Westfest 2013

Tags

Ottawa, Ottawa fashion, street fashion, Summer 2013, westboro, Westfest, Westfest 2013

Wow, what a wonderful weekend that was. The rain held up for the most part on Saturday, and it was lovely, clear, bright and sunny on Sunday. I hope everyone got a chance to come out to Westfest 2013 this year, and if not, make sure to come next year! Here is my coverage of the event (I was able to go Saturday and Sunday.) And a big thank you to everyone who posed for a picture! Enjoy

Bailey C, offsetting neutral black and white with stunning cobalt blue shorts and cute caged heels.

Rock wall fun

Yoshi Chladny, an amazing local performer.

Dom C. Effortless, appropriate and chic. From Urban Outfitters (although could not longer find it on the website, so you may be out of luck!)

Gabe R. Love the cat shirt. I think everyone should own a cat shirt. Urban Outfitters.

These kids were awesome.

Emily M. I love how she paired the bold pattern of the shorts (Forever 21) with a sheer, neutral top.

The Knit Seat! In front of Lilac Lingerie.

Megan W. I absolutely love space leggings, and have been after a pair for forever. These are either from Urban Outfitters or Urban Behaviour. One of the Urbans at least!

The always lovely, and contributor Jane M!

Arya M. 1) I love the name Arya (GOT anyone?) 2)I love the sheer tights with the tat peaking out. Adorable

Local performer

Katie D. One of my favourite Bridgehead baristas, looking great in a light floral print.

That’s it! Hope you enjoyed. Take care
-Fi

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New business: illume espresso bar

Tags

Coffee, illume espresso bar, new business, Ottawa, West Wellington

The anticipation is over, a new locally owned espresso bar, illume, opened its doors today. Located right across from the Metro, on the ground floor of the new condo building, illume is a great, cozy alternative to the Bridgehead further down the street. We had vanilla lattes, presented beautifully, which tasted amazing. While I am a die hard Bridgehead fan, I think illume is well situated (not too close to any other coffee shops) and offers a product that is unique and different. I look forward to returning!

Take the time to check them out!

-Fi, xo

My recent Dip Dye experiences: Purple / blue and Green

Tags

character salon ottawa, Dip Dye, green dip dye, hair, Hintonburg, manic panic, ombre, Ottawa, punky colour, purple dip dye

So my first Dip Dye post still receives a lot of hits, and I’ve noticed so many lovely women rocking the dip dye look these days. I’ve actually noticed it a ton in BC, almost more than Ottawa. Either way, I’ve been playing around few a few colours recently and I thought I would show them here.

First, I got my hair dyed ombre before I flew out to BC. I got it done at the lovely Character Hair Salon in Hintonburg:

However, back tracking. Before I dyed it ombre, I wanted to try purple. I used Manic Panic in Ultra Violet:

Above is how it looked over my natural brown.

And this is how it looked over my blonde:

Excuse the ridiculousness, I took this photo weeks ago not intending to post it. BUT as you can see, it came out much more blue than purple. I enjoyed it, it was just different than what I was expecting.

After playing around with purple / blue / red I wanted to try something different. I really want to rock teal ends, and I know Manic Panic makes a teal. However when I went to Shoppers, instead of carrying my stand by Manic Panic, they had Jerome Russell’s Punky Colour, a product I’ve never tried before. I settled with Apple Green:
This is how it looked on my blonde tips:

I got a lot of compliments, but I wasn’t super pleased with it. The best / worst part is, the above photo is from November 6th, and the green is STILL THERE, despite me literally scrubbing it with shampoo. That’s good because the Manic Panic required re-dying almost every week to keep up the vibrancy. SO I highly recommend Punky Colour, check out their website if you are unfamiliar.

I’m waiting for the green to completely go away before I move on to my next dying project, but I have a few ideas in mind that I will post here when they are done.

I fly back to Ottawa on Tuesday, and I can’t wait! Except I don’t have any winter boots, I’ve been rocking Tom’s here all fall (oh no I’m turning into a BC hipster…)

xo

-Fi

I’m Alive!

