Street Stylin: Aprille in the T-Dot

Here's a weekend post before I go on my first vacation since launching Brazen Design two years ago!

While I was in Toronto and snapping shots of the Holt Renfrew blogger windows, I ran into Aprille and her fabulous (dare I say? Tres Montreal) get-up and just had to get her photo for the new Street Stylin' feature.

Full name: Aprille Melissa Radam
Age: 25 yrs old
Occupation: Associate Manager at Aritzia

Wearing:
Satin crepe drapey blazer - Wilfred for Aritzia
Spandex tank top - Talula Babaton for Aritzia
Cotton harem pants - a boutique that sells products from Nepal (I forgot its name?)
Zip gladiator sandals - Michael Michael Kors from Holt Renfrew
Aldo Accessories
Coach wristlet

What does your tattoo mean?
I got it when I was much younger (14 years old), so the explanation of the significance of it is quite juvenile. Its a dove carrying a rose...which quite simply symbolizes peace and love. LOL (how hippy is that!?)

Not hippy at all, Aprille! Peace and love still rocks my world...

Street Stylin': Danielle in BodyBag by J.U.D.E.

My friend Danielle wore this stunner to her engagement party - a perfect light summer dress amped up with classic navy blue striping and oversized white hem. Made in Montreal with love!

Dress:

BodyBag by J.U.D.E.
17 Bernard West, Montreal.
www.jude.qc.ca/bodybag/

All Hail The Sale! Eve and Valerie at Unicorn

There's a big ol' sale going down at Boutique Unicorn (St Laurent, north of Laurier, east side) , today and tomorrow! Eve Gravel and Valerie Dumaine brand new stock going back to the warehouse post-sale so a golden opportunity not to be missed!



Here's the post with all the deets.

And here's the post with some pics of items. It looks to me like it might be more than just Eve and Valerie... I recognize a gingham DACE (Vancouver designed and made!) dress I tried on in Toronto - super cute! (Though tailored to the tall skinny girls among you!)

See you there!

I Heart Valerie Dumaine

I am on a Valerie Dumaine kick lately - this Montreal designer's locally made creations are seamlessly satiating my desire for classic cuts with a sexy edge.

I blogged about my Valerie Dumaine jumpsuit a few weeks ago - the one I bought at LabCreatif's Designer Sale.

I've worn this dress once a week since I purchased it in April (it even got Mom's stamp of approval - though that time I didn't pair it with my Marlie Dekkers bra;)


And seeing as the hot humid days of July and August are nowhere to be seen, I just purchased this cardigan from Mudshark Streetwear, my favourite one-stop online shop for Canadian couture. I'll upload another pic when it arrives!


If I could, I would have added these to my shopping cart.

The Chloe Dress:



And the Olivia Tunic (I saw a girl rockin' this up St Laurent and it was just fantastic - the sequins really do it for me!)



Oh Valerie! How I love thee!

Holt Renfrew goes 2.0 - Take 2.0

Pardon my lack of blogging this past week - I was at a family reunion in Toronto. As promised, I made time to see the Toronto and Montreal Holt Renfrew "ode to fashion bloggers" windows.

I took my childhood friend Camille to see them in Toronto which was appropriate as she and I spent a lot of time trailing her mom through Holt's and fantasizing about shopping there as adults.

Pardon the photos - I would have loved to take photos at night without all the reflection but just didn't get a chance.

Toronto's Bryan Boy window. Montreal's was too lame for me to photograph.



The Sartorialist windows in Montreal - didn't get to see the Toronto one, sadly.



Montreal's I Want I Got window:





Toronto's I Want I Got window.


Toronto's Sea of Shoes (I love the wave! We didn't get a wave!)



Montreal's Garance Dore window:



Toronto's Garance Dore window:

Eco-friendly Jewellery Polish

My friend Steph, who works with silver art clay, has been on a mission to find eco-friendly jewellery-making techniques. An effort I very much appreciate as it helps me make my process lighter on the environment. She is blogging about each method she finds and here is her first discovery: using soap nuts - purchased for $2 from one of the mile-end Indian grocery stores on Parc below Bernard - to polish silver and gold. Read her blog here.

Holt Renfrew goes 2.0

The new window displays outside Montreal's Holt Renfrew on Sherbrooke between Drummond and De la Montagne stopped me in my tracks the other day.

We love Bryan Boy? We love Garance Dore, Tommy Ton and Jane Aldridge? Wait a second... Those aren't designer names... those are all high profile fashion photog/bloggers!

So Holt Renfrew has gone Web 2.0 and each of their windows this season (across the country, I believe) is dedicated to 6 influential fashion bloggers, two of them being Canada's own Anita Clarke of I want I got (iwantigot.geekigirl.com) and Tommy Ton of Jak and Jil blog (jakandjil.com). Others are Bryan Boy (bryanboy.com); Scott Schuman of The Sartorialist (thesartorialist.blogspot.com); Jane Aldridge of Sea of Shoes -who happens to be 17! (seaofshoes.typepad.com); and my personal favourite - humble and well-written french fashion photographer Garance Dore (garancedore.fr/en).


Go by and see them for yourselves! I was so mesmerized by the literal sea of shoes that I forgot to photograph them! The Sartorialist and I want I got windows weren't finished so I'll see if I can capture them later this week.

You can read the press release here.


Ooh, just go this great panoramic photo of I want I got from T.O's Holt's, courtesy of @photojunkie on twitter.

Happy St Jean Baptiste!

The Etsy blog "Storque" asked Angie (of iheartnorwegianwood and Headquarters Boutique) to write an article about Quebec artists in honour of St Jean Baptiste which was published today on Etsy.com.

I am honoured that Brazen Design was featured! Check out all the other amazing talent and remember: shop local!

Conscious Consumption Catwalk

The ladies and I had an awesome time at the opening Fashion show of Festival Mode & Design. 50 local brands showed off three fall outfits a piece while Beast of Sound made the most gorgeous live beats I've seen in a decade.

Highlights: (sorry, can't get images yet!)

Andy The Anh's billowing red silk dress (ah if only!)
Eve Gravel's Melting Dress (which I already have?! Wow, I'm ahead of the curve!;)
Valerie Dumaine's fall cocktail dresses. (ALL OF THEM. Must choose one only - gonna be a tough call!)

Go check the amazing stuff happening down on McGill College! You still have today and tomorrow!

Festival Mode & Design

Starting today and running until Saturday, Montreal's Fashion and Design Festival will take over McGill College and there's gonna be a lot of cool stuff to check out. There's music shows, fashion shows, shopping, live creations and on and on... all featuring local brands and bands.

Amongst other things, I am gonna check out MIR-handbags live moulding at 7pm on Friday - on my way to birthday dinner.

And if you've missed other spring opportunities to buy local, don't miss the outdoor La Boutique, featuring dozens of local brands.

Check it out at Festival Mode & Design.