Worn With Pride

I've been eagerly anticipating its arrival and here it is! The new issue of Worn magazine.

This issue features super cool, and extremely talented designer Norwegian Wood!
There is also a great photo spread on men with iconic female hairstyles such as Annie Oakley and Jackie O.

Only 6 bucks!!!!

and it's one of Tavi's favorite magazines!

We've also got some back issues here at the Dalhousie store. Perfect to pop into your bike basket and read in the park!

ffffffffff.fff

Listen, I'll be the first one to admit that I wear my jumpers, shorts and crop tops way into the fall/winter season. Summer rules, and so do all the fun things that come with it. But fall also means boots, tights, apple cider, PIE and cool brisk walks. PLUS, there's nothing better than lying in your bed like a little cozy cinnamon bun while the cool fall breeze peeks in early in the morning. The best!

We just received our first fall shipment at the Westboro store and there are some killer Sessun dresses that are currently up for grabs. They're all beautifully draped, and just airy enough to ensure a smooth transition into the fall season.

Sessun Charlotte dress ($155) paired with Lamb Rabbit branch necklace ($75).

Sessun Payne Dress ($139) with Steel Mag feather headband.

Sessun Aguayo Dress ($239) with Steel Mag vintage belt ($12).

Delicious Apple Pie (not currently in store OR in my face but IT SHOULD BE.)

Its all in the Details

I am a sucker for Men's lifestyle magazines. You will never find me lurking the aisles of the nearest local magazine shop leafing through the latest Instyle-Cosmo-Glamour-Girl monthly, save for the latest Nylon issue, of course. No sir, I can be located just around the bend drooling over the latest GQ and Details. They speak to me. Its my literary smack. I am hooked. And for a mere $5.99 a pop they seem like a pretty reasonable addiction.

And while I do my best to breeze past these magazine racks without pillaging every single issue I can get my hands on, nine times out of ten those glossy little buggers lure me into their shiny traps with promises of smart well written, intelligent and insightful articles and pages upon pages of handsome dapperly dressed men in three piece suits. Sigh.

This month I fell victim to the latest issue of Details. With the devastatingly handsome, mind-blowingly talented and supremely articulate Joseph Gordon-Levitt as this month cover boy and the fact that I had seen Inception twice in one week how could I resist?

While the article on Joe (as his friends and fake girlfriends like to call him) exceeded all my doting expectations, what really impressed and struck me in this issue was an article written for this months Cultural Report entitled Artisanal America.

This thought provoking and inspiring article investigates not only the history of handcrafted consumer goods but the ever growing allure and demand for the 'small batch' product. Something Victoire can surely relate to.


Maybe I am being a little bold but I'd like to think that Victoire is one of Ottawa's fashion forerunners in catering to the demand of the the Handcraft movement. At times when you lovely ladies step out of the dressing room donned in the latest Lily+Jae, Sessun or dace dress I could SWEAR they were dreamed up and tailor made just for YOU! Each stitch and seam, button, hook and curve fits you like a dream, it's serendipitous. You were destined for that frock.

And not only are we way on top of the Handcraft phenomenon, we also have a slew lovely local designs taking over our shelves! New to the shop is local lady and leather handbag designer Laura Langford of Leather. Her hand bags are off the hook! Soft, subtle and amazingly detailed. I cannot wait to purchase one of these beautiful works of tote-able art myself! And, of course, if you aren't already familiar with Sessie, now would be a good time to check these perfect little jumpers and dress out.


Victoire truly specialize in one of a kind, or at least one of a size run, pieces sewn with loving hands and a detailed eye, that bring out each and every gals special quirks and individuality. And, while some limited addition style runs will set you back up to a couple grand, our pricing is a bit more modest, and during this seasons sale, certainly more gentle on your wallet!

So, on this long weekend if you are looking for something to take up an afternoon, I welcome you to take a stroll down to the Market or up to Wellington to pay us a visit and check out all our one of a kind Handcrafted gems yourself! As for an evening venture I am highly suggesting checking out TOWN on Elgin Street and treat yourself to some local eats and Micro-brew treats!

xo

Miz. D

Local jewellery designer Miz. Dragonfly always lives up to her title. Every piece is always so colourful and fun with a touch of whimsy, her newest pieces are nautical and delicate and kind of mysterious like something you would find in a Gypsy's canvas sack or what you find when you finally get to the X on a treasure map. I know that if a dragonfly lands on you it is totally good luck so who knows, i bet the same goes for these babies!

