Does the world need blue roses?

Whenever I hear the phrase “blue rose” I am reminded of Tennessee Williams’ play “The Glass Menagerie.” When the disabled teenager Laura tells Jim, a boy she has a crush on, that she was out of school for a time because she had pleurosis, he misunderstands her to say: “blue roses.” He takes to calling her “blue roses” after that.

I read the play in college in a course taught by a wonderful theater professor who recited the scene by heart, with melodramatic urgency.

Blue roses are an impossibility of nature. In some cultures, blue roses are associated with royalty. They are also associated with mystery and the unattainable, and some say that the holder of a blue rose will have his or her wish granted. For the poignant characters in Williams’ play, the blue rose is a potent symbol of unfulfilled yearning.

And yet, I recently came across an article in Horticulture magazine about a newly discovered gene-modifying technique that has the potential to create a truly blue rose. The scientific process is way too complex for me to fully understand, let alone explain, but according to Horticulture, it goes back to Monsanto and its notorious herbicide Round-Up. Apparently, the folks at Monsanto had been dumping glysophate, the active ingredient in Round-Up, into a holding pond. Not surprisingly, no living organism was able to survive in the pond. But eventually, a very hardy microorganism appeared that had developed a resistance to glysophate.

The Monsanto scientists were able to isolate the resistance gene from the microorganism and insert it into soybeans and other plants, thus producing crops that were resistant to the herbicide. This has led to the dubious agrobusiness practice of planting genetically modified seeds and then blanketing the growing plants with Round-Up, which kills everything in the vicinity except the GMO crops.

This doesn’t sit well with neighboring farmers who haven’t planted the patented GMO seed, a very expensive undertaking, in their fields, since the widespread spraying of glysophate kills their crops along with milkweed and other pollinator-friendly “weeds” that seem to have no place in agrobusiness.

It turns out that the same technology might be used to insert the blue gene “delphinidin” into the DNA of a rose. I find this profoundly disturbing. Without going into the pros and cons of GMO agriculture, do we really need to mess with Mother Nature just to create a novel horticultural phenomenon? Doesn’t nature provide enough surprise and delight as it is?

David Austin, the preeminent British rosarian has introduced more than 190 new rose cultivars in a wide range of eye-popping colors, including the apricot-yellow “Lady of Shallot,” the lush pink “Princess Anne,” the orange-red “Christopher Marlowe,” and the dark, velvety red “Mister Lincoln.” If you’re looking for color on a gray winter day, Google “David Austin roses.”

Austin is 92 this year. I can only guess what he might think about a genetically modified blue rose.

There’s a lot to be said for respecting the limits of attainability and cherishing what we have. Most of us love the rare blue flower in the garden. We have delphiniums, cornflowers, morning glories, lobelias and other “true blues” to satisfy that craving. Let’s leave the roses alone.

Gardening with mushrooms

On June 2, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge is hosting a hands-on workshop on how to incorporate mushroom production into your gardening practice. Willie Crosby of Fungi Ally in Hadley will show you how to use agricultural waste to grow your own food and medicine for your family and community. The workshop will focus on tree mushrooms in particular: wine caps, almond portobellos and oysters. Participants will become familiar with techniques of cultivating these mushrooms for food, medicine and mycoremediation purposes. (OK, I had to look this up: mycoremediation refers to the use of fungi to degrade or sequester contaminants in the environment.)

The workshop will include building a wood-chip bed of wine cap mushrooms (go home with myceliated chips to start your own mushroom bed), adding almond portobellos to your garden via compost, and growing oyster mushrooms in mulch. It will also cover transferring and expanding these mushrooms without buying spawn and using wine cap mushrooms in mycoremediation applications.

Willie Crosby has been growing mushrooms indoors and outdoors for over five years. He teaches online for Stockbridge School of Agriculture and Cornell as well as in person at his farm in Hadley and for the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Cost: Members: $45/nonmembers: $55. Pre-registration is highly recommended, but walk-ins are welcome as space allows.

Go to berkshirebotanical.org for more information and to register. Dress for working outdoors; bring work gloves.

The 5 Best Hair Towels That Dry Your Hair Fast Without The Damage

It's a little weird to say that my life has been vastly improved by a wad of absorbent fabric, but it's true. I recently invested in one of the best hair towels, and since then, my daily routine has gone a whole lot more smoothly. No longer do I have to bend my neck like an ostrich to keep the towel on top of my head. No longer do I feel beads of cold water dripping down my back, or end up damaging my hair by twisting too hard.

Most stylists would agree that, believe it or not, you should never dry your hair with a regular towel. That's because hair is especially delicate when it's wet, and the texture and material of a regular towel is often too coarse and dry for fragile wet hair to handle. Your average bath towel also isn't too great at absorbing water, so if you do choose to blow dry your hair after towel drying it, you're not preventing heat damage as much as you could be.

Not only is a great hair towel effective at absorbing water without damage, but it actually stays on your head while you move on with the rest of your routine. These top rated hair drying towels can help you dry your hair faster with less damage. Keep scrolling for the best hair towels that dry your hair fast.

1. A Best-Selling Hair Towel That Majorly Reduces Styling Time
The DuraComfort Essentials Hair Towel is the number one best seller in hair towels because it dries your hair quickly without getting in your way. It's lightweight, super absorbent, and one size fits all. "This towel exceeded my expectations," one reviewer commented. "With this towel, my hair was much drier that blow drying took only 10 minutes greatly reducing overall styling time."

2. A Set Of Absorbent Microfiber Turbans That Are Perfect For Multitaskers
If you like to check your e-mail, clean your room, and do your makeup right out of the shower, you need something that'll stay in place. These microfiber hair towels have a button, an elastic band, and a lightweight design to keep the towel on your head no matter what, and without pulling or pain. They also absorb water quickly and come in a pack of two. Amazon reviewers love how much value you get for the price: "We love these! The 2 pack was perfect for my daughter and I - we use them after every shower and they definitely do absorb wetness quicker. Plus it's such a small wrap vs my huge towel I used to use to wrap my hair that usually came undone if bending over. This one stays put until you remove it."

3. A Bamboo Towel That Smells Fresh For A Long Time
Bamboo is an extremely popular material right now, and that's because it's soft, lightweight, dries quickly, and prevents the growth of bacteria. This bamboo hair towel absorbs water so hair dries quickly and with minimal damage, but it also smells fresh and clean for a long time: "[The microfiber towels] start to smell bad and I have to throw them away," says one reviewer. "This bamboo towel is AMAZING!"

4. A Large, Lightweight Towel That's Perfect For People With Long Hair
This large microfiber hair towel is soft and absorbent, and it's much bigger than others on the market. It's also got a fine waffle-weave microfiber design that's lightweight despite its size, and reviewers are saying things like, "Love that it is a large towel that can cover all of my extremely thick hair."

