What I'm wearing:
- I got this knit 20s-feeling dress from a Vancouver annual event called Nifty for Fifty, which features new designer and vintage clothes for $50 and under. This dress is by Schaart.
- You've seen the blue legs and Dorothy shoes before I think.
- The pendant is by O, and I'm wearing a ring made out of super-hard ceramic which is usually used in industrial applications, a gift from O.
I mixed up my poses today by moving around wildly just before the shutter went off, kind of like that game Red Light/Green Light if you know it, to see if it I can catch a more relaxed look. Mixed results...
The picture below is my favourite!
Almost every morning at a coffee shop I do journalling and sketch what I'm wearing. The physical process of drawing and colouring with pencil crayons is satisfying and very evocative of the day/mood at the time I did it. I try to find an unobtrusive spot where I can scatter my pencil crayons without raising too many eyebrows. Here's the image I had with today's outfit. This is bigger than the actual size of the drawing.
That's all. Do you like my turnip head? Thanks for dropping by. I hope you all feel fabulous today!!
Melanie, what a sweet post! Love the outfit, I wish I could see the pendant up close. I've viewed "O's" site a few times and love all of it. Such crisp, clean, and intelligent work.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea to sketch like that, I call my walks "Inspiration Walks" now because of you, now I'll have to think about sketching....maybe on bus rides when I start them in the fall.
Fun!
I must take some closeups of O's work, yes. Of course I think he's brilliant, and his tiny work motivates me to make great big outta-control work. I hope the name-change of your walks will enhance your experience!
Deletevery interesting.
ReplyDeletevaried interests
DeleteI LOVE your drawing! I'm so glad you are content at the station and not weeping! Can you show us more of your art work?
ReplyDeleteTo the outfit - very elegant, quite... (what's the right word? Formal? Neat? Classic?) for you. I think I'm really trying to find a polite way to say safe, but I don't want to offend you! But I always think of your style as quirky and exciting and free-spirited and experimental, so this is a different, quieter look for us to appreciate.
Tell me to bugger off, by all means, and I'll fetch my coat...
More art, more art! xxxxxxxxx
I don't have time to get back to everyone here and at their own homes right now but want to assure you that you have definitely not offended... Actually, I was going to say that this was one of my more conservative outfits but I was worried I'd offend people on that end of the spectrum. Ha! Usually I wear this dress with my mustard tights, but that colour would have been too exciting for my mood today.
DeleteAlso, any station where I'm waiting with leather vintage luggage that says Paris or Rome on it is okay by me!
i like the black and red with the contrasting blue tights. and the drawing is amazing! i must say though... i dont know that i ever waited at the station with grand contentment. good for you though!
ReplyDeleteOf course this is springs from my best imagination of calm, hope, and adventure.
DeleteWhat a charming drawing!!!! I love your blue legs. They're blue-tiful.
ReplyDeleteHa!
DeleteMelanie love your chosen color combo, only you could make that work so beautifully! As always I have so enjoyed my visit with an artist. Thank you so for sharing your life!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tamera. I'm loving your artful photo pieces over there.
DeleteBlack and red, plus gray, must be in the fashion ether for the moment, as we emerge into Spring. LOVE the Star Trekian (?)/60's vibe of your outfit.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I've been sewing/upcycling like mad and will have a post JUST FOR YOU in the next week or so. I'll keep you posted.
In the meantime, enjoy your blustery weather. I'm looking at an unseasonable 78 degrees fahrenheit this week and I hate it. I'll be complaining for the next 9 months, probably. Maybe I'll move. Got any leads on a great apartment?
Oh!! Yes! I never saw the Star Trek vibe before but now you say it I can't get it out of my head. That's my new vision, and Vix sees 60s too. I always thought flapper 20s but I like 60s better. Our colour palettes were certainly in tune too.
DeleteI'm excited to see the post just for me!!! With your creativity I'm ready for anything.
And don't pack up the car just yet, unless you are okay with rain and cloud, and today even a chance of flurries!
That sounds like heaven. I'm a northeastern girl who's trapped in the south. But my son is in Portland OR, so I'm plotting and planning...!
DeleteHow cool (uh, literally) would that be?!
DeleteWhat a marvelous outfit! I love the blue tights with the Dorothy shoes. Your poses are such fun!
