Leggings, tights, whatever you call them...

"luxe collection" burnout geo velvet

When I see people wearing those fugly leggings that are printed like jeans, I want to do one of three things:
a) vomit in a corner somewhere
b) trip the person
c) swear off leggings forever

Drastic, perhaps, but seriously.... what the hell?!

"vintage collection" purple geometric

Options a and b may stay on the board, but I'm not really going to swear off leggings forever, they're just too darn versatile. So comfy, so necessary in our arctic Canadian climates, leggings worn as pants can be problematic most of the time (there are exceptions, but they're few and far between) but they can also add a wonderful hit of texture and colour to an outfit. I wanted to up the ante a bit from the basic fare you can get from your local AA, H&M, etc. I wanted to make really original, stop-you-on-the-street-where-are-those-from kind of leggings. So I did.

"vintage collection" asiastic teapots and teacups

"vintage collection" floral

As usual I'm torn between a vintage aesthetic, and a more modern minimal one, so I decided to have it all and do two separate groupings. The first grouping is the more casual "vintage collection". For this group I delved into my vast collection (I'm talking a whole room) of vintage fabrics, pulled out some of my favorite super soft jerseys and went to town. I've started with three different designs, but more are sure to come as those initial three fabrics run out. As I'm sure you can imagine, vintage fabric is limited in quantity so when these lovelies are gone, they're gone.

"luxe collection" burnout velvet feathers

For the second grouping I was greatly inspired by Queen Michelle from Kingdom of Style. This girl pulls off tights and leggings like nobodies business. It doesn't hurt that she has miles of leg, but she wears them with such aplomb and works them into her outfits so artfully, it's an inspiration for us all. This grouping is all about over the top, luxe fabrics in stretch lace, velvet and modal jerseys. I've dubbed it the "Luxe Collection" and it will be semi-limited in terms of fabrics, basically because I get bored working with the same thing over and over again, and there are so many gorgeous fabrics out there to choose from.

"luxe collection" stretch lace with sequins

So there you have it, time to get crazy with your legwear girls! I have all these posted fabrics down at HQ in size medium (the model is wearing a medium, but she's really a small) and will be adding more soon. If you're from out of Montreal you can also order through my Etsy store, I'm custom making them in any size you like, so let me know if you want to add some crazy tights into your life.

xo
Angie

Honey Flower Grand Opening Party!

I posted about this awhile back, but the dates changed, and now it's the real thing! The lovely Angela from Honeyflower just e-mailed me to let me know that this Thursday (Oct. 2) is the grand opening of her super sweet Honey Flower boutique on Duluth.



There will be live music, yummy refreshments, free samples and product demos. Angela is always into supporting local artists and designers (she often pops into HQ to pick up gifts from our wonderful artists) so she's started carrying some beautiful things by local artisans such as Catchframes, Velvet Moustache, DringDring and....oh yeah, me! I dropped off a few vintage fabric owls and one Joel Dewberry chestnut fabric owl last week, as well as a few stump pincushions.


So what are the details you may ask?

Thursday Oct. 2nd
7pm-11pm
54 Duluth ave. East
Between St. Dominique and Colonial - look for the bright pink door (see above)

For more info about Honey Flower go to www.honeyflower.ca

Reminder!! La Chatte Bottee tonight!

Just a quick little reminder, the Chatte Bottee vintage shoe party is tonight at HQ, from 6pm-9ish. We were at the store setting up until about 11pm last night, and it is looking good girls. Lots of boots, and lots of nice flats for fall. Also, for all the ladies living in Ottawa the boot parade will be heading over to Victoire Boutique tomorrow. Check out the Victoire blog HERE for location and contact info.

xo
Angie

Bow down to the Bow

Lately I've been thinking about growing my hair out. I've had the bob for almost 2 years now, and although I love it, I may be ready for a change. Or not. I don't know. Nevertheless, I do know that lately I've been obsessed with all sorts of hair clips, headbands, hats and the like. I've been crafting some very special feathered headbands (more on that later), have been collecting over the top vintage hats to refurbish, and recently came across a few great vintege oversized bow hair clips that I'm in love with! (they're all down at HQ right now...)


Maybe I've been subconsciously soaking in some of Zooey Deschanels style from listening to so much She & Him, but I think these bow clips are just soooo great! I envy those girls with long wavy locks or springy curly hair (I'm talking to you two Yana and Katie!) they can clip these beauties in and have an instant style boost. As wonderful as the sleek bob is, most things just slip right on out of my hair within about 5 minutes. Hats and hairbands will be my only workable vices for now, but for those of you with the hair that can contain these clips, I say clip away!



One of my favorite Wardrobe Remixers, blogger extraordinaire and seller of vintage wares, Liebmarlene recently did a little post on the oversized bow which gives some great inspirational pics, and a video of Miss Deschanel herself. Check it out HERE if you have some time, it's a nice little read. Or, if you'd like to lose your mind from adorability overload and wardrobe envy, check out her Flickr set of Wardrobe Remix pics, you've been warned!

