Events – Page 2

Bean and Baker Malt Shop

The wait it over friends.

TOMORROW – Tuesday June 2nd – Toronto’s Bean and Baker Malt Shop OFFICIALLY open their doors for business!!

Owners Liezel and Brennan Anderson, a husband and wife team, invite you into their mom n’ pop style establishment for an experience that is nostalgic as it is charming.

Team Bean and Baker decided to move the Grand Opening to early June, when the massive demand during their soft opening week SOLD OUT of their entire supply of ice cream without making it through an entire business day. 🙂

Clearly, a good sign of things to come … Torontonians know what they want. And they want what Bean and Baker Malt Shop’s got!

DSCN0866 — Me with the delightful owners Liezel and Brennan Anderson, of Bean and Baker Malt Shop and the lovely leggy Liz, of *The Vintage Inn Blog*.

I was lucky enough to be invited to an exclusive blogger sneak-peek event last week, along with friend and fellow blogger Liz, from The Vintage Inn.

So here’s the inside scoop on what you can expect from this lovely little gem-of-a-spot in a great neighbourhood of Toronto.

DSCN0796 — How thrilled was I to finally have a reason to wear my pink felt poodle skirt?! Yippee!!!

The 16-seat establishment is charming and decorated in a retro 1950’s style. Customers can sit inside or grab-and-go.

Also, there are rumours that a few picnic benches may pop-up over the summer too. 😉

It features an open-concept kitchen and Soda Jerks behind the counter complete with a bowtie and a smile, as they provide good, honest food and drinks with top-notch quality ingredients.

DSCN0837 — The smiling Soda Jerks and open-style kitchen

Being a blogger definitely has its perks 😉

We were offered a sampling of all the amazing treats which included savouries like Wisey’s mini mince beef & cheese pies, veggie savoury pie and the veggie quiche.

Then came sweets! ❤

There was the warm cherry pie pocket, dark chocolate eclair, and the old school PB&J pie.

And last, but certainly not least, the Hello Dolly Square – O.M.G. so good!

The menu also features premium coffee, ice cream, floats and milkshakes.

Screen Shot 2015-06-01 at 3.37.37 PM

Ice Cream Sundaes made anyway you like and with any kind of Ed’s Ice Cream.

It was this evening that I discovered the Burnt Marshmallow flavour. And let me tell ya folks, it is life changing! I have no idea how I’ve gotten through 30+ years of living without knowledge of this ice cream flavour …

Viva la Burnt Marshmallow! Mmmmmmmmm!

Is it just me, or is anybody wondering what the heck ‘malt’ actually is?

Well…according to wiseGeek:

The term malt comes from the malted milk that made the shops famous. Brothers James and William Horlick invented malted milk in the 1880s. The concoction is a mixture of malted barley, wheat flour, and whole milk that is dried to a powder form. It was originally invented for use with infants and invalids to be an easy source of nutrition, something akin to powdered baby formulaor milk. The taste found popularity in soda shops, and even greater popularity when mixed with ice cream.

Here they are – Malt Shakes made with whatever ice cream your little heart desires! These were in mini form for the blogger event – yours will come in the traditional size 😉

Screen Shot 2015-06-01 at 3.37.21 PM

One of the coolest things about Bean and Baker is their handmade sodas made by authentic Soda Jerks, with flavours ranging from Root ‘n Cola, Gramp’s Ginger, Real Orange, and Hibiscus.

Ever wonder what those long swirly spoons were for? Watch the video below and wonder no more friends 🙂

Thank you to everyone at Bean and Baker for making this event so delicious and so much fun!

If you’d like to read the Bean and Baker Malt Shop official news release and The Vintage Inn’s review, click here.

DSCN0812 — Mmmmmmm…..House-crafted Soda….delicious!

“10 Most Anticipated Restaurant Openings of 2015” This retro malt shop is slated to open this spring at 326 Harbord St., the address formerly occupied by the Bickford Flexitarian (and before that Linuxcaffe). The shop to be stocked with old school soda fountains, ice cream, baked goods and confections. – Blogto.com

What a cool, fun addition to the TO vintage landscape!!! You got to get to there!!! 😀

Bean and Baker Malt Shop is located at: 326 Harbord St, in Toronto

Hours of operation are Tuesday – Saturday: 11 am 9 pm, Sunday: 11 am 7 pm, Monday Closed.