5. A 'Dream Towel' For Naturally Curly Hair
The DevaCurl Deva-Towel is specifically made for natural curls. It helps them to dry bouncy, healthy, and without frizz, and it can even allow styling products to set better by absorbing just the right amount of water. One Amazon fan raves, "This towel dries my hair very quickly. It is very soft and super absorbent. If you have long or thick hair, you need one of these. Plenty big enough to wrap around my head and twist up. I have just below shoulder length hair that is on the thicker side."

Thomasina Miers' recipe for Persian rice pudding with apricot and pistachios

If I could tell my younger self that one day I would be encouraging people to make rice pudding, I wouldn’t have believed it. It was the dish I dreaded most at school: stodgy, lukewarm and overcooked. However, sun-soaked trips to Mexico cured me of this aversion. There, plump and tender grains bathe in chilled scented creams, and the result is subtle and delicious. Here, I have taken a Persian lean with stunning colours from the apricots, saffron and pistachios; it’s fabulous served in warm weather.

Persian rice pudding with apricot and pistachios
You can make this a day or two in advance, so it’s perfect for parties, and it’s quite rich, so you won’t need much.

Prep 15 min
Cook 1 hr
Serves 4-6

90g caster sugar
1 litre whole milk
1 cinnamon stick
Zest of 1 orange
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g risotto rice, rinsed
4 tbsp double cream
1 tbsp orange blossom water
1 pinch saffron, soaked in 3 tbsp hot water
40g toasted pistachios, chopped, to serve
1 big pinch dried rose petals, to serve (optional)

For the apricots
150g dried apricots, plus extra to serve
2 tbsp honey
6 cardamom pods, shells cracked open
1 cinnamon stick
Zest of ½ lemon

Cut each apricot in half to make two thin discs. Put them in a small pan with 300ml water, the honey, cardamom seeds, cinnamon stick and lemon zest. Bring to a simmer, cook for 15 minutes, then take off the heat and leave to cool and infuse for at least half an hour (I make this the night before).

To make the rice pudding, put the sugar, milk, cinnamon stick, orange zest, vanilla and rice in a large, heavy-based saucepan set over a medium heat. Bring to a simmer, then turn down the heat to low. Simmer very gently for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rice is completely soft – watch it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan towards the end of the cooking time. Remove from the heat, stir in the double cream, orange blossom water and saffron, and leave to cool.

Once cool, cover and put in the fridge to chill – you can do this a day or two in advance if you want to get ahead. When you’re ready to serve, discard the cinnamon stick and spoon the pudding into bowls. Top with a few apricots and a little syrup, sprinkle over the pistachios and rose petals, and serve.

And for the rest of the week
If you’re serving this to grown-ups, try adding two to three tablespoons of muscat to the poached apricots, for a luxurious finish. If you, like I once did, shudder at the thought of rice pudding, consider churning this recipe in an ice-cream machine with 600ml double cream and a few tablespoons of brown sugar – it makes an extremely good ice-cream.

A Higher Level of Nonsense

The prop list for Nunsense, which opens at the Philipstown Depot Theatre in Garrison on May 17 for a four-weekend run, gives a broad hint that this is not Doubt, Agnes of God, or The Sound of Music.

There is a chef’s toque, a tricycle, a boa, a puppet, a Carmen Miranda hat, a parasol, an intravenous line, and a whole lot of wimples. Broad humor is the order of the day with this hugely popular musical, which has logged more than 500 productions worldwide and been translated into 21 languages.

In 1986, the year after it debuted off-Broadway, the production won Outer Critics’ Circle awards for best musical, book and music for Dan Goggin. He has been looking after his dynasty ever since, including from Garrison, where he owned a home, where he still stores costumes and props and where, it’s said, he has been seen ironing habits. Insiders say it would not be surprising if he attended at least one of the performances.

The show centers on five nuns (played by Ursula Anderman, Laura Danilov, Julie Heckert, Liz Keifer and Melissa Shawcross) at the Little Sisters of Hoboken who are among the survivors after most of the order succumbs to botulism from vichyssoise prepared by Sister Julia, Child of God (Linda Speziale). The sisters decide to put on a variety show to raise the funds needed to bury the last four of their colleagues, whose bodies are frozen.

The show’s nearly all-female cast (the exception is the musical director, Todd Hulet, who steps in as Brother Patrick) and director Christine Bokhour have been getting in the habit of dancing in voluminous, floor-length garments — actually, the costumes didn’t arrive until this week, so there have been some guestimates about how best to avoid pratfalls.

During a recent rehearsal, the pretend nuns answered questions while practicing balancing plates and generally being silly. Keifer, who plays Mother Superior (and who played another old mother, Mrs. Paroo, last year in the Depot’s production of The Music Man), was fine-tuning her Irish accent. “This nun’s got a bit of ‘Shipoopi’ [a song from The Music Man] in her,” she said. “It’s less intense, but it gets Mrs. Paroo-y when I get excited.”

Asked about what made the show attractive to her, a supporting nun, Kalista Sale Parrish, said: “During this time when it’s hard to be funny, this femme-centered piece means we are free to be funny, without making fun of someone else.” Asked what she has learned, Danilov said: “If you wear a hoodie under your wimple, you can’t hear anything.”

The ensemble, which besides Parrish includes Anne Kane, Lourdes Laifer, Linda Raftery and Anna Stephens, is described as “jovial.” Asked to verify that it is, in fact, jovial, Parrish said with an authority born of personal experience: “It depends if we head to Dolly’s after rehearsal.”

Cornrow Styles That'll Take Your Braid Game To A New Level

Every Sunday before school my mother would sit me down and braid my hair in cornrows. I would wear the simple, straight-back braids for a full week, until the next wash day rolled around. My story is similar to many young Black girls, but even though cornrows have been around for centuries — way before hair colour fads and insane Instagram styles became a thing — the classic braided look continues to evolve.

Cornrows are frequently misconstrued, misrepresented, and appropriated on runways, in magazines, and IRL, but when done right the style is both fashion-forward and culturally significant. And thanks to tons of talented hair braiders and stylists, there are endless iterations with intricate patterns, bright colours, and fun accessories.

The great thing about cornrows is that — no matter how you style 'em — they're super practical. You can wear your braids for weeks with minimal styling, protecting the hair from damage and maximizing growth. If you want your next protective style to involve cornrows, there are many different designs to consider. Ahead, we've rounded up some of our favourites to take to your stylist or DIY if you've got the skills.

Top tips for an all-day soft glam look

As we enter August, with most of the summer holidays been and gone, we are finding that more and more clients who are going out for the day or night want a soft glam look.

It's all about a fabulous look and making the most of your features, but subtlety is the aim.

Here are my top recommendations for creating a smokey but soft and subtle look this month.

Conceal don't feel!

If you are finding that your skin feels dehydrated and that there are areas with darkness, pigmentation and discolouration, then concealer will be your best friend. I love using Make-up Studio No.2 Concealer (£13.50). I love the creamy consistency of this product, and how it gives such full coverage - but is also so natural when it's blended into the skin.

