Showing posts with label Trends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trends. Show all posts
Graphic prints have been an important trend over the past few years. Chevron shapes, stripes, polka dots, and houndstooth have all had their moments in the sun. This Spring, I'm spotting gingham everywhere; from shoes to dresses to home decor.

Gingham looks, from left: Altuzarra, Oscar de la Renta and Diane von Furstenberg.

Gingham, which you might associate with Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, or the lovely Brigitte Bardot (who famously wore pink gingham on her wedding day), is typically light cotton check fabric.


This season gingham was big on the runways. At once retro and innocent, it is also romantic, cheery, and it feels very fresh and new among graphic prints. Certainly an expansion of last year's buffalo plaid trend, this warm-weather version of checkers is available this season on numerous products.
Dolce and Gabbana Dress and Shoe

I'm loving this look-alike-for-less gingham dress by Canadian retailer Simons.

find it here

Gingham in home decor can look a little too "country" for my tastes, but I love this modern kitchen. With the addition of some gingham it's the perfect balance of retro and modern, preventing the look from being too one-note.

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Here the gingham is in the pillows, paired with a classic Hudson Bay blanket. Both of these retro styles mix with modern furnishings so well, using colour to do all the heavy lifting in this design. (Check out this entire decor story, actually...it's great.)


I picked up my first gingham piece last summer, a sleeveless black and white gingham shell, and it fit well with almost anything in my wardrobe, adding a touch of retro to my summer style, and it worked well with both casual and dressy outfits. I think that's what I love most of all about gingham; it's casual, and effortless.

What patterns are you craving this year? I suspect I'll be picking up some more gingham before this season is through....

Here's a polyvore set I created using some absolutely swoon-worthy (read fairly unattainable high fashion) items:

Here in Eastern Ontario it doesn't feel like we had a Spring. It may not be accurate to say so but it feels like it snowed last week, and this week it is summer. In fact, it's currently a sunny 28 degrees and we probably need to install our air conditioning.

I'm not complaining. The warm weather is here, and this past weekend I was itching to be in a garden. Since I live in a lovely apartment above a store with deep windowsills (but no outdoor space) I visited the local greenhouse looking for some inspiration and ideas on what to grow indoors. 


I started by picking out some thai basil, parsley, and oregano. These can be a challenge to keep alive for very long on the windowsill (especially since I'll be making cuttings for my cooking!) but they will last quite well with a little maintenance, and it's just so lovely to have fresh herbs when making dinner.

For Christmas, my mom got me this cute growing kit that will soon sprout certified organic micro greens! 

They're still saran-wrapped to create a greenhouse-like environment for the seeds, and it will be great to have fresh basil and arugula micro-greens to eat.


I also picked up a Jade plant to add to my succulent collection, and though I know it grows best in an east-facing window, I'm hoping it will hold up in my north-facing windows...if it doesn't, I'll move it to the west facing windows where my herbs reside, which will surely do the trick.


I couldn't resist picking up this cute pre-planted hanging pot, I'm not 100% sure what it is, though some of these planters had air plants, I believe this is a succulent or cactus. I also planted a little collection of cacti! We had planted this one last summer but lost them over the holidays when we went home for a week, and turned off the heat....hopefully this year I'll be clever enough to think up a energy-saving solution that will also keep these little guys warm!


A spring refresh definitely boosts the spirits, and it genuinely feels wonderful to get your hands in the dirt.

On the topic of flowers, I was recently sent some information on the jewellery brand, Alex and Ani. I first heard of it at the Alberta Gift Fair I attended for work in February. It's got a back story that people are attracted to; being made in America and boosting the economy and general well-being in Rhode Island through charity and partnerships. I was interested to see that they have a floral collection that includes a marigold.



Marigolds are something I'm attached to, and will certainly be planting when I (one day) have a garden again. My mom has always planted marigolds, saving the seeds season-to-season, so they feel familiar and remind me of home. Orange is my favourite colour, it's the flower of my birth month, October, and was the flower I wanted to base my tattoo on. 



Alex and Ani says of their bangle:

"Marigold: the flower of the creative heart. Flaring with brilliant, fiery hues, the Marigold was a flower of medieval blessing, placed on doorways and believed to offer powerful protection. Associated with October, the Marigold promotes independence and the spread of creativity."

