Electro Swing Toronto’s event this month was attended by moi and several TVSers (Toronto Vintage Society) to work the door and help judge the best dressed competition that is held each time an Electro Swing event happens. Tonight’s theme: VINTAGE HOLLYWOOD!
DJ Medicineman (founder of Electro Swing in Toronto) often recruits TVS to help him with vintage related things – and so far these collaborations have been fantastic!!! To see the other ones I’ve attended, click here , here and here.
Me wearing what I was told is a “80s does 20s classic black Hollywood peplum dress (BlackMarket Vintage on WQW for $10). And Joy!!! Photo Credit: ShermetteAnd Joy in an amazing Audrey Hepburn inspired look with jewels, gloves, cig holder and everything! **swoon**Joy and Shermy … in their amazing vintage dresses giving their best vintage-non-smiling-bored faces.
Here we are on stage…trying to gauge audience applause for winners of Best Dressed: Dapper Dude and Dashing Dame:
Tah-Dah ….TVS with the winners of the Best Dressed Competition:
Check out my magical hair transformation courtesy of Jacquie – done in two mins flat in the green room at Revival!!! Thanks Miss Jacquie 🙂
My dress was a simple black – a classic hollywood look – with gold Lemay. I was told is a “80s does 20s classic black Hollywood peplum dress (BlackMarket Vintage on WQW for $10).
I threw on a black feather boa (Dollarama) and excessive blingy jewellery (most of which i got as wedding presents – Indian people love giving jewellery to brides)…and off I went.
Collage -O-Fun had at Electro Swing Toronto’s Vintage Hollywood night!
Me being ‘Door-Whore’ at Revival …TVSers: Jacquie (Founder of TVS), moi, Shermy and Joy
For complete photo album of the event, taken by David Tom Photography, click here. AND to read about the event from Shermy’s perspective visit her blog Shermette. 🙂
September 9th is known as the International Day of Beauty — it was created by the International Committee of Aesthetics and Cosmetology (CIDESCO) and was adopted by the World Congress in 1995. What better day to celebrate body confidence, education, health and community empowerment!
I was fortunate enough to be invited to the 2nd annual Body Confidence Canada Awards – A Toast To Curves held at Panorama. The BCCAs created and run by the amazing Aisha Fairclough and Jill Andrew, of Fat In The City, to celebrate “champions of body confidence, positivity and body diversity in Canada”.Body Confidence Canada acknowledges Canadian based recipients who actively fight against stereotypes that attempt to label marginalized bodies (i.e., fat, radicalized, dis/abled, etc.) as unhealthy, uninspired, and underachieving. Looking around the room that night, there was something incredibly refreshing and empowering being among so many beautiful, confident women of all shapes and sizes. 🙂
The Hosts: Aisha Fairclough and Jill Andrew, of Fat In The City
The evening began with cocktails and incredible views of the city …followed by inspiring speeches from guest speakers and the winning nominees.
The 2014 BCCAward winners included: Ophilia Alleyne, Jewel Kats (absent from photo below), Stefanie Augusteijn of SexyPlus Clothing and Cindy Baker. A honourary award was also given to Dr. Carla Rice, one of the esteemed guest speakers . Each recipient shared a touching experience, who’s words were not only uplifting but resonated with nearly every woman in the room.
For a sample of one of the speeches click here by Miss Stefanie Augusteijn …and her message and spirit of collaboration in the plus community 🙂
The Winners of The 2014 BCCAwards
A huge congratulations to all the winners from Petite Plus, Meow!
And now… a few fun snaps of all the fun had by me and the other lovelies in the room…
Me with THE sensational, inspiring, well-spoken Jill Andrews. If you haven’t seen her in action…click here for her TEDx Talk: Fat Shaming and the Thin EpidemicWhat I wore: Captain’s Bodycon dress from SexyPlus Clothing with peep toed platform heels from Diesel
Events like this help support the body positive movement. If you want to help build this event, please nominate someone that embodies what the BCCAs are all about by heading to the website and nominating someone for 2015.
If you’ve been following PPMeow! for sometime now, you’ll know that I’ve fallen head-over-heels for Lindy Hop and Swing Dancing! So much so that all summer I’ve tried to attend as many free, outdoor swing event around the city (click here & here), and nearly every Saturday (since the completion of my lessons with Lindy Hop Revolution), I’ve been at The Dovercourt House where Toronto Lindy Hop hosts weekly live bands and dances (with lessons).
Well friends, the last Saturday of every month, Toronto Lindy Hop has a fantastic theme night – and August’s was: SWING PROM!
Which means, this chick had an excuse to get extra all dolled up in vintage-esk duds AND dance the night away in a tiara – duh!
