Each week for Library Finds, I will go to the library, take out two books and share with you a photo of one spread or perhaps a random excerpt with brief comments of my own.

The Way She Looks Tonight: Five Women of Style
by Marian Fowler

This is one of my favourite fashion books, ever.  Written by Canadian historian Marian Fowler, it explores the sartorial biographies of five fascinating stylish women.  Two juicy quotes for you:

On Marlene Dietrich…

Critics ignored her singing and praised her gowns.  Each one delivered eros with maximum tease by being transparent enough to make you think you were seeing everything and covered enough, given those coy sequins, to make you realize you were seeing nothing.  One reviewer describing a gown concluded: “Houdini must have designed it.”  When, during a show at New York’s Mark Hellinger Theater, a young man near the front raised binoculars, Dietrich stopped right in the middle of a song and said sharply “You don’t have to do that.  Don’t kill the illusion.”

On Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis…

Jackie became an accomplished speed shopper.  She could be in and out of any store in the world in ten minutes or less, having run through at least $100,000.  “She had an eye for immediately spotting the most precious and expensive object wherever she goes,” sighed Ari, as his disenchantment grew.  She ignored price tags; she just pointed.  Sometimes, at Valentino or Givenchy showings, Jackie would buy almost the whole collection, not just the models that suited her.  Her consumptive fever was now seriously affecting her style.  Truman Capote recalls how sometimes when they were together in New York, Jackie would walk into a store, order three dozen identically styled silk blouses in all the colors available, give an address and walk out.  She seemed dazed, hypnotized, in a trance.  In one binge at Bergdorf’s, she bought thirty-six pairs of shoes.

Lucian Lelong by Jacqueline Demornex

Before there was the house of Dior, the house of Balmain, and the house of Givenchy, these famous couturiers worked for the one of the best pre-war couturiers – Lucian Lelong.  Lelong was incredibly well respected and his entrepreneurial spirit anticipated what fashion would become in the 1960s and beyond even as his own name faded.

This book is beautifully illustrated with stunning photographs (including a few by Man Ray) and a tremendous collection of illustrations for magazines and advertisements including these ones by Christian Berard.  Click the images in this post for big!

When I first started Toronto Fashion Bloggers Brunch, I was thrilled to discover how many different types of bloggers there were in the city – shopping bloggers, street style bloggers, outfit bloggers – and beauty bloggers.  Henna was part of our core group of merry brunchsters – her site, Canadian Beauty, covers all aspects of beauty with a focus on products that are available in Canada.

Henna has since moved away to Calgary and we miss her here in Hogtown – I asked her a few questions about beauty blogging and the scene in her new hometown.

As a beauty blogger, your main focus is on products – how many products do you actually use in your own routine? How do you go about testing new products?

Well, there are really two kinds of products as I see them: routine and regular use products, and then there are products that you use sporadically. The ones in the latter column include makeup items like eyeshadow and lipgloss. I don’t have to make these a part of my routine to know whether they’re good or not. I can use them once in a while and generally, if I’m not satisfied with my very first use, then there’s something wrong with them.

The routine and regular use products include moisturizer, masks, body wash, etc. Those that are reviewed on my blog, really HAVE become a part of my routine! I enjoy using them so much that I can’t help but put them into my routine. The thing is, unlike most people, my rotation of products that I use on a regular basis is quite large. I have about 5 different masks that I use on a regular basis and that have different solutions. I have a moisturizer but I don’t use it daily – just when my skin feels really dry. I have different foundations for different days and even different powders for different days. When I like a product it becomes part of my routine – some times it replaces something I already have, and some times it doesn’t.

You are much missed in Toronto since you moved to Calgary – have you had the chance to check out the fashion and beauty blogging scene in your new home, and how does it compare to Toronto? Any recommendations for great western beauty and fashion bloggers?

