Fashion

Old Strathcona

/ edebock / 7 Comments

We had a couple of hours to kill between a late morning appointment with the surgeon who did my recent surgery and today’s radiation treatment. Since we were just a few minute’s drive from Old Strathcona, one of Edmonton’s trendiest neighbourhoods, we decided that that would be a good place to explore today. It had been several years since we spent any time there.

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Today, the city of Edmonton straddles the North Saskatchewan River but originally, Edmonton was on the north side while South Edmonton was a separate village on the south side. In 1899, the same year that it was incorporated as a town, South Edmonton was renamed Strathcona and in 1912, the two communities amalgamated. Whyte Avenue forms the backbone of present day Old Strathcona, a funky blend of historic buildings and youthful vitality. Designated a Provincial Historic Area in 2007, it is home to a plethora of unique boutiques, galleries, music shops, restaurants and drinking establishments.

Old Strathcona has an ambiance all it’s own and is a perfect area to explore on foot. I loved the names on many of the signs; titles like When Pig’s Fly, Funky Buddha, Tilted Kilt Pub and Eatery, and The Plaid Giraffe! We enjoyed a hearty and delicious lunch of po’boys and sweet potato fries at Dadeo New Orleans Diner and Bar, a retro 50s style diner.

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Fashion in Old Strathcona is as diverse as the people on the street; businessmen mix with students and buskers strumming guitars, each one expressing their personal style through their clothing, hairstyles, jewelry and, in many cases, body art. Personally, I wore a new hat. I’ve been told that I need to protect the area that’s receiving radiation from the sun but not to use any products, including sunscreen, on it. That’s a little tricky considering that it’s part of my face and neck. A floppy, wide-brimmed hat seemed to be the answer to my dilemma. Though the wind threatened to steal it away, you can see that it did the job rather well.

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Look what drove into my picture!

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Contrasting towers!

Thank you, Ida!

/ edebock / 9 Comments

One of the unexpected perks of blogging has been the long distance friendships that I’ve developed with several other bloggers. If you’ve been reading Following Augustine for long, you probably know that I enjoy reading fashion blogs and that I absolutely love experiencing or learning about life in other parts of the world. What could be better then, than a fashion and lifestyle blog written by a Malaysian who lives in Dubai with her Italian husband? That would be Ida C, writer of Mrs Jack of All Trades!

Successful fashion bloggers sometimes receive samples from manufacturers or retailers who ask them to write reviews of their products. A few weeks ago, Ida received just such a package from a Taiwanese online shop called Born Pretty. It contained a fashion watch with a vintage looking Roman numeral face and a wrap around leather bracelet. She wrote her review here.

Ida and I often comment on one another’s blog posts and on this occasion, I wrote, “I love the watch! I could definitely see myself wearing one.” Several others left similar comments.

Not long afterward, I received a personal message from Ida telling me that she was sending me a “little something that would hopefully elevate your day.” What could it be, I wondered, as I waited in anticipation for it come all the way from Dubai.

Today, the parcel arrived!

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Have you guessed what it contained?

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Yes! The Born Pretty watch is now on my wrist further cementing a solid friendship between two women residing on opposite sides of the globe who have only met through the worldwide community of blogging! Thank you, Ida!

And now for my review… what do I like best about the watch? I love the vintage look of the watch itself combined with the edgier style of the wrap around strap. Though the genuine leather band comes in a variety of other colours, I’m glad mine is brown as it will coordinate well with my wardrobe. The only drawback is the fact that putting it on by myself was quite tricky. Now that it’s securely on my wrist, however, it’s very comfortable.

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Cultural surprises

/ edebock / 4 Comments

Sheila has been with us for over two weeks already but she continues to be amazed by something new almost every day. In her eyes, my kitchen is a magical place. Most of the small appliances and gadgets that we take for granted are brand new to her. Like most Chinese kitchens, the one in her parents’ home doesn’t have an oven let alone a toaster, a bread maker or a food processor. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head the first time she saw me using my electric knife!

It’s not only the appliances that surprise her, however. Most of our food is also new to her. Though she’s familiar with a lot of the ingredients, we cook them entirely differently and even I’ve been surprised at how many convenience foods I use. We tend to eat a healthy diet avoiding a lot of processed foods but I do depend on things like pancake mix that are completely foreign to her. Breakfast cereal is also something she’s never eaten before. So far, Harvest Crunch, a sweetened granola with coconut and almonds, is her favourite. She’s accustomed to a spicier diet than ours and the ketchup bottle has become her best friend. In fact, she’s dubbed herself a “ketchupholic”!

