Asartorial in Vancouver

Hermès Turban

2008-03-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

I was in London at the end of January. I stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast in what turned out to be the digs of one of London’s most fashionable neighbourhoods, Belgravia. Our accommodations were right around the corner from the ridiculously opulent Harrods department store (think Trump Towers x ten), Buckingham Palace and the not to be missed Serpentine Gallery, which was well worth the walk through Hyde Park.

When in Belgravia I was looking for signs of life and style
beyond merely layering on high priced designer clothing. I
discovered an Hermès window display that both marketed and
meshed luxury goods and branding with religion. The Hermès shop was actively promoting the use of their iconic silk scarves with religious clothing.

Was this form of marketing working? In Belgravia there were many muslim women wearing what I call Hermès hijab. While I did take a few photographs, I’ve decided not to show photographs that I did not receive permission to publish. Besides, I think the window display speaks for itself.

London: Lovely in Black

2008-02-22T10:06:00.000-08:00

London: Upturned Collar

2008-02-22T10:01:00.001-08:00

Noticed: The upturned collar seems a classic sign of london. On the polo golf shirt it seems, perhaps, a little too preppy for my simple Canadian tastes..this upturned Burberry collar seemed just the right approach to me.

London: Casual Elegant

2008-02-22T09:56:00.000-08:00

Noticed: A little post-shop at Harvey Nichols. I like the ease she has in this image. Her clothes are all clean lines and muted colours, the thick suede belt over the sweater adds some quiet detail.

Great Style Profile: Heather Mallick

2008-02-04T16:24:00.000-08:00

This interview with Heather Mallick, author and journalist, is on what defines great style in Vancouver and beyond. Over the next few months look for this series with interesting personalities working in fashion, publishing, journalism, literature, arts and culture under the heading Great Style Profile.

Heather Mallick is a liberal-minded feminist journalist who has worked in newspapers, magazines and now online. She writes political columns for CBC.ca and for the Guardian Online in Britain. Her second book, Cake or Death, essays on surviving the Bush era, will be out in paperback this spring.

Many people use the terms fashion and style interchangeably. Is there a difference between fashion and style?

Heather Mallick: Fashion is current; style is deeply personal. I don't know how fashion gets away with it. It gives a gloss to some things that are pretty hideous in retrospect, but I swear I felt powerful when I wore an Alfred Sung turquoise tweed suit in 1991, with enormous shoulder pads. The pads were fashionable. But the fabric? That was pure style. Sung had a genius for fabric and I yearn for the gnarly fuzzy tweed of that suit, long ago discarded. I am also very fond of good wool jersey on a woman's body. It lasts forever and like white paint, it covers a multitude of sins. No wonder Diane von Furstenberg is so fond of it.

What is great style?

HM: Great style is simplicity. It's a shame because it's good fun to add layers and mix patterns and wear eccentric jewelry. But clear strong colours and a clean line will always make a person, male or female, look better. (Once Coco Chanel had her straight-lined suits, then she loaded on the pearls.) Princess Diana knew this better than anyone. She didn't have to overdress and of course she didn't want to. She could see those tragic royal women with hats with actual trembling fronds on them, like sea creatures. And gauzy, frothy silly dresses in "fayre" colours. I'm sure she looked at them and decided to go for the long drink of water look, it's less trouble. And you don't get ostrich feathers sticking to your lipstick.

I think the little girl dresses of last season were disastrous. Even actual little girls looked overdressed in those fragile little garments. And frankly, there was a not-pedophilic-but-close-to-it element I didn't like. Even at its best, it infantilized women.

Who are your great style icons?

HM: Niles Crane. He was played by David Hyde Pierce in the American TV show Frasier. He was as slim as a man could be—of course he referred to it as his "swimmer's build"—and he wore Italian double-breasted suits with wide legs, shirts with spread collars and a good striking Hugo Boss tie. The whole joke was that Americans yearn to be thin. But when you are thin, you can wear the soft, draped, flowing fabrics that Niles did and get away with it.
The other stylish person I admire (I don't use the word "icon.") is Cecilia Sarkozy. Mme. Sarkozy's hair is utterly simple. She wears little jewelry. In the New York photo, she is sexually happy with the man she loves. The way the lower strand of her double belt drapes across her hip is as sexy a choice as I've ever seen. And in the Elysees photos, which she posed for out of courtesy to her president-husband just before she divorced him, she looks not like a girl, not like a vamping model, but like a strong, beautiful woman, immaculate and confident. And then she left and made Nicolas pose with his mother

What is great style in Vancouver?

