To me, Ports 1961 is a very old-school American sportswear brand, aimed at older women. By looking at this collection, I can see it hasn’t changed its target, but suddenly the clothing looks very desirable and modern. This is a collection that would work on women of all ages, and it looks fantastic. But I am very upset that Style.com didn’t show any detail shots for this show, because my friend Julia Lundsten, who is the genius behind one of my favourite footwear brands Finsk, designs all their footwear. Its a shame I can’t see any of the shoes properly.

I Love…

this beautifully cut trench coat with the contrasting details.

creams and whites for winter, and "wrap-me-up" knit dress coats.

this models hair. She looks amazing, the whole look does. And I love this oversized dress.

the colours, the draped coat, and the mix of textures.

I Loathe…

this silly "utilitarian" jumpsuit. It was all going so well until this came out.

another failed jumpsuit, this time totally unflattering in printed satin.

All images from Style.com.

Last night I went to the opening of the James Nizam show at Gallery Jones on 3rd. As expected, crowd was interesting and well-dressed (unlike most fashion events in Vancouver.)

James’ work is really interesting, and once I looked into his older work, I’ve realised that this recent collection is much more to my taste than his older work. It is photography of sculpture and installation, and its amazing. He told us a bit about the process, and it was really interesting, but rather than try and recap it all, I’ve included a blurb from the invitation on the bottom of this post.

Images from the Gallery Jones website.

Here I am with a very old friend, Jessica Clark, from Quince Fine Flowers. I’m wearing Atelier 1 coat, Uniqlo Jeans, vintage handbag, Hermes necklace, and Finsk shoes.

I had to show you all a few more photos of my shoes, which got many compliments. I have yet to unleash my entire Finsk collection on Vancouver, but I can tell you there are many more amazing pairs that need christening.

The giant zipper pull looks amazing when it sings back and forth when you walk.

The pleated leather is divine.

More on James Nizam’s work, from the exhibition invitation.

“On the occasion of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Gallery Jones is pleased to announce James Nizam’s exhibition, Memorandoms which continues Nizam’s use of vacated domestic interiors as the backbone of his photography, the provisional location of his studio, and the source of materials. In this case the site is the former Little Mountain housing project on 33rd to 37th Avenues, between Ontario and Main Street, what was the oldest public housing development in Vancouver, recently demolished to make way for a higher density combination of market condominiums and social housing. At one time these low rise buildings situated around grassy common areas across the street from Queen Elizabeth Park would have been attractive housing. Large windows threw light onto hardwood floors of square well built rooms, but that was decades ago. One year ago Nizam was granted access to the slated complex where he assumed residence to an empty third floor apartment. There he set up a camera, and over the course of several months, documented a series of ephemeral sculptures that he constructed from accumulations of remnants such as doors, drawers, shelves, and various other standardized architectural furnishings. Similar to each of Nizam’s previous photographic series two dominant and constant ideas persist with this new body of work: the lost or abandoned domicile, and that the personal is political. In Memorandoms, though the type of the home used has shifted towards the social, Nizam’s work in them continues to move towards greater refinement and sophistication.”

Today’s post is really three mini posts about shoes, a pair that I sort of want, a pair that is really cool, and a pair that terrifies me.

Let’s start with the pair I want…

I have been toying with the idea of buying a pair of trainers from the brand Alife for a few years. I really like their giant, colourful shoes, but also know that they will be extremely unflattering, and will make me look ridiculous. On a more recent trip into the Gastown store, I found a pair that would be quite practical for my trip to London and Turkey at Easter. (I need to clear up that I am not the person who travels with a giant backpack and running shoes on, that is obviously not me. But since I am going to be doing touristy things with my Mom in Turkey, and I don’t know what their streets are like, I was thinking, maybe I should wear flats… Also, I only want to bring two pairs of shoes to my Europe trip, one pair or flats and one pair of heels, and a very limited wardrobe, so I have space for the shoes and clothing I am going to buy, which will be a lot.In fact, I may just fly over with two outfits, and buy the rest.)

Here are the shoes I like.

The ones I want are actually in suede and have a black upper and a black sole. They look more like a shoe than a trainer.