Ace your base

If you are wanting to ace your base, then it is so important to invest your budget into your foundation. This is one of the staples of your make-up routine. I work with a variety of foundations but one I have recently picked up again after a long time is Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation (£42).

This luminous foundation glides on weightlessly for a flawless lit-from-within glow. Enriched with Micro–fil™ technology, it helps to sculpt and brighten your look. This foundation allows for buildable coverage, meaning that you can create the precise look that suits you. What's more, it also improves texture and blurs imperfections.

Brows

An important part of your make-up routine is filling in your eyebrows. When I'm doing this on my clients in my Make-up Pro Store, I always use powder as I find it gives me more control of the sharpness and depth of the brow. One secret of achieving the perfect defined brow is using a brow gel like that from NARS (£17).

It is a glossy, easy gliding gel to tame and groom eyebrows. It keeps brows in place with a unique precision-tapered brush that adds shape and definition to every angle while creating a fuller, smoother brow look to perfectly set the symmetry of the face. A must have for any beauty bag, then!

Powder Power

For all-day wear you'll want your make-up to have great staying power. And for maximum longevity it is important to use a mineral or lightweight setting powder so as not to overly layer the face in unnecessary make-up. For this I love NYX Mineral Matte Finishing Powder (£8). To use this use a large brush to apply and press the powder lightly onto the skin. Simply apply the powder in light circular motions and buff on to the skin for that added natural radiance.

All about eyes

I recently was invited to attend the Harvey Nichols: Fenty Beauty Pop Up shop in Custom House Square. I was absolutely blown away by their new Moroccan Spice Collection, which is an eye-focused edit, hand curated by Rihanna.

It contains the singer's favourite, richly pigmented shades, which are designed to flatter every skin tone. The only sad thing is that it's only available in Harvey Nichols stores or online, but it really is worth the hassle! The Moroccan Spice Eyeshadow Palette (£42) combines everything you need to take you from hot, humid days to sultry, smoky nights - indeed, there are no fewer than 16 shades. These shadows are so rich and have a velvety smooth texture which blend like a dream!

Lips

For all-day use, I always use matte lipsticks on my clients. For a statement lip, such as purple, red or prune, I just love the matte finish they provide, compared to that given by a gloss.

A Fling with Flowers

Spring may be officially around the corner, but it's hard to get excited when your home is still in winter mode. The simplest, fastest way to give any room a visual shot of the season is with fresh flowers. Flowers have an uplifting and calming effect and add warmth to any space.

You don't need formal training or a thick handbook to create original table settings and arrangements. You're not aiming for a perfect art piece (it's best to leave trimming a 200-year-old bonsai tree to the professionals). These 11 tips are a good place to start. So sharpen your scissors, snoop in your garage, forage the mountainsides, and prepare to be bloomin' brilliant.

* Don't be timid. Flowers are perishable, so your creative efforts won't affect their shelf life. Really work those stems.
* Take a hike into the woods and scout for any budding branches, berries, or items that may add intrigue to your arrangement.
* Create a relaxing, inspiring mood by playing some of your favorite music while you work—professional florists often have a soundtrack in their studios.
* Work on a large open surface so you have a good 360˚ view as you create your arrangement.
* Snoop around in your garage and basement, looking for unique containers and vases. Scrub them clean and pay attention to their height and width. And, of course, make sure they don't leak. (If a container isn't watertight, you can always insert a smaller glass jar.)
* When prepping flower stems, remove all leaves in order to avoid the growth of bacteria in the water. Next, cut each stem on a diagonal angle and place immediately in lukewarm water.
* You'll probably need to insert wet oasis or use transparent floral tape on top of the vase to stabilize the flowers. These are available at craft stores.
* Clip some foliage from your houseplants to add dimension and greenery to your arrangement. Asparagus fern and ivy are good choices.
* If your vessel is short and squat, select flowers with small blooms that complement the color of the vessel. Crowd the flowers together in a compact manner for impact.
* A general rule of thumb is that your arrangement should be about one-and-a-half to two times the height of your vessel. When deciding where to place it, proportion and scale are important. If your arrangement is tall, put it in an area that commands attention. If your arrangement is short, it might be best suited to a bathroom, windowsill, or side table.
* When your masterpiece is completed, help ensure it lasts. Change the water and cut the stems every other day to prolong the shelf life of the flowers.

Blending Old and New

This tabletop blends glass with copper for a wonderful transitional look. The copper-colored sheer adds a soft, fluid movement to the glass top. Place settings command attention with large copper chargers, high relief-patterned white dishes, etched wine glasses, and contemporary flatware. Centerstage, the large Turkish vessel of hammered copper overflows with hot pink tulips, blue and white hydrangeas, orchids, pink lilies, and trailing plumosa ferns. The mini beaded glass vases with tulips and alstroemeria are another detail that punctuates each place setting. It's a burst of spring, but when you look closer you'll sense the whisper of intrigue and warmth from those patinated copper chargers. Old and new stories, unveiled.

Elevated Mountain West

An organic tablescape can include your favorite colorful linens, bold dinner plates, earthy stemware, and bronze flatware to complete the mountain theme. The hand-hewn plank centerpiece, created by Annie Zivkovich, is 4 feet long and 10 inches wide. While the one shown here has a holiday theme, it can easily be tweaked for spring. For example, Annie suggests creating a rectangular or round plank that includes mini succulents, fresh mosses, and mini blooming quince branches juxtaposed with lemons, limes, and tulips. Antlers are optional.

Children's Table

Toddlers and tykes tend to nibble, sip, and run, most happily with their own playmates. Find a small bench or table and dress it up with carefree dishes, spoons, and sippy cups. But don't stop there. Mini polka dot ceramic rain boots are just their size, fun to fill with pink and purple tulips and prickly asparagus fern. Don't invest in pieces that are too pricey: Besides being colorful, these little rain boots beg to be touched, sniffed, and snagged by your toddlers. After all, isn't that the intrigue of flowers for all of us—to awaken our senses?

What makes a beauty brand worthy of investment in 2018

As digitally native brands continue to disrupt the beauty industry’s status quo, more and more investors are rushing to back them up.

It doesn’t hurt that beauty at large seems to be having a moment, with U.S. beauty sales rising to $17.7 billion in 2017, a 6 percent increase from the year prior. Skin care accounted for 45 percent of those gains, which is not surprising, given that every media outlet from The New Yorker to New York Magazine has unpacked its current vogue.

But the consumer stickiness and loyalty the beauty category affords makes it appealing in the long-term, too, according to Sutian Dong, a partner at Female Founders Fund, which has invested in brands like Winky Lux and Manicube.

“That results in very predictable revenue,” she said. “But more and more people are also realizing that it’s a really compelling place to make tremendous margins at scale.”

Buzzy companies like Glossier, Huda Beauty and Charlotte Tilbury have all received recent funding, but new investor cash isn’t just reserved for high-profile brands. Last February, the customizable hair-care company Function of Beauty secured a $9.5 million Series A round led by GGV Capital, while its competitor, Prose Beauty, raised $5.2 million of its own this past December in a Series A round led by Forerunner Ventures.