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Photo credit: Liz of The Vintage Inn

The Roaring ’20s at Palais Royale

The most familiar symbol of the “Roaring Twenties” is probably the flapper: a young woman with bobbed hair and short skirts, excessive makeup and jewellery, who drank, smoked and said “unladylike” things … and more sexually “free” than previous generations.

10930542_10152695011024072_4536018237813705931_n — Some of the lovelies behind the Toronto Vintage Society

The fashions of the ’20s are one of my faves…but sadly extremely difficult to find in my size, and even harder to make look good on my body shape. The drop-waist isn’t something that I can pull off.

But I love me some fringe & feathers!!! So when I found this getup on sale at an online costume shop – it had to be mine! ❤

And there was finally a reason to wear it as Toronto Vintage Society hosted a Selfie Photo Booth at Palais Royale’s Winterlicous night of dinner and dancing!

I have to admit, this might be the most glamorous venue in Toronto!!! The Palais Royale Ballroom has been around for 92-years. This space is oh-so magical.

Winterlicious diners enjoying before the dancing begun.

Since I’m not the best with makeup application – I googled what a flapper in the 1920s would do and then tried to replicate it with what I had on hand. Here’s what I found and my results…

Screen Shot 2015-02-03 at 6.37.15 PM — Volia! Me trying my hand at Gatsby makeup: base from *PURMinerals*, eyeshadows and blush from E.L.F., lipstick from *MakeupForever*, mascara from Younique 3D Fiber Lashes (please ignore the hair curlers)

The best part of flapper wear…is all the accessories!!!

10865894_306700666205685_5411200464454242060_o — T-strap shoes from Naturalizer; feather headband came with the dress; earrings from Necessities; pearls and bracelets picked up at Toronto Vintage Clothing Show

And…with all the pieces together – TAH-DAH!!!

I was pleasantly surprised how well my hair worked out. There was a sh*t-ton of hairspray to keep these waves in. And I’m happy to report that the doo lasted pretty much the whole night…including post-event libations in the wee hours of the AM…which is pretty impressive with my thin hair, blustery winter weather and Lindy Hopping all night. 🙂

Now that I had the hair, makeup and outfit all done…..it was time to dance my feet off to the music of Alex Pangman!

Swing dancing to Alex Pangman + an excuse to get dressed up in 1920s garb – what better way to end the work week!

The Toronto Vintage Society had a fabulous Selfie Photo Booth set up, complete with fabulous authentic props!!!

Here’s a selection of moments captured “TVS-Selfie-Photo-Booth” style:

Dapper swing dancers romancing me for the camera – Giddy Up! 😉

All the fabulous vintage props at the TVS Photo Booth….

Screen Shot 2015-02-03 at 7.55.10 PM — This fab pic of the Toronto Vintage Society gang – at our fab Selfie Photo Booth — tons more on Instagram #palaisroyaleballroom

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Toronto Vintage Society’s KITSCHMAS CABIN!

Earlier this month the Toronto Vintage Society gathered together to celebrate all things MERRY, KITSCHY and BRIGHT by turning the Cadillac Lounge into a winter cabin!

But what the heck do we mean by “Kitschy”? Good question!

“Kitsch”, according to Wikipedia, is; (/ˈkɪtʃ/; loanword from German) is a low-brow style of mass-produced art or design using popular or cultural icons. Kitsch generally includes unsubstantial or gaudy works or decoration, or works that are calculated to have popular appeal. Click here to read and see more about exactly what this means 🙂

The Event:

$5 at the Door got you entertainment galore!! 40s/50s themed decor and suggested dress code with Best (and kitschiest) Dressed prizes to be won! Along with vintage cocktails flowing all night and home made treats, handmade kitsch and vintage chachkas for sale!

1484630_1501533413463064_7980386887426767101_n — The Cadillac Lounge transformed into our Kitschmas Cabin

The Toronto Vintage Society never does anything half-assed …. always FULL ass! 😛

Not only were we able to transform the Cadillac Lounge into a wintery holiday cabin, there was all kinds of fun entertainment all night long to get everyone into the festive spirit no matter what your ‘thing’ was. There was even a Nail Artist: Strawberry LIPs n TIPs creating one-of-a-kind holiday art one nail at a time!!