Tags

Ottawa, Ottawawestfashion, Wellington

Wow

My last post was from the summer. So basically, I’ve moved to Victoria, BC, getting my MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Victoria. I was attempting to start a blog for my time there, but it’s proving difficult. I’m coming back to Ottawa soon for a month for the holidays, and I’m hoping to post some new content on this blog, and possibly start featuring street fashion of Victoria after I go back. We will see. 

Thank you to any new twitter or blog followers, I really appreciate you taking interest in the site and I promise you when my life makes a little more sense, content will become  regular. 

Thank you to anyone who has e-mailed me about Ottawa fashion related or Westboro/West Wellington related events, I miss the lovely fashion scene Ottawa has going on. If you are interested in me covering anything that is happening between December 5th and January 6th, please send an e-mail to ottawawestfashion@hotmail.ca and I’ll do my best to attend.

That’s it for now. Hopefully more later.

-Fi xo

PS My Booster Juice on Wellington closed, wtf! Worked there for almost 5 years, RIP free smoothies.

 

Bleach printed sweat shirt (America Apparel) from Blim in Vancouver, BC. 

 

Westfest 2012!

Tags

Arts, Festival, Hidden Cameras, Ottawa, Richmond, Spoken word, Steven Page, Westfest

Don’t forget, this weekend starting today, June 8th going until Sunday, June 10th is the 2012 Westfest!

The street festival runs all the way from Golden at Richmond to Kirkwood at Richmond. And there are some pretty amazing acts this year including the Hidden Cameras, Steven Page, and the Cooper Brothers. Not to mention spoken word performances, Nepean’s Choir, and performances from the Ottawa School of Speech and Drama. In addition to all these great things, there are street sales galore and the patios will be extended! So obviously you know where you need to be this weekend. Check their website for the schedule and more info.

I’m going tonight and tomorrow, so I hope to see you all there!

-FM

Toronto Adventures

Tags

Bungalow, cowboy boots, dress, Fashion, Fashion Crimes, Fur, Kensington Market, Ottawa, party dress, pink, Toronto, vintage

I had the pleasure of spending the last few days in Toronto visiting friends. While there I got the chance to stroll around the always cool Kensington Market which is filled with amazing vintage stores, such as Bungalow! We also headed down Queen Street West and checked out Fashion Crimes, an amazing boudoir of sequins, feathers, leather, tool, sparkles, and general gorgeousness. So enjoy the pictures, and get a napkin because some of these pieces are drool worthy!

I love all that Toronto has to offer but my heart will always be in Ottawa!

-FM

I’ll Free Your Mind and Your Androgyny

Tags

Androgyny, Combat boot, Fashion, Ottawa, Stieg Larsson, Urban Outfitters

I’ve noticed that the androgynous look from the mid to late 90’s/early 2000’s is hitting the runways and streets again in a more grungy, less clean-cut version. This trend is being excelled right now in part to the film adaptation of Stieg Larsson‘s novel “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo“, and as I’m sure all you fashion loving people out there already know, H&M is even doing a whole line of clothing based off of the main character:

I personally am really excited to see how this line does at H&M. Especially since H&M is an extremely accessible retailer and the runway trends they translate into their affordable collections become seen all over the streets of many major cities, including Ottawa. If this line does well, expect to see this trend continue.

I feel like the new, 2011 (soon to be 2012) vision of Androgyny has extended itself from the original in a few ways, and I think that is simply because men’s fashion has changed as well since the 90’s. Androgyny to me now means, adoring soft dresses and tops with hard details such zippers, studs or leather, lace up combat boots or motor boots with hard metal details, disheveled leather jackets and hair, and of course, tight, worn out pants.

Zara, V-Back Dress

Urban Outfitters, Sparkle and Fade Circle Stud Blouse

Aldo, Statler Boot

Banana Republic, Leather Bomber Jacket 

So, buy yourself some combat boots, and watch this music video for “Androgyny” by the classic 90’s band Garbage. I love all the outfits worn by Shirley Manson throughout the video, and the whole thing makes me want to do a line of coke in the bathroom and kiss a bunch of people:

And in case I don’t post before 2012, have yourselves a badass New Years, don’t do break any hearts and don’t break anything expensive.

-FM