I picked up this teal dress from a Plus Size Consignment Sale I participated in last year — its an ASOS dress — and this is the first time I’ve ever worn it. The long strand pearls were picked up from the Toronto Vintage Clothing Show a earlier this year and shoes (from Naturalizer) and tiara were from my wedding. Thrilled to finally have an excuse to wear this prettiness out again!
To my surprise….making these corsages and boutonnieres were uber simple.
All you need are some love faux flowers and leaves, a bit of felt adhere the flowers down to, elastic to secure it to your wrists and a hot glue gun to stick everything down into place. Easy. Peasy. Lemon. Squeezy. 🙂
These were the ones I created!!! I’m not at all crafty…and was thrilled and how great these turned out! Yay me!Tah-Dah! Corsages totally make these prom dresses….don’t you think?Swing dancing in poofy frocks just makes your heart happy…. at least it does mine. 🙂Gentlemen readers … if you’re looking to meet beautiful chicks in the city…clearly SWING DANCING is where you’ll find them! Meow indeed! 😉The Pre-Prom Crafty Team … 50s, 60s and 80s themes represented
Bands. Vinal. Videos. Burlesque. Hula Dancers. Signature Cocktails. Door Prizes. The Limbo. Swimsuit Contest. What more could you ask for at Toronto Vintage Society‘s 2nd annual sensational-end-of-summer tiki party.
I got there early to help my TVS Sistas set up the Cadillac Lounge into a Heavenly Tiki Patio…then I ran home to change before the could fun begin…
Me along side a few of the lovelies of the TVS Events Team
Me in my tiki-taskti dress, my wicker aqua clutch (Aldo), simple brown ankle-strap sandals (Payless), aqua drop earrings (Reitmans) and my too-tiny-to-notice hair flower (Forever21)…..
Y’all know I’m not a big make-up wearer …. but I tried my hand at bright eyes and loud lips with Almay’s intense-i-colour trio for greens and Rimmel’s In Vouge lipstick
Clearly a dress like this needed a much more substantial hair flower! Lucky for me the lovely and talented Shermy of Shermette was on hand selling her Fruits of Bali.
Want more pictures of the TVS Tiki Party … click here
Now….let’s talk about MY DRESS!!!! 🙂
I was introduced to world of Cherry Velvet last year via Damzels store on Roncy in Toronto…and since have picked up two lovely dresses that fit my measurements (size 0X) like a glove flattering my curves with different, unique necklines. And best of all: your bra straps will always be covered and your hands, phone and lipgloss will always have a home in the convenient pockets in ALL of their dresses!
Click here and here for details on the above Cherry Velvet Dresses.
I’ve been coveting this tropical number for months….drooling over their Instagram post this amazing Tropical Taupe number that would be PERFECT Tiki Party attire for Toronto Vintage Society’s TIKI LANI LANANI.
Sadly I never found this in store…so it seemed this frock was only going to become a apart of my life and wardrobe if I bought it online. Now, I’m not 100% comfortable buying something I’ve not tried on before, especially when it comes to spending at these particular price points ($100+ per dress). Sigh…
But, since I own two already I felt fairly confident that my measurements and their sizing chart would make any online purchases a ‘success story’ 🙂
Truth be told that, outside of a German Beer Girl halloween costume (stay tuned for a reappearance of this getup as I just bought tickets to Toronto’s Oktoberfest – woot! woot!) I have never purchased clothing online before. My biggest concern or deterrent from online shopping: Returns and Exchanges if something doesn’t fit right —- aka “The Shipping-Back Hassle”.
I tried to push Ginger (the name of the dress) outta my mind and continue living my life…to find an alternative Tiki outfit for this event. But I just couldn’t. I was in love! Upon revisiting their site last week, turns out Ginger was on sale, a clear signs from the shopping-gods…and the ADD TO CART button was clicked and she was on her way to me 🙂
I ordered via http://www.cherryvelvet.com on August 1st and by August 8th a Canada Post deliver arrived with my name on it!!!!! Clearly I was excited as you can see from my Facebook post below…
Seemingly in my zeal to bring Ginger home to me, I ordered a size 1X, instead of the needed 0X…and instantly my “Shipping-Back-Hassle” fears were realized. Lesson Learned folks: double check, and triple check sizes you selcted and return/exchange policies before clicking ‘checkout’ … le sigh.
Lucky for me, minor alterations were needed to make this dress wearable for the big event were made, without having to send this beauty back to Vancouver (that’s where Cherry Velvet is based), allowing Ginger & I to have a fabulous time at TVS’s TIKI LANI LANANI Party!
