Dreamcats

I'm pretty into the new tumbler made by Anabela from the blog Fieldguided. Since her blog is filled with dreamy photography, independant fashion and great Toronto store/food/drink recommendations, it's no surprise that we're also on the same page when it comes to loving kitty cats. Dreamcats gives you a daily dose of girls & cats, cats in soft focus, cats on film and generally dreamcats!








However, in a ironic twist of fate, a particularly cute dreamcat I'm currently staying with is giving me a not so dreamy case of the sniffle/itchy eyes/ sneezeyness. Life just isn't fair!

Like a kid in a candy shop!

That is how excited we are getting for the Vintage dress, shoe and boot sale this weekend. Oh man it is gonna be so great. And don't forget we are also offering a discount off our regular stock (perfect time to pick up your summer sun dresses!), we will be having treats and of course a great night of socializing. Who doesn't love a good fashion related party? (No one who reads this blog that is for sure).

So again, this Friday from 6-8pm we are doing a preview of the Vintage dresses where you can get first dibs on the dresses of your dreams (this also means avoiding the line up at the changerooms on Saturday).


Saturday the craziness starts at 4pm, don't forget to bring your cash for the shoes and boots. And boy oh boy get ready for so much awesomeness!

These are some of my personal faves 'cause I feel like they cover the gamut of what vintage does best: Super adorable date dresses, flowy skirts that are perfect for Saturday errands, a ball gown for when you find that frog to kiss into a prince, and a banging business style dress that will have your whole office taking it up a notch to keep up with you.

Dace Dace Bo Bace Banana Nana Fo Face

Holy crow, do I ever like the new Dace pieces we just got in the store. They are light and airy and perfect for summertime!


Amie Top for $130


Ismay Dress for $225 (we've got this one in ivory & black)


And Emele dress for $169

Reading makes me hungry...

Wait who am I kidding, everything makes me hungry! As you readers know, us Victoire girls love love love to eat and have alot of opinions about food even though besides Ula, boiling water is about as much cooking as we can handle (though I do make bitchin' sandwiches). Last week Lake Jane posted about this delicious blog The Dog's Breakfast
.


Since then I have gotten my man to make a couple of dishes off of it and dang, delicious! This new blog combined with She Eats Bears means I just sit drooling in front of the computer screen for my entire shift...Charming I am sure...

Ragga-muffin by the end of the day!

When I saw this picture it made me long for my ragga-muffin uniform days. Whether it was at school, Brownies, dance class, or during team sports (my fencing uniform was tops!), uniforms made me feel so good. Seeing kids in uniforms now you realize how adorable you looked because kid's hair is always pulled out of their braids, they lost a sock and they managed to get the strangest stains on their clothes. It's adorable and they think they look so sophisticated!

With this picture as inspiration I re-dressed our Westboro mannequin in a perfectly delightful spring outfit. Though I do think it would be cuter with an ice cream stain... give it till the end of the day and you'll turn back into your ragga-muffin self!


Wise & Proper dress, $118

Steel Magnolia purse, $35

Wise & Proper Boyfriend Cardi, $118

Lamb Rabbit neckalce, $200

It reminds me of something Liebemarlene would wear to one of her adorable outings with her man:

I think I'm at Liberty to tell you this...

If you have stopped by our Dalhousie store lately then you have definitely seen the new dresses we are carrying from Sessun and on a few of them you may have seen an additional tag that is purple and kinda pretty. Well if you take a closer look at the writing on the tag you will, like me, discover that these new dresses are pretty special. This is because this season the french label Sessun has teamed up with Liberty. Now Liberty is totally cool and classy and i just learned some more about it today after being intrigued by this new collaboration and i had to share. In 1875 Arthur Liberty opened up shop on Regent Street in London and started out by selling fabrics and art from places like Japan and his shop totally flourished over the years and to make a history of fashion lesson short, the fabrics became famously recognized and this expanded the business into a fashion label as well. The prints are so colourful and girly with a retro feel it is obvious why they are so well known! I also learned that when Arthur Liberty's success grew and he began to expand his shop, his decorating inspiration was to always make his store feel as though you were shopping in someones cute and fun home, he even had fireplaces installed in different rooms...Arthur Liberty sounds like Victoire's long lost brother! Sessun's has a few select dresses that have been specially made with classic Liberty fabrics and the combination of the two labels makes for a beautiful summertime look. We are so lucky to be part of this little piece of art, come and see the dresses at our downtown location!

