L-A: A trend I’m not sure I can deal with is peace signs. I remember well the last time this sucker made a resurgence – it was back when I was in junior high. I fell prey to it and had a peace sign necklace (maybe had something more, but I’ve blocked it out). It wasn’t like any of us with those necklaces or t-shirts really gave a damn about peace. We just wanted to be cool.
Anyway, I guess the peace sign/logo turned 50 last fall, and that might be why it’s trying to rear it’s ugly head again with gems like these:
Lucky Brand seems to be one of the key culprits for trying to shill peace. They’ve got keychains, and bracelets, and necklaces and plastic sleeves for your iPhone or your iPod. Because displaying it on the back of your iPhone? Now that is dedication to the cause of peace.
Don’t get me wrong. I’l all for peace. Love it. I’m the annoying pacifist at family holiday dinners. I think that my problem lies in the fact that it is not a very pretty looking logo. I could deal with this less than lovely logo if it were only used as a means of showing how dedicated you were to the cause of peace, but I have a feeling that most folks selling it are rather disingenuous about their motives. Otherwise they’d be trying to sell you peace all the time, not just when it is a popular trend (because really? American Eagle Outfitters? Do we really believe they are about more than selling you cute casual wear?). So long as it is being sold as a trendy item and being purchased because it’s nifty to be a peacenik, then I’m calling this a questionable thing. Here’s a polyvore funtime roundup of some besymboled things I found while internet window shopping:
Not loving this trend at all. Some of it isn’t even cute. Pink fuzzy peace slippers by Juicy Couture? A peace buckle from American Eagle Outfitters? Peace boobs on your expensive bikini? What the …? No. Just no thank you.
L-A: Eden said something about taking pictures of her shoes and we said “yes! please! and blog about it!” because we knew she had a pair or two. In fact, I think it was Eden who suggested that I refer to my shoes as a “collection” to keep the Husband off my back about how many pairs I have. One thing I was always impressed by was her commitment to heels (I am kind of shocked to see flats and sneakers in the collection. I don’t think she even owned sneakers when she lived downstairs from me) and the fact that she had an entire bookshelf just for her shoes.
Eden: Ok so the LBS post made me want to do a photographic inventory of my shoes and the ladies wanted me to blog about it, so HERE WE GO. The main result is that I realized a) I need to clean and polish a lot of my shoes and b) I don’t really like all of them. But that’s cool!
There are a lot of them. You may want to sit down. Why are you reading the internet standing up anyway?
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- Aldo
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- Pegabo
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- Le Chateau
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- Steve Madden
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- Le Chateau
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- Unknown
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- Little Diana Ballet Shoes
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- Stuart Weitzman for Brown’s
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- Le Chateau
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- Classified
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- In and Out
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- Kenneth Cole Unlisted
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- Highlights
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- Sweet Seventeen
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- In and Out
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- In and Out
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- American Eagle
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- Wild Diva
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- Le Chateau
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- Urban Behaviour
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- ellemenno
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- Madeline
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- Transit
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- CA Collection
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- Spring
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- Old Navy
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- Kate Spade
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- Hush Puppies
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- Hush Puppies
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- Hush Puppies
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- Converse
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- Puma
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- Bongo
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- Sentiments
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- Blundstone
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- Aldo
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- Aldo
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- Unknown
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- Unknown Italian
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- Ellius
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- Unknown
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- In and Out
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- Le Chateau
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- Unknown
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- Feet First
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- Unknown
My favourites: the Weitzman peeptoes, the Kate Spade loafers, the Wild Diva croc pumps. I’ll be wearing the peeptoes tonight with a red halter dress and seamed stockings.
I don’t even know why I own those teal tennis shoes, or those godawful brown wedges.
Tell me what you think! My feelings will not be hurt, I am tough.
L-A (again): My shoe collection is in such disarray that I can’t count it without going to a couple of different rooms and two different floors. My shoes hate me. I did count though – I’ve got approximately 35 pairs – but really need to cull the collection and pick up some new ones.
As for Eden’s collection, I am with her on the Weitzman’s and the Kate Spades. I’m not sure why she owns the work boots. Unless she is thinking of tree planting (which I’m pretty sure she’s not), it may be time to lose those. The Blundstones are a good practical boot, but when I think of Eden and shoes, I don’t think of practical. I like the brown wedges and I hate the brown converse sneakers.
So, time for you to vote: which of Eden’s shoes do you love/hate? Also, do have more pairs of shoes than we do? It’s okay if you do. We’ll probably be impressed if you do.
