Toronto's World MasterCard Fashion Week F/W 2013 - Street styling

With Toronto Fashion Week comes the inevitable hoard of fashion bloggers and street style photographers, all of whom scour the tents and front steps of David Pecaut Square for interesting outfits, people and celebrities. As annoying as Toronto's fashion people want to pretend these bloggers/photographers are, the reality is we all secretly love them and are almost never actually annoyed when they want to take our photograph. Pfff saying no to free press? I don't think so. Possible new readers/followers? Come on now. That's just stupid. So here are some photos of me taken by some of Canada's fashion blogs and magazines such as shedoesthecity.com, Indecent Xposure, MTV Flora, FASHION, FAJO, and FLARE Magazine.

Here's a shot from style and fashion blog shedoesthecity.com taken at the Holt Renfrew after party on Day 1 of WMCFW.  Just hanging with some of my big-time Toronto fashion media friends. You know, just chillin. The party was great! Wanna read more about it? Click here.

long-sleeved leopard print tail dress from Forever 21,
black faux-fur shrug and black leather Western belt from H&M
Photo: shedoesthecity

Day 2 was a blur... I think I was working on the Laura Siegel behind-the-scenes feature I wrote for the National Post that day so I didn't spend much time at the tents. The feature turned out really well (after all my bloody hard work....) and I got a chance to hang out backstage and catch all the last minute, heat-of-the-moment runway action. I even snagged a little video of our girl Laura when it was all over. Check it out here!

Day 3 was a fun day of live blogging for the National Post. I basically had to run around from show to show speed tweeting and posting ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING. It was mad. But I quickly got the hang of things and started posting some pretty witty stuff. (I'm not a Twitter person.. like AT ALL... so I was pretty proud of myself when I got email props from my editors back at the Post) Anyway, while running around like a frantic fashion chicken sans tête I posed for FAJO Magazine and once again for shedoesthecity.com.

yellow Chanel-inspired jacket from Zara, white American Apparel fitted crop top
orange satchel clutch from Aldo, patterned high-low skirt (tail skirt) from H&M
black leather and wood boots from Urban Outfitters
photo: shedoesthecity.com  

photo: FAJO Magazine

On Day 4 I caught the attention of several street style photographers with my "Bitch don't kill my vibe" tank from Brandy Melville. Thanks to Montreal's Indecent Xposure and FASHION magazine for the free press!

Levy's leather jacket, Brandy Melville tank over white and black striped H&M blouse
paired with vintage velvet bellbottom pants
photo: Indecent Xposure

photo: Indecent Xposure

photo: FASHION Magazine

hehe a little shout-out to my statement tee ;)

Look MOM! My name is in a FASHION Magazine article!!
screenshot: fashionmagazine.com

Day 5 was a blessing (YES IT WAS OVER! I COULD BREATHE AGAIN!) and a curse (NOOOO IT'S OVER WAHHHH! I HATE REAL LIFE). It was the last day of Toronto's World MasterCard Fashion week F/W 2013 and my entire wardrobe was sprawled out on the floor of my apartment. Sorry, but when your job is to get your Fash'On and strut around Fashion Week trying to look important, there is NO TIME for cleaning or putting away clothes. On Day 5 I was running out of outfit options... so I went with this one. MTV thought it was cute and grabbed a photo of me on my way to the Travis Taddeo show. They also asked me to be a part of their "Favourite Street-styler's mixtape". Pretty cool stuff.

looking a little fat faced in my leather-sleeved Zara cropped navy military jacket,
vintage blouse in navy silk, black disco pants from American Apparel
and my trusty black suede Lita boots by Jeffery Campbell
photo: MTV FLORA

Check out the playlist! It's actually really cool.
screenshot: MTV FLORA

A feature story about fashion muses

The last feature story I wrote for the National Post was a full-page fashion feature about some of history's most famous (and in some cases totally eccentric and amazing) fashion muses. It was published in the Weekend Post back in April and I totally forgot to blog about it...oops. It never made it on to the website, which is kinda weird because everything normally goes straight to the web these days and little is ever actually filtered out. The story must have just been overlooked (sad face). But whatever. My story made it to print in one of Canada's biggest national newspaper, if not the biggest (nice job Layne.) So I don't feel too bad about it. Since there isn't an online link, I guess everyone will just have to enjoy the lovely photos I took of the article in the paper. If you're feeling adventurous you can try and zoom in/piece the paragraphs together. Bahaha have fun!

