Goin' to the chapel of love?

We are so super excited that Wed by Hand is this Sunday! Even more exciting is that Victoire is gonna have a booth!!


We will be featuring Steel Magnolia pieces that will be perfect as Bridal party gifts, Petit Chapeau headbands that are a great alternative to a veil and most importantly:

Our Vintage Dresses!!!

We so rarely take our dresses out (especially our new acquisitions, they are too pretty to part with already), but we get requests from brides and bridesmaids all the time. We figured we might as well bring them to the place where all the hip brides will be. We've got great dresses for the engagement party, the wedding shower, the rehearsal dinner, the party time dress, the Sunday brunch, the bridesmaids, and even dresses for the main event! (Holy heck brides wear a lot of dresses!).

We are so excited that we will be giving away two tickets to the show. If you want them, let us know an aspect of your fantasy wedding. The winner will be drawn on Wednesday, so get dreaming!

Wed by Hand, Ottawa's Alternative Wedding Show
February 6, 10am-5pm
The Glebe Community Center

- - -

I just spent the day reducing prices all over the place, guys.

If you've been eyeing a piece here at Victoire, now is the time to pick it up! I have just reduced all of our Lily & Jae, Val Dumaine, DACE, Maison/HouseofSpy/Beatrice Halloway, Preloved, Sessun and many more by an ADDITIONAL 10%! Some of these items are currently sitting pretty at almost 50% off.

Like this gem, Valerie Dumaine's Enna dress currently at 143 bucks (originally $175!)

Or the Sessun Charlotte dress, priced at $98 (originally $155!)

Potato Ships

Love this clip from Amy Sedaris. I wish she was coming to my gal pals Beaches viewing party this week-end.

Valentine's day coupon, use recklessly!

There is so much to love about Valentine's day. If you've got a sweetie, you need to ensure they book a reservations at your fave restaurant, like yesterday. They need to pay double the price for roses and then offer you a box of chocolates that though delicious will make that slinky nightgown look a little extra lumpy!

We say this year why not get an 'I love you' with a gift from Victoire?! That is why we offer you this coupon for your honey to receive 20% off any regular priced item (and yes we do have some exciting new deliveries in the shop! Mink Pink, Ursa Minor, Genevieve Savard and Complex Geometries to name a few) or take an extra 10% off a sale item. The coupon is good from now until February the 14th. The coupon also includes a handy little cheat sheet to help ensure you get the right thing!

And if you've got no honey this Valentine's day, even better! Use this coupon on yourself and buy yourself an even better gift. After all no one will ever love you as much as you do!



We have also further discounted our beautiful sale items. The prices will leave you wondering if you love the garment or the discount more!

So amped on this revamp

So this morning we finally put the last finishing touches on our little Dalhousie revamp plans! Katie and I had been so excited for these 2 days to come. We had reached a critical mass of old-timey Canadiana themed knick knacks to finally have enough to pretty much redo the whole shop along those lines.


Revamp may be too strong a word though...Because yes, we did repaint the shop - but in the exact same shade ("Ivory Palace") we previously had. This may seem silly to alot of you. But we just felt like it needed some freshening up. And we left most of what you know and love about the Dalhousie location - the hanging racks, our gold floral wall-paper, antler's aplenty, etc.


But we tweaked a few things. It just felt SO good to take everything off the walls and start decorating along a new theme - namely, Canadiana! You know when you come into Victoire that you'll find treasures to fall in love with on the racks and in our display cases that play in that intersection between current and timeless, romantically nostalgic yet also edgy, modern and slightly rebellious. We often say that every single piece in the shop has been hand-picked by Katie and I for you all to fall in love with. And that's reason enough to hopefully like what we have in store for you. But as an extra-special bonus, most of what you pick up or try on was made right here in Canada, lots even in Ottawa! And we think that is pretty rad, not to mention pretty rare to find...so we thought why not boast a little more overtly about what makes Victoire, and heck, all of Canada so special a little more conspicuously?


