Fascinators Revisited

I promised to expose the outcome of the Fascinator tale. So, here goes:

Wedding Day Minus 1 Day:
Joy from work who is incredibly creative and crafty brought in her glue and creative expertise to help work on the burgundy fascinator. Our goal was to add in some of the other feathers to see if we could get the fascinator to match the dress and shawl.

So, just after Friday lunch, Joy pulls out her goodies. It was amazing to see the wonders she just had lying around. She is definitely a creative diva. She slowly plotted where to insert the gray feathers. Denise, our other creative guru, added in her expertise. I realized I couldn't be in any better hands. Thank Goddess!

A good hour later, Joy was done. My fascinator looked perfect and she even suggested making a little carrying case for it out of a whiskey bottle container. Did I say crafting genious? Sadly, it was a little early for empty whisky bottle cases. In any case, I was set with less than 24 hours to go. YAY!

Wedding minus 6 hours:
I woke up and looked at my beautifully enhanced fascinator and then put it next to my dress and shawl. OH NO! It still wasn't quite working. On its own, it was wonderful, but together it just didn't match. Still too brown and too burgundy. What was I to do?

Wedding minus 3 hours:

I decided it was worth a wonder around Harrogate. It looked like a town that was used to a lot of weddings. I deduced: there must be a shop with the latest in fascinators. Sure enough there were a lot of shops on the high street with a focus on hats, but nothing that really worked. Then I stumbled across Julie Fitzmaurice a shop that knows their fascinators.

I found one I LOVED. I breathed deeply and asked the very helpful sales woman the price. Shit! I give up. I guess if I was going to be co-ordinated at this wedding I was going to have to pay for it.

Then I heard the voice of Gina's friend who told me "never buy a fascinator without the dress". Given the fact I had got in to this mess in the first place by doing that, I rushed back to the inn to grab my dress and shawl.

I guess the pink bag gives it away that I took the plunge and bought my final fascinator 2.5 hours before the wedding was scheduled to begin. Wow, I cut it close.

So, I must thank everyone involved in the fascinator fiasco - Tanya (who helped pick one out in the first place), Joy and Denise (who enhanced the one I had) and finally the sales lady at Julie Fitzmaurice who helped me find the one I actually wore. I think it worked out in the end.

What you want to see it? Well, I don't have a photo which shows the entire outfit together with the pink shawl.... silly me. You would think I would get a photo of the whole ensemble given the challenges. Oh well, it wasn't about me. Rather, the bride who was gorgeous!!!!! Here are the few shots I have but alas no shawl in these pics.

No More Tears in 2008

I won't be crying in public for at least another year. Yes, that's right - Wedding season is over for 2008.

We definitely had a good year for weddings. All in all, J and I were invited to six weddings in 5 different countries. We manged to attend five of the weddings which meant a year of amazing trips and side-trips (not to mention huge expense). So, to recap:

1. Pete and Laura (English and Italian): February 29th, St. Albans, UK. This was definitely a date we can't forget. The wedding celebration took place in a beautiful spot outside London (pic to right was taken close to the venue). The wedding also allowed me to catch up with old Yahoo! friend - Greg G. Then the topper of the evening was the chance siting/meeting of Paul Weller of Style Council fame staying at our hotel. How cool was that for a girl stuck in the 80s?
   
   
   
2. Xiao Dan and Marco (Chinese & Swiss): May in Bejing, China. As there were two ceremonies, I'm not sure if I should count this as wedding 2 or wedding 2 and 3. In retrospect, I felt like Xiao Dan's wedding was a rehearsal for the Bejing Olympics Opening Ceremony. We were treated to acrobats, opera singers, musicians, drummers and dragons. Lots of fun and an incredibly memorable holiday.
   
   
   
   
   


3. Tania & Marcel: (American-Canadian & Dutch-Canadian); Toronto, Canada. Whoohoo! What a partee! This wedding definitely reflected the bride's sensibility. We started on Toronto Island in a beautiful little wooden church (felt like our many canoe trips together) and ended in the stylish Distillery District. Loads of great drinks, food and dancing involved here. Great to catch up with old friends including Jim, Sian and Rian to name a few.




4. Gina and Kenvor: (English);Harrogate, England. Think Four Weddings & a Funeral. Can you picture it? That was this wedding. It was so perfectly English. I even got to wear a fascinator (more on that here). J was busy filming the event (we won't expect a DVD for a while as he still needs to finish Tania & Matt's 2007 wedding).
   
   The evening ended with crazed dancing to "500 miles" square dance style with whomever I could grab. It's good to know there are consistencies across every wedding you attend. We spent an extra few days in Yorkshire, where we hiked the nearby cow-country
   (our pics).
   
