First cover- ELLE QUEBEC

Really stoked to share the first magazine cover I had the pleasure of styling!  This is ELLE Québec's September 2015 issue featuring the talented singer/songwriter Coeur de Pirate.
For this shoot I was in the awesome company of prolific photographer Max Abadian (we're not worthy!) and hair/make up artist (and creative multi-talent) Andrew Ly.
For the looks I am very grateful for the collaboration with Costume National for the striped suit and to Tanya Taylor for the vintage vibe dress.  Keep reading for the complete credits (yeah, you want to know where those boots are from?!)

Unfortunately there's one little bit of major #buzzkill ... those with eagle eyes can make out that the "stylisme" credit was not made out to me.  The credit was given to a very lovely and talented stylist who was not involved with the shoot, and the unfortunate editorial oversight is now living in print on news stands across Quebec.  The awesome ELLEQC team hastened to rectify online/electronic copies and offered their apologies.  In order not to be too bummed about the whole situation (whyyyyy? in print!) I listened to Krishna Das' soothing Eddie Vedder-esque voice to decompress as I drove to an idyllic plot of land in the country.  I feel much better now thank you.

styling credits:

wool suit: Costume National
t-shirt: James Perse
shoes: Michael Kors Collection
necklace: Jennifer Meyer
rings: House of Harlow 1960 & Aldo Accessories

dress, turtleneck, belt: Tanya Taylor
boots: Filippa K
rings: House of Harlow 1960 & Aldo Accessories

Holiday Gift Guide Cadeau

With the holidays right around the corner, there is certainly last minute gift shopping taking place in full frenzy in the shops and online.
In case you haven't sorted out all your pressies for your family and your besties may I point you towards the 2014 holiday gift guides from ELLE Canada and ELLE Québec that I had loads of fun/stress-filled pleasure to research, edit and style.

As you can see it's a bit of same/same but different-spot the differences if you feel so intrepid.
While I love all the pages, I have a soft spot for the all black/all white mood shot, with a particular jonesing for those matte black ester & erik candles...just in case you were curious.

Joyeuses fêtes!

fall '14 cultural preview

The October issue of ELLE Québec featured a fall cultural preview of the local scene.  I was invited to style the men in this project, who were three easy-going dudes who didn't mind wearing sweaters and jackets in July.  At the top: thespian Benoît McGinnis opened the portfolio wearing pieces from Diesel and John Varvatos (from Holt Renfrew).  Next we had musician Pierre Kwenders, looking regal in a smattering of patterns.  I layered him in pieces from Diesel, Matinique, G-Star Raw, DJAB from Simons, Breed Knitting, kicks from Aldo and specs from Céline.   Finally, the very charming screen actor Victor Andrés Trelles-Turgeon closed the portfolio layered in Diesel, Steven Alan and Michael Kors.

The photography was achieved with the wizardry of Marc Montplaisir and was definitely #nofilter.  Montplaisir has been perfecting his ambrotype photography for more than a decade, finding the balance between the exposure (controlled by the removal of a lens cap) and the chemicals at work in the darkroom.  Above, the exposed glass plates of Trelles-Turgeon and McGinnis sit in a rack to dry and reveal the ghostly images.  This was not a shoot of hundreds of clicks a day from a DSLR, more accurately, each photograph took about three to five plates, and we patiently waited while Montplaisir went to the darkroom to develop the image.

Our three subjects behind the camera

#slowphotography

swimwear syndrome

It is not this blog's M.O. to feature images of me so this post feels very narcissistic right now. I was asked to participate in a project featured in the August's issue of ELLE Quebec, regarding women's complexities towards swimwear.  The kicker? Find several non-model women who were willing to pose in front of the camera lens in a bathing suit.  While the idea made me extremely uncomfortable, I thought it was important to feature bodies on the printed page other than the VS Angels of the world.  Although, I would be lying if I didn't admit my brain is definitely conditioned to perceive willowy model bodies as being one form of "perfection."  This perception is a concept I play with in my art work with the use of store mannequins and a tongue firmly planted in cheek!

For the ELLE QC shoot we were asked to self-style, so I am wearing with great pleasure a bathing suit from Eres and all jewelry by Pearls Before Swine.  Enjoy some quotes from myself and two fellow non-models in the story Gaëlle Leroyer and Simone Fortin.

