Blog Makeover!

Some makeovers seem to go over better than others .... ahem

All you faithful HQ blog readers will probably notice the subtle differences that have been made to the blog. Others, well, you probably a)haven't noticed and b)don't care C)found this blog accidentally

So for all the faithful people, hope you like it, we think it better reflects the store itself, we hope it gives you a nice homey warm feeling inside. Also we're adding links to all the wonderful artists/designers we work with (see the column on the right) They're not all there right now, but we're slowly getting them up, have patience!

Enjoy the new colours/fonts/design, and also please enjoy the below "Makeover!" episode of Clone High, one of my faves!

Clone High - Makeover, Makeover, Makeover Part 1

Like I said, some makeovers are more successful than others...

The rest of the episode is up on You Tube, or if you want to do yourself a favour, buy the Clone High DVDs. HILARIOUS!!

Last minute New Years panic!

Ok, so you've got the dress/top/pants/skirt and now all you're looking for is that little piece of sparkly perfection. Maybe a necklace, or some great earrings, or a fab purse to complete your look, or maybe just freshen up an old outfit.

We happily come to your aid with a large selection of vintage cocktail purses, and some beautiful handmade designs from our talented jewelry designers. Here's a small smattering of what we have in the shop:



Sterling silver handcast designs from Roadkill. If you want to make someone kiss you on New Years eve, buy them one of these! Prices from $80-$180


Semi precious stones mixed with delicate silver and gold chain from Aria. Looks equally great with a little black dress or a vintage tee! Prices from $70-$150



Handcut sterling silver earrings and necklaces from Missy Industry. These pieces with add a little rocker edge to your outfit. How great is that! Prices from $70-$150



New to HQ, fabulous eclectic creations from Nea will add a little colour and zing to your outfit. These super long earrings come in a pair, so why not split a set with your friend and rock one on its own? So totally alluring! Prices from $35-$60

Pressed metal sparrow from Miss Misa. So perfect, it adds a little shimmer to your outfit, without taking all the coin from your purse! Prices from $20-$40

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And if you are a seriously last minute person, we will be open tomorrow from 11am-6pm, as well as special New Years hours on Sunday, from 11am-4pm.

Outfits of the Week: New Years edition

OK folks, New Years eve is almost upon us, so if you have some fun events to go to, you may be looking for something new to don for the event. In general New Years is a weird event, incredibly hyped, yet usually run-of-the-mill. So let's make the best of it and just look at some nice clothes damn it!





Fancy Dress Up Party
Brown satin dress with chiffon ruffle and chiffon woven belt by Angel Perez (Winnipeg), silver chain necklace with large pink stone by Nea (Montreal), cream vintage beaded purse and vintage snakeskin flats.




Casual Dress Up Party
Red silk top with sheer insert by Valerie Dumaine (Montreal), gold and wood necklace by Aria (Montreal), black pleated sailor front skirt by Bodybag by Jude (Montreal), vintage black patent leather purse.

Outfits of the Week, Dec. 23 2006

Well well well, the craziness has really begun...

I hope all your Christmas shopping is done people, 'cause I pity the fool who heads for the stores anytime between today and tomorrow!

We're still hanging around at HQ today until 6, and we decided to come in tomorrow (that's Christmas eve folks!) from 11:00-4:00pm, for all you last minute panicky people. Hopefully we can help you find those last few things you need to top up your list. Tyson listed some great ideas in the previous post, but we've also just recieved some new great items, as well as some old favorites:

-great little handmade booties for the baby on your list, as well as grown up sized bootie/slippers. Soooo toasty!

-2" wide button mirrors that come with their own little velvet pouch by My Favorite Mirror, very popular so far for stocking stuffers, add-on presents, or just a little something special for a friend. At $8 a pop, they're a good deal too!

-Not sure what to get your 14 year old cousin who hates everything and hangs out in his room playing video games all the time? We may have the solution with our hand screenprinted christmas cards with a macabre edge. Picture Reservoir dogs with candy cane guns and a few blood splatters thrown in for good luck. Stick a little cash in the card for the boy and see him crack a half-smile when he opens it. That's as good as you'll get I'm afraid!