   
   
5. Chris and Margaret (Gosia): (Canadian & Polish) Krakov, Poland. As Chris said in his speech no one at this wedding was from Krakov. Everyone (over 80 people) traveled to this fantastically beautiful locale. J, Daryl & I all arrived via night train from Prague and were deposited in the city centre without coffee at 6AM (that will have to be a story told in person). Luckily, the arrival was the most stressful part of this wedding trip.
   
   The remaining 5 days in Krakov were relaxed and incredibly social. Days & nights were filled with catching up with old Uni-friends, meeting new friends (from Sweden, Crotia, Poland, Norway & England) and numerous shots of Polish vodka. This wedding took the cake for most historically significant church of all the weddings we attended this year - St. Peter & St. Paul church of Krakov. I think my own claim to fame at this wedding was the fact that J and I were the last ones at the reception which meant we arrived back at our hotel just as the sun was coming up. What fun to act like I was in university again.

Thankfully, not everyone has the same approach to getting married as J and I, otherwise I would never get to visit such amazing places. Thanks to everyone for deciding to keep the tradition of marriage alive. (here is a quick peek of all the weddings I've been too in the last few years).

Fascinators? Handbags? The Festival?

Well... actually still not. I know I owe 3 posts that answer those questions above. I do have them queued up (in my mind at least), but have not made the time to tap them on to the keyboard. However, I thought I would share a bit of my man's recent endeavours and as there is a loose connection to the Big Chill festival - it kind of works.

Over the last few months, J has been working with a friend of ours on a video for his music. Before meeting Martin I had never heard of dubstep, but that doesn't mean anything as a girl who could listen to Cats, Avenue Q and Les Mis back to back - all day every day. In any case, J and Martin collaborated on this video.

What's the festival connection you ask? Ain't it clear? Well, in fact we went to the Big Chill (pics here) was to listen/see Blackdown (that's Martin).

Anyway, without further ado - here it is. Suffice it to say this was a big part of J's life (and by extension mine) for the last few months. So WATCH IT!

Keysound Video presents... Dusk + Blackdown: Margins Music from Keysoundrecordings on Vimeo.

Sharing the Handbag Goodness

Don't worry. I'm still going to give you the final chapter on the fascinator, but wanted to share a great sale on handbags. Alicia (from work) tipped me off on this one. I immediately found 5 different bags/purses etc that caught my fancy and my credit card. Since then there has been even bigger reductions. Go wild!


PS Happy Birthdays to Julie, Chelsea, Maggie (my nieces), Finn (my nephew), Eliska & Bertik (my Czech niece/nephew), Jason (my cousin), my Nana and finally Anne (my Mum-in-Law).... July is a busy month. I guess I could get a set of Greeting Cards from a certain on-line stationer.

Sinking Feeling? No Longer.

Amazing Shoes and Heel Stopper
Originally uploaded by praguelondon

At Gina and Kenvor's wedding I was introduced to an amazing fashion accessory. This one ensures the fashionista in all of us can keep up our look regardless of the terrain. Introducing the Clean Heel. It is a brilliant little invention that is placed on the heel of the stilleto to keep the wearer from sinking in to the lawn.

Why didn't we (E and I of course) think of it???? We could be relaxing in our French villa right now or at least enjoying a new pair of shoes with the earnings. I'm keen to think of other must haves for fashionistas who want it all to look effortless.

In the photo, you can see the Clean Heel in action. There are other models that combine functionality while further accessorizing your shoes. Check out the Clean Heels that come with rhinestones, pearls and other bling.

Clever idea!


PS I know you are dying to hear the conclusion of the Fascinator saga. I will definitely divulge the crazy story later this week.

I'm Almost Fascinating

Princess Beatrice ROCKS her butterfly hat!
Originally uploaded by catrocks2007

I've been waiting for this day for years. I'm finally going to a wedding where women wear hats (and fascinators). In Canada, we're just not a hat-wearing culture - well except for tuques. That's what it is like in Canada, you don't wear hats for fashion -- sadly. Truth be told this is the real reason I moved here.

Last summer, when my friend, Gina, announced she was getting married, I was of course thrilled for her. But when she told me I would be invited, I was dancing around the cubicles at the chance of wearing a hat. Hey, I had seen the ladies at Ascot! Imagine how cool I could be and I had a full year to get it right.


Fast forward a year minus 3 days. How are my hat plans you might ask? How well do you know me and you might be able to imagine my current situation. I'll fill in the details for those of you just getting acquainted.

It really is a long story involving the original idea of taking a milinary course and visions of creating something spectacular. Sadly, I tried to enroll in the course 4 times over 5 months and each time something came up. Now it's ...