Harmonium Ring, Sailor Ring, Olympus Ring, all made from brass and wood, all $45

Melanie Earrings plastic and brass, $28, Jolene Necklace with 24k gold plaited chain, $60.

Overboard Necklace, glass and crystal $30. Overboard Earrings $25.

Cesar Necklace, brass and crystal $55. Cesar Earrings $25.

Gold Skull Earrings $35. Rosario Necklace $40. Freedom Earrings $45.

We have these and more here at our shop on West Wellington as well as a few other pieces that are totally worth checking out at the Dalhousie store. I hope y'all are having a lazy day at the beach, but come visit us at the shop if you get bored!

You saved how much?!?

I love sale season. I love that it gives so many of you a perfect excuse to justify that dress you have been eying all season or those shoes you know you will wear contently. It's the time of year you can buy multiple items and not have to justify it. It's great!

But with limited sizes and pieces going fast, you don't have time to wait! Here are some of my favorite sale items:


Rita DiCesare, Elena $128 (original: $160)


Marais USA $55 (original: $69)

Allison Wonderland $97 (original: $138)

Preloved Carmen $133 (orginal: $190)

Dolce Vita $100 (original: $125)

jumper for joy.

Leslie, the genius behind the local wonder that is Sessie dress, just dropped off some new items. Every time she brings something in i can't believe how spot on she is at making a dress that you just want to wear every single day. With the latest bundle of goodies she dropped off it seems she gave her magic touch to two of my favorite trends this Summer. Bold prints and The Jumper. I've already snagged one up for myself and i know that these won't last long in stores, the ladies of Ottawa are crazy for Sessie!

Available in Large, $89

Available in Small, $89

Available in M, $89

Available in XSmall, $89

And in case you're a long time Sessie fan, don't worry she's still up to her old tricks.

xs, $99

s, $89

These babies are all available at our West Wellington location as of now, and there's an entire other collection of new dresses and jumpers by Sessie at the Dalhousie shop!

La pluie du ciel

Overcast rainy days are rarely the best, but I always get a chance to catch up on fun little chores or things around the house that I don't get to do very often. Today I got a chance to remerchandise the store a little bit and see what I could do with one of our display cases. It turned out pretty alright, I think.

Before/After shots to follow:



This display is currently at the Westboro shop and features: Sessie jumper ($89), Lamb Rabbit leaf necklace ($75),new issues of Worn Fashion Journal ($6), Chanteloup feather clips ($20 - $30) and sassy In god we trust necklaces ($49),

And, of course, the perfect rainy day song:

The kids are alright

We have 6 passes to give away to the sneak peak tonight (7pm at WEX).

As always first 6 people to comment get them. You can pick them up at the Dalhousie shop.

It's gonna be a great one!

Swollowed by the sun...

I'm not going to lie. As beautiful and sunny as today has been, my day started off TERRIBLY. I woke up every hour on the hour since 6am, I dropped my coffee on the sidewalk two seconds after purchasing it and my sole hair elastic snapped IN MY GIANT MOP HAIR only a couple moments after that. ghjghjkgjkhg.

I spent my walk to the store (all in black might I add, another TERRIBLE decision) sweating and choking on the giant nest-y thing attached to my head. Things, however, are looking real cool now that I'm basking away in the ac and eating a scone. So, friends, I've decided to present to you a sweet airy choice that will undoubtedly assure that your mornings will be spent avoiding as many hot messes as possible. This Dace dress is unbelievably comfortable and the pastels are so good too (and on sale! much like most items in store right now.)

Dace Martin Dress, currently on sale for $125.

And I guess this is the first time this little blog has seen my face so hi! I'm Kristal, the newbie (as you can see by my attempts to use the store camera inside for the first time. So overexposed, oops!). If you come into the store , I'll be the one with her HAIR SHAVED OFF PROBABLY - ahh!

I definitely need to know this!

I have a new favorite website:

What Courtney wore today



I had to miss her when she was in town (this baby owes me big time!), but hearing how awesomely rock star she was has brought me back to my high school love affair with her. And she certainly has wicked style.

Doom Town

I first met Audrey Cantwell in Montreal. We were introduced through pals at Friendship Cove (rip) and I distinctly remember her wearing such an amazing vintage fur coat and probably the best pair of beat up leather boots I've seen to date. This was the first of many brief encounters where I left our conversations so completely envious of the outfits she was donning . What I didn't know at the time was that many of these outfits were designed/altered/reconstructed by the young designer herself. I was hooked - and once word got out that Victoire would be carrying some of her jewelery and clothing line, I insisted on:

a) giving Ula a goth makeover STAT.

b) trying not to spend my entire paycheque on just about everything she's made ever (I will shortly admit my defeat, I'm sure).