A sample of some of the fabrics that we have in a dress design...

Loose Change

Awww shucks guys, thanks so much for coming out to our garage sale yesterday; it was such a success! This is what I wanna buy with my garage sale loot, even though I should be saving it for my trip to Europe:


Marais USA Espadrilles in Red (105$).


And Species by the Thousand Beard Man Tee (49$).

North Dalhousie Street Sale Tomorrow!

Come on down to North Dalhousie this Saturday!

We got rained out last weekend but tomorrow we'll be out full force!!! Once again there will be gently used and vintage clothes, shoes, records, accessories and home decor pieces. Prices will be very reasonable and there may be free snacks if we get our act together in time (hopefully. *****Saturday April 24th starting at 11am**** and I'd suggest coming early if you want to get the good stuff.

Get a grip Enid! Yard and street sales rule!!!!!!

Dream a little dream

It seems as though a while back this huge trend of clothing that can be worn seventy thousand ways came about, and I was occasionally a fan, i mean buying one item that can be everything from a scarf to a cape to a grocery bag is a great way of budgeting your wardrobe, but when you think about it, i don't know it's just also kind of weird. However! It is nice to be able to switch it up, especially if you have that one pretty dress you can't get enough of but don't want people to catch on that you are practically living in it. The Dream Dress in black by Lily & Jae is really precious, kind of a "business in the front and party in the back" vibe, but only if your business is looking cute. This sweetheart customer was in our West End shop the other day and she discovered a genius way to mix it up a bit! 

The Dream Dress, bow in the back.

OR, wrapped around and tied in the front!

Lily & Jae 'Dream Dress' $229, in black at West Wellington or Coral on Dalhousie

Earth Day 365!

Over here at Victoire we celebrate earth day every day. All of our designers are sustainable for the mere fact that they are made right here in Canada, which means no wasted energy in transport! Furthermore, our designers make what they can sell every season, so there is no dumped extras at the end of each season. And most importantly of all they are well made which means you can wear them lots and still have them be in good condition to pass on to your future teens, we are selling the vintage of tomorrow!

That being said we also feature some designers that go the extra mile to be even greener. Sessie Dresses & Petit Chapeau are probably our most green lines of all since they are all made out of recycled material and right here in Ottawa.

Today I though I would feature a few shirts that allow you to support a greener future without sacrificing style.

Supayana Top, $65. Made from Recycled men's shirts in Montreal

Maudlin & Joy, $84. Made of silk and organic cotton in Toronto.

Preloved Franca top, $134. Made of recycled material in Toronto.

Maudlin & Joy, $80. Made of Bamboo linen.

Vintage Dress Sneak Peak

How cute does Ula look in these dresses that we'll be selling at the Spring Fling vintage dress and shoe shopping party?

In case you forgot it's May 1st from 4:00-9:00 pm, with a sneak peak on April 31st 6:00-8:00 if you just wanna get dresses without all the hoopla of shoes and drinks and party the next night!







Annnnnnd GARAGE SALE SATURDAY. Its supposed to be real nice and sunny so we're on for this Saturday at 11:00 am. Swing by for some great bargains and wander the block cause there will be lots of people selling stuff including Aunt Olives, Young Janes and more! yipee!

