Events – Page 4

Choir! Choir! Choir!

I love to sing. I’m an off-key karaoke fiend, and often have broken into song on the streets whilst listening to my iPod. I’m not particularly good at it … except when I’m singing “Drunk In Love” in my shower – then I sound EXACTLY like Queen B 🙂

Singing makes me happy. And I’m determine to discover and DO more of those things – that make me happy. I’ve been told of social choirs outside of a ‘church type choir’ before, however many of the ones I’ve been looking at have strict rules and restrictions before one can become a member. Plus, most of these chapters are located in Whitby, Mississauga and Oakville. Not at all what this Downtown Toronto gal is looking for.

SIDE NOTE: Just recently found this BlogT.O. article: Karaoke Nights in Toronto – every night of the week?! I’m definitely gonna have to investigate this list and the different spots this summer FO SHO!!!

I often sing the praises (see what I did there…ya, I’m clever like that) of Toronto being the best city ever — and I’ve recently discovered yet another reason why this city is so great: Choir! Choir! Choir!

C! C! C! is a singing group based in Toronto. Since February of 2011, they have been throwing down and saving lives. www.choirchoirchoir.com

I’ve actually been a member of this Facebook group for a few months now. Always wanting to go to an event, but feeling shy and discouraged to go alone. Alas, my social circle’s avaliability has dwindled due to life, marriages and babies….. and of those who still remain, they are less than enthusiastic about singing loudly in public than I am 🙂

But when I received the invite to last week’s session – I was def gonna check it out not matter what!

Don’t You Want Me (Human League) and Tainted Love (Soft Cell) – Yup! Two classics. One glorious night!

Typically, C! C! C! meets at two different pubs on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in Toronto’s Little Italy (College/Shaw area) …

Daveed Goldman & Nobu Adilman are the musical leads/directors who kick off the evening with riffs and banter before corralling us all to stand tightly as close to the stage as possible, grouping those who sing “highs and mids” separate from “lows and base”.

With minimum practice, Daveed and Nobu were able to make us sound amazing in 3-hours of fun filled singing with beers! Don’t believe me – check out the SoundCloud clips … thrilled that MY voice will be among a few of these renditions now. Oooop Boop!

I really can’t describe how amazing it was to be surrounded by a bunch of strangers singing our hearts out in unison and harmony. The only way to capture that feeling is to show you friends. Check out this clip of C! C! C! singing Neil Diamond’s hit “Sweet Caroline”.… if you’re not smiling ear-to-ear by the end of it, then you are a robot.

Oh … here’s what I wore done collage-style (as I forgot to take pics of the actual outfit) – my #ootd was uber casual for pub singing with C! C! C!:

How I got the Look: Black tank maxi dress from H&M; Great back lace sweatshirt from Penningtons (click here and here for other posts featuring this one); Medina Bib from Stella & Dot; Purple patterned scarf and memory foam soled Sketcher — essential for all the STANDING required for 3+ hours of singing with C! C! C! 🙂

Can’t wait for the next sing-a-long event with this fantastic group of people! Just thinking about it makes my heart happy! Weeeeee!

Want more details about C! C! C!? – Read Here, New People 🙂

Tea Party at Your Big Sister’s Closet

Hoooray for Long Weekend!!! Victoria Day Long weekend is here and what better way to celebrate than with a lovely afternoon tea party at one of my favourite Plus Sized Boutiques in the city – Your Big Sister’s Closet!

The invitation was specific: Wear your filliest frock and fabulous hat!

Say no more….I was on it! 😉

I’ve been dying to wear this grey faux lace dress with a built-in crinoline at the hem – hanging in my closet for nearly 4-months. Yup…bought it a while ago and never had a reason or outting to officially wear it out. Click here for other looks with this dress.

Plus, last weekend I visited the Weston Flea Market and picked up this ridiculously large and fantastic fascinator. Clearly the stars aligned and this ensemble was born to hit the streets of the Junction for an afternoon of tea, scones and plus size fashions!

