Christmas season

With the heavy blizzard we had this morning, I finally feel like Christmas is near...even if in fact, it us very near. For me, holidays have been so closely connected with icy weather and  heavy snow,  it seem totally unrealistic for me to live a real Christmas without the white snow covering the landscape. Christmas in California or Australia seem just so strange to me, even if I'm pretty sure their Holidays are filled with great moments too, but in my head, it just doesn't work.

I still remember, a few years ago. It was the first Holidays after my last grandmother passed away. It was also the only Christmas I remember without any snow, in fact, I remember it was even over 0 Celsius degrees. It was just feeling like a very sad spring and although seeing the family and all that was still nice, I think everyone was feeling a bit sour and the weather was somewhat fitting. Just like it was not really Christmas.

A lot of people are whining about how Christmas and the Holidays just became commercials and do not have a real meaning.

 I think that regardless of if you give it a religious meaning or not, for me, it is just a great occasion to share moments with my family and friends (since everyone have  days off from work or school) , to give  and receive presents ( regardless of what people think, I LOVE giving presents...and receiving some is great too of course XD).And I honestly like to be spammed with decorations and Christmas music on stores and everywhere, it make me feel happy and peaceful... Although I would understand how it could irritates someone who actually work in said store, with the repetitive music and incessant flow of customers. Still, it's the perfect time ti practice positive thinking. For me, Christmas decorations have a way of lighting up any room. The place at my current job is usually quite morose, with gray carpet and infinite rows of computers ( and the lights are always closed....) But with the little Christmas lights everywhere,  shiny  tinsels... It just feels so more nice and... Hearty.

Yeah, children at this time of the year may think a lot about presents. Presents, presents, presents. But, seriously. What is wrong with that? I was like that, then grew up and now learned the joy to give and realize how a way bigger part of the fun is to be with friends and family.
Children can just gradually learn how just giving time or homemade cookies, or handcrafted gift can be as great if not even better than bought ones.
I will leave you with a picture of one of the decoration installation in a mall near where I work. So much effort went in this....

I think it's pretty..... or maybe I just like gaudy things....

The passion of vintage; being a newb and getting to know it.

 I decided to explain a bit my different passions and what they mean for various people. Since I have many different interests, not everyone who read this blog know how people lives their different passions and sometimes even what they are.

The first I will do is the passion about everything vintage. This will be the hardest one for me, as this is the one I am the less knowledgeable in, since it's my most recent one. And my Mimi (mom for me) always told me to start with the hardest part so only the easy part is left for the end.

So let's start that!

Definition

Vintage enthusiasms, by definition, like things from a  a time period who have now come to a past. At least for clothing, anything made before 1990 is considered vintage. Until before 1900, were it is considered antique.

They are often interested in more than one aspect of the life like it was in the XXe century. This can include fashion, history, cars, house furniture, dances and music. Although many of them push it to the extent of having everything in their life (except maybe their lover) being at least  30 years old, hating computers, Mp3 players,Facebook or anything modern, a lot of them just enjoy a part of this culture (which is in fact, our culture, just half forgotten) while still living fully to our times, and using the practical side of our modern world ( I always find it funny to write" modern" it always remind be of when I read old magazines or interviews and people from the nineties... or from 1934, or 1882.... and I think of someone of  2050 who would read this and laugh at me).

Clothing, hair-dos and make-up

A lot of ladies who like vintage clothing say to prefer the vintage look because the style is more classic, elegant, feminine and “of good taste". At a time were stretch in fabric was not really present, all those clothes had to be well tailored. Which in fact bring us to a second advantage often brought up: the clothes confections. At a time were something you buy at the mall will last you one year or two, it's impressive to find pieces that hold together better... and are more than 60 years old. On my own classic pieces, only one of those items have a tendency to break, and it's an organza dress from the fifites/sixties. It is not because it's not well done, the piece is so fitted that with some intense movement, it broke the thread use to sew pieces of fabric together. It's not that it's not well made, but the thread is just too old

 Pretty dress.... (not sure I like the necklace O.o)

Pieces from that time are usually more modest than modern pieces too. What is considered pin-up material for that time cover more skin than most of any outfit we could see on the street this summer. But all those style still remains very feminine.

And as for the men. My god ,they were so elegant. I really really want to reverse back all the process who leaded men to dress like they do today. Let me burn those t-shirts and jeans, bring back the suits, hats and elegant shirts. I must say that’s one of those thing that make me my boyfriend is going to be an accountant: he need to wear suit <3

Anyway, I'm getting away from the main subject. The fact is I can't say exactly why people like vintage look. Although I could say it's because they like the classic, elegant look of that time as long as they remain fan of the fifties and before.... what about fan of the seventies and eighties. Although interesting, we can't really classify those styles as classic and elegant, no?

