On Sunday we managed to drag ourselves out of bed before noon and rush off the the flea market at the Croatian Cultural Centre. It is one of the best flea markets, with a lot of bargains. Here is some of the stuff we bought.

My Mom and I bought this art deco looking bag together, I guess that means I have to share.

I love the vintage Pyrex bowls but they are generally overpriced in Vancouver.

We got three of these chairs for 25 dollars!

This is part of the coffee table set we bought for 20 dollars, there is a big coffee table and an end table.

A sugar dispenser.

A beautiful tray.

Another serving dish.

I bought a few vintage Playboy magazines.

This is definitely my favourite cover.

I want those glasses!

and the photoshoots in the magazine are amazing. I have only included the “inoffensive” images, but even the nudes look great. Note the lack of surgically-enhanced bodies.

This was one of the centerfolds.

Another gorgeous centerfold.

Here are two really exciting designers I have learnt about.

I heard about Lisa Shahno last week on Trendland, and I really like the shapes of her clothing. It is obviously not very practical, but I have always found structural clothing more appealing than soft and flowing silhouettes, and so this stuff really rocks my boat.

Images from her website.

Yvette Yang’s work has been mentioned a lot recently, she creates fonts using fashion imagery. Her fonts are based on a season, so she creates two sets a year. I’d love to know how these have been used, and I like the fact that they are seasonal. Fonts trends evolve very slowly, so it is nice to see something that will change more frequently. It means that her fonts are also a reminder of some of the key pieces or looks from a particular season, which is a nice alternative to looking at a seasonal “trends” summary.

From Autumn Winter 2009:

From Spring Summer 2009:

From Autumn Winter 2008:

Images from her website.

This post is not going to be about silhouettes, sleeves, fashion nightmares, or Balmain, but instead about my beloved car, whose name is Shoulder Pads. When I moved back to Vancouver, I needed a car and I needed it fast. I hadn’t done any research, the husband was three weeks away, and I needed immediate wheels that would get me from A to B until I had the time and money to get a more permanent solution. I spent a few days looking, and in that time I came to realize that 1- I don’t like new cars, and 2 – I’ll never need to spend a lot of money on a car, as my dream car is easily found for less than $10K.

A family friend sold me Shoulder Pads, an 89 Oldsmobile (model name: Regency Brougham) for the equivalent of one sixth of the money I would spend annually on public transport and taxis in London. It took me a while to really love her, but she is great, she has spacious bench seating upholstered in navy velour (with embossed crests), wood paneling interiors, and no one bothers you on the road, as they assume the person driving is 90.

My husband wanted to do a photoshoot of Shoulder Pads this weekend, and since the photos look quite good, I thought I would share them with you. But first, I need to explain that Shoulder Pads, as much as I love her, is not my dream car. My dream car is a ‘69 Ford Mustang, although I would quite happily settle for a 71 or 73 Pontiac Trans Am, a 64 Chevy Impala, or a 68 Pontiac Firebird. So before I present Shoulder Pads, here is a bit of my car “porn.”

The day I buy a '69 Ford Mustang will be more exciting than the day I buy my first pair of full priced Manolo Blahniks.

She is just as beautiful from behind...

The Trans Am, a classic beauty.

The '64 Chevy Impala, a bit more retro, but still a beaut.

The '68 Pontiac Firebird. Find me one car made in the past ten years that is cooler than this.

All muscle car “porn” images from Serious Wheels.

Introducing Shoulder Pads…

She is a boat, but a good looking one at that.No idea why she is called a Ninety Eight, as she is definitely an '89.

This amazing backdrop can make any car look cool, except maybe a PT Cruiser.

They just don't make 'em like they used to.

I am very excited that on Thursday I will be going to the Museum of Vancouver (for the first time!) to see a gingerbread house competition! It has been organized by Creative Room and ten top architects and designers from around Vancouver are re-interpreting the traditional Christmas gingerbread house. They will auctioned and the money is going to a charity (Architecture for Humanity.)

I have never managed to make a gingerbread house, but I am not a big fan of candy, so I guess I’d probably go for a really simple one like this (found on Mid Century Modern Utah.)

This is one of the submissions that will be auctioned on Thursday, from Nick Milkovich Architects.

I would like my house to look sort of like this... in the mountains and on a cliff.

and of course with a swimming pool and filled with lots of cool modern furniture (although I would probably mix in some kitsch too.)

