Street Style: Marie Michell



The boots were what grabbed my attention.

Meet Marie Michell. I ran into her on my way to work yesterday, and I had to stop her to ask about her boots. They were the perfect shade of grey, with a tiny bit of cute corset-style lacing at the top on the side.

She told me she found them, at all places, at Sears in the summer. You could have knocked me over with a feather! Sears is definitely not the place I was expecting her to tell me she found this fabulous, fashion-forward fall footwear!

She was also wearing an absolutely darling little hippie-print dress* and tights. She told me she had just dropped her kids off at school and had taken the day off. If more moms made the effort to look this cute to just drop off their kids, I'd be out of a job!

Marie is a very sweet and stylish woman, and we have plans to meet up for drinks in the near future.

What do you think?

*Marie, if you're reading this, please tell me in the comments where your dress is from!

Fashion of the Fringe: Brad MacNeil

OK, so remember how yesterday I talked about Brad MacNeil being my Fringe crush? Just look at him, people. He dressed like this every night. Not only was he charming and hilarious as the cohost of Chats With Cat in the beer tent, he looked incredibly dapper doing so. His outfits were usually variations of the above theme—dress shirt, blazer, jeans, good shoes. He's effortless and comfortable, with the right degree of style.

More than once I caught myself peeking at his ring finger. (Which, I'm sad to report, has a band on it.) But look how handsome!

I'm going to be putting in some serious work on the blog over the next few days—the movers have come and got my stuff, and I don't get it back until next Wednesday. The only thing I have to entertain myself is the internet. So I might as well blog!

Fashion of the Fringe: Joseph Bembridge

Joseph is a dancer with Inertia Productions presentation of The Duck Wife, which I wrote about here .


What can I say? Just look how cute he is! So put together... His shirt makes me think about doing a DIY thing with an old V-neck American Apparel T-shirt that I have.


I love his look.


I also love that this is the first Fashion of the Fringe photo I've taken that's half decent. Small victories.

Fashion of the Fringe: Bob Wiseman

This is Bob. Bob used to be in a little Canadian band known as Blue Rodeo. Bob is very cute. Bob dresses like an adorable person. I love to see him around the Fringe to see what he’s wearing.


Bob’s show, ACTIONABLE, is a blend of songs, words and PowerPoint presentations reflecting on litigious situations Bob has landed in since embarking on his solo career in 1991. Often funny, sometimes poignant, this show is a must-see for any musician.


I wasn’t familiar with Bob’s solo work before seeing his show, and afterwards I immediately emailed Dave Tough, the pianist for my band (The Inbetweenies), to tell him how much his songs reminded me of Bob’s. He sent me the following response:


“Bob Wiseman was a huge influence/idol of mine about 20 years ago when his first solo stuff appeared, so I'm unsurprised and pleased at the comparison. I opened for him in the fall at the Black Sheep.”


So I have only one degree of separation, musically, from Bob Wiseman! Cool!


Anyway, about his outfit… It could have been clashing, it could have been garish, but it just all worked together so perfectly. The yellow of the shirt was the same intensity of the red of the tie, and both colours were tied together by the plaid in the pants.


ACTIONABLE has three more shows at the Mercury Lounge during the Fringe Festival, tonight at 7:15, Saturday afternoon at 1:00 and Sunday afternoon at 2:45. It’s $10.00 at the door, plus your Fringe button. If Fringe isn't really your thing, you can catch Bob at Raw Sugar tonight for a $10.00 c0ver.
 

Fashion of the Fringe: Thea Nikolic

This girl knows how to dress. Every time I’ve seen her at the Fringe festival, I have been completely blown away by what she was wearing. And this little 1940s-style ensemble is no exception.


Thea isn’t involved in any shows at Fringe this year, but she is adjudicating and apparently taking bribes. Just look for this very well-dressed young lady. She’ll probably be carrying around her new iPhone.

Fashion of the Fringe: Elisabeth Scholtz

It’s been raining during the Fringe festival. It’s been raining a lot. So there have been a lot of umbrellas around, but very few raincoats or nice wellies.


However, Elisabeth is a lovely exception. I spotted her across an intersection and dragged her away from crossing the road so I could take her picture.


Elisabeth is the pianist for the show Purely Cabaret (and she sings a bit too) with Lindsay Sutherland Boal (who is also brand-new on Twitter, you can follow her at @LSBChanteuse). Purely Cabaret is a beautiful show, and if you have any appreciation for music at all you should see this collection of songs from the Weimar Republic.


There are two more shows of Purely Cabaret at Academic Hall, Saturday at 6:30 and Sunday at 5:00. Tickets are $10.00 at the door, with your Fringe button.

Fashion of the Fringe: Amy DiDomenico

At the pre-opening party, I spotted Amy talking to a couple of Ottawa Fringe Festival office staffers who I knew in a very round-about way - but well enough to warrant breaking in on their conversation a little (a lot) in order to compliment Amy on her outfit and ask for her picture for the blog.


She seemed a little flabbergasted that I would want to take her picture, but just look at her! How could I not take her picture? She looks great!


Amy looks the way I imagine all people involved in theatre look all the time.


Amy's show, Breaking Down In America, is playing at The Velvet Room on York Street. You've got one more chance to see it—Friday the 25th at 7:30. It's $10.00 at the door (plus the cost of your Fringe Festival button).


You can see a trailer for the show here and read the Fully Fringed review by Lauryn Kronik here.