The rest of the house contained many surprises for her too. Not unexpectedly, even though I’d explained the bathroom to her the evening she arrived, it took a flooded floor to remind her that the shower curtain must be inside the tub when you take a shower! That’s a common blunder for Asians when they first arrive on our shores as an Asian bathroom is basically an oversized shower stall and bathtubs are not common in China.

Laundry brought more surprises. Though we had a fitted sheet on our bed in China, Sheila had never seen one until we stripped the beds to wash the sheets! She thought I must have sewn the elastic corners myself. (In case you were wondering, fitted sheets were actually invented by an African American lady named Bertha Berman in the 1950s.) The clothes dryer also fascinates her as clothing is hung to dry in China.

That brings me to a topic that has been a big surprise to Richard and I. When we lived in China, we were amazed to see people in the street wearing their pyjamas. What we didn’t realize until Sheila came to stay is that Chinese people wear their pyjamas whenever they’re at home! Sheila only dresses to go out and immediately changes back into pyjamas when she gets home. Of course, if you’re just stepping out to run a quick errand, why bother changing at all? Sheila has been out with me more than once now in her pjs and I finally understand why we saw people walking down Little Street dressed that way!

While we continue to learn much about Chinese life from Sheila, it’s definitely been fun looking at our own lives through the eyes of someone for whom almost everything is brand new!

The pattern of snack

/ edebock / 4 Comments

Have you ever noticed how often we use the word usually? I hadn’t until I came to China to teach English and immediately noticed that the Chinese always say urally! I have no idea how the r sound crept in but apparently that’s the way all Chinese English teachers teach it. Wrong habits are hard to break and our students still need to be reminded once in a while but after lots of practice they do know how to pronounce it correctly now.

Though urally was one of the most common mistakes made by our students, who have never been taught by native English speakers before, we have encountered many other mispronunciations. Vowel sounds are particularly difficult. It isn’t any wonder considering the fact that one little letter like an a or an o can represent so many different sounds. Sometimes these mispronunciations lead to a complete lack of understanding but we also have a lot of fun with them.

Early in the term, one of my students told me that he liked eating snakes! I clearly remember being somewhat startled but this is China, after all! We’ve eaten bullfrog and catfish, restaurants serve silkworms and there’s one not far from here that specializes in donkey meat, so why not snakes? When I attempted to clarify, however, I discovered that he actually meant that he liked eating snacks! As it turns out, the snake/snack confusion is a common one and has led to lots of laughter in our classes!

Is it any wonder then that the headline "Snacks Dominate the Fashion World of This Early Spring" caught my eye when I picked up the April issue of Sichuan Airline’s in-flight magazine on our recent trip to Jinan. The magazine is published in Mandarin but some of the articles are translated into English. Clearly, they could use a more qualified translator but this particular article was hilarious! Here’s just one tidbit:

"It is the year of the snack, patterns of reptile animals have crawled back to the fashion world of women’s wear in spring and summer, among which the pattern of snack turns out to be the most popular. It seems like designers have already foreseen that the pattern of snack would be a fashion trend, this eye-catching animal pattern is now seen in all fashion fields."

The article was accompanied by photos of clothing with a snakeskin motif as well as snakeskin purses and shoes!

I haven’t been following most of my favourite fashion blogs lately because both WordPress and Blogspot are blocked in China. It’s also been several months since I’ve seen a fashion magazine so I don’t know whether or not snakeskin has caught on as a new fashion trend in North America. I haven’t actually seen it being worn here yet but for those who want to know, apparently the pattern of snack is the newest trend!

A most unusual Easter!

/ edebock / 5 Comments

For the second time in our lives, we’re spending Easter in a country where it isn’t celebrated; where very few people have ever heard of it. This is definitely the first and probably the only Easter Sunday that I will ever spend in a shopping mall!

Our Sundays are usually spent with students and today was no exception. We met Howard and Vicky at noon and caught a bus to Xi’an Road, Dalian’s most popular shopping area. They had chosen a Hong Kong style restaurant for our lunch and what a feast we enjoyed! Our Easter dinner included both roast duck and bullfrog! That’s right, bullfrog! Like us, Howard had never eaten it before but Vicky assured us that it was delicious and, believe it or not, she was right!

After lunch, the guys followed Vicky and I in and out of a few stores before deciding that that was boring and wandering off to a coffee shop to wait for us while we shopped. They had a great time visiting while we browsed. Can you imagine all the English that we used as we talked about colours, styles and fabrics and discussed what we liked and what we didn’t? Our afternoon was much more about spending time together and using the language than it was about shopping but Vicky did buy a pair of bright pink jeans and I bought a hat. It’s not an Easter bonnet but when I wear it, I’ll remember our most unusual Easter.