All in all, the beauty sector saw an all-time-high of more than 149 deals in 2017, according to an April report from CB Insights, representing a 19 percent jump from the year prior.

Even the traditional beauty players left in the wake of these younger brands are catching on to their appeal, which has led to a frenzy of M&A activity over the last few years.

After scooping up Smashbox early in 2010, Estée Lauder purchased Too Faced Cosmetics for $1.45 billion in 2016. The same year, L’Oréal purchased It Cosmetics for $1.2 billion. After Unilever acquired a slew of brands in 2015, including Kate Somerville and Dermalogica, the company continued its buying spree last year, shilling for brands like Carver Korea ($2.7 billion) and Hourglass Cosmetics (for an undisclosed sum).

But the beauty startup space is increasingly crowded, and not all new, digital-first brands meet the mark for investors. What it comes down to is a combination of product efficacy, transparency, innovation and customer connection.

The Curious Mystery Of Selena Gomez’s Top

It all started when a brunette woman from Texas wore a red tracksuit and white strappy heels with round aviator sunglasses to the airport in 2016. As it turns out, it was the world-famous singer and actress Selena Gomez who has 130million Instagram followers, and she was wearing a Vetements trackie and Dior Sunnies. It was then that we knew Selena Gomez had adopted an entirely new sartorial personality.

While it’s little surprise that a year and a half on her style reinvention has gone the way of Sandy’s from Grease but, we’re just a little taken aback by how literal it is. At the annual Billboard Women in Music ceremony last night, where Gomez won the ‘Woman of the Year’ award, she wore an outfit that stopped us in our tracks.

Along with a pair of £4,825 slashed leather Versace trousers, she wore a black inverted bustier by the same Italian label. Styled by Kate Young, with pretty low-key hair by Marissa Marino, the head-to-toe runway ensemble looked hella hot on Selena. That said, we were left with just a few questions we wouldn't mind having answers to...

A. Where are Selena’s nipples?
B. Have the twins been taped down?
C. Have they been tucked in somehow?
D. How comes you she wasn't photographed tugging it up? Or are we the only ones that struggle with strapless tops?
E. Is this the tangible birthing of Dominatrix going out-out wear?
F. Do those trousers get breezy?
G. Can you tan through them?
H. Did Gok Wan give you that belt?

This All Female Designer Pop-up Shop Has Your Christmas Presents Sorted

Oxford street, cold sweat tube journeys and buyer’s remorse. Christmas shopping has to rank as the worst aspect of the holiday season alongside sprouts and distant relatives.

That’s why we, at Babyface (a creative agency and all female community FYI) are putting on a festive pop-up shop to end all festive pop-up shops (no mean feat). For one weekend only, the Babyface Christmas pop-up shop will be running out of our East London studio. We’ll be playing host to some of London and New York’s most exciting emerging womenswear designers, and you’re cordially invited to shop them all.

We’re extremely proud to be stocking NYC’s favourite bling brand, Tuza jewellery - they of the cult vagina pendant necklace. Suz Atala, Tuza’s creative director, will be have on offer pieces from a mixture of her collections. So, expect vajazzle necklaces (Adwoa Aboah is never without hers) bootleg Bart Simpson earrings, colourful enamelled hoops, burning heart rings, curb chain bracelets and most critically the brand’s staple gold hoops (no one does them better). This is made all the more exciting because of Tuza’s limited UK stockists, so Tuza die-hards, come early.

In the mix, we’ll also have a limited Truss NYC bags - the uniquely woven, colourful totes that downtown New York girls are currently coveting. Closer to home, we have everyone’s favourite latex brand, Hanger Inc. Maybe not nan-friendly, but Claire Davies (Hanger’s founder) is going a long way to proving the fabrication wearability and serious fashion credentials. Inspired by Japanese biker gangs, you’ll be able to snap up her latex belted jackets, latex kick flares and minimalist cotton pieces, such as wide leg trousers and mini skirts- all skewered by the brands’ colours of red, white and black. Clio Peppiatt, who’s consistently a London Fashion Week must-see will be selling her ultra-feminine designs, and cheeky slogan t-shirts. If you’re after something really special then might we also point you in the direction of London’s hottest lingerie designer, MARIEYAT. Think deconstructed cotton briefs and negative space crop tops in soft fabrics and subtle tones of grey and cream that whisper 'comfy'.

Conveniently enough, we also share a studio with Illustrated People- they’ll be selling their luxe-sportswear pieces: TLC inspired satin combat trousers and meme-able slogan sweatshirts, and, finally emerging brand Errortique will have a small collection of their beautiful handmade corsetry style tops and matching bags up for grabs to boot.

For & Against Dressing Up On Christmas Day

There are a few times in the year when it’s completely acceptable to be outrageously overdressed; your birthday, New Year’s Eve and Christmas Day.

Christmas Day is pretty much the only time of year when you can wear red head to toe, try out those experimental earrings you’re not sure about, or match a sequin skirt with a gold jumper without anyone batting an eyelid.

If we’re going to be overindulgent with our food, decorations, drinks and gifts… why not our clothes? If the turkey (or chicken in my case) takes say 2 to 3 hours to cook, why can’t I take half that time to get ready? If you can’t dress up on Christmas Day, when can you?

For me, Christmas is a celebration – a time to come together with family and celebrate one of the most important moments in the Christian calendar, so I like my outfit to reflect that. The beauty of a Christmas Day outfit is that, for most of us, only family will see it so it can be a little off the wall, and you don’t have to worry about painful heels or not-yet-worn-in boots.

Teaming a red dress with thick tights and your favourite slippers is totally acceptable, trying out a hairstyle that you know full well the wind and rain outside would ruin is fine because you won’t be going out there, and it’s time to get out those earrings that you always almost lose because one keeps falling off – because you will always be able to find it in the house again.

It sounds so cliché, but I feel good when I dress up. I sit up, I smile more, I feel more confident, I engage more. A glitter bath has been the staple of my Christmas morning for a few years now (thanks LUSH) and wearing something I feel special in (and something with the ever-essential loose waistband) is just an extension of that marvellously bougie, over the top festive spirit.

Rekindling My Love For High Heels

Ever since temp worker Nicola Thorp, a receptionist at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, was sent home from work for not wearing heels I’ve had a tumultuous relationship with the shoe myself. Even though Thorp has gone on to bag a part in Coronation Street and successfully draw attention to the sexism that’s rife in the City, the concept of heels has left a bad taste in my mouth. Coupled with the fact that over the last few years fashion has shifted dramatically towards athletism and comfort, this style of footwear has been easy to ignore.

However, slowly but surely ludicrously impractical footwear has found its way back. The ugly shoe trend that rose the ranks to haute couture standing, courtesy of Céline, Prada and Chanel, is having its watershed moment. Birkenstocks and Crocs are no more uncomfortable than kitten heels; just nobody talks about it. The excessive expenditure of sneakers for purely fashion’s sake is no less vain than investing in a wedge. Quelle surp, like all trends, when the pendulum of fashion swings away it will almost certainly swing back at some point. And, that point is this winter.

