Vancouver skyline--John Hader Photography
Living in the big city away from family, the holidays take on a whole new meaning. One largely defined by the dance of how to not seem pathetic to the pizza delivery man on the 25th.
Alternatively, it gives space to not wrestle with cloudy-headed get-togethers and pressure to capture worthiness in a prettied-up package containing this thing or that; it also means that while the whole world is on holiday hiatus, I can create my own traditions around midnight candy-cane cocktails and use all this temporary free time to create lineages between things that don’t really exist: like my future with that boy across the coffee shop, like fashion to Christmas carols.
If you’re “single in the city” like myself and left in the cold during the holidays, break out your sewing scissors and Etsy account and let some fashion experimentation stuff your satisfaction stocking for the 12 days of Christmas. You know it’s time the Little Drummer Boy got some swag.
12 Drummers Drumming
Style influence: everything rock-inspired. Upcycle an old band tee and dye your hair bright red. Color-blocking is back and your head is the perfect place to rock this bold trend. Florence Welsh of ‘& the Machine’ company first set the stage and our ears ablaze with her rocking rouge ‘do, and now another famous redhead, model-turned-singer Karen Elson, drops her debut album The Ghost Who Walks this month.
Karen Elson in Harper's Bazaar UK Oct2010
11 Pipers Piping
Style influence: Original accessory hardware. Hit the local hardware store for pipes, wires and random doohickies and get to work on some of your tired old accessories– or if you’re not that handy, cruise local markets or Etsy shops for jewelers and designers that know how to rock metals. I’m loving gcuff out of Newfoundland (via @Etsy) and Divina Denuevo of Vancouver. Many of Divina’s unique reclaimed leather accessories actually incorporate as hardware old skeleton keys found in shipwrecks in the world’s oceans!
Divina Denuevo
10 Lords-a-Leaping
Style influence: 1940’s. Ah, modesty devine. When ladies dabbed at the corners of their mouths with cloth napkins and men tipped their hats and lit cigarettes for you–or so Hollywood tells me. For lords-a-leaping, it’s all about jumping into demure old school ways of styling that conveniently, are great for winter: maxi skirts and red lips.
1940's glam backstage at Jason Wu SS2012
D&G AW2010
9 Ladies Dancing
Style influence: Wedges. Wedge heels are the saving grace of footwear for clumsy lassies like me. After sporting many a sprain from tearing up dance floors over the years I’ve come to discover that wedges are the perfect compromise between runners and regular heels. They’re virtually injury-proof, no matter how many cocktails prelude your seemingly foreboding trek to the night’s last train.
What else can you say about a shoe? Check out some of the seriously sweet stompers available on modcloth.com.
www.modcloth.com
8 Maids-a-Milking
Style influence: neutrals. According to the trends experts at WGSN natural tones are going to take us well into SS2012—but this ain’t your daddy’s white fedora. The new look for neutrals incorporates textures and subtle accents that allow for interesting layering, mixing and matching. Dig up all your whites, eggshells, ivories and beige’s and figure out how to inject the colours of your personality into an outfit that’s creamy AND crème-de-la-crème, too.
H&M SS2012
7 Swans-a-Swimming
Style influence: swimwear. Because you can’t get through winter without crying over summer. Vancouver local Anna Kosturova has taken her bodacious beachwear to the finest stretches of sand around the world and has been featured in Sports Illustrated over six years running. Let it both inspire and depress you into both reminiscing and dieting.
Sports Illustrated shoot for Anna Kosturova
6 Geese-a-Laying
Style influence: upcycling. This is perhaps a stretch of an association, but geese-a-laying speaks of birth and transformation and therefore, “re-birthing” one item of clothing into something else entirely by way of upcycling. One of my favorite things to do when I’m under the influence of boredom, alcohol or directionless creativity is to cut up clothing I no longer wear and nip and tuck it into another item altogether. (Crafter beware: success level falls proportionately to intoxication level). My favorite upcycler in Finland Outi Pyy (www.outsapop.com) provides hours of tutorials and inspirations to get you through Day 6.
Belt boots via www.outsapop.com
5 Golden Rings
Style influence: gold (duh). Gold is timeless, gold is shiny, gold also comes with its own closet full of skeletons, as was brought to my attention a few months ago by a Hume Atelier jeweler craftsman. Make sure the gold you buy is licensed by Fairtrade International.
My best friend (shoutout to Maja!) has many notable qualities and quirks, and one is her affinity for novelty jewellery that she finds in the most bizarre thrift shops and markets. Day 5 is dedicated to her -one of my favorite people in the world- as well as this blog- one of my favourite time-wasters in the world: http://style.icanhascheezburger.com/
4 Colly Birds
Style influence: LBD. Apparently “colly” was slang for coal and so a colly bird translates to a crow, or blackbird. Possible racist connotations aside, today is all about the little black dress (LBD)—a classic that, thanks to Vancouver store owner Mary McKay, is not in the least boring. My frockOn sister Kendra scoped out the store for y’all last year in this article.
Modern interpretations of the LBD by styleinvention.blogspot.com
3 French Hens
Style influence: Paris. Paris reminds me of slicked hair and red lips. How are the French like a lipstick? Bright, undeniably sexy, and somehow pursed. Day 3 of frockOn Christmas is all about that sleek confidence and understated glamour that Parisians are known for, so turn on the Manu Chao and practice strutting, taking the lead from some of these street stylistas captured during Paris Fashion Week.
Paris Fashion Week via @Refinery29
2 Turtle Doves
Style influence: Portlandia. Put a bird on it. On anything.
Video: Portlandia “Put A Bird On It” 0XM3vWJmpfo
simplybybluebird via @Etsy
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree.
Style influence: Partridge family. Because that’s what the holidays are really all about: family. The Partridges here represent a throwback to simpler times when both hearts and shirt lapels were bigger. In a style sense it’s no secret that a heavy 60s and 70s influence has been lingering around for a few seasons now and heading into spring/summer, it’s obvious that the trend isn’t going anywhere. If you’re around your favorite people from these decades, give them a hug. If not, throw on some vinyl and rock out to some oldies—because the music of these times, like the fashion, is solid enough to stand the test of time.
Happy holidays friends!
Video: SLAYER Christmas
Article by | Jessica Linnay
This is brilliant
Jessica…this is really truly amazing!! Love it!