Friends, we’re going to think hard about clothes for a moment, and I promise it will be fun thinking and not, um, “did I eat vegetables this week?” thinking!

Ayala Bar is one of those things where once you discover her you see her lovely jewellery everywhere! Like, was Ayala Bar actually around me all the time before but I didn’t notice because I didn’t know? Like pieces of furniture that are just there and you don’t notice until you bump into them? Or like my kids that I have totally tuned out and now I go to school pick-up and leave 5 minutes later and I assume they are in the car, but they may or may not be and I might not notice until someone says “have you heard of Ayala Bar?” She uses refurbished pieces for her handmade creations, which is usually I thing I love because I love imagining what the parts were before becoming the finished object (hello Preloved), but, friends, I find I can’t even guess the parts with Ayala Bar!

To me this piece stands alone as one cohesive piece born of nothing, but I know I to look closely at all the components (that chain! The branch/whale-tail holding the pendent!) but to me it is still just a whole necklace, not a jumble of parts. And while other jewelry made from other pieces can look a bit industrial or purposefully deconstructed, this one is tiny and pretty and delicate!

We are going to have a long talk about this Oak and Fort top, friends, so settle in and bear with me/agree with me because I love to be right. Now, this is a wrap top, and thanks to it’s construction it can be worn two ways (…um, I think. Like, this might just be a theory, and the head designer at Oak + Fort -who probably reads this blog RELIGIOUSLY- is banging her head on a wall and screaming “YOU HAVE IT ALL WRONG!! But your bangs look great.”). So, this could be the front:

Or this could be the front:

To illustrate, I tried this on for you:

You get the idea. There’s lots that you can do with this one, and the colour matches everything!

This one time we had a belt from Quebec’s Noujica, right? This linen scarf literally has “Lovingly handmade in Quebec” written on the tag! (I took a picture, but it was blurry. I will, of course, be laying awake all night feeling bad about this.)

Check out the detail on this print! So gorgeous and unique!

Camper boots are exciting just in general, so it’s just fun that we have them in the shop. And because they are Campers, we know that there is always a little something that makes them just a little bit different from regular boots….

These ones have just a subtle notched heel. It’s nothing major; on these boots it’s like a secret wink to remind you how cool you are!

Since everyone loved our vintage coat from a couple weeks ago, let’s check out another one! This beauty is wool and cashmere (note: all cashmere is wool….but not all wool is cashmere….POOF). And if the gorgeous colour and wide arms aren’t special enough for you, then…..

….perhaps with the button done up it will be extra special for you! Friends, this magical button changes the look of this entire garment! I love its weird oblong shape; I feel like a more contemporary minimalist coat would have put one big, black, round button on it. But this button is in itself a work of art! This should be sold as “Cool Button With a Cashmere Coat Attached to it”.

And, friends, this coat has something else that is very special -in fact, my favourite thing to find that you can only ever find in some vintage clothing- the Canadian International Ladies Garment Workers Union label!!!! (Note: all union labeled clothing is vintage….but not all vintage clothing is union. POOF POOF!) Seriously, I look for this on all vintage clothing and I get such a thrill when I find it!

Gotta share one more vintage find (no union label, but still cool!)……velvet pants with gold speckles!

Are these weird OR WHAT?! I love them soooooooo much! They’re like evening-wear that is also pyjamas or something!

So, I finally had a mask/fashion epiphany! I’ve been rolling over my thoughts on the question of matching masks to outfits or not, and I just couldn’t land on an philosophy. The best I could come up with was maybe we should be matching the mask to our eye colour? Or wearing a mask colour that looks good with our skin? Essentially, to me, whatever a person is wearing it still looks like a *person wearing mask*. BUT THEN, one day by total accident, Alex threw on one of the store masks -navy blue with mustard yellow flowers- and it happened to match what she was wearing (mustard yellow top and navy skirt -such an Alex Outfit!) and it looked INCREDIBLE! It was so striking and looked so put together! So now I am a convert to matching your mask with your outfit when possible! I’m sticking to trying to match colour-ways for now, and maybe I will graduate to pattern-matching. As a surprise bonus, friends, it feels like springtime in my fashion-loving heart to suddenly see masks as a fun fashion challenge -like finding the perfect cardigan to match your outfit- rather than approaching them with resentment and resignation. PS We just got another bunch of great, Edmonton-made reusable masks with super adorable prints in the shop (Alex and I want one of each print, they are that cute!), but, um, I forgot to take pictures. I will remedy this by staying awake all night thinking about it.

Friends, I wish so much that we could be open more days. The shop is so full of cool things and three days a week is just not enough time to explore all of it! Alex and I are doing our best to keep the online store updated with stuff every day, but there is no substitute for coming in and checking the whole shop out in one go! (People are always commenting that the online shop does not do justice to all the cool stuff we have in the shop, and I am not even making that up! It happens all the time!) (People also say our hand-sanitizer is very nice, and these days that’s a great compliment.) Alex is in the shop Thursday and Friday (have you met her yet? She’s THE BEST!) and you can chat with her about floral prints and denim shirts, and I’m in the shop Thursday, Friday and Saturday and I only want to talk about The Bachelorette!