Probably the biggest change was our new shelves! With some barn wood taken from my mom's house, and a great BIG 60s school map of Canada as the focal point, we built some shelves around it with the help of Emily and her dad.


Another focal point are our provincial embroideries by Atlantic Treefox! We had always admired her Ontario embroidery, and we asked her if she would be interested in making a set of all the provinces and territories for us, and thankfully she obliged!


The changerooms were all done along a Royal Family theme. Just a few pieces for now, but this is where we can indulge our hoarding/collecting mania and just keep adding and adding pieces as we come across them until the changeroom walls are covered!


We also have a few new pieces of furniture, most exciting to me is this amazing desk! Katie snapped us hard at work/snacking, but it is so great. We can't wait for Kristal to go to town on merchandising the glassed-in part and for Emily to organize the heck outta all the handy drawers.


Anyways, hopefully you guys will all love it as much as we do! Come in to check it out while the floors are still spotless (we mopped and mopped and mopped into every little nook and cranny!) We got a couple of new deliveries too while we were closed from Elaine Ho, Copious Couture and new cards by Cracked Designs so there are definitely new goodies to snatch up too!

Face Lift

Victoire is officially open..AGAIN?!
After a two day hiatus to renovate the Dalhousie store, Victoire will be back open again on Wednesday, January 26! The store looks amazing, incredible, marvelous, unbelievable and totally wonderful!! It is super Canadiana and looks like good ol'Big Vic..but better. Got me?
The Victoire team (also Nick and Chuck) and lovely friends have been working their keesters off. Seriously, the things that were accomplished are astonishing. Katie and Regine are like Holmes on homes, Macgyver and Sarah Richardson combined.

GO BIG VIC GO!

p.s. Store is returning to normal hours

p.p.s. Come by at 11 to see it first

The Cherry on Top

Valentine's day is galloping towards us . Brandishing his arrows, his foil wrapped chocolates and his tacky teddy bears and frankly...the whole affair can be a bit intimidating.
One day to show how much you appreciate someone ? Oh geez ... the pressure of it all and if you're single ... it's a bag of Lindor chocolates and a bad Cameron Diaz movie for you on the 14th. Valentine's kitsch can be fun but I think it would be cool if people just chose a random day .. maybe plucked a date out of a hat or something.. .A day in which to appreciate the people in their lives not only significant others ... but best friends, family... the people that put the cherries on top o' the sundae o' life.

Victoire and Sycamore Street Press have just the little token of appreciation that says , "Hey, you're pretty ok."

For the friends that sit and watch three movies (consecutively) with you on a Saturday night.. and who come bearing Sour Wine Gums, there is this card




Why not mail a party invite instead of doing the ol' facebook invite ? You (insert name here) are cordially invited to hit the town with me on a day of your choosing... woot. woot.



For the lovebunnies out there, this one is especially cute ... and it doesn't have a Shopper's Drug Mart poem on the front (bonus !)



Holy Beard ! - Unrelated .. but check this guys out !
Bliss in a Teacup ( Check out their cool kitsch via the Bliss in a Teacup link -left)


Crochet Beard !

And I leave you with that.

Crystal Method

I am so very excited to see Genevieve Savard's new line of bags and clothing in the store. It is simply mind blowing. A perfect combination of function, fashion, sci-fi, and the dark arts. What more could you ask for? Here's a little taste of what we have in the store right now.

DARK CRYSTAL BAG $370

This bag has inspired me to snuggle up at home and re watch Jim Henson's Dark Crystal. What a great movie and it gives me another excuse not to venture out into the cold.

New Complex Geometries!

When I was young, my mom owned a thrift shop in my small hometown just outside of Sudbury, Ontario. Though my mom was always excited to find me glow in the dark dog sweaters and jeans in my size that I could wear to school, I was always excited by silly oversized woman and mens pieces that I could belt, tie, rip up or staple (not the proudest of memories but really quite efficient if you really think about it...) into shapes I felt represented me a bit better (though 'glow in the dark puppies' is a pretty accurate representation, I must admit).

