Such a surprise to see my painting for the Heartbeats fundraiser featured in NOW Magazine, Toronto’s free alt-weekly. Andrew Sardone, the style editor at NOW gives me a shoutout in print every so often and jokes that it is no big deal – but I always love it. The first time he did it, exactly three years ago, will forever be one of the most significant moments in the history of my site. Thank you, Andrew.
Also, if you’re in Toronto, you should totally go to Heartbeats on February 13 and bid generously on my painting or some other red-hot work of art, all to support the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
My face is not a major feature on this blog. I am more used to being the artist than the subject, and only recently started posting outfit photos occasionally. Imagine my surprise this morning when I discovered that I was drawn by west coast illustrator Corey Lee.
He’s captured me pretty well in this illustration wearing the jacket in this post. I like how his style has an animated quality. Thanks so much Corey for an unexpected portrait.
My family is not big on gifts or gift wrap, so I was quite pleased with myself when I had this modest packaging accomplishment for a gift of girly accessories for my niece – barrettes and fun purple plastic jewelry, Ickle Baby Baff Bombs from Lush, and a marabou boa from Fashion Crimes.
The illustration is in marker – and the wrapping paper is repurposed from the tissue the marabou came wrapped in. It just has a picture of Evey on it because she’s not yet two and can’t read, and the word “pretty” in purple because those are words she likes to say. Its fun to say – pretty in purple.
By the way, Fashion Crimes is a sponsor of the site, and they’ve got a pre-Christmas sale on for everyone – 25% off. Perfect for girlies.
So you want to win a paper doll book? I’m going to extend the deadline to Monday December 21st.
Using the JPGs available here, I want you to dress a doll; use Photoshop or another program to help you do it. The challenge is to use a model from one designer and clothing and accessories from at least two other designers. The best mashed-up outfit wins a book.
But that’s not all; I’d like to see you have some fun with it. So I’ll also give away a few full-size PDFs to entries I think are particularly funny, or wicked, or silly, or clever. Bonus points for adding backgrounds and speech bubbles. Go for it – start chopping. To qualify, post your entry on your blog or facebook profile or twitter account with a link to this post. Good luck!
You never know what will happen to something when you put it out there on the internet. I just discovered that this illustration has inspired the Illustration Nation group in the ShopStyle community. I love what they came up with – check it out. They choose a new source of inspiration every week, lots of amazing illustrators have been featured. What an unexpected honour.
Thanks so much to Miss Bea Heyvin for selecting my work.
Just a heads up, if you are planning on getting the Paper Dolls book for a gift, this is the last day to order if you’d like 50% off shipping for delivery by December 24th. But no worries if you missed that deadline, premium shipping for Christmas is available up to December 14th.
Toronto SS10 Colle…
By Danielle Meder
Thanks so much to everyone who has bought a book! Remember you can also buy a PDF directly from me for $17.95 if you’d like to do your own printing. Email me for details. Plus, you can win a book or a PDF if you’re handy with photoshop – details here.
15 designers, 17 paper dolls, over 60 items of clothing and accessories to play with. This is the result of a rather involved project I gave to myself to commemorate the Spring 2010 collections shown in Toronto this October.
The resulting dolls are available in a book from Blurb for $42.95 USD. It was supposed to be available for Christmas but… it’s not unless you’re willing to pay for premium shipping. So buy it for yourself! If you can’t afford it, I’ve put together a mini-PDF booklet you can download for free, print off yourself and play with. Full-size PDF files are also available for just $17.95 – email me for details.
You can buy a book. Or, you can win a book. How? Using the JPGs available here, I want you to dress a doll; use Photoshop or another program to help you do it. The challenge is to use a model from one designer and clothing and accessories from at least two other designers. The best mashed-up outfit wins a book.
Something like this: Brandon R Dwyer’s model with Jessica Jensen’s clutch and VAWK’s dress. I am sure you can do even better than that.
But that’s not all; I’d like to see you have some fun with it. So I’ll also give away a few full-size PDFs to entries I think are particularly funny, or wicked, or clever. Bonus points for photoshopping in some backgrounds and speech bubbles. Go for it. To qualify, post your entry on your blog or facebook profile with a link to this post – entries are due December 21st.
Jessica Biffi’s paper doll is the last paper doll I am doing this season – and she’s a cute one! This collection came off as very true to Jessica’s personality – she loves dance music and bright colours. The look would be perfect for a personality like Lena Love or a singer like Ivana Santilli. Beyond costuming pop stars and club queens what is missing the sense of timing that defines fashion. Bra-less breasts are all over the place – spilling over the top of scanty bodices, from the side of narrow halters, and even through (!) the front of jackets. The spray-painted showpiece somehow looks both hurried and overdone, recalling the first attempt at the Post-It challenge on PRC2. I’m glad that Jessica is not compromising when it comes to imagination. More experience would make a world of difference when it comes to making a more polished, confident presentation.
Remember on Project Runway Canada 2 when Brandon R Dwyer said that in real life he is kind of a big deal? You wouldn’t have been able to tell from the haphazard designs, chain smoking and drama baiting on PRC2, but it seems that Dwyer does have a talent when it comes to swanky cocktail dresses and eveningwear. His show was made better by a great cast of models and whimsical headpieces by Midence Oliu. There were a few daytime nonentities in jersey which seemed superfluous – if he just sticks to his strengths his collection would be that much stronger. Give him a few more seasons, and he’ll be poised to succeed Wayne Clark as Canada’s glamour king.
NADA’s collection had a lot of everything – a lot of eyebrows, a lot of hair, a lot of jewelry, an excess of accessories, a lot of lace. Which surprised me a bit because when I spoke to the designer Nada Shepherd the week before, she mentioned that this season was about stripping away the extraneous. The show started with a video vignette about a love story gone cold, and when the show ended Nada didn’t bring her models out for the curtain call, as is customary, instead giving us only a swift little wave from backstage, leaving a very confused crowd, some of who looked like their standing ovation got cut off. Leaving me to wonder if the bloom is off the rose between NADA and Toronto’s fashion scene? I may not be feeling the wealthy wife aesthetic but I am feeling the sense of disenchantment.