Loving my amazing Rudolph nail art – outstanding!!!

This party was non-stop entertainment which included…vintage vinyl and holidays classic movies played all night long by our very own DJ Tarana Pete…

FullSizeRender-4 — DJ Tarana-Pete spinning vintage vinyl & holiday movie classics

PLUS Performances by ELVIS and his burlesquing alter ego – Blue Suede Sue. Then the adorable Miss Kitten Monroe.

10603597_10152560924619072_3980949005719585555_n — Me with the talented Tia Brazda and delightful Kitten Monroe

AND performances by the Tia Brazda Swing Band with her hit song Christmas in Mexico!! Take a listen and get yourself a copy… Tis’ the season for this catchy toe-tapper of a tune 🙂

Ooooh…and there was plenty of swing dancing too!!!

As you can see…..We PACKED the place! It was a spectacular night!!!

FullSizeRender-3 — I’m pretty sure I managed to sell raffle tickets to every single person in here!

And to top it all off…..we even had an amazing Winter Wonderland of a photo booth setup with SANTA!

Click here for the full TVS Photo Booth album — each picture just jumps off the screen with happiness and joy!

If you didn’t make it out to the event, you can relive the fun – prepare to smile your faces off 🙂

Dancing went on until the wee hours of the morning …. AND there was even karaoke in the backroom!!!

I’m not gonna lie, due to all the liquid courage (who knew apple cider and rum would be such a delicious combination) I may have gotten up on stage to belt a tune or two. There is evidence of this on someone’s phone…dun dun dunnnn 😮

What I Wore:

I picked up this Alika Circle Polka Retro Dress during Tatyana‘s BOGO event – yup…Buy One, Get One FREE!!! This dress comes in a variety of solid colours that are just as lovely. But I really, really, really loved this black, white and red polka-dot pattern. And was determined to xmas-ify for THIS holiday event!

With an amazing lattice style around neckline and sleeves you really don’t need any accessories to jazz this frock up! The waist features a bow at the center that leads to its full circle skirt. There’s a three-eye-hook closures above the back zipper…which requires a buddy’s help, at least in my case 🙂

The Alika Circle Polka Retro Dress WITH crinoline

The dress on its own is quite lovely with the full circle skirt. But it gets even for amazing with a puffy red crinoline underneath! Plus, it hides any additional lumps & bumps that may have resulted due to vintage cookie eating the weeks before….click here to see what I mean. 😉

And I’m happy to say that EVERYTHING I’m wearing in this post came from Tatyana Boutique on West Queen West, in Toronto. To read more about Tatyana’s new Toronto location click here.

Red Crinoline, Harlow Heel red shoes and Audrey red purse courtesy of *Tatyana Boutique – Toronto.*

As lovely as everything looked all together, my outfit was incomplete. It was missing the much needed “Kitschy” factor.

AND THEN THIS HAPPENED…..a fabulous Poinsettia fascinator!!! Hand-made by the crafty curator of TVS, Miss Jacquie – isn’t it amazing? Totally helped perfect my look for the evening’s event! 🙂

10836532_10154951382190397_472092834_n — Handmade Kitschy Poinsettia Fascinator …. I’m told that there are some available for sale at Damzel’s East location, FYI 😉

Earrings from *Your Big Sister’s Closet*; Hair flower made by Jacquie Jeffery

And ….TA-DAH! My vintage kitschmas look was complete!

10846889_10154855023210184_691336119_n-2 — Blurry end-of-the-night selfie

Extra Bonus to those reading this right now!!! Tatyana Boutique will happily give you 15% off until December 31st by mentioning this blogpost friends >>>>

Merry Kitschmas to you!!! Ho! Ho! Ho!

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Blast From The Past Vintage Prom

On November 28th, Rosie The Rebel – a retailer of retro and alternative clothing – hosted a fantastically themed party at The Great Hall, in Toronto:

Blast From the Past Vintage Prom: For Those Born in the Wrong Era

Think back to the prom scenes in classic movies like “Back To The Future” and “Grease” —> **swoon** What a terrific idea to recreate a ‘perfect night’ to live out your Vintage Prom Fantasy!