I’ve checked out the fashion and beauty scene some in Calgary. I moved out here in October, and I think the biggest shock to me was that people don’t go out in the winter. Imagine going downtown on a Saturday and finding it completely empty simply because it’s the weekend. That changes a bit in the summer here, especially because there are so many festivals, but for the most part, “the scene” in Calgary is a lot different to the one in Toronto. The city is divided into quadrants and people generally don’t like to leave their own quadrants. It’s a really strange phenomenon to someone who comes from a big city, but Calgary is a sprawl and very suburban despite its size. That’s changing but very slowly.

Bloggers here are also far and few in between. It’s one thing to find someone who really has a strong blog identity, but in Calgary I haven’t even met too many people who have personal blogs. (editors note: Henna you need to meet Kim from Calgary Fashion!) I guess most people are too busy watching hockey! PR in Calgary is a lot different too, and it seems that businesses seem reluctant to make contact with bloggers. Perhaps it has something to do with the conservativeness out here, but many businesses are not interested in promoting themselves on any kind of big scale.

One of the conversations we had that left a great impression on me was your debunking the myth of “making pores disappear”. How do you separate the reality from the hype when it comes to the beauty industry?

Ahhh Beauty Myths. I think beauty myths are one of my biggest pet peeves because no matter how much I write about them, people still buy into them! For example, I cannot express how important it is to wear sunscreen every day. There are countless independent studies that show that the sun causes skin cancer, and in these days and times, we’re within 3 degrees of someone who has had severe consequences to sun bathing. Yet, I still have friends who go to tanning salons or the sun is “really good” for them. I even know of someone who thinks that it’s the sunscreen causing cancer and not the sun. People don’t understand that the darker you get from the sun, the more skin damage you have. I’ve accepted that there’s nothing I can do to help people understand what the truth is because people only listen when they’re ready, and they’re ready when they see the negative consequences with their own eyes.

The other part of beauty myths is the potions that companies sell to make people feel better about themselves. No matter how ridiculous it is to think that a cream can get rid of cellulite, people will still buy products that claim to do it, and part of the problem is that companies will still try to sell these magic potions.

I understand that beauty is about transformation – that’s why I’m drawn to it in the first place. But it’s transformation within reason. You can have lashes that look thicker, but nothing out there is going to grow more lashes for you. I think the most I can do is refuse to cover products that feed into the beauty myths (that’s largely one reason that I don’t really cover anti-aging products, also I’m not of the age that I need them).

This afternoon I came home happy from a shopping trip with two pretty summer dresses from Fashion Crimes.  A lot of my old summer dresses are getting kind of tattered or too small, so I’m so pleased to have two new ones in rotation.

I got the black eyelet cotton “Seaside” dress – it has perfect pockets, Mac seems to like it too.

The coral cotton “Audrey” dress is a bit of a departure for me colour-wise.  When I was in fashion school and had my “colours done” I learned I was a “Spring” and should look good in pastels and lighter colours, which I am rarely attracted to.  Its true though – they do seem to suit me.

Welcome to Click Click, the regular roundup of what I find worth clicking on the internet.

• IFB asks… has the recession affected your fashion blog?  Personally I’ve found it is a source of inspiration as both an observer and a creater, sparking interesting trends and events in both fashion and business.
• The Demoiselles ask how we feel about the word “cute”. Though they talk about it in the context of compliments and self-image, it interests me more as part of the fashion lexicon – a word that has been over-used to the point of meaninglessness, on a par with “fabulous”.
• A really inspiring post on The Pyramid Method – Study Hacks describes how a friend of his achieved exceptional talent and acclaim by focusing his efforts on one venue.
• Finally, a mainstream news article that covers both sides of the fashion copyright debate – Maria Cornejo and Isabel Toledo discuss the proposed Design Piracy Protection Act in the USA.
• Incredible fashion illustrator/blogger Danny Roberts unveils his collaboration with Gwen Stefani.
• Ze Frank talks about his career of chasing authentic connections with an audience on the internet.
• Brigitte Dale hosts a video blog that is both simple and engaging.  I am not usually a fan of video blogs but I found myself drawn into hers.
• Long time reader Barry sent me this link to a very moving open letter to President Obama by Issey Miyake, writing for the first time as a survivor of the “Flash of Light“.

