Pearls of Fashion/Life Wisdom

One of my favourite fashion bloggers - Kristen O'Reilly of Idiosyncratic Style - asked ten independant fashion bloggers for their best fashion tips.

She compiled them all into Pearls of Wisdom: Fashion Bloggers on Style: a whole lot of fashion advice that can be applied to life in general, like love yourself, have fun and be a trendsetter not a follower.

In the pic in the post, I am wearing Jennifer Glasgow's Thelma shirt and Lalouka's Nautical Pencil Skirt.)

Featured Designer: Jennifer Glasgow

Jennifer Glasgow's line has been a staple in Montreal wardrobes for the last decade. She's a wonderful, warm and funny person... and one of the brains behind mile-end institutions Local 23 & General 54. Last week, I had the privilege of getting a sneak peak at Jennifer Glasgow's studio and Fall/Winter 09. collection. Exciting stuff!


Above, Jenn is wearing the Tamarac dress from the new collection - like everything Glasgow, it has pockets (yay!) and we love her for it.

Below, Jenn is modelling the new Elderberry shirt. I love the scoop neck in back, and that she's taken the pouffy sleeve farther down off the shoulder. The skirt is the Greta, from her Spring/Summer 09 line... and on sale for 59$ here!

I love Glasgow's shirts - the tailoring is so unique and she has a real feel for noble and eco-friendly fabrics such as bamboo, linen and lyocell (a cellulose fiber made from wood pulp! how amazing is that?)

I am really looking forward to rocking some of these wool blend sweaters with swooping birds when the cold weather hits...

Check out the entire Fall/Winter 09 collection here!

Swappin' Saturday!

I had a blast today at SWAP - and there's plenty of goodies left so bring your used clothes tomorrow and Monday to get some for yourself!

We also styled some really fun outfits - like the one above with Tanya wearing a belted purple tubetop shorts jumper.

We found this incredible skirt for Jennifer. (ooh, ooh check out her awesome blog and video about her swap experience and see the other sweet threads she got!)

This sailor dress was out of this world on her!

A very cute little pink skirt.

Some of the shoes I wished were my size!


Nicole found these fantastic cowboy boots.

There were still some incredible finds remaining on the racks when I left - like these two never-worn made-in-MTL Glasgow tops.


And there's one Deborah Adams belt left - a gorgeous black suede number.

I scored some amazing things! Here are some of my favourites:
two belts - a wide leather one from deborah with a vintage clasp and a wraparound leather and wover belt made in England.

This never-worn (bubble) pink bubble skirt from Anastasia Lomonova.

These knee high leather boots.

Vintage shopping with the Smiths

Adrienne and Rebecca were over to celebrate the end of Rebecca's internship with Brazen Design (she did a killer job, yay Becca!) and they were both modelling their fantastic vintage finds. It inspired me to revisit second-hand shopping which I'd become a bit bored with. Rebecca showed up wearing this incredible floral summer dress in greens and creams that she picked up at Cul De Sac and her other finds are from the various vintage stores in Point-St-Charles and Adrienne's gorgeous purple silk dress and leather belt are from a recent trip to Brooklyn, NYC.



Your perfect chance to browse some amazing second hand finds is this weekend at SWAP! And I will be on hand to provide complimentary fashion consultations. Read the blog post here.

Take Off Your Clothes!

Things that go Bling will be doing on-site fashion consultations at the Labour Day weekend clothing SWAP at Piknik Electronik this Saturday from 4 - 7!

Come check out the biggest clothing swap in North America this weekend and keep your consumption to a minimum.

Event Deets:

We’re back for our third year in a row at the Piknic Electronik! You’ll have 3 FULL DAYS to swap your heart out!Plus, we’ll have NEW clothes on the racks from some of Montreal’s hottest designers, including: Olga Tigirlas, Valérie Dumaine, Anastasia Lomonova and Jen Glasglow.

DJs James Holden (Sept. 5) and Misstress Barbara (September 6) will be on the decks, so don’t forget to dance!

