The Life & Miss-Adventures of Emme Rogers
Normally I find the fashion world to be somewhat stuffy, pretentious, neglectful of real (and healthy) bodies, and lacking in comfort and functionality. This, however, I love:
Feeling so much more sophisticated after that history lesson.
Kisses to Alyzee for whom’s youtube channel I found this on and to Westfield Stratford City for making this video. … and to the rest of you for just being you!
~ Emme xoxo
Without looking at the calendar, I would not have known July is just around the corner. The weather is just not cooperating with the season. Why is it still so gloomy? I want to get a suntan and show off my body in a bikini. It is safe to assume I will not get this opportunity soon with the sun playing hide-and-seek every alternate day.
Retro-Style Salon ~ photo by Leveret
However, there is still one thing I can do before heading down to the beach – I need to get a haircut. In my opinion, a new hairstyle can make one look completely different. I remember last summer I had this long, thick hair which took hours to dry off. Compelled by both my hairdresser’s urges and my eagerness for a big change, I decided to break up with my long hair. Surprisingly enough, I quickly fell in love with the new comer although one of my guy friends said that he liked girls with long hair more than short. Oh shoot, he just hurt my feelings. It wasn’t because I had feelings for him, but the fact that he told me so directly without even thinking about my feelings. Who would say things like that? Geez. Guys are sometimes really stupid. After that, I asked more friends about my new haircut and found out that the majority thought it suit me relatively well. I really appreciated those compliments.
My short hair in Summer 2010 ~ Photo by Melissa Lui
Anyway, now I am at the point where I am not sure whether I should keep my hair long or short. It is always quite a struggle for me to decide, because I am afraid of the result. This is probably why so many people have nightmares about getting a bad haircut! Plus, my hair just grows very quickly. Very soon, it will become like a sponge again (very thick). I’m pretty lazy. I do not want to give up my beauty sleep, so I just take a shower at night and wake up with a pretty messed-up bundle of hair. And yet, after only a few combs — that’s all the ‘styling’ I’m prepared to do — I’m good to go. Therefore, I usually look for hairstyles that do not require much work such as gelling or blow-drying.
"Which is the most trendy hair style?" ~ Photo by Reggaedori
After looking through magazines, I have come to the conclusion that regardless of long or short, there are popular looks for every ‘do. With so many different hair styles out there, the most important point of searching is to find the one that you like and willing to give a shot. Ladies, we gotta be more confident in our decisions. It’s our life after all, not someone else’s. If someone — tactless guys included — does not like your hair style, it’s not the end of the world, because there is surely someone else that does; similarly to dating!
When I was young, I liked to look around my parents’ closet — especially my mum’s — to search for some pretty clothes and shoes. My sister and I would try on different things and walk around the house like a model on the runway. One of our favourites was to wear mum’s high heels and try walking in them. It was hard for us to walk in heels, because our feet were too small for the heels; however, we so loved the feeling of being tall.
As the years passed, my sister and I played dress-up much less often. I no longer needed to try on my mum’s high heels to feel tall – I was growing rapidly without them. More importantly, my mum told me that she could no longer wear high heels because when she was young, she wore them too much causing her many problems. Opting for happy feet, I tried to avoid wearing high heels as much as possible. In fact I never attempted high heels again until decorum called for them at my high school graduation ceremony.
Shenzhen, a busy city with great shoe deals. - Photo by Yuan2003
I remembered my first pair of high heels while walking around the malls with my sister, shopping for a pair of heels for prom. It was in Shenzen, where, according to my mum, stores offer wider selections and better deals. She was right. I got a pair of golden-silver heels for a price that would be considered a blind steal in Vancouver, and without having to search too hard. They weren’t the ones with just one little spike at the end to support the whole body, instead they had a little platform at the bottom shaped like a slide. Thinking about it now, I am not sure whether the heels that I got are qualified high heels, but they had the lifting function, and that’s good enough for me.
