Today is the premiere of the 7th season of Mad Men!! I have been a die-hard fan of Mad Men from the get go. Not only is it one of the most intelligent, well-written and captivating shows on television it’s also packed full of amazing costuming, styling and set design. Seeing all those beautiful 60s/70s outfits really inspires me creatively. I just had to cosplay my favourite character from Mad Men, Joan Holloway! To make this dress I bought a vintage 60s dress pattern and picked a very Joanie red fabric. This dress is super comfy and I actually wear it to my work (as a receptionist) quite often. I like to embrace that Joan strength and power when I sit at my desk as work.
Well, I had a whirlwind trip to NYC last week with some of my burlesque peeps for the Nerdlesque Festival! I left on Wednesday morning and returned very early Saturday. Even though I wasn’t in New York for long I managed to pack in a lot of adventures, take a look…
Myself, Betty Quirk and Sevvy Skellington were representing PeepshowTO!The first thing we did in NY was find some pizza!Yum yum!I wandered off on my own to find Mood! I’m so excited to make some new outfits with the fabrics I got there. Stay tuned…I even got to meet Swatch!In the evening we went to Cafe Un Deux Trois and the food was to die for… or kill for….Then it was time for Hedwig and the Angry Inch, starring Neil Patrick Harris!We may or may not have stalked NPH!While wandering around Time Square we found a familiar face in Time Out magazine! Our very own Zilly Lilly!By the way, the weather was so sunny and warm we didn’t even need jackets!On Thursday morning we met up with some of our fellow Toronto Nerdlesquers for brunch in Brooklyn! Zilly Lilly, Betty Quirk, Loretta Jean, Sevvy Skellington, Helen of Tronna and me!I had these delicious vegan, red velvet pancakes!Then we stopped by the store Evolution to look at skulls, taxidermy and other wonderfully weird items.I even picked up some Mermaid supplies…Friday was the day of the show, so we didn’t do a whole lot, but we did eat a whole lot of vegan doughnuts!And Leelando showed up!All decked out in his Rogue outfit…Backstage at the show with Betty Quirk, about to make our NY debut!Love that Rogue hair!Pikachu Sevvy and Gambit Betty!Leelando and Betty Quirk killed it with their Rogue and Gambit act!I had a blast doing my Batwoman act!
I am so proud to have performed at the Nerdlesque Festival! I never could have imagined that one day I would be doing burlesque for a screaming audience in New York City. It’s definitely an experience I will never forget!
Group shot of our gang!Myself as Batwoman and Zilly Lilly as her lady Maggie.
I had the absolute pleasure of shooting a photo set for Your Big Sister’s Closet with the lovely photographer Rebecca Northcott. Accompanied by Irene Kavita, Alex Giamas and Karen Ward we shot these amazing photos in High Park. If you haven’t yet, I highly recommend checking out Your Big Sister’s Closet! They have amazing plus size options for any age that are stylish, fun and very well made.
I’m so exited to be performing this Friday night in the first ever Nerdlesque Festival in New York City! If you are in NYC this weekend come check it out!
Every girl needs a LBD in her wardrobe, right? I made this dress from some amazing black cotton fabric I got on sale at Fabricland. I fell in love with the bottom edge of this fabric which has a lovely embroidered, cutout pattern. It’s a nice light dress to wear in the spring but has a real dark, witchy feel. I added a few lace details to play up that gothic look. Jewellery by Celluloid Sleaze!
On Sunday my gal pal Brittany and I went to the Vintage Clothing Show at Toronto’s Metro Convention Centre. We had an absolute ball browsing through vintage dresses, jewelry, accessories and art and each came away with some lovely pieces. Here’s a taste of what we got up to at the show…
I loved this beautiful red and white polka dot swing coat! It totally screamed Dolly! I didn’t end up getting it, but it was fun to try.
I loved this elegant Adam and Eve necklace.So many lovely textiles.
Another one of my favourite fabrics! I would love to make a dress out of this.This ostrich feather boa was absolutely gorgeous and in amazing condition for it’s age! Note the photo beside it of the original owner wearing her beautiful boa.
Brittany has the perfect head for vintage hats! So I made her try a bunch on for photos. I love this one on her. How elegant!
This hat was the winner and went home with Brittany!
My beautiful blogger friend, Irene from Petite Plus, Meow! (http://petiteplusmeow.wordpress.com/)I bought two pairs of vintage earrings, including these lovely sparkly hoops!My other vintage earring find! Love the way these sparkle!A new vintage Vargas print to add to my collection! I love me a blonde bombshell!
It’s officially spring and you know what that means? Snow! Well, here in Toronto it’s definitely not feeling like spring yet but I’m in the mood to shed some layers and go out in a fun dress like this one; a little Betty Monroe design I made a few summers ago. I’m a sucker for a beautiful rosey floral and a red ruffle and this dress always makes me want to dance. I hope I help put a spring in your step today!
I had been planning on getting this tattoo for a very long time and finally the time seemed right and things fell into place with my artist. The amazingly talented Suspiria recently returned to Toronto and her style was exactly what I was looking for. I sat through 4 hours of tattooing on Sunday and got the outline and part of the colour done. It will probably be at least another 4 hours before this baby is done. Here are some shots of me getting tattooed and how my tat is looking so far…
Original Design by SuspiriaFeeling the pain!Finished the outline!
I made this skirt with some left over fabric from a Tim Burton, Sleepy Hollow costume I made for a burlesque act. It’s a nice classic skirt that really adds a lot of punch to an outfit. I adore wearing long skirts like this. They give such great body proportion and make your legs look endless.
In my hunt for new lipsticks I received a few suggestions to try out Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics lip tars. The last time I saw these lip tars at Sephora there were maybe 6 colours to choose from, but this time when I went to track them down there were so many I was a little overwhelmed! They now come in a huge array of colours and finishes including metallic, matte and gloss. I decided to depart from my usual shade of red and go for something a little darker: “Black Metal Dahlia”. This shade is a very dark purpley-red with red glitter in it.
These lip tars come in a little tube with a separate applicator brush. It goes on pretty easily with the brush but you only need a small amount to cover the lips completely. The colour is beautiful but way more glittery than I was expecting. It is definitely more of a “going out” lipstick as opposed to an “every day”. I also found that it did not dry at all, even though I was told it was a longwear lipstick. This stuff would definitely not pass the make out test. It could be that I put too much on or maybe because I didn’t use the lip primer that is recommended on the packaging, but at $22CAD (almost $25 with tax) I wasn’t about to buy another product just to put this one on.
Overall I really like the look and feel of this lip tar (did I mention it smells like mint?) and would like to try some more colours, but I’m not sure if it really lives up to all the hype.
Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar: Black Metal DahliaObsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar: Black Metal Dahlia
CLASSICALLY CURVY 