Which is really just a perfect description. If you're interested in this collection, you can purchase them at The Bay in Canada. 

I've definitely had flowers on the brain lately. I've spent some more time looking at flowers this year than usual, as I'm planning our wedding for August. I won't be going the route of super-trendy floral crowns (my look isn't really bohemian), but I will be putting together my own bouquet. I worked as a floral designer for years, and I can't really imagine letting anyone else do it!

Some images that have been inspiring to me:

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I haven't settled on exactly what I want the bouquets to look like, but one flower I plan to use for sure is a carnation. After my years spent working in a flower shop, I've felt that the carnation is an under-appreciated flower. People seem to have the idea that they are tacky. I couldn't disagree more; in my view any flower in its natural state can't be tacky (I'm side-eyeing you, neon-dyed roses) and it's all in how you use it that makes it work.

Appropriately, carnations in general are a symbolic flower that have to do with the bonds of affection. It is a symbol of health and energy, along with fascination and love. Of course as with any cultivated flower many meanings have been attached to the different colours. In Western culture, white carnations are said to represent pure love and good luck, so it is a wise choice for a wedding!

I have hesitated to blog about the wedding because in general, I don't think the world needs another wedding blog... but I thought I'd share a couple of details in the post, especially because they are topical! It is pretty all-consuming, but its fun to plan a wedding. I've always enjoyed a good party, and this is the biggest one I've ever planned! One aspect I'm very excited about is our venue.

img courtesy the garden path

We're getting married at The Garden Path in Vankleek Hill. It's such a pretty spot for a wedding, with a wide variety of flowers and herbs growing to supply their all natural homemade soaps. They also grow milkweed and are a designated monarch butterfly waystation. Monarch Waystations are places that provide resources necessary for monarchs to produce successive generations and sustain their migration. Without milkweeds throughout their spring and summer breeding areas in North America, monarchs would not be able to produce the successive generations that culminate in the migration each fall.

I'm sure to blog more about the wedding once it's happened, but for now that's all the details I'm willing to share!



Read more:

If you're interested in becoming a Monarch Waystation, learn more about it here.
If you're interested in Vankleek Hill or the Garden Path, check out this blog post.
Read the story of Alex and Ani here.
Want to know everything about the Dianthus caryophyllus (aka carnation)? Start here.
Want more wedding sneak peeks? Check out my pinterest account.

I love wearing vintage jewellery. In fact, I recently got engaged and my fiance knew me well enough to know that I would appreciate wearing my grandmother's ring more than a big blingy new one. And now that I'm wearing it, wearing new jewellery alongside it just doesn't work.

In an exceptionally well-timed turn of events I received a package in the mail from Elle Fulton this week asking me to review their vintage jewellery collection. I was super excited about it because the collection is vintage jewellery, that has never been worn before!

When I opened the postal package, I was delighted to see a petite printed gift box. Wrapped with a pretty black bow and branded with the company's name, the box contained a selection of their vintage charms for me to try out.

The package also contained a note from Tina, the company's founder. In it she explains that the jewellery line is created from new old-stock pieces sourced from warehouses across Canada and the USA. Those pieces are combined with new findings and charms that she convinced one small manufacturer to being making again out of old casting molds. Some of the items were even sourced from the basement of a family who had kept a stash of these items from an old business for decades! 

These pieces come from an era before costume jewellery was all made overseas. The brand has a mission to bring North America's lost jewellery back to the public. It's a fascinating story that tells the tale of a passion project that has turned into a business.

The Canadiana collection is the first items I had to try right out of the box. The Ontario necklace and Canada ring are instant favourites and total conversation pieces when worn; the most common being, "Where did you get that?!"

The Mountie ring is vintage 1960's, and I can just imagine it being picked up in a souvenir shop by a Brit summering in Canada, can't you?

The pretty and petite Ontario charm necklace is also 1960's, and it brings me a feeling of pride to wear it! The 1960's, was an era of heightened nationalist passions in Canada. But the Canadian flag as we know it today didn't exist until 1965! 

These adorable jewellery pieces reflect that era of nationalism and the desire to forge our collective identity.

Check out the entire Canadian Collection on Elle Fulton here.

Elle Fulton also has some cool rings for US states, check out the full range of vintage rings here. 


The next item I tried on is the geometric etched glass ring.