Admission: FREE with your paid entrance to the Piknic Electronik ($10)

More details here and here.

About S.W.A.P.:

The S.W.A.P. Team is a non-profit organization founded by Aleece Germano and Nicole Picard. Through its clothing swap event Take Off Your Clothes, the group endeavours to promote sharing as an antidote to overconsumption while increasing awareness of the human and natural resources involved in the creation, transportation and marketing of mass-produced consumer goods.

Street Stylin': Becca & Tali

A couple weeks ago, Nantali (aka IamBlackgirl of Nomadic Massive) stopped by for a jewellery cleaning and I just loved how her summer outfit matched my intern Rebecca's. I'm really enjoying the skirt worn high and belted with a slim fitting tank top.



I love Rebecca's Disney Snow White-esque layering of tank tops to look like a bodice. Nantali was blinged out in Brazen Design as usual, this time paired with this incredible ring from Dubai.

I know today feels far too cold for this outfit but I think this look will transition really well into fall with the simple addition of leggings, tall boots and long sleeved shirts.

All Hail The Sale! Fig Clothing (made in MTL yoga gear!)

Fig Clothing, a made-in-montreal yoga and "travel wear" line is having a sale on their upcoming Fall collection.

28th to 30th of August

STUDIOS LYNE ST-ROCH
4416, St-Laurent, STUDIO 305
Montréal, QC, H2W 1Z5

Friday 28 August 10am - 9pm
Saturday 29 August 10am - 4pm
Sunday 30 August 10h - 4pm

Cash only/Final Sale

Street Stylin': Gorgeous Jillian

I saw my gorgeous friend Jillian for coffee at Olympico on Sunday. As usual, Jill was decked out in head-to-toe made-in-montreal digs.

Her fantastic high-waisted pencil skirt is from HomeBaked, purchased from General 54.

Her adorable lace top with billowing cap sleeves is from none other than Lustre, purchased from Lustre Boutique.



Her earrings are none other than Brazen Design - the One Off collection. Purchased from Spring Puces Pop. The ring was picked up at the St Laurent Street Fair for 5$. The Oyster shell necklace is from Hilary Thomson.



Jillian's bright cuff is from Pupina, purchased at Katrin Leblond. The bra is Marlie Dekkers, purchased at the blow-out sale I blogged about in May.

Street Stylin' Style Tip: Accessorizing for weddings

Adrienne came by to borrow some accessories for a wedding. She had found a gorgeous vintage-styled dress (at Gap, believe it or not) with a beautiful tiger lily print in white on royal blue. I couldn't believe how perfectly the Brazen Design Tiger Lily Necklace went with the pattern. To suit the style of the dress, we strung it on a very long diamond-cut ball chain and then paired it with Adrienne's own pair of Brazen Design Small Leaf Vein Earrings.



The key with accessorizing for weddings it keep it simple: go with one or two larger items than you would normally wear, instead of lots of small. Unless, of course, the wedding is a very formal affair in which case you can wear a full earrings/necklace/bracelet/ring set.

Street Stylin' Style Tip: Belts! Perfect for weddings.

If, like me, you have multiple weddings to attend before the summer draws to a close, you may be feeling it in your wallet. Buying gifts, travelling and needing multiple outfits per wedding really add up. Borrowing is a great way of making a great-looking one-time outfit that doesn't break the bank.

Nancy was in the same situation and so we had an accessory date. Belts were the focus, as we were trying to give shape to a gorgeous but shapeless Banana Republic dress found on super sale. We finally located the perfect one: my wide black leather belt with snap and puckered front detail (handmade from second hand leather in Montreal by Deborah Adams, available at Lustre Boutique). It matched the other pleats in the dress and instantly gave Nancy a flattering hourglass silhouette.

We also had fun dressing Nancy up in a variety of other belts to match her fantastic black tube/black skirt outfit that day. She left wearing a faux leather green wraparound that I picked up in NYC as well as an extra-wide purple leather made-in-Canada corset belt from Bedo.