Audrey Cantwell leather band tank ($80) worn over Betina Lou Lula Dress ($150)

Though we were mildly unprepared for our day of darkness together (we didn't have any dark lipstick so Ula suggested eating purple freezies to stain our lips (grape sucks, ugh). It was also really sunny, totally not goth.) we worked together and managed to transform Ula into a princess of darkness inspired by the new Audrey Cantwell designs that are currently at both locations.

Jewelery: RoadKill shark jaw necklace ($190) and ullu feather earrings ($19)


Some other options: Elaine Ho leather bags ($140 each) & Erica Weiner vial necklace ($49)

To top it all off, Audrey personally prepared a mix of dark'n'gothy songs to get us (and all of ya'll) in a gothy makeover mood. If you're into it you can download it here, Includes tracks from Velvet Underground, Siouxsie and the Banshees and New Order among others. File is zipped up nice and neatly for your downloading (and listening) pleasure. So good!

Victoire goes to Prom

The months leading up to the last days of high school are always busy ones here at the store with girls from all over Ottawa scouring the racks to find the perfect dress to wear to prom. It's kinda like being Fairy Godmother when they do find the one and everyone gets excited and smiley and relieved at finally finding a dress and content that they know they will be the only ones at their school wearin' it thanks to our trusty prom log. For us though, that's the end of it because as much as we wish we could go to prom too it would be awkward if we asked to be our customer's dates...but sometimes on days like today we get really lucky because we get to check in with our customers and see how things went down. I loooove these pictures that we received of girls wearing dresses from Victoire on their big day, if every customer that bought their prom dress here looked as good as these ladies then there must have been limos full of pretty girls in pretty dresses during the month of June!

Veronica at Nepean High School prom in a Lipsy dress with her handsome date!

Veronica's mom looked so pretty too in a Valerie Dumaine 'Jean' dress at the pre prom party.

This is Jen at the Philemon Wright High prom. The back is definitely a show stopper.

Here she is with her date in the Valerie Dumaine 'Bailey' dress.

These girls are may-jah cuties and the two Valerie Dumaine dresses are available in our stores right now, as for the Lipsy one, Veronica got the last one! Congrats ladies!

Very important news!

On Saturday, July 17th I will FINALLY be working with Ula. This can only mean one thing: goth makeovers.

Looks like I'm going to have to make a goth mixtape for the occasion as well.

YES!

Cool kids being cool

Imagine if this was your mom? BEYOND!

BUST Magazine

white is wack.

I know there's a rule stating that you can't wear white after a certain day of the year but i can never remember what day that is or why you aren't supposed to. I hope this isn't a serious rule because if so, then Victoire is in big trouble. We are crazy for white shoes right now...loafers, heels, weaved, bedazzled you name it! In all honesty how can you not be? A pair of cute white shoes is the best accessory to match your tanned gams!

Steel Magnolia loafers $19

Steel Magnolia beaded loafers $19

Steel Magnolia loafers $29

Steel Magnolia woven flats $29

ZINESZINESZINES

Speaking of Flickr sites we like, I am addicted to Fanzine Photostream! I found it through itsnicethat. The photostream is an archive of various zine covers gathered by Pere Saguer, who is a contributor to Zineswap based in Spain. The great thing about this photostream is that the covers usually have links underneath that give you more information about the creators as well as info about ordering paper copies.

Enjoy!

abandonment issues.

Don't you find that there is something undeniably creepy and mysterious about abandoned buildings? Theres the sense of eeriness depending on the scale of the house and weather its an industrial building or a house but either way at the same time there is a feeling of excitement because...wouldn't it be cool to take over and live there? I've felt this way ever since i saw the movie fight club and Brad Pitt and that other guy are squatting in the giant house. The house is a total piece of junk and is dirty beyond repair but i always imagined that if you washed it and cleaned it and put up a different wall paper in every room it would be a beautiful dream house! These photos are so interesting and i want to explore each of them, imagine all the cool stuff you would find!

Photo 1;scallopoholden.com,Photo 2;flickr.com/photos/lecercle,Photo 3;flickr.com/photos/norbertloev,Photo 4;flickr.com/photos/tedguy49

Dark Matter

I'm very excited to introduce Audrey Cantwell! Her pieces are dark, flowy and they downright rock! The items we recieved in the mail were wrapped up in old issues of Maximum Rock and Roll so you know this chick is the real deal.

Asymmetrical hoodie $80

Leather band tank $80

Tetra Necklace $18