Eden (again): We will definitely be impressed. Also, in my defense! The Blundstones were an Ottawa-winter-with-a-newborn concession. The work boots are for when I use actual power tools and don’t want my toes cut off (they are steeltoed!) and the sneakers are for the gym. What did you think I wore to the gym, strappy sandals? Actually that would be pretty awesome.
If those brown wedges were your size I would totally mail them to you.
Favourite Fridays – November 6 Edition – reviews of pop music, garance, ANTM, and Chanel
AllyG: So, it seems as though tradition calls for me to add my pop video of the week. You could argue that this has nothing to do with fashion. I would argue that you should shut your face and pour more Baileys in your crappy work coffee. These videos inspire le fashion. Britney Spears…Anna Wintour…Chicken…Egg…which came first people….WHICH CAME FIRST? So, this week, I present you with a little ditty that I’m head tilting over. Do I love it? Does it make me want to vomit? I can’t decide. The chorus is catchy, but the rest of the lyrics are trashier than the faux snakeskin boots I owned in my early twenties. They were thigh-high. They were horrible. I will recall these on my death bed and beg for forgiveness. Damn you Le Chateau!
Without further ado…
I think L-A would agree that this falls under so cheesy it’s good. L-A? L-A? Are you there? Shit. I think I just caused her brain to actually explode. I knew I was walking a fine line after the Britney video…perhaps selecting a “singer” with a dolla’ bill in her name was too much? “Ke$ha” heh heh. I know, I don’t know why L-A chooses to write with me either. Perhaps because when I spell “chose” with two “o’s” it makes her look smartish.
Now, I finally got to watch me some ANTM on Wednesday night. Mommy is teaching BabyG that Wednesday at 9pm is Mommy’s “Wine Time” as is Monday nights at 9pm. BabyG seems to enjoy these shows now that I have turned them into a sort of “storytime” for him. I recap what’s happening on the television (Please, the poor boy is still learning to focus) in a singsongy voice. For example, “Serena is tired of Blair’s games. Yes! Yes she is!” or “I KNOW! Tyra IS wearing a hideous outfit. I KNOW!” and BabyG’s fave, “So True! Erin does look like she’s posed like a hollywood madam in the shower before!”. For those tsk tsking me for allowing my child to watch TV, stuff your trap with granola. WE PLAY/READ/DANCE/SING/CRY ALL DAY LONG. My kid will read by six months. Trust.
Seriously, does anyone else despise Erin? What a douche. Her blonde eyebrows are killing me. KILLING ME. Her “jump” into the water was classic. I wish she had smacked down on her stupid face.
Is this not the most uninspired photo you have ever seen?
With that said, I get why Sundai had to jet. Girl looked young enough to be BabyG’s girlfriend.
And finally, I have a new favourite blog. Martin (our best boy reader) sent this link to me. Clearly, Martin is a good friend. He’s been reading my posts/additions to L-A’s posts lately and has recognized my cry for help. Today he sent through the link to Garance Dore. Are you familiar? She is the writer of the Sartorialist’s partner. I believe this is her…
Sigh. I remember smoking in Paris. One night in particular when I sat on a restaurant patio and met an exchange student from Germany and we argued about the merits of Jacques-Lacan’s philosophy (I wholeheartedly buy into it) while drinking endless vats of wine and smoking endless packs of Parliments. Needless to say, I barfed. Now I’m smoke free and proud to be me. Moral of the story, Kids: SMOKING IS NOT COOL (unless you’re in Paris…then smoke till you barf).
Anyways, Martin sent me the link to a recent post on Garance Dore about “Cedric” and his ridiculously romantic jean shirt. You see, if you didn’t find Cedric hot enough, the post then goes on to inform you that he proudly wears a heart on this shirt pocket that his wife sewed on for him. ARE YOU DYING?
NOW ARE YOU DYING?
Go to her site. She’s brilliant and I love her photos and writing. You will too.
That’s all for me this week. Thanks to everyone for being patient with me and my crappy writing lately. I’m loving mommyhood, but learning that I can’t do it all. Of course, BabyG takes my whole heart, and tops my list of priorities. Except during “Wine Time”. Sigh. Wine Time.
P.S. Heads up. Beaujolais Nouveau arrives soon. Do you not know about The BN? OH.MY.GAWD. You need to know about the BN. It’s a national holiday in my house. Trust. You’ll love me for the heads up. Third Thursday of November people. THIRD THURSDAY. Mark your calendars you dirty drunks. You know I love you.
P.P.S. Can the third Thursday of November be one of our official somethings? Does that even make sense? L-A can answer this. I turn to L-A for anything important.
P.P.P. S. Turn to you…I’m turning to you, L-A….always.