I love orange, and the geometric pattern of this ring reminds me of a starburst. The lace edge on the setting really enhances the vintage feel. I'll wear this piece with everything from denim to an evening look.

The last piece I tried out I have to admit was my absolute favourite to photograph and wear!


I snapped a pic of this necklace against a vintage movie poster
for "The Happy Thieves", an old  Rita Hayworth film. 
The Citrine Heart Tassel necklace is so pretty. The tassel is perfectly on-trend and it's 1960's vintage, so it's true what they say, everything old is new again! Tassels look gorgeous when worn because they add movement and texture.

The citrine heart is made from vintage glass. This item is also available in emerald, amethyst, milky way, and ruby stones, if those are more to your taste than the pretty warm yellow hue I tried out.

I have been wearing a lot more warm hues lately. Since highschool, I've been a loyal wearer of all things black, and I realized recently that while black is easy for me to wear, it doesn't necessarily make me stand out in a crowd! As I've gotten older I've become more comfortable with wearing eye catching reds, oranges, and pinks.

This necklace is perfect with two of my favourite red items, my red pencil dress and as pictured here, my red wrap blouse. The necklace adds a nice bohemian touch and softens the overall look. It really changes up the appearance of these two items in my closet, when when paired with more modern jewellery look very geometric and urban. Paired with vintage Elle Fulton pieces, they both look more glamourous and retro, an effect I really enjoy!


Elle Fulton's shop also includes vintage-inspired pieces, like these gorgeous cocktail rings. Currently they are offering free shipping on orders over $100 and free gift packaging as well! These make perfect little stocking stuffers for the vintage-lover in your life. There's much more on the site than I've reviewed here, so head over there and browse the collections. There's a lot I'm sure any retro fan will be crazy for. 

Check out Elle Fulton on Facebook, I hear there is much more to be added to the shop soon and this will keep you in the loop!

Thanks to Elle Fulton for sending me this lovely little package, I'm sure to wear these pieces throughout the holiday season!

 Update: Catch Elle Fulton's mention in this Canadian Living Mother's Day Guide! 
Update 2: Elle Fulton has launched a Kickstarter campaign! Follow it here.

Just a quick post today to urge you to pop over to Retail Insider! I'm excited to be writing for this web publication in a freelance capacity.

Check out my first post on the West Edmonton Mall and the trend of "retailtainment" here:
http://www.retail-insider.com/retail-insider/2014/10/wem


One of my favourite things about forecasting trends is when I suddenly and unexpectedly feel an attraction to a particular colour. It's fascinating to me that the world of colour marketing is so effective. How incredible is it that even when I feel I could never love a colour again, I suddenly look at my wardrobe and wonder why I own none of it? (The answer is, I donated those things years ago, sure I would never wear them again.)

At the moment I'm craving light pink. I'm not talking about Pantone's 2014 Colour of the Year Radiant Orchid, it's more of a purple-pink. I'm talking baby blanket, extra soft, subtle, pale pink.

“Pink is the color of joy and femininity, it lets you believe in a quiet and beautiful future”
- Christian Dior


My style is a bit more edgy than feminine, more tom-boy than pretty-in-pink. But lately I've been feeling an urge to bring more softness to my style. And of course, I know that this is coming from a larger fashion trend.

Rachel Zoe's blog the Zoe Report has a great slideshow that features this light pink trend as it stormed runways in 2014. Light pink, though it's generally more popular as a spring look, was essential even in Fall collections. There are even a ton of great wool coat options available in pink this winter! Check out the slideshow here.

Mixing pink with basic blacks and whites seems to be the most common and easy way of adding the hue to an existing wardrobe. Which is the way I want to add it--possibly a pretty pink sweater paired with black skinny jeans and heavy-metal-inspired jewellery, a sort of grandma-punk pairing that makes the pretty less saccharine.

The great thing about Pink is that it matches almost anything. In a shoe pale pink is as neutral as nude. Pair them with a green, blue, black, brown or purple dresses easily, or match them with a red, orange, yellow or printed dress if you are more daring.

source









So many things from the 1990's are back. Grungy plaids, doc martins, high waisted jeans... and I can't help but think the upsurge in pink is a small part of that. What is old is truly new again, and we haven't seen a massive popularity in this hue since the mid 1990's. Hot pink and fuchsia took over their paler sister in the late 90's and early 2000's with edgy and garish pairings winning out over more subtle, pretty looks. As we are now tiring of those combinations, a return to pale pink as a wardrobe staple is here.