Complex Geometries, however, takes this playful DIY spirit to the next level - by handing over the reins to YOU.

Every CG garment provides you with the tools to make it your own, like the Choke Dress, for example, which has two halter-style straps and armholes that can be worn and tied a number of ways.

or you can work with the armholes and wear it as an off shoulder piece like I did here:

Super comfortable and the epitome of versatility, but the fun part is trying it on and making it work around you. So stop by! The Dalhousie shop has all kinds of new pieces for you to experiment with - no stapling needed.

Go west my friends, Go west!

The Dalhousie shop will be closed this Monday and Tuesday. We are giving the shop a much needed face-lift. The shop is gonna have a Canadiana theme to match our obsession with Canadian designers. Come in on Wednesday and see the shop in all its glory!!

Here are some new things for you to get a feel for the new vibe:

We are so in love with this gruesome northern scene.


I have wanted these my whole life!


Lots of British Royals, don't tell my Irish grandmother!

In the mean time, go west for your Victoire fix. Open Tuesday 11-6pm.
xoxo

toast.

If you haven't seen the movie Black Swan. See it.
If you haven't watched this video. Watch it.
Listen: Loud.




PS- This song is cut from a 30 minute "short" movie by Kanye called Runaway

????

Another quick re-merchandising project: the side table at Westboro! I've been reading this old history book called 'Winds of Change' that I found in a dumpster last year and it has the most amazing pictures/maps/diagrams so I drew some inspiration from it. I took before/after pictures just to make it even more DRAMATIC (even though I used a lot of the same structural pieces - making it LESS DRAMATIC. So your reaction should be NEUTRAL at least - haha.)

And here I am taking pictures with a vintage ceramic little boy head? I don't know why I grabbed it as a prop, but I totally thought it was a man's head when I was taking the pictures. :x

(I just bought this Josiane Perron dress that I'm wearing in the photos. So awesome! It has tiny golden feather pattern all over it and comes with a belt! On sale of $109 and we have more.)

Worst post ever? ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

New things!

These days lately where I've had lots of time to try on lots of clothes and take lots of pictures are really fun, but bad for my bank account! Once again this week I have a new wish list that I can't wait to get my hands on.


But seriously, how amazing is this cardigan/blazer hybrid from Ursa Minor? (120$) The way it falls, and the way it manages to be cozy yet still sharp is truly a feat.

Some new Steel Magnolias as well, I really really like this batch alot. They all seem like relics from weird cults. I wanna be in the Snake Man cult!


Steel Magnolias, 29-35$


Steel Magnolia rings, 14-29$. The one in the middle is an awesome 3D bird! I need more fingers so I can wear more rings goddammit!


Vintage boots, size 8 1/2, 49$. These are soooo perfect! And I know lots of you out there wear 8 1/2 you lucky little princess feet!


Now these puppies are actually 2 seperate things. Which is what makes them so amazing! The boots are size 6 1/2 (49$), but the chains are seperate and adjustable (29$), so they fit everyone, and you can wear them with all your boots, every day, and you can be "that cool girl who wears chains on her boots every day".


Vintage leopard print scarf, 12$


And a Davey Crocket fur hat! Man this is such a great vintage find. I'm not sure if wearing it askew with the tail to the side is the proper way to wear this, but I really wanted you guys to see the tail.

But word to the wise: Unless you wanna be known as "that kinda crazy girl who wears too many animal-related things all at once", I suggest you do not wear them together. They're banging enough pieces to stand on their own. Unless you kinda like people thinking you're crazy. Which I do think is kinda cool on second thought. Actually, you shouldn't listen to anything I say. A few paragraphs ago I just said I wanted to join the Snake Man cult. Oh brother.

Miss you Sage!

Just saw this on Lake Jane, I haven't been updated on Glee since Sage left. I miss my pop culture updates from Sage!!



I want to watch a Glee marathon! Need to hang with that friend that has Rogers on demand...