Of course, Easter wouldn’t be Easter without chocolate. I’d actually been craving chocolate lately and Easter seemed like a good excuse to check out the candy aisle the last time we were in the supermarket! In spite of the muffin top which seems to be growing around my middle thanks to the rice and noodles that make up part of almost every meal here, as well as the mochas that I drink whenever we visit a western style coffee shop, I felt justified in buying chocolate when I did my daily brain training today. As I waited for Lumosity, the internet’s most popular brain fitness website, to load one of today’s activities, I noticed the following quotation

"Chocolate can be good for your brain! Dark chocolate contains flavanols and antioxidants, which seem to be good for long-term brain health."

Of course, Easter isn’t really about what we eat or who we spend the day with. Whether we’re with family around a table laden with ham and all the trimmings or in a shopping mall in China eating bullfrog, as Christians, Easter is at the centre of who we are and what we believe.

As our day comes to an end, yours may just be beginning. I hope that, wherever you are and whoever you’re with, it will be a day of celebration and reflection.

He has risen!

Packing 102: Mix, match and layer

/ edebock / 9 Comments

How many outfits do you really need to take on any trip? After all, you can only wear one at a time!

Since we’ll be teaching during our upcoming stay in China, I’ll need a working wardrobe as well as casual clothes but I won’t pack a top that can’t be dressed up with dress pants or a skirt or down with jeans or capris. In addition, nothing will go into the suitcase unless it can coordinate with several other items so that just a few pieces produce many different looks.

Unlike in Japan where Richard was required to wear a dress shirt and tie to school every day, we’ve been told to dress for the classroom the same as we did in Canada. Our orientation booklet does say that we should dress conservatively, however, so I’ll stick with neutral colours for dress pants and skirts. A pop of colour can always be added with a brighter top or a scarf.

Layering is also key to travelling light. Whether you’re packing for a destination with warm days and cooler nights or expecting a seasonal change such as we’ll experience in China, layers are the way to go. A sleeveless top over a cami and worn with a cardigan will keep me warm in late February when Dalian’s average temperature is around 0°C (32° F). I’ll wear the same top on its own when daytime highs reach the mid twenties in May and June.

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Without question, the most versatile piece in my suitcase will be my Jockey Person to Person black modal cardigan.I have yet to figure out all the different ways that it can be worn! Click here to watch a short video that shows just a few of them. And here are a couple of my favourite looks.

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So, what will I pack for approximately 4 and a half months in China? The list will probably be refined a bit between now and packing day but here’s what it looks like right now:

  • 3 pairs of dress pants
  • 2 pairs of jeans
  • 2 pairs of capris
  • 2 or 3 skirts
  • 2 camis
  • 2 button up shirts
  • 1 long sleeved tunic top
  • 3 long sleeved tees
  • 2 short sleeved tees
  • 3 or 4 sleeveless tops
  • 2 cardigans
  • 1 fleece hoodie
  • 1 pashmina

Throw in socks, underwear, pjs, and a couple of belts and scarves, as well as assorted accessories and I’m almost ready to go. I never travel anywhere without a swimsuit and, of course, I’ll need shoes! I’m seriously thinking about only taking three pairs; a good pair of walking/hiking shoes that I’ll wear on the plane, a pair of black flats and a fairly dressy pair of sandals that are also comfortable to walk in. I’d love to take more and I will if there’s space but I survived childhood with only one pair of shoes at a time so really, anything more than that is luxury, isn’t it?

I’ll also be packing a light spring jacket; one that works well in wind or rain since we’ll be living on the coast. I’ll wear a wool coat on the flight over but when we return in July, I’ll have to try to squash that into one of our suitcases. I’d look a little funny wearing it in the height of summer!

In the meantime, before I start the big packing job, there’s one more trip we must make. Our mountain has moved! Richard picked up our completed medical forms this morning and on Monday we’ll be heading for Calgary to apply for our visas. When we drive, all my careful packing tips go out the window and we usually end up taking way more than we need. This time, I must remember to pack our skates as we’ve promised to take our grandchildren, Drew and Jami-Lee, skating in Bowness Park if the weather cooperates.

Inspired!

/ edebock / 4 Comments

A couple of weeks ago one of my favourite fashion bloggers, Jeannie, writer of gracefully50, published a post in which she wore an unbuttoned trench dress as a long jacket over a tight black dress. It made for a unique and classy look but then, I think Jeannie could wear a paper bag and look stylish!

What intrigued me was the realization that I had very similar items hidden away in my own closet. Neither had seen the light of day in a very long time but they were pieces I hesitated to get rid of; the black dress because, after all, every woman is supposed to have a LBD and the other because I’ve always simply loved it.