Now, on with the outfits! (get ready for fancy New Years outfits after Christmas!)




Striped drapy top by Bodybag by Jude (Montreal), Black suede and elastic vintage belt, stretch twill pencil skirt with front slit by Valerie Dumaine (Montreal), "Chanel" style quilted vintage purse.



Red handfelted scarf (worn as shrug) by Olivin Designs (Winnipeg), Tweed dress with polka dot lining by Homebaked Fashions (Montreal), Owl/leaf necklace with chain by Charcoal Designs (USA), vintage snakeskin purse.

Attention Deadbeats!

Well, Christmas is coming in... lets see here.... HOLY SHIT, FIVE DAYS!! I'm sure all of you are finished your shopping right? No? Well, if you want to avoid screwing yourself by going to the ass-to-ass crowded malls, I made up a little list of some good, cheap gifts we have gere at HQ. Here's my top 13 (because top 10's are for morons).

13. Cute, fun & violent wallets from Roadkill.

12. Drawings by Garrett van Winkle- Winnipeg artist Garrett sent in 24 water color and ink drawings that are so kick ass, I had a hard time hanging them instead of just keeping them for myself!! They’re only $25.00 each! Is he retarded? There are only a few left though, so if you want one you better hurry!

11. Classic kids picture books- Where the Wild Things are, There's a Nightmare In My Closet, Mr. Men (FYI-awesome substitute for a card), In the NIght Kitchen... pretty much anything by Mercer Mayer or Maurice Sendak.

10. Snapcrafty Jewelry- awesome shit made by this girl Sandra, from Michigan

9. Damned Dollies - Local Montrealer, Dana De Kuyper makes these amazing dolls that are either armed with knives or pounding beers. This is always a killer gift.

8. Statue Park ep.- The new 4 song ep from Montreals Statue Park is pretty awesome. Prepared to have your ass blown off!

7. Charcoal Designs jewelry- super cool, super fun jewelry by east LA crafter Laura Stokes.

6.Furni Creations- Montreal based company that makes super rad clocks, lamps, cutting boards and other home accessories. Fuck IKEA, fuck the mall, Furni is where it's at!

5. Kick It Fashions- NY based designer, that makes really cool t-shirts. Always a crowd fave.

4. Prints by Aya Kakeda- surreal prints by the super cute Japan/NY artist.

3. MX jeans- Angie designs for this company and it has been a consistent top seller at HQ. Simple cute clothing for everybody.

2. Team Macho- "The Life Of Sam Bryce" limited edition book of pull out prints from the TO based art collective. They just did the cover for the newest Barenaked Ladies album, but don't hold it against them.

1. Jeffrey Brown- pretty much ANY book Jeffrey Brown does is fucking GOLD!!! Top Shelf publishes these amazing graphic journals that pretty much tell the true story of how he meets the girl, falls for girl, dates girl.... and eventually gets dumped by girl. Super funny. And everyone can relate on some level. "Unlikely", "AEIOU", "Clumsy" and "Every Girl Is the End of The World For Me" are all ones to look for!

I hope this was somewhat helpful. Oh, and for the car bound shopper, Amherst is now open again! Thank you very much City of Montreal, for making our street look like the set of a Mad Max movie. Hats off!!

Nea Jewelry

Just in time for holiday work parties, mulled wine soirees, family gatherings, pre-christmas cocktails, the big day itself and the impending New Years disasters comes a new line of jewelry ready to join the HQ family .....Nea!



Designed by Janick Gravel, Nea Jewelry officially began in August, 2006. In addition to working as a graphic designer with her own design company, Fonetik, Janick designs and creates all the items in the Nea line. As much as she loves graphic design, she wanted another creative outlet that could be all her own ... one in which no one could tell her "can you make that logo a little bigger, oh and add the website, oh and change that colour...oh and I need it by today at 3pm". Making jewelry filled the void, and Janick has been very happy with this discovery.



