July 12, 2016

A 1950’s Mode En France Inspired Shoot

Nicole outfits dress up, photo shoot, style, vintage

A 1950's Mode en France Inspired Shoot The Artyologist

A few years ago I found this little video, Mode en France on Youtube, which goes through the history of European fashion from the end of the Victorian Era, up until the 1980’s. (Click over and watch it, as it is pretty great. I can’t understand a word of French, but fortunately fashion is universal!) After watching it, I wanted to do a photoshoot with my sister and best friend, of the fashions featured in the video- only since I do not have video talents, I was going to do photos instead. Well, the years have gone by, and we’ve still not managed to do a complete overview of all the eras, but we have done a few separate ones. We once dressed up in the styles of the 1940’s (and when I say “dressed up” I mean they dressed up, considering that all the clothes came from my closet!), another time was the Victorian era, and once we dressed up in assorted wedding dresses, which was rather fun.

So, when my friend Chantelle came for a visit last month, one of the things we made sure to do, was another photoshoot. This time, we chose the 1950’s, and donned full skirts, petticoats, hats and gloves. It was rather fun to put all the pieces of the outfit together, as I don’t usually do a whole hat and glove ensemble. I love putting together a period perfect ensemble, but I rarely wear it as such.

Here are the pictures we ended up with. It was a fun time spent together, posing as though we were supermodels, but mostly giggling and being generally silly. I am glad to have these pictures, some of which turned out great- others not so much, but the memories of the afternoon are what I will remember the most. 🙂

Do you ever “dress to the nines” just for fun? Have you ever done a photoshoot with your friends?

(The image above is our Prada sunglasses advertisement, don’t you think? I was testing out the height of the tripod, and it turned out it was a bit off, so the top of my head is cut out of the frame, but nevertheless- it is a hilariously serious looking picture and I love it!)

A 1950's Mode en France Inspired Shoot The Artyologist

A 1950's inpsired shoot the Artyologist

We nailed the model poses in this one 😉

A 1950's inpsired shoot the Artyologist

June 14, 2016

I’m Ready for My Close-up

Nicole outfits dress up, photo shoot

ready for my closeup the artyologist

When I was a child my two favourite things to play with were Barbie dolls and the costume bin. I loved Barbie’s because I got to dress them up, and I loved the costume bin, because I got to dress up.

Now that I am grown up. . . actually, I haven’t changed a bit. I still love to dress up.

Last year for Christmas I received a Barbie doll from my parents (it was the 50th anniversary reproduction Barbie, okay?), I have a suitcase full of costumes for random dressing up needs, (doesn’t everyone have costumes at the ready? Who knows when the need may arise! ) and my entire closet is full of what most people would consider costumes, but us vintage lovers know and recognize them to be perfectly acceptable everyday wear. (I have come to the conclusion that these two childhood favourites foreshadowed my love of vintage, long before I had ever thought of it, because vintage is basically dress up every day!)

sarah and I the artyologist

So, both my sister and I still love to dress up in costumes, and taking that a step further, we love to turn the costume-wearing into a photo shoot (inspired by whichever fashions we are sporting).

I am always so inspired by the fashions on the runway, and the spreads in the magazines: the ensembles that are so fabulous, but so over the top, they don’t make it to the street. This basement wall, which has a great industrial, urban decay feel to it, immediately made me think of those images of couture fashions in abandoned buildings. My sister and I decided that it would be the perfect backdrop for the crazy over-the-top Vogue inspired look we were dying to create, complete with wigs, exaggerated makeup and flamboyant costumes. These are outfits that we would probably never wear as styled, (no I am not going to wear that Halloween wig in public!) but they really suited the mood, and I like how they turned out. They are definitely different than what I would wear in real life, but sometimes it’s just so fun to veer in a different direction.

Do you ever dress up in a costume just for the fun of it?

profile, sarah and I, the artyologist

sarah and I the artyologist

This is absolutely my favourite photo of my sister and I. It’s just such a great capture of the moment 🙂

ready for my closeup, the artyologist

May 21, 2016

Sundresses in the Rain

Nicole outfits photo shoot, style, vintage

image of lilac blooms portrait the artyologist

It is lilac season again! I’ve never lived in a place with so many lilacs before, so it is very nice to experience this year two hedges just bursting with lilac blooms. Are the lilacs blooming where you live? Or are they already done and gone? (Alberta’s spring comes slowly!) This is a photo heavy post I warn you, simply because the lilacs are so beautiful, I couldn’t narrow the photos down. . .

image of lilacs, seersucker dress and umbrella the artyologist

image of seersucker peasant dress the artyologist

It is so strange how quickly the weather can change, as earlier this week the temperatures were +30 (celcius) and now for the next few days we have hit a rainy spot. So, what do you wear when it is Spring, but you look out your window and it’s raining? Why your sundresses, of course! Dressing as though it is the sunniest, warmest day does wonders to improving a cloudy day. (This is my scientific hypothesis of course!) Do you ever dress contrary to what the weather demands?

image of trenchcoat lilacs and umbrella the artyologist Ok I concede, I did wear a coat when I went out! But the rain did stop long enough for these pictures.

image of seersucker dress and lilacs

So, this seersucker dress is one that I got a nice little kick in the pants to finish, because of my Me Made May challenge. I was looking at my closet at the beginning of the month thinking, “wow, I don’t actually have that many me made garments at the moment”, and then I saw this one sitting in my mending pile, (yes… pile) as it had been sitting there for months just begging to be fixed.

I sewed this dress last summer and spent an extreme amount of time on it, even hand picking the zipper in place, and meticulously sewing the lace waistband in place, because the seersucker was a bit of a pain to work with. The lace piece that I used for the accent detail was the perfect shade of grey/brown and it matched the stripe in the seersucker perfectly. It was wonderful, but I only got to appreciate it once, as when I washed the dress the colour washed out of the lace and faded to a disgusting shade of yellow 🙁

image of lace waistband before after the artyologist Just gross.

Now, that feeling of accomplishment you get when you finish a dress and it is hanging proudly in your closet is one of the nicest feelings, but that was very abruptly replaced with the horrible feeling of having to redo something. And if there is one thing I hate, it is redoing something I have already finished- especially when it was perfect the way it was. So, alas, what to do? I didn’t have any other coordinating lace in that width, and the waistband looked so bland without any accent. I wasn’t sure what would be the best option with the least amount of deconstructive work (I really didn’t want to take the dress completely apart), and then my mom suggested that I edge the waistband in narrow lace, and tada! It worked!

image of seersucker dress waistband the artyologist

Whew, a dress saved, and just in time to wear it out into a rainshower! Ah well, the rain won’t last, although I actually do love a good stretch of rain, and goodness we need it, but for now, when I wear my sundress in the rain, I’ll be singing in the rain 🙂

image of seersucker dress and lilacs the artyologist