Take a look at all the fun had and terrific hats & outfits worn:

Check out this mini fashionista who was very interested in us…

10256508_10152352037385376_1548689671421881198_o — Photo Credit: Rebecca Northcott Photography

Me with the talented Annika, owner & designer of Candi Apple Couture

Me getting photobombed in slow motion by the Northcotts…. 🙂

Check out these amazing hats and fascinators on display from David Dunkley Fine Millinery …. A master in his own right, David has studied with the former royal milliner to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. In keeping with this royal millinery lineage, Dunkley’s creations have been sported by members of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s royal entourage and at functions attended by Her Majesty. Ooooo la la, huh? Totally appropriate for a Victoria Day afternoon tea 🙂

10355709_10152352037080376_4810215721512067901_o — Photo Credit: Rebecca Northcott Photography

10372033_10154129628700364_2087184616270040014_n — Photo Credit: Peter Chiem

How I Got The Look:

Grey faux lace dress from Forever21+, Lindy Hop inspired pink & brown flats from Winners; Pink & white feathered facinator from Weston Flea Market (forget the name of the booth); Pink & gold purse from Your Big Sister’s Closet

Our Hosts: Karen Ward & Peter Chiem, owners of Your Big Sister’s Closet

Gussied Up & Tess Munster!

Gussied Up, a plus size clothing boutique owned by the lovely Victoria McGroarty, celebrated the store’s 3rd anniversary this weekend – with a Meet & Greet with Miss Tess Munster!

This delightful Bathurst boutique has classic pieces and Canadian designs in sizes X-3X. With versatile pieces like day-to-evening dresses, casual blazers, leggings and cute but practical undergarments.

This past visit I had my eye on the vintage-inspired bathing suits — any era with fashions that celebrates hips & tits wins my heart every time! The feminine details for belts and bling is what I go weak in the knees for (ended up buying a sweetie-pie one I’ve had my eye on since seeing it on Instagram).

With the weather oh-so gorgeous, I walked up from West Queen West (a significant distance) – so I decided to dress down cozy and comfy with my navy faux Toms (Airwalk from Payless), pink stripped maxi (from AdditionElle), cat-eye sunnies (from The Public Butter), pink moustache scarf (from Winners), faded denim-hoodie jacket (Jessica Simpson from HBC) and my MK grey cross body bag to make my Saturday afternoon stroll to meet Miss Tess Munster!

The line up to meet Tess nearly wrapped the corner of Dupont! Lucky for me….Rebecca (of Rebecca Northcott Photography) and I had a “tag-team approach”… and who ever got there first would save a spot for the other, regardless of the dirty looks to come our way by fellow-in-line fans! 😉

Tess is a Plus-Size Model, Make Up Artist, Body Positive Activist and Blogger based in L.A., who turned her hobbies into a successful career. She is a petite woman with an amazing smile that truly does light up a room!

She recently founded the #effyourbeautystandards movement which has over 65,000 shares on Instagram alone, that changed her life. She receives letters and emails from different women every day thanking her for empowering them to love their bodies, and to not be ashamed of being short, pale/dark, or dare I say…Fat.

The features that Tess was bullied about in her youth, that she now embraces, that has led to her success. She really is an inspiration, encouraging other women to embrace and accept who they are, as they are.

Tess hopes that girls who are bullied, and women who lack confidence will begin to see their inner and outer beauty at whatever size.

For everyone that says we can’t show our tummies, wear a pencil/form-fitting skirt, wear a bikini, wear sleeveless tops… YOU can!

That’s the main message of the #effyourbeautystandards campaign — Tess wants YOU to join her in wearing “daring” fashions & stop hiding your body because society tells you to.

BE a total babe regardless of our size..big OR small we all deserve to feel beautiful.

Take a look at some of the beautiful shots Rebecca captured at the Meet & Greet with Miss Tess Munster at Gussied Up:

Tess was a delight to meet! A genuinely nice person — happy to give hugs, pose for pictures …even TAKING SELFIES with her adoring fans!

I’ve got a massive #girlcrush on this woman – even more now that I’ve met her!

10255049_10152291511960376_5493591035417597110_o — Tess with Rebecca, of Rebecca Northcott Photography

Tess is proof that determination, relentlessness, and positivity can look beautiful on anyone, and that there is a wonderful life past a size 20.

Gussied Up located at 1090 Bathurst St (at Dupot) in Toronto, Ontario. You should def make a visit to see what fabulous fashions finds need to be yours!