In the summer I purchased a pink pair of shoes to wear with a red dress. I suspect a pretty pink sweater is in my future, but I don't think I will go as far as a pink winter coat. What do you feel about light pink? Have you felt the urge to purchase pink or have you already?

More pink links:

Check out my Pink Crush board on Pinterest
What do you think of pale pink in home decor?


Sometimes inspiration comes from unexpected sources. A short while ago my mom gave me a vintage pair of driving gloves she was planning to downsize from her closet.

I put them on and they just felt right. I wore them yesterday with monochromatic look including a blazer and a pair of skinny black jeans.












Immediately I felt like a feminine Karl Lagerfeld, and ready to take on the world. Of course, I'm must less dramatic and demanding than Karl, but that doesn't mean I can't take inspiration from his sense of personal style.

"Karl Who?" you ask?



Why, Karl Lagerfeld, of course, the German fashion designer, writer and artist, current head designer at Chanel. He's chic, and fierce, and any other of those fashionable adjectives. What I appreciate about his sense of style is that while it is simple, it is anything but boring. He mixes basic pieces with over the top finishes and manages to do it with a sense of humour.



What I'm taking from it this spring:
Sharp tailoring
Jeans with formal wear
Oversized jewellery
Black aviators
Skinny pants
Bright whites
Plaids and Stripes in small doses
and of course, Gloves!


Here's my spring Polyvore inspiration board. Luckily for me and my budget, many of these pieces are already in my wardrobe, and the others I will seek from vintage and thrift stores. Happy Spring!




Karl.



Read more:
Karl.com
Karl Lagerfeld on Twitter
A Karl timeline on Vogue.co.uk
Karl interviewed by Vice
Spend 24 hrs with Karl via Harpers Bazaar 



The Spring 2013 Pantone colour report is available to read online! I always enjoy having a look through the report. It's interesting how colour trends evolve. I'm really in love with the colour combination Poppy Red, Nectarine, and Monaco blue. Rich tones that are still bright and joyous! I'm ready for spring. Which colours will you want to wear?

Read the report here. 


This is a the second post in a series. The 2011 list can be found here.

This list is in no particular order, and is not scientific in the least. It's about trends and observations, so I'd like to hear if you agree or disagree.

#10: Songs that sound like they could be Police songs.




Right?

#9 Barack Obama
I'm Canadian, but we canucks love watching a good ol' American election. The drama! The huge budgets! The far right wing nuts! It's all really much more exciting than our own political environment. Barack Obama was re-elected in 2012 and also had the most re-tweeted tweet of all time. He's a political rock star and everyone (well, everyone in Canada at least) loves him.

















#8 Memes
I mentioned the Hey Girl meme in my list last year, and memes get a broader mention this year, because I've witnessed a tipping point in 2012, largely due to how facebook has allowed images to be shared. Last year your mom joined facebook, this year she shared a meme for the first time. I teach social media classes and I started using popular memes in my lectures with students. They love it. They help us connect. Perhaps most people don't really know what memes are, but a meme is defined as a style or idea that spreads from person to person within a culture. It could be a song you get stuck in your head, a gesture, a familiar pattern. But what I'm talking about are internet memes. It seems that in 2012 internet memes hit a tipping point and now you, your mom, and someone you barely knew in highschool are making visual image memes and sharing them on facebook. I remember a few years ago I could make reference to the Deal with It meme in casual conversation and rarely would I meet someone who knew what I was referencing, unless they were as big an internet nerd as I am. Now everyone knows popular meme references, and memes create celebrities. Angelina Jolie's leg was a meme instantly while she was on the red carpet at an awards show. It's been suggested her "people" informed her and she played it up later that evening while on stage, to encourage discussion about her leg. And who could forget Binders Full of Women, which was perfectly timed to be a halloween costume meme?
Read more: Know Your Meme

#7 Going to McDonalds for coffee
They gave it away free a bunch of times and now I know how great their cups are with the fun little lids and double walled sides and now I go to McDonalds just for coffee sometimes. Many locations are now McCafe locations made to look like coffeeshop/burger joints. Obviously this is a strategic move by the company, and it's totally working.