Some of the other firms making gingerbread houses include Romses Architects, Clash Collective, Measured Architecture, and Eastside Design & Solus Decor Inc.

Tickets are still available for 20 bucks: www.creativeroom.ca/gingerbread/houses

See you there!

I subscribe to a lot of blogs, they are one of my main sources of information, but there are only a select few that are classified as my favorites. One of those is definitely the David Report Blog, by David Carlsson. He does fantastic reports (I think they are semi-annual) about trends, there is always a different theme or subject. They are a fascinating read and unlike most great, good-looking, and interesting reports, these ones are actually free. The last one was called “A Checklist for Sustainability.” You can find them on the David Report Website.

The blog covers interesting design, architecture, fashion, and other interesting or good looking things. I love these pendants, featured recently, designed by Rezon (a Tokyo-based design studio.) They are so simple, fun, versatile, and they shine a lot, so you can use them as a reflector while cycling, as well as a hot piece of jewelry.

Reflective diamond pendants by Rezon

Any ideas on where I could find these in Vancouver?…

Yesterday I attended the Eastside Cultural Crawl, which is when art studios around East Vancouver open their doors to the public. It was great to see some very talented work, and also opened my eyes to the fact that the art scene is much more interesting than the fashion scene here.

Our first stop was Roselina Hung’s studio, who is a friend and also a very talented artist (who just happens to be on the cover of the Georgia Straight this week.) She was doing her MA at Central Saint Martins around the same time I was teaching there, and we met through a mutual friend. I love her colourful pop paintings, makes me wish I had a bit more cash to invest in beautiful art.

All images from www.roselinahung.com

I also loved Christian Woo’s amazing wood furniture.

All images from Christianwoo,com

Yaletown Pet Portraits was quite fun, I guess someone needs to do this, I imagine this is a pretty niche market with a lot of demand.

And finally, I really like the Wild Rose Tattoo Shirts. I know its tacky, but it would be really fun to wear a tattoo sleeve without any commitment every now and then. They print tattoo graphics onto tops, shrugs, tights, and sleeves.

All images from wildrosetattooshirts.com

It has taken forever to get our house sorted, and there is still a lot of work to be done, but we finally had our first dinner guests this weekend.

Our giant radio

Swedish star light and painting by Dougal Graham

The chair was my best find from the Brighton flea market

More great artwork from friends

I love this installation in the Stockholm Head Offices of H&M by UXUS, a group of designers from Amsterdam. It is for H&M Home, which looks very promising; it looks a lot more exciting than Zara Home, and feels a lot more “designed”. I have no idea when the home collection will arrive in Canada, if ever, but right now it is available in Sweden. Sweden is a mecca for modern interior design, even the most basic of homes look like an Ikea catalogue, in a really good way. The Swedes are just born with great design sense, something I will probably talk about over and over again in this blog.

From UXUS:

“UXUS followed up the Home Reflections presentation with “Interaction”, an installation celebrating H&M Home’s transition from an online and catalogue retailer, to a physical showroom where one can indulge all the senses, especially touch.”

Imagine walking into work every day and seeing this before you head to your desk!

I read about this first on Dezeen, one of the best design blogs.

Images courtesy of H&M.

(By the way, anyone toying with the idea of getting a job at H&M, I heard they are a fantastic company to work for, but they do all sorts of creepy profiling interviews. They also expect all designers to start at the bottom, whether you have 6 months experience or ten years. Probably the reason why I am not living in Stockholm right now.)

I knew I had officially become an adult on the day that my husband and I decided not to go out with friends on a saturday night, and spend the money on a Dyson vacuum cleaner instead. We never regretted it, but still mourn the fact that we had to leave it in England.

I love Dyson, because it combines great design and functionality, which is often hard to do. And I am very excited about their new bladeless fan, even though I probably won’t buy one (I’m saving up for the Animal upright vacuum cleaner.) There aren’t many brands that can get me excited about a fan, but this one certainly does. If only shoe design could be more like this, imagine an amazing pair of heels that you can run around in.

Dyson's New Bladeless Fan

This is how normal fans work (they "buffet" air)

This is when the air isn't "buffeted"

Here is how the Dyson fan works. If only all technology were this straightforward.

All images from www.dyson.co.uk