This season, footwear isn’t an afterthought. The trends that came out of the autumn/winter 17 shows started foot first. Saint Laurent’s epic eighties disco boots, Off-White's tulle-wrapped pumps and Gucci’s raised cowboy boots were a visual validation of the heel’s return.

More idiosyncratic than before, the humble heel now comes tilted, bent or in a geometric shape. Designers have let their creativity loose and reconfigured them into surreal and distinctive new shapes. Soft spandex sock shoes with knife-point heels were debuted at Vetements and Yeezy. Thick rubber soles held chunky boots aloft at Louis Vuitton and Coach. Go-go boots with tiny princess heels were the order of the day at Miu Miu, Chanel and Gucci. Translucent crystals and perspex cages elevated Dries Van Noten and Marni’s pumps. With enough pomp to rival Marie Antoinette’s dressing room, Mary Katrantzou and Céline showcased the little-known ‘fluevog’ heel for winter. Initially, its sumptuous curved silhouette looks preposterous, but the reality is it’s sturdy and every inch a scene-stealer.

But really, the heels comeback moment came at the hands of Cardi B who shot to number one while spitting about her love of Louboutins. ‘It’s a status symbol that the masses can relate to’, the rapper’s stylist Kollin Carter explained in an interview with Billboard. But, it’s more than just a status symbol. Type the word shoe into your phone, what comes up? A red stiletto. If this isn’t a vertiginous sign that it's a design classic, I’m not sure what will convince you.

I understand the argument for abandoning this style of footwear. They aren’t practical. They cause blisters. They are designed by and to please men. But, I feel elegant and put-together in them. At just 5ft 2inches my stature isn’t what anyone would deem mighty. But, with a pair of heels on my feet I suddenly enter the world at eye-level. The groceries I can never normally reach are within grasp. My stature changes. Renee Engeln, a professor of psychology at Northwestern University told the New York Times that they are designed ‘to lengthen your legs and change the way your shape looks from behind. That’s not accidental.’ Echoing this, Valerie Steele, the director and chief curator of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, explained, ‘High heels are the number-one sartorial symbol of erotic femininity, and that’s not changing anytime soon’. They are the final flourish that adds interest and excitement to even the dullest of ensembles.

Attire is commonly mistaken for self-expression, which means it's something that can then be wielded as a chalice of judgement. Wearing flats or the ‘ugly’ shoe trend makes me no less a feminist, in fact, it’s got nothing to do with it. My principals are not related to my footwear. Those that perceive my feminist credentials to be weakened by the decision to wear heels need to have a stern look at the reason they are appraising women in the first place. My love for heels is back, and I won't let anyone judge me for it.

The top five things to do at the new Toronto Fashion Week

It's been just over a year since Toronto Fashion Week's former owner IMG Canada pulled the plug on the semi-annual style extravaganza. The newly revived TFW will be held in Yorkville from September 5 to September 7, and helmed by owner and real estate magnate Peter Freed—with the help of industry vets like ASC Public Relations head Suzanne Cohon and IMG fashion director Carolyn Quinn. It's shaping up to be a glitzy affair with some serious star power, including designer Jean Paul Gaultier and filmmaker Francesco Carrozzini. Here are some of the coolest things sartorial-minded Torontonians can get up to next week.

Go to the shows

This fall, attendees can expect a smaller, pared-down selection of Canadian design talent. Instead of a full week of back-to-back presentations, each of the fest's three days will feature no more than a trio of runway shows—all from reasonably established labels like SGT-favourite Lucian Matis, preppy-chic queen Pink Tartan and athleisure experts Unttld. All this means that the couture on hand is likely to be less wildly experimental and way more wearable. Tickets to individual shows start at $113 each and can be purchased here.

See a fashion flick

Photographer and director Francesco Carrozzini, son of longtime Vogue Italia editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani (and fiancé to Anna Wintour's daughter Bee Shaffer), is screening a film he directed about his late mother. Franca: Chaos and Creation reportedly took six years to complete and tells the story of the iconic editor's pioneering work, defiant attitude and relatively mysterious personal life. After the screening, viewers will participate in a Q&A with Carrozzini himself, hosted by Vogue arts editor Mark Guiducci.

Listen to talks moderated by Derek Blasberg

The writer, editor and TV host, who is BFFs with basically every supermodel and A-list actress (his Instagram is a daily peek into the lives of the rich and beautiful), is moderating a series of talks next week, including a conversation with legendary French couture designer Jean Paul Gaultier. Blasberg will also interview Toronto-born photographer and filmmaker Petra Collins and Oscar-nominated costume designer Arianne Phillips. Tickets to the talks start at $198 and can be purchased here.

Go to a party where Russell Peters is the DJ

The Canadian comedian known for his riffs on Indian culture will be moonlighting as a guest DJ for Toronto Fashion Week's closing party on Thursday evening. Partiers will get the chance to judge his taste in music, and hopefully hear a few jokes. General admission tickets are $113 a pop and can be bought here.

See a Salvador Dalí fashion exhibit

Starting September 7 and running until the end of the month, Yorkville Village will play host to a huge art exhibit dedicated to exploring the Spanish surrealist's relationship with, and influence on, the fashion world. The 30 pieces on display will include Dalí's fashion-focused paintings and sculptures (like “Woman Aflame” and “Dalinian Dancer“), as well as six modern designer dresses inspired by some of his iconic works.

Fashion for keeps

Sustainable fashion has arrived. 'Eco- friendly', 'organic' or 'green' are no more mere hip tags. Fashion houses are actually getting into the serious mode. Mango's new, organic cotton collection called 'Mango Committed' is in stores this season; Zara's 'Join Life Collection' features recycled material 'Refibra'; H&M's 'Conscious Collection', 'Reformation' collections turn around the fashion garments in re-purposed material; Dutch fashion house Viktor & Rolf's 2017 Spring Collection features deconstructed, damaged vintage outfits transformed into couture gowns. Need we say the concept is on fire?

Designers across the world have jumped on to the bandwagon to introduce more eco-friendly, organic and recycled materials. Remember, the kind of ovation sustainable fashion designer Peggy Sue Deaven-Smiltnieks got for her Collection at Toronto Women's Fashion Week this year? It brought down the house with her farm-to-high fashion designs.

Closer home, designers are addressing the issue and bringing about a more socially responsible ethos within the industry.

For designer Payal Khandwala, "buy less, but buy better" is the key to sustainable fashion. "In my opinion, the planet doesn't need any more clothes. Neither do you nor do I."