ReplyDeleteI am in admiration of your lovely sketch! I especially like the stretchy kitty.
Wasn't it crazy windy today? Most unlike us on the West coast.
You said it - the wind!! You must have had to batten the hatches over at your place. However do you manage to walk? The stretchy kitty was inspired by your most lovely Inigo.
DeleteWhat a charming drawing. I am most curious about this "inspiration" walk; is it a daily event and for how far. I love the third photo. It looks like you are falling backwards. And the dropped waist on the dress is wonderful. You are a breath of fresh air to the blogosphere.
ReplyDeleteYes, I try to get my inspiration fix Every Single Day, whether it's from architecture, art, decontextualized bits of conversation, textures/fabric/colour, people I meet... I feel like a divining rod searching for beauty. This is also when I do my street style scouting. The time varies, 1-2 hours.
DeleteThe last photo does look like I'm doing one of those trust exercises, but, oops, there's nobody there! Which begs the question: why is this woman smiling?!!
That dress is tres chic and makes you look ultra tall and slim (well, you look tall and slim in everything...). I wish I was better at posing - I usually have one of my friends take my photo, and I don't want to waste their time while trying out different poses. Whenever I use my self-timer on my camera, the shots never turn out very well :(
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful drawing - more please!!
Have you ever asked your friends to take more shots? Maybe they have a secret desire to be a high fashion photographer, you know, "Hold it, look up, hand down, make love to the camera!" Silliness is best. That said, I think your poses are great, especially your last one with the feather cuffs! I'm on self-timer too but I'm going to try Red Light/Green Light some more to loosen up.
DeleteYour photos, sketch, and outfit are all so wonderful, Melanie! The posing looks like tremendous fun too. Thanks for sharing your creative self with Visible Monday : >
ReplyDeleteThanks, Patti. You are the perfect hostess of these wonderful parties.
DeleteHow fun you are, and your outfit is enchanting. The dress is very Nifty for Fifty. Your morning ritual of drawing and coloring sounds meditative to me.
ReplyDeleteYou are exactly right, it is meditation. Usually my favourite shop plays Bad Bad Eartha Kitt and the Amelie soundtrack. I'm hooked. The dress is also Nifty AT Fifty.
DeleteI've just read your reply to Curtise and now I can only visualise that Sixties-style frock with mustard tights, how utterly divine that must look. I love this look, you have a perfect model figure and you make everything look splendidly edgy.
ReplyDeleteI adore your art and those words, too. I'm another person who, for a morning of relaxation seeks out a bustling train station for quiet contemplation. x
This dress cuts it much better with the mustards. (Bwah-ha-ha - sorry). I just hadn't the energy, rain, gale force winds, that kind of thing, for those tights. Very blue. I hope you weren't kidding about the train station thing. Probably you too inhale the vibe and filter out the commotion.
DeleteI wasn't kidding, or taking the piss, as us Brits say! The best railway station ever is Victoria Terminus (also known as Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) in Bombay. Over 2.5 million people use it each day and I've lost hours sitting there, marvelling at the colours of India and the vitality of life. x
DeleteLOVE the drawing. Hope you are going to put all your outfit drawings together, there must be a book in it!
ReplyDeleteThat is the best compliment! Thank you. I'd buy a copy if someone paid me to...?
DeleteYou are so unique, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your kind words, my dear friend
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I am still sending you healing thoughts. Thank for visiting me.
DeleteHow wonderful to sit in a coffee shop and journal and draw! And of course, if you happen to look as smashing as you do in this outfit, well, what can I say? Hot dog!!
ReplyDeleteI tried to post to Patti's Visible Monday, but the computer, she say, "no!" Love that pale blue/red/gray combo.
Love from England,
Rosemary www.foreveronthecatwalkoflife.com
I love the expression Hot Dog!! Thanks!! You must try again to post with Patti. You must share your magnificence with the world!
DeleteI'll have to get some help with the technical stuff. Thanks so much for your comments on my blog! I have a permanently big head after Judith's Stylecrone post.
DeleteLove from England,
Rose
www.foreveronthecatwalkoflife.com
Thanks for stopping by and leaving kind words at my place.
ReplyDeleteAs for your outfit, I love it! Love the nod to 60s graphics, the perfect length of the skirt, the blue-red I always keep an eye out for, perfection! AND you've got shoes that match it beautifully. Poses too!