For those of us who were born in the wrong era, Vintage Prom gave us an opportunity to live out THAT fantasy Prom night!

The Toronto Vintage Society was on hand to help decorate and set-up the place with a Winter Wonderland theme. There was live music from the GreaseMarks with Rock and Roll hits from the 50s and 60s, followed by tunes by DJ Dr. Velvet.

Live Music from the GreaseMarks — Live Music from the *GreaseMarks*

There were Vendors vending, Single Hearts ready for pinning, Ballot casting for Prom King & Queen ….. and there were even a bunch of Swing Dancers on the floor that night – myself included!

PLUS a special performance from Miss Kitten Monroe:

And there was even a Photo Booth set up to capture your cheesy Prom moments!!! Photos below by Eye Candee Visuals/Ashley Gillick:

winter wonderland vintage prom — Photo Booth pic of Monika & I wearing our ‘single hearts’ …donning repurposed bridesmaid dresses of our past

vintage prom — Toronto Vintage Society – aren’t we a good looking’ group? 🙂

What I Wore:

How lucky was I to have been a bridesmaid earlier this year to already have a perfectly matching aqua coloured dress at-the-ready for this Winter Wonderland themed event! Sadly, it got terribly wrinkled throughout the night… not cute, sigh…

fake prom — Rocker boots under my prom dress a la “My-So-Called-Life”….

plus size prom — Halter bridesmaid dress from *David’s Bridal*; Rocker boots from Aldo; Feather hair piece was gifted; Jewellery from *Panache* (worn on MY actual Prom Night)

Oh, the memories! 🙂

Did YOU go to your Prom? What did you wear?
IF you got the chance to do it all over again, and create ‘a perfect night’, would you?

Come make some more fun-filled memories This Weekend (TODAY Saturday December 6th) It’s the Toronto Vintage Society’s Kitschmas Cabin party!! $5 gets you entertainment galore all starting at 8pm tonight! Hope to see you there!!!

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Holiday Happenings: Vintage Cookie Exchange

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Ok…the holiday season is upon us and I’m sure you’ve got 101 places to be as invitations start filling up your calendar. I aim to write not only about What I Wore …. but rather What I Did while wearing it.

So get ready for a flurry of Holiday Happening posts from me throughout the month of December friends 🙂

One of the first invitations was to a Vintage Cookie Exchange!

If you’ve been following the blog, you know that there is a group of special friends in my life from all my involvement with the Toronto Vintage Society. Among them are the crafty, kitchy, artsy, put-Martha-Stewart-to-shame few who’ve really helped me expand and discover new skills I never knew I had. And this invitation was one of those moments of discovery!!!!

The Mission: Bake 8 dozen holiday inspired cookies to give away to the others who were coming to this shindig, plus a few to be plated, shared and enjoyed at the party.

Now, for a chick (moi) who doesn’t bake, my immediate thoughts were …. DUN DUN DUNNNNN…Run Away! Run Away! in a Monty Python spirited way.

But then I bought this amazing fanny midi skirt, which would be perfect for the get-to-gether …and so I decided I’d make an effort by trying my hand at baking! 😉

I picked up this lovely skirt from Tatyana Boutique’s newest location on West Queen West during their BOGO deal. Yup – Buy One, Get One FREE!!! Naturally I had to scoop up this midi in both colours: wine and green. Needless to say that these two skirts will be making multiple appearances over the holidays (stay tuned to the blog for that!) 🙂

Best part about these skirts: THE POCKETS!! Perfect for iPhone, cab fare and lip gloss … you know, the essentials!

In an effort to step my up holiday glam, I decided to wear festive accessories like my gold xmas bows set I picked up from Target a few years ago. Still kicking myself for not picking them up in the other metallic xmas colours they had at the time. Sigh…

How I Got The Look: Black n’ white polka dot 3/4 length top from Reitmans; Fanny midi skirt from Tatyana Boutique; Xmas bows accessory set from Target; and shoes were thrifted

fanny skirt by Tatyana Boutique — Outfit Photo Credit: Val Soo

As for my baking effort and contribution … I’ve been told that peanut butter cookies are the easiest of all the cookies to make. And with the help of Pintrest, I found the following recipe and added my own holiday twist and TRIPLED it!