#6 Proper Men's Haircuts
The whole manly-men Mad Men trend of a properly tailored suit has been around for a few years. Lumberjack shirts and beards and proper boots and pants that fit at the waist have become fairly mainstream. And the proper men's haircut has been around for a few years as well, but I saw it hit mainstream culture in 2012. Almost entirely gone are frosty spikes and heavily gelled coifs styled for height. Men's hair is all about a good cut, a respectable style, and smooth finish. Even on big punk rock dudes with lots of tattoos and bikers and gay men. It's across the board. Thank goodness.





 #6 Weird weather
Are people still denying climate change? Because I wore socks and long pants until August and then it was warm until mid-December. Check out some of the record temperatures this year.

(Probably a bad choice of image.
I'm sure Jon Stewart was making
an astute and clever observation.)
#5 Old media sources talking about new media sources
This is more of a pet peeve than anything, but I need to take a minute to rant about this. Have you watched a news cast lately? They love to talk about twitter on the news. They reference twitter on a regular basis for breaking news stories, obtain quotes, get "feedback" from their "viewers" and ask you to follow them constantly. This annoys me to no end. Want to know why newscaster? Because if I wanted the news from twitter I'd be on twitter. Nothing says "your format is dead" than you constantly talking about that other media format all the time. For another example, check out the internet sensation -come-radio hit Gangnam Style.

#4 Sharing: Being inspired by lies/Marketing on Tragedy
Those stories on facebook attached to a picture that are totally made up, but tug on your heartstrings and have 250k likes. Politicians and news anchors just blatantly making things up and calling them scientific facts. Companies selling products and donating "10% of profits to victims of...", capitalizing on your guilt, and other snake oils sales tactics. (Like this one and this one.) Gosh, the world was really gross in 2012. Since we have smart phone technology and ipads every 50 feet, perhaps we should all take a moment to review the information in front of us, and find out truths before we make snap judgements. With a world of information rushing at us constantly, it's important to investigate and think critically about what we think we know. Just because sharing has been made easier doesn't mean we should think less about what we share. Better sharing includes research. I often start at snopes, a classic website that helps you to investigate things you read on the internet and urban legends. And while people criticize wikipedia, it's actually been found to be highly reliable. Well, according to this article on wikipedia anyhow. So take that as you will.

#3 The overuse of the words Amazing and Awesome. 
No, everything isn't amazing and/or awesome. I'm very guilty of this. Can we either increase our standards of what qualifies as "amazing" or decrease our use of the word? It would really have a lot more meaning if we could do that.

#2 Chia Seeds
What the heck are these little delicious things? Are they the same things as are used on Chia pets? Who knows, but I do know they are healthy and I saw them on everything this year, and before 2012 I'd never heard of them before. Now they're the new superfood and they're in everything. I keep thinking the growing popularity of superfoods like acai, chia or gogi is a combination of our collective excessive boredom with having millions of foods to choose from, combined with a generalized fear of all existing food options thanks to the industrial farming industry and the documentaries and books that have revealed it to us. Whatever, I'm going to eat up all the chia and feel better for it. It's probably because I spent all of 2011 eating bacon on everything.


#1 YOLO
Or, You Only Live Once. An excuse to do something stupid, because, you know, you're young and you don't live forever. Oddly enough there's a part of me that isn't entirely opposed to this philosophy, because in spirit it's very similar to carpe diem, or "seize the day". Unfortunately, it's become a phrase associated with doing really stupid and irresponsible things, feeling like an invincible teenager, and then shouting YOLO! after as an excuse.  The phrase is currently connected to the Drake song "The Motto" but is also attributed to Mae West and has been used for over 100 years, including as far back as (the German equivalent of) "one lives but once in the world" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in the play Clavigo in 1774 and as the title of a waltz Man lebt nur einmal! ("You Only Live Once!") by Johann Strauss II in 1855. It really goes to show, everything old is new again.

Prediction for 2013? DONUTS. Hot food trend.
Happy New Year!
Most yearly roundup lists focus on a particular topic: newsmakers, albums, events, and so on. My list is going to attempt to round up things about 2011 that stand out to me as defining for the year as a whole. I'm staying away from politics and world issues because you know, I care about that stuff, but it isn't what I blog about.

#10 Bacon
Bacon has been building in popularity for the past few years but it truly reached a new level in the mainstream market in 2011. I got bacon marmalade for Christmas, and the guys from Epic Meal Time took bacon strips (& bacon strips) to new levels of gluttony.  