Here are a few shots taken by my iPhone camera too:

Me with Gussied Up owner, Victoria — Me with Victoria, Owner of Gussied Up!

Shots taken with my iPhone: Me + Victoria and Me + Tess Munster

#TVS: Mad Men Season Premier Party

Let me start by saying thank you Netflix for introducing me to the oh-so handsome Donald Draper, and his world of Mad Men. And a thank you to RogersOnDemand, for letting me get all caught-up with all of the 6th season’s episodes so that I’d be ready to attend alongside fellow TVS-ers and Mad Men fanatics at the Cadillac Lounge for a fab night of 1960s fun!

When it comes to vintage style, are you a Joan? A Peggy? A Betty? Or a Meghan?

My Outfit:

I decided to go with my PEGGY DRESS complete with white gloves and all — couldn’t find a pill hat this she’s wearing below sadly.

My entire outfit was picked up a few weeks at the Toronto Vintage Clothing Show (minus the white gloves, they were bought recently from 69Vintage and the shoes are oldies from beige closed-toed T-straped heels from Le Chateau)

Found this easy-peasy hair tutorial … that doesn’t look too “done”.

Unfortunately, I was recovering from my first migraine ever, and was struggling to make it out to this event at all — frankly getting dolled up with hair did, just wasn’t happening. So my apologies if I’m not my usual smiley self in photos friends 🙂

The Event:

I missed last year’s Mad Men shindig thrown by the Toronto Vintage Society (at the same locale)…and now that I’m apart of the admin team, I had been looking forward to this for a month! It was all-hands-on-deck with only 1-hour to set up our section complete with Mad Men inspired vintage cocktail menus, fancy up the prizes from Exile Vintage and Ethel’s, setting up a vintage backdrop photo booth complete with authentic vintage props, getting our signage up and our vintage commercials up and running. We really did transform the space – it all looked fantastic.

The party started at 8pm where we had a sassy 60s music dance party with DJ NICO (With It! and CIUT) plus GAMES like: “Name the Slogan” and “Pitch us your Best Ad” that kept us busy before the Cadi transformed their stage by dropping down a large screen for us all to watch the Season Premiere of Mad Men (7th and final season….*sniff sniff*) 😦

It was a fantastically fun night (as soon as I downed some extra strength Tylenol – thank you Monika!) Sunday night on West Queen West with Mad Men vintage loving folks was a HUGE success!

If you were there – be sure to check out Toronto Vintage Society’s Facebook page to tag yourself in the photos we took.

In the meantime….have you Mad Men’d Yourself yet? You should! It’s a hoot!

Swing Fever!

Thursday is the NEW Friday after all….sooooo when this invite popped up on #TVS calendar and then again on Facebook, it was clear that I needed to be in attendance.

Swing Fever! is an authentic 1940’s themed dance party that will transport you back in time to a defining decade in history. This epic evening of entertainment featured a stellar live band, dance performances, classic cocktails, delicious war-time grub and more. It is a non-profit event, where all of the proceeds raised from Swing Fever! went directly to the Royal Canadian Legion and the Humber Business School.

The Great Hall apparently is where many of the scenes from the earlier season’s of Bomb Girls was filmed. It really is a beautiful venue!

Now, I’m still a total novice/beginner and don’t really know HOW to swing dance (only been to TWO officially lessons so far). Lucky for me there were complimentary lessons from the Toronto Swing Dance Society. Plus, a ton of strong Leads on the floor who patiently taught you steps and made you look good on the dance floor (special thanks to David and Joy for twirling and dipping me!) 🙂

The Pickup Swing Ensemble, featuring Toronto’s most talented musicians, performed classic tunes of Glenn Miller, Count Basie and more!

There was a specific Dress Code for the evening: Vintage! 1940’s glam, tea dresses, stockings, victory curls, allied uniforms and utility clothing.

I had my heart set on wearing my recently purchased hi-waisted polka-dot pin-up skirt (that I was yet to remove tags from) and since I finally got a pedicure to show-off my pink toes, my navy & white peep toed heels. This was sort of pushing the specific time period a bit, so I was determined to study YouTube and get my hair into proper Victory Rolls if it killed me!

These were taken AFTER I got home from the event… I was dead tired and sore from all the dancing. Notice, my faux bangs stayed intact! What a fab night!

