dear kaela: where have you been?

well it's been a very long time since i've blogged. there's a jack kerouac quote that i completely identify with:

"i like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till i drop."

that's me. perhaps i've even pulled these words from my pocket previously in this very blog. i defer to it constantly.

i like writing down my thoughts but i doubt anyone can follow them unedited. and then i become obsessed with being coherant. it's a time consuming endeavour.

i suppose this blog should probably focus on the store every once in a while, being that it's attached to my web-page. i am now going to colour within the lines. prepare yourselves.....

people have been bringing in their insanely expensive, worn once if worn at all, some with tags still on, possibly purchased in milan items left, right and centre. i find this exciting because these are pieces that i see on the overly-glossed pages of vogue, and will never be able to afford in my lifetime. sometimes i put them together on a rack and pretend i'm a movie star shopping on rodeo drive. (pronounced ro-day-o drive because it obviously sounds classier than ro-dee-o, just in case you aren't as fashion savvy as moi.) mixed in with my 1960's caftans and ten dollar lululemon tank-tops, i now have three diane von furstenbergs, two betsey johnsons, and two missonis. there's also this spectacular chocolate silk tiered number that practically waltzed out of time square and joined me for lunch down on pandosy. please note: these items are still expensive even at one third the original price. they're not for the faint of heart, and i apologize profusely for the price tags.

so even though my eyes glossed over a teensy bit when hollywood hung itself up across from my 1980's cash register, i can assure you my heart is still firmly rooted in yesteryear. i'm starting to break out the 1950's car coats and 60's wool shift dresses that i've been squirrelling away all summer. boots are marching, scarves are billowing, and mittens are mittening from one end of the shop to the other.

now something interesting happened last year: i ran out of "gift" items at the end of november because i didn't fully understand the consumer feeding frenzy that is "christmas." while i feel enormous guilt being an entrepreneur and contributing to this insatiable consumerist culture that has laid waste to north america, i have found a means of salvation. one word: art!!

my shop is now bursting at the seams with items handmade in canada by women and one man (thank-you leigh!) who are making a living creating spectacular treasures that mean something. nothing i'm selling has been mass-produced, nor made by children in developing countries. (if that isn't christmas spirit i don't know what is!) if you ask me i can tell you a little about the specific person whose tofurkey christmas dinner your hard earned dollars are providing. i think this is a step in the right direction.

the plan: i am now going to post a couple pictures of beautiful girls wearing secondhand garments that are for sale in my store. in my next blog i'll share some pictures of the handmade art i'm hocking for the holidaze. and right this second, i'm going to quote a passage i like from the book i'm reading right now. (because i wouldn't be me if i didn't obsess over literature.) p.s. thank-you for supporting me. i really can't say that enough.

book: "The History of Love" by nicole krauss.

"So many words get lost. They leave the mouth and lose their courage, wandering aimlessly until they are swept into the gutter like dead leaves. On rainy days you can hear their chorus rushing past: IwasabeautifulgirlPleasedon'tgoItoobelievemybodyismadeofglass-I'veneverlovedanyoneIthinkofmyselfasfunnyForgiveme...."

stunning i think.

photo 1: leah anderson in a 1950's robin's egg blue frock.

photo 2: alesha fell draped in silk. (hat-vintage.)

photo 3: beata woods in a gold 1940's frock and rose venne in one hot little number!

photo 4: maggie thomas in "kenzie."