tokengifts

The Little Guys...

A fellow retailer told me about the story of Wildhagen and the Gap and coincidentally, it was mentioned in passing this weekend in the Style section of the Globe & Mail. It can be compared to the proverbial story of David and Goliath. 

Wildhagen, a local milliner, seems to have had one of their hat designs knocked off by the retail giant and posted this information as a message to the Gap right on their website.  Kudos to Sheri and David of Wildhagen!

Now I know this kind of thing happens all the time, believe me I know.  It is an industry norm.  I don't think the job description of "designer" is really a legitimate title anymore.  If you are in the business of being in "product development", it is a euphemism for knock-off central.  It is what is dictated by corporate culture.

For a company like the Gap, this one hat is a blip in their extensive product assortment for all of one short season. For a small family-run company like Wildhagen, this hat was probably a long process of many patterns, fit sessions, and careful fabric selections.  But I guess no one at the Gap is losing sleep over it...just thought you might like to know...

And oh, by the way, copying is not nice, and it is not a form of flattery, I think the term is called...stealing.

Gloom & Doom

For those of you following the news lately, it's all been gloom and doom lately.  I've been on the edge of my seat, watching the CDN$ plummet, predictions of a downturn in the retail sales for the holidays.  And I can't stop reading.  But for some lighter fare...

My fashion sense is molded by the pages of Lucky, for shopping ideas and Nylon, to keep me somewhat current, and I've always liked their art direction, fun and frivolous, like how fashion should be, but still witty and relevant.  I stopped reading publications like Vogue after I read one particular article.  It was about planning your next season's wardrobe during tough financial times, whether one should splurge on that $20,000 coat, or put that $20,000 towards on your entire wardrobe for the season.  Well, that pretty much nipped that bad habit in the bud.  I'll pick up an odd copy if there is something that piques my interest.

Gone too are the hey days of Bazaar, under the helm of Liz Tilberis, who sadly passed away from cancer.  The magazine has never reached the success of those days, but those editorials were stunning and so inspiring.  You knew you could never afford those haute couture pieces, but the images, the style direction and photography were enough to satiate my appetite for visual stimulation.

As much as I love the internet and blogging, I love magazines, as you can see from my stash above.  And I've been trying to read more (sadly, I have not had the patience to sit and read a book like I used to).  It's been an easy thing to do, since TV has taken a downward spiral with all these reality shows and "educational entertainment"  (the latest moniker I've heard).  I guess quantity trumps quality these days.

Cookie magazine, always a favourite, did a "cheat sheet" on the year's news for all those busy moms who were neck-deep in diapers and too tired to care.  It ranged from entertainment gossip, to political news, to world affairs.  It was as brilliant as their current favourite 100 things ever.  

Upon my quick peruse of The Globe & Mail this weekend, I found a super short interview with Tyler Brule, editor of Monocle magazine, formerly founding editor of Wallpaper magazine, and now expat Canadian.  He made this comment when asked how Monocle finds so many interesting designers no one has ever heard of - "By doing good old-fashioned journalism - not spending our time on style.com."  Yes, what a thought, good old-fashioned journalism...

Well, if we can't be rescued from all this doom and gloom in the media lately, maybe these three super-heroes can save the day...

What I Did This Summer...Part II

Okay, now summer is officially over... sniff, sniff.  But it's been a glorious Indian summer so far...

I found these pictures hiding on my digital camera of our summer days. 

Everyday Wednesday evening was spent watching Alice's team play soccer.  The cutest 4 year olds around.

We did the trip to Marineland this year.  The highlight of the trip - we got to feed these adorable baby Beluga whales.

Our view at home overlooks the CN Tower, so it was inevitable that we would one day take Alice there. So we played the tourists for the day in our own city to enjoy this view.

I highly recommend this trip with a reservation for the 360 restaurant at the top of the tower.  The restaurant rotates 360 degrees, so you get a whole view of the city while having lunch

We found this relic of a building (above) on the wrong side of the tracks on our way to the Distillery District (below) where Alice scored this Koziol "Alice" bag...

And we had these delicious treats at Soma Chocolates...mmm...sea salt and caramel...

And memories of the calm before the storm, one pinky-hued evening after a quick meal in Korea Town...

"Artfully" Played Out...

One of the many reasons why we need to go and vote and have our voices heard in this upcoming federal election.  I am by no means a "political" person, but this issue has me incensed.  Maybe Prime Minister Harper should have chosen his words more carefully, but making the broad statement that "ordinary" Canadians don't care about the arts is an insult to all of us "ordinary" folk.  But I digress...

On a recent visit to MOMA, I attended the Salvador Dali exhibit.  It was fascinating, to say the least. His world of surrealism was incorporated into the 1945 Alfred Hitchcock Spellbound.  His set design was so concise in conveying the dream sequences for the film, both fantastical and surreal.  Walt Disney (the man, not the corporation) was fascinated with Dali.  He commissioned Dali to work on an animated piece, which never came to fruition after Disney's death.  But the original piece was completed in 2007 by animators who wanted to see the work through to its completion.

