Anne Rice in Toronto!

Today I had a great day in Toronto at the Inspire Book Fair. I was lucky enough to meet Anne Rice for the first time. She was in Toronto in order to promote her new book The Prince Lestat. I was a bit  surprised by the relatively small crowd for such a famous author. But the book fair is brand new so I think it just wasn't properly advertised. For a first year, the book fair seemed pretty organized. The only problem was not enough signage about how to get an autograph. Most people were not aware that you had to purchase a book at the show in order to get in line for an autograph. The only reason I knew this in advance was the small posting on the Facebook page. Lucky for me though, I hadn't bought Prince Lestat yet. So I purchased Prince Lestat today and brought in a special edition of Interview With the Vampire from home for Anne to sign. 

The line for autographs was very long but it did move quickly. Anne was very charming and friendly with everyone who was waiting. She also had a short interview and Q&A on the main stage. She talked a lot about what it would be like for immortals to live in a time of social media and paparazzi. A very interesting subject indeed! I am looking forward to reading the new book to find out what happens. 

I also stopped by the Horror Writers Association and spoke to Sephera Giron about her new books from Samhain publishing. The HWA is sponsoring an upcoming Horror Convention in Atlanta, Georgia in May of this year. They had a great display and I wished I could have bought lots of books from them. I briefly spoke to Nancy Kilpatrick but I did not get a picture with her today so I am including an older picture from Fan Expo this summer with her.  Nancy Kilpatrick is known as the Anne Rice of Canada. She has several fantastic vampire books including the Power of the Blood series and several Vampire Anthologies. It's always a pleasure to speak to them both. 

What I'm wearing:

Black and red velvet dress by Black Orchid Designs

Black brocade corset by Black Orchid Designs

Knee high Docs

Fashion Inspiration: Stevie Nicks

The first time I fell in love with Stevie Nicks and her fashion style was when I watched the music video "Gypsy" on MTV in the early 80s. Every time that video came on I was mesmerized by her spinning on the edge of the cliff with a gorgeous shawl. I wanted to be her! I loved everything about her style. The shawls, leg warmers and boots, top hats, and long romantic dresses. The first time I saw her was long before the Internet so the only photos I had of her were from magazines or the photography on her album covers. Actually, I think she is the reason I became obsessed with victorian and romantic clothes when I was a teenager! I would search the thrift stores when I was young looking for clothes exactly like hers. Oh wait...I still do!

And one of the most endearing things about her is that her style is timeless. Her wardrobe has evolved and gotten better with time but her unique fashion style has never changed over the years. I have seen her referred to as the godmother of goth before. And I completely agree. Along with a few other ladies, she influenced the Romanti-Goth style that I love. Gothic, Bohemian, or witchy style.  Whatever you want to call her, she is a timeless style icon. And looking through all these gorgeous photos of her again just makes me want to wear all those romantic clothes like she wears all the time! So what if it's completely impractical most of the time? It's so pretty!

And I love her music also. I have most of her albums with Fleetwood Mac and also the solo ones. The best of Fleetwood Mac CD gets a lot play time. I've never seen them in concert though. Hopefully my Hubby will splurge on some tickets on a future tour. At least I hope so!

Is Nu Goth dead already?

Every Wednesday night I take my son to his guitar lessons.  Lucky for me there is a thrift store right next to the music store. So I get a little thrift shopping in exchange for shuttling him around for lessons. This last visit the racks were full of lovely black gothic clothes. More than I normally find. 

So it made me wonder does this mean that the nu goth fashion trend is over aleady? Over before it even really started? You see I live in an university town where the young girls just follow the latest fashion trend whatever it may be. I don't think they even cared or realized that they were copying goth fashion recently. It was just another look at the mall for them.  Now that's it's over they will move on to the next trend that the magazines and mall stores are pushing. And like most fashion trends recently, it was here and gone in a single season. This is good news for those of us that wear black all the time and don't follow fashion. It means there good bargains to be found! I'm sure we made a few new converts in the process though. And to those girls that stayed goth after the fashion trend is long dead I say welcome to the darkside ladies! 

But anyways back to the thrift shopping... The stores are full of goodies right now! Get out there and shop to your hearts content in velvet, lace, and skulls at bargain basement prices. Or at least until your wallet can't take anymore. For the next few months you will find me at the local Goodwill and Value Village perusing the racks!

Toronto Creativ Sewing Festival

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Creativ Sewing Festival in Toronto. I haven't been to the creative in quite a few years. The problem with sewing shows for me is that they never seem to change with the times. There is always the same old things to see. Now don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed the show but I was disappointed there weren't more independent pattern companies for fashion. I really wanted to pick up some victorian patterns.

Some of my favourite blogs about sewing have to do with retro styles and sewing. Blogs that I read on a regular basis are We Sew Retro and Gertie's Blog For Better Sewing. I was also disappointed that there was nothing at the show that represented retro fashion, steampunk, or victorian corsetry. (At least nothing I found while walking around the show) Farthingales Corsetry from Stratford, Ontario was at the show with a table. However, they did not bring any of their wonderful patterns or corset making supplies with them. They were just simply there to teach a corset making course. Perhaps I will take a course in the future but they are very expensive.  I think I would learn quite a bit from the course even though I am an experienced seamstress so it might be worth the money.

Most of the Creativ Festival revolved around quilting, jewelry making, or knitting and crochet. The problem I have with that is that the only hobby I have right now is sewing. And I am not much of a quilter either even though I know how to. The thought I had after walking around the show was that I need to branch out and try some new crafts! Maybe I will try some jewelry making first and then I will give crochet a go. I would love some pretty crocheted shawls and arm warmers!

I did manage to find some very pretty Halloween fabrics and quilt patterns while wandering around the show...

My favourite part of the day was watching a fashion show by the local fashion school. Some of the students were very good. Most of the designs were classic with a bit of a twist. 

And a great selection of fabrics at Lens Mill. 

All in all it was a nice day looking at pretty fabrics and other shiny stuff. Hopefully Gertie will be there next year. I love her books!