The Sunday Best

105. My Sister's Wedding

I have long thought there would never be anyone good enough for my sister, and for some time now the calvacade of suitors that have passed through her door only proved this to be all too true.

She is a stronger, braver person than I am, making choices I never could make, doing that which I will never do. And the world is better for it.

But around two years ago she met someone who seemed to "get" her. When I first met Yin with my parents we were at a local chain restaurant. Near the end of the meal he took the opportunity during a break in conversation to relay the following information to my parents:

I really like your daughter. And I have a job and my own car. And I don't have a criminal record...in Canada.

Over the Easter weekend my sister was married.

Friday

Charlie, Me, Sister, Mom

My dad and his uncle Joseph.

My mom and her brother and sister.

Yin's parents, then.

Yin's parents, now. (Plus my cousin James.)

Saturday

My Scottish relatives went across the street from the church to get pictures with the firemen. Next thing we knew, the station doors were opening and the truck driving out.

Liz, Yin, Dorothy, Pastor Laura, Monica

Ysanne, Robert

104. Spring Break | The Kids are Alright

Spring Break - the term tends to conjure up images of beer bongs, girls going or in fact being "wild," an incredible amount of frosted tips, and poor decisions.

Although it is now colder in Victoria than it was in December, the week of Spring Break saw warm weather true to its name. While most of the teenagers who usually congregate outside of the one downtown mall were off with their families, no doubt acting sullen and troubled in beautiful, lakeside settings, a few were still about the streets experiencing the youth that is often wasted on the young.

And then, on one of my lunch time jaunts, I came across this fabulous crew. (For the full effect, download this song and look at the pictures. Magic.)

Beirut - Postcards from Italy

I should say that before seeing them I heard them from another street, and I initially thought it was someone blasting Beirut from his car - which would have been awesome enough. But when I rounded the corner and saw these three, spritely youths with their esoteric instrumentation and sheer moxy...well my heart was glad and my feet light the rest of the day. Here was youth not at all wasted, but celebrated. They are the epitome of style.

If there was any justice in this world, this young lady would be to what every girl aspires.

Where to start? Gingham shirt, track jacket with brown chords, TWO ukuleles.

It takes a real man to play the accordian, and a talented man to play the tambourine at the same time.

As I walked away I wanted to tell them never to change. To say, don't listen to what older people tell you. Success can be measured in so many different ways. You are heroes.

But I just gave them $20 and walked away. (If this seems an excessive amount, ask yourself this - what price joy?)

103. Montreal Fashion Week

If this post was one word long it would read, "meh." It would never have occurred to me that Montreal, my birthplace and favourite city in all of Canada, could present such a boring group of collections - especially relative to the still boring but not nearly as much collections of Toronto. So far each and every designer looks like he or she is jockeying for a position with Le Chateau.

It's not even that the clothing seems so uninspired, but that it looks so cheaply made and poorly tailored. As turned off as I was by Thom Browne's triple-legged pants, at least they were impeccably tailored, triple-legged pants...in a gorgeous fabric.

What I liked:

Theives - bad shoes, bad pants, but a lovely collar. (Also - why spell your name wrong?)

Soku - possibly the only complete "look" of the show.

Envers - pretty nice.

Of the women's wear, Marie Saint Pierre was the only designer in my mind who wasn't blatantly hoping for a section in The Bay or Sears. I'm not sure if these are dresses or jackets, or some sort of hybrid of both.

102. Toronto Fashion Week | Tuesday is the New Monday

Those of you not living in Canada may not have been aware that last week was Toronto Fashion Week (followed this week by Montreal). Certainly Style.com has declined to cover it, not even giving the event a casual mention on one of its many blogs.

I'll leave a complete analysis of the event to other, more female bloggers. Here are a few of the looks that caught my eye.

Preloved

Canadian company that has a small following for its reworking of used clothing. Their Vancouver store recently closed.

Bustle

Most of what was shown at TFW looked like it walked straight out of H&M, which is definitely damning it with faint praise. I suppose when I'm watching a fashion show I don't want to see looks that are currently sitting in my closet.

Jeanne Beker and BRATZ present Diesel for Kids - if those words don't strike fear into your heart you have no soul. Beker's cloying, half-drunken assaults of celebrities at the various international shows has marked her as the Canadian Paula Abdul. It is terribly fitting that she would join forces with the company that brought us the white shoed bar star and a line of insanely annoying dolls that reduce young women to avid consumers.

The soul stealer.

The one notable exception to the general mediocrity was Philip Sparks, he of the excellent web site and Guilded Age meets Band of Outsiders sensibilities.

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Tired. So very tired.

101. Happy Growth Festival | Awesome Trophy Head

Enjoy the long weekend everyone who gets a long weekend. Mine will be filled with the wedding of my sister. Pictures surely to follow.

For now, how cool is this plywood trophy head from Graham and Green?

100. My shoes, the rest | 100th post

And here we are at an even 100. Thank you to everyone who has been reading thus far. A special thank you to both Suzie Bubble and Materfamilias for their early contributions (and yes, someday, I will review magazines again.)

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These are the shoes I have with me in Victoria. There are two garbage bags of shoes at my parents' house which should probably be donated.