And what was the point...oh, yes, art not being relevant to us ordinary folk.  We need art and it's funding and advocacy in this country.  "Art" is not only for the rich who attend "...a gala all subsidized by taxpayers...", as Mr. Harper put it. 

I am fortunate to live and work in a community where art is what we live and breathe.  But it's the art that is infiltrated into our everyday lives that will suffer too. Art is all around, from the ads on our billboards, to the displays in the shop windows to the crayon renderings made by our little ones.  

I never had the chance to visit the now defunct Children's Own Museum, which was housed in the also now defunct Planetarium, soon to be condo development.  But I wish someone would take the initiative to improve our children's attractions, because, in my opinion, all the attractions we attended this summer were a huge disappointment and unfortunately, expensive.  But if everything was measured by its economic impact, I'm sure Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock, themselves, would tell you that funding the arts is good for the books.

Alice enjoying "Art" outside the CBC building.

New to Token: Sweet Beets

We have made a conscious decision to move away from children's items in the shop, or so I thought.  I don't know if this is such a wise business decision, as EVERY shop out there has decided to carry baby items.  In my quest for simplicity, I'm cutting back on product categories and streamlining.

However, I am always drawn to some children's items, or at least, child-like in nature, so you will be sure to find something suitable for a little one at the shop.  I think it's the naivety of the products, but they always make me smile.  The best products I have come across are the ones developed by parents themselves.  They always come from a place of genuine love for our children.

I was drawn to Bruno Munari's Zoo book immediately wandering the children's section at Pages.  I had never heard of him but loved his illustration style - the vivid colours and brushstrokes. (I will get some photos after I raid Alice's library, we are sold out of his books at the moment). The latest issue of the French children's magazine Milk included an article about Munari.  In my high school level understanding of French, I learned that he developed his first books after his son was born in 1940.  He went on to influence such beloved authors such as Eric Carle.

(sorry about the dark photo - really must learn photoshop)

So when I came across SweetBeets at the Stationery Show,  I had to ask if the designer, Lisa Zuraw, was a parent herself.  She was indeed, Lisa is a mother of two, and surprisingly, a fellow Canadian from Hamilton.  The simple illustrations embody that certain naivety and innocence of childhood that we would all like to bottle up and keep close to our hearts.  We are so happy to include SweetBeets in our ever expanding collection of stationery here at token!

 

 

Back to My Roots

Truth be told, I've been feeling so burnt out lately.  Wearing so many hats in the business and family life is taking its toll.  And being inundated with product after product, there is barely any room to be inspired.  After a frightfully disastrous day in the rain wandering around Soho, we went to Plan B to pursue indoor endeavours at the museums and then realizing they were all closed!

We tried again the next day (sunny, of course) at the MET.  After a quick tour around the European galleries, a gallery employee informed us of the Superheroes exhibit and the Jeff Koons exhibit on the roof top.  The view totally made up for the rain!

I wanted to set up camp up there, or in this gallery surrounded by sunshine, marble and statues everywhere.

I don't go to galleries as much as I should, but if I lived in New York, I would definitely wear out my membership to the MET.

I'm much more a Classicist when it comes to art, although my appreciation for modern art (and I'm talking the last century, I still have Contemporary art to tackle) is definitely on the rise.  Even before my fashion days, I wanted to study Fine Arts, and dabbled in Art History, eventually wanting to do a M.A. in Art Restoration.  Funny thing, what paths our lives take.  If I were independently wealthy, I would do nothing but study Art History.

But I discovered and rediscovered these artists:

Jean-Leon Gerome, a new discovery for me.

I wanted to absorb all the details in these paintings.  And of course, the photos do not do them justice. They are not what you would call photo-realism, but the intimacy of the precision of details set among the slightly blurred backgrounds made the contrast that much more concise. 

English portraitist, John Singer Sargent

The stoicism of these figures and the beauty of the fabric (all the folds, the sheen, the weave), and the sombre colours drew me to these life-size portraits by Sargent.

Again, I love the sobriety of this figure by Edouard Manet, His demeanor and clothing is a sharp contrast with the wonderful details of the patterned papers in the picture frame and botanical illustrations.  I couldn't get over how modern this looked.

Same treatment as the figure above, but this Post-impressionistic take by Vincent Van Gogh. 

Alice seems to have taken a liking to Rousseau.  She kept returning to it.  She was also obsessed with Rousseau's Sleeping Gyspy at the MOMA, luckily for her she was able to take that one home in a view finder.

I know still lifes are always a popular medium but this painting  (I think by Pablo Picasso, the man was a genius in all the styles he mastered, so I'm having a hard time remembering) of a pair of shoes oddly reminded me of a Camper ad campaign in its stark simplicity and lack of other details with the exception of the details of the parquet floor.