#9 Girls Kicking Ass
The past couple of years have been dominated by the Twilight female, one who waits around for her stalker to love her enough for marriage. She's helpless. Right now the feeling is a little different. The Hunger Games  is the hot teen trilogy, with an ass-kicking female lead who needs no man (even though she has two to choose from) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is on best-sellers lists internationally, while being made into a film for the second time.

#8 Dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music. It isn't new in 2011, but it hit critical mass in 2011 and went from being an underground sound to so common in the mainstream that Britney Spears used a dubstep breakdown in a single. She'd been dabbling in the sound since 2007, and of course the roots of the sound can be traced back to at least the late nineties, arguably farther than that. As the sound began to hit pop charts around the world in 2010, it was really 2011 that the trend hit hard and suddenly everyone you know is posting dubstep tracks on social media channels, nightclubs began hosting dubstep nights, and dubstep artists are performing in arenas. While I personally think there is a lot of really bad dubstep out there, I will admit that I love the Zeds Dead remix of Paradise Circus by Massive Attack. 


#7 Hashtags
Even people who aren't on twitter (where the hashtag originated as a tool to help users find interesting tweets) are now using hashtags. The National Post does a hashtag feature, rounding up tweets on a particular subject using them, creating an article. But the use moves beyond trends or sorting ideas as originally intended. Long has the idea of a sarcasm grammar tool been discussed, but the hashtag is fast becoming a way to denote a joke, self depricate or poke fun at something. I laughed so hard I cried at a stream of tweets using #failedchildrensbooktitle. An example? The Little Engine that said Screw It.


#6 Your Mom Joining Facebook
Social media has been a buzz phrase for a few years and now your mom knows what it is, and how to use it. Use of social media tools like facebook among baby boomers and seniors jumped from 18% to 65% across various platforms on the web between 2008 and 2011, with 73% of those users maintaining a facebook profile.


#5 Swag
"Swag" became the new "bling" in 2011, and hold onto your hats folks, but I'm pretty sure the phrase will be as tired as the phrase "bling bling" is within a few short months. The slang has been around since at least 2008, when Soulja Boy released Turn my Swag on, or maybe earlier in 2007 when M.I.A. said in her song Paper Planes "No one on the corner got swagger like us."
Swag, or Swagger is a way of defining how you present yourself, and either you have it, or you don't. You swagger when you're feeling stylish, powerful, looking your best. Therefore, you have swag.  It's more than mojo, it's more than style. It's a blend of style, attitude and freshness. You don't necessarily need to wear certain brands or expensive things to have swag, but you have to have an attitude to carry it off. It's harder to define than a simple trend or idea, in the same way that defining what "cool" is, and is not, is almost impossible. Again: either you have swag, or you don't. In 2011, having swag was a big thing.


#4 Liking Things because they're Terrible
One of the top-ten viewed videos on Youtube this year was Rebecca Black's so-terrible-it's-funny Friday.
Personally this is a trend I'd like to see go away in 2012, instead can we focus on sharing things we seriously like? I'd rather give my time and attention to talent, instead of "epic fails".


#3 Ryan Gosling Hey Girl Meme
Memes are defined by Richard Dawkins as a tool for spreading cultural ideas. Two examples he provides are melodies or catch-phrases. Internet memes are jokes that travel, with various contributors. The themes are able to be related to by a number of different people, but usually they fall within a cultural group. The Ryan Gosling "Hey Girl" meme started with the blog Fuck Yeah! Ryan Gosling!  which had pictures of the actor with phrases entered across them that always start with, "Hey Girl..." and continued with some sort of phrase that would make him the perfect boyfriend. The meme has grown to include new sites on regular basis this year. It makes me wonder when the actor is going to make his own meme, dedicated to those who make the memes. Now, we're getting meta.