Ingredients (needed for approx 3doz cookies):

1/2 c. butter (unsalted is best, but salted works fine)
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Un-wrapped Hershey Kisses, 1 for each cookie

I’ve even documented my efforts step-by-step for y’all 🙂

Step 1: In the bowl cream together butter, both sugars and peanut butter. Add egg and vanilla. Step 2: Then combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Add flour mix to butter mix. Step 3: Refrigerate dough in bowl for 30 minutes.

Step 4: While dough is in fridge, preheat oven to 375C, line your cookie sheets and unwrap all your Hershey’s Kisses. I went with Hugs instead…the swirls looked more ‘holiday-like’ 🙂

Step 5: Form into 1 inch balls and place them 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet.

Step 6: Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, or until cookies are just a little brown.

Step 7: Discard all the burnt ones – lol. This was my very first batch…seems the recommended use of parchment paper was of critical importance. Sigh…

Step 8: Remove from oven, and press a Kiss/Hug into each cookie. Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then move cookies to cooling racks (or plate).

Step 9: Put a dozen of them into individual festive baggies to give away at your Vintage Holiday Cookie Exchange! I call these cookies: Christmas Hugs!!

10492245_1498558893760516_3428079132039143013_n — Step 10: Become Cookie Monsters with your cookie baking friends and eat as many as you can in a violently horrific manner!! #nomnomnom

This was my first cookie exchange ever – first time baking cookies ever, in fact. And with relatively little work and preparation I’m now am able to offer a variety of lovely baked goods to family & friends at upcoming holiday festivities and gifting. HAZZA! 🙂

Between all the shopping, parties, wrapping, decorating, and travel this time of year, most of us would put “more time” as the number one item on our holiday wish lists. So this year, why not kill two turtledoves with one stone by hosting a cookie exchange party?

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BIGDeal Toronto

What began as a simple blogger-hosted “Shop-Their-Closets” sale in the summer of 2013, has evolved into an annual celebration of body positive and environmentally sustainable fashion.

Big Deal Toronto is an annual gathering of plus size women in the city – for one day only! Where the general public can shop from the closets of their favourite fashion bloggers who are vending their indie merch & selling their rarely/barely worn clothes and accessories.

I attended last year BBB (before I became a blogger) and found a few gems that I still wear today and continue to get complimented on. This was the first year where I year I opened up MY CLOSET for sale 🙂

PPMeow Big Deal Toronto — After doing a massive purge of my closet, I had three bins of lovely plus size pieces to sell 🙂

Toronto Bloggers who opened up their closets to the general public to shop from included: Clothes and Shit, Sheena Snively, Jessica Biffi, Flaws of Couture, Curves & Curls, FatintheCity, Candi Apple Couture, Cloud14+, myself Petite Plus, Meow, Erica Exposed, Big Hips Red Lips, Geek with Style, Ursa Major +, Ruby Nite,SexyPlus Clothing, Peonies & Paper Dolls, Ginger Won’t Snap, Round Raglan Road.

The MANY T-dot Bloggers who were in attendance

Each blogger was equipped with a fabulous sign for their rack created by the owners of Your Big Sister’s closet, sponsors of the event. Isn’t my board great? 🙂

I even printed up a few LIMITED EDITION tees for sale …. in 100% pre-shurnk cotton these v-neck MEOW tees are pretty great! Click here to see how me and other readers have created looks wearing their own MEOW tee 🙂

Meow! tee shirts — There are a few limited edition ***MEOW! tees*** still available for sale – $20! They are a very generous fit – I’m wearing a Large for fit comparison if you’re considering getting yourself one. (FYI: S soldout; M two in each colour remain; L & XL only white tees remain)

I was responsible for managing “Team Change Room” 🙂 And at the end of the day I realized I didn’t take too many pictures myself to blog with later. Lucky for me ladies like Jessica and Sheena were on-top of it… capturing some fun via Instagram below.