But can I find them in my size? No. Apparently they do very limited women’s sizes, they do very limited runs, and basically its really hard to find the pair you want. I have never walked into that store in Gastown and been able to try on a pair of nice shoes in my size, which I find extremely frustrating

The notion of exclusivity works in many situations…a lot of brands have limited edition products that are very sought-after and sell out quite quickly. But I don’t think a brand should make it impossible for a customer to get anything in their size. Its ridiculous. Even the Alife website doesn’t have many products, and virtually nothing in my size. Plus, the sales guy in the Gastown store was supposed to try and find a pair for me and call me back. Haven’t got that call yet…You may need to wait 2 years to get some Hermes bags, but you can definitely walk into any Hermes store and get some sort of bag…

(the Alife images were take from this and this website, as the Alife website doesn’t seem to be working. Maybe this is part of their “exclusivity” factor.) I think I’ll bring Converse to London.

Now onto the shoes I love. Melissa is a Brazilian brand that makes rubber shoes. It is anther one of those totally underrated Brazilian brands that are not widely available internationally (Osklen and Rosa Cha would be two other such brands.) Melissa is slowly starting to penetrate the European and North American markets, but, like most export brands, the prices are totally inflated here and the selection is not very big.

Here are some of the cool Melissa shoes. They are made completely from rubber and are VERY reasonably priced.

And here are some of the collaborations they have done recenty, including Vivienne Westwood, Zaha Hadid, and J Maskrey.

Top row left, Zaha Hadid for Melissa, top row centre and right, J Maskrey for Melissa, bottom row, Vivienne Westwood Anglomania for Melissa.

And here are the amazing boots I spotted yesterday on Diane Pernet’s blog. (I forgot to mention another plus about Melissa, the shoes are made out of recyclable plastic.)

The downside is, these one are only available at Galeries Lafayette, which is a department store in Paris, so I won’t be getting a pair…

The last shoe story I want to talk about (save the worst for last) is the news that Jimmy Choo will be doing a collaboration with Ugg Boots. Now, I’d like to start by saying I have tagged the word Jimmy Choo FAR to much in this blog. The brand is overrated and has been ruined by celebrities and WAGS. I should be using this blog to talk about the shoes I love, like Roger Vivier (my wedding shoes were by him), Finsk and Chie Mihara (my favorite “wearable” brands) and other fantastic footwear brands like Guiseppe Zanotti, Sergio Rossi, Azzedine Alaïa, Charlotte Olympia, Sigerson Morrison, and Camilla Skovgaard. In the future I am going to try and spend more of my time talking about brands I love and not brands I don’t like.

So, Jimmy Choo is an overrated brands, and Ugg is second most disgusting shoe in the market (after Crocs) and are only acceptable as chalet fashion. Apparently Carine Roitfeld (editor of French Vogue) does nto allow her staff to wear Uggs at work. And THAT is one of the reasons why I think she is great.

Two celebrity favourites combined into one shoe. Maybe they deserve each other.

Apparently Tamara Mellon (Jimmy Choo) agreed to do the Ugg collaboration, as it is the “only footwear brand she wears other than Jimmy Choo.” Good for her, they are still disgusting. The fashion world is wondering what they are going to look like, there are quite a few speculative collages out there, but what we do know is that they are coming out in October and they will cost $595 to $795 per pair. Yes, over 500 dollars for a disgusting pair of shoes. SHOCKING.

I had a really interesting conversation with my friends on Saturday night, about fashion and brands. The subject turned to Hermes, which I believe is an untouchable brand, despite the fact that it has become a lot more mainstream in recent years. We then disucssed the fact that many brands have been “ruined” when they hit the mainstream. As far as I am concerned, when Victoria Beckham wears it, or when it is mentioned in a rap song, the brand is over. Hermes is an exception.

Even Victoria Beckham can't ruin Hermes (images from www.pursepage.com)

Why is this? How has Hermes managed to maintain this powerful brand position? They have superior quality, longevity, classic pieces, and waiting lists, but so do many other brands. On the other hand, Balmain (ruined by the “Russians” apparently), Jimmy Choo, Herve Leger, and Christian Louboutin have been tainted by over exposure on celebrities.