For 1940s Hair & Makeup …. I checked out this YouTube vid to help me create a more authentic look for the night.

Then I realized, I should probably look for some makeup tutorials for BROWN SKINNED faces 🙂

Buuuuut since this was a Thursday night… it meant that I was rushing after work to get to LHRevolution Swing Lesson, then walked home to shower and change for this party. I ended up having limited time to really apply the teachings in these vids. (I sadly, also forgot to put a flower in my hair for the evening and pearls around my neck too…sigh) 😦

I did however, use Pin-Up Look #4 from this Beginner’s Quick & Easy Vintage vid instead!

The hair results below – Faux Vintage Bangs:

Overall, it was a fantastic night of dancing and fun! My feet, legs and hips are all so sore this morning, but I’m still smiling – totally worth it! 🙂

Here’s a few shots with some TVS-ers and fun-new people I met last night:

How I Got The Look:

High-waisted polka-dot pin-up skirt from Your Big Sister’s Closet

Navy & white peep-toed heels, from Naturalizer

Giant pearl earrings, vintage (gifted to me); Extra long pearl necklace from Toronto Vintage Clothing Show (forget which booth)

Yellow cotton tee from Reitmans

Yoga Deal for PPMeow! Followers

Since I’ve rediscovered how great the practice of yoga is for mind, body and spirit, I have noticed that despite its growth in popularity over the last year years, yoga sill intimidates people.

So I set up a PPMeow! poll asking: What would make YOU Try Yoga?

The results were as follows:

An amazing Deal/Pricepoint (36%+)
If classes had modified poses/movements for larger bodies
Other* (This was a free-form field…sadly, nothing was entered /captured within)
Location
Not having to go alone

Keeping all of these results and feedback in mind PetitePlus, Meow! has teamed up with Jess & co. from Studio Blue Yoga & Fitness …and we’ve cooked up a special $30-for-5 yoga sessions just for my readers/followers!

This is a phenomenal deal – considering typically one yoga session is around $22! We hoped that this price point would give you the courage and confidence to try out group exercise amongst a group of non-traditional yoga bodies, at a studio that’s easy to get to with supportive, playful classes. Invite a friend to come along … at this price point invite two! 🙂

How the Deal Works:

The PPMeow! $30 Pass can only be purchased at Studio Blue location and is EXCLUSIVE to PPMeow! reader/follower. Therefore, you’ll need PROVE it to them, i.e. Showing them on your phone/device that you’ve LIKE’d PPMeow’s Facebook Page. WordPress followers … You will need to show them that you’re subscribed to my blog using your phone/device (might be easiest for y’all to LIKE the FB page too, if you haven’t already…*wink wink*).
The 5-sessions can be booked for whatever class you like, as your life allows! Use their schedule and class description to select the ones you like best. Try all of them. Entirely up to you!
Once you have the pass, you’ll then be able to book via their online booking tool for the rest of your sessions – uber convenient!
The PPMeow! $30 Pass expires 90-days from its purchase date. Limited one per person.

I’m often yoga-buddy-less, so if you wanna get your personal yoga journey started but are buddy-less also, I’d love to have you join me! So far, the class that best works for me, my life and yoga goals is the Tuesday 6:30pm Foundations Flow – a beginner friendly and comprehensive class with a focus on anatomy. Includes Sun Salutations, Downward Dog flows and other fundamental postures that is suitable for all levels.

Now gentlemen readers – know that YOU TOO can take advantage of this deal! Would love, love, love to have you participate. Of course, the same above rules apply in order to get the PPMeow! $30 Deal.

Everyone’s fitness/yoga goals naturally will be unique to you.

My personal yoga goals are: to better my breathing through every movement, becoming more aware of what my body is telling me and focus on being more present in order to relax.

I’ve only been to a handful of yoga classes and already I can see how much yoga has improved my life in terms of sleeping better, feeling stronger, managing my anxiety and I want everyone to experience its benefits – especially my PPMeow! supporters!

Note: Studio Blue’s First Class Free offer ends March 31st, 2014….. in case you wanted to check them out before purchasing the PPMeow! $30 Pass.

