Category — Fashion

I love clothes. My mom instilled this affection early in my youth, with her personal sense of style and what some would call flamboyant taste. Capes and red-rimmed glasses. Aboriginal prints and snake-skin shoes.

Building a wardrobe takes time and a keen eye. Over the years friends have asked me to take them shopping, help them take the guess work out of what can be an altogether tedious task. And it is. I hate shopping out of necessity. I rarely do intentionally, instead I explore favourite haunts from time and time, collecting pieces as they find me. This way I can purchase items I love rather than the best I could find in the moment. And you can too!

On a recent trip to Anthropologie, a delightful (and unexpected) anniversary gift from my husband, I carried a pile of twenty items into the change room.

Shopping Tip #1. Grab everything you like.

That way you don’t have to run out of the dressing room half-naked combing the store for that pair of grey corduroys you were iffy on.

On this particular trip, I started with the tops. I am a stay-at-home-mom/sometime writer at present, so tops and cardigans paired with a favorite pair of jeans are my go-to outfit.

Tip #2. Wear jeans, flats, a good bra (for the ladies) and a favourite plain cardigan.

This will allow you to see each item exactly how you’d wear it day-to-day. If you are an uber-planner, toss a pair of heels in your handbag too.

I create three piles of clothes — no’s, yeses, and maybes. In the end it was down to four daily pieces (all from the Anthropologie sale section) or one incredible (full price) dress.

Tip #3. Buy to wear.

If you can’t see an immediate need for a piece of clothing, don’t buy it. I have done this and regretted it time and time again. Save the money, and the closet space, for later.

In this case, I opted for the four simpler items. While I loved the dress, I had no immediate event on the books and, in case something crops up, I have a handful of lovely frocks waiting for me at home.

Final tip of the day…

Tip #4. Buy to last.

Building a wardrobe is about buying quality and developing a personal style. That way clothes can be worn year after year, no matter the style forecast. Purchasing quality clothing does not have to break the bank. I rarely (if ever) buy full price items at stores like Anthrolpologie. Check out sale sections of local designer boutiques (try Dream in Vancouver and Poa Studio in Toronto,) end-of-season sample sales and, my favourite: vintage and consignment shops. I found an incredible little-black-dress for $10 at a vintage shop on Commercial Drive last summer. I promise, it’s possible.

A final note: I am a firm believer in wearing what you want. If you are a man and you want to wear Tretorn gumboots in Gastown, then you damn well should. That goes for white after labour day, too.

Happy shopping!

While this blog has been silent for some time my writing has continued to appear in some wonderful publications. My most recent article for Comment titled “Storytelling Clothes” appeared in December.

Click here to read the article in full. Here is a short excerpt:

Clothing is a topic to which we pay little mind except, perhaps, when the conditions in poorly ventilated sweat shops make the front page news. Like us, God cares about the woman behind the serger; but He also cares what we put on our backs. We seldom remember that the first garments were made by God for Adam and Eve in the Garden.

Teresa Smed, a Vancouver-based jewelry designer shared her thoughts on God’s concern with clothing.  “I definitely think what we wear matters to God. I like to think about where everything comes from. Everything has a price. If your shoes are made by a child in a sweatshop in China — that has a cost. If I can clothe me and my kids with recycled clothing — it matters. I love fashion. I love accessories. People would call me ‘fashion forward.’ It’s about self-expression, and that’s okay. But where your treasure is your heart will be also.”

The story we’ve been telling

God never commanded us to get dressed. When he came looking for us we were crouched in Eden’s thicket hiding. We chose to cover parts of ourselves up, sin revealing impropriety.

“That’s how clothes can be,” comments designer Paul Hardy, a Christian anomaly in the world of high fashion. “It can go either way. In fashion, as in any other creative field, imagination can be used as an expression of edification or can prey on the insecurities of others.”

Democracy and Fashion are two of my great loves. So, you can imagine my delight when I discovered Fashion Stake, a revolutionary online marketplace that enables emerging designers to reach their target audience by bypassing traditional retail.

Fashionstake.com, founded by Harvard grads Vivien Weng and Daniel Gulati, eliminates the retailer, giving customers the power to help a designer succeed. ‘It will never work,’ they were told. In much the same way Groupon and TeamBuy use crowd-sourcing to offer group deals, Fashion Stake unites customers behind individual fashion and accessory designers.  For a select time period, pieces are available for pre-buy to ensure minimum orders are met, which collectively raises capital and awareness for up-and-coming designers. “We wanted to help the designer, but do it in a commercial way.”

Read more on the FList blog.

Veritas. Truth.

In Roman mythology, Veritas, meaning truth, was the goddess of truth, a daughter of Saturn and the mother of Virtue. It was believed that she hid in the bottom of a holy well because she was so elusive.

Last week I interviewed Ty Clark, a man who only two short years ago launched an ambitious project connecting art, fashion, and film in the name of Truth. I’ve been inspired. Watch the 2011 trailer above. I hope you are too.