L-A: Dear God, Ally. You have sunk to a new low. That may be the worst song/video you’ve posted yet. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t even manage to watch it all. And that’s saying something – because I watched the Britney videos. I even watched an entire video of boys on Fire Island lip syncing to Miley Cyrus’ Party in the USA (which you may or may not have introduced me to, but when it comes to bad pop music, I just assume it’s your fault I’ve heard it). It’s a good thing I had a bag of Hershey’s mint creme truffle kisses to console myself with – or else I’d be mourning the loss of those three minutes of my life. So, shout out to those Christmas themed candies. They are now a Friday Favourite.
source (did you know there were over 50 kinds of Hershey’s kisses?? I did not. Thank you Zoe. There are at least 49 varieties out there for me to try).
Next favourite of the week is Coco Avant Chanel. I saw in on Sunday and it was lovely. Partly because Audrey Tatou is still as adorable as ever, despite the slightly frumpy outfits Coco wore before she finally got her Chanel on. And partly because of this shirt:
Not kidding. Love. That. Shirt. It’s stupid how much I love that French fisherman style shirt. I love it so much that there will soon be an entire post on it. But as much as I liked the story happening in the movie, I found myself thinking about that shirt. The scene where she daydreams under a tree and I guess figures out that her true calling is to start her own business? Yeah. Just about died for the striped shirt and men’s blazer combo.
Want it so bad.
Overall, as lovely as the movie was and as much as it deserves it’s place as a Friday Favourite, it will not be an all time favourite. I would have liked a bit more of the Chanel outfits and a little less of the Avant Chanel. I know, that was the point of the movie…but the part where she finally dreams up the iconic Chanel suit? It was practically one of those cliché musical montages in lesser movies. An entire collection was made in about two minutes. It was a long movie and I wanted to see not just how Gabrielle became Coco, but Coco effing Chanel. Cute to know how she got the nickname and interesting to see how she made her way into French society, but there was definitely some serious dragging in the middle of the movie where I was like, “enough with the old man and the French countryside. Design something already!”
And that’s it for me today. Congrats to one of our favourite readers for becoming Best Twitterer in Halifax!
I’m hoping to get us onto a better writing schedule, so we have some decent posts to give you on a regular basis. This week was a bit nutso for me. I was hardly home and had to get to bed early every night (getting up early is hard! I should actually be in bed now instead of up writing), so didn’t put the time into the blog that I normally would. I’d like us to stick to our five day a week schedule, but would you hate us if we did have to go to three days a week?
L-A: Everyone always talks about The Little Black Dress. That perfect black dress that you can wear for just about every occasion – cocktails, gallery opening, your great-aunt’s funeral, whatever. We’ve even gone there. But do you know what we don’t talk about? What hardly anyone talks about? The perfect black shoe and just how dang hard it is to find. The one you can wear to an interview, to work, for cocktails or maybe even your great-aunt’s funeral. You can wear it with pants or a skirt. You can use them to dress up an outfit (like jeans) or they can just work with the dressy outfit.
Let’s describe this shoe: black with a heel. It’s not too shiny and there aren’t too many embellishments. The shoe isn’t the statement. The heel isn’t too chunky or too low, but it isn’t super sexy high heel either (because you want to be able to wear it around the office somewhat comfortably). It’s fashionable, yet not trendy. It’ll look good this season or a couple of seasons from now. It’s not open toe because you want to wear tights or pantyhose or trouser socks with it if you have to. This is a pretty broad description, so you’d think it wouldn’t be too hard to find. But really, it totally is!!
Let’s take a look at some of the shoes available on the market.
ugh. Snoring. Or just plain ugly and orthopedic looking.
Now for some of my favourites.
Sigh. Why are some of my favourites by Louboutin? Because there is no way I’m laying down $600 on a pair of shoes anytime soon. Can’t some cobbler out there make a shoe that is similar to the shoes I covet (without being blatant knockoffs) with a slightly more affordable price tag than 600 clams? Is it really so much to ask?
I bought a pair the other day and when I got to work they were all wrong. I ended up putting my ballet flats back on and spent part of the day thinking I might return them. They were just blah. I’m not looking for “Holy Crap! Those are the Bestest Shoes Evar!” I just want shoes I can love and wear with pants or with skirt.
The shoes I wish I had bought? The shoes I may need to go back and buy before someone else scoops them up? These bad boys:
They don’t really fit with the kind of perfect black shoe I’m talking about, but they were a little bit perfect in their own right. I talked myself into the more practical, more affordable shoe. And, of course, completely regretted my decision.