Fashion of the Fringe: Ray Besharah & Sterling Lynch

OK, I know, I know. They’re promoting their show. But come on. Let a sister have her moment when two handsome men in suits are smouldering at her, via camera lens.


It’s not a bad thing to be the only two men in suits at a party. They were surrounded by women whenever I glanced their way. (Although, I was batting my eyes pretty hard, so who knows what I was looking at?)


Ray and Sterling are in G-Men Defectives, which is playing in the Janigan Studio at Ottawa Little Theatre. There are six more shows, starting today through Sunday, with two shows on Saturday. As usual, show times can be found on the Fringe website, and tickets are $10.00 at the door with your Fringe button.


I can't say much else right now; I'm too busy swooning.

Fashion of the Fringe: Jonno Katz

Jonno Katz is the man behind the one-man show Cactus: The Seduction...


An hilarious actor in a great show, Jonno brings a huge amount of energy both to his performance and to the Ottawa Fringe Courtyard between shows. One night he also brought this really cute sweater, so I had to take his picture.


Jonno has four more shows at Café Alt, today through Sunday (check the Ottawa Fringe website for exact times). Your Fringe Festival pin plus $10.00 will get you in, catch this must-see show while you can! He's from Australia, so you might not get a chance again for years and years...

Fashion of the Fringe: Erika Morey

Erika is this amazing little spitfire–brilliant, sweet, charming, talented. And if that’s not enough, she’s not even twenty. She’s the stage manager of two shows at this year’s Fringe Festival–Mixing Boal: Kitchen of the Oppressed (which I talked about here) and Deliver’d From Nowhere.

I spotted her in this adorable black dress with lace sleeves at one of the Fringe parties, and had to take her picture!

Deliver’d From Nowhere has six more shows at Janigan Studio in the Ottawa Little Theatre, tonight through Sunday (with two shows on Saturday). Check out the Fringe website for times. $10.00 at the door, plus your Fringe button, of course!

Fashion of the Fringe: Kiersten Hanly

Kiersten plays Juliet in The Counterpoint Player's production of Mixing Boal: Kitchen of the Oppressed.

I spotted her at Thursday night's beer tent festivities in this adorable little getup. Her blue cotton shirtdress with ruffled sleeves and gathered neckline, sandals, and simple, unfussy bag were perfect for a party on damp ground late into the night in the Ottawa Fringe Courtyard.

Fashion of the Fringe: A Super-cute Necklace!

On the pre-opening night of the Fringe Festival (yeah, I get invited to VIP parties), it was pouring rain. Absolutely pouring. So the masses of actors, producers, directors and other various hangers-on (me and Andrew included in that) were huddled under the tent, drinking their way through free drink tickets, dancing to a ragtime band, socializing and generally having a grand old pre-opening the Fringe party.

Due to the rain, not a lot of people busted out their fineries and fripperies (although there is much, much more to come on that note), I did spot this great necklace. It belongs to Crystal Quarrington, and she got it at Ardene, of all places! Who says you can't find cute stuff at the mall? (I mean, besides me, of course...)

There's lots more to come, fashion-blogging wise and more, from the Fringe. I've got thoughts on costumes. I've taken pictures of people at parties. Unfortunately all these parties have left me very little time to write. (I am, at the moment, sucking up the Fringe bandwidth writing this from the beer tent/courtyard.)

Go Loco Croquet Tournament Style: Patricia Barr & Jason Bellaire

Last night I was fortunate enough to attend the Go Loco Croquet Tournament (as a photographer with Ottawa Tonite), which was put on by the Third Wall Theatre Company at Earnscliffe , the residence of the British High Commissioner to Canada.


There will be a story up on Ottawa Tonite in the very near future about the event (written by my ever-clever and super partner Andrew Snowdon), but I did catch a few excellent fashions while I was there that I wanted to blog about here.

This is Patricia Barr and Jason Bellaire. Patricia is in charge of community relations at Wall Space Gallery (who provided some under-the-tent artwork at the croquet tournament), and Jason is an interior designer with J Squared Design (website currently under construction).


I asked them for a shot for the blog because they both just looked so damn dapper. Jason's hat (which I normally find a pretty terrible affectation) was completely event-appropriate (the British High Commissioner was wearing one very similar in shape), and although he was in jeans they were an excellent fit and not sloppy at all. The vest and rolled-sleeved* dress shirt just completed the look.


Patricia's ensemble was note-perfect as well. Her brown boots were ideal for the soaking ground, and a print dress under boyfriend jacket were exactly the right combination of classic style and nods to current trends.


Additionally, Jason was wearing some socks that I have to mention. Socks aren't usually a huge thing for me, but these were too fantastic to pass up.

I really wish this picture did these socks justice. They were purple and bright yellow. Which could easily look garish, however this socks were most certainly not on display. At Patricia's insistence, he tugged up his cuffs to give me a look. And that's how you do really bright, kind of insane prints, fellas—as linings, socks, those tiny details that are for limited viewing.


Patricia and I chatted a bit about fashion, and she let it slip that she is organizing an event at Wall Space on Wednesday, June 23rd. Socially Savvy Style is a fashion fundraiser for Therapeutic & Educational Living Centres Inc. (TELCI), and will feature a fashion show with clothing from HUSH. Tickets are only $10.00 and are available at Wall Space Gallery, HUSH Clothing or from Starfish Events.


I'll be there with the proverbial bells on—you should come! You never know when the Your Sweet Bippy fashion camera is going to come out for more street style photographs. (It usually depends on how much wine I've had, but whatever.)


*Jujed, as my mother would say.