today, it’s what I’d like to wear on my feet and body. I am also inviting all readers who are interested in the same thing, to share your favourite things with me, and I’ll make you your very own Favourite Things listing. Just e-mail me your pictures, and a bit about why you’ve chosen what you love…and a bit about yourself, too.

And here we go…

Music sets the mood, so let’s start off with the soundtrack for Tamara, shall we?

“Budapest Eskimo” by
“Beautiful Day Without You” by Royksopp
“Beloved” by Anoushka Shankar
“Diferente, El Norte, Santa Maria” by Gotan Project

Wardrobe
Boots I found in my internet travels, at Posie Gets Cozy!

Shoes from Simple. Sustainably built from stuff like cork, jute, recycled plastic, bamboo, recycled car tires and organic cotton.


And being the unpredictable sort that I am, my tastes run the gamut from simple shoes to…those slightly more extravagant.
Chanel Spectator pumps. Le siiiiigh. Le swoon.

John Fleuvog’s Big Ruth boot

Working our way up from the feet to the entire body now, these are a few of my favourite things.

I almost got this vintage crochet top on ebay - didn’t set my alarm and forgot to bid! Argh!


Luckily I have an uber-talented mother who said she will crochet it for me! That’s the thing I love about fashion - whether it’s designer, less expensive or handmade, it’s all about what you feel good in. I’d never say no to designer if given the opportunity to wear it, but I also won’t break the bank to own it. Incidentally, the tunic went for $20.60. Did I mention “argh”?!

I just poked through Banana Republic’s web site and here are some of my favourites from their summer goodies (I am in a dress mood) - first the empire waist goddess dress:
And then the silk t-shirt dress.


And I loved this, the Midnight Circle Nora cami at J. Crew


And this, the Frida embroidered skirt…beautiful, non?


Pretty dresses from Anthropologie.

I browse through my favourite stores either in person or online, on a fairly regular basis. I’m not embarrassed to say I look at Old Navy, and you ought not to be either. Sure, a lot of their stuff fits like crap, and falls apart in the third washing, but I find them great for t-shirts, shorts, and other stuff you know you’ll want for only summer of ‘07.

I love the Bermuda shorts I just got last weekend in black, have worn them four times already, and they were under $30. Here’s my formula for an easy look.
Old Navy black shorts. A cheapie tank top and a great belt by Shi Studio,
some ballet flats (I actually like the Crocs Prima flats, shoot me if you want to...)

and you’re ready to skip out on the town.

Stores like Old Navy and Joe Fresh (and I guess H&M though we don’t have one in Vancouver) are so affordable you know you can go back, drop the same $100 next summer and be happy with your purchases all summer long. And you know what - on the same day I’ll look at Balenciaga or Marc Jacobs and swoon just the same. And while we’re on the subject of Marc Jacobs, let me share what j’adore from him.

Oh. My. Good. Lord. I’d simply have to have one of his handbags as well though.
And again speaking of Marc Jacobs, he’s my MySpace friend!! I do believe that after a night of too much red wine, I might have written to him via MySpace and said something that sounded very much like, “If I got an interview with you I would sh*t my pants”…only I didn’t put the bashful little asterisk there. I wonder why I haven’t heard from him! And if this didn’t work for this big Marc Jacobs fan, I don’t know if my drunken MySpace rambling will.

I am also a Missoni fan and would quite like a car coat, thankyouverymuch.
You know what, I could go on for days!

I had best end it here…with a smattering of my current (wardrobe) favourite things for your perusal. Next time on the subject I will move into the house and home.

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