I think , like for the rest of the vintage, it may be linked to some kind of nostalgia or some kind of wish to connect better with our past.  Still, there is  a great distance  between looking with delight at old pictures of your grandma in her twenties.... and wanting to have the clothes she is wearing so, so much... and then recreating her hair style. Maybe some kind of desire to be different? A passion of costumes ? I know this is what hooked me.

I guess I will have to interview my friend Pierre who dress in a seventies style every day.

Movies

 I think it can be very easy to develop interest in old movies and for many many reasons. As soon as you get over the sound quality or the fear to watch something in black and white, you realize fast enough how a LOT of movies were done before you were even born and own much potentials and great classics can be found if you search just a little. For about any genre, there is a ton of great movies who were done before 3D movies, HD and all that made. And although it is in black in white, and more than 80 years old, I can swear to everyone that Captain Blood is as good as Pirates of the Caribbean... Ok maybe almost as good.... I must say Disney have a way of doing movies I enjoy very much.

 A great pirate movie. With Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone. Awesome!

Danse, shows, burlesque and rockabilly

 A lot of people who are into vintage also really like the musical scene that come with it. I know a lot of person who enjoy jazz, swing dancing and burlesque boutiques seems to be even more common that classic vintage boutiques.

Although it not always coincide for the music and dance part, it is hard to be a burlesque artist without liking the vintage fashion or music. I think it is if in fact precisely this part of the “show “ that can make the burlesque shows called “art”, although this is still a lot discussed.

As for rockabilly, this stand for a more wild, modern take on the vintage fashion. I often think it look a bit between a mix of gothic and vintage fashion. Hairstyle and make-ups tend to be much more dramatic and sexy, but it also give a more freedom to the style. I personally enjoy it a little less that classic vintage style. I’m not a huge fan of dark things and rockabilly clothes tend to be form fitting because of the stretch of its fabric instead of tailoring... For me, it just have less elegance. But still, it is very interesting.

Cars, home decoration

 Why exactly some people love older style for the home is hard to explain for me again... I personally just find it prettier. Often... I am not a huge fan of the 3- colors floor of the fifties, probably because I grew up in a house who had such a floor (pretty white parts with parrot green and red parts x.x) and was never a fan of it. Although I enjoyed trying to jump from colored spots to colored spots when I was a child.....

Anyway, all that to say I guess this is the kind of style that please for some people, “old souls” like my parents often says...

I won’t say that older style of home decoration where less cluttered, etc.... this is frankly just depending of who live in there and how they managed it. Books and vinyl disks could take as much place as video games and DVDs now take.

There is still the fact however, that old furniture is often more sturdy that newer one. How much young adults herited old furnitures from their parents or relatives for their first apartment?

I currently have a 1954 kitchen set, and although the vinyl on the chairs will need to be replaced (small holes that I could live with... but also HUGE RED STAINS... so yeah... I will need to change that), oh my 3 kitchen sets I have ,this is the most solid and awesome. The table is a Transformer, with the part to make it longer hidden under it. Also...arborite  table? HEY that’s like a second counter!

 Transformer table! With stained chairs.... but still awesome!

I will finish by stating a lot of vintage enthusiasms also seem to like car shows. Now, although I must agree older cars look way better than the current ones.... I’m still really not a car fan :/ . 

Some of them also take part in huge re-enactments. The ones I heard the most about where taking places in the US and were situated in the fourties. Now I don’t exactly know how this work: do they create characters or just act as themselves, but in that time period. This would be something I would really like to  try, since I already like roleplaying.

   

    See this website, I think this is a good example : http://www.northernforties.org.uk/

So hope this was a good introduction to some of you. I am definitely still a novice in that world and hope I will manage to enhance my knowledge of it a lot in the future. You can be sure there will be so post related to it soon.

 Next post will be about Christmas decoration and a Drink and Draw meeting I had this monday. Possibly an outfit post too!

Gasp! A post... Again a bad blogger? Let's correct that , shall we :3

Well well well... Hello everyone. It`s been quite some time since I wrote here, right? What a baaaad, bad blogger I have been

Let me tell you about the causes of that...

No no! That suave little man is not the only cause, I swear!

Well Ok. Skyward Sword is partially in  cause. BUT , in it's defense (because we know you're all going to blame the game and not me... right?), I had a pretty busy life with ... you know, job, school ( with final assignments, social life).