I was very good about limiting my shopping at this event – working the Change Room was the perfect spot for me, as I got to SEE all of the best pieces being tried on. And got to try on those items that didn’t make the cut by shoppers before they were returned to the floor 🙂

My BIG Deal shopping haul included:

Sheer collared dress – $25 – I just loved the pelted tricolour skirt! Some alterations needed to happened to the arm-holes as it was bit too big, but otherwise I really, really like it.

This fabulous cropped stripped open blazer – click here for blogpost on this outfit.

And this top-hat fascinator for $5!

After the event, I pulled out all of the ‘office wear’ appropriate pieces and was able to donated 6 bags of useable clothing to Dress for Success, which included 9 full two-pc suits, plus tons of separates including blouses, dress pants and skirts, ranging in sizes 14-20.

If you’ve got similar items that are cluttering up your closet…please consider donating to this worthy charity ❤️.

I believe they do donation tax receipts as well … I’ve inquired, but yet to hear back.

Thank you Annika, of Candi Apple Couture, for creating the awareness and for organizing donation pickups! 👍

Are you a fan of these types of Pop-Up Sales? Did you attend this one? What did you score? Post your finds on my Facebook Fan Page…would love to see how you styled something new-to-you found at this sale!

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Swing Out To Victory – 1940s Dinner/Dance

SWING OUT TO VICTORY! is an annual dinner-dance held at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. You don’t need to be a dancer! There are tons who come out just go to absorb the experience in a great museum setting with people dressed in their vintage finery.

The superb Toronto All-Star Big Band performed nostalgic tunes from the 1930s and 40s all night underneath the famous Avro Lancaster (last in Canada) – the main focus of the event.

1546353_1488965141386558_5130561334532640009_n

This was going to be my first ‘away’ dance … and I was excited to get all decked out in ALL of my 1940s gear!

Finding vintage plus-sized pieces hasn’t been too easy. But I did have some luck at this Spring’s Toronto Vintage Clothing Show, where I picked up this floral belted day-dress, along with these new-vintage (i.e. never been worn) Celebrity bow-tie heels. The white gloves are from 69Vintage, and the purse was a vintage gift (thanks JJ!). The only non-vintage piece was my fascinator, which I picked up from the Your Big Sisters Closet.

In an effort to make this dress more ‘1940s evening appropriate’ … I was on the hunt for a fur stole. Lucky for me, my vintage loving friends (thanks Erin & Joy) discovered that The Public Butter (a vintage shop on WQW) had a ton of them for sale!

I picked up this beautiful mink fur with a patterned, in perfect condition, lining for only $40!

The beautiful vintage mink fur stole I picked up – in mint condition from The Public Butter, $40!

The hair is always my biggest challenge. Liz, of The Vintage Inn, gave me a great easy tip and I was able to create this vintage back-roll…which held up pretty well all night!

A gaggle of us carpooled our way just outside of Hamilton, in our 40s finest …. stopping to have dinner at Swiss Chalet, we be Klassly like dat….yup – classy with a ‘k’. And then we were off to dance among the planes with uniformed men 🙂

1940s Toronto Vintage Society — Lovely 1940s fashions, airplanes and furs with some fabulous ladies! Special thanks to Erin for bringing along her camera to capture some of these fab snaps!

swing out to victory — A little sweaty faced after all the dancing

At some point in the middle of the fantastic night, a delightful lady handed me a card and said I was her choice for “Best Dressed” of the evening…and would be called up on stage for the competition! Woot! Woot!

1796607_1488965378053201_740452698296659200_n — Geez…check out my Best Dress competition – 7 ft tall goddess with perfect pin-up hair…

swing out to victory 2014 — 2nd prize winner of a giant basket of goodies for the Best Dressed Contest!

1398234_10152509871819072_1406134961610959340_o — Moi – a la 1940s. Photo credit: Shermette … click the link to see her blogpost recap on this event.

10347632_1488965988053140_8986121371758388269_n — Is there a panda behind my head? “I always feel like somebody’s watching me”….

TVS swing out to victory — Toronto Vintage Society ladies totally ambushed this uniformed crewmen into this shot. He doesn’t seem to mind too much though 🙂

Dancing to the always magically big band music of Toronto All Star Big Band, surrounded by the planes at The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, among veterans and friends dressed in vintage finery and WINNING 2nd place in the best dressed contest ….. what a fantastic night!!! Can’t wait for next year! 🙂

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Halloween 2014!