Fashion blog karma – reciprocal links for friends of Final Fashion…

• la quirky fille, natalie “Just a girl with too much time on her hands and no where to document her inspirations.”
• Jaka’s Tea Party – fashion blog super-fan Jaka has finally launched her much-discussed and anticipated blog.
• Goldie Oldie Charms “Absorbing fashion, culture, and the oddities of life.”
• ShoeSense “Love fashion footwear but you’re also comfort minded? Confused by the eternal dilemma of having to sacrifice one for the other?”
• decline designs “It’s for the woman who knows what she wants and damn the trends!”

It might have been the insane hours, I was working nights. Maybe an allergic reaction to some makeup.  It might be that my body at 26 is going through some sort of second adolescence (there are multiple indicators for this) – but in May, I got acne, for the first time in my life.  Sure, I had had pimples as a teenager, but never had I seen an entire section of my face break out in them before.  It has been consuming my mind ever since, I’ve put enough thought into this – it was bound to become a blog post.

Its on my right jawline and a small spot below my left ear.  It was at its worst in early June and is beginning to disappear, slowly.  When I am alone, I am desperately aware of these two sections on my face.  Its a constant downer whenever I think of it, whenever I see myself in a mirror.

It could be a lot worse, most of my face looks like it always does.  I certainly had my insecurities as a younger person but body and face was not one of them.  Only recently have I begun to understand the obsession with physical looks and pay attention to it.  I never used to notice whether people had good skin or good legs or good ankles or not, and now I do constantly, always comparing my own unfavourably.

By contrast, my social and style confidence is a lot higher than it has ever been.  In life and love, wardrobe and business, I have never felt better, so I was amazed how a small bout with acne could challenge my overall confidence so much.  I never realized before how completely crippling it must be for people who are already vulnerable to other insecurities or people with bad cases.  Acne makes me want to hide in my studio, behind my computer, away from cameras and parties and new people.  It sucks the life out of me.

The funny thing is I notice it gets better when I am around other people.  I think that’s because, when I am out, I forget about my face.  I focus on other people and things to do and places to go and things to see and I stop thinking about it and feeling bad about myself.  When I am by myself too much I look at it too much and worry about it and touch it and wash it too much and it gets worse.

Before I go out, as I get ready, I remind myself that no one else really cares about my face that much and neither should I.  Its a mild case and a temporary condition and something that almost everybody deals with at least once in a lifetime, I am hardly a case of real suffering here.  I don’t wear makeup or anything over it.  I just do my best to forget about it because when its out of mind I can get on with having a good life.

Weirdly this experience has given me a level of compassion for other people and their appearance issues I never had before.  Fashion people in particular are obsessed with the body/face perfection myth – a lot of us are actively or unwittingly perpetuating it.  Even though we can see the man behind the curtain we can still get persuaded by our own performances.

Soon it will be gone.  I never expected that this type of mundane experience would change the way I look at myself, others, and besides that my work.  I guess appearances do matter – just not as much as how you perceive them does.

//

Hat tip to the Demoiselles, whose own frank discussions on dealing with the realities of bodies and faces helped me get the guts to try and express my own story.

The Sartorialist himself is making a public appearance to celebrate his window display and launch his new exhibit at Holt Renfrew‘s flagship location.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Toronto, (July 16, 2009) Holt Renfrew, Canada’s leading specialty retailer, is delighted to announce a personal appearance by style leader Scott Schuman, “The Sartorialist” on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 at Holt Renfrew Bloor Street from 12:30 PM to 2 PM.

