Friday, May 25, 2012

Vintage Trend Alert: Art Deco

This season invest in a pocket watch, because I predict an art deco revival is in the works! (totally unrelated I just wanted a reason to use this picture but when I think of the 1920's I think of pocket watches) With Baz Luhrhamm's Great Gatsby & Ryan Gosling in Gangster Squad coming soon to a theatre near you I predict were going to see a lot of red lipstick, finger waves, slinky dresses and men in grey suits rocking grandpa hats. With the abundance of men already sporting the madmen hair do' this has gotten me excited that the gentleman look is coming back! The art deco is one of my favorite eras and in my opinion showcases true vintage, from the delicate sheer dresses to structured patterns in textured fabrics to the opulence of jewels and rich details in architecture, to bold colours of teal, tiffany blue, orange reds, gold, pearl whites reminiscent of the romanticism of the orient. The art deco era although was a trivial period it was also a celebrated era of change, it was evident as some of the best and world renowned architectures were built. Anyways the point is whether you follow trends or not it's exciting to see the shift in the world around you, and how western culture adapt to such trends from fashion, architecture, to pop culture and this time around it's the revival of the roaring 20s!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

These are a few of my favorite things

With the April-May Showers I found myself staying at home during the weekends partially due to laziness from the weeks adventures which gives me both cabin fever and pure relaxation. During my isolation I began noticing little things I've collected over the years in my own room old treasures became new. As I get older I've learned to appreciate the small things in life (cliche I know but it's the truth), so staying true to that each week or so I'm going to compile a list of some of my favorite things be it recent purchases to random findings or life's precious moments. Anyways here are some of my favorite things that I'm currently into.

1. Guilty Pleasure Reading



I've been hearing a lot of buzz about the 50 shades of Grey series so I decided to feed my curiousity and go into my local Indigo and purchase the book. A couple of days later (3 days to be exact) I found myself going back and buying the whole series. I'm not proud that I'm reading this, but I can't seem to stop either, it's not a literature classic and far from being in Oprah's Book Club and to simply describe the book ...BDSM and twilight without the vampires. I have an obsession with pretty books, if I'm strolling through sales at Chapters and I see a pretty cover I'm most likley going to buy it. So to my surprise I came across 2 books that were on sale one of which was Molly Ringwalds Getting The Pretty Back, I remember reading an excerpt from it on Glamour and enjoying the content, and a major bonus because it was on sale! With Mothers day just around the corner I came across this cute picture book called My Mom Style Icon it's a collection of vintage photos of young mothers then and now.

2. Moon Stone



As I strolled along Spadina and Dundas St West I came across a chinese store that sold trinkets from jade buddahs to mini amulets. I saw a bunch of stones with the sign "good luck moon stone"I was automatically drawn to it and saw that all these stones were submerged into water. I was contemplating on what to get a good friend for her birthday so I purchased 3 moonstones and the sweet little old lady told me to keep it in water so that it may illuminate. With some research my friend told me that it had to be burried in soil for 24 hours to cleanse the stone and that noone is allowed to touch the stone but me so that the goodluck will last. So I decided to do this mini ritual before Supermoon last Friday and upon doing so I followed the lady's advice and placed it in a jar of water. Although nothing significant has happened yet the little old lady was right it illuminates which gives it a soft glow.

3. Wine Coolers and Records



Nothing makes me happier than finding a good record and with Sonic Boom right beside Pretty Freedom where I'm always at, it's the perfect afternoon, fashion and music all in one street. I've always envisioned my adult life living in a loft or a swanky condo downtown sipping some Rose wine preparing my dinner, whilst listening to a good vinyl record. Well I've never really been a fan of wine so I settled for the alternative..wine coolers! and although I'm not living in a swanky condo downtown (yet!) At least I've got good records to listen to on a rainy day.

Anyways I leave you with another one of my favorite things a song from  one of my go-to movies when I'm feeling sad The Sound of Music: My Favorite Things