Mathieu Quesnel

The July issue of ELLE Québec's culture section features a portrait I styled with actor Mathieu Quesnel.  This charming man (of vague Chris Martin resemblance) has a Denys Arcand feature in the can and an Émile Gaudreault film hitting screens right about now.  Gaudreault's Le vrai du faux centers around a soldier dealing with post traumatic stress disorder, inspiring an army feel with the styling.  Photographed by Daniel Cianfarra, Quesnel wears a marbled print shirt by DUBUC, khaki trousers by Dolce & Gabbana, and a belt from Denim & Supply by Ralph Lauren.

belles au naturel

For the June issue of ELLE Québec, I was asked to participate in the styling of a portfolio of Québecoises personalities to highlight the fifth year of Canal Vie/ELLE Québec's Journée sans maquillage (No makeup day).

This cultural phenomena that has also taken place in schools and the workplace has been recently propelled by the advent of social media.   I'm not sure if I'm surprised to learn that many a young teenage girl does not go to school without makeup as her armour.  Or that showing one's "real face" is something noteworthy.  But I get it. Culturally we have become attuned to seeing women with a "full face," imperfections begone, makeup/Photoshop rule, and reality is perceived through a screen or a printed page. If only Marshall McLuhan were alive today!

Which brings us back to our photo shoot where I had the pleasure of styling makeup free television personality Rebecca Makonnen and actress Marina Orsini.  Photographer Marc Montplaisir captured these two awesome women in simple striking monochromatic portraits.  Makonnen pulled off a structured asymmetrical Halston Heritage dress with ease while Orsini gravitated towards a silk top from BCBGMAXAZRIA paired with a summery pant from Icône by Simons.

hashtags of note:
#NoMakeupSelfie raises £8M for Cancer Research UK, read two different takes here and here
#WokeUpLikeThis : empowering self affirmation or not so #humblebrag?

Viviane Audet

For the February issue of ELLE Québec I was pleased to style the triple threat singer/songwriter/actress Viviane Audet in a portrait session with Daniel Cianfarra.  The mandate was lingerie and fur, in a laid back kind of way...That luscious pop pink coat was courtesy of Natural Furs,  the pink and blue slip is from Studio La Perla (La Perla's younger sister brand), and an inky blue black one piece from Princesse tam.tam.  The end result? Audet's easy going vibes portrayed that really cool girl just hanging out at home in some fur #nbd.

Marilyn Castonguay

I was super stoked to dress the super talented actress Marilyn Castonguay in a very casual/cool/chic style.  Lensed by Daniel Cianfarra for the ELLE Québec December issue, this was a mandate very close to my heart!  The look was composed of skinny distressed jeans from Diesel, ultra loose, wide necked t-shirt by Splendid, a perfect perfecto courtesy of Mackage, and a sparkly 'thorn' pump by Saint Laurent Paris-it is the holiday issue after all.

Marie-Soleil Michon

The october issue of Elle Québec's culture section features the very charming television personality Marie-Soleil Michon, shot by Daniel Cianfarra at the Centre Phi.  I had the pleasure of pulling some looks for Michon who was a pro: focused and so easy to work with. The look we finally settled on was a fits-like-a-glove cotton dress with an elbow length sleeve and that awesome paint drip pattern by Jonathan Saunders.  Over the dress, we threw on an oversize coat from Topshop and finished it off with Prada suede booties. Click, click, click and we were done.

La Maison du Pêcheur

The September issue of Elle Québec's culture section features four actors (styled by yours truly, lensed by Julie Artacho) who star in the soon to be released La Maison du pêcheur, a film chronicling the encounter of the young revolutionaries in Percé that would culminate in the October Crisis of 1970.

For those not from La belle province, let me just say that politics and language are at the heart of this culture despite being made out to be all about a cool artist/music scene by the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Spin etc, which I would argue stems indirectly from our politics.  While Québec politics is too dense of a subject to be covered in this post, whether one considers the FLQ terrorists or freedom fighters, what was imminent in this province was change for a distinct society in an anglicized/Canadian mold.  While I don't condone any acts of violence, what I keep in mind is: it is never that simple.  My brain first started processing these complicated ideas when it was twelve years old, upon meeting the grandson of Pierre Laporte in high school, where the history I had learned in class was staring at me in the face.