Images above from Liebemarlenes post, and that's the lovely lady herself on the left!

xo
Angie

Outfits of the Week: Sept. 25, 2008

Tyson and I just spent a few long nights at the store at the beginning of this week, totally re-arranging everything. Seriously, pretty much everything. We moved around racks, changed lighting, moved the shoes, took apart furniture, took AWAY furniture and basically just flipped the whole place on its head. But we're very happy with the results, and hope you guys will enjoy it this fall! I took these pics of the outfits of the week before we changed everything, so you'll have to stop by yourself and check it out. Come by tomorrow for the Chatte Bottee party and take a peek, Tyson and I will be manning the fort upstairs while Nika and Carole take care of you all downstairs in vintage shoe heaven. It's going to be a fun night! (as usual, click on the images for a bigger version)

Tweed jacket by Valerie Dumaine (Montreal), velour striped top by Supayana (Montreal), chain cascade necklace by Nea (Montreal), vintage elastic belt, skinny jeans by MX Jeans, vintage leather boots.

T-shirt by Avive (Quebec City), neck scarf by Kick It Fashions/Rebecca Turbow (New Orleans/Brooklyn), mirror necklace by Powerhaus (London), skirt by Birds of North America, vintage silk wrap belt, denim bag by Roadkill (Montreal), vintage leather boots.

xo
Angie

Everything Is Everything

Our good pal Amy Wong has an art exhibit which opens this Friday in our hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba. So, c'mon friendly Manitobans (as it reads on our licence plates), come out and show her some good old Pegger hospitality!


Heres all you need to know:

Location: Ace Art Gallery, Winnipeg, 2nd Floor, 290 McDermot Avenue, Tel: (204) 944-9763
Reception: Friday 26th September at 7:30pm
Artist talk: 2pm Saturday 27th September

Everything is Everything encompasses an array of work that grew from the simple idea of coveting values such as dearness, cherishing, longing, sincerity, cynicism and stating your ground.

Wong blends artistic and pop filters into a re-appropriated use of semiotics in order to contemplate the everyday phenomenological reactions that come from living and working in different situations and environments. She oscillates between different styles and sources which she absorbs and reconstitutes in her own particular and engaging manner. Extreme cultural dabbling with infinite information as a point of departure is equally exciting, overwhelming and schizophrenic for Wong, who constantly asks herself and her audience how one can truly understand an experience in all its layered complexity.

Amy Wong is a painter of Cantonese-Chinese descent, born in Toronto, who has lived and worked in Canada, the Netherlands and China. After completing her BFA in studio arts at Concordia University in Montreal, she was accepted to the two-year artist residency at De Ateliers in Amsterdam. She has recently returned to Toronto after being the first Canadian participant in the CEAC artist residency in Xiamen. She is represented by Galerie van Wijngaarden Hakkens in Amsterdam.

Go to the damn show people, it's going to be awesome! And say hi to Amy for us, and take her out for a drink after the show. Do it! Or else!

La Chatte Bottee, this Friday at HQ!

It's official, the first Chattee Bottee party of the fall season is this Friday (Sept. 26th) at HQ! Pop in anytime between 6-9:30pm for some drinks, snacks, and of course the best selection of vintage shoes and boots in the city! Woo hoo!

xo
Angie

Custom Orders Galore (aka: what I've been up to lately)

My favorite of Michelles outfits...loving this exposed ribcage look.
As long as it's mixed with a high rise bottom, I think a cropped top is great.

I just realized I've been yammering on and on about the cage skirt and dress I made for Susie Bubble, but have never shared with you some of the other custom orders I've made for various other people around the globe who had seen the cage stuff on Style Bubble and wanted a little piece of the action. I've made around 10 of the cage skirts at this point, and recently worked with a girl from the US on one of my favorite new designs, a cage/harness hybrid that turned out absolutely killer (in my humble opinion).

Left: Mixed with an American Apparel dress,
Right: detail of the chains and eyelets, thanks to Marc Simard of
Broundoor for helping me out with those eyelets!

This is just a smattering of some of the cage designs I've been working on, I love how just switching up the fabric and trim colours gives the skirt a totally different feel. The tweed fabric is the latest addition to the family.

Clockwise from upper left: beige and pearly cream cage skirt,
red/yellow floral cage skirt with black trims,
classic black cage skirt with metal spike studs,
tweed plaid cage skirt with silver trims.

