Archive for Fashion

February has finished, and with it the challenge to wear the same little black dress everyday for the whole month.

My friend Diana and I decided to try and undertake a LBDD experiment after our friend Micol initiated the challenge for herself in January.

Diana’s recap of her LBDD experience can be found here: 28 Days Later (D’oh! She beat me to the clever title). And the catalyst for us – Micol’s original recap of her LBDD experiment.

I didn’t take photos every day, and wound up not wearing the dress twice. Once because I spilt a massive cup of coffee on myself (usually I manage to do this on pristine white bed sheets as Diana has been witness to in the past), and the other time I underestimated how long it would take to hang dry. What with the recent weather, I really didn’t fancy being a Jamie-sicle in a wet dress out in sub zero temperatures.

Overall, the dress held up well. It did however get a small hole in it, but given the fact I didn’t change my normal laundry routine and it was washed frequently in a machine and tumble dryer, it survived pretty decently.

What Did I Learn?

• If I were to do it again, I would choose a dress that was slightly longer and made from a thicker cotton. The dress wasn’t super short, but given the Canadian winter and that it was made from a lightweight cotton, I had to do a lot of layering so as not to freeze.

• The challenge really showed me just how much excess I still have in my wardrobe and how much clothing I’m really not wearing on a regular basis.

• As Diana noted and I whole heartedly agree with, the disposable clothing I have (ie. cheap leggings/tights) from fast fashion giants really didn’t wear well after awhile. I wound up throwing out several pairs of leggings and tights that just fell apart. My Black Milk Leggings? Wow, I already was a BM Fangirl, but even more so now. They held up well, and looked and felt  great.

• I am not a fan of my legs. Now don’t worry I’m not about to jump onto the self loathing train! Most people have some part of them they would love to change, I’m no different. BUT, a month of wearing a relatively short dress with my large calves on display surprisingly did a lot of good. Maybe it’s the fact that Black Milk Leggings really do make your legs look awesome, or that I was confronted with my made for “Northern Rugby” legs daily that I quickly got over any self consciousness or dislike.

• I’m pretty ‘meh’ about a lot of my clothes. I used to put a lot of effort and energy into how I dressed when I was going to theatre school but since making the leap to working in an office I’ve found it challenging to find a middle ground between my personal and professional style. So what I have in my wardrobe can be rather impractical for day to day, or too bland for my after hours self. The LBDD experiment has come at just the right time as I was already beginning to undergo a personal style evolution/redefinition.

Like Diana, I too want to get more involved now in the creation of my own clothing – be it creating from scratch, modifying items to suit my style better or just generally being more thoughtful in my purchases in future.

Will I wear the dress again? Sure, but I need to patch that hole first!

Overall this has been a really insightful experiment. It’s shown me how little I need to get by, and that I would rather have fewer clothes but of a higher quality than a closet bursting with, well, throw away fashion.

Up next? The great closet purge of 2013 commences now!

My LBDD challenge for February is now over and it was an interesting 28 days in the same dress. I discovered during the past month just how important it is to have classic staple pieces in your wardrobe, which I’m actually sorely lacking. I have a lot of one off statement pieces to be worn alone, and unsurprisingly these don’t see much of a rotation through my closet.

The challenge now will be to really pare back my wardrobe even further and start properly investing in clothing which will last and can be remixed easily.

Here are a few items I would have loved to have worn this past month with my LBDD. A few are priced higher than what I’m used to paying for in the past but I think in the long run you really get what you pay for – especially if it’s from a small business and craftsperson. You’re much better saving up for something you truly love then spending money on a bunch of clothes you’re kind of ‘meh’ about, that also have dubious origins.

First Row

1. Miche Dulche Tulip Hat £195.00 from Shop 172
2. Galaxy Flex Cardigan $205.00 from All Saints
3. Elastic Harness from Norwegian Wood $49.00 USD

Second Row

4. Mechanical Leggings $75.00 AUD from Black Milk
5. Large Planchette Oracle Necklace from Blood Milk $200.00 USD
6. Long Orkney Angora Leg Warmers from Sock Dreams $60.00 USD

Third Row

7. Rune Rings $320.00 from Ovate
8. Pitch Leather Biker Jacket from All Saints $668.00 USD
9. Truths Genevieve Boots $419.00 from Fluevog

It’s been a week since I started my LBDD challenge.

What have the reactions been like so far? Well frankly, given the amount of black that normally rotates through my wardrobe on a regular basis, no one’s really noticed and if they have they’re too polite to comment.

