Ally: Friday night was one of those magical evenings where you feel so lucky to be a Haligonian. Sitting in a pew at St. Patrick’s Church during a horrific rain and wind storm, L-A and I bore witness to the genius that is Lisa Drader-Murphy.
The event, co-hosted by Jeremy Webb and Eva Hoare, was extremely well executed. Sitting in the media section, L-A and I totally felt like trailer-park Jeanne Bekers! The most amazing thing about the show was that it had me walking away thankful that I was in my thirties. The clothes are polished, well-crafted, and extremely flattering on women of all sizes/ages. This was demonstrated by Lisa’s use of a wide-range of models, including some of her clientele (note to Lisa Drader-Murphy: L-A and I are TOTALLY available for Showcase 2011. Just sayin’).
Both L-A and I were enamoured with one model in particular, Kelsey Andrews, who in our minds stole the show. She was classy, professional, and wore the crap out of the clothes. Amy Kerr was also fantastic. Rumour has it she recently had a baby. I might hate her a little bit.
To the clothes. Eva shared Lisa’s influence for this collection, which was apparently derived from recent travels to New York and her stint at the Toronto International Film Festival. Both of which was evident in the outfits. The New York inspiration in particular, certainly Mad Men, but also Old New York a la the Audrey Hepburn years.
Cigarette pants? There were those.
There were also the most beautiful skirts, that gave mad props to hips. Seriously, there was a celebration of hips.
The hats were incredible as well. I always buy hats thinking that I’m going to be able to pull them off (i.e. the newsboy) and never wear them out in public. This, I am certain, I could don.
More New York glam. On an aside, can you imagine how much more respect you would pay someone like Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan if they dressed like this? Again, it’s why I’m loving my thirties. These clothes were built for women who have their shit together (excuse the “Suzy Shier girl” language).
I didn’t realize how versatile Lisa is, she can go from New York (well-raised) socialite to film star after-the-red-carpet, like the look above. Beautiful colour, elegant draping, with a rocker edge.
I mentioned Mad Men earlier. See above. Can you not picture Christina Hendricks wearing this? If I wasn’t sure she had the cash to buy it herself I would trot down to Turbine and package it up to send to her via FedEx.
Shoulders are the new cleavage. This was off-the-charts sexy. I am begging women to purchase looks like the above to spice up our Chamber dinners and such. The colour is extraordinary.
Bless her heart, Lisa designed something for my imaginary best friend Sienna Miller. You can see it, yes?
Next time she Skype’s me to drink wine and chat about Jude, I’ll for sure tell her about this outfit.
And my favourite. Oh, my favourite. It’s a must-have. L-A had to take a photo of my face as the dream item was brought into view:
SPEECHLESS.
I would wine, dine, and take that skirt to Cabo in order to make it my life partner for all of eternity. I would serenade it with every Backstreet Boy song I know (that’s a lot of serenading). It’s unbelievable. I wasn’t able to find a photo of the back of the skirt, which has a full-length zipper. Perhaps L-A is hiding it to save me from melting over too much fabulousness. She’s a good friend. [L-A: I wish I was hiding it. The photo of the back didn’t turn out. sad trombone…wonh-wonh.]
I’ll leave some photos for L-A, I may be stealing her thunder (as I do on every video we’ve ever been on together). To sum, I was blown away by the collection, and seriously encourage all you working gals to get down to Turbine to pick out what L-A would call “investment pieces”. To me, it was a celebration of the mature woman, a woman who knows what she wants and is determined to get it. It’s also a throw back to the days when people dressed to impress, not to scandalize or make a crazy untranslatable statement. Is untranslatable a word? It should be. Let’s go with it. L-A, over to you. Also, you’re hot and I love your new camera. Next time, more photos of Ally. We love Ally. And by “we” I mean me and my mirror.
L-A: Ally can be a hard act to follow. She pretty much said it all. But I think she’d frown upon me writing “ditto” and leaving it at that.
I love my new camera. Think about all the fashion shows I’ve gone to and have only been able to give you fuzzy messes off of my camera phone. Well, no more! I’m still working on my photo skillz , but we’re getting there (which is why the photos have a slightly yellowish hue. And are a bit blurry: models move fast!). One of these days I’ll be super pro and maybe even be able to afford a fancy flash and giant lens. Then we’re taking this show on the road to New York. Until then, we’ve got some amazing Halifax fashion to fill our boots.
The show was really well done. Tight schedule and in a beautiful building. And, of course, loved Lisa’s designs. For me it was all about her skirts. Oh those pencil skirts! With little kicky bits!
Those skirts made me want to be finished school already and have a job where I can wear such cute skirts. (Note to future employers: I’ll be available in late May, early June and I will totally be coming to your office in such cute, yet professional attire).
I don’t see me wearing lace tops (it is a cute lace top), but I do love the boat neck and again, those skirts. That one in particular would make any girl feel like Day-to-Night Barbie. Classy skirt by day, but also a dressy skirt for après work cocktails.
It wasn’t just the skirts I was besotted with. There were a few dresses that I found to be absolutely adorable:
the shoes! oh those shoes!
The red dress could be a killer at holiday parties. Speaking of holiday parties, this next dress would be fantastic as a New Years Eve number:
Love. It. If I wore strapless dresses, I would be all over this. Someone please promise me that you’ll wear it to a party?
What I really loved about the Turbine show is that there seemed to be pieces for a lot of women. There are few designers in the world who design collections that appeal to both Ally and I, but Turbine did just that.
The Halifax style wasn’t just on the runway. If Turbine’s designs weren’t enough fantasticness, we got to make new stylish friends at the reception before the show. Covering for Haute Halifax was Amanda, who was wearing what is possibly one of the most amazing coats I’ve seen in awhile:
And our newest blog friend, Natasha of Aren’t You Just Dandy:
Her outfit is killing you with it’s awesomeness, isn’t it? We didn’t know she was a blogger when we stopped her for a picture – that was just a bonus. We had to stop a stranger for a picture of that outfit. It was even more awesome in person.
And a final note on the evening: the night wasn’t just about showcasing Turbine designs; it was also about raising money for Amanda’s Gift Bursary. Amanda’s Gift provides financial assistance to former youth in care who are pursuing education and career development opportunities. Both Amanda and one of the recipients of the bursary were there to speak about it. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one who got a little verklempt by their stories.
Overall, serious golf claps go out to Lisa Drader-Murphy and her team:
Well done!