Are you thinking to yourself…. “But Irene, there are TWO lovely new dresses that hang in your closet… tell me more about the other cutie-pie frock?”
Stay tuned for that friends, in an upcoming blogpost 😉 xoxo
As much as I love vintage/retro styles ….. sifting through smelly racks of ‘truly vintage’ clothing in hopes that a gem-of-a-find will fit my petite-plus sized bod in a flattering way is difficult and often an uneventful task. This is why I’m a huge fan of the world of vintage reproduction. 🙂
Toronto has been buzzing for months around rumours of getting the golden-era inspired dress company behind the Bettie Page brand – Tatyana!
Vintage and retro style lovers – from swing dancers to rockabilly fans – have been dying to get their hands on the full range of clothing since they were dreamed up in 2006. With sizes in both circle dresses and wiggle dresses going right up to size 4x! The Tatyana company has chosen Toronto to be it’s 20th location AND it’s first international store….and I couldn’t be more thrilled!
About the Company – Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, Tatyana Designs, Inc. is a growing retailer specializing in contemporary designs inspired by the 50’s. The merchandise offered through boutiques and active e-commerce and wholesale divisions is a diverse mix of high-quality and attractively priced apparel, jewelry, accessories and gifts. Tatyana collections target the 18-35 year-old, fashion conscious, female customer, but women of all ages are attracted to the unique retro look.
“Our newest Tatyana boutique is situated in the heart of Toronto,” notes Tatyana Designs co-CEO Jan Glaser. “We continue to be gratified by the enthusiastic acceptance of Tatyana’s designs by women from all walks of life. This is especially true as we have an enormous Canadian following with thousands wearing our dresses representing a disproportionate percentage of our customers. Now we have the opportunity to honor their patronage with our first Canadian outlet in an amazing location.”
The Toronto Vintage Society are huge supporters of any new company that wants to join our ranks in bringing the retro inspired lifestyle to this city…and there is room for everyone!!! To find out more we reached out to the company. The lovely Hayley from the NYC Boutique and new Toronto Store Manager Martha made time to let the Toronto Vintage Society have a sneak peek at what’s in store. Click here for the complete blogpost and interview.
The Tatyana Boutique Soft Opening Event this Saturday(Location: 322 Queen West, near Spadina Ave) with goody bags for the first 10 people through the door; bubbly drinks and tasty treats; PLUS an exclusive discount just for US! Mention “Toronto Vintage Loves Tatyana” and receive 20% off your purchase!!! You’re welcome friends!!! 🙂
Happy Shopping! If you do pick up something fabulous this weekend…be sure to post a picture of yourself on Petite Plus, Meow’s Facebook page so I can oooo-and-ahhhh your purchases with you! xoxo
Miranda Priestley’s famed catty retort from The Devil Wears Pradamay live on in infamy, but truth be told I’m not the biggest fan of floral prints. And I’m seemingly late to the party with this trend this year….with summer in full bloom and all (see what I did there 😉 …)
These pink hibiscus earrings I picked up at last year’s Toronto Vintage Society‘s Tiki Party — were the inspiration for my outfit of the day.
I have a hard time finding a good lipstick/gloss that actually appears PINK once applied to my lips. This RIMMEL LONDON Stay Glossy Lip Gloss – Jewel In The Crown is actually perfect…and has become by go-to summer colour.
This outfit of the day had to do double-duty as a office appropriate work-outfit AND comfortable enough to Lindy Hop in immediately after work with SWING TORONTO in front of the Gazebo of St. James Park (King/Jarvis Sts)!
For dancing in the park….the heels had to go. Sooooo these navy flat peep-toes (Payless) worked out perfectly….
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As you can see, dancing in St. James Park isn’t the easiest thing to do…..the grounds are pretty beat up and kinda tricky for dancing on. Not like that stopped us or anything. Check me out friends!!! 🙂
Special thanks to Liz for taking this perfect shot 🙂
Turns out Old Town Toronto took a bunch of pictures too. Check out a few during the swing lesson by Swing Toronto before the band went on…..click here for their full photo album of this event.
Swing Toronto’s lesson before the Band went on….Photo courtesy of Old Town Toronto
Love that this city has soooooo many outdoor music & dancing opportunities….
Photo courtesy of Old Town TorontoPhoto courtesy of Old Town Toronto
Floral pencil skirt from H&M; Navy top from Reitmans; Navy flat peep-toes from Payless; Pink heels from MTNY; Purse from Your Big Sister’s Closet
Have you made it out to any outdoor music and dancing events in Toronto this summer? Which ones? Tell me all about the in the comments section friends!
