BUBBLY @ THE BE-BOP BAR

This week I celebrated my debut “Girls Night” party @ The Be-Bop Bar, Moss Park edition.  Terry & I welcomed my friends, party guru Val Dooley (Parties Without Borders), journalist/author Rosie Levine (The Peace Project) and Patti Habib (The Bamboo).  It was such a great way to launch our holiday celebrations and the Be-Bop Bar, Moss Park edition.

ML, Val Dooley, Rosie Levine, Patti Habib

Val, Terry & Rosie

Your home is beautiful and full of love, life and colour!  With love, peace & LIMOGE Bridal Rose!

Your home is so full of love and festive touches.    

It was so much fun, and your home is, indeed, beautiful and of course, filled with love and cheer. Bubbly and laughter with friends makes for an uplifting evening.

FASHION CREDITS:      MaryLenore

Vintage Vivienne Tam fishnet, beaded slip dress @ Patina Soho, New York
Black slip @ Victoria’s Secret
Vintage 1960’s black leather Go Go boots @ Deco to Disco Tulsa, OK
Vintage 1970's beaded and glitter bracelet, a gift from Imogene Nichols

 

Best Dressed:  Check out Val’s gorgeous vintage multi-coloured suede shoes. 

When I asked where she found them I received a discreet, “Darling, I never reveal my sources”.

MOSS PARK, POLITICAL COMMENT:

After the recent major gun bust in Toronto this week, Councilor Doug Ford – commented on living conditions in one of the high rises where the guns were discovered in the Jane/Finch corridor. I am paraphrasing but the thrust of the observation was:  “We’ve received complaints from hundreds of tenants….  People were smoking marijuana in the hallways, if you can believe it.  Also in the stairwells….. Just unacceptable”.

I think Councilor Ford should pay a visit to 201 where discarded needles are found in the stairways.  Our worries are not of people smoking marijuana in the hallways but users having a bad reaction to the heroin they have shot in our stairwells and foaming at the mouth and convulsing in our hallways.  

Happy Holidays, Be-Bop Bar 2011

OPENHEARTS SOCIETY: MAKE THAT A DOUBLE

Oh Susanna’s annual holiday concert @ Hugh’s Room was a huge success.  A sold out show with a stellar list of Suzie’s friends joining her on stage including Open Hearts Society, The Abram Brothers, Lori Yates, Basil Donavan (Blue Rodeo), David Baxter and many more. 

FASHION CREDITS:      MaryLenore

1950’s styled dress, Betty Paige @ Katy K Designs, Nashville, TN

Vintage linen day hat @ Antique Corner Mall, Goodlettsville, TN

Vintage pearl drop earring on Queen St West

Oxford patent leather pumps, Gianni Bini @ Macy’s, Nashville, TN

Bazil Donavon (Blue Rodeo)

Bazil’s vintage checked gingham shirt was a gift from guitarist David Baxter. 

Elijah & Carly

Best dressed couple:  Former Wolf Island residents, Carly Feeney & Elijah Abrams.  I just loved Elijah’s Pucci inspired vintage tie, a gift from Sarah McDermott.

LOCATION:      OPEN HEARTS SOCIETY @ THE PISTON

Sarah McDermott (Openhearts Society)

FASHION CREDITS:      Sarah McDermott (Openhearts Society)

Jeans, U Stars @ Giant Tiger

Vintage pinstriped wool vest @ Sally Ann, Kingston, ON

Grey shirt @ Sally Ann, Kingston, ON

Mexican turquoise necklace, a gift

Vintage pewter Poppy necklace

Mexican silver bracelets

60 vintage brass wrap hoop earrings in NYC

Vintage baked Art Deco bracelet

Hawaiian prayer bracelets

Boots, Miss Sixty

FASHION CREDITS:      MaryLenore

Vintage dress, a gift from Sarah McDermott

Vintage beaver and velvet hat, my Alabama ‘precious hat’ found at  @ little church shop

Vintage glass beaded necklace, a gift.

Chris Brown (Openhearts Society)

Eric Schenkman (Openhearts Society)

Robert Graham, Sarah McDermott, Dave Wall & Eric Schenkman

Ran into ex Wolfe Islander Robert Graham at the show.  Chris Brown produced Robert’s debut CD Storm In A Teacup.  He is performing next week in Toronto: December 19^th @ The Old Nick (Danforth/Broadview)

Robert Graham

MOSS PARK, NEIGHBOURHOOD OBSERVATIONS     

The 51 Division Canine (K-9) patrol was out in force Friday checking out various apartments @ 201.  Not sure what they were looking for exactly, but it’s probably not a good thing they are scrutinizing some of our neighbours’ apartments.