Since my undergrad days at SFU Harbour Centre, a short jaunt away from Gastown’s Dream boutique, I have been a Allison Wonderland devotee. The Vancouver-based designer’s clothes have steadily increased in price since her fledgling days of my youth, as they should, but luckily I stocked up when her frocks were made in three sizes — one of each. It’s been a few years since I added a piece but I think this fall it’s time to break the fast. The top on the left is hanging in Bowen’s newly opened Wren boutique, a delightful shop brimming with Canadian contemporary clothing from Elroy, Nixxi, and of-the-moment Granted knits. Yes, please.

Dear Hubby,

I have a Christmas wish list and it has one item on it. See above.

XO

How we live matters. What we eat. How we dress. The company we keep. The things we say.

For the past three years I’ve written for Comment Magazine, almost exclusively on the topic of fashion. It’s forced me to think about clothes theologically. My most recent article, appearing in their next print issue, is about just that: a faithful approach to fashion. I struggled with this piece. So much so that I had to rewrite it. My first major rewrite ever. And I am thankful editor Gideon Strauss sent me back to the drawing board. I had to dig into the Bible, asking: What does it say about clothes? What does it say about humanity? I searched for the bigger picture — the story God is telling through humanity and the story he is telling individually through our lives.

I interviewed Teresa Smed, a Vancouver-based jewelry designer (and single mom) whose vintage line, Dotted Loop, has been featured in fashion magazines worldwide.

“I definitely think what we wear matters to God,” says Smed. “I like to think about where everything comes from. Everything has a price. If your shoes are made by a child in a sweatshop in China — that has a cost. If I can clothe me and my kids with recycled clothing — it matters. I love fashion. I love accessories. People would call me ‘fashion forward.’ It’s about self-expression, and that’s okay. But where your treasure is your heart will be also.”

I also spoke with Dr. John Stackhouse, professor of Theology and Culture at Regent College, and designer Paul Hardy, who is currently concentrating his efforts in Africa with the Reversal of Fortune initiative.

“It can go either way. In fashion, as in any other creative field, imagination can be used as an expression of edification or can prey on the insecurities of others.” - Paul Hardy

Thinking deeply about clothing has challenged me to concentrate on other areas of my life as well. Right now I am thinking a lot about food. My new friend Victoria is a vegan. When she takes care of Madeleine she eats the same. Michael and I have been wanting to limit the amount of meat we eat for some time, in an effort to eat only free range, and as local as possible. Bowen Island is affording us this opportunity. I am learning new vegan recipes from Victoria, allowing us to invest in better local meat, raised right down the road. Watching (the fictional, but enormously affecting) Fast Food Nation this fall has also had me rethinking meat.

I am a Christian. That means I follow Jesus. He’s not physically in front of me but His words are written down to help me follow. I’m trying to dig in to the truth. I want it to show in the way I live.

The day you walked I cried. Four, seven, fifteen steps from piano bench to coffee table glass. All smiles. Head up. Pure concentration. Feet rising from confident heart in your frame, tall.

You deliver toys with intention. One shelf to another. Shelf to table. Table to shelf. One by one. Back and forth.

These are our days. Dishes drawn from cupboard. Filled to full. Devoured. Floor swept, face washed, dishes cleaned. Placed back behind wooden doors for hours. Repeat again.

We pass the deer and her two fawns to deposit our things in the garbage shelter. Keep the lid tucked on. Keep the wood top latched. Two bears have swam to the island. Two bears we don’t want to meet at our door.

The recycling depot is a place to make friends. Kids dive in the newspaper bin, giant. “Its because we don’t have a swimming pool,” smiles a mother carrying a bin of mixed plastics. Yes, just the ocean. But it’s fall and it’s cold and winter is nipping at our heels and we’re thinking of carrying in the firewood to start heating this enormous house of glass.

Later, at the Knick Knack Nook, the island thrift shop, we comb shelves for treasure. We deliver our things to the counter. You — a small rainbow-coloured xylophone (you carry the mallet,) the God made friends book, a pair of slippers and a pair of gloves for infant hands, a photo holder, a walkman for listening to the tapes recently dug up, and a lovely sweater — for when you are a bigger girl — from Marks and Spencer, no less.

“That will be $3.70,” the nice volunteer sing-songs from the counter. But I only have plastic. They even take cheques she informs me (only on the island!) but I’ve left them at home. I offer to go to town to get cash if they could just hold my things…

“Oh, I’ve got it,” she says, drawing a 10 dollar bill from her wallet. “This is a perfect Bowen moment,” she chuckles, handing me the money. “Just drop it by for me anytime. My name is Lyn.” And with that, she’s out the door.

A perfect Bowen moment, indeed.

We’ve been welcomed to the village. I may never want to leave.

…almost. 

:::

It’s been a rough week. Madeleine and I were both hit with a terrible stomach flu following our delightful weekend in Victoria. Birthday festivity pictures to come. (English Inn Resort! Raw Canvas! Shopping in Vic!) And poetry. Oh yes.

There is nothing like the gentle licks of morning ferry deck, leafing through piles and piles of musty old titles, perusing handmade labels, worshipping in a quiet nave, and savouring the company of loved ones. This is how we’re spending our Easter (and my 30th birthday.) How are you spending yours? Easter, I mean.

First, pick your outfit:

Then find a date:

Secure your front row seats:

Sit back and enjoy the show:

And afterwards hop backstage for some face time with the man of the hour: