currently ooing and awing over: sassyfrass

while procrastinating on the internet during my lunch break, i stumbled upon a most wonderful thing... how to wear a fanny pack and other gay information: a fashion blog

not only is it a great homo fashion post, i am cited as inspiration/instigation for the post itself! a while back i commented that if i could be anyone's internet sugar mama, i would be jb's. we need to queer up the fashion blogging world!

if you are unaware of the awesomeness that is sassyfrass circus (aka jb) in general, i strongly recommend browsing their official website and/or tumblr. she makes awesome zines and posts about epic bike rides and all around happy times.

here are some of my favourite comics of jb's:

ah, the misguided "fat talk" discussions.


unfortunately this resounded with hundreds of people in the tumblr-sphere. it needs to be said. (for a definition of manarchists, click here)

and other awesome stuff jb makes, like zines and patches and posters for shows:

you can buy some of jb's zines here, if you're interested.

please excuse the brevity of this post seeing as my lunch hour ended... five minutes ago.

sharing the love,

exes and ohs - garconniere

what i wore: apple picking

one of my absolute favourite things to do when fall rolls around is to go apple picking. so earlier this month when my friends ben and april invited us to head up to l'île d'orléans, a twenty minute drive from québec city, i jumped at the chance! here are a few photos.

the bridge to l'île d'orléans. magnificent to visit in the fall!

the island is full of farms and orchards, and it is a great place for me to get local produce and enjoy the wonderful weather we have around this time of year. this was really wonderful, this orchard was right next to a beautiful old barn. i wish i had snapped some better pictures of the inside, but with the sun so bright and only my little point and shoot, this is all you get.







dress: vintage, thrifted in peterborough, 2007
belt: from le vestiaire, free
shoes: gift from simon, mexico city
socks: deadstock menswear! love 'em.
crinoline underskirt: thrifted



all of these were taken on september 19th, and we just finished our gigantic bag. it took us three weeks to finish our 20 pound bag of apples! we clearly overshot and should have gotten a 10 pound bag. instead we tried lots of new recipes, made apple juices and ciders, adding apples to salads, and of course making lots and lots of desserts like apple crumbles et bien sûr! des tartes tatins. i just simply cannot resist wonderful local fruit at such a good price.



also i don't think i've mentioned it before, but i started a food blog a little while ago. it's called "food i want to eat" and it mostly features recipes i want to try. expect mostly vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and/or raw recipes. check it out if you're interested in recipes.

what i wore today: homage to teddy girls

consider this an homage to a jacket, to a season, and to a stylish group of badass ladies known as the teddy girls.

after a week of intense heat at the very end of august (very unusual and quite historic for québec city) we have finally been blessed with a cool autumn breeze in the air. as much as i love summer, i must say sartorially fall has always been my favourite. it's so much fun to play with colours, layers, textures... ah, tweed, plaid, how i missed thee.

today was one of those lovely early fall days, and so i dug deep in my closet to fully enjoy the autumn air while i ran some errands. here's what i came up with.

.the outfit.

(i feel like i look a wee bit... stoned in this photo)


it's moments like these where i love volunteering in a thrift store; that saddle bag and pair of high waisted pants are my rewards.

.the jacket.

the shoulders! they are just the perfect cut for me.


and even the namesake is perfection; jules was a nickname of mine when i was younger.

this is potentially one of the best items in my closet; it can make a dress more casual, a short and pants outfit fancier, and fits me perfectly. i used to think the sleeves were too short but now i understand. when i found it years ago, i really did not appreciate the treasure i had found. i think i paid $2 for it in a thrift store in trenton, or was it peterborough? by any means, it didn't really suit my style back in 2004, but now that i am a bit older and a little less afraid of looking "serious", every fall i look forward to pulling it out and pairing it with new things. the combinations are really endless. here are two ways i wore it back in the fall of 2008.

.the inspiration.

teddy girls:


Teddy Girl, 1955. by Ken Russell






all photos by filmmaker and photographer Ken Russell

how can you see these photos and NOT want to look exactly like them? they have so much attitude, yet at the same time so much joy. i especially love how in the first and last photos, the boys are almost jealous of all the attention the teddy girls are getting, as if they wish they could be in their "club." sorry boys.

here is part of the essay that accompanied the publication of these images in picture post magazine:

These photos were taken in January 1955 in Walthamstow, Poplar and North Kensington: solidly working class areas of London. The girls photographed embody three of the great issues of the time; class, gender and youth. They are rejecting the drab costumes of class conformity and post-war austerity. They are pioneers for women looking beyond home for a place to be valued. They are young girls blazing a trail that will be followed by youth cultures for decades to come. But somehow Teddy Girls as a group remain historically almost invisible.

how great is that! pretty amazing if you ask me. i wish i could have known some of those teddy girls... hell, maybe some one you brits might have had a relative who was a teddy girl! ask around.

clearly i am not the only person to have ever been inspired by the style of these ferocious femmes. back in 2006, bust magazine had a teddy girls themed photoshoot that i enjoyed so much i scanned to share with friends. here are two:

now if only i could get someone to do my hair, the look would be complete.

old people in a cemetery

i took these pictures a long time ago (the 6th of october) and meant to post them then but have been so busy! i think i'm going to make one big post of things i've worn this fall, since it is starting to feel like winter in québec city. we've already had snow on the ground two or three times, and the wind is starting to cut right through you. trop triste. but! i do enjoy winter. i only wish the seasons were more equal in duration in this province... spring is here for a minute, summer and fall as well, but winter lingers on for months and months.



i bike past this cemetery three times a week on my way to work, and i often stop by if i have a few minutes to spare. some of the gravestones are very beautiful, and this one is probably my favourite. québec city is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) cities in north america, so needless to say there are many wonderful cemeteries throughout the city. this one is in ste. foy, where there were mostly farmlands up until about 60 years ago. by far my favourite cemetery is right near my house, where the gravestones have all aged and eroded and some even date from the 17th century. unfortunately it has been under construction since the summer so i can't go and play my ukulele like i did before.








second favourite headstone in this cemetery.





i think another reason i didn't want to post these is because i feel it is a bit strange to take photos of yourself in a cemetery where no one you know has been buried. it was strange, though, because i found a headstone with my grandmother's (married) name on it. that said, jacqueline caron is not a very rare name in québec but it still struck me.

and here is a song for you: old people in the cemetery - of montreal