#TVS: Toronto Vintage Clothing Show

The Toronto Vintage Society got a booth at last Sunday’s Toronto Vintage Clothing Show – a ONE day only event at the Metro Convention Center – North Building. The show is a fantastic opportunity to discover hand-picked vintage and retro clothing, accessories and jewellery from top independent vintage fashion vendors. Vendors from Owen Sound, Montreal, East Garafraxa, Collingwood, Freelton, Kakabeka Falls, Ottawa, Hamilton, Straffordville and many others – all under one roof!

The #TVS booth was our way to reach vintage lovers in the GTA. We were selling our “Make do and Mend” sewing kits (THE cutest things ever!), buttons and other fun like an iPad showcasing a photo side-show of all the fun-filled events TVS attended the previous year. All TVS booth visitors were informed and encouraged to sign-up for our new website/blog, pay their TVS Meetup fees, to oooh-and-ahhhh at each other’s purchases from other vendor booths…and of course singing the praises of all things Vintage!

These cutie-pie kits were handmade by the fabulous TVS members who braved the sudden non-stop snow of yet another blizzard, the day after Toronto got a teaser +10 degree weather day. With scissors, glue sticks, mason jars and other crafty necessities were toted and assembled, over gossiping, storytelling and beer.

The TVS booth also had a raffle giving away this fab prize: an amazing train case of vintage goodies in TVS approved colour scheme …even a lil’ something for those dapper dudes: suspenders+cufflinks+tie combo!

Since I live closest to MTCC and have an elevator, I was tasked with carting all our supplies for our booth home and would be there bright and early, with Liz + her hubs + her car to set up. Then we – TVS admin team – would simply rotate on manning our booth whist the others could peruse all the goodies up for sale at the show and Facebook our finds through the Toronto Vintage Society page!

A few snaps of the TVS booth all set up and read to go:

Truth be told, I don’t actually own too many genuine vintage outfits (or pieces of my own for that matter). However, since hanging with the chicks of TVS I have been exposed to the world of “vintage inspired reproduction” dresses. So my Outfit of the Day to represent and man the TVS booth was this dress from Doll Factory by Damzels, a rock ‘n’ roll retail shop on Roncesvalles. (It may look familiar to you as I’ve previously posted about this dress.) This easy-peasy-curvy-body-flattering dress has pockets which makes it that much easier to cart around an iPhone, money and other necessities like that without needing a purse. Knowing the day was going to be busy with setting-up and running around, I went with flats instead heels for footwear. Plus, I wanted to be able to quickly try on any fabulous-finds from booth to booth … heels do not help in making one nimble.

I’m not as dedicated to vintage hair as some of my TVS sistas are, those who patiently created pin-curls and wrapped their hair overnight to create the glamorous hairstyles of the beloved eras. My baby fine hair just never wants to cooperate. But I did manage to get a lil’ vintage-flare in my do for the clothing show. Check out how HIGH I got the bump in my hair! And it lasted all day….Hooray!

Since there was a solid possy of four of us to man the TVS booth (me, Lisa, Larissa and Liz….ooooh L to the power of 3), there was lots of opportunities to check out some of the other vendor booths and do a little shopping myself.

One of my immediate purchases was from Treasure Chicks Vintage from Pickering – these amazing ‘new vintage’ shoes. This shop got 500 pairs of never-before-worn Celebrity shoes for sale friends, complete with their vintage shoeboxes – FYI. I fell in love with these two-toned leather taupe nail-hammered heels the moment I set eyes on them (they fit small, I’m usually an 8.5 buuuut had to buy these in a size 10 for a comfortable fit) and this spectacular red scarf….which I immediately had them tie into my hair to add some MEOW to my #ootd!

Now, this may come as a surprise to some of you reading….but I’m a bit of a diva! I like NEW – so the idea of buying and wearing clothes someone else has worn half a CENTURY ago really needs to be special before I’m willing to spend my cold hard cash on it. This being my first real vintage shopping experience, and being the nerd that I am, I did a bit of research before hand. I found WikiHow’s tips helpful in this Top 10 list for How To Shop For Vintage.