Hi byline! I miss you and love you. You're really pretty <333

 Fun tidbits from the piece I found floating around in my notes:

"In the 1960s, the best example of a more modern muse was Andy Warhal’s Edie Sedgewick who became not only the artist’s source of inspiration but a living logo of the time period. 

Along with with the job of provoking creativity, an official muse often also provided her designer with feedback and criticism. Together they formed a collaborative relationship and produced work that was true to both their artistic visions. Fashion’s muses were people who were consistent in their personal style and were not influenced by trend."

....

"Back in the 90s and early 2000s Isabelle Blow, British socialite and magazine editor, was a famous muse to both hat designer Philip Treacy and fashion designer Alexander McQueen. By making Treacy’s extravagant hats part of her everyday flamboyant outfits, she single-handedly propelled the otherwise unknown milliner into designer stardom. Since his collaboration with Blow, Treacy has designed hats for several Haute Couture collections like Chanel, Givenchy, etc, as well as for celebrities like Lady Gaga and Sarah Jessica Parker. He also designed 36 hats for members of the royal family, all of which were worn on the day of the Royal Wedding. The most notable being the large pink bow-like hat worn by Princess Beatrice of York. Like Treacy, late designer Alexander McQueen also used Blow as a source of creative inspiration. Not only was Blow the first person to show undying support of his work by purchasing his entire Central Saint Martins graduation collection in 1995, together Blow and McQueen created the label’s outlandish aesthetic.

Like Blow, Lady Amanda Harlech was a muse to two of the fashion world’s biggest names in the 1990s, John Galliano and Karl Lagerfeld. The then young British socialite and fashion writer first worked with Galliano in the days where the young designer was just starting out and had to rely on Harlech no only for inspiration but for financial support. Together they designed the garments that won Galliano the coveted position as  head designer at Dior. Soon after her designer had moved up in the world, Harlech fell upon another man in need of a muse, Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld. Harlech and Lagerfeld became inseparable and worked together for years designing fashion masterpieces for the French label. He received international fame and fortune, while she, his creative consultant and muse remained his silent partner." 

.....

That time I was in a magazine and didn't even know it ...X 2

Once upon a time (last January to be exact) I was wandering around the land of Facebook when I spotted an interesting post by my friend and favourite fashion photographer Jess Milan, creator of the fashion/food blog Lookbook Cookbook (LBCB). It was a photo of a two-page spread interview in Company Magazine UK. And guess whose stupid little face was plastered on it... Mine! Woah!?! I was in the February 2013 issue of a big UK fashion magazine!? Too cool! So obviously, I had to run out into the cold Toronto-winter streets in search of issues of Company mag for my parents and my super cute and always-proud-of-me Portuguese grandmother. After visits to 4 or 5 different magazine stores, I finally got my hands on it!

There I am!
Company Magazine UK, February 2013 issue
photo: Jess Milan for LBCB

The February 2013 cover

AND THEN IT HAPPENED AGAIN! This time in a Canadian magazine! I'm also in the September 2013 issue of Fashion Magazine thanks to another article about Lookbook Cookbook. How cute. Check it out ;)

There I am! Oh man that banana pop... I still dream about it <33
FASHION Magazine, September 2013 issue
Photo: Jessica Milan

The September 2013 cover

If your interested in reading the full article about fashion and food blogging you can find it here on Fashion Magazine's website.  I couldn't find the online version of the Company mag one but wtvs... you could always zoom in to read if you're really dying to..