Brown shoes and bag
By Alex | August 21, 2008
I’ve always wanted man-style shoes. Worn with a pair of skinnies, they add a lot of elegance. Maybe it’s that Yves Saint-Laurent influence… Or maybe it’s the fact that you don’t see many women wearing such shoes and it appeals to my I DON’T WANT TO BE PART OF THE CROWD side.
I only own one pair of such shoes, and they go splendidly with my cognac handbag.
Topics: Purses et co., Shoes | No Comments »
Montreal Fashion and Design Festival - day 2
By Alex | August 11, 2008
I blogged a long time ago about this festival that took place in Montreal in June. I’ve just realized that I didn’t write anything about the 2nd day of the event, which was when the most important fashion stores in Montreal presented their collections.
Again, kudos to the organizers for choosing human-looking models and not carbohydrate-depleted alien-looking, walking skeletons!
Enjoy the pictures!
LE CHATEAU
I simply love those silky summer/cocktail dresses, especially the one in pink. Even if looking at that picture for too long hurts my corneas a bit 
LACOSTE
My favorite is the last one, especially the purple jacket.
Outfits from Montreal’s COMPLEXE LES AILES
Absolutely gorgeous dresses, don’t you agree?
LIZ CLAIBORNE
She’s one of my favorite designers (I can actually afford). I find all her creations so classy and un-complicated.
MEXX
My fave is the last picture - yellow top and silk pants. Chic and comfy!
Which ones are your favorites?
Topics: Fashion fest | 1 Comment »
Chocolat noir
By Alex | July 13, 2008
I know this post normally doesn’t belong in the Style section, but I’ve fallen in love with this dark chocolate!
It tastes bitter&sweet, and the combination of creamy cocoa and sweet bits of raspberries is enough to send you into a bliss coma!
The reason I’m posting this here is because the packaging is very posh - sleek and with a nice color palette.
All this is making the great taste be even greater!
Topics: Etc. | No Comments »
Blue necklace
By Alex | July 6, 2008
I got this blue necklace from my best friend for my birthday. It’s my favorite necklace because it’s so minutely done - Murano (the small island near Venice, famous for glass making) glass beads with the loveliest details.
I also have a small bracelet to match the necklace and I usually wear them with black outfits, to add a bit of color. Aren’t they darling?
Topics: Jewelry | No Comments »
How about ‘em shoes?
By Alex | July 5, 2008
Luciano Padovan gorgeousness.
Topics: Shoes | No Comments »
Roots red wallet
By Alex | June 10, 2008
I recently bought this new leather wallet from Roots. It’s a definite upgrade from the pink one I had which closed with a velcro and said “kiss the boys/make them cry!” Yeah!
This one’s much bigger and I can hold all my cards in it (even the ones I’m not going to need unless I go to China). Plus it instantly emits this “Oooh, look at me I’m a lady!” vibe.
Topics: Purses et co. | No Comments »
Montreal Fashion and Design Festival - day 1
By Alex | June 6, 2008
How can you not love Montreal? I don’t know of any other city that uses its “resources” as Montreal does.
When summer comes this city is bursting with energy and amazing things to do: festivals, parades, fireworks…
From June 4th-8th the Fashion and Design Festival is held at Montreal, in open air, open to the public.
There’s nothing super fancy, large scale about this event - no notorious designers, only the local artists. What we see on the runway are clothes offered by the N. American major fashion boutiques: Mexx, Liz Claiborne, Kenneth Cole, Le Chateau, etc., presented by Montreal models.
It’s one of the many, many things that spark in this city. And I can only be super happy to witness it!
Here are some pics from day 1 (June 4th) from a show called “Quebec designers pay tribute to Yves Saint Laurent”.
Topics: Fashion fest | No Comments »
Paperblanks travel notebook
By Alex | June 3, 2008
I love stationery like any other girl - give me a fountain pen and a nice sheet of paper and I’ll start writing… something, anything.
Before my trip to Rome from last summer (a trip I planned to the most intimate of details) I decided I wanted to start keeping a travel journal. But in lack of any satisfactory products, I settled to buy all the raw material from the destination point.