I was at it again, representing with the Toronto Vintage Society at last weekend’s Electro Swing night-o-fun … looking for Best Dressed guy and gal. This time the theme was: Vintage Gypsy Cabaret. My immediate reaction was…..Whaaat!?! This made me dig deep when coming up with an appropriate look to match my TVS Sistas.
Outfit planning has been tricky to say the least….what the heck is Vintage-Gypsy-Cabaret anyway?! Google’s answer was the following…
….and from which inspired my overall outfit of excessive accessories (Thank You Jacquie, Founder of TVS) and giant hair inspiration of Kate Moss Biba.
I’ve been dying to somehow create a look with these fabulous silky Ali-Baba/Harem Pants I picked up on my trip to the Motherland a few years ago … just never really found an occasion where they would really fit. But they totally worked to help create that Gypsy feeling for this fantastic themed event!!!!
The evening began with pre-drinking at Erin’s … followed by excessive photo-taking of our outfits:
The Event & Best Dressed Winners:
Me and my TVS Sistas on stage….asking the audience to determine who BEST DRESSED was for the night.
Final Three for “Dapper Dude”: Alex, Patrick and DanielFinal Three for “Darling Dame”: Sam, Foxy and ClairMoi …. introducing TVS and the Best Dressed Contest. Clearly I enjoy having the mic in my handTVS selected these three for Best Dressed ‘Dapper Dude’
The ladies really stepped it up tonight….It was uber difficult to pick ‘Darling Dame’ based on these three finalists. Check out their costumes up close – all three were fantastic!
Best dressed guy and gal went to: Daniel and Sam – winners of gift certificates from Gaddabout Vintage Clothing – congratulations you two!!!
TVS with the Winners of the Best Dressed Contest!
With Taste of Little Italy happening that night just outside of Revival’s Electro Swing — the TVS Sistas took to the street to dance along side this One-Man-Band!
Other shenanigans of the evening included….
Photo Credit: David Tom — for the full album of photos taken from Electro Swing’s Vintage-Gypsy-Cabaret night click here
How I got the Look:
Black crochet tank from Forever21+; Black lace bra from Lane Bryant; Golden-green Harem/Ali-Baba pants from my travels in Jaipur, India; excessive accessories, plus turban and feathers courtesy of Jacquie of TVS; sandals from Payless
The Toronto Vintage Society hosted a lovely Pin Up Picnic at Trinity Bellwoods Park a few weekends ago…. A simple social gathering to celebrate the amazing whether, show off our summer vintage gear and meet new people in our vintage community. Celebrating Sun, Fun and Vintage!
The Admin & Events Teams met up earlier in the afternoon for photo ops, to set up and to pow-wow about the various other exciting events TVS is planning for the upcoming months (stay tuned to the TVS FB Page and new blog site so you don’t miss a thing friends!)
Outfit planning was done with careful colour consideration, with special instructions and effort to keeping the ‘patterns’ to a minimum of 10-25% of the look. Our team photo was going for a more monochromatic look. I was to wear RED! I used the following image as my inspiration…..
Here’s what I wore:
Click here to see this dress in a ‘wintery’ look 🙂
I studied the following Hair Tutorial to get my hair into Pin Up perfection:
…But ended up cheating by creating a faux bang with half a foam hair donut instead 🙂
The TVS Admin & Events Team took some long awaited shots for the website – along with some fun candid ones too. Take a look at all the shenanigans that took place that afternoon amongst Vintage Pin Ups, Greasers, Teddy Boys, Retro Divas and Rockers:
TVS Admin & Events Team! Photo taken by ShermetteTVS Admin Team – photo taken by Shermette
A few snaps taken by Bianca Baumann Photography ‘behind the scenes’ as we got ourselves organized for the group pic:
Red Swing Dress from Collectif + white short-crinoline from Rosie The Rebel; White crop sweater from Old Navy (was wayyyy too hot to actually wear during the day tho); Vintage wicker purse earrings and bangles; Zebra stripped head tie & wedges from Payless
The Toronto Vintage Society did a great blogpost of their own….check it out for more Pin Up Picnic pics and fun, complete with other picnic-ers and favourite pin-up poses 🙂
Most of what I like to do on Petite Plus, Meow! is to write posts featuring “what I did” and “what I wore“. Occasionally I’ve spoken about other topics, one in particular is how disappointing it is to see a handsome & eligible bachelor who’s wearing crumbled pants and a hoodie. Even more rare, apparently is one who actually OWNS a pair of dress shoes….le sigh (click here to read what I wrote in that post).