I’ll admit the third day in I was a right grumpkin about it, but after getting over the initial hump for the most part I’ve found the challenge pretty liberating.

Sometimes you’re most free and creative when working within confines. What do I mean? Well, I’ll relate this back to theatre to explain (you know I always love doing that). If I was to devise a show from scratch, I might not know where to start. Being able to do anything can actually impede you sometimes, as you can get totally overwhelmed by the complete, utter freedom to do whatever.

Given a loose framework or base stimulus to start from helps give structure and a guide to work within.

The LBDD challenge is just that. I have to wear the same black dress everyday. That’s the one stipulation. What else I wear with it, is totally and entirely up to me. I have a starting point, a constant and from there I build, much like how I would start to create a theatre show.

One thing I’ve noticed is just how much I wear jeans these days, particularly Skinny Jeans or Jeggings. But never these kind of Jeggings (see said photo to the left.)

It’s not a jean, it’s not a legging. It’s – Jeggings! Oh the horror!

Yes, well, comedic interlude aside. I really miss my jeans. Especially since the weather in Toronto is being properly Canadian right now, what with 25cm of snow due to hit tonight. Viva layering is all I can say.

I’m also trying to limit how much I wear my Black Milk Leggings with the dress as I could easily get away with wearing Black Milk everyday of the week (and I’m sure some girls do judging by the Sharkie fandom for BM).

Additionally I’ve noticed that I don’t actually have that many pairs of wearable shoes these days compared to what can best be described as an “over abundance” of shoes only a few years ago.

The couple of pairs that I do have, are looking a bit worse for wear and falling apart. This is the one thing that the “work fashionistas” seem to have clocked. I was given the up-down-once-around look the other day, and caught them alighting on my busted Doc Marten’s.

And that’s all from the LBDD Files for this week. Friday evening will be interesting as I have a more fancy night out event to go to, so we’ll see how well I can pull off the dress then!

This month, I’ll be wearing the same Little Black Dress every day.

…say what!?

Yes, that’s right, the same dress.

The challenge – wear the same little black dress every day in February. The dress in question is a simple cotton one purchased from fast fashion retail giant H&M for the grand total of $14.95 CDN.

This undertaking is inspired by my friend Micol’s (re)action to consumerism, sweatshop labour and waste. In January she wore the same LBDD from Forever 21 everyday as a personal experiment and reaction to excessive consumerism in North America, among many other reasons as well.

My good friend Diana is also undertaking this challenge for February, unbeknownst to me when I decided to follow Micol’s lead.

Diana, Micol and I all met back in the early heydays of internet newsgroups on alt.gothic.fashion (yes we’re all recovering goths *cough*). It’s not a huge step out of our comfort zone to wear a black dress everyday, but the same one? That will be a completely different matter.

A.G.F was a fantastic newsgroup where we were constantly inspired and challenged with building and creating interesting wardrobes. There was a lot of DIY, vintage and thrifting to create looks but it was also an enabling nightmare. With bludgeoning internet retailers being discovered and shared with one another and the beginning of fast fashion making readily available even cheaper clothing that gelled with our alternative styles, it was bound to get out of control.

Years later, we’re all still suffering from shopping hangovers and overflowing wardrobes of beautiful and stunning impracticalities.

So when Micol started with her LBDD campaign, I decided to follow suit.

My reasons are similar to hers, and I’m under no illusion that this will change the world. It’s a personal challenge and reflection on the nature of my own consumerism.

My hope is that this LBDD month will help me in future be more thoughtful about my purchases, and that I’ll work towards supporting small business and individual artisans and crafts people instead of always looking for the cheapest deal. Because often the cheapest deal, is not the best deal for everyone concerned.

Photo credit: The very talented and wonderful Connie Tsang

It’s not often I get excited about the launch of a clothing line, but I’ll admit as of late H&M is certainly changing this.

With the recent release of their  Divided’s ‘Grey Concept’ line described as a “New Rock n Roll Concept – Rough cuts and gorgeous details”, it’s right up my alley. A perfect look with edge – grown up without compromising its style.

Featuring the lovely ombre haired Alice Dellal at the center of the campaign, the line is not unlike last years Trish Summerville ‘Dragon Tattoo’ range (which I also loved, and was able to pick up several pieces – though not *the coat*)

 “Youthful rebellion drives this collection. Mixing aesthetics across the board, a fabulous fusion of dishevelled grunge rock and garments to die for layered together to create a new edgy collection”

The Grey Concept is currently available in select stores (but not available online in Canada – boo!)

With really reasonably priced classic pieces this collection will certainly fly.

Photos From: H&M
Art Direction: Stina Daag