Weddings are a happy time celebrating the union between two people who love each other, but the dirty little secret is weddings are met with mixed emotions; a little fear, joy and frustration. You have to buy multiple gifts, attend multiple events or if you’re a bridesmaid be forced to wear a god awful, butt ugly dress for the ceremony – trust me, I know from firsthand experience.

However, these things get interesting when you attend a non-Western wedding. In a few weeks I’ll be going to my first Indian wedding ceremony, my good friend Sabrina is getting married and I get to wear a sari to the event. I’m extremely excited at the opportunity to go – we went to university together, swapped relationship advice and skipped philosophy lectures for extended lunches at Mr. Greeks.

I’ll be writing a series of blog entries about my sari experience; shopping for it, the fitting and finally the wedding. Now, let it be known I am (by no means) an expert on saris or choosing one, but I hope my blog posts will shed a little light, expand your fashion knowledge and serve as a reference in case you have to shop for a sari in the near future. So to start things off below are a few images previewing what’s to come.

Just got my new Moo business cards in the mail yesterday and I absolutely love them - extremely quick delivery, great paper quality and a beautiful new blog logo designed by my friend, Samer.

Last week I posted some of my favourite women’s fall coats and jackets. Not one to completely abandon my male readers below is several fall coats and jackets which catch my attention. Enjoy!

Belstaff, baribal man jacket

Danier, bomber jacket

Homme by Michele Rossi, military style jacket

Mackage, grey wool plaid 'Neil' shawl collar coat

Patrik Ervell, railroad jacket

Topman, green outdoor field jacket

Images from Belstaff, Bluefly, Danier, Farfetch.com and Topman

One of the fashion trappings of the fall/winter season is to automatically begin wearing dark colours. I know many people – myself included – who fall into this habit and end up rotating regularly between the colours black, grey and white all season long. Yet, you can’t blame anyone for defaulting to these colours as it reflects our mood; everyone goes into hibernation and our dislike for the cold is evident as we grumble non-stop about the weather.

Secret has developed a line of colourful hosiery for fall 2010 which provides several ways to inject life back into your wardrobe. The collection is available in a multitude of colours and is priced affordably at $7.50 for a pair of tights and $7.95 for a pair of leggings. The entire collection is available at retailers across Canada.

I think Secret’s colourful hosiery for fall is a great idea and I intend to try some of the tights and leggings when it gets colder – which means fall is just around corner and then winter comes... noo!

Colours available: black, grey, berry, camel, blue, plum and red.

Images courtesy of Secret

Black heels are timeless and essential pieces for any women’s wardrobe, but sometimes its simplicity and versatility can get boring especially when interesting design elements are absent from the shoe.

Shoe specifications:

• Colour, black
• Outer, leather
• Heel height, 12 cm
• Shaft height, 11.5 cm

Why I chose this shoe: when I discovered this boot, by Giuseppe Zanotti, my eyes immediately fell to the zipper detail; it wasn’t stitched into the shoe as a straight vertical line – as typically seen – but it follows the curvature of the foot from the toe to ankle. Secondly, the sloping lines cut at the top of the boot add a futuristic feel to the overall look. Simple and unassuming design variations of the black heel will never be boring or go out of style.

Images Farfetch.com

For the last few weeks all I can think about is coats and jackets for fall/winter 2010. Besides summer, fall is my other favourite season of the year because it’s a time when you can really exercise your wardrobe to its fullest; layering multiple pieces of clothing on top of each other, get practical and stylish wear out of accessories, like hats and gloves and – my favourite part – pull out the leather jacket.

Below are six jackets and coats I’ve chosen which catches my attention and would make a great addition to anyone’s wardrobe. I love all the pieces and it was hard to pick just one

Alexander McQueen wool cape

Anthropologie alma mater jacket

Antonio Berardi paneled wool-blend coat

Burberry checked wool jacket

Rick Owen leather/shearing biker jacket

Sonia by Sonia Rykiel leopard print coat

Images from Anthropologie, Farfetch.com and Net-a-Porter

Roots produced a video to promote its new fall 2010 collection which was shot in Trinity Bright, Newfoundland. I like how the video captures the wild yet serene landscape of the East coast; the setting really compliments the practical and stylish uses of the clothing.

 

Video courtesy of Roots

Fashion in the News is a collection of articles and blog posts found online that catches my attention, and is in my humble opinion worth reading. Enjoy!

Finance & the Fashion Blogger: Ignore-ance (Dramatis Personae) – Ashe Mischief of Dramatis Personae wrote this entry back in April, but re-reading it again struck a chord with me as lately I’ve had to justify my spending and shopping habits – to myself and others. Fashion bloggers will “write about fashion – but we don’t often write or talk about the financial choices behind our sartorial choices.”

Alexander McQueen’s final dress (The Fashionist) – Alexander McQueen’s fall/winter 2010 collection was bittersweet – the clothing created was spectacular but the designer’s suicide was an unexpected blow to the fashion world. Now, it’s said that a “stunning silk charmeuse gown with a collar of sliver feathers (was worn) to Elton John's White Tie and Tiara Ball. Reports are now circulating that the dress was actually McQueen's final creation.”

American Apparel Shares Fall as Woes Rise (The New York Times) – “Shares in American Apparel plummeted 25.9 per cent on Tuesday, to $1.03. They have fallen 67 per cent this year.” Yet, when looking a back at American Apparel’s controversial advertisements, employee practices and the choices Dov Charney, chief executive, has made it doesn’t come as a surprise.

The Rise of the Blogger (WWD) – “Industry players said blogs have gained clout and relevance because they can post information about a company or show its product much faster than traditional media...  The blogs also serve as marketing tools that can go beyond conventional advertising, allowing brands to connect more closely with customers.”

I love it when shoes are decorated with designs such as polka dots, studs and spikes. I also like buckles and the iron lady bootie by Stuart Weitzman is a great example of the popular military chic trend coming this fall.

Shoe specifications:

• Upper, suede/leather
• Heel height, 12.5 cm with a 2.5 cm wedge
• Colour, fog suede

Why I chose this shoe: Stuart Weitzman’s iron lady bootie mixes the right amount of masculine and feminine characteristics into this shoe. Often times when the military style is applied to footwear it becomes heavy looking and removes any traces of femininity and – I think – making it hard to get enough wear out of the shoe on a regular basis. The multiple buckles on the boot are thin enough that it doesn’t overpower the design and having the entire boot in the same suede material streamlines the military look.

Images courtesy of Stuart Weitzman

The Souls of My Shoes has a new logo!!! What do you think?

I’m not missing the old logo at all. When I first started this blog the original logo was a feeble attempt of using what little graphic design/Photoshop skills I have to draw up something that was simple, staking a tiny claim on the World Wide Web – it served its purpose then, but since the blog is just over one year old (in my mind) it needed to look more age appropriate.   

Logo before (my sad attempt at graphic design)

My friend, Samer is a great graphic artist and he developed several mock-ups of the new logo. I told him the new logo was to “look good both online and in print, polished but also a bit arty, in black text.” He bore with me as we went through four designs until I decided on the final image.

Logo after (Samer’s graphic skills at work)

I am extremely happy with the end result and can’t wait to get my new business cards printed with the new logo.

If you like Samer’s work you can contact him via his LinkedIn profile or send me an e-mail at thesoulsofmyshoes[at]hotmail.com and I’ll forward your inquiry.