Wedding Day minus 4 weeks:
About a month ago I was out for lunch in Primrose Hill, I went in to one of my favourite vintage stores and saw it. It was what I dreamed about for the past year. It was a perfect combination of colour and coolness factor. The clincher was that it had a little gray bird perched a top of a big pink flower. How quirky! I loved the idea. Sadly, I don't have a photo to share. I guess you have surmised that i didn't buy that PERFECT fascinator. Why? Does £150 for a flower and bird sound outrageous to you? Do you think you can be a hat-maker? Do you have visions of making it yourself? I did.

Wedding Day minus 3 weeks:
My amazing Aunt Barb hears of the quest for the perfect hat. It's important to know that Aunt Barb is one of the most talented seamstresses you'll meet - she did make her own wedding dress. In any case, she dug in her sewing chest of goodies and about a week later I received a collection of feathers and slightly squished flowers in the mail - directly from Canada. Sadly, these ingredients (while promising) were the wrong colour to match my dress. Perhaps I can use these goodies will my next wedding. (again the difference is my Aunt=amazing seamstress; me - not even close)

Wedding Day minus 2 weeks:
I started to get rather nervous. So, I decide eBay is the answer. I quickly find myself overwhelmed with the choice of both fascinators and notions with which to make these little babies. So, the bidding starts and as always on eBay I get carried away. By the next day, I think I have everything solved. I have bought a fascinator and if it isn't quite right I have bought 3 batches of feathers with which I can make my own (visions of being a hat-maker still dance in my head) creation.

Wedding Day minus 10 days
My eBay purchases arrive. Not good. The fascinator looks good from a distance. However, up close anyone will see that it is lined with beads/sparkles/trimmings (whatever they are called) In real life they just add cheese factor ... so while on a white manniquin head, the fascinator looks classy in reality it looks sadly cheap. I didn't move across the ocean to the land of garden parties and the queen to look cheap. Time to move on.Plan B - The DIY Fascinator. I ordered a number of feathers in case the fascinator came up short - it did. So, I have in my possession 3 sets of feathers in search of a headpiece. Here they are .... (the costs start adding up)



It started to get very complicated. The colours are good but how do I make a fascinator that doesn't look like well as my best friend said a bunch of pipe cleaners stuck together with Elmer's Glue. Oh no. I should have listened.

Wedding Day minus 7 days
I'm out on Saturday with my cousin (she's visiting). We're in Camden market. Tons of vintage stores around. I find a very cool hat that we both think looks great on me. Grab it, buy it. No fooling around.

I modelled for J (after buying) and he made a good observation - his words: "looks cool, but it kind of feels like you should wear it to a funeral". Then the comments of my British friends start dancing in my head "don't buy the hat without the dress". It was becoming quite apparent that was good advice. These ladies have experience. What does some crazy Canuck know?



The day wears on. We end up in Marlyebone and happen on Cabbages and Frocks Outdoor Market. What luck! There is a woman selling fascinators. They have that little bit of flare that I'm looking for. I think I've found the right one. I look closer at the price tag. Oh no. If I buy this one too, I've now spent significantly more than I intended and I will have a house full of fluffy stuff for my head. Hmmm should I buy it?

Guess what? I do buy it and guess what? I still don't think I've managed to get it right. It's got some weird brown going on and the burgundy is too dark - I need light pink. Oh no.

Last stop of the day (but I'm throught buying), we wonder on to John Lewis. T wanted to buy one too. So what does she do. She buys a simple little feather number for £5. It looks fantastic in her blond upsweep. She's thrilled and I'm feeling duped.

What's the situation today?
It's Wedding Day minus 4. I have 2 fascinators - 1 superiourly cheesy, 1 with colours that are wrong, 1 hat (with a funeral veil) and about 30 pink and gray feathers. I'm considering getting out the glue gun (well actually buying 1 first is necessary) and attaching some of the gray feathers to the most recent purchase. Or maybe I should just go without ...

Perhaps this hat thing should be left to the English.

Now It's Easy to be a Handbag Addict

I am a relatively new addict of handbags. I guess the reason I've been rather slow in the past is due to the fact that changing handbags takes time and effort. And, my readers (my best friend, BMad and my Mum) know that I'm always running late and often I don't have time to switch to my new co-ordinated handbag.

So, yesterday when I was told out about these little numbers that are designed to be easily transferred from one handbag to another --- i thought oh no my addiction my just get worse. Oh well - there's always rent-a-bag.

Thanks to Malinki for the tip. I'm off to buy one. Now I just need to keep these inserts organized.

Update: Looks like Lola's Sister has some great advice.