Shopping for vintage plus size clothing is a challenge and a half – no doubt! With all the many vendor booths to peruse, it was an overwhelming task – also, I learnt that I’m easily distracted by shiny/sparkly things – talk about sensory overload all day! Some things I personally kept in mind when looking for clothing/items to buy were:

Odors and Stains … these are very iffy because they’ll probably have been on there for ages. Scarves seemed to have this issue the most from what I saw. I had to ask myself: Would it matter if you scrubbed at it but it didn’t come off? Is it so glaring as to render the piece unwearable?
Try on EVERYTHING! I was surprised at the number of pieces I passed over because it “looked” too small, but upon trying on fit quite well. If it doesn’t feel right or look good when you tried it on, then it probably isn’t the piece for you is the basic rule of thumb when shopping vintage clothing. Sadly, the change room situation at MTCC wasn’t all that private – so I ended up trying on dresses OVERTOP of my dress. Figured if it fit and looked good on me like that, it was def gonna look great when I wore it properly! Silly? Maybe. But that was my try-on technique for the day…and it worked out well. (Ps: the pics of all the below were taken during a post-vintage-clothing-show Irene-fashion-shows as soon as I got home with all my haul).

Check out this long pink & brown floral 1940s day dress I scooped up from www.retrouver.biz Notice the silver rhinestone ornament on the collar! I really loved all the buttons down the front too, plus the thin shiny belt can totally be worn with other things in my closet. It’s a bit long…so it will need a hem…so I managed to talk the price down to $25!

Upon round two of vendor shopping, I found Barbra – an independent vintage dealer who doesn’t have a storefront proper, but has created a name for herself among many of the TVS members. (Her Facebook page is Booth 311 Roadshow Antiques Pickering.) She put me into this lovely light green number. Brand new! The fabric still felt stiff and unworn. The only real giveaway to this dress being pre-loved was the belt holes – one was used more than all the others. Although this dress is pretty simple, I really loved the pleated neckline with the large buttons down the front – and the length was perfect!

The rest of my shopping consisted of accessories. I picked up a delightful wicker purse (also from www.retrouver.biz) and this fantastic black petit point 1960s purse and a giant cream brimmed hat (both from The Vintage Domain).

Check out how I combined a few of my pieces together with each dress.

Here are a few shots of the rest of my purchases from Primetime Antiques & Collectables:

When I finally returned to the TVS booth – I found a swing dance party had broken out! Oooooo! I can’t wait ’til it’s MY skirt that be a-twril with mad Lindy Hop skillz! Yup! With a Z!

The rest of the afternoon was spent chatting up visitors who stopped by our booth and meeting some of the newer TVS members:

Vintage clothing shopping is exciting and enjoyable so long as you come with a good attitude and patience. Finding items that nobody else has is the biggest appeal for me, plus you’re being eco-friendly with the added thrill of bargaining for a deal.

Here’s a summary shot of just the accessories that came home with me from the Toronto Vintage Clothing Show. Can’t wait to do it all again this Fall! Weeeeeeeeeeee!

#TVS: Electro Swing TO with Good Co.

We were at it again folks – Toronto Vintage Society was invited to judge the Best Dressed at Electro Swing TO’s March event this past Friday! And that meant I got to get all dressed up in 1920s inspired look to mingle with fabulously dressed people and dance the night away to big band electro swing vibes with my friend Liz, a fellow TVS member and blogger at The Vintage Inn.

Here’s all the pieces of my 1920s inspired look for Friday night’s Electro Swing party:

I finally got a chance to see the remake of The Great Gatsby flick …. and totally fell in love with that glam and glitter of all the dresses and headpieces.

In fact, I’ve been playing around to see how I could incorporate more headscarves into my wardrobe. And then on one of “window shopping only” walks home from the office … I saw the most gorgeous headchain in the window of this little shop specializing in ladies accessories in the P.A.T.H. of Commerce Court downtown. Needless to say it came home with me … and this Electro Swing party was the perfect reason to wear it…FINALLY!

Richard aka MedicineMan, Revival Bar’s event organizer, met us at the door, we pow-wowed quickly about how the event would roll out, how the contest and prizing would work. And then the fun began with Charleston lessons by Lindy Hop Revolution. Believe it or not, I kicked up my heels pretty good for a first timer – I was lucky to have a strong lead partner.

Check out Liz doing her thang. Oooooo….. I can’t wait to start taking lessons!