And, while it’s nothing out of the ordinary about Paperblanks, (you find them in every book store out there) I finally went for one of their notebooks.
I liked the design of the cover (inspired from 1860s French tapestries) and the quality of the paper - quite thick but also easy to write on and flip through.
The pages are quite small and I write in big letters so on my trip to Rome alone I filled almost 1/4 of the notebook already. It sort of gives me a weird sense of satisfaction.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a collection of these, neatly aligned on a shelf, with memories from all the places visited?
Topics: Paper Goodies | No Comments »
Yves Saint-Laurent couture
By Alex | June 2, 2008
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is hosting an exhibition of YSL creations from 1960s to 2002 and I went to see it today.
I’d been to a similar exhibition before while I was visiting Rome but it was Valentino and needless to say I was impressed out of my shoes!
The YSL one, while not as voluminous as the Valentino (which I think held around 1000 dresses by the designer) is nevertheless quite impressive. I wasn’t familiar with YSL’s style and I must say I wasn’t expecting this!
All his creations exhale a mixture of theatrical art blended with musical and ethnic influences. And it’s no wonder given that as a child, young YSL was fascinated by theatre. The colors he uses are bold - especially for the evening and cocktail dresses (pink, orange, some blues) while for the tenues du jour he prefers to limit the color palette to blacks and charcoals.
I particularly liked the non-conformism of his ethnic costume lines: Indian dancers, mandarin attire, African-style dresses, the ruffles of the Spanish dresses and the sumptuousness of creations of the Russian collection.
The fabrics are to die for! Mostly silk, taffetas and satin - they made the floaty dresses seam like waves of whipped cream!
All the geometric shapes (triangles, diamonds) in the fabric he used blend so perfectly in dresses such as this one probably inspired from the medieval era:
I didn’t know before that YSL was the one that introduced the pantsuit for women. This revolutionized women’s fashion, together with the safari jacket, pea coat and blazer - all YSL as well.
All his work reflects his poetic nature and his vast culture. I was overwhelmed by his non-conformism and creativity which lead to such spectacular works of art! This wedding dress seems to belong to Botticelli’s La Primavera or to Titania in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
One of my favorites:
I’m so grateful I had the chance to witness this. It’s one of those experiences that makes you feel you’ve grown into a finer, more sophisticated person. Pictures were not allowed at the exhibition. The ones I posted are from the Pierre Berge - YSL Foundation website but all these dresses were exhibited.
The exhibition will be in Montreal till September and then it will move to San Francisco so my advice is: if you have the chance to visit, go for it!.
Topics: Couture | 1 Comment »
Le mas de Provence
By Alex | May 27, 2008
I came across this wonderful boutique on St. Denis street in Montreal. It’s called Le Mas de Provence, and I have no idea what this means. The only thing I know is that they sell a lot of products specific to the Provence region in the south of France.
When you first walk into the store you are greeted by this wonderful display of colors and scents.
Hand made soaps, olive oil lotions, air-fresheners, pillows, table cloths and napkins - I wanted to take all of them home with me.
Not to mention the wooden armoires (they were for sale as well) and the pots of confiture and biscuits.
Don’t they look yummy?
Such a colorful display of ceramic pots, vases and jars…
All these patched aprons and hand towels almost make me want to go “Hand me the frying pan, let’s make some crepes!”.
And look at this wonderfully decorated wall, with all those clocks and antique cabinets!
My favorite item in the shop was this bucket full with dry lavender. I just wanted to dunk my head in there and breathe it all in! Unfortunately I couldn’t take the bucket home because it wasn’t for sale!
I did buy some lavender-scented eau de linge which I’ll sprinkle on my laundry before I iron it…
[the bottle looks a bit like a Kinley tonic water bottle, so I feel a bit tempted to take a sip :P]
… and some lavender and lily-of-the-valley soaps.
I think I’ll be one of their regular customers from now on 
Topics: Scented stuff | No Comments »