I never had any aspirations to be a dancer, but these charcoal drawings by Edgar Degas may have prompted my love affair with fashion illustrations, line drawings and the illustrated human figure.

What an appropriate segue into the Superheroes exhibit (which unfortunately I was not allowed to photograph, too bad I didn't have a spy camera).  Real costumes worn by Linda Carter in WonderWoman and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman (my goodness, she is TINY), beautiful, fantastical creations by contemporary fashion icons.

Truly inspiring!

List-Making

I am a List-Maker.  I have notebooks of lists, scraps of paper of lists that I have to organize and enter into these books of lists.  Yes, it is a sort of neurosis, I admit.  But it is a habit of mine to gather information.  It is all part of a goal to simplify my life.

Every publication has them, these guides for shopping, restaurants, etc.,.  But much to my dismay, unless you know the tastes of the people writing them, it's pretty much a crap shoot with what you're going to get. 

Being at the shop, I get asked all the time for restaurant recommendations to tourists.  I always send them to my favourites.  I've had people come back and thank me, only to shop some more! (karma ; )

We were in the East Village, during our rained out shopping excursion, we came across a Cookie magazine recommendation, Pappabubble.  It is the COOLEST (in typically New York fashion) candy shop.  After purchasing some candy, we were about to head out of the sleek, almost clinical in appearance, shop, we were invited to watch the lollipop-making session.  It is quite an art-form and a science, this candy-making business. Alice got to taste-test some fresh, still warm candy. You can check them out at 380 Broome St.

Prepping the soon-to-be candy

Pouring and smoothing out the liquid sugar

Yup, that's candy...

Candy strips waiting to be twisted into lollipops.

It was way after lunch-time, so we asked the owners for a suggested lunch-spot.  What a gem we stumbled upon.  When we entered the tiny boite of a cafe, filled to the brim with New York hipsters, we were a bit weary squeezing in with our rain-soaked clothes and stroller, but the down-to-earth waitresses made us feel right at home and had Alice entertained.

We feasted on fish tacos, pulled pork, grilled corn sprinkled with cheese, lime and chile powder (yum!) and rice and beans, Mexican beer and sodas.  We could have stayed all day, if it weren't for the cook behind the counter who we overheard muttering about the couple at a few tables over who were lingering over their lunch - haha!  The laid-back ambiance (not the grumpy cook) reminded me of Swan diner, Cuban-style.  So if this sounds like your cup of tea, check out Cafe Habana at 17 Prince St. - this one is definitely going into my book of lists!

Happy Earth Day!

May you impart your kindness to all forms of life today, be it mammal or flora, and everything in between!

Weekend Diversions

Our birthday-filled weekends...

Birthday cuddles for Daddy...

Post-birthday revelry...

Checking out the loot-bag goodies...

Weekday Diversions

We survived the weekend of birthday parties, FOUR, to be exact. Each one different and each one enjoyed by Alice. Funny thing, from all accounts (I only attended 2 of the 4), each one was different and special in its own way - a small, intimate gathering doing crafts to a rented party place, complete with bouncy castle to a large family gathering at a restaurant to finally, the crazy, frenetic party of Alice's best friend, Amelia (to which, we would have expected no less)!

My posts have been heavy on the parenting side lately, and I apologize to those carefree, childless people out there reading this blog. Parenting is so all-consuming. We were warned, yes, we were warned. But at the same time, Alice is at such a fun age right now, we're really enjoying these years.

This coming weekend, we will be attending the Bunch Family Salon. We are so excited, we had so much fun last year.

So parenting is always on my mind, especially days like today when everyone is out enjoying the arrival of the warm weather and I am stuck in the shop, I come across things like this interesting article. I can't believe they do studies on things like this, isn't parenting supposed to be intuitive?

And I don't know what I would do without my Cookie Magazine subscription. It is the ONLY family magazine I pick up lately. They've all been thumbed through multiple times, book-marked and dog-eared, NEVER thrown away.

The coolest dollhouses...

Drool-worthy denim for kids...

During my regular afternoon lull (does everyone on Queen St. go for a siesta at 3 o'clock in the afternoon?), I checked out this article and these recipes. Alice used to shovel soba noodles into her mouth as a baby, now she looks at it (as with all her meals) with disdain. So I will be experimenting with these recipes in the coming days.

We are also trying to plan our trip to New York in May for the National Stationery show. I'm hoping this show will not be as consuming as the NYIGF, so we're hoping it will be a mini-break for us (we like to idle our time in the city) and use it for inspiration, although a more restful break is definitely also in order. Kevin was recommended this place, how can we resist?

Fashion has been on my mind lately too, I am scouring for Spring looks - did you know Marc Jacobs did a kids' line? Ahem...maybe next time I will come up with some more grown-up content...