Get down ladies you've got nothing to lose

A few weeks ago I got to go to the advance screening of The Runaways and man oh man did I ever love it! But really, how could I not? It was really pretty much everything I look for in 2 hours of pure escapist entertainment. Sex, drugs, rock'n'roll, awesome hair & clothing - all set in what is probably my favourite decade (well everytime Summer rolls around anyways). There's just something about a 70s rock'n'roll soundtrack that just feels so much like hot sweaty summer nights. Maybe that's cos the summertime is the only time when every now and then we really kindof indulge in just a taste of some of the hedonism that the decade so represents to me. I mean, I'm a goody goody at heart really, so to me that means a late night having a few drinks with my best pals watching Dramatic Chipmunk on youtube over and over again, going out wearing something too short/tight, and ending the night passed out in bed in a pile of McDonald's trash. (True story. And for the second week-end in a row at that).

This is Cherie Currie with her sisters. I think I would die to own Cherie's beaded & feathered halter. I'm trying to convince Ula to do her hair like this for the Summer! It would be so cool!!


Anyways, it's obvious I don't exactly embody the same glamour of that era, but maybe if Brad Elterman was there snapping pics it would look way radder than it sounds!


Joan Jett at the Tropicana Motel.


If you like looking at his pics of Hollywood's 70s rock scene, you'll totally wanna check out this movie. Make a night of it with your best buds and rent "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains", another great great movie about an all-girl rock band. Boy did I enjoy that movie too.


Isn't tonight cheap night at the movies? (Remember when that actually used to mean 4$?!) Anyways, looks like I've mapped out the perfect evening for ya there then. Afterwards you can head out to Babylon for the Cook Off where Victoire buds Auntie Loo and Rock and Roll Pizza Party will be competing in the Desert and Mexican categories. So now I've got your meal for this evening planned out too. You're welcome.

Anyways, for now my inner bad-ass rock chick will have to come in the form of temporary tattoos. See it peeking outta my shirt there?


Man Reg - rule #1 if ya wanna be a real bad mama: ya gotta ditch the smiley face for a rock'n'roll scowl! I don't know if I can do that, but I will try.

Dear Sage, Prom? Y N circle one. P.S. Write back

There's no denying it boys and girls, it is Prom season! Official signs include, Mothers buying their sons a rose so they can ask a girl to be their date the right way, stretch hummer limos on every corner, and cautionary "Insert High Schools Name Prom Dresses '10" facebook groups daring girls to buy the same dress as a fellow graduate. Even i find myself looking for what would be the perfect dress if i were to go this year. I wish i could do prom every year so i could make up for the last two i attended (year one, i was a terrible date but had a blast, year two i had a bad date and hated the dress i had chosen). But this year i am having almost more fun then i did previously as i live vicariously through the ladies who are coming into Victoire to search for that perfect dress, and there are so many to choose from this year! (and to don't worry about your best frenemy getting the same dress as you, we keep track of all dresses sold and to what proms they are going to)

Tryd & True 'Girl' Dress $112 Available at Dalhousie

Lipsy Dress $115 Available at Dalhousie

Apart from a few of my faves that are in store right now we will also have an amazingly unique and beautiful selection at our Vintage Dress Party...I'm planning on getting a little something special myself in hopes i get asked to Rock 'n' Roll Pizza Party's Prom...

Welcome back sunny day!

Isn't it a bummer when the weekend is cold and rainy, and then Monday morning when you are tied to the desk it's sunny and beautiful? Mother Nature is a trickster that is for sure! But I guess we should make the best of it, and dress the part of a sunny day while doing paper work and counting down the hours until we can be on our bike enjoying it.

Today, Petit Chapeau is making me feel sunny! I also saw my first bee of the season, very exciting!!

All headbands are $45, made in Orleans and available at both locations.

Sunday Sunday Sunday

Perhaps you had a really fun filled Saturday and when you wake Sunday morning you feel a little like this..

Don't worry fat cats, we've got some ideas that let you be comfortable yet stay classy.

Complex Geometries Long Leggings $96 (they convert into a tube top body suit if you aren't feeling up to wearing more than one piece of clothing)

Species X a Thousand Ghost Girl tee $49

Mink Pink Bittersweet skirt $85