Upcoming Vintage Show & My Outfit from the Art of Fashion Reception

To take a wee break from the marvelous madness of New York,  I wanted to take a moment to put in a plug for a Vintage show that's happening this weekend, closer to home.

If you're a hard-core vintage clothing fan like me, or you're just looking for a great hat or piece of jewellery to set off your fall outfit, you don't have to go all the way to New York to find beautiful vintage clothing and accessories.  This Sunday, October 21st, is the Gadsden's Toronto Vintage Clothing Show at Wychwood Barns.  The show runs from 11 am - 4 pm and features 30 dealers selling everything from bakelite jewellery to 20's cloche hats and 1960's two-tone pumps.  Admission is $8.

I attended the Spring show last April and was impressed with the selection, and the prices, and picked up a couple of hats, an orange angora cardigan, and some barkcloth that was intended for curtains (which still haven't been made).  I'm wearing one of the hats in the photo below.

For more information about the show and the dealers who will be there, check out their website here.

I finally found a photo of what I was wearing to the reception for the Art of Fashion Design Competition.  I wore the Jack McConnell hat that I purchased at the Spring Toronto Vintage Show, and a Joseph Ribkoff jumpsuit from The Sentimentalist.  Photo by MSPG Inc., courtesy of the Art of Fashion Facebook page

Bloggers, Milliners and Models - The Art of Fashion Design Competion Part 2

In addition to the creativity that was on display from the young Canadian designers who had been chosen as finalists in the Art of Fashion 2012 Design Competition, there was a lot of sartorial eye-candy amongst the invited guests.  I had the pleasure of meeting another blogger, a milliner, a t-shirt designer, and a young man whose fierce style I had admired for some time.

The kilt, the boots, the hair, the hat - there was no way you could miss this guy.  He definitely triggered an "Oh Wow!" moment.

David Dunkley, on the right, got my attention with his sartorial smarts and his charm, and when I learned that he had designed the fascinator worn by his friend, with his millinery talent.  The award-winning Toronto milliner studied with the former royal milliner to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and his hats have been worn by members of the Queen's royal entourage.  You can see more of Dunkley's gorgeous hats and fascinators on his website here

Head-to-toe red

This woman's dress was designed by a friend - I really liked the "business in the front, party in the back" aesthetic that was continued in her hairstyle.

My favourite shoes, perfectly paired with black and white

I love how this woman, a fellow blogger, mixed classic casual pieces to make an outfit that was incredibly chic, and was a welcome visual break in the sea of black.  Her super cool glasses (they were dark blue which doesn't show up in the photo) and swirled topknot gave the impression that she was fun and approachable, which to my delight, she was!  I hope she sees this and sends me the address to her blog.

I have been crushing on this young man's fearless style since I first saw his photo on the street style blog TorontoVerve, so I was thrilled to see him in person.  Turns out he's just as sweet as he is stylish.  His name is Myles Sexton, and he's a makeup artist, aspiring model and jewellery designer, and even has his own YouTube Channel.  He's wearing a necklace of his own design - see the closeup below:

See more of his jewellery designs on his website

This young woman and a friend have a t-shirt design business called Global Warming that creates "t-shirts with a voice".  The shirt she's wearing is one of their designs, and others feature strong and sassy messages such as "I'm Ridiculously Smart" and my personal favourite,  "My Hair Doesn't Like To Be Touched By Strangers".   Her cute curls and gold hoop earrings looked great with the leopard print pants.

I was just getting ready to call it a night when I saw this lovely young woman, who was the epitome of  "lady-like" with her fur-trimmed vintage coat, designer heels and stunning envelope bag.

Thanks to the Art of Fashion for the invitation to this event, and hopefully I will be able to post a photo of what I was wearing if any of the people who photographed me are kind enough to send me one!