March 10, 2010

Spring 2010 from Jill MacLeod of Crass and Sugar certainly made me stop and take a second look! Beautiful colors and prints with a sleek feel – there are several pieces I’d like to make my own.

The multi-talented (and very sweet) Jill has the ability to reinvent her line from season to season and I am so impressed with every collection. A native of Vancouver – Jill has lived both here in B.C. as well as in Australia and finds inspiration in the fashion and design scenes of both countries.

Click here to see Jill’s collection which is available for sale online, and at many local boutiques.

Photo credit: karlee.holland@hotmail.com

~Posted by: Amy

Category: Fashion, Vancouver | No Comments »
Tags: Crass and Sugar, Fashion, Jill MacLeod, spring 2010

March 8, 2010

I hope everyone had a good weekend! Mine was good, but busy (more on that later!). How about you…did you do anything fun?

Just like back-to-school shoes in the fall, I think spring is a great time for a new purse. Etsy always has a great selection and here are a few that captured my eye.

Mayka from CindyMars7 made the top left purse, and her etsy shop has a variety of purses in different sizes with fun patterns and details. The bottom left purse was made by eclu, a great etsy shop that specializes in beautiful clutches. The purse on the right is from Christy Studio’s – I love all the pleated details in her collection.

~Posted by: Amy

Category: Fashion, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Tags: etsy, Fashion

March 5, 2010

And it’s the weekend… Well, close enough right? I think these sunglasses from Schwood are the perfect thing to end the week with. Yesterday was glorious, and for those of us here in Vancouver, today it looks like we’ll have more of the same!

When a friend emailed these to me yesterday I knew I had to post about them. Not only are they handmade in Portland – but they’re wooden. Wooden sunglasses? Never seen a pair like these before. What I really love is that one of their lines is named the “Canby”… Not sure the reason for this – but chances are it’s for Canby, Oregon… Which makes
me totally nostalgic as I grew up outside of Portland and my brothers actually went to High School in Canby before we moved north to Vancouver. Canby is no metropolis… As I remember it, there were more farms than anything else. Not to age myself, but most of the time I spent there was as a kid in the 80’s, watching my brothers track meets and
football games.

All of this talk of Oregon and sunglasses makes me think a summer road trip is in order!

For now be sure to check out all of the great sunglasses from Schwood here.

~Posted by: Amy

Category: Fashion | No Comments »
Tags: Fashion, Portland, Schwood, sunglasses

March 4, 2010

How to sum up Valerie Dumaine’s gorgeous Spring 2010 collection? In a few words – classy, subdued, and elegant. Unique draping and clean lines make these form flattering pieces perfect for the office and fun nights out.

This Montreal based line is proudly made in Canada – yet we’re pleased to see this collection is at a better price point than many others that are manufactured in Canada.

To see the entire Spring collection – click here.

~Posted by: Amy

Category: Fashion | 1 Comment »
Tags: Fashion, montreal, spring 2010, Valerie Dumaine

March 3, 2010

Clearly I’m on a vintage kick lately! Why vintage? Well – the prices are usually very affordable, and often times the items you find are of a better quality than what you can find in most mall shops. And if a vintage style appeals to you now – it seems that even when you tire of it there’s a good chance that in a couple years that item will appeal to you again – as fashion trends are pretty cyclical. Also it’s so eco-friendly. You’re using something that already “exists” – avoiding the need for something new to be made… As I see it – it’s guilt free shopping at it’s finest!

Click here to shop The Vintage Wren’s Etsy store – she has brought together a wonderful selection of clothing, shoes and home decor items.

~Posted by: Amy

Category: Fashion, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags: Eco Friendly, etsy, Fashion, vintage

March 1, 2010

Let’s face it, being eco-friendly and fashion forward has not always been synonymous, but times have changed my friends! Eco fashion today is totally stylish as well as being good for the environment.

I was lucky enough to attend the Eco Fashion Forward event in the Vancouver Public Library atrium last weekend where we were treated to a special sneak preview of Eco Fashion Week Vancouver. The show’s featured designs were both chic and sustainable. The models stood high above the crowd striking fierce (I couldn’t resist- they really were fierce!) poses. They wore designs by Adhesif, Kim Cathers (of Project Runway Canada fame, picture 1 above), Nixxi, and WE3 (picture 3 above). The show also featured Ashley Watson’s recycled leather handbags (picture 2 above) and vintage designer jewelery by Dotted Loop.

The show was not only entertaining, but also opened my eyes to some facts. A speaker from the David Suzuki Foundation told the crowd that 4% of our landfills are filled with clothing and textiles waste. I was totally surprised that clothing was such a large percentage of our waste and resolved to shop for more vintage and local designs using sustainable materials.

Handmade Evolution will be reporting from Eco Fashion week itself (date of the shows are to be announced)- so keep checking back with us!

~Posted by: Christine

*Image 2 & 3 above courtesy of: Antonio LaFauci
*Image 1 above courtesy of: Chelzea Bailey

Category: Eco Friendly, Fashion, Vancouver | 1 Comment »
Tags: eco fashion week, Vancouver fashion

February 26, 2010

Drawing inspiration from the concept of the artist’s studio, Stewart and Brown’s Spring 2010 collection is a treat. I love the soft and feminine look of their new pieces, and I was happy to see another strong line from this eco-friendly fashion duo.

~Posted by: Amy

Category: Eco Friendly, Fashion | 2 Comments »
Tags: Eco Friendly, Fashion, stewart and brown

February 25, 2010

How lovely is the Spring 2010 collection from Vancouver line Lav & Kush? Their collection is not only designed and manufactured in Vancouver but whenever possible they use sustainable and eco-friendly fabrics, making it a winner in my book. It’s not yet stocked in their online shop, so we can consider this a sneak peek until everything is available. You can see the whole collection here.

~Posted by: Amy

Category: Fashion, Vancouver | No Comments »
Tags: lav & kush, spring 2010, Vancouver fashion

February 22, 2010

I always love receiving emails from Vancouverites who have Etsy shops – but I was especially excited last week when I heard from Kyla of Kove. She’s got a brand new Etsy shop featuring handmade crochet and knit accessories – with cowls, infinity scarves and more. I know what you might be thinking, have you seen the sunshine lately? But you know like I do it’s only a matter of time before it’s rainy and cold and you’ll be happy to have one of these to grab as you head out the door! No doubt we’ll be seeing lots of Kyla and Kove in the months to come – you can visit her Etsy shop here.

~Posted by: Amy

Category: Fashion, Vancouver | No Comments »
Tags: kove, scarf, Vancouver

February 18, 2010

We’ve skipped the tail end of winter it seems and have gone straight through to Spring! Every day a new report on Facebook or Twitter of flowers blooming here and there and it’s been this way for weeks…

The top photo pictured above is from Aude’s flickr stream, here. The hair accessories are all from the whichgoose’s etsy shop, here.

~Posted by: Amy

Category: Fashion | 4 Comments »
Tags: Fashion, hair accessories, whichgoose