My high heels don't look all that high next to my sister's
Anyway, I spent at least two days (grad and prom) in my heels, walking around to take pictures with various of people. It was just a painful experience. First of all, I had never worn high heels outside, so before grad and prom, I had to practice walking in them. At first, I walked like a baby who just had learned to walk. I was trembling and needed to hold onto somewhere while I walked. I improved slowly, but still could not walk as normally as I would like. Also, after every bit of walking, I felt like my toes were no longer a part of my feet because my whole body was balanced painfully upon them. My poor little toes were doing what I was used to having my entire sole for, and I could really not stand the pain.
Walking in heels felt like my first steps all over again. Photo by: Sugar Pond
Moreover, my heels were not that good in terms of quality because they were cheap. Let me tell you: if you buy anything, keep in mind that quality should be the priority, not the price (but there are a few exceptions). Lastly, I did need to walk up and down some stairs. Mine were not stiletto heels, so I was not scared that they would get caught between steps. However, because of my nervousness and the unsteadiness of the heels, it was possible that I could stumble and fall onto my face in front of hundreds of students and parents. I did not want that to happen; so, I took every step carefully and slowly. Despite my discomfort, after looking at the pictures, I did feel like the heels made my legs a lot slimmer and longer. That was definitely a bonus, but was it worth all the pain? Go figure. I guess girls who wear high heels on a rainy day, walking through the muddy roads on the campus must have practiced a lot. If not how could they run and catch the bus? I do not think I could ever do that. To me, wearing high heels are similar to walking up a very steep hill. Both of them are hard-work, and I avoid them if I possibly can.
Douglas Coupland raises a very good question here:
I’ve always loved books more then movies, as they’ve allowed my mind to build the characters and set the scene. Which begs the question, have I shown too much of myself here? Should I have left more to the imagination?
The brain is such a sexy thing, at least I think so. So when one of Canada’s most forward thinking citizens was invited by Roots to design his own fashion line, I just had to see what he came up with and garner an invite for what promised to be a most interesting clothing launch.
RootsxDouglasCoupland Collection
Roots and Douglas Coupland are Canadian icons and arguably have each played a part in defining what it is to be ‘Canadian’ in the global market. So what happens when they come together to define Canadiana in 2010, using fashion as the medium? In the words of Douglas Coupland, “one big fashion art experiment”. Is this even possible, in a vast country such as ours, defined by unique culture in each of our geographically distinct regions? According to Coupland, Roots has done that in an ‘outdoorsy’ sense – setting a culture of birch bark, beaver and moose, and I’d tend to agree with that, especially as far as the great outdoors of Eastern Canada and cottage country are concerned. I’d also, note here that this is part of what I’ve loved about Roots – it’s always represented us in the same way as maple syrup (from the East) or smoked salmon (from the West).
What Coupland wants to define with this collection is the ‘indoorsy’ way of being Canadian. I find this interesting. As it is our outdoors, rugged terrain and extreme climates that define Canada to me – at least the unifying aspects of it, including our art. It is also the ‘outdoorsy’ and natural elements of Douglas Coupland’s art that appeal to me. I love Coupland’s new orca sculpture that seems to be a giant lego monument to Westcoast Culture, constantly changing with the light and your perspective on it. Similarly Coupland’s WOODEN building blocks make me smile and feel happy inside. Who knows though, maybe it is simply that lego, building blogs and Roots all remind me fondly of my childhood. I’d still argue that their outdoorsy elements are just as much a part of the draw for me though, and the simplicity of it all.
Coupland signing one of his pieces at the Vancouver Launch.
So did Douglas Coupland define what it means to be Canadian, in indoorsy terms? Well, that dear readers is for you as individuals to decide. For me this is a most interesting art exhibit in fashion. As a Canadian, it made me question how I would define us as a country and how I’d define myself as an individual. I highly encourage you all to go take a gander at the collection and tell me, how would you define us as Canadians, fashionably speaking?
RootsxDouglasCoupland Collection