SPOON ME

"Georgina Baker - The Jewellery Maker"

I love spooning. That doesn't have much to do with the designer Georgina Baker, but we do carry her Family Silver, Antique Clusters, Treasure Chests, and Silver Teeth collection of jewellery here at Victoire. And guess what she re-purposes? SPOONS and a whole bunch more family heirlooms and nic-nacs.

We just got new necklaces, earrings and bracelets in. I suggest you come by and swoon over them. They are vintage inspired and some have semi-precious stones and charms too. They are real treasures and good keepsakes.. especially if you get one with charms from where you or family members are originally from (Scotland..Grandpa Calder?).

Oh, the memories...

Family Silver, $65

Silver Teeth, $ 44

Family Silver, $65

Treasure Chests, $ 65-75

Antique Clusters, $ 64-65

As Ronald McDonald once said.."I'm Lovin' It".

mmm..McDonald's....hmm..

xoxoxox

Evil Hoodoo

I've been MIA from the blog lately due to a week long cruise vacation (oh man!) but also thanks to a new position I've been getting used to here in the store. Since Katie and Reg have been busy bodies between both stores, they've asked me to take overmerchandising duties around both stores.

Since then, I've been spending extra time twig hunting in the woods and crawling around in the creepy basement trying to put displays together that I hope you guys will enjoy. My first task was to display all of the new items we just received from the wonderful Audrey Cantwell. I decided to use the vanity that's in front of the Dalhousie store. I lugged some creepy things from home (notably, that awesome navajo-style patterned rug in the shadowbox!) and some black feathers I had laying around from Halloween. And this is what I managed to came up with:



I tried to make it as voodoo/gypsy ritual-esque as possible, which is why things are places so symmetrically. The creepy birdnests in the front have little necklaces and creepy charms in them too. I worked with a lot of dark colors, so it was kind of hard to take pictures of but I'm happy with how it turned out! Audrey's jewlery also comes attached to these amazing tarot cards, so it was super easy to play off of them.

Audrey turbans have been selling so quickly! $28 each.

I'll be posting my projects on here as I finish them, so if you've got any comments, tips or inspirational pics for me - let me know!

And just because:

What do Bill Murray and Victoire have in common?

Hmmm not much.. except for they BOTH fall under the category of "my favourite things"( Well now that you've been tricked into thinking you're going to be hearing tales of celebrity glamour ... you might as well read on.

As it gets face freezingly cold out there and we contemplate wearing the grade six cover your whole face robber hats, we need to seek comfort from the cold somehow. Why not find this comfort in thinking about your favourite things ?

Here are some of my favourite things . Thinking about them makes me feel less cold when the January wind gets abusive and my hood keeps falling over my "after the dentist kind of numb" face.

Here goes. My favourite things.
The new show Pick a Puppy- enough said

Christian Bale in The Fighter = epic performance featuring one fantastic Balian bald spot

The possibility of chunky pigs as pets (I like this)

Victoire's cocktail rings.



MizDragonfly Cocktail rings at 45$

The comfort a of Beaver Tail after a particularly humiliating skate on the canal.

Non Spencer Pratt oriented crystal Bling.


From left: Brass chain necklace is the Edmoure Ralph Alfie -60$, Faith and Fortune Jessica Necklace- 80$

Cozy winter sweaters by Preloved.

The show "Art Attack" and the way the British host said "PVA glue"

Witnessing winter ice wipe outs as I sit inside Bridgehead sipping my hot chocolate. (bad person?)

This, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and the comfort of being in Victoire among all things lovely helps me to "literally plough"(clever, clever haha) through winter.

Victoire wants to hear what brings you a little piece of california dreaming when you're kicking the car poop from off of your winter chariot.
Post a comment and let us know.
Is there an item you covet at Victoire or that you already have from the store that just makes you smile ?
Or is it a song, a person or the prospect of a vacation that wards away the cold?
Let us know !
Seriously, post it like the postman .