This afternoon, my daughter and I dressed up and did a photo shoot. I took pictures for her blog post about her latest fabulous thrift store finds and she photographed me in my take on Jeannie’s outfit. I don’t have the funky shoes or the adorable pup to complete the look but here’s my version.

   

Not only did I love the look but it was amazingly comfortable. Now I just have to decide where to wear it!

Dressing like a girl

/ edebock / 6 Comments

I’m a blue jeans kind of girl. Perhaps that has something to do with growing up in an era when girls were required to wear skirts to school every day. I took my final year of high school in the Northwest Territories. The only good thing about that was the fact that we were allowed to wear pants to school from the beginning of November to the end of February, a concession to the fact that the school remained open even when the temperature plunged to -50°F (-45°C) or lower! By the time I entered an Alberta classroom as a teacher five years later, dress pants were permitted and during the last few years of my career, Casual Friday had made its way into the schools. Finally I could go to school in blue jeans!

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to spend my retirement working as a seasonal farm labourer but at this time of year, I can be found wearing faded, well worn blue jeans and a t-shirt or sweatshirt while operating a combine! I often wear dressy jeans to church but at this time of year, after dressing like a farmer all week, I love to dress like a girl on Sunday. That’s when my skirts are most apt to come out of the closet.

I’m especially glad that I chose to dress up for church yesterday. Our local high school has a long standing tradition of holding graduation in mid September. It makes absolutely no sense to me especially considering that this is a farming community where a fall grad invariably falls in the middle of the busy harvest but tradition is tradition and it isn’t likely to change anytime soon.

The morning after the big celebration, the graduates in our congregation traditionally come to church dressed in their graduation finery and each is presented with a Bible with their name engraved on the cover. They’re sometimes a bit bleary eyed after the festivities of the evening before but it allows all of us an opportunity to share in their special moment.

Yesterday, three young men showed up for church looking much more formal than usual. I was delighted when one of their mothers asked me to pose for a photo with them after the service. It doesn’t seem like very long ago that they were little boys in my Sunday School class & look at them now! Matthew, the one on my right, is studying engineering while Rylun and Jason are apprenticing mechanics.

photo by Michelle Edey

I’m glad I was suitably dressed for the occasion!

Age appropriate?

/ edebock / 10 Comments

If you read yesterday’s post, you know that age has been on my mind a lot lately. Earlier in the summer, one of my favourite fashion bloggers, Jeannie over at gracefully50 wrote a post about an outfit that her husband thought was “not so age appropriate.” At the time, I had a couple of things hanging in my own closet that I hadn’t worn yet because I was wondering exactly that. Were they really suitable for someone my age?

Here’s one of them.

I bought it on sale for 500 yen (about $6 Canadian) the last time I was in Japan. I loved the style and the fact that it’s a subtle example of Engrish, the often bizarre use of English that appears on so many items of clothing in Japan. The front says

There is nothing in
your life that does non
have meaning

and

SMILE ON YOU
YOU ARE THE PERSON
WHO IS IMPORTANT FOR ME

appears on the nape.

I finally took it out of the closet and started wearing it recently and decided that, age appropriate or not, I love it! In fact, I love it so much that I wore it for a photo shoot with my talented nephew, William, an amateur freelance photographer.

    

After looking at his pictures, I’ve decided that if this is what 60 look like, I’m definitely okay with it!

The “right” way

/ edebock / 12 Comments

Richard and I have been married for over 35 years. Before the wedding, he told me that our marriage was sure to be a good one because he knew everything there was to know about marriage! I laughed and married him anyway. I knew he didn’t have a clue what he was talking about. After all, I’d been married before and he hadn’t and I still had very little idea what made a good relationship work.

Apparently, he also knew everything there was to know about folding socks. The first time he saw me do the laundry, he told me that I was folding them the wrong way and proceeded to show me how I ought to do it! I’ve confessed to being a stubborn woman before but if anyone needs proof of that, here it is:

My sock drawer

and his!

Over 35 years later, I still stubbornly fold my socks my way and his the “right” way!  (even though his way might actually be better)  Oops! You didn’t hear me say that, did you?

Richard’s way of folding socks (or having me fold his socks) does make a nice tidy package that fits neatly into a drawer or a suitcase. I’m sure that you probably fold your socks my way but just in case you want to give his a try, here’s a simple tutorial:

Simply tuck the toes of both socks into the opening of the the top one.

Hmm… I think there could be a lesson in here somewhere. Maybe that’s what it takes to make a relationship work: a little bit of stubbornness, plenty of respect for one another’s differences and a healthy dose of compromise! It’s been working for us for over 35 years!