But fashion changes fast. How do we do without new clothes… Payal sees the answer in timeless styles. "If we all made clothes that could focus on timeless style, perhaps we can shift the focus from fast fashion to slow fashion." She insists on designing clothes that are season-less. "They are meant to be worn for years. So, we make them slowly and with care. They are designed as separates so that you can wear them in multiple ways. They have their own language and come without the baggage of trends, so you don't feel compelled to buy something new every few weeks. We don't churn out multiple collections every year because it is considered a product that is meant to be cherished, not to be cast away after wearing once. We grow slowly and organically and don't employ people or looms because brocade is in trend or handwoven textiles are fashionable." Businesswise, Payal ensures responsible sourcing of yarn and dyeing facilities at her weaving clusters in Varanasi, West Bengal and Bhagalpur.

Among the high-end designers, promoting sustainable fashion is Anita Dongre with her brand named Grassroot. For her, sustainable fashion means conducting the business of fashion the way it was always meant to be — looking towards the future, practicing and building processes that are sustainable, respectful of the people involved and environmentally conscious. "Grassroot is the embodiment of my core passion—to design clothes that hold a purpose. Every piece in this collection celebrates the crafts of India in contemporary wear. It also provides artisans a sustainable means of income in their villages, thus driving economy back through textile crafts."

With her, the idea was to give back to industries that have been behind-the-scenes of mainstream fashion. "It keeps the focus on reviving and empowering indigenous weavers and craftsmen by giving them employment for the production of modern-day garments," says Dongre.

Simple and easy to wear is the mantra for Anita Lal from Good Earth. For the brand, luxury is about "surrounding oneself with beautifully designed, artisanal products that sustain traditions, livelihood and the planet." Its Sustain apparel range was launched 10 years ago. "At the time, it was our conscious decision to bring khadi and handlooms into the mainstream of luxury clothing by making well-finished and easy-to-wear silhouettes."

Also toeing the sustainable line is designer Shweta Sharma through her label Ombré Lane. For her, it is important that what is sustainable is also stylish. "We cater to the clothing needs of the modern working women. We also believe in creating a direct impact in the lives of our fellow women with the help of our customers, and in creating pieces with long-lasting quality and durability over fast fashion."

Well, going sustainable is cool. Let no rules guide you. Do it your way. A tee that could last 10 years versus a couple months is the choice for you to make, for, in the end, it is for a better earth. And that could be your bit for the cause.

Fashion designer with Down syndrome heading to Hollywood gift lounge

Following a difficult health battle this winter, a young Nova Scotia fashion designer with Down syndrome can look forward to the rest of her year knowing it'll be sweetened with the kind of exposure any artist might dream of.

Marie Webb's Halifax studio is draped with her eye-popping, colourful dresses, scarves and shawls. They're a sample of what Hollywood will see this September, when Webb will be a part of a pre-Emmy Awards gifting lounge in Los Angeles.

Webb, 27, will appear at the lounge in advance of the award show, wearing her trademark vibrant fashions, offering up pocket squares she's created to the nominated actors and actresses.

"Backstreet Boys!" Webb exclaimed when asked whom she'd love to rub shoulders with. "They're really nice boys."

A 'colourful' personality

At her sunny north-end Halifax space at Wonder'neath Open Studio, where Webb is one of eight artists in residence, she plans, draws, colours and felts templates for her Lemonade Stand Designs brand. Her fashion designs are sold on online sites like Etsy and Shopify.

Webb's mother, Renee Forrestall, a well-known painter and art instructor, sits across from her. She scans designs and prepares them in Photoshop. She then sends them to a manufacturer in Montreal where the templates are applied to silks and satins.

"Marie is very optimistic and very positive and always look at the positive side. It's just the way she is. I think that comes out in her work that's colourful, joyful, playful," Forrestall said.

"And cuteful," Marie chimed in. "[The designs are] in my mind. Angels are in my dreams."

'Blissfully unaware' of illness

A marketing company organizing a pre-Emmy gift suite noticed Webb's work online and invited her to bring her designs to a suite where companies give away their products to celebrities and the press.

It won't be Webb's first celebrity-studded event. She went to the Toronto International Film Festival last year. But other invitations to the Golden Globes and Cannes Film Festival were sidelined by the diagnosis of a serious illness. Forrestall disclosed the details of the illness, but CBC News has agreed to keep them private.

Webb was hospitalized for a month this winter.

"We'd been cruising along fairly happily, blissfully unaware that Marie was actually quite ill. It did hit us like a tonne a bricks and we weren't sure, when we were in there, whether we were coming out," Forrestall said.

During her stay, Webb maintained that determination and smile, designing dresses from her hospital bed.

"She was drawing things and I was putting them up on the walls and all the nurses were coming in," said Forrestall. "She made it a party room."

Her diagnosis is something the family is still grappling with, administering medication daily. The gift suite invitation came after Webb's return home. Knowing she was stable, the family knew the trip was possible.

"I'm feeling pretty good now," said Webb. "I'm feeling pretty happy and thankful."

From pastime to career

The road to the City of Angels has had its unexpected twists and turns, said Forrestall. What began as a way to allow Webb to channel her creative side now takes up most hours of the day.

Forrestall, who never thought she'd be working in textiles, knows there's great value in what they do.

"This is so Marie has a real sense of the power of her work. The impact," she said. "Where your work can go when you design something on paper, this can become a real thing and flourish and thrive."

Abused dog and her headbands become face of dog fighting

Abigail has a new a home and a sibling-like canine to lean on.

The pit bull mix who wears a bonnet to cover her missing right ear has been adopted by a family in Fort Myers.

Last year, Abigail was found severely abused, and Southwest Floridians have nursed her back to health.

"We are over the moon excited to have her," said Megan Contreras, who adopted Abigail. "She is such a sweet, sweet girl. It's amazing to see her so loving and trusting after the situation she was in."

Contreras, a former WINK news television reporter now with the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau, and her husband, Jason, who works for a local law enforcement agency, were chosen out of 100 applicants to adopt Abigail.

They learned last weekend at a surprise event arranged by Love is Fur Ever, a rescue and foster program in Lehigh Acres. That's where Abigail lived for more than seven months.

The owner, Victoria Frazier, in 2016 had found her picture on a Facebook page run by volunteers who try to save dogs brought to a Miami shelter. She had been picked up  bloodied — on a Miami street.

Frazier nurtured her back to health with Estero veterinarian, Dr. Thomas Jackson. That's when she was given the name Abigail.

She likely had been used as a bait dog, abandoned and left to die on the street because of her injuries, according to the veterinarian.

Abigail had several surgeries to make a comeback.

She was featured in numerous media reports and became known for wearing a different colorful bonnet each day. Frazier put a bonnet on her head to help protect her healing face.

People from the United States, Europe and elsewhere were captivated by the dog's demeanor and soulful, dark eyes. More than 200 hand-made bonnets poured in for Abigail at Love is Fur Ever.

Her legion of fans who follow her on the Facebook page Bonnets for Abigail will be able to keep up with Abigail at her new home, Frazier said.

She will continue as an ambassador for her breed and to raise awareness in the fight against abuses such as using bait dogs. Contreras and her husband have agreed to keep her Facebook page active.