The harness is so versatile, Michelle has mixed it with tees, tanks and a dress. I think all of them look equally fab. If you love Michelles style and want to check out more of her outfits, check out her Chictopia blog at: http://www.chictopia.com/user/blog/MichelleYue
If any of you are looking to add some cagey goodness to your life, I have both the cage skirt and the harness listed in my Etsy shop as custom items (www.iheartnorwegianwood.etsy.com) or if you're in Montreal shoot me an e-mail and we can get going! iheartwood (at) gmail (dot) com

xo
Angie

Oh Valerie, we love you!

We just got the new stock in from Valerie Dumaine, and as usual it is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! The fall collection has the usual beautiful dresses, jackets and blouses that Valerie is known for, but this season she's introduced some fabulous leatherette pieces (a super hot mini, and a stunning jacket) as well as slim cut dark denim. The photos really speak for themselves, so take a look, and then pop down this weekend to try on these beautiful pieces in person, we've got tons of stock in all sizes!


xo
Angie

The Luckiest Girl in the World...

photo by Tommy of Jak and Jil

That would be me right now I guess. "Why?" you may ask...

Susie Bubble (of www.stylebubble.typepad.com and www.dazeddigital.com) wore the cage dress I designed for her this spring to the first few shows of London Fashion Week (happening this whole week, see previous post). A-MAZ-ING. Here's the whole write up she did, apparently she got some WTF comments on the metro/street while heading down to the shows. Why are people so threatened by something different?

The icing on the cake: Apparently Charles Anastase (parisian designer, showing in London for the first time) himself told her he liked her dress. (click HERE for a post on his collection, and HERE for the full collection)

Happy, happy day!

xo
Angie

NY Fashion Week is done, London Fashion Week is gearing up...

As we're in the middle of fashion weeks, I was reminded of this wonderful ode to fashion...



If you want to check out out the collections as they're released go to www.style.com

New Accessories by Norwegian Wood

Displayed on the lovely jewelry holders made by Hilary (aka. Catchframes), available at HQ

Most of my friends probably think I pretty much just sew logs all day (sometimes it kind of seems like I do)...but it's really not true. Although I'm often mailing out a log order or working on something "log pillow related", I 'm not actually sewing the darn things 24/7. I'm able to find time to do some regular sewing and designing, as well as put together a few jewelry pieces. I find it very relaxing, and also like the fact that I can grab my stuff and plop in front of the TV, but still feel like I've accomplished something after watching 2 hours of HGTV. I don't consider my jewelry to be anywhere near the level of some of the other designers we carry at HQ (Aria , Roadkill and Nea come to mind!) but nevertheless I continue doing it, and hope some others will think they're outfit-worthy.

Displayed on the lovely jewelry holders made by Hilary (aka. Catchframes), available at HQ

I mentioned my fringe necklaces previously here on the blog, but now I've gone a little fringe crazy and done some up in black and olive green (in addition to the original champagne colour) and have even done a super long fringe necklace that I am in love with.


On a much more simple note, I put together these little old-timey telephone charm necklaces and love the great copper colour of them, perfect for fall. Lastly I made this mash up necklace using different colours of chain, some vintage sequins and some vintage cotton lace in a GORGEOUS blue/turquoise colour. The little 1950s plastic charm was a last minute addition, so cute.


xo
Angie

Vintage Headquarters

For those of you who live in Montreal and have been down to HQ, you probably already know that we carry vintage shoes, purses and belts (and soon hats!). Many people have asked us if we carry vintage clothing, or if we have plans to in the future. The short answer to that is no, we don't want to create competition for all the awesome handmade clothing we're carrying. We figure it's a lot harder to sell realistically priced handmade clothing when there's a $30 vintage dress right beside it, tempting you with it's delicious affordability, even though you know TONS of work went into the handmade dress. It's a weird shopping thing, people love deals.

BUT.....


I love shopping for vintage stuff, clothing included, and I seem to have a bit of a knack for finding great stuff. Maybe it's luck, maybe it's due to the fact that I once worked at a large second hand clothing store during university and learned a few tricks, maybe it's the fact that I had to take classes in the history of western dress while in uni (I think the latter is the reason my mom would give most credit to) Personally I think it's a combo of all of the above, coupled with the fact that I've been wearing vintage since I was about 12 when I started pulling old clothing out of my grandmas basement to wear.


So long story short, I've opened up a vintage shop on Etsy so I can share these goodies with the rest of you. The shop is called Vintage Headquarters, the address is www.VintageHeadquarters.etsy.com. We ship anywhere in the whole wide world, but if you're a Montrealer and see something that you like let us know and we can have it at the store for pickup. You can get to the shop through the address I just posted, or if you're already on the HQ blog, check out the Etsy mini we have in the right hand column (yes, that's it, right over there, with the tiny square pictures...the one that says Vintage Headquarters)


I'm doing a big shoot on Sunday, so I'll have a whole SLEW of new stuff up soon, and will start adding regular update posts to the blog to keep everyone in the loop. I'm actually hoping to start doing a LOT more blogging, and adding some new regular features, so we'll see how that goes. Sometimes my plans get bigger than is realistically possible though, so don't tar and feather me if it takes awile to get going!

xo
Angie

Outfits of the Week: Sept. 12, 2008

Another Friday, another Outfits of the Week... Enjoy! (as usual, click on the pics for larger versions of the images)

Tweed jacket by Soi Disant (Montreal), handscreened tank by Urban Pigeon (Montreal), necklace be Neawear (Montreal), skirt by Haiku (Vancouver), vintage grey leather purse, and vintage black oxfords.