HM: I once saw Hyde Pierce on an awards show dressed in green spandex. He looked like a frog with prominent genitals. So can I say one thing about tight modern fashionable clothes? Lululemon clothes look wonderful on Vancouver women because Vancouver women are fit. Here in Toronto, it's best to avert your eyes. Vancouver women are outside. They stride across the city. I am not under the impression that they wear shoes that make their feet hurt, that make them tippy-toe. That's style. The energy of Vancouver bodies is a great thing. Me, I mostly just shuffle along.

London: The Puffy Capelet

2008-01-28T15:33:00.000-08:00

London: Ooh La La

2008-01-28T15:32:00.000-08:00

The British answer to the French couple posted under Paris: Ooh La La.

London: Red Leather

2008-01-28T15:31:00.001-08:00

Spotted: Unusual tailoring on her red leather jacket. A great short haircut.

London: Black and White

2008-01-28T15:27:00.000-08:00

London: Waiting and Layering

2008-01-28T15:24:00.000-08:00

Spotted: Young women, patiently waiting for friends; and, they're still keen on layering sweaters on top of shirts underneath tight vests of various lengths.

Great Style Profile: Sarah Bancroft

2008-01-16T04:05:00.000-08:00

What defines great style in Vancouver and beyond? This is the primary question that led AIV to contact great style thinkers and trendspotters who could respond to just such a question. Over the next few months look forward to this series under the heading Great Style Profile with interesting personalities working in fashion, publishing, journalism, literature, arts and culture.

Sarah Bancroft is the co-founder and editor-in-chief Daily Dose Media which publishes vitaminv.ca, a daily style supplement about Vancouver, now with editions in Toronto and Montreal. She was the Western Editor of FASHION Magazine for 6 years, Associate Editor of Vancouver magazine, and started her career as a fashion buyer for Aritzia.

Many people use the terms fashion and style interchangeably. Is there a difference between fashion and style?

Sarah Bancroft: I find the people who are most into fashion are the least fashionable. They follow trends too religiously. People with true style wear what they want and are so good at picking up cultural cues from their travel, the books they read, film, art and their other interests, that they end up looking the most forward and unique and trend-setting. It sounds cliché but style is innate and fashion can be learned.

What is great style?

SB: It’s a fallacy that people who have a lot of clothes, shoes, jeans, handbags, etc are the most fashionable. It’s actually the opposite. The truly stylish person has few clothes but they are beautiful and fit her properly. Stylish people buy three of the same perfect black sweater, while “fashionistas” will buy 30 things a season.

Who are your great style icons?

SB: French women in general are great at understated, easy elegance. They had the whole rich-hippie vibe nailed well before the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Hudson. Think of Charlotte Gainsbourg, Carla Bruni, Vanessa Paradis and Emmanuelle Beart as the new generation of Gallic style icons.

Bancroft's Photo Caption: Vanessa Paradis, the French chanteuse, wears vintege-y, chanel-type looks without looking too costume-y, or she might show up in a peasant dress, you never know. It also doesn’t hurt that she has the best fashion accessory a girl could have: Johnny Depp.

What is great style in Vancouver?

SB: The best thing about Vancouver is how easy it is to be stylish. Walk into an art opening in a gorgeous painted floral maxi-dress and Grecian flats and you can pretty much guarantee you’ll be the only one there in anything similar. And everyone will go nuts for it. It’s fun to take risks because you’ll be amply rewarded.

Paris: Skinny Jeans

2008-01-15T17:09:00.000-08:00

Noticed: Skinny jeans were made for the figures of French women full-stop. While these unmentionables are on their way out for a more forgiving, wider pant leg, the skinny jean persists in France. And, why not? They look simply perfect on the majority of the figures of young women here. I also love this girl's haircut. A great of example of how to wear blunt bangs well.

So how is a section dedicated to Paris street photographs about Vancouver? Well, easy answer is not much, except that understanding how fashion and style operate in other cities sharpens ones awareness. So what defines French style from a Vancouver girl's point of view?

1. Ritual grooming (Truly, I suspect they even iron their jeans).

2. A daring use of bold colour in unexpected places...such as socks, glasses, scarves.

3. Pulled together outfits that appear effortless.

4. One has the sense the people are drawing on traditions about style, passed on from generation-to-generation.

5. A great eye for detail.

6. 101 ways to tie a scarf and a scarf for all seasons.