AllyG: Nice post, L-A! If everyone hasn’t already noticed, my blogging is going to be irregular for the next while. Not only is it tough to find computer time, but I scramble for ideas since these days the only fashion related theme I encounter is the daily decision to wear sweatpants or leggings. In exciting news, I have made an appointment to get my hair did. Shall I post a before and after? Don’t look at the before pic prior to sleeping, you’ll be up all night with nightmares. I look like your mama after she’s tossed back a box of wine and spent the night rearranging her underwear drawer. What? Your mom never did that? KIDDING, MOM!
AllyG: I’m so annoyed today. Can someone riddle me why every other province has placed caretakers of infants under six months old as priority for the H1N1 vaccine except N.S.? Yes, I’m sure there is a rationale answer, but lord help us if I come down with the illness and El Jeffe is left to look after BabyG on his own. He’s an amazing father, but you can only play “airplane” for so long before BabyG gets annoyed. I’ll save the vent for a more appropriate venue and instead pour verbal vomit over the outfit that Camilla chose to put on in St. John’s yesterday.
Even Chuck (no, not our dear Chuck) is like, “Girl, W.T.F.? Those boots look like kneesocks”. Cammy’s all, “I know. EFF OFF.” Shameful. Simply shameful.
On to one of our favourite subjects, that of Lady Gaga. Faithful reader, Martin sent this gem along…
So, so good.
In other news, it was kindly brought to our attention via a comment that we had used someone’s image on an early post (back in the days when we often forgot to source). Please know we mean no harm (except to Lilo…we will continue to make fun of her as she wastes away opportunity after opportunity), and all you have to do is gently ask us to remove the offensive image. No need for the below language:
“Hey you thieves.
you stole our image on how to tie scarfs.
take it off you slime shits”
C’mon Meryl (is that your real name? If so, totes sorry), “slime shits”…really? Throw us a bone. We’re totally new at this. For the rec? We didn’t like your image that much anyway.
Kisses,
AllyG
L-A: Under normal circumstances, we would have apologized and then quietly taken down such a picture that belonged to someone else. Because that’s what we say we’ll do. But Meryl decided her only course of action was to be totes rude and call us ‘thieves’ and ’slime shits’ (not the most genius of insults). We did take the picture down, but not without letting all y’all know that not only do we enjoy a bit of hate mail (we don’t take it personally unless we actually know you), we also enjoy sharing said hate mail with the world. Thanks Meryl! You’re our first hate mail!
Moving on to the Duchess or whatever she is of where ever it is the queen said she could be Duchess of (after king/queen prince/princess, I can’t keep royal titles straight. Unless they want to give me a title. Then I will totally learn how they work). Instead of Duchess, we can call her Your Royal Frumpiness.
If the British do one thing well (they do more than one thing well, but that’s besides the point), it is hats. There is hardly a country on this planet that has a better collection of hats. So what is up with the frumptacular fur piece? (Also, as cold as it probably was in Brigus this morning, I don’t think the blanket was necessary). Then again, she did wear this hat to her wedding, so why am I surprised buy her hat choices this week?
I’ve seen better hats at a Coronation Street wedding and those ladies are not known for their keen fashion sense.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to compare Camilla to Diana – that would be unfair. I’m just saying if you’re married to the guy who is supposed to get to be King (unlikely, since his mom refuses to die), you could maybe try a little harder. Let’s just take another look at that outfit from St. John’s (sorry there aren’t better pictures of her outfit. News photographers do not seem to be interested in pictures of what people are wearing…what is up with that?):
How hard is it to get a coat with a waist? Even the PM’s wife Laureen – not known for being the most stylish at the first ladies lunches (at least she hasn’t been since Michelle and Carla joined in) – is doing it better. Absolutely killing it is our GG Michaëlle Jean. Cute detail on the skirt, but check out the jacket:
Even the lady behind her is admiring the outfit. I bet she nudged the Constabulary officer next to her as she sucked in her breath and said, “that jacket’s some nice on her isn’t it?” That is the face the woman is making. The “some nice, isn’t it” face. Because that jacket is some nice. I don’t love the fabric, but it looks good on her. I like the tailoring and I especially love the cute little button at the top. Looking good Michaëlle, looking good. Unlike Duchess Frumpy.
Sheesh lady. Get a tailor. I know you can afford one.
Oh, and we totally forgot to wish Our Hero (my hero) Anna Wintour a happy birthday yesterday!
I feel as though birthdays are probably beneath her, but then again, everything (including this blog) is beneath Anna Wintour. And that’s kind of why I love her. Also because she has a killer hair cut. So Happy 60th Anna! You are fantastic!