Tshirt with yarn trim by Amelie Derveloy (Montreal), wide open sleeved tank by Complex Geometries (Montreal), necklaces by Neawear (Montreal) and Aria (Montreal), vintage raw silk belt and vintage leather boots.

xo
Angie

Hankering After Some Art?

General 54 is having a vernissage tonight (thursday), so if you're looking for something to do and art is your preference, check out the show! For all the info click on this LINK

The Dentist and the Toothfairy Exposed

The aftermath

Thanks to everyone who came out last Saturday for a good time. The night turned out to be super fun (although the same cant be said for the following morning).

Families Fused – Jerome Prieur 2008

Mixed Media
Donated Teeth - Danielle-Marie Smith.
Special thanks to Aline Plante.
24” x 12” x 12”
$450.00
SOLD

Jerome & friends

Written in Bone – Jerome Prieur 2008
Mixed Media - Acrylic and Ink on Wood
Donated Tooth – Grant Cunningham
Special thanks to Aline Plante, Bruce Whitehead, and Rachel Starr.
58 “x 23 “x 11 “
$450.00

Jerome and friends

The Child’s Box – Jerome Prieur 2008
Mixed Media - Acrylic and Ink on Wood
Donated Tooth – Fred Maltais
Special thanks to Aline Plante.
19 “x 5” x 5”
$150.00

Letter T – Jerome Prieur 2005
Ink on paper with printed letter – framed
Original artwork from the book” The Dentist and the Toothfairy”
by Dorota Skrzypek (Page 79)
11.75” x 11.75”
$80.00

There’s a Problem With Susanne – Jerome Prieur 2008
Mixed Media - Acrylic and Ink on Wood
Donated Dental Records (x-rays) – Susanne Apgar
Special thanks to Aline Plante.
24”x 18”x 13”
$450.00
SOLD

I'm not sure whats happening here....

Family Tree – Jerome Prieur 2008
Mixed Media
Donated Teeth - Jules Prieur, Jerome Prieur, Chloe DuPont, and Raphael Lesage
Special thanks to Aline Plante & Rachel Starr.
37 inches x 17 inches x 16 inches
$850.00

Doors – Jerome Prieur 2005
Ink on illustration board – framed
Original artwork from the book” The Dentist and the Toothfairy”
by Dorota Skrzypek (Page 114)
10.3” x 9.8”
$135.00

Paper Pieces 1 – Dorota Skrzypek 2008
Collage
On backside of the promotional print
from The Dentist and the Toothfairy (Temptress scene)
$100.00

Paper Pieces 1 – Dorota Skrzypek 2008
Collage
On backside of the promotional print
from The Dentist and the Toothfairy (Ballroom scene)
15” x 30”
$175.00
SOLD

Paper Pieces 3 – Dorota Skrzypek 2008
Collage
On backside of the promotional print
from The Dentist and the Toothfairy (Kiss scene)
18” x 24”
$175.00

Paper Pieces 1 – Dorota Skrzypek 2008
Collage
On backside of the promotional print
from The Dentist and the Toothfairy (Bedroom scene)
15” x 30”
$175.00

Dorota catching up with old friends.

D is for Danika – Jerome Prieur 2008
Mixed Media – Ink on Paper
Donated Tooth - Danika Challand
Special thanks to Aline Plante & Rachel Starr.
41”x 6” x 6”
$450.00
SOLD

Next door at Gotha Lounge.

Dagger – Jerome Prieur 2005
Ink on illustration board – framed
Original artwork from the book” The Dentist and the Toothfairy”
by Dorota Skrzypek (Page 60)
10.25” x 9.75”
$125.00

DJ Garry Vickers

Letter B – Jerome Prieur 2005
Ink on paper with printed letter – framed
Original artwork from the book” The Dentist and the Toothfairy”
by Dorota Skrzypek (Page 93)
11.75” x 11.75”
$80.00

New and old friends.

A Candle for Crown- Jerome Prieur 2008
Mixed Media
Donated Tooth – Ruzica Krajcic
Special thanks to Aline Plante.
29 “x 11”x 9”
$250.00

3 Lights and a Shadow – Jerome Prieur 2008
Mixed Media
Donated Dental Enhancement (retainer) - Kelly Inglis
Special thanks to Aline Plante.
14 “x 18 “x 6 “
$450.00