Janick likes to use a variety of materials, mixing various metals with quirky materials such as feathers, buttons, ribbons, and whatever little vintage details she stumbles upon.




We think her designs really reflect her experience as a graphic designer, they're linear, but with a handmade touch to them. Kind of like mixing vectors with hand drawings. We like it. We like it a lot!

Majolie!

Tyson and I met Lysanne Latulippe this past weekend at the Souk@SAT. We were totally impressed with her gorgeous sweater designs, and picked up her card. Then we were trying to figure out if HER name was Majolie as well, and I remember saying to Tyson "that would be a really beautiful name to have if it is her name!". Then we found out her real name, and damn it if it isn't even more gorgeous!



Lysannes designs are heavily influenced by her training in fine arts. She ends up looking at the sweater as a sort of painting, although instead of painting on a canvas, she kind of knits the canvas and art as one!



As you can see from the images, the detail in these sweaters is very precise, and although we love a good chunky handknitted sweater, these intricate designs cannot be created through traditional handknitting techniques, unless of course you have a crazy amount of patience, time and want to charge thousands of dollars for each sweater. Lysanne, definitely has a lot of patience, but instead of handknitting uses computer knitting machines, and instead brings the handcrafted feel to the garments through the many ideas she's come up with through years of traditional hand knitting. Lysanne produces all of these intricate designs on her own in her Montreal studio, which is an impressive feat in my books!




Majolie Fall Winter 2006 uses merino wool, mixing it with viscose to create warm, enveloping turtlenecks and sexy deep v necks. The patterns are inspired by traditional tweeds that are enlarged and deconstructed. Animals like horses and deers are either repeated all over or singly placed. Classi fall colours like browns, khaki, and greens are given a jolt of energy from limes, pinks and soft beiges.

HQ has stock in many of Lysannes sweater designs, as well as great toques and the cutest little coin purses that she makes out of her knit scraps. Waste not want not, as mother always says!

www.majolie.ca

Outfits of the Week - December 14/06

Oh boy, have I ever been slacking on the outfits. However, now that we received a replacement digital camera for an early christmas present (thanks Rich and Gloria!) things should be back on track!




Handknitted neck cuff by Hollie Dzama (Montreal), brown french terry blazer by MX Jeans (Montreal), hand beaded shirt by Candy Rot (Los Angeles), vintage chain strap purse with tassle, jeans by MX Jeans, vintage stretch rope belt with enameled buckle, and vintage beige boots.




Teal jersey top by Supayana (New York), striped purse with fishbowl applique by Roadkill (Montreal), silver chain necklace with leather crosses by Vanessa Moore (Montreal), black stretch twill skinny pants by Valerie Dumaine (Montreal) and beige vintage boots.

Souk@SAT .... oh, the memories!http://beta.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

Well last weekends Souk@SAT Christmas Bazaar was a great event for HQ. We met lots of great artists/designers, sold some handmade goods, and spent a lot of time trying not to run into people! There were way more people shopping than we had imagined, and it was a mighty crowded place most of the time. We were incredibly impressed with the work we saw, and even picked up a few new designers for the store. Stay tuned to the blog over the next couple of weeks for designer bios and pics!



Designers Marianne of Hastings + Main (left) and Jen of Re-Gen (right) digging into a delicious cous cous snack.



Beautiful sterling silver jewelry in vintage cases by Elaine of Roadkill.



Clayton of Complex Geometries, surprisingly caught with his mouth open since he's a fairly quiet guy.



Marc Simard of Broundoor beside some of his recycled leather wrist cuffs. Marc was busy custom fitted these babies all weekend!



The stylish PinPals duo!



Sweater designer Lysanne sporting one of her beautiful designs from her line Majolie, now available at HQ! Tune in tomorrow for more info about Majolie and some pics.



A few of Tysons paintings and painted purses
Check out some of Tysons art at www.passthepepper.blogspot.com