As part of a national tribute to fashion bloggers, Holt Renfrew will celebrate the work of Scott Schuman with an in-store exhibition of his photography from Wednesday, July 22 to Wednesday, July 29. Scott will be at Holt Renfrew on Wednesday, July 22 for a public personal appearance and a private event that evening, to discuss his work as a photographer and his expertise in men’s tailoring.

Who still goes to the library?  I do – and I pay $50 a year for the privilege of accessing the stacks of my university library.  Its well worth it, as an applied arts sort of school there are books on practically everything (with emphasis on practically) and that includes fashion.

I have decided to start a new weekly column to encourage myself to make this a more regular habit.  Beside that, to share with you some of my library finds.  Each week I will go to the library, take out two books – one useful, one amusing, and share with you a photo of one spread or perhaps a random excerpt with brief comments of my own.

Oh, and you can click the photos for “big”.

Fashion Illustrator by Bethan Morris.

I found this one by scanning the spines in the fashion illustration section for books I haven’t seen before and found this – a relatively new (2006) fashion illustration textbook.  This is one of the better new ones I have found, full of gorgeous colour illustrations by many artists and in many styles.  It has some basic tutorials by different artists on different techniques, as well as brief interviews with many different artists.  As a text it is more of a survey, giving a broad overview of history, technique, styles, and careers.

The best part – and I have not seen this before in an illustration text – is interviews with some clients including Promostyl.  Well worth clicking for big!

Chic Savages by John Fairchild

This book reads like its from another century on another planet.  John Fairchild was born into the publishing business, inheriting Women’s Wear Daily and then launching his own “brainchild”, W, to feature the lifestyles, gossip and fashions of the rich and famous that fascinated him so much.  Enough to write a book about it.

WWD often features sketches from fashion designers and Fairchild cleverly includes some in this book.  I am a great fan of Ferre’s famous fast lines.

It is too hard to pick one excerpt from this book.  Pretty much open any page and you’ll find something snooty, silly or splendid.  Randomly:

At the Ungaro show in the Musee des Arts Decoratifs panic sents in because the security is so tight.  And to make matters worse the Ungaro guards spot outside the door the best copyist in the world: Victor Costa, Texas manufacturer, who has copied from all the top Paris couturiers — particularly Lacroix and Ungaro — and almost overnight delivered their designs to the stores at very reasonable prices.  This time Costa is in dark glasses, leaning against the museum wall and swinging his satchel, which I am sure is full of design goodies from other shows that have already been facsimilied back to Texas, where busy Mexican hands are sewing up all of Paris.

I met Irene Stickney at the first ever Toronto Fashion Bloggers night, three years ago.  She was a contributer to Toronto Street Fashion, and she was also a fellow Ryerson Fashion Design student two years behind me.  I even had the chance to help out with her ambitious grad collection.  Irene plays a versatile role in Toronto’s independent fashion scene – she watches shop at 69 Buy The Pound by day, and parties, designs and saves the world with activist bike gang/fashion design collective The Deadly Nightshades… well, by night.  I asked her a few questions about her various roles.

You can often be found at 69 Buy The Pound, weighing clothes, teaching people how to use the sewing machines, and hosting events. What are your favourite BTP finds – do you snap up the best stuff first? Any upcoming happenings you are excited about?

My favorite piece of clothing ever is a short little bolero jacket with red piping around the edges that I got as a gift from Kealan. It was cut out of a dark red Santa Fe blanket with flowers all over it. It came from the Queen St location but just about everything else I own is from BTP… My tiger print head scarf and my black cowboy boots, my black lace tights, and a lovely sixties house dress with little mushrooms all along the hem. That said, I don’t snap up the best things when they come in. I like stuff that’s so weird no one else likes it anyways. We want people to find gems when they shop here and that won’t happen if I’m in there grabbing all the Dooney and Burke bags… When new stuff arrives, I take one thing I like and put the rest out on the floor right away.