Naples-based Arthrex, a global medical device manufacturer, donated its advanced wound dressing product JumpStart to the veterinarian for Abigail's dressings.

The couple have another rescue, Tala, a lab pit mix, who was adopted at 8 weeks old and will turn 2 years old in the fall. They cared for Abigail for one week in the spring to see how the two dogs would get along, and it was love at first sight.

"It was perfect," Contreras said. "Tala has accepted her just like a sister."

Abigail is thought to be 2, and her birth date was given as Nov. 14, the day she was rescued from the Miami shelter.

It seems Tala can tell something had gone terribly wrong with Abigail and now is fiercely protective of her. One night earlier this week, they switched beds, Contreras said.

She and her husband had not considered putting their names in the running for Abigail because they lived in a rental town home. After they bought a home, Contreras said, her husband filled out the adoption application and surprised her.

Frazier, who is a few weeks away from delivering twins, said it took time to shift through all the applications. Something just felt right about Contreras and her husband.

Frazier invited them to a Fort Myers restaurant last weekend with the guise of a get-together before the twins arrive. The restaurant has a patio that allows dogs.

Contreras knew the adoption was down to herself and another family. On the way to the restaurant, she and her husband speculated whether Frazier would have some news for them.

Frazier had a big box with pink balloons inside. Some were decorated with paw prints and others said, "Happy Adoption Day."

"I didn't expect to find out in that grand of a way," Contreras said. "I just remember Abigail running toward me."

For Frazier, the adoption is bittersweet. She knew the day would come.

"My mornings and nights are really hard," Frazier said. "My life was consumed by her. I think the hardest part is I was there every single second of everything. That's probably the hardest thing is changing my whole daily routine. I definitely miss her."

Princess Diana's fashion still transmits messages

By all accounts, she would have hated the negative feedback loops of Instagram and Twitter. But she certainly knew the power of clothing for personal branding, long before the Kardashians made a fortune from it.

Her meticulous utilization of fashion as messaging, in part, explains the enduring fascination with her style 20 years after her death.

"I suspect there are many aspects to Diana's continuing iconic status, but a central issue has to be her apparent ability to communicate in personal terms across mass media," says Jude Davies, a professor of American literature and culture at the University of Winchester, and author of Diana, A Cultural History.

The intensely personal messages coded in her clothing, particularly in tandem with her charitable work, set her apart from the modern-day Angelina Jolies and Madonnas of the world.

"Crucial to this was a sense of not only her own feelings but her own vulnerability," he says, referencing her well-known insecurities and search for positive reinforcement. "Hence she didn't come across as patronizing - rather as seeking a genuine positive contact with other human beings."

While still Her Royal Highness, she famously ditched the customary gloves still favored by Queen Elizabeth II -- a strategic move that, gasp, allowed skin-on-skin contact with the masses she met at hospitals and homeless shelters. That included people with AIDS during a time when many were treated as lepers.

"That a very fascinating young royal person would do this made, I would say, much more of a difference than a lot of well-intentioned propagandists," says British author and management consultant Peter York.

Her work advocating for landmine removal further let her ditch the stuffy princess personae, and literally and symbolically roll up her sleeves.

"My favorite image of her, apart from the Mario Testino portraits, is her walking through a minefield in jeans in a white tee shirt. That was so brave, she was a brave person," says Meredith Etherington-Smith, former creative director of Christie's International who worked with Diana on the 1997 sale of her dresses at the auction house.

But, as Etherington-Smith notes, Diana wasn't always so keenly dressed. In the early '80s, she became the poster-child for Sloane Rangers – a portmanteau coined by York and his editor at Harpers & Queen magazine Ann Barr of Sloane Square in the posh Chelsea neighborhood of London and The Lone Ranger. It became short-hand for old money, well-connected types with an affinity for country life, mustard corduroys, lacy collars and general shabby-without-the-chic aesthetic.

"We got her wrong, self-servingly, we got her wrong," York confesses, noting that he and Barr chose a photo of the princess for the cover of their book The Official Sloane Ranger Handbook. "We had taken it for granted that she would be a nice upper middle Sloane girl in her behavior and of course what she was was a wacky aristocrat with a very firm idea of her own value."

As she grew into her public roll, and more evidently after her divorce, she was not the wilting English rose.

"She was clearly a lot of times happier with self-made gay entertainers than doing field sports and riding and going to the country," York says. "And she became this international type."

The most famous display of her international glamour came in the form of a blue velvet gown by Victor Edelstein which she wore when dancing with John Travolta at the White House. It sold for $222,500 in the 1997 Christie's auction, breaking a previous record of $145,000 for a garment, ironically, that Travolta wore in Saturday Night Fever.

"It was like something that might have been made for Queen Alexandra, she just looked beautiful in it," says Etherington-Smith.

But that personal messaging in her clothing could be calculated, with occasional digs at her ex-husband or the press. The originator of the "Revenge Dress" -- Diana showed up to the annual Serpentine Gallery summer party in a short, figure-hugging Christina Stambolian frock on the day Prince Charles was to confess in an interview to having an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, now the Duchess of Cornwall.

Fifty Years of Ebony Fashion Fair

Let's take a fresh look back in time: it's 1979. You attended the 22nd Annual Ebony Fashion Fair in your hometown. The show's theme was "COLOR EXPLOSION." A beautiful Black model struts her stuff down the runway wearing Yves Saint Laurent…the Picasso evening dress to be exact.

The dress boasts beautiful power colors of red, blue and black, it's a silk number, a one-of-a-kind, made from luxurious moiré taffeta and satin. The model makes it clear she's the one in the dress, and you gasp and exclaim, "I want that dress!" That's the way an Ebony Fashion Fair show made you feel all the way to the bridal finale: the haute couture wedding dress that made your jaw drop.

The Laurent dress, worth at least $30,000, presented a visage of perfection on the Fashion Fair runway. It enticed the audience with luxurious, multi-colored geometric and artistic shapes. The Laurent evening dress was one of 7,000 pieces acquired by Mrs. Eunice W. Johnson, the titan of fashion and beauty for the Johnson Publishing Company, co-owned by her husband John H. Johnson. Johnson Publishing Company was known for publishing Ebony and Jet magazines.  

John Johnson once said they had to "beg, persuade, and threaten [for] the right to buy clothes."  The designers feared their clients' reactions to seeing haute couture designs on Black models.   This was before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination. At that time, the skin color of the Fashion Fair audience outweighed the Johnsons' purchasing power. Championing Black elitism and social uplift in spite of blatant racism, Fashion Fair traversed the country showcasing high fashion to the crème de la crème of Black society starting in 1958, with its final production in 2009.

"Mrs. Johnson was buying the best fashion of the time," said Joy Bivins, director of Curatorial Affairs at the Chicago History Museum. "There are these wonderful pieces and stories connected to her. The whole idea of bringing high couture to the masses at these shows was really quite revolutionary." 