By now y’all know how much I love any excuse to dress up. Costume and themed events just make my heart happy! 🙂

And this year there were THREE fun-filled nights over two weekends of Halloween Magnificence to get ready for!!!

EVENT 1: Toronto Lindy Hop’s Halloween Dance

This was a tricky costume to come up — All I knew was that this fabulous blue fringed wig NEEDED to be a part of it. Plus, whatever I came up with, I needed to wear something that was ‘dance appropriate’ … i.e. something I could sweat and move comfortably in AND one that kept ‘the girls’ demure and tamed for close dancing with strangers 😉

Tah-Dah!!! Dressed head-to-toe in blue (peplum top & pencil skirt from Forever21, patterned leggings from Old Navy) with a fabulous musical fascinator (Thanks for your craft work Erin!) Sooo….. What am I? Any guesses?

I’m THE BLUES!!!!

Pretty fun night dancing away to the Tia Brazda Swing Band … who dressed up in Halloween splendour too! Love it!

Love that the Toronto Lindy Hop community is sooooo into dress up too! How great is this pic!!! For full album of pics click here.

I’m happy to report that my wig and headgear stayed on all night….even during spins and dips and everything. It only slipped off once 😉

EVENT 2: Impromptu drinking and dancing in The Village on Church St. – Toronto

On Halloween Night, the rain killed all original plans to parade around Church St. in Day-of-the-Dead makeup. Sooooo ended up drinking with a last-minute posse of peoples I haven’t seen in ages, in my skeleton inspired sweater dress from Damzels. A chubby skeleton – HA! Kinda funny, no? 🙂

skeleton dress — Me in my Day-of-the-Dead Mask (from *Claire’s Accessories*), Skeleton-esk finger mittens (from *Old Navy*) and Skeleton inspired sweater dress (from *Damzels Doll Factory*).

I’m not gonna lie …. the drinking might have gotten a wee bit outta control this night. Followed by a cab ride into The Village for dancing and pancakes in the wee hours of the AM. Needless to say, I was bed ridden the entire next day, until it was time to get into costume #3!!!

image1-1 — Check out the crazy long line up in the rain for the *Cadbury Chocolate Factory* on Halloween night! It was nuts!

EVENT 3: Retro Video Dance Party’s Halloween Night @The Mod Club – Toronto

And the best for last …. “SHE-RA! SHE-RA!” {insert musical interlude here}

I’ve been wanting to dress as She-ra for Halloween for as long as I can remember. Sadly, store-bought costumes were all extremely little with zero options for a plus size bod like mine. Le sigh…

I shared my story of disappointment with the talented Carmen of CNL Designs , plus sent her a link to this DIY costume I found via The Stylish Geek, to help her get all the pieces together and TA-DAH!!! Magic happened!!!

plus size Shera — Entire costume from crown to cape to boot covers made by CNL Designs. Sword from *Dollarama.* Blonde wig from *Black Market Vintage*. And the AH-MAZING ‘industrial strength’ Strapess Bra from *Cacique, Lane Bryant*.

shera — Princess of Power with Marilyn Monroe (aka the Birthday Girl that night)

There were some impressive costumes at this party — including Bret ‘The Hitman’ Heart, Bjork, and The Shinning’s Grady Twins (creepiest costumes there that night…yikes!)

shera vs. thor — My favourite pic of the night: Shera vs. Thor!!!!

There was a lot of dancing and I’m happy to report that the costume held up pretty well all night. Minus my crown tips sadly as you can see below …sigh

Sadly, I didn’t win for best costume (wasn’t even in the running….sigh). 😦

But you know who did? Someone from my posse — A Tribute to Robin Williams! Isn’t she amazing!!!!

Soooooo there you have it friends!!! THREE costumes for Halloween 2014!

Which one did you like best? What did you all dress as for Halloween? Tell me all about it in the Comments section 🙂

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Toronto Pin Up Fashion Store Celebrates 20 Years!

I had the pleasure of attending this fabulous Gala event last night, celebrating 20 years of fabulous pinup fashion in Toronto!

Read all about what these delightful ladies behind Doll Factory by Damzels is all about 🙂

The Vintage Inn

-Repost from Toronto Vintage Society–

DAMZELS have been helping Toronto celebrate our inner Pin Up girl for 20 Years!