After working at BTP for about a year now, I’ve got so many patterns in my wardrobe that my friends say I’ve started to look like a Gypsy… african prints, paisley, silk watercolours, sixties florals…. there’s alot of beautiful old patterns at BTP but oddly they all kind of work together. Gypsies have been a bit of an obsession for everyone at work lately… we held a Gypsy themed caravan sale at the Drake last month and it went really well. We’re planning a Frugal Fashion Week show at the Social on July 24th that’s going to be hilarious fun… and after that, a tall mens clothing swap in August and a few surprises in September…

What were your impressions of fashion school? Worst part, best part? Would you recommend it?

Having taught sewing for a year now, I have some new sympathy for my sewing teachers. Sewing is the kind of thing where you learn so much from your mistakes but they’re so frustrating while you’re making them. That said, Ryerson is not a place that values youth and that’s bad news for grads who want more than just technical jobs. I read a really great interview with Louise Wilson (the director of the MA program at Central Saint Martins) recently about fashion schools and it summed up how I feel pretty nicely. You can read it here. I think Ryerson – when I was there – fit her description pretty well. It was all about polish and not about substance – and definitely not about sustainability. Although that might be changing. I hear from students that Robert Ott has made a good start as the head of the program this year, and I respect him for trying to bring Ryerson into the 21st century.

You’re a member of an ever-growing bike gang-fashion collective, The Deadly Nightshades, that just released its first collection. How is the collective process of designing different than designing your own collection?

It was a lot more challenging because we had to work as a team. We knew we’d need a few constants from the start – palette and fabrics – to keep things cohesive since there were so many people designing. We’ve all known each other for a long time and we know each others styles and we riffed on each others designs pretty well. Niamh made a little top and shipped it from Vancouver, and then I loved it and made a dress that was a variation on it – she made some pants to go with my little windbreaker, Cat and I would try stuff on and talk about it in the studio while we were sewing. There was alot of emailing and picture texting back and forth from Vancouver to Toronto. We’re a team. Obviously, we all had ideas that got scrapped but we ended up with the best and most wearable pieces getting produced.

How would you describe your alter-ego, Fierce Bambi? Is she different than Irene Stickney?

Fierce Bambi is my bike gang nickname, but I’ve never thought of it as an alter ego… it’s not like Batman where I have a secret identity or anything.

As promised, after some trial and error, I have made a watercolour painting of my blog friend Nadia of Nadia’s Crafting Adventures!  This is it as it is exactly – no photoshoppery this time – and yes her legs really are twice as big as her arms.  Its on a 7″x10″ Arches watercolour paper.  Stand by Nadia because this is getting mailed to you.

p.s. I can’t wait to see my black cardi!

Welcome to Click Click, the regular roundup of what I find worth clicking on the internet.

• Refinery 29 has the definitive flow chart for those wishing to get shot by the Sartorialist – and just in time for Toronto’s vanities, Holt Renfrew is honouring Scott Schuman next week.
• The Grumpy Owl now has his own domain.
• The Cut has a video of the making of a sequinned haute couture gown at the house of Chanel.  Great shots of Karl’s illustrations and the technique of drafting the sequinned design.
• Butikofer is back to blogging, this time about brown.  Do you wear brown?  I have to admit that like Adrienne I have issues when it comes to brown, and unlike her I don’t know if I’ll ever get over them.
• Garance Dore does a portrait of Erin O’Connor… I would love to find my muse someday too.

Toronto-centric stuff…

• My Dr. Martens design gets a little link love from stylist Tricia Campbell.
• The Toronto Star has a slideshow of some people flying kites – including me.

Fashion Blog Karma for commenters and linkers…

• If I was a Rich Girl… Toronto “Free-styling musings, rants, raves on fashion, food, music and all the beautiful-Fugly pieces in between”
• Bonne Vie “Birdie values beauty, adventure, and living life to the fullest; she encourages her readers to do the same.”
• styleFLASH “Every week, we feature designers, boutiques and cool items created by independent designers.”