Another thing we discussed is the power of the handbag. For some ridiculous, unexplainable reason I always feel I need to buy a handbag from a well-known luxury brand, however, I am happy to spend fortunes on clothing or shoes from smaller luxury brands that are not very mainstream at all (Finsk being my main example.) I don’t understand why I feel that way… Maybe because I use a handbag everyday for two years, whereas I don’t wear the same shoes more than once a week. Maybe because a great luxury handbag can make a 20 dollar outfit look like a 2000 dollar outfit.

I don’t have the answers, but here are some of the Hermes pieces I wouldn’t mind finding underneath my Christmas tree (hint hint husband.)

Images from www.hermes.com

I got so many compliments on these boots yesterday, I thought I would share them. They are from Finsk Autumn Winter 2009/2010. Julia Lundsten, the designer, is a friend of mine and one of the best shoe designers when it comes making fantastic, wearable shoes. It is always very hard to find fashion forward day shoes that don’t have a ridiculously high heel, Finsk is a great brand for just that. Another one is Chie Mihara, I own about four or five pairs from them too.

The problem with a lot of designer shoes is that they are normally super high and very fragile, not exactly what you want to wear to work every day. I have spent hours in the shoe departments of Selfridges or Harvey Nichols trying to find something ultra cool but also with a heel only four inches high, and sturdy enough that I can clomp around in them all day. Frankly, there aren’t enough brands that make shoes like this. Aside from Finsk and Chie Mihara, I have also had luck with Dries Van Noten shoes and Marc Jacobs sometimes makes a great boot, although I have never managed to find something in my size.

These boots have a hidden platform for extra height and comfort.

Wednesday night was the Arts Institute of Vancouver student fashion show, one of my first “fashion” events in Vancouver. (actually, it was in Coquitlam…and I won’t say that is Vancouver, because it is clearly not.)

I wore my Finsk Purple cut out booties for the first time:

Image courtesy of www.finsk.com

Student shows are usually all quite similar, unless you are at some of the great fashion schools (for me that means Central Saint Martins College in London, Royal College of Art in London, Royal Academy in Antwerp, and a few others.) You get a lot of evening wear, some wedding dresses, and a lot of outfits that students have been dreaming about making since they were kids. There doesn’t seem to be enough reflection on what society actually needs, and what is going to get you a job. How many jobs are there designing wedding dresses? Probably not many, compared to the number of jobs designing jeans, or casualwear, or tailoring.

If I were to teach design again, which I haven’t really done in some time, I would tell the students the following:

1-Design something someone actually will want to wear, preferably you.

2-Dont design evening wear unless you are going to design something that isn’t already available in a thousand stores. Seriously.

3-Dont design wedding gowns. EVER.

4-Don’t style your models with up-dos, hair pieces, head feathers, or anything like that. EVER. EVER. EVER.

I went to the show with my friend Jason, who runs his own company. We studied fashion together in Vancouver 15 years ago, and we both admitted to having designed student fashion collection that, on reflection, were pretty tragic. The difference was, we didn’t have access to high fashion, unless we bought expensive magazines. Student these days can find out what everyone is doing through the click of the mouse, so there is no reason to design something that isn’t NOW. The strangest thing was, after each students designs were on the catwalk, they came out and did a bow. Nearly all the students were wearing outfits that were more interesting and exciting than their catwalk looks. Maybe they are looking in the wrong places for inspiration.

Here are some show highlights: (excuse the crappy photos, I am still trying to get used to trying to shoot catwalk shows from the side)

Krista Brown had a really amazing silhouette with this dress.

This would have been fantastic with a more modern hairdo, something a bit slick to contrast the the puffiness of the dress.

I also like Savannah Qiu’s puffy shoulders here.

Yvonne Xie designed a great dress inspired from an old-fashioned nightie, shame the shot is from the back.

And the highlight for me was Rachel Bernado’s little summer outfits. Everything she designed was wearable and fun, she gets my top prize. Here is an example of a student designing something that is relevant to today, and looks cool on the catwalk.

(again, sorry for the rubbish images)

If only the models had been wearing pony tails and plimsoles.