I bought these shoes on my first trip to Vegas with money I won playing poker at midnight. Yes, that is my best shoe buying story. I am never, ever getting rid of them. They were $60 which, in my early consumer days, seemed like a small fortune.

Back when I first moved to Vancouver the Woodward's store was still a major location, with a cafeteria in the basement that had people travelling there to eat. Now, it's merely a shell and the most contentious real estate development of the last 10 years. I bought these from Value Village on my first day in Victoria; they had probably been in some warehouse since the 70's. A piece of history and a very comfortable shoe. $14.99.

Picked up these basically new Docs right before I went to New York amid horror stories about snow and sleet and generally inclement weather. Never needed them. $25.

Bottier Saint Germain, nine dollars, right before Law School Grad party.

Sperry Top-Siders for $25 from a strange discount shoe store that opened on Granville one day and then disappeared.

PF Flyers from Decade in Victoria for, you guessed it, 60% off. Apparently EJ from Style Salvage has the same pair.

Inspired by The Sartorialist from two years ago when he started posting picture after picture of stylish people wearing them. Finalized by Charlie's stamp of approval. (She's looking for a pair of her own now so we can take dressing the same to the NEXT LEVEL. Or at least that's what I think.) Full price.

Gravis Makani, from Still Life in Victoria. During my Gravis phase (where I bought three of their bags over the course of a year.) 30% off.

Finally, again, my Ferragamo spectators, $34.99 from New York.

99. Tim Hamilton for Uniqlo

First Loden Dager, and now this - Tim Hamilton's collaboration with Uniqlo is hitting the shelves and once again, Uniqlo can do no wrong.

(As seen on We Are The Market)

I really need to move to New York...or Tokyo.

98. Shoes, Glorious Shoes

Inspired by my trip to Seattle and the dawning realization that the MEDIUM footwear company may be nothing more than a happy memory, I decided to document through images my collection of footwear. As little as three years ago I might have owned 10 shoes, whose number included three pairs of cycling shoes and a pair of hiking boots. Now that number is inching north of 30 (an increase that coincided with my meeting Charlie...hmmm.)

Since MEDIUM was the first shoe brand since Nike I can really remember noticing I thought I'd start there. And yes, I remember where I bought every shoe.

I picked these up from Gravity Pope in Vancouver for $40. I noticed two things about them: 1) they were $70 off; 2) they had an all leather interior. Once I got over those two facts I also noticed the detail on the toes.

I bought my second pair from 5 Doors Up, the great shoe store in the University district of Seattle.

My third pair, the Modernist, was purchased through eBay (I should point out that all of these shoes were over 50% off the retail price).

When I came back from my first trip to New York, which involved a stopover in Detroit and Cleveland before finally arriving in Seattle, I decided to celebrate my return with two more pairs from 5 Doors Up.

Green leather interior.

I can't remember what these are called, but I love them.

Unfortunately, MEDIUM seems to be pulling up stakes, as it were. No major online retailer carries their shoes. Former reliable sources have dried up. I picked up these, appropriately called the Cartoonist, in Victoria (show me a $20 MEDIUM shoe and I'll show you a guaranteed sale).

The last pair? I suppose only time will tell.

97. Seattle - The Bounty, Part III | When couples dress alike

Anyone who was around when this blog began might remember my second post, where I announced my desire for a "legacy bag" for my still theoretical children - a leather bag that I would use until they were of age to fight over it. Selection and financial constraints conspired to keep this small dream from being fulfilled. But the day before I went to Seattle I happened to enter the Edinburgh Tartan shop on Government street, and came across this beauty.

Even though I technically didn't buy it in Seattle, I bought it FOR Seattle and will always remember it as such. It's a Pendleton Drifter Bag, and was 50% off with an additional 20%, bringing the total to $140.

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Charlie came over this weekend and we decided to dress the same. Or I should say I saw what she was wearing and changed accordingly. We are going to be the grossest old couple ever.

On Charlie:

Jeans - Earnest Sewn
T-shirt - Threadless
Cardigan - Joe (Superstore)
Glasses - prodesign: denmark
Buttons: George and Ringo - Experimental Jetset buttons in Helvetica

On Thomas:

Jeans - Cheap Monday
T-shirt - Kozyndan
Cardigan - Wesc
Glasses - Burberry
Buttons: Paul and John

On Charlie:

Shirt - E.V. Ltd.
Tie - from Ark in Vancouver
Watch - Mondaine Swiss Train Watch
Beater - Uniqlo
Jeans - Uniqlo

On Thomas:

Shirt - Paul Frank
Tie - from Ark in Vancouver
Henley - Club Monaco
Watch - Timex
Shoes - MEDIUM

96. Sale at Active Endeavors

I don't usually feel the need to shill for retailers, but the Spring sales are currently in full effect and Active Endeavors is having a beauty.

Of particular interest is this Paul Smith for Burton blazer that steals...er...appeals to my re-buttoning fanaticism.

At over $700 off, this Obedient Sons' blazer could find a home in my closet.

But in the end finances might limit me to picking up this double-breasted Trovata cardigan.