Fantastic Canadian Designers

It's time for me to pay homage to the Canadian fashion designers.  Canada does have a lot of big name fashion designers, and I'll mention three today.

 I love avante garde and bohemian clothing.  It's like wearing art, and if anybody is expressing a point of view and a lifestyle through clothing, the artsy and bohemian woman or man certainly is.  Their lifestyle to me, if the clothes are expressing who they are, seems to be exciting and free and somewhat unpredictable.

If you go to www.minimidimaxi.com, you'll see the designs of quite a few Canadian fashion designers.  For spring and fall 2010, the clothing designs are futuristic, and if any of you have been following my blog, you know I'm loving the designs!  Marie Saint Pierre is one of those designers, and she's one of my favorite.  Marie, who is from Montreal, Quebec, started her clothing line in 1986 and has received many awards for her work.  Her work is artistic.  If you want to wear art, by all means, purchase one of her pieces.  (The picture above is from her fall and winter line for 2009/10.)  Visit www.mariesaintpierre.com to see more beautiful clothing.

Jeremy Laing is another designer whose work I love.  He learned to sew at age 13 and later studied fashion in Toronto, where he also works.  Jeremy's clothing are based on geometric shapes which evolve into interesting pieces of clothing.  Visit his website: www.jeremylaing.com; you won't be disappointed.

I've noticed from the last blog that I've been into black and white clothing.  I must be in a dramatic mood and have been for the last two weeks...

Diane Kroe is a designer who thinks about the woman and her need for versatility.  She's made a dress design that can be worn multiple ways to make it look like you have many dresses .  The dress can be worn as a skirt as well.  Diane created a top than can be worn six different ways; as a wrap, halter top, shrug, jacket, cover up, and a crew neck blouse.  I'm sure there are instructions that come with each piece of clothing.  This is truly creative and functional.  Visit www.dianekroe.com.

I'll try and bring a little bit more color to my blog next week.  Till then!

black jacker and dress by Marie Saint Pierre - www.couturesnob.com
black and white geometric dress by Jeremy Laing - www.couturecarrie.blogspot.com
red wrap dress by Diane Kroe - www.ourfaves.com

Endless Creativity...

My body may be tired from going through a mini "bootcamp" lastnight, thanks to my daughter, but my imagination and creativity has been going for a couple of weeks and not tiring yet.  My daughter decided to put me through what she has to go through in Phys Ed class every now and then.  Beep test.  Constantly moving, running, burpies, push-ups, lunges, for 10 to 20 minutes.  I was practically on the floor when I was done.  Prior to that, I had a fantastic idea for a dress and I'm looking forward to working on it and my tank top designs either tomorrow or Monday.  Hope to post pictures of them next week.

Well, I was looking at designer dresses yesterday online.  There's no end to the creativity regarding clothing designs.  Caroline Herrera has some fantastic dresses for her fall 2009 collection.   Sheer fabrics and ruffles really make an outfit absolutley feminine and ethereal.

 

Tracy Reese is a fashion designer I love.  Color must be the first thing that inspires her designs.  She usually uses unusual combinations of colors in her clothing that make the pieces fresh and unique, and the combinations work! These two pieces are from Tracy Reese's spring 2009 collection.

 Revolve Clothing Company is a Canadian clothing business based in Toronto.  Revolve uses eco-friendly fabrics to make tops and dresses for women.  The designs combine clean lines and stylish silhouettes.  To view the designs, go to www.revolveyourworld.com.

I was looking at my fashion business notes earlier and came across the names of the Project Runway season 1 contestants.  The name I focused on was Daniel Franco.  He was the first to be cut from the show.  Daniel came back for season 2 and I was rooting for him.  He didn't make the final three contestants to show his collection, but he was on the show long enough to prove he's a good designer and a gentleman.  I looked at Daniel's website, www.danielfranco.net, and I love the projects he's working on currently.  You should visit Daniel's site to see what he's done and doing.

Till next blog!

Black ruffle gown by Caroline Herrera- www.fashion.about.com
Black jacker over ruffle gown by Caroline Herrera - www.fashion.about.com
Red blouse, plaid skirt by Tracy Reese - www.fashion.about.com
Red and black print dress by Tracy Reese - www.fashion.about.com
Brown and yellow trim dress - www.revolveyourworld.com

Sew, Sew, Sew!