TABBY JOHNSON @ THE FLYING BEAVER

It is a privilege to give a shout-out to neighbourhood supper club The Flying Beaver Puberat (Parliament/Carlton).  Not a Moss Park shout-out, but pretty darned close (Cabbagetown).  Tonight I attended a sold-out show, in the hood, with Toronto’s much-loved Tabby Johnson. 

ML, Tabby Johnson, Patti Habib, Rosie Levine

I am embarrassed to admit it was my first time seeing Ms. Johnson perform.  How could this be with my long history in the Toronto indie music scene – I am baffled.

I was absolutely taken by her quirky style, her vocal talents, her humour plus an entertaining perspective into her celebrated history in the international music scene.  She is working on a new show and I had the privilege of witnessing the first installment tonight @ The Beaver.  It promises to be enlightening and humourous retrospect of Ms. Johnson’s life.

I look forward to additional entertaining chapters revealed with her upcoming monthly performances in 2012.

A special shout-out to my new FBF, Maggie @ The Flying Beaver.  Thanks for your kind hospitality.  What an utter joy to see fried pickles on the menu.  An absolute first for Terry & I here in Toronto.   Fried dill pickles is the Nashville food we miss the  most. 

Fashion Notes:  Tabby was wearing a lovely vintage blue velvet evening coat for the performance.  My apologies for not getting a  shot, Terry you were missed... 



KINGPIN VINTAGE POP-UP SHOP @ CABARET BOUTIQUE

Terry & I attended the opening party for the Kingpin Vintage pop-up shop in Cabaret Boutique on Queen Street West.  Kingpin is unique in the vintage world in that they specialize in vintage clothing for men.  What a treat for Terry. Racks, & racks of men's vintage shirts, pants, suits, ties, cuff links.  What a welcome change for men & vintage. 

Jonathan, MaryLenore, Tao & Terry

FASHION CREDITS 

ML: Corseted full-length leather coat @ Northbound Leather.
ML: Mink cape, Beloved inherited vintage from Grandma Lenore
Terry: Vintage dress coat, Harry Rosen @ King of Kensington

MaryLenore & Jonathan Hagey (Kingpin)

Cabaret is one of my absolute favourite vintage stores in Toronto.  They carry exclusive, high end items that are guaranteed to be one of a kind.  My only disappointment of the night, I finally tried on my 2 top ‘wish list’ items at Cabaret:  a gorgeous, velvet Valentino evening gown and an elegant, Cannes inspired French bathing suit.  The Valentino was way too big and the bathing suit, just a little too small.  

Cabaret owner, Tao did bring to my attention a couple of other dresses that certainly struck my fancy.  He has such an expert eye in terms of picking a frock that works perfectly for you.  I am happy to report that I have found two new exquisite Cabaret vintage items to add to my wish list. I also found a great item for Terry @ Kinpin that should make it into his Christmas presents this season.
 

MaryLenore & Tao Drayton (Cabaret)

Fashion Credit:  MaryLenore

Vintage dress, a gift from Sarah McDermott (Openhearts Society)

Check out Jonathan's fabulous tie

Gentlemen:Thanks for a fun evening of fashion, friends and the best reason of all: an extensive range of men’s vintage attire options for Terry.



LIFE, LOVE & BIG RUDE JAKE @ THE LIBERTY CAFE

Background:  I was originally going to post this the weekend Terry & I attended Big Rude Jake’s awesome show @ The Liberty Café.  I knew Jake was planning a live recording session in November and thought it best to wait until I had his concert details to share with y’all (by the wayTerry’s only contribution to this particular posting).

It’s the publicist in me, Big Rude Jake and Be-Bop Communications have a long history and I just needed to wait to display his great fashion style, until I could promote his upcoming live CD recording too.   

Details include:   Big Rude Jake performs 2 shows @ The Drake Hotel on Sunday, November the 20^th.  Full event information at the bottom of the blog.

Big Rude Jake, MaryLenore & Terry @ Liberty

Fashion Credits:      Big Rude Jake

Shirt @ Zellers

Jacket and Trousers @ Value Village, Toronto, ON

Tie, unknown (gift).

Fashion Credits:      MaryLenore

Skirt, Ralph Lauren @ Macy’s NYC

Mohair, lace & wool  mock capelette sweater, Nanette Lepore @ Nanette Lepore Las Vegas, NV

Black body suit, Wolford Hosiery @ Designer Finds  Nashville, TN

Black feathered felt hat @ Fleur de Paris New Orleans, LA

Fashion Credits:      Terry

Vintage tuxedo jacket @ Flashbacks  Nashville, TN

Black t-shirt @ Macys Nashville, TN

Pocket square @ Model Citizen Toronto, ON

Black stretch f**king jeans, Lip Service @ Katy K’s Ranch Dressing  Nashville, TN

I had to include this shot to highlight Big Rude Jake’s fancy footwear.