The Damzels Themselves!

That is 20 years of designing and procuring women’s clothing for alt/vintage/pin up/rockabilly/repro scene. Not only has their presence helped to solidify a place for us in Toronto, but they have given back to their alt/cult community time and time again.

Brief History (more info in the interview below)

Damzels in this Dress; designed by Kelly Freeman and Rory Lindo, were a vintage/rock n roll inspired dress label that before opening retail stores in Leslieville and Roncesvalles (popular neighbourhoods in Toronto), sold their dress brand wholesale to boutiques. Their dresses were sold across Canada, the US, and internationally. The Damzel collections have been shown during Toronto Fashion Week, featured on Fashion Television, Canada’s Next Top Model and even Much Music (Canadian Version of MTV).

Damzels – past and present!

The Vintage…

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Oktoberfest!

For years now I’ve been trying to round-up the troops to enjoy Oktoberfest in the K-Dub (Kitchener, Waterloo) – the 2nd largest Oktoberfest celebration next to Munich, Germany! Sadly, I’ve failed every year. 😦

This year however, a few fun friends and I were determined to dig out our lederhosen and dirndls for Toronto’s 3rd annual authentic Oktoberfest party – at Ontario Place! Inspired by traditions started in Munich, Germany over 200 years ago, Toronto Oktoberfest brings a taste of Munich to the City as it captures the essence of authentic food, drink and merriment.

Naturally – we HAD to dress the part!

A few of my table mates have been painstakingly sewing themselves authentic-looking dirndls to wear to this event. I had my heart set on wearing an old Halloween costume I had in my closet of a German Beer Maid. Figured if this outfit won me 1st prize at my Office’s costume party – it was deserving enough to make a reappearance for this event. (woot! woot!)

german beer girl ppmeow — Last year’s winning Office Costume Party outfit (the blonde braided wig was on loan) 😉

Buuuuut then as Toronto Oktoberfest continued updating their FB page as the big weekend arrived …. it seems that their waitress staff were all going to be wearing my EXACT outfit!!! Le sigh… 😦

Needless to say, I was heartbroken. We bought our tickets back in July specifically for the dirndl wearing. Sooooooo I was DETERMINED to wear this get-up no matter what!

I figured my fancy buttons and a floral crown (Claire’s Accessories) would do the trick 😉

A few added button accessories … to look different from the waitstaff 😛

Floral crown from Claire’s Accessories (oh-so difficult to find in Fall)

There where fabulous hair inspiration in this article —- but y’all know how much I hate brushing my hair, let alone doing it. In the end, I went for a simple double ponytail look. Nailed it! 😛

German Beer Girl costume from Candy Apple Costume (online)

I was told that there was great importance and rules placed on how a dame ties the bow of her apron:

Rightside = married/taken. Back = virgin. Leftside = single n’ ready to mingle. As you can see, mine was tied accordingly 😉

Click here for deets on that.

Me with Liz of The Vintage Inn and Jacquie of TVS

I’m not typically a beer drinking kinda gal …. but this festival allowed you to taste a bunch of different ones, so I did. You can almost pinpoint the exact moment when the beers started to kick in by the excessive laughing and blurry-ness of each snap….:)

As per usual, the Toronto Vintage Society ladies brought their A-game, all decked out … in proper German dirndl attire! ps: I am NOT double-fisting my drinks. I’m a lady! I was kindly holding a pint for the photographer taking this pic …geez! 🙂

Me and my empty Beer Stein with the WINNER OF BEST DRESSED, Joy!!! She sewed this entire outfit herself, including the adorable hat!!! Mad skillz…with a ‘z’!

Before vs. After ….. an evening of Oktoberfest!

Turns out we closed down the tent!!! And stumbled our way out of the Ontario Place parking lot around 1am …. we were halfway to Brampton on foot (or so it felt like we were) before a kind cabbie picked us up and dropped us home safely. ***Hiccup***

Overall, a fantastic time! Can’t wait for next year’s Oktoberfest!

Would you be up to going if PPMeow! organized a table-o-fun? Let me know in the comment section and let’s start planning some beer + costume + blog-reader fun!!!

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