Another weekend is here.  Can't believe it!  It seems like I was just watching Project Runway a few days ago.(It's on Saturday nights in the Toronto/GTA area.  That's in Ontario Canada for non-Canadians...)

I'm still working on a couple of New Year's resolutions.  One was to excercise more, and one was to post more pictures of my work.  Well, I'm doing those.  I feel accomplished!

I've completed a few projects this week.  I've made two samples of my daughter's blouse design, part of her 5 piece spring and summer mini line of clothing.  One blouse is sleeveless, and the other has big puff sleeves.  There's a drawstring hem thing going on with me.  I like them.   I haven't started making patterns for my mini line as yet.  I was coming home one afternoon from helping my friend prepare for her fashion show, and I had a sudden inspiration of what my fall and winter 5 piece line would be.  I may skip my spring and summer line and work on fall/winter!  What I would be designing is futuristic, millenium, whatever word you want to call 21st century clothes.

This pink bag I love, but when I tested it's function, it didn't pass the test!  What do I have to do now?  I'll have to stiffen the clothe bag more with more interfacing and lengthen the flap closure.  A weightier fabric would do the trick.  Haven't given up yet.  The style is so pretty.  This is bag number 5! 

I found a blue t-shirt in my storage room and was just looking at it wondering what to do with it.  Started cutting the sleeves off Thursday night.  Transpired into this on Friday.  Love it!  The design is absolutely organic.  It also has a drawstring hem.  I like the flower detailing.  I'm going to make more in different sizes. 

Till next blog!

Comparing Three Clothing Styles

 Variety is the spice of life.  There are so many styles and choices of clothing to choose from.I decided to compare three different styles of clothing today.  I already know what category I belong to.  Let me know what category you prefer if you wish.


 
Architectural Clothes:

 Bohemian:

                                       

Sophisticated:

                                           
 I like all the outfits. My choices though are: 

1. Architechtural group,  the black and white outfit.   

2.  Bohemian group,  the taupe and black striped dress/blouse (I'd have to wear this over leggings or jeans).   

3.  Sophisticated group,  both the green dress and the suit from the sophisticated group.

Till next blog!
white dress - www.geometricsleep.com
black and white outfit - www.geometricsleep.com  
taupe and black striped dress/blouse - www.araistyle.com
orange,grey and peach dress, rust jacket - www.fashionfame.com
green dress - www.fancyclothesshop.com
black suit - www.jimpaterno.com                             

The Youngest Fashion Designer

I'm hoping that my teens will pursue starting their own business this summer in the event that they aren't fortunate to land a part-time job.  Doing research on young entrepreneurs on Google, I came across this young wonder.

Cecilia Cassini is a 10 year old fashion designer.  She's the youngest fashion designer in North America according to the press.  When Cecilia was 6 years old, she received a gift of a sewing machine, and has been sewing ever since.  Cecilia mainly teaches herself to design and sew; she's taken a few classes though.  At her first trunk show she sold 50 pieces. She now has her own clothing line and has some of her pieces in a children's boutique in Los Angeles called Tough Cookies.  The Today Show will be featuring Cecilia Cassini this month, so look for the program.  I will be.  This is a fantastic story!

For the young girls interested in accessory, clothing and jewelry design as well as fashion illustration, there is a company called Crafty Couture holding classes in Brampton, Thornhill and Toronto, Ontario.  The classes are for want-to-be designers from the ages of 7 to 17.  There are summer and winter camps.  Summer camps for fashion design start July 5, 2010.  For more information go to www.craftycouture.com.  I hope to enroll my daughter in this program.  We'll see what happens.

And now to change the subject, I've been looking at men's clothing.  Here are a couple of items I came across that I like.  Men should wear more color this spring and summer.

The green blazer looks to be made of a nylon polyester fabric.   Dark green fabric adds interest on the cap of the sleeves contrasting with the lighter green.  The side panel gives way to a closer fit to the body.  From each back shoulder to the armscythe is a vent.  This design is very millenium.  Two thumbs up!  The white blazer is refreshing and is something I'd love to see more men wearing with contrasting t-shirts or a pale colored shirt.

Enjoy your Easter weekend everyone.  Till next blog!

Cecilia Cassini sewing - www.google.com
green blazer - www.denhamthejeanmaker.com
white blazer - www.oldnavy.com