Bodybag by Jude at Montreal Fashion Week

Tyson, myself, his brother Tavis and wife Jen (both visiting from the Peg) were lucky enough to attend the Bodybag by Jude fashion show as part of Montreal Fashion Week. We jogged in just in time, and were so happy to catch every single delightful outfit from this Fall 07 collection. Here are a few pics from the show, a teaser if you will, for some of the fab designs that will show up next fall at HQ.






Jude would also like to thank the following sponsors and people that made her show the pro event it was:
accessoires: Comptoir St Germain
parrures de têtes: Ophelie hats
chaussures: ALDO
gants: gants Paris

Merci a:
Gutstrigns
Christian Pronovost
Patricia Côté
BICOM
l’Assommoir
LAB créatif
Sensation Mode
les agences: SPECS, GIOVANNI, FOLIO et Summit models

What's up this weekend?

Well, for Tyson and I, not much. We've had family visiting for the past 2 weeks, and they really tuckered us out! But for the rest of you folks, maybe you'd like to check out this event on Sunday (April 1st) from 1-4pm.

Where:
La Cornetteria, 6528 blvd St. Laurent (between Beaubien & St. Zotique).

What:
"Knitdown s.v.p. is an art book /auxiliary industry manual consisting of
drawings on sticky notes produced over the four years Hazel Meyer worked as
a fabric designer at a circular-knit mill in Montréal. The term knitdown
s.v.p. is textile industry jargon for “a sample of a few meters please”, and
was a phrase written countless times by Hazel Meyer as she exchanged
hundreds of these notes with the knitters that worked in the conjoining
mill. Knitdown s.v.p is a collection of 197 of these drawn requests that
were stealthily collected and saved by her co-worker, Ann Smith, and
presented to Hazel upon her resignation."

Also important to note, there will be free sweet Italian cornets. Sounds like a very nice sunday afternoon to us, too bad Tyson and I are all tuckered out from hanging out with his 10yr old sister Chantal, who is super awesome and, as she says "has energy 100!"



If you need more info about this event, contact:
H a z e l M e y e r
7530 rue St-Hubert, Montréal, Québec, H2R 2N6
514 274 4293

New fun things from Charcoal Designs

Hell yeah! Bring on the Charcoal Designs for spring! One of the first jewelry lines we carried at HQ is back again with more fun and cute designs. With each piece checking in at around $20, how can you go wrong? Lots of new fun stuff, some of them pictured here, but definitely more at the store.




Get outside and enjoy that sun, take a walk down to HQ, then stop in at Gotha lounge next door for a drink, or if you're hungry why not get a perogi plate down at Euro Polonia, or if you're ready for a full meal, head down to Coo Rouge. It's almost time for their patio to be open, and I've got to say it's got to be one of the best backyard patios in Montreal!

Outfits of the Week - March 23, 2007

Finally, a bit of warmer weather again! The snow is slowly disappearing and the potholes are getting out of control, must be spring. Here are two dresses that will get you in the mood!




Striped jersey dress with twill corset (dress comes with corset) by Anastasia Lomonova (Montreal), Red bead necklace by Aria (Montreal), black tights with black/white checked panels (not visible) by Complex Geometries (Montreal), red vintage sling back kitten heels.




Chiffon and rayon jersey dress with tie belt by Anastasia Lomonova, square stone necklace by Aria, vintage grey boots with chunky stilletto heel.

Stock Update

OK, just a quick update to let all those people waiting for the Lusterbunny and By the Beard of Zeus stock... it's now in, may the shopping commmence.

Lusterbunny ceramic pendant

By the Beard of Zeus brass pendant

Birdcage at HQ

Recently we received an email from a very polite lady named Meghan Williams. Hailing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin Meghan is the designer of Birdcage, a line of jewelry that bowls us over with it's simplicity yet wholy organic feeling.



She works with semi-precious and base metals, stones, bone, horn, resin and other natural elements, as well as synthetic materials. In many of her pieces, Meghan also uses beads recycled from vintage jewelry.




All of her designs are original and handmade, we only bring in the best for our wonderful customers (that's you!) Meghan also assures me that there are also tiny little pieces of love in each piece...she also assures me that her love is not sharp, and will not scratch or cause a rash. Whew.




We just received a wonderful array of earrings and necklaces this past week, so feel free to stop by anytime and take a look!

Glittery Vitamins in London

This one goes out to all those Glittery Vitamins fans out there. I was in London last weekend and met up with the cutest couple in the world, Gilles and Danya, the creators of Glittery Vitamins. They're doing amazing, and are looking fashionably fabulour, I would expect nothing less! Danya has been working her tush off in the crazy world of London retail, and Gilles has been working at a magazine part time and going to school at Central St. Martins full time. He recently got an internship with one of Londons most avant-garde designers, Gareth Pugh.



They were nice enough to take me out on Saturday night to one of their favourite club nights, Antisocial. Much dancing, people watching and photo mugging ensued.



So good to see the two of you, and I'll be back for more fun in 6 months or so!!