I get that not everyone loves clothes and shoes as much as me. Buuuuuut I don’t think too many people – men in particular – realize how important looking your best is when interacting with others – after all you only get one chance to make a first impression – and those first impressions are lasting impressions. Looking your best is directly related to your ability to influence and persuade others and is the basics in the ‘Art of Manliness’.
Anywhoo, I recently received an email announcing a fantastic opportunity and deal and wanted to share: HIRAS are Custom Tailors based in London & Hong Kong now visiting Toronto – specializing in custom suits, shirts, jackets, coats and many more for men and women. With a focus on bespoke tailoring.
Bespoke tailoring means to design garments from a bare canvas, and the client provides his/her personal choice of style in addition to those of the fitter. They do not have any established patterns. Individual paper pattern is cut from scratch using individual measurements of the clients. HIRA only keep individual paper cut outs of patterns and measurements in file for the client’s future orders. This means your suit/shirt/whatever will be one of a kind and only for you!
Ladies – this means you too! Suits in softer silhouettes with feminine accents enhance a woman’s style to provide a distinctive form and fit with functional pieces that can go beyond the board room in any occasion. From the sleek suit jacket to the silk blouse and shapely skirt, made to YOUR body – how are you not excited?!
Andy Hira, is exhibiting in:
Toronto (Richmond Hill) on Tuesday 10th & Wednesday 11th June 2014 (from 3pm on Tuesday to 3pm on Wednesday) at the Sheraton Parkway Toronto North, located at 600 Highway 7 East, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 1B2.
Toronto (Downtown) from Thursday 12th to Saturday 14th June 2014 (all day on Thursday onwards) at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, located at 123 Queen St. W., Toronto, ON M5H 2M9.
Now – if this is wayyyy outta your price range or lifestyle needs at the moment…perhaps you’ll find this video an easier alternative to custom suiting.
Antonio Centeno is one of the founders of A Tailored Suit, an online maker of custom suits and clothing. He’s put together this vid talking to men about the Top 10 Inexpensive Ways to Upgrade Your Style. Included below for your viewing pleasure:
9-weeks ago…. I began Lindy Hop Swing Dancing Lessons with the lovely instructors, Luis & Natalia of Lindy Hop Revolution. And I can proudly say that they’ve officially turned me into a solid Beginner Level Swing Dancer!!!
I blogged about my very first swing lesson – describing myself as a hot mess. My arms did not want to cooperate what-so-ever. And the constant ‘bouncing’ that is required didn’t seem to keep the beat in my feet as it should.
It was tricky at first, but week after week I felt more and more confident of the steps, felt myself improving and I couldn’t wait for class to learn the next big move. 🙂
I couldn’t get enough! In addition to my weekly scheduled lesson, I found myself showing up at the weekly LHR ‘social dances’ …dancing with swing dancers from all over Toronto …. dancers with varying skill-levels! These drop-in socials I think were key to my overall improvement and confidence in becoming a better Follower – and just have fun with it! 🙂
LHR threw a ‘End of Year’ Party last week — as this cute couple is taking summer off to tie the knot in Spain!!! (Congratulations again you two, xoxo!) Giving all the students, new and old, an opportunity to swing, swing, swing until the wee hours of the AM potluck style.
Being silly with the fab LHR Instructors: Luis & Natalia
Erin, fellow blogger of Delovely has been in the Beginner classes with me for the last two months….she’s terrific! We met up on a patio before the party to get some liquid courage in us before the party began. 😉
Check out the lovely crafty contribution to the potluck she brought, complete with punny-humor: Try a Lindy Pop! Isn’t she clever? 🙂 Definitely check out her blog for more creative crafts friends.
Natalia & I making silly Lindy Hop faces
Wanna see what 9-weeks of Lindy Hop Lessons looks like? Check out my debut swing dancing vid below!
Special Thank You to Erin for your steady hand in filming and to Donald for being my patient go-to dance partner 🙂
It’s official: Swing Dancing is my happy drug!!!
Can’t wait to continue with lessons into the Fall, and beyond with Lindy Hop Revolution!
As for What I Wore … turns out I wore the same dress from my very first lesson – minus the cardi & tights. Click here for details on that outfit 🙂
So, waddya think of me and my Lindy Hop moves? If I can learn it…anyone can friends. Would you ever try lessons yourself? Share your thoughts in the Comments section.
I threw on a black feather boa (Dollarama) and excessive blingy jewellery (most of which i got as wedding presents – Indian people love giving jewellery to brides)…and off I went.
Me with THE sensational, inspiring, well-spoken Jill Andrews. If you haven’t seen her in action…click 
.
Me and my TVS Sistas on stage….asking the audience to determine who BEST DRESSED was for the night.
I blogged about my 
PPMeow! 