Fashion Credits:Footwear

The shoes are a birthday gift from Jake's wife: vegan shoes designed to look like leather ox-blood wig tips.

MaryLenore, Boots @ Steve Madden

As promised here are the complete details for Big Rude Jake’s upcoming shows, Sunday November the 20^th @ The Drake Hotel (Queen St West). 

It's the live recording of the new Big Rude Jake album,   Jake at the Drake: This is Jump City! Featuring a seven piece band, four back-up singers and tons of special guests! ... Doors at 7pm. The recording will start at 7:30. We'll run the whole album twice, over two separate sets, so if you can't make the 7:30 start, come for 9pm when we do it all again!!! The album is a combination of greatest hits along with four new dance tunes and at least 2 classic cover songs. This is the party album people have been requesting for years. FIRST 75 people through the door get in FREE! Come by and make some noise! Get the sound of your voice on our CD! Inspire the band with your enthusiasm! Help make this the greatest live CD ever! The Jump City Crusaders: Kevin Barrett, Alison Young, James Stager, Howard Moore , Wes Neal & Glenn Anderson Joined by fabulous singers: Gillian Margot, Julie Michels, Sophia Perlman & Terra Hazelton and a few SURPRISES!

Co-incidentally, November 20^th is my birthday. Jake, you now have a record two for two as far as the perfect date choice.  Thank you.  It’s a date.

You’ll find Terry & I  swinging to your rhythm,  out on the Drake dance floor, decked out in our finest vintage attire to honor the occasion(s).  Cheers.

BEST VINTAGE FIND OF THE SEASON

Anyone living in Toronto who loves vintage knows there is a treasure of finds in Kensington Market. This weekend our goal was to find Terry a winter dress coat. Having just moved to T.O. from Nashville, Tennessee he did not have anything in his wardrobe to handle a frosty Canadian winter. I figured Kensington would be the best place to start and wonders of wonder we found him the absolute best, most fabulous winter coat ever!!!  Check it out.

Harry Rosen Elegance

A double-breasted, black wool HARRY ROSEN dress coat.  A special thanks to Richard @ King of Kensington vintage for his expertise, enthusiasm and generosity.

We also had the pleasure to meet Rogerio - Rogerio brings triple the vintage expertise to the market; he is the owner of not only the King of Kensington but Flashback and Flashback2.  Rogerio, I can not get the image of the Victorian black velvet cape out of my mind.  It is definitely making it onto my Christmas wish list this year.

MaryLenore loves Harry BUT



MaryLenore prefers Terry wearing Harry

ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW

Terry & I attended The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Lower Ossington Theater on October 29th.  Being a long time RHPS fan, I was looking forward to seeing the Toronto live version. 

Getting ready:

Custom Made Crinoline:  Katy K Designs

Leather Corset:  DeMaske

We decided to have Terry dress as a Transylvanian, and I would be a combination of The Transylvanian's "Offical Plus One" while also giving a shout out to 'The Floor Show' segment in the film. 

FASHION CREDITS (Terry)

Black PVC Pants, Lip Service

Vintage Tuxedo Jacket, @ Flashbacks, Nashville, TN

Vintage Tuxedo Shirt, @ Flashbacks, Nashville, TN

Vintage Wing Tip Shows @ Flashbacks, Nashville, TN

Bow tie & Pocket Square @ Model Citizen, Toronto, ON



Our plan was to take pictures of audience members so we could post pictures of our favourite Brad & Janet, or our favourite Magenta & Columbia.  Gosh, were we disappointed to find that 99% of the audience did NOT get dressed up for the occasion.  I still can't wrap my head around planning to attend Rocky Horror without plans to also get dressed up for the occasion. That would never, every happen in New York City.  Toronto audiences should be ashamed of themselves.

Terry with fellow Transylvanians, Britney, Ashley & Lauren

Had to get a photo of our seatmate when we discovered his name was Mike MOSS

RHPS castmember Dayna and fellow Leopard lover Jessica

Overall we loved the show.  The fact they had a woman as "The Narrator" was a great change to the Rocky Horror format and she was fabulous.  My only complaint with the production was Riff Raff & Magenta.  Why the wardrobe mistress decided to turn Riff Raff into a Goth figure with long black hair confused me.  Then to turn them both into blonde hair rock stars (Magenta as Lady Gaga??) for the closing scenes added to my confusion.



Wishing you a Happy Halloween.