And so we mingled and schmoozed around the room with the fabulous attendees to chat up what Toronto Vintage Society was all about and how they could join/get involved AND of course, tapping those who were on our short-list of BEST DRESSED for the night! I even bumped into a few familiar faces I met at the last Electro Swing shindig 🙂

Here are a few colloages of all the fun that was had …

Dashing Doll went to Loryn and Dapper Dude went to Teddy … both were winners of a $50 gift certificate from Doll Factors by Damzels!

Good Co. was the fantastic Electro Swing Band that came all the way from Seattle to party with us at Revival, keeping the crowd dancing with their own renditions of Macklemore’s hit and The Four Season’s “Beggin'” tune were my personal faves of the night! Their performance ended with each member of the band climbing up onto the bar and toasting with shots – divinely outrageous!

I was fortunate enough to bump into them in Revival’s green room as I was leaving and they were kind enough to take a few ‘Ellen-inspired’ selfies with me. Weeeee!

Be sure to visit the Electo Swing TO’s FB page in the next few days, where professional shots of last night’s event can be found, taken by D.Tom … his camera & skills totally trumps my iPhone. 🙂

How I got The Look:

Layered dress from DressBarn + Black sueade Mary-Janes from Payless

Accessories: Black diamond cocktail ring from Jaipur, India; Necklace gift; Earrings from Swarovski; Headchain from…I forget the name of the shop (will find out and update soonest)

#TVS: Rock-A-Billy Shake-Up!

Last year upon finally jumping on the Mad Men bandwagon, discovering and falling in love with the Rockabilly/Vintage scene Toronto has to offer, the Toronto Vintage Society organized a meetup event last night’s one-night-only live music: “Sweet 16th” installment of the Rock-A-Billy Shake-Up, at the Junction’s – 3030 (3030 Dundas St. West).

My friend Liz, a fellow TVS member and blogger of The Vintage Inn, has done a fabulous post about the bands of this event, click here to read all about it 🙂

Some of you may remember this cherry-bomb pin-up dress from a previous post. I love this dress! It was meant for an event like this! I wore it with my rocker-chick buckle & zip booties (as winter does not want to leave Toronto yet), in hopes it would yield better results with the men-folk than it did the last time. Uggh!

The plan was to meet grab dinner at 3030 with a few TVS members prior to the show. The menu looked fantastic….plus it would give us a chance to giggle & catchup, whilst securing us a solid spot to enjoy the music for the rest of the night, winter coats and all. 😉

Although the food items were all pretty delicious, the ordering system is very interesting. Patrons must first acquire a seat, then go up to the crowded bar to try and nab a bartender’s attention, only then is a menu of food offerings shared with you (no menus at the table). If you’re successful at this point you are given an order number on a stand, to put on your table and someone will search the venue for your little number and bring you your food. Popcorn chicken, Blue cheese MacN’Cheese, Tostada of sorts and a plate of Bacon, were just a few of the items various people from our little possy ordered.

Also interesting is that their offerings of beers is different at both of the bars in this venue. Soooo say you’re a fan of Mill St. Organic — and you happen to be sitting in the backroom where all the performances are, what you must do is order your appies at bar one, pay, and then walk yourself over to bar two through crowds of people to order your pint of choice. Annoying? Yes..buuuuut it does allow a girl to strut all over the venue at least once to check out the crowd and for the crowd to admire your outfit 😉

First up was a London, ON band called The Hi-Tones (above) – I totally fell in love with the lead singer’s sailor inspired dress! I’m totally crushing on the nautical look these days – anchors away crazy!

Since this was a #TVS event, I got to catchup with a bunch of members I haven’t seen since the Vintage Holiday Party, and even got to meet a few new members who recently joined this fabulous group. I also got to meet a fan of Petite Plus, Meow! She came up and introduced herself and sang prasies of my wee blog! In fact, my post about shoes inspired her to run out and buy the exact same ones 🙂 My heart smiled all night with her compliments – thank you, thank you, thank you, lovely girl!

There were a ton of folks from Toronto Lindy Hop in attendance, many of whom tore up the dance floor with fancy swing-spin and twirls and whirls. Very impressive! Think I’ve found my next ‘fun’ to fill the void that the lack of BollyFuze classes have left in my heart……stay tuned for more on that. 🙂

I’ve been bombarded with work commitments this week and haven’t been able to blog as regularly as I like. I’ve been so busy that I was considering working late instead of going out Friday night. I’m soooo glad I attended – what a fantastic way to end the work week! A big Thank You to Toronto Vintage Society to introducing me to such a fun scene…can’t wait for the next event! xo

Stella & Dot Giveaway + Top 10 Spring Must Haves (Part 2 of 3)

Hi friends!!!