#2 Adele
I assume that almost all year-end lists from music publications will list Adele. She's a talent and crosses all sorts of boundaries. A soulful, honest songwriter that had a lot of success with her first album, Adele became accessible across every musical genre in 2011. The first single Rolling in the deep appealed to almost any music fan: country, punk, rap, soul, pop. Adele, though an incredible talent, owes huge thanks to her producer Rick Rubin, founder of Def Jam. He oversaw the production of the album and acted as lead producer on 5 of the tracks. Rubin started out as an alt-punk rocker but then became really interested in New York's hip hop scene. Def Jam is the label that signed Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys, so there's that, but Rubin went on to produce many of your favourite bands and songs, even making things you didn't think were going to be cool extremely cool. He was the one who suggested Johnny Cash cover Nine Inch Nails. He produced Red Hot Chili Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magik. When I read he was going to produce the new Adele album, I knew it would be something special. He brought an edge, an American country flavour and a deep soulful rhythm to her sound.



#1 Smartphones
Smartphones are now the highest-selling electronic device. Estimates put sales at 95 million units in 2011. 43% of mobile phone users had a smartphone by October of 2011, and it is now the majority of users that have one. People don't bother to take books or magazines on train rides, they watch movies on their phones. Remembering where something is, or getting directions? Pointless, there's a smartphone app for that. An interesting statistic to emerge from 2011 is that the Android platform is now the dominant brand in the market, controlling 53% of the market share, with Apple's iOS at only 15% and RIM's blackberry system at 11%. This puts Google in a powerful position to control the smartphone mobile market, and they are now emerging as the true competitor to the iphone market, overshadowing RIM and other players with incredible momentum. Smartphones are on track to completely redefine how we communicate, express ourselves, compartmentalize information, network and more. Sure to have far reaching impact in the coming years, it is hard to predict all the ways in which smartphones will change our lives. Looking back at this time in history, we are certain to remember our first smartphone, and how our habits changed as a result. Without question, I have to put smartphones as the biggest "thing" of 2011.

Happy New Year, readers! See you in 2012.

Animal Spots & Deep Hues


This is the time of year I look at my closet in utter frustration. I'm tired of summer gear, but the thought of putting socks on and wearing pants is completely unappealing. I am bored with last year's clothes! Since, like most people, I'm living on a budget, I can't just go out and buy a whole new Fall wardrobe, no matter how much I might want to.

Among my plans for getting ready for the Fall/Winter fashion season are:

1. Clean out my closet. I'm invited to a clothing swap in a few weeks, which are always a fun time. I haven't been in a while and they are always a good excuse to go through old things and figure out what works and what doesn't anymore. All the gals will get together, throw our clothes in the pile. Since everything you take with you is unwanted, even if you come home with just one swapped item it feels like success! The things that no one wants are then donated to charity. In the past I've gotten great items I've worn many times. The bonus to this is that going through your closet helps figure out what it is you want to fill in the gaps in your wardrobe.

2. Daydream. I hang out over on Polyvore sometimes, making little mood boards of styles I like. This helps me work through things I like and don't like, experiment with fashion and colour, and shop for things virtually that I couldn't ever afford in real life. It's fun paper-dolls for adults. 

3. Read the Fall issue of Vogue. Sure, it is mostly ads, but I love the layouts and checking out the new designs is very inspiring. Then, when I shop in thrift stores and discount shops, I can keep in mind what trends are coming up that might interest me. I'm not a person that follows trends to the letter, I like to pick and choose the ones that work for me. But being someone that has worked in trend forecasting in the past, I'm hyper aware of the fact that sometimes the desire to have a trendy item can't be avoided. It is weird how it just happens. Like floral prints. I really didn't expect myself to want floral printed anything ever again...but this summer, I picked up a couple of items. Everything old is new again, and feels fresh again with time. I like to stay in touch with what is going to be popular down the road so I can pick and thrift wisely. 

4. Shop vintage. Vintage shops, thrift stores, discount bins. These places are my friends. I'm never one to buy a whole look from a trendy store at full price, not because I disagree with that approach, but because I don't enjoy it! I think someone once wisely said that shopping is like hunting for many women; the search is as satisfying as the find. Shopping vintage is so rewarding to me, because to find something great, you have to work twice as hard. And when you do find something great, it feels as if it is one-of-a-kind.

5. Shop my Closet. This was the mantra for 'recessionistas' and I try to do it often. Just this week when running late for work I threw something together because I couldn't find the shoes I wanted. More than satisfied with the look I decided that I need to experiment with what I have more often. It isn't often that I truly need new clothes, so I just need to find new ways of putting together what I already have. 

Some Links!
I've just discovered Nasty Gal. The shoes are almost too much for me to handle.
Check me out on Polyvore - ad me as a friend if you use it and say hello!
Trend forecasters say animal prints are back in...I say, did they ever go out? 