Anyone who would like to contact Glittery Vitamins can find them on MySpace, anyone who is looking to buy some Glittery Vitamins earrings or necklaces can stop by HQ any time, we still have some left, but they're getting scarce, since as you can see Gilles and Danya have a lot on their plates right now!

Here are some other pics of some of the other partygoers:


Wonderful friend of Danya and Gilles, 100% pure fun and entertainment. He found the beads on the street on the way to the party.


Fun colours


As Tyson would say "sheesh, have another cheeseburger fatso!"

Project Runway, Canada

Hey designers, wanna battle it out on screen? Well, it you're up for it the grand prize is $100 000 to start your own clothing business...may be worth it, hmmm?

Go to this site for the application forms and all the details, the deadline is April 13th though, so hurry! www.slice.ca

Soi Disant, Spring 2007

Hey! Tonight we are getting in new spring stock from Soi Disant! This collection is so very very summery and fresh, it is making me pine for bare feet, wood decks, mojitos and sunglasses. We're almost there folks, we're almost there....





God these girls have beautiful skin!!! I need a tan ....

Miasma by Jennifer Reed

Another local Montreal jewelry designer has joined the HQ team!

After a move to Montreal 4 years ago Jennifer began creating jewelry by combining a large variety of materials. Feathers, leather, wire, glass, wood, zippers, and anything else she can get her hands on make it into the mix, and come out as twinkly, dangly creations. Currently in her last year at Concordia University as a Studio Arts major, she loves the aesthetic look of natural elements combined with all things sparkly and flashy. We see this as an ongoing trend in design, the mixing of opposite elements to create something new and special



Jennifer tells me that her work is inspired by every woman she sees walking down the street, accessories she sees in magazines and also her past experience working as an apprentice glass blower.



She takes great pride in the fact that no piece is exactly alike and is therefore, a very individual decision that reflects the personality of the wearer. So ladies, (and guys too) when you're picking out a piece of jewelry for yourself or a loved one, it's always important to try to go with your gut and choose something that speaks to you about the person it is for. It may seem silly at the time, but often it pays off!



Jen is always seeking to improve and evolve her craft. Her future plans involve honing her existing skills, and then taking some courses to learn silversmithing, stone setting, soldering and lost-wax casting.



Ah, a designers work is never done, always new skills to learn and new ways to push yourself. That's the joy of it, the constant challenging of your own skills!

Local 23 Vernissage

Hey all you art lovers, look who's having a verni! Here's the info from their press release:

New works by collagist/painter Nora Harun - March 12 - April 15.

Some of you may know Nora as her DJ alterego "Roxy Moron". Others may
recognize her name from the brightly collaged cards she sells at
General 54/Local 23 (where she can also be found rocking the counter).
We are thrilled that she has decided to grace our walls with a new
collection of works entitled: "Out Of This World". She says this new
collection is a progression from the smaller card series assembled from
elements stolen from fashion magazines donated by a friend. But where
as the cards focused on reconstructed and blenderized fashion, she says
the new works are more "conceptual, surreal, comical and absurd".

Vernissage/party Thursday March 15th 7pm onwards!!! Come raise a glass
and celebrate both Nora and the long awaited spring thaw (if it ever
comes!). As always, there will be drinks, food and cake provided by the
ever tempting Cocoa Locale.

You can find out more about Nora’s work by visiting her website:
www.myspace.com/sep7ember

General 54 and Local 23 are sister clothing stores in Montreal's Mile
End district. For more information, store hours etc please visit our
web site at www.local23.ca or www.general54.com. thank you!!

Support local art and local design!!!

New from Threadless!

Hey, here's one for the boys, we've got new t-shirts from Threadless. Now you can complete step #7 from our "How to be a Cute Boy" guide from last week. The below images are from a few of the T's we picked, enjoy!






www.threadless.com

Colour Me Beautiful!

I'm not sure if any of you are familiar with the "Colour Me Beautiful" seminars/courses that began in the eighties, but I am.... quite.

My mother was (is?) a huge believer in the rules and regulations of "Colour Me Beautiful". There were a series of questions, tests, draping of colours fabric panels across ones chest, etc. that would determine if you are a "fall, winter, spring or summer", which would then in turn provide you with a palette of colours that would look best on you, which you should strictly adhere to. To this day, my mom will not wear cream, she is a winter, and can therefore only wear "winter white". When I reached the appropriate age, I of course also got the full treatment. I had been wearing a lot of brown and my mom thought I was probably a winter like her, so I should probably wear more plums, blues, blacks, etc. Turns out, I'm a fall. Brown was in fact, the "correct" choice.

Interestingly enough, "Colour Me Beautiful" seems to have gained a bit of a corporate twist, looking your best, to help you become "successful"....ooooh! Thus, the above picture. Looks inspiring, no?

As much as I'm sure this program helped many people feel comfortable wearing colour, I prefer a bit of a more instinctual and fun approach. Play with colour a bit, and you'll usually come up with some workable combos. Here are some inspirational pics of some thoughtful ways to add little jolts of colour to somewhat neutral outfits. Kind of fun I think, not too crazy, but definitely en route to spring!

(All shots are from www.facehunter.blogspot.com)