I'm signed up to take an "Illustrated Journalling" class at the end of the month, but with no hope at all of turning out anything like your charming sketch -- it will be an inspiration, though. Such fun.
Oh, yes, another 60s reference. To think I'd been wearing this piece in the wrong time period, the 20s! Sixties, you all see but me. Doh! I'm on board and it's a much better view! I hope your journalling workshop goes well - you don't need to sketch, sometimes I just scribble all over the page in a Melstrom. Quite vigorously, quite cathartically. I hope you post on how it goes.
DeleteHi Mélanie- you are so damm cute, hope it is ok to say that!
ReplyDeleteI love the blue of your tights, it is so nice with the red of the dress.
You too have a true sense of colors, not suprised after seeing your abstract work!
I am a bit shy to show my work, but i think i did nice abstracts, Mr.D likes it and he would tell me if it was complete rubbish.
My Mom has a few as well, she was so suprised when i started painting, she could not believe i could do so nice abstracts.
But i am trying to find my style, which is not easy -
4 of my paintings are hanging in the house, when i get to it i will send you some pics. I am so tired this week, going back to work is not easy.
Have a great day Mélanie
Ariane xxxx
Dearest Ariane, you have been on my mind, wondering how you are, getting back to work and all... Truly, with your stylistic choices of colour, texture, pattern, and your accessorizing, nail polish, hair (did I miss anything?!), I have no doubt that you are an inspired painter.
DeleteJoan Mitchell, check her art if you don't know it. She was trained to the max but you can see her instincts at work. She was the paramour of Jean-Paul Riopelle, another fave painter. And Cy Twombly. (I must stop here!)Maybe they are not your thing, but I really love their work which seems to come from that unknowable region.
I'm envious that you are in Montreal. When I check real estate there online, almost every listing has incredible abstracts on the wall. I swoon for that alone! I know you are pulled in all directions right now, but I am sincere when I say I look forward to seeing your work. I understand about being shy with your work though.
I hope life for you settles soon so you have time for more play. Sorry this is so long!!
Oh wow, I love. The blue tights are such an amazing color. I really like this outfit, but the more I read your blog, what I seem to be coveting most is your amazing life!! You're an artist, and you sketch your outfit and journal every morning at a coffee shop???? Why am I not doing such amazing things?
ReplyDeleteRe. the amazing life - what about the things I haven't shown you?! Ha. You are most certainly doing amazing things yourself! You are a style artist!
DeleteMelanie i wanted to tell you that you were an inspiration in my fashion post today...stripe on stripe.... Viewing your blog and feeling your inspiration, i pushed myself for more fashion creativity....and i am so happy with the results!....Just wanted to stop back in and thank you for your breath of fashion inspiration!
ReplyDeleteIt is the highest compliment when I inspire someone!! I just checked your post - beautiful! I will leave a comment there after this. Meeting you and everyone here has pushed me too and I have come up with an idea for tomorrow that frightens me! Ooo! But that's why I LIKE it! Stretching and growing, so positive always. If this fantasy turns out, I'll post it here. If not, back to the ironing board...
DeleteI love your turnip head. And Dorothy shoes. And killer smile. And style.
ReplyDeleteHa! It's my favourite, my turnip head. I used to sketch with no face at all - it was weird. But I've embraced my inner turnip. Hope you're keeping high and dry down there!
DeleteI love your blog<3
ReplyDeleteI always look forward to your updates!!!
Thanks, MUKAI!
Deletei love the visual diary & those ice blue legs :) really pretty
ReplyDeleteKisses A.
My legs and your hair? - BAM! Although a younger pair of legs would suit you better.
Deletejajaja your last picture is my favorite too... loveee that vintage dress...
ReplyDeleteYou're great! Thanks my little lamb!
DeleteGreat pictures! I love it!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm glad you found me.
DeleteI love the dress, makes me think of a futuristic flight attendant uniform. :D
ReplyDeleteHugs!
As you can tell, I am delving in your past posts..in a non-creeper sort of way, I assure you..lol
ReplyDeleteThis ensemble is FIERCE. That's the very first thing I thought of upon looking at it, so that is what it shall be called. FIERCE. In caps. :)
I love your sketch!