Trends are interesting to me because they seem to always hit me the same way. First I hear about something here and there and don't think much of it. Then there's always the wallop. Suddenly in the space of a week or so I'll hear about something constantly. That's what has just happened with Planking. Planking is simple. You lie down, face down, with your arms touching your side in public. Usually you then have a photo taken and post it on the internet. Sometimes it is done as a performance piece over a longer period of time.



Sometimes referred to as "the laying down game" or my favourite, "lazy Parkour", Planking seems to have originated in Australia and has become an out-and-out fad this year. This past May, things started to hit a tipping point when a man was arrested for planking on a police car, and shortly afterwards Australian Prime Minister John Key was pictured with his son, Max Key, planking on a lounge suite. The photo of the PM and his planking son made the front page of a newspaper and soon became a phenomenon.

The internet based version of planking certainly seems to be about absurdity and humour, the joy of capturing the bizarre. Some would call it an internet meme like extreme ironing or flashmobbing.

But what of this other, fine art element? When does it cease to be a plank-prank and become performance art?

Recently the curator of the gallery I work for was at the Venice Biennale, and shared pictures of Canadian (but Beijing-born and NYC-based) artist Terence Koh's installation "Tell it Like It Is" (pictured below.) The installation consists of him laying with his head in an ancient well for over ten hours. While I'm not sure the artist would himself define his performance piece as "planking" it certainly seems to me to be  a similar type of art experiment. Has Terence turned an internet meme/street trend into contemporary performance art? It certainly seems that way, and I'm not the only one to make this pronouncement.


This past weekend I was in Kensington Market, Toronto for their Pedestrian Sundays. I stopped to observe three artists participating in a similar performance piece. Three tall square white pillars were placed on the sidewalk, each with a performer placed on or beside it. In the middle, a man sat on the pillar, but with arms dangling at his sides, bent at the waist with his head between his knees. On either side, the artists leaned up against the pillars, with their noses resting just on top of the pillar, arms at their sides...as if they were 'vertically' planking. With no signage, I was unable to ascertain who the performers were (and also didn't have a camera unfortunately).  Here's a picture I was able to find of a similar performance piece on flickr.

I of course immediately think of planking when I see this because it has the same arresting effect. Especially in the hustle-bustle of Pedestrian Sundays, a completely still figure cuts a sharp contrast to the swirl and noise happening around it.

Observers seemed to look quizzically at the display for a moment or two, then moved along. Some stood and stared for a longer period. We stopped for a moment or two, and during the time we were there the fellow in the position pictured at left seemed to want to stretch his ankles and made tiny movements to do so. I wondered if they were falling asleep. He was careful to keep the rest of his body in the exact posture however, and his two companions were remarkably still during our time there.

While this long-term posing seems closer to what Terence Koh is doing, it also seems similar to me to planking. There is certainly a trend emerging of these long, still performance works. I'm no expert in performance art but I am also calling to mind the work of Marina Abramovic, whose work explores the relationships between performer and audience as well as the limits of the human body and mind. Her work won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Biennale in 1997 and she had a major installation at the Museum of Modern Art in NY in 2010 called The Artist is Present. 

That seven hundred and thirty six hour long work involved the artist sitting still in a chair, with the possibility for an audience member to sit across from her and look into her eyes for a time. The work gathered much press (especially since celebrities such as Bjork and James Franco were in the audience and participated). Each person who sat with the artist had their portrait captured. Those pictures can be seen here and they are quite haunting.

This stillness - planking in unusual places, leaning on pillars in the midst of a bustling pedestrian-filled street, laying face down for ten hours over a well, or sitting in a chair for over 700 hours is a trend that I can't ignore. I'm not sure what to call it, so I've gone with Planking. If you have another term for me, please share. Perhaps it is the intensity and fast pace of our lives that has led artists to take time to demonstrate the opposite of this life experience through a complete rejection of action and tension.

(I'm posting this blog without discovering who the Kensington Market artist is - if you know, please comment, and I'm also continuing to research it. So if I find out, I'll update this post.)
Read More:
See pictures of planking around the world.
Link to the Toronto Planking Association
"Planking Turns Deadly" via the Globe and Mail
Photos of how the other half lives - Vito Schnabel's party celebrating Terence Koh's installation

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