Althought I must precise that Skyward Sword is really a great game and it`s probably my favorite Zelda game since the N64 games. But I will talk about that in more details, in another article, when I will have  FINISHED THE GAME (which I didn't.... because.... no...time...;_;)

So I decided to post here a few pictures of the past few weeks. Not necessarily in the chronological order, but just a few for fun :p Please note that this post will be a big melting pot of all my differents interests. I usually try to keep each post with only one subject, but this will be an exception.

So yeeeeah. First. A very random picture. I took it in a drugstore the other day just because well... Am I the only girl that this hit? I had the EXACT SAME BARRETS when I was 4 years old. I especially remember covering my father's head with it (oooooh now I wish I could put a picture of that here... unfortunatly, it`s my mom who have those treasures)

They were never actually STAYING in my hair....

So when I saw those little plastic barrets.... nostalgia hit me really hard... I had to share... sorry... Maybe one day , I will be able to buy those for my own little girl... and get all angry because they actually don`t clip well....

Anyway, NEXT
Ah, restaurants! That exact week was hectic , I went to the restaurant 3 times. First, because one of my friend from Quebec city was in town, so we went in group to karaoke and then we discover a very tasty restaurant called Hakata Ramen. I was actually surprised and liked it way better that my usual ramen restaurant. I suggest it to everyone who comes or live in Montreal . Let it be know however that I never take ramen in ramen restaurants.... I just take... the others foods. In the case of Hakata ramen, I tried their curry omuraisu and their crispy chicken. Both were delicious.

In the middle of the week, we had a small meet-up with the staff of Con Turnabout, a wonderful activity for who I act as the human resources responsible, part of the costume team and sometime as actress. We were only 10 that day and went to eat at the most delicious chinese restaurant in Montreal, the V.I.P.

Here is a picture of all our delicious food and my ninja friends :D

There was even General Ta tofu! 

Saturday was a  evening out for my sister's birthday.... and we went to Hakata Ramen (yes, I suggested it) Now, I went there two times, but didn`t even tough of taking pictures. I still need to learn to take a lot more pictures.....  After that we went to  Chapters.... oh the torture. Of course, I ended up buying something... and honestly, I would have bought maybe two or three more books. But here is the one I chose:

I already had one book about vintage fashion from that author. Those are amazing!

I might write a review on that one day. But I can say  this is a must have for anyone who have passion for fashion, vintage or costume design. This precise book gave me the idea of compiling my own encyclopedia of diverse kinds of clothing, how they are constructed. I realized that when I design something ,I come back too often to the same kind of sleeve, tops , etc
I must also say I took it with the intention to use it to help to design... eventually, my own wedding dress.

Talking about sewing. I also went fabric-shopping with Sam, by no.1 cosplay partner. We are planning to do a small cosplay group of Avatar The last Airbender  for a convention in january. I will do the ooooooh so happy and full of joy Mai:

In fact... she look even more bored than that usually...

Sam will be doing dear prince Zuko and our friend Alexia, Ty Lee. Just learned that another of my friend may do Azula! So yeah. I will need to start working on that as soon as my school term finish. Can I also say the wig will be a nightmare? Those hair just do not make sence...

Edit: And those shoes....

Anyway, I went to buy fabric with Sam... and just a small mention for Stiches.... Yeah, that store for teenagers....
Why do you have such cute hoodies?

My boyfriend managed to make me NOT buy one by making me remember this was not elegant...

But still.... so cute ;_;

I also did a lot of drawing in those weeks. Here is an example. I will actually try to color this one on the computer, which is not my usual medium. It will be interesting.

It is cuuuuuuuute....

Two of my OCs, manly pirate woman and her fabulous husband. Yeah, my characters are weird. Thoseare in fact characters from a roleplaying game I play. I may talk about it one day. More about the game, not the characters I mean. Because this is not a "Let me tell you about my character" blog

And finally here is the only picture I took in 2 meet-up make with a group I created on Facebook called

"Pratique de dessins entre artistes" (french for...  Drawing training for artists?) The meet-up are organised by my friend any and are special "Drink and Draw" activities. There will another one this next Monday, I will try to be a good blogger and take a lot of pictures this time.


Now, news regarding this blog.
-A change in my situation starting next year make so that I will probably do a lot more outfit posts! So yeah!
-I have started to write a series of articles explaining each f my passions, starting with the hardest. I will soon post that too!

Also, please tell me! What do you want to see on this blog. Reviews? or articles on something in specifics? Tutorials? Polka? (Anyone who answer polka will die)