In 2013, Bivins was responsible for the curation of the Fashion Fair "Inspiring Beauty" exhibit, a multisensory fashion experience that featured sixty-seven dressed mannequins of color. The exhibit was developed by the Chicago History Museum in cooperation with Johnson Publishing Company, LLC. The exhibit is presented by the Costume Council of the Chicago History Museum. The International Arts & Artists organization in Washington, D.C. is responsible for the exhibit touring eight museums in the United States.  

After the initial battles with racism, Mrs. Johnson eventually built privy business relationships with more than 100 designers in such cities as Paris, Rome, Milan, London, Tokyo and New York. She had a prowess for the dramatic and beautiful luxury of haute couture. Her close friendships with European couture designers like Laurent spanned five decades and showed African Americans the high life of fashion and beauty, while raising more than $55 million for charities. 

Black people would wait all year to attend the Fair, brought to them by local sororities, fraternities, lodges or social groups.  Each season was more exciting and spectacular than the prior. The show production featured a new fashion theme, garments, music and a fabulous commentator. For years, the charity fashion show was a mainstream cultural event with almost 200 shows per year in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. Models thrilled audiences strutting the runway wearing Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Patrick Kelly, B. Michael, Vivienne Westwood, Stephen Burrows, and many more.

Since October 2014, the traveling "Inspiring Beauty" exhibit of 41 garments has been seen at seven museums including The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum in D.C. After the exhibition's final stop in Raleigh, N.C. this fall, the exhibit will permanently retire at the Chicago History Museum and the Johnson Publishing Company. All the garments have appeared on the Fashion Fair runway from 1964 to 2009, and will be laid to rest for future exhibitions, not to be viewed any time soon. 

"We hoped to communicate that these things are beautiful, luxurious, and fantastical, but really they were about furthering a vision about the best of Black life, which is what Ebony magazine was about," Bivins said. "The fashion becomes a way of telling the story about Black aspiration.  At the end of the day, I hope people see it and are wowed by it."

Satori Designs sets up shop in Solana Beach

After more than 20 years in business, Satori Designs has finally found a home in Solana Beach.

Located in the heart of Cedros Design District, the shop features an eclectic collection of women's clothing and accessories in collaboration with local and international designers.

"This is my very first brick and mortar store," said owner Roya Parviz.

Inspired by art, music, travel and tradition, Satori Designs offers an array of apparel and accessories from around the world.

Among a variety of other pieces, the shop features a Barcelona-based clothing line called Desigual and another exclusive line from France called Rene Derhy. Much of the jewelry, shawls and other accessories come from local designers Parviz has personally worked with over the years. There is also a section for home décor with wall art, other decorations and more.

"I'm always on the lookout for something different," Parviz said.

Born in Iran, Parviz's family came to San Diego following the Iranian Revolution. As a young girl, Parviz was exposed to the fashion industry by her mother, who studied fashion design in Austria.

Parviz went on to earn a bachelor's degree in economics with a minor in visual arts from UC San Diego. After an unfulfilling year in banking, she followed her mother's footsteps and went on to study fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandizing in Los Angeles, where she lived and worked in the fashion industry for seven years.

Parviz started a wholesale business called Satori Designs in 1994. Her business has been a part of co-ops since she returned to San Diego a few years later.

She got her start in Solana Beach at Leaping Lotus. Also on Cedros Avenue, the store has more than 120 merchants in its 21,000-square-foot marketplace. Parviz later brought her business to Pangaea Outpost's Pacific Beach and Del Mar locations.

When Pangaea Outpost closed its store at Flower Hill Promenade, Parviz decided to open her own shop. After more than two decades in business, she opened her very first boutique in July at 146 South Cedros Avenue.

"I was forced to look for something, which was a blessing in disguise," Parviz said. "I never thought I could do it on my own."

Having become a staple in the greater San Diego fashion community since the late 1990s, Parviz often gives back to the community through her business. Satori Designs, she said, has participated in a number of charity fashion shows and fundraising events for local charities and foundations, including St. Madeleine Sophie's Center, Epilepsy Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and others.

"I've been doing that for years," Parviz said. "It just really feels good to give that kind of a feeling in the community."

Whether working with charities or with clients in her boutique, Parviz said she most enjoys getting to know people in the community. With established customers in Del Mar, Solana Beach and neighboring communities, she has already seen a lot of familiar faces as well as new ones at Satori Designs.

"I love the creative part just as much as I love the people part," Parviz said. "I'm not really in it to make a quick sale; I'm in it for a long-term relationship."

Salt Collection brings fashion from around the world to Encinitas

You could call it a fashion travel agency of sorts.

Salt Collection, which opened in Encinitas on March 4, may look like an ordinary 1930s beach cottage. As people walk inside, it's immediately known that it's something more — a quaint fashion boutique that carries brands from all over the world.

The idea for the shop on Coast Highway 101, which is owned by Sophie Machado — wife of professional surfer Rob Machado — was to incorporate collections that the couple has discovered in their travels around the world.

Sophie Machado, who has lived in Encinitas for seven years with her family, said she and her husband have come to know many of the designers and owners personally.

"I originally just wanted to open an online store, but both of my parents taught me to dream big and shoot for the stars," she said. "I wanted to create the experience, and I felt like I couldn't do that through just photographs. I wanted people to be able to feel like they were a part of meeting the people we've met along the way. I felt like the only way to do that was to open a store and be able to create an environment."

Sophie Machado said she decided to open the store in October and received the keys to the building, located at 930 South Coast Highway 101, in December.

The shop sells mostly women's clothing — basics, tops, bottoms, swimwear, outerwear, active wear and shoes — but also has racks for unisex children's and men's clothing.

The dozens of brands include People Footwear, Steve Madden, Jaye Swim, Acacia Swimwear Olympia Activewear and Roarke Revival.

Sophie Machado said customers can build an outfit, including shoes, tops and pants, at the store for between $75 and $200.

"We wanted something that would be affordable," she said. "We didn't want to go super high-end and scare people away. ... That's how I shop. I'm not going to spend a ton of money on something that's just trendy. But if it's a great piece of furniture or an amazing jacket I can have multiple uses for, then I'm going to definitely put out the cash for it."

All the fixtures inside, including decorations, couches and plants are also all for sale.

"I don't like walking into a store, liking something and being told it's display-only," Sophie Machado said. "Everything in our store is for sale."

Rob Machado also sells one-of-a-kind, gloss-polished surfboards that are available exclusively at Salt Collection.

Candles, sunglasses and teas also fill shelves in the store, which still maintains its classic bungalow feel.

The Machados have kept a working kitchen with its original green tile in the store, where they serve cups of coffee and ring up customers.

People can also choose to lounge on the back patio, which is adorned with outdoor chairs and pillows, as well as a garden.

"We wanted to keep it as original as possible," Sophie Machado said. "This is where Rob grew up and where we're living. This spot is more than we could have ever dreamed of. There's a ton of real estate around here, but I wanted something that was unique, had character and had some sort of life to it. I think we found that here."