It’s been officially three months since I began this wee curvy fashion & lifestyle blog. I’m thrilled at how much action and traction it has been getting. In fact, I’m nearly at the big 100 LIKES mark!!! Thank you so much for your support, for reading, liking, commenting and following me … it means a lot! ❤

And to celebrate —- once I’ve reached 100 followers, one lucky person is gonna WIN a fabulous piece of jewellery from Stella & Dot’s new Lookbook!!!

Now if you’re already been following, you’ve likely already read the previous Stella & Dot post (Part 1 of 3) and requested a fabulous Spring/Summer Lookbook from the stylish Amy Lazar Kleiman via all the built-in links from that post. If that’s the case, she already has your mailing address and it’ll be uber easy to send you your prize, if you happen to be the lucky winner 🙂

For those of you who missed that post, not to fear it’s not too late to get yourself your very own FREE LOOKBOOK!

To be entered to Win the Stella & Dot Giveaway Prize…

Follow Petite Plus, Meow!
LIKE this post
SHARE this post OR a previous post from the blog you enjoyed reading
Request a FREE Stella & Dot Lookbook (how else are we going to get your mailing address to send you your PRIZE?) 🙂

We’ve been alerted to some site interruptions. To be safe, email Amy your Lookbook request at: Amylazar@gmail.com

The lucky winner will be announced here and on Facebook (with the winner’s permission, of course)…once Petite Plus, Meow! has reached/surpassed 100 LIKES!

Of all the Stella & Dot pieces I personally own and wear, the one that constantly gets me compliments without fail is the Medina Bib. I’ve worn it in a few posts, as you can see from my photos below – this necklace is a fantastic statement piece dressing up just around any outfit you pair it with. Each of the images below are linked to the specific blog post about each outfit, if you’re interested 🙂

Amy & I have tons of thoughts on what fabulous piece should be given away … so many great things to choose from this season! Take a looksee at Amy’s Top 10 Spring Must Haves below.

Remember….LIKE, SHARE, and Request a Lookbook…..for your chance to WIN!

Trend Report by Stella & Dot Stylist Amy Lazar Kleiman

Can you say, Hello Yellow! I say, if spring is going to take its sweet time, then we should just wear some sunshine instead! Grab and wrap a bright yellow scarf around ya or put on a pair of yellow earrings – like you’ll find in the Norah collection – to perk you up after this dreary winter.

Really, adding colour to any outfit will do and that’s one thing about Stella & Dot, there’s lots of colour to choose from!

The stunning Spring 2014 collection debuted in January, and I’m already loving the Elodie necklace – which I wear with a simple black top and it looks like I’m super stylish! I have also fallen hard for the gorgeous green Linden necklace, which looks AMAZING over a hot new colour for spring – MINT!

One of my favourite things about Stella &Dot, and it’s why I was first attracted to this boutique line of jewelry when I was invited to a trunk show three years ago, is its versatility.

Most of the pieces can be worn more than one way and you’ll find many of the pieces can be worn layered to give you an entirely new look.

For example, the newly-released Rory necklace (similar look to the Elodie) can be layered with the Somervell necklace and you can finish the look with a pair of Nancy studs. Easy peasy and pretty too!

I know I’ve talked a lot of about our necklaces, but when you check out the entire line, you’ll see that there are bold and beautiful earrings and bracelets too!

If there’s one last trend I’m noticing for spring, it’s in the BAGS! Grab yourself a cute bag for spring – like the Avalon Tote in geranium! Treat yo’self, cause you know you’re going to need those emergency flip flops soon for a fresh summer-ready pedicure (I promise, any day now girls!).

So, I hope this has inspired you to add some sparkle to your spring wardrobe – and a BIG thank you to Irene for her blog AND for inspiring all of us to take our fashion up a notch every day!

I’m happy to help with all of your styling needs – so don’t be afraid to reach out and visit my site: www.stelladot.com/amylazarkleiman