The Fashionist

Ten Tree: Making a difference one shirt at a time

Three young Canadian men are making a difference one shirt at a time. Regina’s own David Luba, 23, and Kalen Emsley, 23, Lucas Howlett, 19, started the company, Ten Tree Apparel, less than six months ago on a simple principle: For every shirt bought they would plant 10 trees.

Many clothing companies say their clothes are made from reusable products or that they are green but what does that mean? What do they have to show for it?

The green revolution is just a way for retailers to make more money. With bags that say “This bag is green” they are selling items that say they are green to make money. But the founders of Ten Tree Apparel are doing something tangible, they are planting ten trees for every shirt that is sold. Of course they aren’t high fashion shirts but by buying one shirt you can feel like you have made an actual difference.

Now Ten Tree is in 45 stores from Toronto to Vancouver, have partnered with the Roughriders and celebrities are wearing their distinctive brand.

Check out www.tentree.org to find out how you can help and to learn more about this innovative company.

Dress like a Royal

So April 29, 2012 marked the one year anniversary of Princess Kate and Prince William. And I know not everyone is a fan of the whole royal phenomenon but there is no denying that Kate Middleton has a fantastic sense of style, as well as being a very intelligent and caring person. So to celebrate their one year anniversary what better way than to pick a few of my favourite outfits of Kate’s. All of the outfits above can be worn either during the day to work, an afternoon out with friends or a night out on the town. 

I love the elegance of the first dress, the cream colour is refreshing and the belt cinches in nicely at the waist while also breaking up the cream colour with a bit of green, and I’m a big fan of the 3/4 sleeves. 

The second outfit of her stepping off the plane is truly perfect for anything. You could wear this to work if you work in a business casual environment, and it’s a really easy look to pull together for casual wear. I love the military feel of the buttons on the blazer paired with the frilly blouse. The dark jeans and wedges give the ensemble a casual and fun look. 

The royal blue dress is nothing short of amazing, again the 3/4 sleeve is great and this time a little lace is thrown in. This colour is fantastic and I love how the lace overlaps onto the bust of the dress. The outfit is perfectly paired with nude patent pumps that don’t over power the effect of the dress.

The last dress is probably the most inexpensive dress Kate has ever worn, this dress is $90 at Zara. Again this blue colour is great, it’s not the royal blue like the previous dress but it is still beautiful. The think black satin belt again cinches in at the waist. The way Kate wears this dress with the black jacket over-top is great for daytime and by removing the jacket this dress will really shine for a cocktail party after-work.

Arts and Fashion Week Toronto 2012-April 24-28

Have you always found any sort of Fashion Week intimidating? Maybe everyone is a little too snobby, or trying too hard to impress? That’s how Vanja Vasic felt and she decided to create her own fashion week, known as Arts and Fashion week, hosted by Fashion Art Toronto, a.ka. FAT which takes place April 24-28.

Arts and Fashion Week is a multi-arts event that centres around fashion and features 200 national and international designers, it also includes visual arts, bands and performers. There really is something for everyone, for all the art lovers, no matter what medium.

Check out the schedule here: http://fashionarttoronto.ca/2012-schedule/

CTV cancels Fashion Television after 27 years

It’s a sad day for fashion lovers everywhere. CTV has cancelled Fashion Television (FT) after 27 years on the air. The show’s host Jeanne Beker tweeted this today: “So surreal. This dream is over: After 27 glorious years, FT production ceased today. So sad to see some of my closest colleagues move on.” 

There has been no reason for halting the series. However, Bell Media has announced that Beker will stay with the company, as she tweeted: “Looking forward to working with Bellmedia + evolving FT brand.” So hopefully this won’t be the last we see of Beker and FT.

FT has been on the air for more years than I’ve been alive, I can’t imagine the fashion world without Beker’s great backstage interviews. 

In the summer I saw Beker’s exhibition of all her shoes over the course of FT at the Bata Shoe Museum. It was a wonderful exhibition and it was amazing how stories can be told through shoes.

Long live Fashion Television.

Blog #6: How am I unique?

For this blog I write about fashion, but that isn’t my true passion in life. My true passion is volunteering and being part of not-for-profits whenever I have the chance. I started to volunteer in university because I didn’t have enough time to have a job but with volunteering I could work it around my schedule. For me volunteering is much more rewarding and I learn much more than working a minimum wage summer job.

One of the biggest parts of my volunteering history is with Habitat for Humanity. I started volunteering in 2011. My first venture was with the McMaster University Habitat for Humanity Club. In February 2011 we went to South Carolina to build homes. Not only did I meet and get to know people from my own school that I didn’t know before but I also meet many great people from South Carolina. After this trip I was hooked and I did three more builds after that.

The things that I have learned through volunteering with Habitat for Humanity is:
-anything is possible, especially with a lot of team work
-it’s rewarding to give back
-gives you the confidence that you can build something tangible
-every step of the process is important
-gives you useful life skills
-no matter what your skill set you can always improve them and contribute

Not only do I enjoy volunteering but it’s a great way to update your resume. It’s a lot easier to get a volunteer position than a job, and the volunteering will be much more rewarding both personally and professionally. It will look great on a resume because it shows that you are willing to do work for free and that you like to be part of the community and give back.

Blog #5: How H&M is succeeding at social media

The three social media platforms that H&M is doing really well in are Twitter, Facebook and Google+. The way they have created successful platforms is by constantly posting pictures. This makes sense since they are a fashion retailer.

H&M uses the Facebook page to share photos of upcoming clothing lines that will be released, such as the Marni line. These photos allow for Facebook fans of H&M to see the clothing before it is available in stores.

Much like the Facebook page, the H&M Twitter page tweets pictures of their clothing. With the launch of their Marni clothing line they tweet information about what locations the line is available at. H&M’s Twitter page is largely used to answer followers questions about H&M products, shopping online or expansion plans just to name a few.

H&M is currently the biggest brand on Google+ with 530,000 users adding H&M to their circle and it continues to grow. Like the rest of the social media platforms that H&M is on they use lots of pictures because they are a fashion brand. On Google+ H&M posts pictures or video every day. H&M tells their customers that they are getting to see the look first on Google+, this gives it a sense of exclusivity.

H&M is really smart when addressing social media. They not only post content but they also listen and interact with their customers.

What other fashion brands do you think are doing a good job on social media?

Blog post #4: Marni launch at H&M

Yesterday (Thursday, March 8) was the launch of the Marni collection at H&M. I have been following the upcoming coverage of the launch. It has been highly covered by publications and blogs all over the world. After much hype about the line I decided to check out the collection online. And to be honest I’m not impressed, maybe it’s not my style but I just feel the clothing is way too over priced for what it is. In an article I read about the launch the designer of Marni, Consuelo Castiglioni, said that even though the clothing is being offered at a fraction of the price it is still of the same high quality as the full priced line. So that may be way the line is priced higher than other lines at H&M. The clothing line ranges from $24.95 to upwards of $129. This pricing isn’t bad, but for me it is too much. Maybe if I actually had a job than I would find spending that much money acceptable. Personally I just don’t like any of the prints in the collection and nothing has really wowed me. 

What do you think about the line? Is it too expensive? Do you like the prints?

Check out the collection here: http://www.hm.com/ca/