7. The best approach to cutting bangs. I never thought it possible for someone with fine hair to have bangs. A Parisian hairdresser named Isabelle at Des Hair A La Mode (90 rue des martyrs, Paris) just proved me wrong.

8. An ability to balance oneself in nine-inch heels on wet, cobblestone streets.

Paris: Tall Boots

2008-01-15T16:55:00.000-08:00

Noticed: Women with boots above the knee, with laces at the back.

Paris: Fur and Cell Phone

2008-01-15T16:54:00.001-08:00

Paris: Ooh La La

2008-01-15T16:51:00.000-08:00

Paris: Bubble Skirt

2008-01-15T16:49:00.000-08:00

Noticed: Fur trimmed jean jackets.

Green Sleeves

2007-12-21T19:07:00.000-08:00

Who: Lisa

What: Green wool coat she had designed from another coat in Shanghai. I also loved the rich grey patent handbag. The loops on her sleeves are for ribbons that can be tied in bows around her arms.

Asar-tots

2007-12-11T18:01:00.000-08:00

Who: Keisa
What: Despite still holding mom's hand, there's something all grown up about this little outfit. Perfect red tights, red patent mary-janes and faux fur coat. Just shows that great style starts young.

Retro Chic

2007-12-06T11:26:00.001-08:00

Who: Mrs. Erikson

What: Mrs. Erikson is one of the most stylish elderly ladies in this city. When I approached her on the street for a photograph she said it wasn't the first time. From her purse she pulled out this photograph of herself taken by a local street photographer in 1961. In the image she is walking to a business function on Granville Street in Downtown Vancouver. Behind her is the name of a shop ironically named Milliner.

She's wearing a tailored suit by Montreal designer Arnold Scassi (born Arnold Issacs + Scassi is Issacs spelled backwards) who is best known for his suits and glamorous evening wear. Some of his highlights include dressing Barbara Streisand in an almost see-through outfit for the Oscars in 1969, Catherine Deneuve in 1970 among others.

Mrs. Erikson was wearing leather pants and her signature tortoise shell wide- framed glasses (very 1960s). Unfortunately, she was feeling too under the weather to have her picture taken (I thought she looked amazing!), but promised that if the AV team caught her in the future she would say yes. Someday, we'll get that photograph of her.

Classic Vancouver

2007-12-03T18:35:00.000-08:00

Who: Dawne
What: I'm a fan of her French inspired black and white stripped shirt. A great bag.

Where: Downtown Vancouver

Well Again

2007-12-03T18:28:00.000-08:00

Spotted: Wellington boots...simply put there are so many new takes on this original style of rubber boots from England. These new interpretations are popping up everywhere in Vancouver now that it's raining. Here's a quick sampling of what's out on the street. I like how this one woman has mixed the plaid print on her boots with argyle tights.

Scooter Babe

2007-12-02T19:25:00.001-08:00

Defining Style

2007-11-27T19:01:00.000-08:00

Who: Devon

What: I thought this vintage hat from the 30s was contemporary. While the hat is a distinct, bold piece, Devon's style is not easily defineable; she's edgy, rock n' roll, vintage inspired...I could go on.

Where: Blanche Macdonald graduation show

Double-Take on the Double-Breasted Coat

2007-11-27T18:55:00.001-08:00

Who: Riko
What: The bold geometric print of Riko's dress shines beneath that fabulous black coat, drawing the eye to those strappy seude boots and her quilted bag. But the shape of the coat and the individual details such as the angled buttons on the seam, the open, round collar are stunning. The black patent belt creates a great silhouette, giving her the illusion of wearing a dress in winter.

Portobello West Fashion + Art Market

2007-11-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

Portobello West is Vancouver's answer to the well-known artisan markets of London. The Asartorial team attended the November market hunting for stylish shoppers wearing local designers. People were mostly wearing casual Sunday attire (we include ourselves on this list). In the end, the great style achievers were particularly strong amongst some of the designers.

Déjà Vu

2007-11-25T19:46:00.000-08:00

Who: Karine, Designer

What: We knew Karine was familliar...she made our top ten best dressed list at FUSE in October. Here she is again with the same hits of yellow felted fabric found in her scarf, hat and bracelet, all her own designs.